Ep. 128: Campaign Board Game Review (Waddingtons 1971) + How To Play
Vložit
- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- A review on how to play the board game Campaign. I have the 1974 version.
I apologize about the constant re-uploads. My software was refusing to save it correctly. :(
Not to be confused with Campaign, the identically named game produced by Wills and Hepworth in the 1940's.
"An exciting strategy game in which each player can become a Napoleon or a Wellington leading his army across Europe. Famous battles can be re-fought and alliances can be made and broken with this compelling game of military and political strategy"
Large playing board in three sections, four sets of army pieces in red, white, blue and light green, comprising 1 General, 9 infantry and 9 cavalry units. Six sets of 4 town cards of different colors, 4 alliance cards, 2 dice, 6 page rule book, and a 4 page "The Years of Napoleon" historical booklet.
The game reproduces the Napoleonic wars at the strategic level in a very abstract fashion (all players are equal). It can be won either by the outright defeat of your opponent, or (more likely) by acquiring towns controlling large areas of territory. The board is an abstract representation of Europe and western Russia and is divided into six areas of roughly equal size representing France, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Italy and Spain.
Each country has four provincial towns, and five of the countries used as starting countries also have a capital city. Parts of the board, particularly the central area, have areas of impenetrable mountains, forests, and sea which restrict the movement of the troops.
There are introductory and standard rules. Normally, each player selects a country, but in the two player game each gets two countries except that the France + Prussia combo is not allowed.
The pieces move using the dice, and combat is deterministic. The throw can be used all on one piece or many pieces. The full throw does not have to be used. The pieces are placed in a set format on the country selected, with the General on the capital square and four infanty and four cavalry. The town cards are used to keep track of who controls what.
The pieces move in set ways. The General moves one square in any direction. When it attacks it has a value of one and when defending a value of two. The General must be present to take a town. Cavalry moves two squares at a time and must move horizontally or vertically but never diagonally. Infantry moves one square and only diagonally. Pieces cannot pass through opposing lines unless there is a clear gap of at least one square.
Combat is like movement: one considers which pieces could be moved to the target piece's square and totals up the combat value --if large enough, the opposing piece is removed. Only one piece can be attacked in a turn. In the standard game, adjacent pieces also support each other (in a manner reminiscent of Diplomacy), which introduces a fair amount of tactics in on-going battles.
Lost pieces are regenerated in your country's mustering area, forcing you to keep a constant flow of recruits towards the front. In the standard game, the towns also represent logistical support --lose the town and you lose the corresponding piece.
The odd movement system means you actually have two sets of cavalry and infantry pieces on the board, each set (which we could call "odd" and "even") being unable to assist the other.
A capital can only be captured after the provincial towns have been captured. Where more than two players are playing you can agree to ally with another player and exchange alliance cards as reminders. An ally cannot cross into his ally's territory without his consent. Alliances can be broken simply by announcing the fact; you can attack your former ally on your next turn only, giving him a turn to re-deploy.
The game is won if the player captures all his opponents capitals or captures 8 towns of any colour but not including the 4 in his own country. You also win if your opponent's General is left with no troops.
Campaign is basically a pure strategy game. It you are in a position to attack a piece, you will take it. However, there is some luck depending on how high a movement throw you have.
from the Waddington ad for the game from 1976: "This absorbing strategy game captures the tension and the pressures of the famous Napoleonic battles. Alliances are made and broken and complex manuevers bring victory or defeat. #boardgame #ads #ads
#ad #boardgame As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
NB:
* concerning river crossings, my rulebook of the 1971 Waddington's English edition says explicitly that "[p]laying pieces may not move on to or over any square that is marked as sea., forest or mountain. They are only allowed to move from one country into another by crossing the frontier rivers or the red, frontier lines."
* on cavalry movement, my rulebook is clear that the pieces may not only move two squares in a line but also two squares at a right angle. This effectively moves the cavalry piece one diagonal step but there must be a clear path in order for the right-angle move to be permitted and so it differs from infantry movement.
* when getting extra troops by capturing (red) provincial towns, the type of troop gained by you and lost by the previous owner of the town is determined by the symbol on the town square/town card. If the opponent does not have the correct type of piece to discard, the closest other type of piece is to be removed (never the general).
I am curious to hear if your rulebook differs on these points.
Never quite knew how to play this game until today.....great explanation, thank you from the UK.
Waddington made a lot of interesting games back in the day. Good review Norm!
Sooo many hours spent playing that game back in the day. Many board wargamers tend to dismiss it as too abstract, and they are dead wrong because the abstraction is actually very representative of the warfare in the Napoleonic era and there is a lot of depth here on the tactical, strategic and political planes particularly with the standard game rules.
The different strategies that you can adopt are the real fascination of this game.
@@christopherpattison7877I actually just got picked up a complete set in a charity shop by my girlfriend! Can't wait to try it 😍
Thanks for the video. I have this game and have been looking forward to play it, but some rules seemed complicated. I must give it a go. This game was published also in Spain under the name of Lepanto.
Another game I've never heard of. Great review. Another game that looks simple but those movement rules can make it a lot more difficult.
I've always liked this game but didn't play it much with new people because it took too long to explain the rules. This video will come in very handy next time I play...which will probably still be a while because most of my friends don't like war strategy games. Ha.
Loved playing this game with four players but with three or two it is less enjoyable. Very much has the feel of the Napoleonic or Seven Years War. Have often thought about making a more geographically/historically accurate board and playing pieces. Patience, diplomacy, planning and luck pay off and some caution is necessary in the early stages too.
I have always enjoyed playing this game. Far superior to Risk, which gets repetitive after a certain stage in the game. I need to pull it out again.
An online friend of mine sent this game to me to review. It's certainly is unique, it's tighter than risk
@@BoardGameMuseumer When playing it, it is interesting the strategy each player takes. Either moving fast to capture towns, but then leaving the town behind empty or lightly guarded, to then lose it to another player. The other player moving slower, but with a heavier retinue, capturing towns and holding securely. The other observation in a multi-player game is that some players get into a pitched battle with each other, adding troops continually, whilst another player sneaks around the board capturing towns behind their backs. And of course, the effects of forming alliances.......
I'm looking for a partner(s) to play this with. My idea is to play distance while moving the pieces on the physical board, 24 hours to make your move. Not sure yet how we'd do the cards... I used to play it when I was a kid, there's really nothing like it AFAIK.
Sounds like a loooooong campaign.
A first class review as usual, so no fault to you, but this game just doesn't appeal to me for some reason.
ridiculus number of ads, unwatchable