Do campaigns work?

[waylander2]

Has anyone had success stories with campaigns that have worked?

I'm tempted to get a campaign going. Lack of players isn't a problem, there's 12 possible players (not sure they'd all be up for it, but 5 is enough)

The thing that puts me off with a campaign is ..... in warhammer you start (roughly) even, you both have the same points. What happens if two/three friends decide to go for one player, beating him up so he can't recover. It will mean that player won't be competitive in the campaign, and probably won't enjoy the experience.

[Jasfmpgh]

Warhammer map based campaigns are tough to pull off.. the reasons you described are just a few. The game really doesn't lend itself to a risk style board.

If I was going to try it I would suggest a more league format... Maybe roll each week for types of battles and places.. then each player takes turns choosing where they would like to fight that week. (2 players per battle)

I would also suggest you have a end planned.. like after 8 weeks have a final battle and decide a winner or something. If your getting you but handed to you its alot easier to take when you know the end is only a week or two away.

If you try it out I wish you the best of luck.. let us know how it turns out.

[Carrelio]

I don't knwo if I'm misinterpretting the question wrong, but when I played a 40k campaign, we based ours off a story line rather than the invasions of a continent.

So you'd have some sort of 'escort the special guy' senario going and then depending on who won or lost that you'd move onto the next senario based off of that, so if the guy was killed you'd have a vanguard from the side that was originally attacked march off to war, only to be ambushed on their way there by the next player (*gasps all around*)! And you just keep going with the story.

For my 40K campaign, we had what eventualy turned into a "It's mine!" senario, where first there was a base, which got beaten back to it's last defences, then fought foreward again, then got taken entirely, then reinforcements arrived and tried to reclaim the base. It went on for a good long time, lots of fun.

As for a fantasy campaign... perhaps there is some super cool magical item that everyone is fighting for, so first it's everyone against everyone, then when someone gets the item they have to secure it and bring it back to their kingdom (which is like... 4 battle grounds away) while the other 2 fight over it and try to kill the guy carrying it?

Try to make a less cheesy story than that, it makes the game alot of fun.

[Rabidnid]

I've run a lot of campaigns for Star Fleet Battles, Battletech and 40K. The basic premise is always the same. There is a giant, Lare, radiation, nembula etc etc in the middle of the map, so you can only end up fighting 2 people at once. Then you give the players a starting force that is say 4000 points but don't allow more than to fight in a battle (due to logistics, narrow roads or whatever).

depending on how you design the replacement rules, you can favour attacking or defending as required. My group was old experienced gamers so they had no problem attacking, but you can make the rules favour attackers if everybody looksa like they are just going to sit and do nothing.

I will try to find the rules and post them here.

[Rabidnid]

THE RELIC

Stories abound of the treasures the old ones that can be found deep in the Lustra jungle. One such story has come to light. The amazon who carried the story released it in parts as she traveled accoss the old world from, Cathay to Brettonia, to pay her way, in her efforts to get back home. The story is on an item so powerful that it can be used to travel anywhere in the world, and beyond to the plains of the gods. Currently it resides in an temple deep in the Lustra jungle on a lake. The lake and the surrounds are within a volcanic crater with only limited paths in and out. Entrepenurs from across the old world have created expeditions to find this temple, and take vcontrol of the power within.


Definitions.
A unit is a brood, pack, mob, squad, herd, independent character, war machine or monster.
A group or grouping is a collection of units trying to do the same thing.
Strength is the number of wounds worth of monsters or personnel/beasties – War machines do not count toward strength calculations.


Forces.
Each side starts with 2,500 points of troops and characters which at this point are not required to conform to an organisational table. The units to be used are chosen before the start of the campaign, and remain fixed, except as described below.
1) Unit organisations are fixed except for reduction due to casualties and amalgamation of units below minimum size. A unit that has fallen below its minimum strength may be amalgamated with another unit of the same type if the resultant unit does not exceed the maximum allowed size of that unit or cause it to have more attributes than it is entitled to (standards, musos, etc.).
2) The following criteria apply to the forces that wish to initiate combat.
¨ The force cannot exceed 1250 points.
¨ The force must be legal by the WHFB rule book or by the warbands rule if below 500 points.
3) If a grouping does not comply with either of the above criteria, neither it nor any of its component units can enter a hex containing enemy units. If brought to combat by enemy units entering its hex, up to 1250 points of the force may be deployed. Any models that cannot be deployed due to exceeding the 1250 point limit are destroyed if their side is forced to leave the hex.

Movement. Strategic movement is plotted, secret and simultaneous. Movement ends when a hex containing enemy units is entered. Combats do not occur across hex edges, when this might be the case each side rolls 1xD6 – the lowest roll becoming the defender.
1) All units have 3 movement points to use for movement each turn.
¨ Clear/road/city hexes cost 1 movement point to enter,
¨ River hexes with a bridge cost 2 movement points to enter,
¨ River hexes without a bridge cost 3 movement points to enter.
¨ River hexes without a bridge cost 3 movement points to enter.
¨ City hexes being entered from a non-road hex cost 3 movement points to enter.
¨ Causeways cost 0 movement points to cross - hexes on either side of a causeway count as adjacent.
2) Lake hexes are impassable to all units.

Supply. During the supply phase of the strategic turn, units replace used ammunition and other expendable items. Supply is traced primarily along roads - only two of the hex sides that supply is traced through may be without roads also passing through them.
¨ The supply source for each side is the road they arrived on.
¨ Supply is traced from the unit to the supply source and does not include the hex the unit currently occupies.
Note: even all mounted or all flying forces move 3 strategically, as their logistics are still using wagons, slaves, pack animals, etc.

