The Next Campaign

My PBEM campaign is still running, but it is down to two campaign areas from five.   It is still providing battles for Jan and I to wargame, but obviously less now than previously.   So I need to decide what will replace it.

It is tempting to try something completely new, or to return to an abandoned project.   For example some years ago I fought a series of wargames based on Wellington’s Battles.   I enjoyed it, and considered doing something similar for Napoleon’s Battles.  But the latter were much bigger affairs, unlike the manageable battles fought in the Peninsula.

I then tried a series of campaigns based on Napoleon’s campaigns.   I started with Italy, with a campaign loosely based on 1796.   It worked quite well, but soon departed from history.   This decided me to attempt a fictional campaign, and the start of the (then) solo 1813 campaign.

I have spent most of the week considering how I could refight Napoleon’s campaigns, and decided that it would have to be fictional.   Given the soldiers and scenery I have in my collection it would have to start after the Italian and Egyptian campaigns.  

I don’t have a problem fighting the 1805 campaign with late Napoleonic period uniforms, but the size of the armies is a problem.   I have no intention of starting collecting and painting new armies, so my existing collection will have to make do.

Reluctantly I have come to accept that my current 1813 campaign is the ideal vehicle to produce interesting battles to wargame.  The whole campaign is based on my table size, soldier and scenery collection.   So it looks like I will stick with what I have, but convert is back to a solo campaign

It will also give me the opportunity to use my 18mm collection again.   Since the start of the PBEM campaign I have used the 28mm collection, because I wanted to post a visual battle report of each battle.   28mm is easier to follow than 18mm, at least with my photographic skills.

So next week I will look at how I can convert the current campaign from PBEM to solo, and in doing so reduce the amount of administration and rekindle my enthusiasm.