SOLO ANCIENT WARGAMING CAMPAIGN RULES - LAND & SEA

ANCIENT CAMPAIGN RULES 1.0

Land & Sea

3/3/2020

 

1. CONCEPT

 Campaign area is divided into “territories" (inland or coastal). Aggressive “empires” try to expand by conquering other territories and eliminating foes. Neutral territories that are inhabited may defend their territory only. An initial strategy is determined for each empire. The campaign ends when one empire has conquered all its foes, or all empires agree it is futile to continue. Ideas used in these campaign rules come from several sources:  DBA 1.0 (section on campaigns), Magna Graecia campaign rules, SCMR (Solo Campaign Mobilization Rules) and other concepts found in “The Solo Wargaming Guide” by William Sylvester, Duelling Republics Ancient Campaign Rules.  And some stuff I made just made up and tried out.

 2.   DEFINITIONS

Territory – an area of land (map zone)

1. wild - uninhabited, wild terrain; no empire can own it; empires can move through some types at a movement cost.

2. neutral - It can defend its territory if it has a fort with a garrison.  
3. empire territory - Initial part of an empire; supplies gold to empire.
4. ally - a neutral territory that is taken over by the empire; supplies gold to the empire; it can revolt (see CHANCE in APPENDIX).

Territories have value based on resources, access points, etc. See APPENDIX.

Empire – 2 or more territories that are adjacent and have one ruler. One territory contains the capital.

Gold – Each year, an empire’s territories pay gold to the ruler's treasury. It is used to:

1) maintain (pay/feed/supply) the troops

2) buy replacement troops or navy/fleet ships
3) build new field army / navy/fleet

Supply chain – Chain from the capital to each fleet army consisting of contiguous empire-controlled territories.  A wild territory or a neutral sea zone between empire territories can be part of the chain. This chain must be unobstructed by enemy forces. The field army must stay connected to it. If the chain is blocked, the field army has one season to restore it, or else it must return to the supply chain. Each season after that it will lose “n” elements. Roll D6 to determine how many.

3.  ORGANIZATION OF FORCES

  Field Army – Army is 16 elements max, 6 minimum. Built/expanded during recruitment phase in Winter.

Garrison - a small force of undefined composition that resides in the garrison and can only defend it.

 Navy - 1) Can combat other navies, 2) can "blockade" a port. Typically Biremes and Triremes. No minimum or maximum size.

 Fleet - fleet of ships used to transport armies from coast to coast. One ship holds one army element.

4.  TROOP COSTS

Element                                   gold units

General                                    5

Heavy Cavalry                        4
Heavy Infantry                       3
Light Horse                             2
Light, medium foot, bow         1
Navy ship                                2
Fleet ship                                 1

 Note: these are starting costs. As the campaign progresses, they become more expensive. When to increase, and how much, are up to individual choice.

- New armies are built in the capital and can then move forward. New navies/fleets are formed in the capital port.

5.  CAMPAIGN SETUP

Determine the number of empires and their territories, location of capital, size of forces, initial treasury (suggest doubling the total empire territory rating points to start).

6.  STARTING CAMPAIGN

 Determine aggressor empire(s). Using SCMR (see APPENDIX), decide initial strategy for each empire. The campaign has begun.

7.  RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN

Campaigns run for 4 seasons –

-  Spring, Summer, Fall – all army/naval movement takes place, all battles fought.

-  Winter – armies / navies return to winter quarters  (any friendly territory / port). Other actions take place.

Each empire army, navy, or fleet has one move in each season.

Spring, Summer, Fall:

1.  Test supply chain to all armies. If any break exists, empire’s first priority is to restore it or risk losing the army.

2. Move all armies / navies / fleets (see Move Chance in APPENDIX)
3. Fight any battles, land and sea.

Winter:

All armies must be in winter quarters (i.e. an empire territory). Ships in friendly port.

Actions during Winter:

1. Collect “gold” from territories (1 gold per territory rating point, plus 1 gold for each territory) and add collected amount to the existing treasury amount.

2. Determine if cost of replacement troops has increased.
3. Winter CHANCE  (see Appendix)
4. Maintain armies & navies (1 gold per 4 army elements, 1 gold per 3 navy ships, 1 gold per 4 fleet ships) by taking gold from the treasury.
5. Replace lost (or add) troops / ships
6. Build a new field army in the capital, or a navy/fleet in capital port if desired.
7. Review/revise campaign strategy.

** If not enough gold to maintain an army, navy, or fleet, calculate the deficit and eliminate equivalent elements. Choose randomly which ones.

8.  MOVEMENT

MOVEMENT POINTS (MP’s) are the number of zones (territories) an army or navy/fleet can move through on its turn:

Army – 2 MP’s total / season

Navy/fleet –  3 MP’s  total / season

On land  (see map)

- Impassable territories: mountains, dense forests, lakes.

- Woods, or bad going:  MP-1.
- move across river:     MP-1.

On sea

- Rough seas - when passing through this zone, stop and test for attrition. MP-1.

- Wild Coast - ships cannot land on this.

9.  INVASION

1-2 invading army(s) enter an enemy empire or neutral territory.

