PBEM framework for an Oathmark campaign

 I'm thinking of running a PBEM for two friends, specifically with Oathmark, but I feel that this process could work for a lot of miniatures games. One of the things that triggered this was watching Ash and Stone's video about playing Oathmark solo, a technique that could work well for me as GM fighting battles on behalf of two players. Watch the video here and check the info on it for a download of his solo rules:

That pretty much covers the tabletop side of things. For the campaign, the kingdoms that each player has would be publicly available, so players will know what types of troops they might face, and the available figures for each terrain type are listed on the Oathmark page on this blog. That gives the players some degree of foreknowledge, but they will not know what the enemy army will actually look like until they face it in the field.

 The key question for me is how to streamline the campaign, so that it involves the fewest possible exchanges of emails. If I strictly follow the sequence of play in the Oathmark rule book, I get something like the following:

1. Players muster their armies and send the lists to the GM
2. The GM checks the lists and tells the players what the scenario and battlefield layout are
3. Players send the GM a deployment map each.
4. The GM tells the players how the enemy is deployed.
5. Players then send the GM a battle plan each.
6. The GM fights the battle, reports the results and adjudicates how this affects the campaign.
7. If the campaign will continue, start at point 1 again.

This framework involves three emails from the players to the GM and three from the GM to the players. I wonder if it would make a huge difference to the progress of the individual battles if the sequence started with the GM sending the players the battlefield map and the scenario, and they then reply with their army for that battle and their list, deployment and proposed tactics. That would result in the following sequence:

1. The GM informs the players about the scenario and the battlefield layout.
2. Players muster their armies and send the GM army lists and a deployment map each.
3. The GM tells the players how the enemy is deployed.
4. Players then send the GM a battle plan each.
5. The GM fights the battle, reports the results and adjudicates how this affects the campaign.
6. If the campaign will continue, start at point 1 again.

That is still three emails from the GM but reduces the input required from the players. It would be possible to reduce it still further by combining points 2 and 4, resulting in this sequence:

1. The GM informs the players about the scenario and the battlefield layout.
2. Players muster their armies and send the GM their army lists, a deployment map each and their battle plan.
3. The GM fights the battle, reports the results and adjudicates how this affects the campaign.
4. If the campaign will continue, start at point 1 again.

This reduces the campaign turn to two emails from the GM and one from the players, but also reduces the level of control the players have, because they must plan their tactics in more general terms without knowing how the enemy army is deployed. Some players would react against this, while others would be happy sending more general orders to try to cover various eventualities. I guess it would come down to the players' preferences and desire to be actively involved, plus their willingness and ability to respond quickly to game emails. With a planned turnaround of one month per battle, it should not be impossible to follow the first framework, but I shall have to ask my players what they think.

Dodgson's World: The Hellfire Campaign Part 5

I seem to be missing an AAR and the accompanying photos. Hmm. Ah well, never mind. Last time around, we fought a battle north of Alacrity. The insurgents held the field but at some cost to themselves.

After the last battle in Alacrity, both sides pulled back to lick their wounds. Casualties had been heavy and neither side felt ready to try again immediately. The rebels camped north of Alacrity while the Company occupied the town, only to retreat southwards to give themselves time to recover before assaulting again. While the two main forces recovered, other elements of both sides began converging on Alacrity once more. By the afternoon of the fifth day, the insurgents felt able to move their main force into the town. ShortCom responded by sending in the remnants of Jessop's Regiment. The insurgents hunkered down, ready to make taking the town costly while Prince Bishopette Athaniel Moor tried to complete her mission of kissing babies and raising the flag for the insurgents.

In the meantime, Liberty Battalion of the insurgents had made its way by secret mountain trails to the outskirts of Alacrity. It immediately moved to pin the remaining ShortCom forces.

In Alacrity, the insurgents had occupied a number of key buildings. They dug in and hoped to weather the ShortCom storm just as they had before.

Unfortunately for them, the ShortCom commander had finally got to grips with the technology available to him. The artillery barrage quickly destroyed one company of insurgents, while the long range shelling for the supporting light tank saw off another. The insurgents had nothing with which to counter this long range assault, so they girded their loins and moved quickly forwards from building to building until they were within range of the enemy and could attempt to take out the enemy with their short-range RPGs. Sadly this did not work. There was nothing for it but to try to break out by close assaulting the vehicles and making a gap in the enemy's lines.

