The Online Campaign - Basics

Instruction & Rules Manual

Introduction

As another expansion, this version of the Campaign System - World Conquest, will have many changes and encompasses all the other expansions to make this campaign playable online.

The Map that has been displayed for you by the GM has been divided into ##territories (## Land territories and ## Sea/Ocean territories). The game on the map takes place in turns. 1 turn is equal to # weeks and battles are fought at the end of the week.

No actual army is required to play, this is all done online. 

Actions

Every turn each player generates Turn Actions. Turn Actions are a set number of actions including Military, Diplomatic, and Land Attack Actions that you, as a leader, can perform during your turn to better your territories.

The number of actions you generate each turn depends on how many territories you have based on the chart below.

* All numbers may vary based on the number of territories the map holds or the number of players involved.

Land Attack Actions may be traded for Military Actions. For every 2 Land Attack Actions, you will receive 1 additional Military Action.

Action Choices

There are 9 different choices you can make during your turn for actions and each has its own category based on the type of actions above. All the actions will be explained throughout this rule set.

Military Actions

•1.      Recruit Land Units

•2.      Move an Army

•3.      Defensive Actions

•4.      Repair Walls & Towers

Diplomatic Actions

•1.      Declare a Trade Action

•2.      Make an Alliance

•3.      Break Ties

•4.      Diplomatic, Political, & Other Actions

Land Attack Actions

•1.      Declare a Land Attack

Currency

To accomplish tasks in the game, like any good lord knows, you must have money. All the territories on the map generate some form of gold whether it be based on strategic use, farming quality, city trades, natural resources, the land type category the land falls under in the game, or other reasons noted by the GM. The GM of the campaign will be the only one to know all the values of the territories while the players will only know the income of the territories they hold.

Currency is very simple in the game. 1 Gold is equal to 1 Soldier. So a 1000-man army costs 1000 gold.

All prices throughout this rule set are subject to change based on the size of the campaign.

Territories

Just like Actions, all territories have their own category they fall under which gives a general feel for the value of the land. Every map is different so the categories will vary but the majority will follow the following categories:

•1.      Open

•2.      Landmark

•3.      Outpost or Trade Post

•4.      Village

•5.      Small Town

•6.      Special Location

•7.      Large Town

•8.      City

•9.      Large City

•10.  Huge City

•11.  Citadel

•12.  Capital

Territory Defence Values & Special Abilities

All territories will have special defence values that will add to your chances to defeat the enemy army. Defence Values are numbers between 1 and 10.

In addition, some lands have special abilities.

Outposts allow you to be warned of oncoming armies and allow you to make a pre-emptive strike to attack them and fight on the border, retreat to another territory, or to hold up in a castle, should the land have one.

Faction Leaders & Generals

Every faction must have a leader. The Faction Leader follows all normal rules and restrictions as an army does. If the Leader participates in a battle, the army will have a morale bonus of +5. In addition, they bring their own personal retinue with them, adding 200 men to the army.

All players must make their own Faction Leader with a worth of up to 450 pts. This will be used in battle.

During a battle, the GM rolls the Faction Leader's attacks separately as they get their own profile. Please see the "ARS" section for more detail.

In the event of the leader dying, the player must make a new leader, whether it is his heir, or some other tale which the player likes to spin on it. To continue playing, you MUST have a Faction Leader. They cost 1000 gold to purchase. If you do not have one, everything will come to a standstill.

Generals may also be hired and follow all normal rules and restrictions as an army does. They also give a morale bonus of +2. In addition, they bring their own personal retinue with them, adding 100 men to the army.

All players must make their own General with a worth of up to 225 pts. This will be used in battle. Only 1 General per territory may be hired.

During a battle, the GM rolls the General's attacks separately as they get their own profile. Please see the "ARS" Section for more detail.

A General costs 500 gold to purchase.

Every Man for Himself

In a free for all game it is exactly as it sounds. Every player is playing for the right to be the leading faction over any other. Of course there are other ways of leading the world in peace and harmony, which are perfectly plausible, but unlikely as greed will almost always overcome any circumstance.

You start alone with your capital in the midst of a city or another specified territory type as but a Lord who is unknown, rising up to the cause and building a force. Claiming the land around it must be the first step. Alliances can be made and Empires forged amongst them on your own terms between players or they can crumble as a clever plot to wreck the despicable enemy from within.

Never underestimate the importance of your home, though. It is very important you don't let any other players hold your capital above all else.

You have the option to change capitals at will.

Winning and Losing

You can win if you own all capitals and control at least 60% of the territories, declare world peace (everyone is an ally and all agree to end the game in a truce), or control all territories.

