Setting up a “Rolling Campaign”

The first thing you will need is a set of geomorphic gaming boards.  I use “Travel Battle” boards and home-made compatible tiles, “Memoir ‘44” boards, “Squad Leader” Boards and various others.  You will also need a pack of playing cards, including at least one Joker identified for each side.

For the first battle set up two boards at random and decorate them with terrain as you fancy.  Ideas for randomising game boards are to be found elsewhere on this blog but you will have to do your own search.

Now take a pack of playing cards.  Deal 10 cards and refer to the chart below for Second World War battles.  You can create your own chart for your preferred period.  Discard any inappropriate cards for the period or location.  These are the starting forces which may be deployed anywhere on the “player’s board”.  In a head to head game the boards may be separated and forces deployed in secret.

Now your game progresses.  At the end of each turn (after both players have taken their turn), a card is dealt for reinforcements.  The appropriate forces are placed in reserve.  If a joker is dealt, any or all of the reinforcement pool for the appropriate side may be deployed next turn, by accessible roads.  Troops that cannot reach the battlefield this turn are placed off-board beside their approach road.

When one side has lost the battle, by whatever rules you are playing, that side retreats to a random new board placed in whichever direction they happen to be retreating.  Victorious units on the defeated player’s board remain in place.  Those on their “own” board are placed in the reinforcement pool and deemed to be re-supplied.  Their board is removed.

It may be worth noting as the game goes on which boards have been historically used and their “strategic map” location, in case a retreat to those boards is necessary.  Otherwise, it gives no game problem if every retreat is to a random board.

And that’s about it.  Just one extra point.  Dealing a five of diamonds or clubs from my chart provides a supply unit or dump.  I am trying to include supply into my solo campaigns and my idea is that every time a unit scores the highest combat result possible it becomes “short of supply” and may no longer advance or conduct offensive fire, but may defend.  They must be re-supplied by withdrawing to a supply point (or baseline) or be supplied by truck or wagon before becoming effective again.