Piston Campaign

This is a simple, two-player campaign for DBA. Any two armies can participate. Each army will replace losses at a fixed rate in their rear area; the replacement elements must then move toward the front. Thus, the army that is advancing deep into enemy territory will replace losses more slowly than the army that is retreating into friendly territory.

This game is related to (and partly inspired by) the "Battlemaker" campaign system by Jim Wright.

General

• The "Campaign Map" is just a row of eight squares. One end of this row is the Player A's base, and the other end is the Player B's base. The squares in between the bases are numbered one through six.
• Only the numbered squares are in play; the two bases are only used for orientation.
• At the start of the campaign, decide who is Player A and Player B. If nothing else, dice to see which is which.
• Player A's army starts in square 3, and Player B's army in square 4. Player A gets the first strategic move.

Sequence of Play

• Player A moves his Army
• Fight a DBA battle if any, and loser retreats
• Both players get replacements
• Player B moves his Army
• Fight a DBA battle if any, and loser retreats
• Both players get replacements

During his strategic move, the player can move his field army one space forward or back. A DBA game occurs when both armies occupy the same space. Armies cannot pass each other -- like a piston in a cylinder. However, an army can break contact if it moves to the rear.

After a DBA game, the defeated army retreats one space toward its base; this does not count as a player's move. If an army retreats or moves off the track and into its base, the campaign is over; thus, if a battle is fought in space 6 and B loses, then B loses the campaign; similarly, if a battle is fought in space 1 and A loses, then A loses the campaign. A campaign is thus composed of a minimum of three strategic turns; on the other hand, it could see-saw forever.

As per the DBA minicampaign rules, a player loses two additional elements if his camp or CinC are lost in battle (a total of four if both are lost).

During each replacement phase, an army gets either one or two elements "back" from the elements that have been lost in battle, depending on how far they are from base.

The numbers in the following chart give the probablity of getting two replacement elements. During the replacement phase, each army rolls a die, and if the result is in the listed range, that army gets two replacements; otherwise, it only gets one.

	1	2	3	4	5	6
A Repl	1-6	2-6	3-6	4-6	6-5	6
B Repl	6	5-6	4-6	3-6	2-6	1-6

Thus, if Army A is in Space 2, it gets two replacements on a roll of two through six, and one on a roll of one. If Army B is in Space 3, it gets two replacements on a roll of four through six, and one on a roll of one through three. Note that, in the space next to the army's base, the army automatically receives two replacements; but since that army is on the point of losing the war, those replacements will be all too welcome!

Note that the effect of this system is that an army that is advancing into enemy territory will not have its losses replaced as quickly as an army that is withdrawing into friendly territory. This in turn makes it a smart strategy to fall back after losing a battle; but don't pull too far back, or you will fall completely off the track and lose the war!

Example of Play

Initial setup: Marian Romans vs. Gallic

Romans (Player A): 8 Bd, 2 Cv, 2 Ps, all in army in square 3.

Gauls (Player B): 6 Wb, 3 Cv, 3 Ps, all in army in square 4.

First Strategic Turn

Player A Move

Romans move from 3 to 4, initating combat.

Battle

• Romans (attacking) 2 Cv, 8 Bd, 2 Ps
• Gauls (defending) 4 Cv, 6 Wb, 2 Ps
• Battle: Rome wins, 5-0 (Gallic Army loses 2 Wb, 2 Cv, 1 Ps)
• Gallic Army retreats to Space 5.

Replacment Phase

• Gauls roll a five and get two replacements.
• No Roman replacements are available (Roman Army is still at full strength).

Player B Move

• Gallic Army falls back to Space 6, to pick up the more replacement elements.
• No battle.

Replacement Phase

• Gauls automatically get two replacements in Space 6.
• No Roman replacements are available (Roman Army is still at full strength).

Second Strategic Turn

Player A Move

• Roman Army to Space 5.
• No battle.

Replacement Phase

• Gauls get their last replacement element at Space 6; both armies are now back up to full strength.

Player B Move

• Time to counterattack: Gallic Army to Space 5, battle.

• Gauls win 5-0 this time: Rome loses 4 Bd, 1 Ps
• Rome Retreats to space 4.

Replacement Phase

• Rome rolls a 1 and gets only 1 replacement element.

Third Strategic Turn

Player A Move

• Roman Army withdraws to space 3.

Replacement Phase

• Rome rolls a 2 and gets only 1 replacement element.

Player B Move

• Gallic army advances to space 4 unopposed.

Replacement Phase

• Rome rolls another 1 and gets 1 replacement element.

And so it goes....

Variations

Preset terrain

Lay out six tables ahead of time, and allow the players to see what they are. That way, the decision to advance or fall back may be influenced by knowledge of the terrain. A further variation: if the two armies come from different "climates", have the six terrains gradually change from one to the other, to reflect the idea of defending on "home ground".

Mobilization

Start the armies with some elements already at base, even before the first battle. One way is to start with eight or nine elements in the field army, and therefore three or four at the base; or, have the field armies at full strength with three to six "spare" elements at base, so that the armies could grow to oversize if they eventually pick up all their spare elements.

"Sleeping Giant"

A further variation on the mobilization idea. One army starts off much larger than the other, but the smaller army has more spare elements (and therefore a larger final total size) than the one that starts with initial advantage. For example, player A starts with twelve elements, all in space 3. Player B starts with only nine elements, but has another nine at base. Player A has to win in a big hurry or get overwhelmed by B's superior "economic base". A still furhter variation: vary the number of elements that can come onto the track from base; say, player A can bring two elements on per turn, B only one.