Map Campaign

[Fritz]

While the rest of you are enjoying the second season of Game of Thrones, I've been re-reading the second book. It got me thinking about a possible Warhammer map campaign. I know we're tried these in the past and they've all fizzled out pretty quickly. However, I have a few new ideas that could make it low maintenance, easily shelved and brought back out when we're in the mood for it again, and above all fun. So what does this have to do with Game of Thrones? That all starts with the map.

We use the map of Westeros and instead of expanding into territories, fighting rag tag little armies, we each start with the territories of one of the major houses of Westeros: Martell, Tyrell, Lannister, Baratheon, Arryn, Tully, and of course Stark. House Greyjoy is another possibility, although I think we might want to avoid navies. The end goal? The Iron Throne. The victory conditions would be something like X number of territories plus King's Landing. None of this wipe everyone off the map none sense. This allows for a conceivable and obtainable end to the campaign as well as shifting alliances (a staple of Games of Thrones after all). The simple design of the map of Westeros and the locations of the seven major houses makes for an ideal set up for shifting alliances, backstabbing, and exciting campaign play.

Each family would have advantages and disadvantages. For example, House Stark has a large domain, and has nice secure flanks, but their realm is poor and fairly far removed from King's Landing. The Arryns of the Vale would likewise be poor, but have almost all of their initial power invested in the Bloody Gates, the Gates of the Moon, and the Eyrie, with each keep blocking the approach to the next keep. The Lannisters would have a number of rich territories and King's Landing to start the campaign, but they would be stretched across the width of Westeros and bordered by the Baratheons, Tyrells, Arryns, and Tullys. Plus, everyone hates the Lannisters anyway. We could also Warhammerize things a big and add one unique trait to a territory in each family's starting area. Something like a free wizard upgrade for someone that holds Harrenhal, or the ability to take 50 addition points of magic items on one character for someone that holds Lannisport. This bonus would apply across all armies.

Speaking of armies, there would be no allocating points or having set rosters for an army. Nor will there be any rolling to see if you recover casualties or have to keep a record of how many men are left in a unit. All armies will fight at an equal points value, play whatever scenario they like, and an army can change composition as often as they like. If two opponents want to play a small 1.5k battle then have at it. If 2k or 2.5k suit you then all the better. If you want to play an epic 3k or 4k battle than have a blast! The point is to make the games even, fun and played how the game was designed to be played. None of this 3k vs 1k silliness. Is it realistic? Of course not. Is it simple, relaxed, and fun? Hell yes!

That said, all realms will not be created equal. You would have a number of armies based on the number of keeps and towns you control. I'd have to work it out after making out the map, but it would be something like 1 army for every 4 towns you control (rounding down). A keep would count as 2 towns. My goal is to start each realm off with around 2-4 armies. When your army is defeated it retreats to it's nearest keep and remains there for a number of turns based on how badly it was defeated. A victory would cause the defeated army to remain idle for 1 turn, a crushing victory, 2 turns (we'll have to work something out for the special scenarios like watchtower and blood and glory). If you wipe out your opponent's army, or they concede, the army remains idle for 3 turns. If the territory lost would cause you to drop below the number of towns needed to sustain that army, then the army is lost. If a player loses territories that would cause them to drop below the number of towns needed to sustain an army, they do not lose an army until it is defeated in battle.

Towns and other territories would be a simple matter of a normal game of warhammer. If you want to go storm of magic, have at it. For Keeps players would be encouraged to use the siege scenario from the new blood in the badlands book. If both players decide not to, then that's fine too. However, regardless of the scenario played, an army that has been forced to retreat to the keep and stay idle from a defeat may still be used to defend a keep. The point is to allow people to play games as they normally would while adding an extra layer of depth and fun.

Finally, the map would be digital and all moves simultaneous (emailed to the campaign manager). That way it's easy to store and pick back up again rather than taking up space in someone's basement.