Friday 11 July 2008

Kleine Kreig - solo campaign ideas and thoughts...



Some of you may know I am a school teacher to trade. I am on my summer hols at present and my thoughts have turned to Kleine Kreig - the 18th century activity and the super rules written by Jim Purky. For that reason I have posted a picture of the Prussian Frei Korps unit led by Quintius Icilius , who I think started out as a school teacher before taking up his military work under Frederick the great.

My regular opponent is poised to raise his Prussians and I am reorganising Reicsarmee /Austrians in opposition. We will raise 30 fig batts and use BAR. This will be a late summer,autumn and winter project to work towards. I look forward to regular BAR games - it will be excellent fun.

I want a solo imagination project also and for this reason ( and because I really like the idea a great deal) I am looking at the possibility of fighting the struggle betwixt Tradgardland and Skogsmork at a local/lower level - skirmishing in the villages,woods and lakes ( maybe some limited naval stuff with galley borne troops rowed upon the lakes) around the border between the two Duchies.

With this in mind I need to draw a relatively detailed map of the border country, organise populations and troops, etc etc- gosh much to do and much fun to be had! In other words a sort of solo campaign at a skirmish level- company/grand division level rather than Brigade. All this sounds a heady mix of exciting and daunting but I shall give it a whirl - map first!

As ever your ideas and input would be gratefully received and I look forward to hearing your advice. I see,incidentally this is my 200th post - here's to the next!!

12 comments:

  1. This sounds like an interesting project Alan. I will look forward to reading about its progress in the future.

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  2. Hello Alan,

    I concur! You could use Henry Hyde's methods, outlined in previous issues of Battlegames, for generating terrain and settlements at a small scale, local level. That's where I'd start with the kind of campaign you envision. Just my two penneth worth. ;-)

    Best Regards,

    Stokes

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  3. You have an interesting project lined up here. I'm also thinking of introducing a minor naval aspect to my campaign based on lakes and rivers.

    It's uncanny how schoolteachers take to military life. General Slim of Burma fame was a teacher before serving in WW1. =)

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  4. Wow! This is a tall order. You need to keep focus: Decide RIGHT AT THE START what you want to do. If it's just wargaming then keep it at wargaming level. Do not get distracted by politics/diplomacy/economy, etc. By all means develop your armies, complete with personalities (some fantasy games' NPC generation systems are worth a look) but unless you really want to, don't start worrying about how your imagi-nations are going to pay their armies, how many rations per year can you spare from your GDP, etc, etc.
    I have seen other campaigns wilt under the burden of admin. Once you start book-keeping, then :-(
    But... best of luck and good gaming!

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  5. Gentlemen
    Which issues of Battlegames have the articles- I am afraid I don't subscribe to any glossy at present but would beinterested in useful back issues . I do have one or two and must have a look at them...
    Thanks for the advice gentlemen
    Alan

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  6. For establishing campaigning, nothing beats Bruce Quarrie's Napoleon's Campaigns in Miniature.

    You can find a number of copies all over the net from as little as $23 to over $111 (wow my little hardback may be worth more than I thought).

    While it is about Napoleonics, it does cover all aspects of what you are trying to accomplish in workable detail. By workable I mean that such things as the politics etc are taken out of the equation and if you want to you can include a level of detail or just KISS.

    Find samples :
    Here
    Here
    Here
    Here and,
    Here
    Cheers

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  7. Murdock is right,Bruce Quarrie's Napoleon's Campaigns in Miniature, is an excellent source. I must have read it about 20 years ago, and it's definitely time for a reread. Fear not tread on, enjoy your campaign and keep us informed.
    Best regards...Bill

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  8. Sounds like fun. Hope to hear more as you get on with it!
    The best advice I have come across is to Keep It Simple, Sir. At least to start with, that is if you want to actually play some games. I have heard so many stories of campaigns getting bogged down in detail and petering out. Of course the level of detail that works for you may seem like too much detail for someone else (or vice versa). You can always add more detail as you go. Henry Hyde's stuff sure sounds detailed from what I've read in Battlegames(but he's been doing it for decades, I believe).
    He starts in issue 1 with an intro and goes into various aspects at least through issue 9 (which reminds me, I need to order the rest of the issues).
    It's an excellent wargaming magazine, which I read pretty much cover to cover, even the stuff that is outside my usual eras/genres of interest.
    I haven't subscribed to a gaming magazine for a long time; maybe it's time I start again. :-)

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  9. Another good resource might be to invest in an ONC or JNC topographic map of the area your 'imagination' is located in. That way you do not need to come up with all the details...since the JNC series maps already do a great job of that for you!

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  10. Henry does spread his information out through issue 12, in fact, starting at issue 1. A series of articles. However, I'd say the most critical for what you're looking at are issues 3, 4, and 5 which dealt with terrain and army size calculations.

    Might I also recommend the Random Terrain Generator on my site http://www.musterthetroops.com/
    which was developed from the initial calculations in Henry's articles. The articles take the calculations much further with roads and towns and resources, but it gives a basic terrain set.

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  11. I'd suggest just diving in, and posting your ideas as they evolve. I always like that on other blogs I read, as people size up ideas and toy with different methods, explaining their thinking, etc. After all, it's your show and nobody's going to tell you you're in the wrong. At most, you'll get a good alternative suggestion! :-)

    On the ongoing 'teacher' link, my partner is becoming a primary school teacher, which I think might still count...

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  12. Looks like an exciting and intersting project with plenty of scope for gaming

    -- Allan

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