The company guarding the Prince Bishopette charged forward to engage the enemy mobile infantry. They outnumbered the enemy 2:1, their blood was up, and they were fighting for something they believed in. They could not lose. Reader, they lost. As the melee raged backwards and forwards, they held the upper hand at all times but could not quite close the deal. Then disaster struck. A ShortCom snatch team grabbed the Prince Bishopette and bundled her into a waiting APC as the insurgents were driven back. As they caught their breath, ShortCom troopers covered the withdrawal of the APC. The campaign was over. The insurgents had failed and ShortCom could now dominate all of Fidelis Superior.

This was a fun little campaign. The rules required a certain amount of interpretation and sportsmanship on the part of the players, but that suited us nicely. Hellfire itself is a pretty good set of rules. The combat calculations felt a bit clunky at the start but we soon got to grips with them and I'm sure that the mental arithmetic has rejuvenated our ageing brains a little bit. The only problem with the rules is that they don't quite play quickly enough to fit the time available to us, but that won't stop us playing them again when we have more time.

Dodgson's World: The Hellfire Campaign (Part 4)

D-Day+2, afternoon
Chastity GHQ

"Sir, we've caught the rebels just south-east of Salvation. Looks like we have them outnumbered. Reports suggest it is their Liberty Battalion without any support."
"Tell the men to hit them hard, Lieutenant."

The Company concentrated its forces in the Salvation area. 26T Infantry Battalion formed an improvised brigade with the Spaceport Defence Company, the remnants of 36R Airmobile and the remnants of the Salvation Gendarmerie.

Part-way through the battle (rebels at bottom of photo)

The battle saw the rebels advance on a small village outside Salvation. Their vehicles tried to stand off and use their superior range to slowly destroy the enemy forces. They quickly took out the Spaceport Defence Vehicle and the transport vehicles of 36R Airmobile were soon knocked out. The infantry proved a tougher nut to crack and it was necessary to dismount the Liberty Battalion's infantry companies. They pressed forward against heavy fire.

The assault was not without cost. Liberty Battalion 2nd Armoured company was almost entirely wiped out and the support section was reduced to just one damaged lorry. Nevertheless, they held the field at the end of the day, but it may prove to have been a Pyrrhic victory.

"Sir, our troops have retreated in the face of the enemy and we have taken heavy casualties. 36R Airmobile and the Salvation Gendarmerie were both wiped out, but we gave the rebels a bloody nose."
"Very good, lieutenant. Plenty more troops where ours came from. If this needs to be a war of attrition, we will win it. No doubt about that."

The general is right. The forces that the rebels lost are ones they can ill afford to lose. If it comes to a straight infantry fight the Company has the numbers and the weapons. We'll have to see how it pans out next time around.

The situation at the end of the afternoon on Day 2

ShortCom Forces (Yellow)
1 26T Infantry Battalion
2 Spaceport Defence Company
3 36R Airmobile Battalion
4 Salvation gendarmerie (1 company)
5 Alacrity gendarmerie (1 company)
6 Joados Marauders (1 company of mercenary Thaugs)
7 Jessop's Regiment (2 troops of armoured infantry with artillery support)

Insurgents (White)
1 Dedicationalist Sect, Fidelis Guard (1 infantry battalion)
2 Liberty Battalion (1 improvised armoured battalion)
3 127 Mobile Brigade (2 infantry battalions)
? Unidentified forces

Dodgson's World: The Hellfire Campaign (Part 3)

D-Day+2, morning.
Chastity GHQ
"General, 36R Airmobile and the Alacrity Gendarmerie were engaged on a recon in force. They report an encounter with a large rebel infantry force north of the Thrift Mountains. Initial reports suggest light casualties on the part of our troops and much heavier casualties for the rebels. Our force has withdrawn from the field. They claim to have identified a doolie wagon carrying Prince Bishopette Athaniel Moor."
"That's good news, Comms. Get me Ops on the line and we'll soon have this rebellion crushed."

The Company had deployed two small units to the north-west of Alacrity to scout a single possible enemy force. They found the entirety of 127 Mobile Brigade comprising the 44th (Whistling Joeys) Battalion and the 45th (Staunch in Righteousness) Battalion. The rebel forces deployed quickly in the abundant bad going in the foothills of the Thrift Mountains and waited for the Company forces to come. The Company entered from off table with the gendarmerie marching as fast as they could for the nearest cover. The Airmobile unit dropped its passengers off behind some convenient cover and the transports skedaddled. Steve was taking no chances with his vehicles in this game! His troops took fire from early on, especially from the rebel artillery but the rebels might as well have been firing blanks for all the good it did them. The rebel infantry closed on the Company forces and opened fire. A few casualties were caused but they took many times more in the process. As the rebels massed to assault, the Company forces pulled back. They had done what they came to do. Time to let command know and for GHQ to task a larger force to wipe out these pesky rebels.

