How to Run a Supercampaign - Part II

My last post was the first in a three-part series, looking at how to plan and prepare a Supercampaign.  This week, I'll be exploring how you can administer the campaign with a gamesmaster - as well as some thoughts for how you could do it without one.

The Campaign Map

A real map of the area around Nancy, we're using it at the moment for our FPW game.

So, as discussed, we have our campaign map.  The next step for the gamesmaster is to give the players a list of their forces, which they can divide up how they like.

This would be an example list of forces for a brigade, say (made up - since this map is part of a still-active campaign and I don't want to give anything away!).  In a real supercampaign there would probably be a lot more than this.

• Infantry regiment
• Infantry regiment
• Artillery battery
• Cavalry squadron
• Wagon train
• Brigade commander
• Regimental commander
• Regimental commander

Each of these is represented by a base of 2mm models in our campaign.  The player then would divide them up into columns, in order of march.  Let's say the player goes with the following organisation

Column One

• Cavalry squadron
• Infantry regiment
• Regimental commander
• Brigade commander
• Wagon train

Column Two

• Infantry regiment
• Regimental commander
• Artillery battery

Working out the Details of the Columns

Next step for the GM is to work out the details of the columns - how fast they are, how big they are, how far they can see.  I've done a lot of reserach on this, based mainly on Major General Hamley's Operations of War (1873) and General Derrecagaix's Modern War Vols. I and II.  These figures should hold true for all 19th Century warfare.  First column is the average speed on the march, and the second is the length of the column on the march.

There's a lot of number crunching here, but for a simple example, Column Two would take up 1.25 km (1km for infantry + 250m for artillery).  Its top speed would be 4kph.

The Master Map

Once you have the columns all divided up and at their start points, you can start taking orders from the players and acting them out on your secret Master Map.  In our FPW game, each turn is an hour and it covers a roughly 50 x 100km area.  The ACW one was one day per turn, covering 200 x 400km.  Your scale should depend on the number of models you have and the size of engagement you want to fight.

This is a whiteboard-based order of battle I created for my ACW army, so I could annotate losses and reorganise my troops.

Reconnaisance Range

The 'reconnaisance range' of a column again depends on its composition.  If there is a good cavalry screen, like Column One, it could probably 'see' 10km, whereas Column Two would be lucky to see 4km.  As the GM, it will be your job to feed back reconnaissance reports for each column, based on how far they can see.

Organising tabletop battles

When two enemy columns meet, you play a tabletop battle.  GM discretion is vital here - if one side has a vastly superior reconnaissance range, you may decide to give that player the option of giving battle or pulling out.  When the forces are deployed, it's your job to put them into the right setup, based on what they were doing when the battle started.  Were they both marching towards each other, in which case each unit will be fed onto the field turn by turn?  Or was one side attacking a defended position, so they would start with all their forces on the field?

Roll with it, and don't rely on 'The Rules'

Describing it makes it seem terribly complex.  The key is not to be too prescriptive.  I can't write rules for every scenario - so I don't - and just use the key set of figures above and interpret every situation as it arises.  That's why it's important to know a little bit about the period.

Post Battle Phase

Once battles have been fought, the GM tallies up the casualties and annotates each players' list of forces accordingly.  After a suitable rest period (usually at least 24 hrs for large engagements, perhaps 2-3 hrs for skirmishes), the players regain control of their pips and the loser can move away.

Ending the Campaign

There is no 'victory point' system here.  We usually have an overarching campaign objective, very broadly defined, and it becomes very clear which side is the winner soon.  Usually our campaigns end by mutual agreement once one side's army is too battered to continue.

An ACW tabletop game in full swing.  We use the real
world maps to determine what the terrain should be.

Intelligence

Perhaps the most difficult job for the GM is providing intelligence to the players.  It's not compulsory, but it does add a hugely rewarding and exciting extra layer to the game.  The GM feeds information, some true, some false to each player and sits back to watch the ensuing carnage!  This can be as complex or as simple as you like, but it needs to be rigorously noted by the GM so they can keep track of who found out what information when.

Gamesmaster or Not?

A popular question I've had is what if there is no GM?  Of course, the GM doesn't take part so it takes a bit of self-sacrifice to volunteer for this difficult job.  Or perhaps there are only two players available.  There are a number of options here:

• Go without a GM.  This is the easiest option.  The advantage is in its simplicity - the disadvantage is you lose a lot of realism by knowing all your enemy's moves as he makes them.  Of course, if you're not interested in the strategy side of the campaign and are only interested in fighting tabletop battles, that works out quite well.  I should mention that for certain specific games this is also the appropriate choice - the ECW campaign was GM-less because it was based on a siege, there was less manoeuvre, and we reasoned we would all be able to see everything as it happened anyway.
• Randomise.  This is an option KB is exploring for fighting an NPC campaign.  The two players fight on the same side, and a simple D6 system ransomises what they see in front of them as they march.  In a more complex vein he is also working on a system where both players input their moves into a specially-designed Excel spreadsheet which automatically tells you what you're facing.  I think he'll be publishing more on this on his own blog when the project is finished.
• Battleships.  This is a sort of mix between the two, where the players answer a series of questions along the lines of "have you got any forces near X junction?"  This will of course give away the location of some of your forces, but not all of them.  I haven't tried this option yet to see if it works.

And that's the crash course!  I've simplified a lot of it, because I think the key point is not to have too many rules and deal with each situation as it arises.  If anyone has any questions, I'd be very happy to answer them below.

Ed