The stratagems are actually quite cool!
I like Caesar block game. Especially the map. It is beatiful and effective. Do you use major and minor road difference in your campaign? How about navy and transport of troops?
I like Caesar block game. Especially the map. It is beatiful and effective. Do you use major and minor road difference in your campaign? How about navy and transport of troops?
Thanks! It’s all in the rules: link to pdf document in a post above.
I am currently play-testing this -- an epic semi-fictional FOG: Medieval campaign -- it's long and slow and big!
Four to five players control the fortunes of their aristicratic House in mid to late 15th Century Germany and the Holy Roman Empire -- chose from Habsburgs, Wittelsbach, Hohenzoller, Wettin, Anhalt, Luxemburg or Welf --- starting small but building up to a major force in the German Empire and Bohemia... and maybe even being elected Holy Roman Emperor. (with inherent honors, benefits and duties)
One additional player plays the Burgundians -- with slightly different goals to the Herman houses.
And one player (or the CM) plays the belligerent neighbours France, Denmark, Poland and Hungary -- who's actions are mostly determined by dice rolls.
Each House starts with only one or two territories randomly drawn at start and work hard to expand into either other player houses' lands and cities... or by absorbing towns and cities from Minor Houses.
There are sieges and warfare (very expensive ... you have keep tight control of your limited income), diplomacy and back-stabbing.
Will elaborate more as it develops -- quite a few mechanics will be familiar and are adaptations from older campaigns)
(click on map and zoom in for full size) -- it's still a WIP, so quite a few tables and bits still missing.
One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
- George Orwell, Homage To Catalonia
Holy Moly (empire)! That is a Gary Grigsby level campaign.
Holy Moly (empire)! That is a Gary Grigsby level campaign.
It's actually not that complicated ... every faction player has not that much to do every turn -- not too many options and always short of resources 😉
One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
- George Orwell, Homage To Catalonia
I am currently play-testing this -- an epic semi-fictional FOG: Medieval campaign -- it's long and slow and big!
Four to five players control the fortunes of their aristicratic House in mid to late 15th Century Germany and the Holy Roman Empire -- chose from Habsburgs, Wittelsbach, Hohenzoller, Wettin, Anhalt, Luxemburg or Welf --- starting small but building up to a major force in the German Empire and Bohemia... and maybe even being elected Holy Roman Emperor. (with inherent honors, benefits and duties)
One additional player plays the Burgundians -- with slightly different goals to the Herman houses.
And one player (or the CM) plays the belligerent neighbours France, Denmark, Poland and Hungary -- who's actions are mostly determined by dice rolls.
Each House starts with only one or two territories randomly drawn at start and work hard to expand into either other player houses' lands and cities... or by absorbing towns and cities from Minor Houses.
There are sieges and warfare (very expensive ... you have keep tight control of your limited income), diplomacy and back-stabbing.
Will elaborate more as it develops -- quite a few mechanics will be familiar and are adaptations from older campaigns)
I like the overall concept. So much can be made of it with diplomacy to sway Minor Houses to you as vassals, induce the Foreign Nations (France, Denmark, Poland and Hungary) to become allies and/or invade the realms of the other players, etc etc. And then the warfare on top of that. 🙂
My fear though is that the large number of required players will make it vulnerable to absence and outright drop-outs. One way to address that could be to simplify it a bit (e.g., cut out Burgundy, leave the control of Foreign Nations to the player allied to them, and maybe also introduce random actions of other competing NPC Major Houses, etc.), all in order to create the feel of chaotic dynastic struggles in Medieval Germany. And that would then also allow the DM to play his own Major House, like any other player. 🙂
Also, another cool feature could be to design one's own Major House's army list! Or more realistically maybe to create one army list for each of the Major House (maybe even for the Minor Houses) through some variations to one of the vanilla army lists (then each House gets its distinct units and maybe even banners), and then apply vanilla army lists for France, Denmark, Poland and Hungary. 🍾
Yes, too many options and ideas -- wait until I introduce the Holy Roman Emperor elections, where you can bribe Arch-Bishops 😆
...also want to include the option of player houses being able to get loans from the House of Fugger bankers 😎
There's quite a lot of existing German army lists NW/SE City, German Feudal, Free Cantons, German Imperial (for whoever is Emperor, but only used against external enemies of the Reich) & Bohemian.
I'll post more as things develop -- got busy two work days ahead -- then I'll get back to it.
One of the most horrible features of war is that all the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
- George Orwell, Homage To Catalonia