The battlefield. Rebel positions marked in blue. Company forces marked in Red

The Gendarmerie retreated in some disarray. I think Steve did not realise half his unit was pointing the wrong way!

The biggest problem that the rebels faced (apart from my dice) was that many were equipped with energy weapons and the Company forces were wearing ablat armour which is designed to stop energy weapons. The other problem they had was that half of them had no armour while the other half were wearing flak armour which is ineffective versus energy weapons. The Company had no such problems. This made this apparently uneven battle much more even.

The situation at the end of the morning turn on Day 2

ShortCom Forces (Yellow)
1 26T Infantry Battalion
2 Spaceport Defence Company
3 36R Airmobile Battalion
4 Salvation gendarmerie (1 company)
5 Alacrity gendarmerie (1 company)
6 Joados Marauders (1 company of mercenary Thaugs)
7 Jessop's Regiment (2 troops of armoured infantry with artillery support)

Insurgents (White)
1 Dedicationalist Sect, Fidelis Guard (1 infantry battalion)
2 Liberty Battalion (1 improvised armoured battalion)
3 127 Mobile Brigade (2 infantry battalions)
? Unidentified forces

Dodgson's World: The Hellfire Campaign (The Battle for Salvation)

Meanwhile in Salvation ...

"Sir, there's a motorised column of rebels heading our way."

"Don't worry, lieutenant, The Salvation Town Militia is more than a match for a bunch of scruffy rebels."

"Sir, they outnumber us!"
"I said not to worry, lieutenant. They'll never take the town. We'll fort up here and pick them off as they approach. We have the advantage of terrain and morale. What could they possibly have that could defeat that combination?"

"Sir, the perimeter guards report heavy casualties. The enemy is standing off and shelling us from across the river. We have nothing that can touch them at that range."
"Don't worry, lieutenant. We'll just pull back further into the town. That will negate their advantage and then we can pick them off in the streets."

The comms officer at Chastity GHQ turned to the heavily be-ribboned officer behind him. He licked his lips. The sight of an officer with that much gold braid on him was intimidating and he was not happy to be reporting bad news.

"General, reports are coming in of heavy casualties in Salvation. The town has fallen and the local militia are in full flight. Indications are that the rebels attacked in full strength with a large contingent of heavily armed technicals. They shelled the town from a distance and then drove in to pick up the pieces. The militia took heavy casualties before fleeing. They claim to have put up a brave fight and damaged the rebels badly but the satellite imagery suggests otherwise."

"Thank you, Comms. Get me ADC Kurz. I think we need to do something about these people."

Dodgson's World: The Hellfire Campaign (Turn 1, Part 1)

We began our Hellfire campaign this week. It will probably take a month or two to complete. The goal of the campaign is for the insurgents to capture a city, get Prince Bishopette Athaniel Moor to that city, and to hold it for two days while she kisses babies and has her photograph taken everywhere. This will be a huge boost for the insurgent cause and will go a long way towards forcing Short Company to either leave the planet or to change their working practices. Naturally, ShortCom does not wish this to happen, so their goal is to prevent the insurgents from achieving their goal.

"Sir, the Fidelians are revolting!"
"Come now, lieutenant, they are rather grim by our standards, but that's a bit harsh."
"No, sir, they are revolting. Satellite images indicate six columns of Fidelians coming our way. Scouts on the ground report that the Church of Fidelis has mobilised its Dedicationalist Sect Guard battalion, while the Fidelian resistance movement appears to have dispatched The Liberty Battalion, the 44th Whistling Joeys and the 45th Staunch in Righteousness battalions. This is it, sir. What shall we do?"

General Short examined the map of Fidelis Province and checked the forces available to him. He knew he had the technology and superior firepower. He just needed to deploy it properly.

ShortCom Forces (Yellow)
1 26T Infantry Battalion
2 Spaceport Defence Company
3 36R Airmobile Battalion
4 Rural gendarmerie (1 company)
5 Rural gendarmerie (1 company)
6 Joados Marauders (1 company of mercenary Thaugs)
7 Jessop's Regiment (2 troops of armoured infantry with artillery support)

Insurgents (White)
1 Dedicationalist Sect, Fidelis Guard (1 infantry battalion)
2 Liberty Battalion (1 improvised armoured battalion)
? Unidentified forces

"Tell the garrison companies at Salvation and Alacrity to stand fast. We'll mobilise support for them from Thrift and Chastity. And get Intelligence to scan these movements. We need to work out where their main strike is going to come from."
"Sir, Intelligence says they are struggling to identify anything at the moment. There's too much cover in the mountains."
"Ok. Get me the commander of 36R Airmobile on the blower. We'll send his troops into the mountains to scout that blip in the north. Tell Jessop's Regiment to move out and intercept the other blip just north of Thrift, and get 26T Battalion to move out and intercept the insurgents as they leave the mountains. We'll get them in a vice and crush them."

