VMCW – With a Whimper, not a Bang

The result of the last action was, of course, the rout of the Maratha army, and that was removed from play. It has to be noted that the Marathas proved to be a potent force in the Deccan for a campaign concept which was of a disruptor. They plundered a significant number of cities before the army of Bijapur got them.

That action was in April 1660, turn 24 of the campaign. The next move the Bijapurians decided to plunder the nearest city. I guess that the troops requested some pay. No-one else moved at that point, however. In June Aurungazeb moved north finally, as did the Bijapurians. I am not sure quite what the latter were trying to achieve by doing so, except that in the next move, September, they resorted to plundering again. In October, Aurungazeb attempted to subvert the Bijapurian army, and failed, while Jia Singh attempted subversion on Shah Suja (who had been immobile since fleeing without an army). This was successful and resulted in the murder of the prince.

Aurungazeb was now the last prince standing, and he moved north again to Ajmer in Rajasthan. Both Bijapur and Jia Singh attempted to achieve some subversion against him but failed. In December 1660, turn 29, Aurungazeb and Bijapur both attempted some diplomacy (without much result, it has to be said) while Jia Singh fumbled his initiative roll. A die roll concluded that he had been murdered. Historians will, no doubt argue as to whether it was supporters of Shah Suja or on Aurungazeb’s order that this happened. It was highly convenient for Aurungazeb, however, as it removed the last opposition in the north-east.

In January 1661 Aurungaeb plundered Ajmer, while Bijapur fumbled their initiative roll. The dice again came up with murder, and the last potential opposition to Aurungazeb was removed. I had envisaged the game lasting 30 turns, and, right at the last, Aurungazeb was the last prince standing, within striking distance of the Emperor in Agra, and the only army remaining on the map.

As with the historical civil war, Aurungazeb was the victor, and could now crown himself Emperor. The campaign was really rather enjoyable, with 8 wargames and a great deal of skulduggery going on. You might wonder how, as a solo player, I managed to create skulduggery, but it was mainly through the diplomatic table (see that book) with a few additions of a card draw for each active player, which could be move, engage in diplomacy, subvert or plunder. The short green pins in the map show the plundered cities, incidentally.

I did miss a few tricks. I decided not to fill in the diagonals of the diplomatic table but should have as the opportunities arose to subvert armies from their leaders. I occasionally lost track of whether the row or the column represented someone’s view of someone else, but usually managed to sort that out. I also had to quickly invent rules for rocket fire and for camel guns in action, as they appeared in the army lists but not in my rules as such. The camel guns were not particularly useful (and only appeared in the Maratha army anyway) while the rockets could give an account of themselves, particularly in firing at already shaken troops preventing them from reforming.

One thing that the campaign has shown me is that complexity can be created and handled fairly simply. There were eight sides in the game initially – four princes, the Rajputs, Bijapur, Golconda, and the Marathas. I was a little apprehensive that it might get confusing, but it turned out to be quite straightforward, although my diplomatic table is so scribbled upon as to be heading into illegibility.

Was I biased in favour of Aurungazeb? After he was captured by Mir Jumla I thought he was finished, but Mir Jumla decided to try to use him as a figurehead. However, a few initiative rolls and two subversion cards flipped that on its head and it was Mir Jumla who fled, to be mopped up by Bijapur. So I think that Aurungazeb was lucky there. On the other hand, true to historical form, he had Murad murdered.

So, that was a lot of fun. The campaign is summarised from the page link on the right, which gives you links to all the wargames and gives a narrative. Some time I will write the campaign and its rules up, possibly for publication in Lone Warrior (if they’ll have it). I think the basic system could be used to cover other warfare, civil or not.

Which brings me to my next problem of course. The Very Mogul Civil War has taken up most of my wargaming time for the past couple of months. Towards the end I started to wonder what I was going to do next, and now the problem faces me in spade-loads. I think that I have, for the moment, had a sufficient number of elephants on the table, so something different calls. But what, I ponder.

A few options present themselves. Something ancient possibly, after all those early-modern campaigns and games. The system (both this one and the Aztec one modified for Burma) would work for ancient Greeks, I think, without much modification. Another possibility that occurs is something like the Roman invasion of Britain in the First Century AD, with various tribes declaring their allegiance or not. On the other hand, I do have a slight hankering for war wagons, so Hussites or Poles might be part of the next activity.

It might come down to maps. The map of India was scanned in from a book, and then the main roads were added from another one, by hand. The result was then ‘hexed’ and printed out. The process was not quite as straightforward as it sounds, but the result worked. On the other hand, a pure narrative campaign like the Armada Abbeys also works. So many choices, so little time.

Any suggestions?