If the players wish, of course, in the event of one player owning all capitals and controlling 60% of the territories, they may keep playing the game forming the Resistance against the new enemy Empire with what lands and forces they have left.

If a player has no territories left, they are dead and out of the game.

Starting Turn

On your first turn you begin with the capital city, not the land around it though, your leader, and #### men inside the capital.

In some cases you may begin with more than this. This depends on the GM's will.

Order Forms/Turn Reports

The GM will supply you with a report every turn which will display the territories you hold, the number of men in them, their worth in Gold, where your leader is located, current on-going missions, and a list of your available actions. It is your duty to send a message to the GM with a detailed list of your Orders for the turn by the due date for the turn.

Turn Action Rules

Military Actions

Recruit Land Units

Building an army is one of the simplest things you can do. Armies can only be recruited from small towns, large towns, cities, fortresses or castles, and your capital. In some cases you may be able to recruit elsewhere in areas that are special or even based on the race you have chosen. You can recruit in several places in a turn if you so wish to, as long as you have the money and Actions to do so. Don't forget that 1 Gold is equal to 1 Soldier.

An army must be a minimum of 25 men in size. Newly recruited units may not act the turn they have been recruited.

Your troops will have the following profile:

*Please note that the wounds cover a group of 50 men.

Now some races have different stat lines and therefore they will cost more gold. For each stat increase, the gold cost will rise 0.2 gold per soldier, or drop in some cases.

The following are profiles of other races:

*Daemons, Tomb Kings, and Vampire Counts do not flee from battle. This costs an extra 0.6 cold per soldier as the enemy must destroy 100% of the army.

Cost Profiles:

Army Upkeep

Soldiers like to get paid for the duties they do, so for every army, the cost of maintaining their wages is 15% of their value.

An example: an army of 1000 Dwarfs costs 180 gold to upkeep a turn as the value of the army is 1200 gold.

Move an Army

You may want to move your troops around the map to bolster the defences in other areas of the map. It's simple enough to do and there are only 4 basic rules for moving an army that you must follow:

•1.      You may only move an army once during a turn and the army may only move one territory a turn. The territory must be adjacent unless otherwise specified.

•2.      Any amount of troops may move with an army.

•3.      You may move more than one army a turn but it will cost you multiple actions.

Crossing Waters

You may also cross large bodies of water using the Move an Army action. There is a cost to pay the sailors for risking their lives on open sea, but even so - some may decide to pay it. The cost is 500 gold for every 1000 men you wish to transport across the water.

You may also use this method of transportation via the Declare a Land Attack action against an enemy territory that you can cross over the water to.

Locations available for sailing from and to are determined by the GM.

Defensive Actions

Defensive Actions are used to prepare a player against oncoming attacks. There are short-term and long-term defensive actions.

Defensive Actions, when in place, add to your defensive rating and may have some special abilities.

Other short term defensive actions can be thought up by the players and will cost what the GM instructs it to. This cost is whether you are attacked or not. Short term defences last 2 turns.

Other long term defensive actions can be thought up by the players and will cost what the GM instructs it to. This cost is whether you are attacked or not. Long term defences last until the end of the game unless they are burned down or destroyed by an enemy.

As you can see, the Long-term defences are done in tiers. You require Tier 1 to build Tier 2 and Tier 2 to build Tier 3. In addition to this, you may only have one Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 defence per a territory; some may already include a Tier 2 or Tier 3 structure. You may destroy any of these that have been built freely of your choice.

Damaged Defences and Repairing Walls & Towers

During the course of battle you will have your walls attacked and your towers crumbling before mighty war machines. It will always cost to repair them or rebuild them entirely.

In the event of these items being involved in a battle, the GM must roll a D3 to determine the outcome of their damages, if any. 1-2 the item has been destroyed. 3-4 the item is damaged, but still useable, 5-6 the item is unharmed.

There is a Damage Rating of 1 and 2 on defences. If the Damage Rating is 1, the defensive rating bonuses are halved (rounded up) and the abilities are used as specified in the chart when damaged. If the Damage Rating is 2, the defensive rating bonuses are halved again (rounded up) and the abilities are still used as specified. After Damage Rating 2, if the Defence becomes damaged again, it is counted as destroyed and loses all its bonuses and abilities until repaired.

Castles cannot be destroyed, only damaged up to Damage Rating 2.

Diplomatic Actions

Trade Actions

A player may opt to Trade with another army to increase income. The armies must determine what tradable goods they are trading and the GM will value the trade out.