Later that morning.
"Sir, reports are coming in that 36R has made contact with enemy forces in the mountains. Looks like they've found the Dedicationalists and it's got hot. An insurgent armoured battalion has also attacked Salvation."
"Very good, lieutenant. Keep me apprised of the situation. Once 36R has crushed them, they can scout the others. And let's see what we can do to help the gendarmes at Salvation."
"Sir, update on the situation in the mountains. 36R has met stiff resistance and is taking heavy fire from the insurgents. One fighter from Omega Company is down. No survivors. Alpha company is also reporting heavy casualties."

The battle between 36R Airmobile and the Fidelis Guard was surprisingly one-sided. The ground attack craft were put out of commission in the first turn as ground fire shot one down and destroyed the sensor array on the other, putting it out of action. Half a company of Airmobile infantry was shot out of the sky with no survivors. The remainder managed to land before their craft was destroyed but then they were shot up by the insurgents with no survivors. The remaining company tried a flanking movement but decided to withdraw quickly when the rest of the battalion was so quickly destroyed. In all this, the insurgents lost only one stand of infantry. Steve's dice rolling in this battle was terrible and mine was really good leading to a very one-sided game. Also, I got so involved with the game that I forgot to take any photos of it!

"Sir, reports in from 36R. The support company is out of action and Alpha Company has been destroyed. Beta Company is withdrawing. We're still awaiting reports from Salvation."

Next time we meet, we'll fight the Battle for Salvation and then continue with the campaign. Theoretically, this battle should be fairly one-sided, because the ShortCom forces are so weak, but you never know what the dice will throw at you.

Talomir Tales: A tale of a successful campaign

This blog has been neglected for a long time because of my peripatetic work life which led to a lack of face-to-face gaming. My Talomir Tales blog continued, largely because my players were remote, and I did not have to be present for the games. However, the long-running Talomir Tales campaign has finally ended (for now) with a victory for the Mirish empire. What gets me about this is that the campaign lasted for eight years and we could probably have gone on for another eight, had the freakish circumstance of Mirish acquiring all three artefacts not happened. As it is, Mirish successfully did this and thus wins. Presumably, the emperor will take them to the Peaks of Gorath and enact an unspeakable ritual to bring to pass a new age of the Black Moon.

This has caused me to reflect upon what made this campaign successful. To some extent, the reasons are probably nebulous. Steve and I made a connection with this campaign that endured and maintained our interest, where other campaigns that started well have foundered along the way. I have no idea what this connection was. Still, I can point to a number of things that contributed to the campaign's success.

1. We started small and built up. The campaign began with four nations fighting it out. That meant that we could get the armies painted quickly and easily with no downtime while we waited to finish the forces for each battle.
2. The campaign rules were simple with little book-keeping. I could easily run a campaign turn through in 15 minutes. This was a great help. When life got busy, I was still able to find time to run a campaign turn through and work out what the next battle was.
3. The campaign rules were focused on battles.This meant that the game was all about the table-top action, not the campaign actions. Players had little control over when they went to war, because that was dealt with by the campaign system. They only needed to focus on playing games and winning battles for their leader.

These are the practical matters that helped. The campaign was never a burden with loads of record-keeping, although it did become difficult when it expanded beyond a certain point, because we wound up with too many battles to fight. At that point, we recruited more people to help us.

This is where the chosen rules were also a great advantage. Rally round the King is eminently suited for solo play, so no one needed an opponent present to fight the battles. The rules include sections to aid solo deployment and fighting of battles, so that the player can get on with the important task of rolling dice. You can play one side against the system or you can let the system control both sides. The THW reaction system even drives most of the action anyway, so it is all very simple to have players all over the world even if they have no opponent present.

Finally, we got engaged with the story, and I think this is one of the main reasons why the campaign continued to a conclusion. We told stories about the battles, engaged in banter relating to the characters and generals in the armies, and we constructed a whole history for the campaign in our heads. We wanted to continue because we enjoyed the storytelling. The campaign could have been played to a conclusion without that, but I really do think that the storytelling drove us to continue.

So, head on over to the Talomir Tales blog if you want, and check out the history of the past 15 (game) years in Talomir. I hope you find something to inspire your gaming too.