Campaigns offer players a chance to apply ongoing effects to the games and their forces. This is just a way for players to develop their forces and let previous victories have an effect on the games they play.
We've already covered how success in a previous battle can lead to benefits when we covered the basics of narrative campaigning. What form the benefits take can vary hugely, from general improvements in leadership, to special kit and veteran upgrades. These can be permanent or temporary force changes - it's down to how you want to run the campaign. These benefits can take the form of battle improvements such as choice of terrain, table edge, first turn, control over reinforcements etc. They can also take the form of force changes.
Some players like to use one master roster with just enough points to play all the battles and then as the soldiers fall in battle, they're removed from the roster and not available for future battles. Over long and multiple ladder and tree campaigns, this can be combined with reinforcement and veteran rules to allow your force to grow following the narrative and your success on the battlefield. Rules like these can be as complicated as you like, even down to ongoing injuries: just because you're wounded on the battlefield, doesn't mean you're dead - a sprained angle can take you out of a battle just as surely as a bullet.
Ongoing effects don't just have to be about the rules, either: some gamers like to model trophies or totems on their models, to remind their opponent of a previous defeat. These are perfectly fine and very much in the spirit of a campaign. One gamer I know likes to convert a big standard bearer and detail his victories and defeats through a campaign on the standard. He's built up quite an impressive collection of banner bearers over the years.
Have you used an ongoing effect in a campaign? Please add your experiences and ideas in the comments below.
4 years ago
