On October 24th 1998 I ran this campaign at Tricon '98. The convention committee, with myself included, thought it would be a great idea if an 18th century, world wide campaign was run during the convention. We brainstormed about the qualities the game should have and then the ideas were handed over to me to do something with. The creativity came from many of the members of the comittee, the implimentation from me. These rules and the game at Tricon '98 was the result. If you played in the game I would like to thank you for keeping within the spirit of the game and making it fun. This may have been the most inovating thing I personally have ever done with wargaming.

Before I get into the actual rules, I would like to state that this was designed as a convention game with several goals and some limitations:

1. It needed to cover the 18th century
2. Players would have to be able to play while playing 'regular' miniatures games during the convention.
3. It needed to have a public map to draw interest from the convention attendees at-large
4. It should have some elements that involved the majority of the convention attendees (i.e. should act as a 'mixer').
5. It needed to have rules easy enough to learn in a few minutes.
6. Turns needed to be able to be submitted with a simple system in order to comply with requirement #2 above.
7. It should allow for a reasonable amount of play and strategy.
8. It needed to be fun!

To handle requirement #1 we drew upon resources we had at hand. Since our club was playing a campaign using Sport of Kings from the Wargare in the Age of Reason rules published by Emperor's Press I decided to use that as a starting point. The World At War Campaign rules will require you go buy a copy of Wargare in the Age of Reason for the gamemaster. It's a good set of rules and an excellent campaign system so this really is no hardship. From the Sport of Kings campaign you need to use the maps, including the individual countries' economic values and the starting strength points for each country.

To get an idea of how the game is played, start by reading the Player Rule Sheet. I printed one of these for each player and put it on a clipboard along with the player's maps for the turn. Players then marked up the maps and turned them in.

First let me say that as gamemaster you should handle any unexpected events with your own judgement. There is room in here for the gamemaster to have some fun. The 'Plague and Pestilence' phrase in the player instruction sheet is for exactly that purpose. Some things on the instruction sheet are left vague on purpose. This adds some mystery to the system. With a game system this simple, if the players are aware of all elements some of the oppertunity for strategy and gameplay are lost. Since I created the game it was not necessary for me to have the tables for these rules at hand, I kept all the information in my head. If you're unable to do this make sure the players don't get to see the gamemaster's tables and instructions.

Strength Points

Initial strength points were taken from Sport of Kings. To this the starting EP's for each country were converted into reinforcements and added to the total starting points. EP's are turned into reinforcements at the rate of 1SP for every 5ep, with remaining ep's of 3 or more rounded up to the next highest SP. Starting Garrisons are also taken from Sport of Kings.

Scouting

On each player's map mark bordering enemy held terratories with a S,M or L depending on the size of the enemy army. This is a judgement call for the GM. Mentally arrange all armies in the game by size. S represents the third of the armies on the small end and L those on the large end, M in the middle. For most of my game S=1-3 armies, M=4-6 armies and L=7+. Late in the game S=1-4 armies, M=5-8 armies and L=9+. If a player has a garrison that borders an enemy terratory roll a D-6 and report according to the following table:

Naval Movement

Armies moving by sea through Eastern Atlantic, North Sea or Medeterranian sea, GM rolls D6. On a roll of a 1 -2SP, on a roll of a 2 -1SP otherwise no loss. England exempt from this roll in Eastern Atlantic and North Sea. France exempt in Medeterranian.

Combat

This is the portion of the game that is best left as a mystery to the players. Revealing its simplicity may lead to players micro-managing armies to take advantage of the system. I initially intended on having the players roll their Supply & Elan roll themselves, but it became inconvienent to call them back to the table when I forgot to have them roll it, so I opted to do the rolls myself.

Here's how combat is resolved. Add up the combat strength of each army according to the following table:

If the total points for each army are within 1 point there is no winner, the terratory doesn't change hands.

Otherwise the winner captures or retains the terratory, GM moves the losing armies SPs to an adjcent friendly terratory or removes them if there is none. If the loser was the attacker the SP's are moved back to the terratoy they attacked from if possible. Losses for all combat are resolved according to the following table:

Bonus Cards

The bonus cards were created to add some surprise to this simple system. In the game I ran proper use of them was the key to the winning of the game. It is important that cards are distributed to convention goers evenly, meaning each country has an equal number and type of cards. Make up enough to give each person at the convention a card. I gave sets of 7 cards (one for each country) to the staff members of the convention so all players could meet the staff. Feel free to make up more cards - your imagination is the limit. Just make sure to keep them small advantages so if some convention goer loses a players card it won't ruin the game.

Here's the list of cards I used:

Breastworks - Add 2SP to any 1 garrison
Mercenary Allies - add 2sp to any 1 attacking army for 1 turn
River Transportation - move any army 2 terratories (first one must be friendly)
Local Militia Mobilises! Can turn any 1 garrison into mobile troops.
Inspiring Command! +4 to 1 Elan & Supply Roll
Local Peasants Bear Arms! +2sp to any 1 defending army if attacked
New Recruits! 1SP extra reinforcements next turn.
Captured Orders! Get detailed info about 1 bordering terratory
Subversion! Capture 1 neighboring terratory if defended by 1 or 2 SP
Captured Enemy Baggage! +2 to 1 Elan & Supply roll.
Commit the Guard! +2sp for 1 turn. If you lose this battle -2 extra SP.
Frigate Escort! 1 army may pass throught oceans without raids from England or France.
Stragglers - Cause enemy army to lose 1SP from stragglers.
Spies! Cause enemy to lose 1SP of Garrison in their Capital.
Irrigation & Manufacturing - Turn one 1EP terretory into a 2ep permanently.
Sabotage! Cause enemy reinforcements to be reduced. (GM note -1SP)
Revolt! Cause one enemy terratory to revolt - enemy your choice terratory GM choice.
(GM Note: on this card, I pick Jacobite Revolution (Scotland) if target is England, Ohio for France, other 2EP terratory for other players. The country goes Neutral with 2SP army. If the player that it revolted from doesn't capture it back it gains 1SP per turn. when it has a 2SP strength advantage against a neighboring terrotory from the player it revolted from it attacks.)

Winning the Game

Sweeden gets a 10 point handicap, Turkey gets 5 points. Total the SP value of all countries held plus handicap. Highest total wins. I found it fun to put totals on the public maps towards the end of the game.

Well, if you have any questions feel free to e-mail me at: aew@unh.edu

A.J.