The GM will make a list of goods you have that you can trade for more gold with another faction.

Make an Alliance

Simply put you can use 1 Diplomatic Action to send a detailed Alliance Request to another player to make ties with them on whatever grounds you wish to negotiate over! Just keep the GM in the loop about what the grounds are in the end!

Breaking Ties

If you aren't a cad and a backstabber, you'll break an Alliance the honourable way! You can use 1 Diplomatic Action to send a detailed Alliance Annulment to an Allied player to call the Alliance off. Just keep the GM in the loop about what the grounds are in the end!

Diplomatic and Other Actions

Every turn your diplomatic actions can be spent on diplomatic or political actions or other actions which can include anything your mind can think of from promoting a soldier to a general within your army for his services rendered to sending a diplomat or emissary to someone; from dispersing your money about to the people to make them happy with you as their leader, to burning cities down to the ground. It is your choosing, but the GM holds the right to dismiss actions which he or she believes to be too outrageous or conflicting. Many of the success or failure rolls for some more complex actions will consist of a roll on a D10.

Land Attack Actions

Declare a Land Attack

As simple and straight forward as it sounds. You have specific actions allotted to the amount of attacks on land you can do during a turn and spend 1 to declare an attack.

You may not move an army and attack with that army in the same turn.

Fighting the Battle

In the result of a Victory, the enemy's army, or what is left of it, retreats to the decided adjacent territory or to a castle in the territory. If there isn't an adjacent territory, it is assumed the army has been crushed by the weight of your soldiers. In the result of a Defeat, your army retreats back to the territory it originally came from.

If two armies attack each other in the same territories, the fight will be on the border, but no lands will be claimed.

Sieges

An army attacking a Large City, Huge City, Citadel, or a Capital must take the land around the city/citadel first. The Defensive Rating of the land around it is counted as an "Open Territory" Defensive Rating with any Short Term Defences in addition to this.

If the defending army loses a battle for the surrounding lands, the remainder of the army will retreat to the city/citadel.

A player who is being attacked in one of these locations may choose to retreat to their city/citadel and give the surrounding lands to the enemy and make their stand there.

Factions that claim the lands around a castle but do not own the castle cannot recruit in the territory, but the gold income is split in half and dispersed between the two armies.

The army inside the castle may in fact recruit an army from the populace. They may also use the action Declare a Land Attack to sally forth from the castle and meet the enemy on the battlefield instead of behind the walls of a castle.

Armies inside of Large Cities, Huge Cities, Citadels, or a Capital gain +2 to their morale.

Routing and Fleeing on the Battlefield & Morale

After 66% casualties have been achieved, an army will flee automatically due to broken Morale, save for Undead and Daemons who never flee and do not have Morale.

Morale works on a point system of 1 to 18. All armies normally have a Morale score of 8, meaning they will only break after 66% casualties have been lost. For each point more that they have, it will take 3% more casualties to break them. For every point lower that they have, it will take 3% less casualties to break them.

Morale is based on victories and losses and is cumulative. For a victory, the army will receive +1 Morale. For a loss, the army will receive -1 Morale. The Morale value will affect the entire territory it came from. If an army from another territory moves in with a higher Morale value, they will use that value.

Some diplomatic actions, like telling a general to give an inspiring speech, will raise the troops' morale before battle while some actions, like deciding to launch skulls of the enemy onto the enemy army, will lower their morale.

ARS (Automatic Resolve System)

The ARS is what resolves the battles between nations. This is basically how it works:

For every 50 men, you get 1 die that represents those warriors (rounded up if at 25). So an army of 2000 gets 40 dice. They will roll off against the enemy army which works in the same way for them.

Generals and Faction Leaders get their own attacks separately and attack in the same nature.

Generals and Faction Leaders will receive attacks against them much like as if they were in contact with models right in front of them after casualties have been removed from those able to strike at them.

If there is another General or a Faction Leader in the army, the players may opt to duel them. They may even go as far as to save the lives of their men and pit each other's fighter to fight the battle.

Every round of fighting, though, the GM will roll a D10 and on a 10, the two leaders will find each other in battle and fight regardless.

The profiles for the troops are as follows above under recruiting.

Other Rules & Guidelines

Priority

The game has a natural priority setting for how the actions are run. Because the system treats all actions as running at the exact same time, there has to be a priority so that when problems come up, it can be solved by priority.

The priority listing is as follows:

•1.      Repairs are made first

•2.      Units who are moving are then moved

•3.      Diplomatic Actions are processed

•4.      Armies who are attacking are then processed

•5.      Recruiting is then run

•6.      Any other occurrences are put into action

This is the natural order of things in the game.