Blocking Supply. Hexes containing enemy units blocks supply even if units from the side that wishes to trace supply through the hex are also present..
¨ At least one of the units in a hex blocking supply must be present on the table the start of a battle for the hex (they can’t all arrive later via specail rules).

Out of Supply. Out of supply units may move and fight normally within a hex but cannot leave it. They operate under the following limitations.
¨ Units driven out of their hex while out of supply are destroyed.
¨ Units reorganising while out of supply subtract one D6 from the number of rolls they get per 10 wounds, if reduced to zero they get none of their losses back.

Surrounded Units.
If a unit is completely surrounded by enemy controlled hexes and forced to retreat from its current hex, the unit is destroyed.

Combat.
Combats use the WHFB ruless. Battles are fought on a 4’ X 4’ table
1) Units cannot deploy within 8” of the table centre-line in a cross table battle or within 8” of the centre of the table in a corner battle. Units cannot deploy within 18” of a previously deployed enemy unit, unless they meet one of the following criteria.
¨ They have special deployment rules and use (or are required to use) those rules.
2) Battle generator, roll 1xD6:

1 – Opposite corners at night
2 – Opposite sides during the day
3 - Opposite corners during the day
4 - Opposite sides at night
5 – Opposite sides at dawn
6 - Opposite corners at dawn.


Retreat From Combat. For a group to retreat from an ongoing combat it must be on or have reached the table edge most adjacent to a hex not occupied by enemy units and then successfully move off the table into that hex. Units surrounded by enemy occupied hexes or that are forced to cross a causeway are instead destroyed.

Reorganising After Combat. Reorganisation includes recruiting locally, rounding up strays, making repairs and the arrival of replacements.
1) The side which drove off, captured or destroyed all of the enemy units that were on the table, rolls 3xD6 for each 10 wounds (rounding up) suffered by its force and removes that number of wounds from its destroyed or damaged models and repairs all damage to its vehicles.
2) If both forces still had units on table when the game ended, roll 2xD6 for each 10 wounds (rounding up) suffered by each force and remove that number of wounds from destroyed or damaged models of that side.
3) Sides which were driven off table roll 1xD6 for each 10 wounds (rounding up) suffered by its force and removes that number of wounds from its destroyed or damaged models.
4) Add +1 to the result of any reorganisation number rolled for each city that a side is the undisputed occupier of.

Terrain.
1) Use the terrain generator from rulebook to place terrain if the players cannot agree on a suitable terrain set-up.
2) Map rivers appear on the table and are impassable to non-amphibious and flying uniits except at bridges. Light and unarmoured infantry and cavalry, whether units or characters, treat it as difficult going.

Victory conditions. Victory goes to the player who delivers a relic to the temple. It is obvious which unit is carrying the relic because of the energy it emits.
1) The relic will prevent its transferee from one unit to another other than by the total destruction of the unit carrying it - the relic cannot be destroyed by any means.
2) The relic can be captured by killing/destroying the unit carrying the relic. When the unit is destroyed, the relic is placed where the last model died, and remains there until picked up by another model. The unit of the model that picks up the relic – if it has one – is then tasked with delivering it to the central island temple.

The relic. Somewhere within the crater is the relic which triggers the teleport device within the temple. Each turn that one or more of a players’ unit is in uncontested occupation of a ruined city, roll 2xD6, on the roll of 2 the relic has been found by one of the searchers within the city.
¨ Only traineed and trusted searchers are looking for the relics, so the number of grubby untrustworthy troops with the ruins has no effect on the search roll.
¨ If more than one “2” rolled in the same turn, then those players roll off until there is only one with the relic.
¨ The powerful emissions when the relic is found will be obvious to all of the mages within the crater.

The Temple. The temple occupies a table edge of the hex in the centre of the lake. The campaign ends when a unit with the relic reaches the platform of the temple, the owner of the unit delivering the relic being the winner.

TURN SEQUENCE
(1) Relic
(2) Supply
(3) Movement
(4) Reinforcement
(5) Combat
(6) Retreat from combat.



Map Key
The central hex on the map is the temple.
The circular grey region is a large lake that is impassable to all units.
The irregular grey areas on roads are ruined cities.



http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/9044/map5finalsh1.th.jpg (http://img125.imageshack.us/my.php?image=map5finalsh1.jpg)

[LAZtheinfamous]

Actually, I find that a campaign can work, with a little work. However, I would suggest something a little different. Download the Mordheim rules from GW. Then tinker with them to fit with the campaign. So here's a brief explanation of regular Mordheim rules for campaign.

1. Play a battle.
2. See who lives and dies.
3. Each hero that lives gains one die for the roll on the exploration table.
4. You get so many warpstones-which you trade for money.
5. Spend cash replacing dead warband members or upgrades or equipment.
6. Detrimine your new warband rating.
7. Play another battle with someone whose warband rating matches yours.

So the way they change.
1. Start with small armies (500 points).
2. Play a battle.
3. For each hero character (Lords/Heroes, etc) each person gets one die to roll on the exploration table. If a hero dies in the battle though, they do not get a roll.
4. Get the warpstone/items-sell for cash.
5. Multiple the amount of Mordheim cash by 10 and use that to expand army.
6. Figure who has a like amount of points.
7. Play another battle.

Since you do not lose any models after fighting a battle (just assume they get replaced by draftees), it can escalate fairly equally and quickily.