Moving Along to a new campaign

No sooner had the Nipoor invasion of the Troman Islands reached the point where the Hardicans were obviously not going to prevent an overrun than I have decided we will put WW2  on hold for a while.

The issue with starting in that period for gamers (especially who are playing remotely for the first time in this kind of scenario) is that WW2 has (a) far too many weapons to think about, (b) far too many technological advantages to consider (c) way more complex logistic arrangements to consider and (d) is so far reaching that we will need the whole mythic world map to continue sensibly.

The first three are good enough reasons. The last is a very large piece of work which I am only part way through.

All in all, a good reason to put it on hold and return at a later date.  Also, a four cornered game in a simpler time zone with all four starting with the same resources (more or less) is a better introduction to a complete campaign than one tilted by political considerations and long established positions.

So, what to run?

My first temptation was to backtrack to ancient.  I love the period and it is the proper starting point. BUT... I have too few armies to offer and those I have won't suit everyone.

So, while I rebuild the past, I think we ought to get into a period from which I have a decent sized 25-28mm collection. ECW/30 Years War was my original key period and I am fortunate to have retained something in the region of 4-500 troops of that period and thereabouts.

A small selection above although the sharp eyed will pick out at least a couple of figures from an earlier age hanging about.  With a little flexibility in weapons and armour stored away in castles, keeps and old houses, there could be a few men out there sporting less traditional 16xx gear. Why not?

And it'll be colourful with a lot less types of weapons, tactics and details to consider.  Each player will start with so many resource points, base settlement will deliver x points/turn and all other settlements will have a value, too.  Then, we can have one off caches to discover, merchant ships to impound with a value on board and other similar extras.

The setting will be Hardica, thus introducing one of the big powers in later years. The Hardican Empire is the equivalent in my little mythic world of the British. Hardica's history and temperate climate are all geared to a very British/English kind of place.  So this is 1603 and the 2nd Hardican Civil War is about to break out (in truth, it's about the 4th but the others had different names.)  Having put a king off the throne and sent him into exile, the leaders of that rebellion have split on how the government is to be run (after ten years of frustration).

Hardica is a big enough land to accomodate some manouvering and strategic decision making.  One square = 50km square.

For those familiar with my late Sigil RPG, Hardica was the seat of the Dragon King/Queen of the Isles holding all of Tromania (what at that time was Gwythaor and the other islands of the Ducal group) Remember Goric "Blimey, the king's a lass" ;)

Hardica is about to become part of a much larger world as this conflict is the springboard to a new age of exploration and conquest.

The blog will, of course, report on progress.