I've been pondering (and reading, and scribbling) for a while now on the topic of a campaign system to go with my WSS armies.
I had a look at a couple of board games, which were interesting but not sufficiently generic for my own needs, and I bought and downloaded Real-Time Games' Malbrough s'en va t'en guerre, which is really very ingenious, but also fairly complex and very heavily abstracted (the "map" is a square array of playing cards, for example). I would like to have a bash at this at some time, but for the moment I have returned (yet again) to Arthur Harman's Cockpit of Europe, which was published in Miniature Wargames #48, May 1987, and which I have been looking at, off and on, for years.
Arthur claims that it based on an idea of Paddy Griffith's; again, it is very abstract - some of the ideas are very similar to the Real-Time Games product, but it is less ornate. In some respects it is maybe over-simplified (e.g. there are no rivers or hills in the map) but it is certainly worth further study.
Since I am a rather slow learner these days, I wondered - has anyone ever played this game, or are you aware of the odd demo online, or a more expansive description? Or have you any further suggestions?
All clues welcome. Many thanks.
Never played it alas.
ReplyDeleteHave you considered a linked box campaign? That is specific locations joined by transportation routes. Some examples are here:
https://volleyandbayonet.wordpress.com/campaign-scenarios
Sufficiently generic that you can ignore the VnB aspects. The games referred to worked on the unit counters in a box being transferred to a battle board to resolve combat.
Neil
Thanks for this Neil. Answer to your question is, "yes, I think so".
DeleteSome years ago I did a solo Peninsular War campaign which used this kind of map - there's a picture of it here:
https://prometheusinaspic.blogspot.com/2012/11/solo-campaign-where-is-it.html
Worked quite nicely, though that campaign suffered a bit from over-ambitious supply and manpower management. What appeals about the two game systems I mentioned is that they both include automatic rules for reaction to sieges and threats on supply lines, and a couple of other features which are right out of 1700. I'm looking around gently - no stress!
Likewise not tried 'Cockpit of Europe'. If you want (free) inspiration for campaign systems you could try 'The Perfect Captain' web-site.
ReplyDeleteI haven't visited the Perfect Captain for a while - good idea. I always found there was a whiff of "Death by Roster Cards", but the basic ideas were great. Their Battlefinder(?) card system was very good - I used that one for an ECW campaign.
DeletePostscript: Regret to say that very little of the Perfect Captain site has anything in it - looks like the windows are boarded up - certainly the cuboards are bare (more correctly, the cupboards aren't there any more). I am pleased to add that I did download a fair amount of stuff in the past, so I'll have a look to see what I've got...
DeleteThat's a shame, I thought it had been reprieved but on revisiting the site it seems it's all there apart from the downloads. I also did download some stuff for the Wars of the Roses campaign, the ECW Battle Finder and the map for the French Wars of Religion campaign (and battlefield cards) if that's any use.
DeleteThanks Rob - I checked - I've got the ECW, French and Dutch BF cards, plus a custom set I edited myself for my fictional ECW campaign in the North of England (by 'eck). I may edit another custom set for myself sometime - would you a like a copy of the Northern ones, or any of the others?
DeleteHave a look at these rules from the Austrian War of succession, they might have some parts you might fancy.
ReplyDeletehttps://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40354/maria
in the files section you can find the rules for downloading. maps in the image section obviously.
There is a corresponding game for the SYW as well by the same publisher
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12891/friedrich
Thank you very much, sir - I shall check these out.
Delete