I like your thinking Ithoriel

You could also use the results of the previous round to set the scenario for the next round of games.

A loss means you are defending, a draw gives a meeting engagement and a win means you are attacking. These are obviously variations possible on this theme. The scale of the result could also influence the force ratios.

The scenario is just a guideline and the players determine the actual scenario, forces and rules.

Depending on how many players are involved and what forces are available you can run several 'theatres'. Players can take part in more than one theatre.

The key is to make it a number of linked games rather than attempting to recreate the whole war

"The key is to make it a number of linked games rather than attempting to recreate the whole war."

Absolutely.  I think I could probably be of service, if you'll have me.  It's not all Pendraken, but I've got 10mm:
USA
USA Para
USMC (mid/late war)
Brit Early War
Brit Late War
Brit Para
Brit North Africa
German Early War
German Late War
German Para
German North Africa
Soviet Early War (also used them as Poles for Early War)
Soviet Late War
French Early War
Japanese (entire war)

Working on US, German, and Soviet winter troops for late war.  Okay, I'm not working on them, but they are in a box upstairs

V/R,
Jack

Quote from: bigjackmac on 30 September 2015, 10:14:52 PM
Working on US, German, and Soviet winter troops for late war.  Okay, I'm not working on them, but they are in a box upstairs

Lol I've got so much stuff in boxes

Take care

Andy

C'mon!!!  Anyone else? 

I still think it's a great idea even with just a few guys.

V/R,
Jack

If you are thinking of other periods I have a fair few Ancient armiess, Medieval (Eastern Europe, Far and Middle East), ECW, ACW, FPW, WW I, Modern and Sci Fi -all in 6mm. In 10mm I have Romans, Celts, and Medieval (same as for 6mm). 15mm Macedonian, Sassanids and some Byzantines, ECW and Napoleonic Prussians.

Subedai,

I've got a little bit of ACW, a little bit of WWI, and quite a bit of modern if we go that way.

But I think WWII is the setting?  Listing troop types was not do all of them, just to help on selecting a theater/campaign (I think).

V/R,
Jack

Quote from: bigjackmac on 06 October 2015, 07:11:05 PM
Subedai,

I've got a little bit of ACW, a little bit of WWI, and quite a bit of modern if we go that way.

But I think WWII is the setting?  Listing troop types was not do all of them, just to help on selecting a theater/campaign (I think).

V/R,
Jack

Exactly. That's why I listed my other stuff as well so that people could cross reference their own stuff with it and then we can all come to an agreement.

Well, if my handful of 8th Army and Afrika Korps can help things along, I'm game to try.

FK,

I don't think anyone needs a whole lot of any kind of force, just both sides.  I'd imagine everyone would be playing 'representative' games, using whatever forces they have and whatever rules they prefer, to play out a type of fight (attack/defense/meeting engagement/delay/etc...) representing the action and forces in geographical area.

So, if three guys are playing, they each play out a portion of the battlefield in (in this case) North Africa.  Three guys make it easy: one is the left, one the center, and one the right.  Let's say all three are meeting engagements: the guy on the left is playing against a buddy, with about a platoon per side using Chain of Command.  The guy in the center is playing against a buddy with a regiment per side using BKC.  And the guy on the right is playing solo with a company per side using 5Core Company Command (sorry, my way of playing with my favorite rules  ).  The Brits barely scrape out a win on the left, the Brits whoop some butt in the center, and the Germans win handily on the right.  So the next fight on the left will be a Brit hasty attack.  In the center will be a British encirclement or pursuit battle.  On the right will be a German prepared attack.

I think that's how this sort of thing goes.

V/R,
Jack

OK, I'm in, as the bishop said to the actress.

Easy bishop, that's just my guess!  This is Nosher's baby.

V/R,
Jack

Not really 10mm... but I have a three or four 15mm German armies (may as well call it a full battalion) that can cover both East and Western front conflicts from mid-1944 all the way to Berlin. I also have a Normandy-Ardennes US Tank company. My gaming buddy has late war Soviets.

Really pleased to see there's a fair bit of interest however its not something I'm likely to get around to quickly so if someone else wants to take this on as the conduit to making it happen sooner I'm more than happy

Dammit Nosher, you're supposed to be running this show!!! 

I don't mind hopping in to try to herd some cats, but I'm not ready yet either, I've still got to finish my Cold War campaign, then I need a couple weeks rest (I haven't painted anything in ages, or at least it feels that way!).

So I'm game here in a month or so. 

Any ideas from the crowd regarding a framework?

