1600 - Something

The genesis of this campaign was a long time ago, when I ran a play-by-email game called 1618-Something. This ran for about two game years before it got over complex and people stopped sending in order, fighting wargames, and so on, and it all fell apart.

This time, I am going to run it solo, with a simplified set of campaign rules and my own tactical rules (the previous effort used DBR). I think that keeping the game moving is quite important, particularly for campaign games run solo.

Anyway, the starting positions can be found in this post. By summer 1600, not much had happened, and I was starting to worry I had made the starting positions too far apart, or the moves too slow, or something. In the Autumn, however, Muscovy collapsed into civil war, which led to a battle that the government won, just about.

In Spring 1601, things in Europe started to heat up, with the Bavarians having raised a second army. They were accused by the Austrians (under the Holy Roman Emperor, of course) of undermining the peace of the Empire and were invaded. The first encounter was a narrow Austrian win. In the Summer, the two sides met again, with a more decisive victory to the Austrians. The Bavarians sued for peace, disbanding the remains of their second army, while the Austrians remained in control, at least for the moment, of the province.

In Spring 1602, things started warming up in Western Europe, with a French invasion of Franche-Comte. The outnumbered and isolated Spanish garrison fought a splendid action and beat the French. The Spanish Road from Milan to the Low Countries remained open.

To keep things interesting, there are some random events and, also in Spring 1602, some Siberian tribesmen rode into Novgorod in Muscovy. They were met by local forces and defeated, although not without a risky frontal cavalry attack by the Muscovites, uphill.

In the Summer, Bedouin tribesmen raided Ottoman Egypt, but were beaten off by local forces. Also in the summer, the Ottomans moved into Wallachia, but were beaten off by the annoyed locals. In the west, the Spanish moved into Savoy. They were resisted by the Savoyards, supported by assorted French forces, but the Spanish were triumphant. After the shock defeat in Wallachia, the locals in Rumelia rebelled, but were defeated by the garrison of Istanbul.

Autumn 1602 saw a further blow to the Ottoman Empire, as a random event indicated that the Persians had invaded Mesopotamia. The local forces rallied against the invaders, failed to repel them, and Mesopotamia was captured.

In Spring 1603, the Poles invaded Crimea, and were not opposed by the local Tartar forces. However, in the Summer, the Ottomans got their act together and counter-attacked, with support from Tartar allies. This effort nobly failed. Also in summer, the Poles were in action again, the Danes having invaded Pomerelia. Local Polish forces managed to hold off the Danes, who were left clinging to a toehold on the southern coast of the Baltic.

The Autumn saw the Danes reinforce Pomerelia, while a corruption scandal wracked Poland. The Ottomans and Muscovites raised armies, while the French reinforced Burgundy. Winter 1603 saw the Spanish army in Savoy mutiny and disperse, and the English raised an army in England.

Spring 1604 saw the Ottomans attempt to recover some of their lost possessions. They attacked the Poles in Crimea, but the Poles beat them off. They also had a go at recapturing Mesopotamia from the Persians, and in this were successful, routing the Persians.

In summer, a supported Swedish army moved into Estonia, and was met by a similarly supported Muscovite army. The Swedes triumphed, leaving them with a toe-hold in the southern Baltic. In Autumn, the Bavarians suffered a diplomatic embarrassment, while the Muscovites converted their defeated army into a train supporting their remaining forces, and the Poles raised another army.

The winter of 1604 saw some changes to the campaign, namely, that the East, from the Mughal Empire to Japan, was added. This was another 11 active nations, and made the turns longer to resolve. On the other hand, the promise of more wargames and a wider diversity of troops was compensation.

External events deemed that the Ottoman Emperor had died, and a plague hit Farsistan. In spring 1605, the Jurchen broke out, the Jiang invading their neighbouring tribe, the Haixi, and routing them. The Vietnamese decided to have a go at invading the underdefended Chinese south, but did not manage to make a breakthrough. The Laotians invaded part of Burma, Luang Prabang province, to be precise, but they too were forced to withdraw. In the west, the Muscovites attempted to recapture Estonia, but, as with the last time, they failed.

In the summer of 1605, the Japanese raised a fleet in Kyushu. This was seen as a grave threat by the Koreans, and, in spite of relatively good relations between the countries, they invaded and defeated the local Japanese forces. Further north, the victorious Jiang Jurchens raided the north of Korea. They were defeated, partly by the terrain. A war between two Mongol tribes had broken out in Khalkha province. The Black Sheep prevailed, but somehow, in the post-battle negotiations, the White Sheep came out on top. 

In Southeast Asia, the Khmer invaded Siam. Both armies were supported, but the Siamese came out on top, routing the Khmer forces. In the West, the thwarted Muscovites invaded Courland and were faced by an army of irate locals supported by Danes. The Danes were routed, but the Moscovites were forced to withdraw, but kept their army in being. Further west yet, the Bavarians, claiming French support, attacked two armies of Austrians. This was ill-advised, and they were routed.

Autumn 1605 saw a corruption scandal in Persia, which cost them nearly half the treasury. In the East, the Siamese counter-invaded Cambodia, forcing the Khmer army to withdraw from Champasak. The Mongol civil war continued, with the White Sheep Mongols drawing a battle with another tribe. Fighting in Courland continues, with a Danish Expeditionary force defeating an army of Muscovites and forcing them to withdraw. Finally, the French invaded Luxembourg and defeated an army of locals.

The Winter of 1605 - 6 saw a number of changes in the rules, and a lot of activity. Along with the Spring 1606 moves, this led to a total of 10 wargames being scheduled. These included a number of mutinies and revolts, particularly among Swedish forces.

The first action was an invasion of Kyushu by a Japanese army, attempting to recapture it from the Korean invaders. The Japanese suffered greatly from a lack of cavalry in the army and were forced to withdraw. Kyushu remains disputed territory.

The White Sheep Mongols, attempting to shore up the bank account after their draw in the civil war, attacked China. Unfortunately for them, they ran into a regular Chinese army just dispatched by the Emperor to Shanxi. These forces routed the Mongols.

A rogue army led by a Burmese warlord invaded Vietnam. As the Vietnamese army was elsewhere, it met locally raised forces. This led to the largest elephant battle yet. The Burmese won the battle, but lost their general, and so the future of the incursion is open to question.