Christmas Crackers

It has become ‘traditional’, whatever that means, at this time of year, that I give you, my loyal reader, a set of rules to download, ruminate upon, and then leave on your hard drive until the end of time. However, this year, for assorted reasons some of which might become clear eventually, I do not have any such offering. While racking my brains for what I could do which would appear generous (the times are straitened, of course) I hit upon the idea of a fully formed campaign. And so, for those few of you who have been following it (one of the posts has a record-low number of hits, I think) I give you the Jersey Boys campaign.

There are two files in the download (about 1.75 MB, zip file, if you are interested). One is a map, with hexes overlaid, and the other is a list of the commanders with their personalities and the forces at both sides’ disposal. I think it has been rather a fun campaign, but your mileage, as they say, may vary.

Still, it would only take a few name changes to adjust to other age of sail eras. I could quite easily see the campaign re-imagined as a Napoleonic era French invasion, either to prevent British privateers or the RN from using it as a base, or just because Jersey is a convenient bit of the UK (actually, technically, it is not part of the UK, but we’ll have some slack cut due to the time of year) to invade from France.

It could also be imagined as an Anglo-Norman affair, perhaps related to the loss of Normandy by King John, or the Hundred Year’s War, again relating to Normandy. If you want to do a bit more leg work, of course, the Second World War beckons, but a bit of effort could make something interesting relating to the later Nineteenth Century, or the Eighteenth.

The campaign could be made longer if there was a possibility of the defenders being reinforced. The Royalists in the early 1650s were, of course, in a fairly hopeless position, but other eras present other options. Another possibility could be the Romans and some sort of Gallic or Ancient Briton alliance. After all, Asterix’s home village was somewhere on the mainland nearby, I think.

So, plenty of possibilities. Give it a go with whatever forces you have available. You never know, you might enjoy it. And a very Happy Christmas to you all.

The Jersey Boys campaign (map and characters, forces, and dispositions), can be found here.