I have Battlefront's 'Firestorm' box for Market Garden, which I bought specifically to use as the backbone of a campaign.  I think this works as most folks interested in WWII seem to have US, Brits, and Germans.  Here we have "Pendraken Participants" (PPs for short, meaning the guys on this forum that agree to be part of this) that would play out tabletop battles to advance the campaign to its conclusion.  The PPs would play in whatever scale they wish, using whatever rules they wish, at whatever echelon they wish.  Though there has to be an upward limit I suppose; it would be tough if someone said they wanted to play Spearhead, putting a Division per side on the table, as that doesn't seem to fit very well into the Market Garden scheme of things.  Similarly, pure skirmish games (a squad or less per side, let's say) is probably not optimal as well. 

But, as I stated above, I think a PP could play platoon vs platoon with Chain of Command/Force on Force/No End in Sight/etc..., while another PP could play company vs company with 5Core Company Command/I Ain't Been Shot Mum/Battlegroup Normand/etc..., and another PP could play battalion vs battalion (or regiment) with Blitzkrieg Commander/Crossfire/Flames of War/etc...  The point is that each tabletop battle is representative of the action in that sector.

I don't have any idea of how many tabletop fights it totals out to, but I figure you could divide it up into  areas of responsibility for gamers.  As a very simple example, with three PPs (meaning guys here that are involved either in playing solo games or against 'real-life' opponents, but are the representative here for the campaign) you have a PP for XXX Corps, a PP for Brit Airborne, and a PP for US Airborne.  If the games are against 'real-life' opponents, it's fine if the PP is playing on the table as the Germans, we're just saying that PP is responsible for playing all the fights in the campaign involving XXX Corps, Brit Abn, or US Abn.

If there were four PPs, you've got XXX Corps, Brit Abn, US 101st, and US 82nd.  Not sure how we could further break it up if there were more players, but we can cross that bridge when/if we need to.  I think you have a set type/structure of fights, so that whomever is running the campaign can let the PPs know what's happening.  For example:

Meeting Engagement, attacker/defender 1:1, defeat enemy force
Hasty Attack, attacker/defender 2:1, attacker with limited support (adapt 'limited support' to fit your rules), seize terrain objective
Prepared Attack, attacker/defender 3:1, attacker full support, defender dug-in with limited support, seize terrain objective
Breakthrough Attack, attacker/defender 3:1, attacker full support, defender dug-in with limited support, attacker exit defender's table edge
Withdrawal, attacker/defender 2:1, attacker with limited support, defender exit 60-75% of force off own table edge
Relief Effort, attacker/defender 2:1, attacker with limited support and split 25% at one table edge, 75% at other, defender in center, attacker must link up.

I'm sure we could come up with more, and add more twists, but you get the picture.

Then you need to agree to some sort of framework, i.e., we will play one game per week, or every two weeks, etc..., then send the stuff to the campaign manager.  Then you need to sign a document stating, on your childrens' lives, you will stick to the agreed schedule and actually finish the campaign

Well, those are my thoughts.  I yield the floor

V/R,
Jack

Personal preference would be for a very loose connection between the games and the campaign to allow as many as possible to join in.

People play their games using whatever rules, figures, scales and forces they like. Air and sea games as well as ground forces if people want.

They report the results in a form similar to the thread about the games we play.

As an example:

Axis Forces Involved:
Allied Forces Involved:
Theatre:
Number of Players:
Rules Used:
Outcome:

Forces involved may be as generic as "German" or as detailed as 2nd Platoon, 1st Company, 1st Battalion, 215th Infantry Regiment - up to the person reporting and the game played.

Theatre maybe should be restricted to Western Europe; Eastern Front; North Africa, Italy and the Balkans; Far East

Outcome options are Major Allied Victory, Minor Allied Victory, Inconclusive, Minor Axis Victory, Major Axis Victory. Top of my head suggestion, 5pts for a major victory, 3 for a minor, 1 for a draw.

Possible Victory conditions for the campaign are first to X points. 100, 1,000, 10,000 or whatever - depending how long you want the campaign to run and how many take part. Alternatively first side to achieve a score of X points ahead of the other wins.

Campaign rewards should be fun bonuses not major restrictions or game winning advantages. Say one re-roll per game for every Theatre the side you are playing is ahead in points? Players decide with their opponents if they include these in a game or not.

Every week/ fortnight/ month - again probably depends on number of games reported and time available to campaign organiser(s) - points are totalled and organiser(s) provide the stats and a brief narrative of how the war is going.

Say there are 12 reported games from the Eastern Front. 3 are major Axis victories (15 points), 3 are inconclusive (3 points each) and 6 are Allied Minor Victories (18 points) giving the Allies a slight lead of 21 points to 18. The report might say: "This is the PBC (Pendraken Broadcasting Service) News, reports from the Eastern Front are that a series of Soviet spoiling attacks have significantly reduced the impact of major German attacks, with a possibility the German spearhead units may be encircled."

Players may want to report their own chosen news source's view of things    

I'd offer to run it but physical and mental health coupled with a chronic case of disorganisation means I would be an unreliable umpire at best. Happy to help out of anyone else organises anything though.

As ever, these are random thoughts more than a formulated plan!