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Post by wargamerdale on Dec 5, 2019 1:09:19 GMT
Hello all, I created a homegrown solo campaign ruleset based on several sources: DBA 1.0 campaigns, Magna Graecia rules, and The Solo Wargaming Guide by William Sylvester. I have tested it several times, but it is still a work in progress. I will be setting up another campaign run soon with some other ideas to try out. I prefer to use it on zone-based campaign maps I have drawn (one purely imaginary, one based on the Mediterranean Sea region). I would be interested in others' comments and test results. Especially to make sure the rules make sense to someone other than myself.
The rules are in a blog I set up. On the internet go to ... dalemunz.blogspot.com
Thanks
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Post by wargamerdale on Dec 5, 2019 21:34:35 GMT
Re: my solo campaign rules. I just realized that some of the ideas were inspired by Hammurabi70's Duelling Republic campaign rules. I had seen them some time about, made note of the items of interest, and filed them away for future use. So for the record, thank you Hammurabi70 for some of the inspiration for my campaign. In fact I am looking at them again for more "borrowing". They are a great set of rules, and the map is fantastic.
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Post by hammurabi70 on Dec 5, 2019 23:38:05 GMT
Re: my solo campaign rules. I just realized that some of the ideas were inspired by Hammurabi70's Duelling Republic campaign rules. I had seen them some time about, made note of the items of interest, and filed them away for future use. So for the record, thank you Hammurabi70 for some of the inspiration for my campaign. In fact I am looking at them again for more "borrowing". They are a great set of rules, and the map is fantastic. I should add that I only provided the link; it is not my campaign idea. I have done a number of six-player campaigns for Successors and First Punic; I have a problem when you have a straight two-side war to make the campaign interesting beyond a straight linear campaign. You have some interesting ideas on your website. Some other twists I have used are: - Monthly turns: 1-9, March to November, 0 as Winter (and variants thereon)
- Random events by dice rolls
- Variable reinforcement rates
- Variable movement rates and/or attrition by difficult routes or by sea
- Army lists changing over time (better quality as war progresses but DBA does not make that easy to have)
I look forward to learning more.
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Post by saxonred on Dec 7, 2019 9:30:25 GMT
Just had a read of the rules. All of my DBA is Dark Ages based and these look ideal for a campaign during mid 8th - 10th Century Britain. Will update once I've played them.
Thanks for posting them.
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Post by wargamerdale on Dec 15, 2019 21:11:34 GMT
Hammurabi70: Thank you for clarifying that. They do look like interesting ideas to borrow. And thanks for your suggestions as well. I find that sometimes I try ideas such as those, and they don't work as I hoped, so I drop them. Later on I try them again, maybe with a change or two, and they work. It is an ongoing process. I am getting ready to try another DBA campaign with some additional ideas I've been collecting. Will update as I see how it goes. I agree though that a multisided campaign is more interesting, especially if each of those sides change from time to time (e.g. a once-aggressive empire suddenly becomes less aggressive because of a new king).
Saxonred: Thanks for looking at them. Will look forward to your comments.
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Post by wargamerdale on Jan 13, 2020 2:02:07 GMT
I have made some changes to the campaign rules, and just finished a 4-empire solo campaign to try them out. The changes simplify the campaign somewhat, but also add the element of navies and naval battles using triremes. I have not re-posted these new rules yet. I may try one more campaign with them. Meantime, if anyone is interested, please send me a personal message.
Dale
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Post by hammurabi70 on Jan 13, 2020 10:22:54 GMT
I have made some changes to the campaign rules, and just finished a 4-empire solo campaign to try them out. The changes simplify the campaign somewhat, but also add the element of navies and naval battles using triremes. I have not re-posted these new rules yet. I may try one more campaign with them. Meantime, if anyone is interested, please send me a personal message. Dale What rules have you used for doing the naval battles?
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Post by saxonred on Jan 13, 2020 21:29:06 GMT
Saxonred: Thanks for looking at them. Will look forward to your comments. I think I've pretty much got a plan of how I want to use the rules for a mid 9th century campaign in Britain but just need to formalise a map of some sort. In your rules you mention 'territories' - how big and how many would make up an empire at the start of the campaign. I'm trying to visualise what Mercia & Wessex would look like on a map. I'd be interested to know what changes you've made to the rule set.
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Post by wyvern on Jan 14, 2020 0:24:09 GMT
Saxonred, there is a 9th century solo campwaign for Britain in an issue of Slingshot magazine.
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Post by saxonred on Jan 14, 2020 6:59:08 GMT
Saxonred, there is a 9th century solo campwaign for Britain in an issue of Slingshot magazine. Thanks, where can I see it?
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Post by wyvern on Jan 14, 2020 19:24:17 GMT
Hi Saxonred, a chap on this forum called Martin pointed it out in the next thread "Not So Simple Campaigning With Greeks" . It's in Slingshot Magazine May/ June 2019 available from The Society of Ancients.
Cheers Paul.
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Post by saxonred on Jan 14, 2020 19:52:46 GMT
Hi Saxonred, a chap on this forum called Martin pointed it out in the next thread "Not So Simple Campaigning With Greeks" . It's in Slingshot Magazine May/ June 2019 available from The Society of Ancients. Cheers Paul. Thanks Paul but its not something I'm in a financial position to join or purchase right now. Hopefully Dale's rules will provide an answer for me.
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Post by wargamerdale on Jan 15, 2020 1:33:33 GMT
Hammurabi70, I found 2 sets of naval rules that looked interesting. The first is "Ram or Die! Fast and Easy Naval Battle Rules" by Matt Fritz. It is fast and simple which I liked. Naval battles were something new I tried to expand the Ancient Mediterranean campaign I had. It led to a lot of interesting developments. I looked at another ruleset called "All Ships! Ram Speed!" It is much more detailed, but it looked like it really captured the flavor of ancient naval warfare. Someday I'll try it. I think I found these on the Freewargames rules Wiki. If you can't find them I can send you a copy. Dale
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Post by wargamerdale on Jan 15, 2020 1:49:05 GMT
Hello Saxonred, To answer your question, I made these changes to the campaign rules. 1) Each neutral territory does not have an "army". It has a city, fortified somewhat, with a garrison of undetermined size. To conquer a neutral territory, you can first try to make it an ally, and if that is a "no go" you can besiege it. With no forces in all these territories, battles were confined to combatant field armies. It made things a lot simpler. 2) I added naval warfare. See my previous post above for which rules I used. It made the campaign even more interesting. 3) I randomized the initial number of empires, and which ones were aggressors and which were passive initially. This changed as circumstances dictated. At the end of each campaign year, the "ruler" decided whether it was time to attack or to lay back. Sometimes those decisions did not work out well.
Each "empire" starts with 2 adjacent territories. One contains the capital. This is described in some detail in the ruleset. I did not choose a particular size for the territories, but made a couple of freestyle maps and threw in some territories of different sizes and characteristics (e.g. a territory with a seacoast has a higher value than one that is land-locked). It's really a matter of personal judgment and interest.
I haven't posted the updated campaign rules yet. I would like to try another campaign or 2 to see if I will make any more changes. But, I'd be glad to send you a copy (Word document) of where they are. It may help with your Britain campaign.
Dale
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Post by saxonred on Jan 15, 2020 22:05:00 GMT
I'm in no rush so please carry on testing and I'll wait until you publish them again.
Andy
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