Planning 19th Century 6x6 challenge campaign games

I originally had some WW1 games listed as part of the 6x6 challenge, but with the completion of my Imagi-Nations armies I have decided to go with these instead of WW1. I have found with some of the pervious 6x6 game challenges, having a campaign structured around the games helps with the enjoyment and encourages the playing of games.

For the 19th Century European campaign I am trying out a mapless campaign. The idea of not using a map came from reading the blog Come on! My Brave Fusiliers!

19th Century European game being played to test out some new rules

As with all my campaigns to date. I will try and keep the rules to minimum at the start, merrily begin the campaign, then add to the rules if a situation demands. Being a solo wargamer does have some advantages.

The campaign setting has Greater Novia and Ustorian battling over the disputed territory of Scailand, which sits between lands of the Ustorian monarchy and the Novian states who have come together politically under the banner of Greater Novia.

As there is no map to this campaign. Victory is determined by public opinion in the home country or states. The level public opinion goes up or down after each battle and is determined by:

• Defeat
• Glorious action
• Valiant defence
• Past glories
• Casualties

At the end of 6 games the side with the highest public opinion wins. The type of game played is selected randomly with dice: 1-3 is a pitched battle and 4-5 a small engagement. After any pitched battle, the next game must be a rear guard action. 

I will be using the rules for determining units involved in a game from Wargaming Nineteenth Century Europe by Neil Thomas. Note - first game in the campaign must be a small engagement.

A flanking manœuvre in progress

Both sides start the campaign with a 50 percent public approval rating. After each battle this is adjusted by the following game outcomes:

1. Defeat - the first side to lose more than fifty percent of their force in a game loses 5 percent from opinion.
2. Glorious Action - a side that captures and hold an enemy objective gains 5 percent to opinion. As the home press write about the bravery of the troops in capturing the enemy position.
3. Valiant Defence - a side that denies the enemy and holds an objective gains 5 percent to opinion. Correspondents write about the defiant defenders and foreign sympathies starts to have an influence.
4. Past Glories - a cavalry unit successfully attacks and destroys an enemy unit gains 5 percent to opinion. Dramatic lithographs in the newspapers depict the cavalry charge rekindling memories of past victories, and nobility support of the regime is strengthened.
5. Casualties - for each lost unit roll a dice and lose 5 percent for each dice score less than 4. Early photography of the horrors of war and the high casualty lists start to appear in newspapers and working class pamphlets. Public sentiment is starting to change.

The tabletop terrain for each game will be randomly selected using a dice roll:

1. Scailand foothills - 3 x hills, 1 x building, 2 x woods
2. Scailand farmlands - 1 x hill, 2 x fields, 2 x buildings, 1 x wood
3. Scailand industry areas - 2 x hill, 3 x buildings, 1 x wood
4. Scailand plains - 2 x hills, 2 x woods, 2 x buildings
5. Scailand woodland - 1 x hills, 3 x woods, 2 x buildings
6. Scailand marshland - 3 x marshes, 1 x woods, 2 x buildings

And randomly placed on the tabletop. More on the approach in a later post.