Ancient Latinium is home to three venerable nations. Populous Latinia Major covers half the realm with a significant populace of over 1 million souls. To the east its neighbor Hamillar Mineraller contains riches of diamonds, iron, and rubies. Wedged into the southern border intersecting the two is tiny Onzijdigia.
Onzijdigia contains little of value except its borders extend across a large swathe of the river Aegyptus. Aegyptus is the primary trade highway connecting many of Latinia Major’s cities with its capitol.
Decades of negotiation passed between the giant Latinia Major and its petite neighbor to the south to no conclusion. During this time Hammilar Mineraller and Onzijdigia bolstered their friendship. Hammilar’s senate does not wish to see its rival, Latinia, gain a foothold anywhere. Where Latinia benefits Hammilar does not.
In the latest negotiations Latinia Major’s envoy, Arcturus Secondus, issued an ultimatum. Onzijdigia would cede half its land, including the site of its capitol, to Latinia or it would face the consequences. The Onzijdigians had no choice but to refuse!
Latinia Major’s legions amass on the borders of its tiny neighbor. Citizens in both Hammilar and Onzijdigia hold their breath in anticipation of what is sure to come.
Thus sets the stage for the War of Latinian Expansion. Using Henry Hyde’s Wars of the Faltenian Succession compilation (3.5 GBP $5.99 USD) as a guide I set out to once more try my hand at an imagi-nation campaign.
How does this differ from my Dedhampton Revolution? A few key differences exist this time.
- This is inspired by Ancient Rome and set in a fictional version of the Roman Empire.
- I slightly modified Henry’s guidelines and will simplify the campaign a bit.
- The War of Latinian Expansion is a solo campaign. I am player and judge…sort of.
- I don’t need to paint any models nor assemble any troops. This is the most intriguing aspect for me. Instead of using minis I am combining Henry’s old school imagi-nation approach with modern computing power.
Allow me to expand on that last point. Anyone who ever listens to Wargaming Recon knows that I dislike painting minis. It takes me ages to get anything done. What the average wargamer can accomplish in a few hours of time I must exert triple the effort. Routinely that prohibits me from gaming.
In an attempt to negate that I am using the computer game Rome: Total War to play out any actual military engagements. The game allows players to field legionary cohorts, units of cavalry and so forth. The unit sizes scale rather well. In Rome: Total War a legionary cohort is 41 men whereas a real legionary cohort had roughly 480 men. Thus the computer cohort is around 1/10 the size.
Not only does Rome: Total War allow me to play the battles but I may also customize them. I can add villages, forts, or cities. I may determine the time of day, the weather, the exact composition of forces, and I may even choose the terrain. Do I need to fight on a bridge? Got that covered! How about in a forest? No problem!
Using Rome: Total War is NOT perfect. Dealing with casualties is a bit of a pain. After each battle I need to view the results. Then I must note down how many men were killed, how many remain, and what the starting strength was. Using that information I calculate the percentage of casualties received.
It is impossible to use the game to create a battle with units that begin below full strength. Handling this is a chance to flex my GM powers.
A forthcoming episode of Wargaming Recon will focus on my War of Latinian Expansion. In fact I could do a three or five part series discussing my process to create the world. Hmm….that may not be a bad idea.
Don’t worry though! You needn’t wait for me to discuss this solo imagi-nation campaign on the show. From time to time I will share progress on this blog. Should your meander to this blog sooner rather than later I guarantee that you’ll read dispatches addressing the Skirmish of Ryantus Bridge.
Until then please visit our Facebook page for more frequent updates and information about all we do at Wargaming Recon.