1)  Battle in enemy territory

If the army is defeated, the garrison automatically surrenders. Defeated army flees the territory.
Defending army may:
1. Engage the invading force in battle
2. Retreat all forces to a friendly territory
3. Move into the fort  and stand siege (see section on siege below)

Fight battle using rule set of choice.

2)  Battle for neutral territory

1. If uninhabited, no battle occurs and invader may take over.

2. If protected by fort & garrison, roll D6. If result is 6, then territory chooses to become ally and no battle is fought. Else, invader must lay siege to control the territory. Can begin siege this turn.

3)    Multiple armies invading and defending in same territory

If multiple armies are invading, choose one army to do battle. The other army may send in reinforcements as losses occur. A reinforcement element is "transferred" to the invading army, then enters the battlefield at times/locations randomly chosen by the player. No more than 16 elements can be fighting at one time. When 1/3 the total elements of the invading army at any time during the battle are lost, the battle is over.

 4)   Siege

Invading army rolls D6. Victory result is:

6       if defender's army is in the fort

5,6    if only garrison

If victorious, the garrison and the army surrenders. Invader absorbs defeated elements into its army.  Else, invader loses "n" elements (see

Element Loss in APPENDIX), and must wait till next season to try again. Number needed for victory then will be reduced by “1”. When Winter comes, invader must withdraw.

5)   Control of Territory following battle Victory

In order to control the territory, the invading field army must remain in the territory for one extra season following the battle to allow a garrison command to be established.

6)  Naval conflict

Navies are used to control a sea lane.  If an enemy navy enters a sea zone, a naval conflict occurs.

Naval battle rules:    See APPENDIX.

7) Blockade

If the territory is an island, or it is a coastal territory with a port, an enemy navy may set up a blockade. If the invading navy stays in the port's sea zone for 2 consecutive seasons, the blockade is successful. The navy must return to a friendly port during Winter. The blockaded territory will lose 2 territory points of value when Winter comes. Blockade is only good for one year.

10.  CAMPAIGN VICTORY

Usually the conditions for a campaign’s end are fairly obvious. Either one empire dominates and is the victor, or it is futile for the campaign to continue and there is no victor.

___________________________

 

APPENDIX

 

CHANCE

 Option 1:

Chance occurs 1) before each army or navy's move, and 2) Each Winter for the entire empire.

Move Chance - roll a D6

Result  Effect

1          Bad weather. Army/navy cannot

            move this turn.
2          Troop unrest. Army must
            withdraw to friendly territory.
3-6       No chance this turn.

Winter Chance - roll 2D6

Result Effect

2          Harvest loss occurred  (see Harvest Gain/Loss below)

3          Sickness in army. Lost "n"  troops. See Element Loss below.
4          An allied territory revolts.  Amy must be sent to it to stop it. When army arrives, revolt  
            is stopped.
5          Navy loses "n" ships.
            See Element Loss below.
6          Harvest increased this year.
            See Harvest Gain/Loss below.
7          Ruler dies, new ruler changes strategy. Use SCMR.
8-12     No chance this Winter.

NAVAL BATTLE RULES  (options)

 

1. Quick battle (just dice)

Each navy rolls a D6. Loser loses 1 ship.

If difference is >3, loser loses 2 ships.
If both D6 rolls are equal, each navy loses one ship. Battle ends when one navy gives up and retreats.

2. All Ships! Ram Speed!  - this is a detailed ruleset if you like naval battles.

juniorgeneral.org/naval/salamis.html

3. Ram or Die! Fast and Easy Naval Battle Rules - this is just as the name describes.

www.navalwargamessociety.org/rulesonline.html

TERRITORY RATINGS

A territory has value in the form of rating points. Add one point for each of the following features to determine the rating:

- It is the empire capital

- it has a port
- it is considered fertile land good for farming or raising livestock
- it has a river running through it, or has a body of fresh water within or bordering it.

ELEMENT LOSS

Roll one D6:

Result  Effect

1-2       Lose 10% total army elements

3-4       Lose 20%
5          Lose 25%
6          Lose 30%

HARVEST GAIN/LOSS

Note: Harvest is the total gold collected this year.

Roll 1 D6:

 
Result  Effect

1          Lose 10%

2-3       Lose 20%
4-5       Lose 30%
6          Lose 50%

SCMR

SCMR (Solo Campaign Mobilization Rules) are found in “The Solo Wargaming Guide” by William Sylvester. They introduce random selection of possible army/empire strategies during a campaign. The solo player gives up some control, but not all. If not familiar with them, this is a brief summary: At campaign start, for each side (country/empire) participating in the campaign, choose 3 possible courses of action. For example, all armies will not advance, 2 armies invade North and one army invades East, etc. They can be as detailed as desired. Then roll a D6 to decide which strategy is actually used. The side will try to faithfully execute that strategy until it is in contact with the enemy, or it accomplishes the objective. At that point, after reviewing the total situation, 3 more courses of action are built, and again one is chosen per dice roll. This method runs throughout the campaign. There may be a time when only one course of action makes any sense, and the method can be put aside temporarily. Campaigns can take some very interesting turns using this approach.