Imagi-Medieval Campaign Part 2: Players and Opening Tasks

As part of setting up the campaign, we needed to know who would take command of which aspiring empire.

The players willing to put their reputations on the line are Rejects Ray (Don't Throw a One), Lee (Big Lee's Miniature Adventures), Dan, Steve and Surjit, along with the Chief of the Rejects USA Chapter, Jonathan (Palouse Wargaming Journal).

Who Chooses First?

I could have picked names out of a hat.  However, I thought that here was the first opportunity for a test of knowledge and speed.

The six players were sent an email giving them seven days notice that at 8pm on 15 September they would receive an email with two questions.  The first to answer the questions correctly would choose first from all six countries; the second would choose from the remaining five, and so on.

The two questions were not difficult:

1. What was the name given to Louis XVI at his trial and execution in Jan 1793?

2.  I am always in front of you but you can never see me.  What am I?

The first correct reply come back at 8:01pm!  Keen or what!

The order of response was as follows:

1 - Ray at 20:01

2 - Lee at 20:02

3 - Steve at 20:09

4 - Dan at 20:11

5 - Jon at 20:28

6 - Surjit at 21:42

A close call between first and second.

Who Chose What?
Now that we had established the order of selection, what did they choose?

Ray - Austria

Lee - Lombardy

Steve - Batavia

Dan - Bohemia

Jon - Brandenburg

Surjit was left with Franconia

Interestingly, a couple of the players expressed surprise that certain countries were not chosen.  Especially  that Franconia was not picked at all, but left to last place Surjit.  Do you agree?

Naming and Neutralising

The next tasks were for the players to access their campaign order sheets and to give names to their ruler and three generals.  For the battles, the generals will all start with the rating of "plodding".  With time and battlefield success they can improve their ratings.  The rulers' will be given a permanent rating at random.  The ratings are buffoon, plodding, efficient and brilliant.  These ratings affect the weighting of the number of actions per turn and command radius.

The names of the various rulers and their three army commanders are:

Austria: Ray will now be known as King Leopold V, the Virtuous (howls of laughter now coming from the rest of the Rejects).  His generals are Prince Frederick the Krieger, Duke Heinrich II Jasomirgott, and Count Lukas von Graben zum Stein.

Batavia:  Steve now becomes Earl Ragnar Lothbrok assisted by his three Constables Sweyn Forkbeard, Ivar The Boneless, and Harald Fairhair.

Bohemia:  Dan has a rather formidable sounding Queen by the name of Eliska Premyslova.  Her loyal army commanders are Lords Oldrich of Vitkov and Zbynek of Lichtenburk, and General Jan of Rozmberk.

Brandenburg:  Jonathan is now Duke Frederich von Freytag.  His trusted commanders are the Counts Ulrich von Lindow, Hermann von Orlamünde, and Dietrich von Stade.

Franconia:  Surjit now becomes King Elrond the Wise.  He has the loyalty of Marshal Gandalf the Great, Prince Aragon the Brave, and Prince Legolas the Swift.

Lombardy:  Lee is now transformed into King Ottaviano di Valperga.  His three army commanders being Duke Giacomo da Varenna, Count Ottone Grimaldi, and Marshal Matteo Farracorta.

Each player must also secretly submit the name of one area/principality in Mitteleuropa that will remain neutral for at least two campaign years (six turns).  That means that no-one, including the person who selected it, during that time may invade and capture those territories.  So, a careful choice could give advantage, protection and possibly hinder a rival.  These were their choices placed in alphabetical order of territory:

Cisalpine

Eins

Mainz

Neu

Sesia

Trent

Would you have made different decisions?  How do you think these choices might impact play?

As I type, emails are already flying back and forth as rival rulers negotiate pacts, alliances and (no doubt) spread rumour and sow discontent.  At the same time contemplating their orders for turn one.

Imagi-Medieval Campaign Part 1: Introduction and Background

Let me introduce you to the imaginary continent of Mitteleuropa.  Six players representing the aspiring empires of Austria, Batavia, Bohemia, Brandenburg, Franconia and Lombardy are all casting their covetous eyes over the rich territories of Mitteleuropa.

Mitteleuropa
The six players will each control one of the nascent empires: Franconia, Batavia, Brandenburg, Bohemia, Austria, and Lombardy.

Background Sometime in the early 15th century, powerful, yet fledgling, empires are preparing to launch themselves on an ambitious round of conquest in the unsuspecting region of Mitteleuropa. Rivals may ally but there can be only one victor with the goal being to dominate and prove themselves worthy of acclaim.  Each player has between 5 and 10 campaign years to make their mark.  The only fly in the ointment of the aspiring empire builders is the troublesome, dangerous and rapacious Lithuanian Confederation… and the occasional natural (and unnatural) disaster!

Being the master of Mitteleuropa will mean acquiring a number of titles, with the possessor of the most being the one to hold the title Ultimus Imperator.  The titles to win are:

Fidei Defensor - The player who donates the most treasure to the Pope.
Imperius Rex - The player who owns the most territories.
Castellan Dominatus - The player who successfully besieges the most castles.
Alma Habitatus - The player who has increased the value of their final possessions the most. This will be evidence of enhancing the prosperity of your subjects.
L’Homme de Guerre - The player who wins the most field battles.
Renaissance Man - The player who fulfils a range of tasks in different disciplines and wins the acclaim of others. These tasks being:

• Produce a painting or drawing.
• Write a poem at least 15 lines long.
• Display some musical talent.
• Produce a commentary on a scientific or astronomical event or development.
• Show speed in calculation and accuracy with the bow.

L’Homme sans Reproche - At the end of the campaign each player must secretly give to the umpire their choice for the one who has played the best campaign in terms of fair play, heroic conduct and honourable behaviour.

Campaign Elements As you may now realise, this is not a quick, over in a month, campaign.  More of a leisurely stroll than a sprint.  Each player must gain territory, build towns, castles and increase wealth.  All of that increases the treasure available to build armies.  I hope that the campaign is one of battles, sieges, alliances, chivalrous behaviour and non-onerous resource management.  In short, the players have to be good generals, builders and wise rulers.

The campaign rules are ones that I have written.  If you are interested here is the link to them: Founding Empires.  I won't pretend that they fabulously written... but they'll do!

The tabletop battles will use Flower of Chivalry as they provide quick games that capture a little of the  difficulty of commanding medieval armies.

Each area of Mitteleuropa that is captured provides an income shown on the map above.  This can be augmented with some investment - the towns etc. that I mentioned earlier.

There will be random events - some good, some bad.  The army lists are based on early 15th century troop types.  However, both can change with the passage of campaign time as technology and knowledge develops.

Apart from the fun of piecing the campaign together, I've actually spent a fair bit of happy time getting a range of spreadsheets in place to handle the vast majority of the umpire admin and to assist the player in doing their orders and building.  Fingers crossed it all holds together under duress.

Ultimately, it's all about having fun and creating purpose for some games.

Well, that's enough for now.  The next campaign post will set out the sides and their pre-turn 1 tasks.