Magic Items

There are hidden treasures which one can receive for doing great things, searching for them via Diplomatic Actions, or just by inheritance.

Story Updates

There will be a fluff background to depict what the reason for the war is for, but the GM may also decide to do turn update fluff pieces as well to further the progress of the war and the politics. The map should also constantly be updated after every turn.

Alliances

Throughout this rule set we've discussed the uses of alliances in all sorts of forms. Other things should be noted as well. If the grounds of your alliance allow military access to your ally's territories, you can move freely through their land and stockpile forces to help the defence or make use of their ports for building your ships to sail across the country or many other uses. Just don't forget that all these things are open for discussion! Even those who are desperate for an Ally could be talked into paying a set fee every turn for their services, almost like mercenaries!

Messaging Other Players

You can message other players as much as you want freely, the only thing that should be noted is that if an official Alliance isn't made, certain uses of allies aren't useable.

Team Campaigns

To play a team campaign, simply replace the "Faction Leaders & Generals", "Every Man for Himself", "Winning and Losing", "Order Forms/Turn Reports", "Make an Alliance", and "Break Ties" sections with the following:

Faction Leaders & The Council

A team must work as a team, but they must also have a leader. The team must elect a Faction Leader and all other players may have a Council Member.

For battle purposes, each character should be made up to be a character's worth of up to 450 pts and follows all regular restrictions of an army.

If the Faction Leader fights in an army, he will give a Morale Boost of +6. In addition, he comes with his own retinue of 400 men.

If a Council Member fights with an army, he will give a Morale Boost of +4. In addition, he comes with his own retinue of 200 men.

During a battle, the GM rolls the Faction Leader's attacks separately as they get their own profile. Please see the "ARS" section for more detail.

In the event of the leader dying, the player must make a new character, whether it is his heir, or some other tale which the player likes to spin on it. To continue playing, you MUST have a Faction Leader, so a Council Member is promoted to Faction Leader by election. New Council Members cost 1000 gold to purchase. If you do not have one, everything will come to a standstill for the territories that the Council Member was in charge of.

Generals may also be hired and follow all normal rules and restrictions as an army does. They also give a morale bonus of +2. In addition, they bring their own personal retinue with them, adding 100 men to the army.

All players must make their own General with a worth of up to 225 pts. This will be used in battle. Only 1 General per territory may be hired.

During a battle, the GM rolls the General's attacks separately as they get their own profile. Please see the "ARS" Section for more detail.

A General costs 500 gold to purchase.

Playing as a Team

When playing as a team, the Faction Leader will give himself and all his Council Members territories to rule over specifically. Each member will have his own income, of which 50% is pooled together with the others to be dispersible as needed by the Faction Leader.

It is also the job of the Council Members to do their own recruiting, attacking, and moving, but it is all under the guise and planning of the Faction Leader and the other members.

A Faction Leader may exile any Council Member in his team, but by doing so he must exile one territory to that Council Member and, if the Council Member was a good politician to the people, there are chances that he other territories will follow them.

Council Members may attempt to overthrow a Faction Leader by attacking the core of his lands and troops.

Council Members and Faction Leaders have full access of moving in through any one of their teammate's territories and even attacking together as a team.

Winning and Losing

You may win by claiming all other teams' capitals and owning 60% of the territories, declaring world peace (everyone is an ally and all agree to end the game in a truce), or control all territories.

If the players wish, of course, in the event of one player owning all capitals and controlling 60% of the territories, they may keep playing the game forming the Resistance against the new enemy Empire with what lands and forces they have left.

Order Forms/Turn Reports

Every turn, the GM will send a report of every territory, all of its armies, all of its defences, ratings, the army's morale scores, etc. to the Faction Leader. The Faction Leader has the choice to disperse this information as they like.

It's every Council Member's duty, as well as the Faction Leader's, to hand in their turn Orders to move their armies, attack, etc. by the due date before the next turn.

Make an Alliance

Simply put you can use 1 Diplomatic Action to send a detailed Alliance Request to another team to make ties with them on whatever grounds you wish to negotiate over! Just keep the GM in the loop about what the grounds are in the end!

Break Ties

If you aren't a cad and a backstabber, you'll break an Alliance the honourable way! You can use 1 Diplomatic Action to send a detailed Alliance Annulment to an Allied Team to call the Alliance off. Just keep the GM in the loop about what the grounds are in the end!

The Turn Action Generation Table is also altered to the following:

*Varies on the # of players.