Kas'trum Campaign details, details, details.

So having a broad goal in mind, let's put some structure around it. Drawing inspiration from the Too Fat Lardies At the Sharp End campaign supplement for Chain of Command, as well as earlier ideas of how Kas'trum fits in to the broader fluff of Space 1889, I came up with a rough ladder campaign as shown below. Each number refers to the "rung" hex two rows down. Each hex is notionally 20 miles across representing one day's march under normal conditions though this scale will be stretched or compressed as required. Movement for earth forces along the canal will not be too difficult as there is easy access to water. Moving deeper into the desert will create severe transportation problems as the amount of water needed by pack and draft animals rapidly outstrips their ability to carry it.  Martian forces will be much less constrained.

The "Ladder"

At the left on the main  north-south canal we start with Roogie's Landing, a minor backwater of a hamlet surviving quietly under Human occupation. Unfortunately, the earthers have discovered that the inhabitants have been carrying on a bustling trade in black market goods of Crocean origin. What was not immediately clear is how the goods were being smuggled in, that is until it was revealed that Roogie's Landing was not just a simple village in the wetlands but that it was the endpoint of a heretofore unknown canal going to who knows where.

To the east of the landing is campaign location 1, a stretch of Martian desert with not major features. Location 2 features some ruins, or perhaps not depending on how much terrain I want to make. Three will have some sort of temple or monolith. Four is more desert leading to five, an as yet unnamed small village providing respite for smugglers as well as farming for trade. Six, seven and eight are all variations of endless sand and stone. Nine is a border village between swamp an sand. Ten is swamp, allowing for possible naval action bringing us at last to Kas'trum proper.

I sat down with an rand() function and the Soldier's Companion book and came up with the table below:

Proposed specs for Kas’trum - randomly generated

Population	10 = 100,000 inhabitants
Government	Weak Prince   Strong Merchants
Corruption	Honest
Economy	Mixed
Economic Vitality	Wealthy
Army Quality	Good
Mercenary Quality	One level better so Excellent
Army Size	9
Fleet Quality	Trained
Fleet Size	10
Fleet Value	400K
Attitude	Very Friendly

Not bad and about what I wanted but Kas'trum should be a minor power and not a major city state.

So let's tweak it a little. In actual lead, I have six bands of Kas'trum foot with another of mounted, possibly borrowed from Crocea. In addition, I have a company each of Hill Martian foot and mounted, a smattering of artillery and of course Antevaax' flying hordes. By the book, each population number provides two bands infantry, one of mounted and two guns. Wealthy cities  have one additional band each of mercenary cavalry and infantry and an additional two guns per number.

I'm ok with recycling units to a degree but that's usually reserved for the barbarian hordes so let's drop the numbers a little. I also don't think Oh'ktava'an, I mean the merchant's guild or should that be the Prince would really be "very friendly" to the locals let alone off world invaders, so let's tone that down too.

Revised specs for Kas’trum - Final

Population	4 = 40,000 inhabitants
Government	Weak Prince Strong Merchants
Corruption	Honest
Economy	Mixed
Economic Vitality	Wealthy
Army Quality	Good
Mercenary Quality	One level better so Excellent
Army Size	3
Fleet Quality	Trained
Fleet Size	3
Fleet Value	140K
Attitude	Indifferent

So there we have it. Now I just need to re-stat my existing units and we are good to go.

City Troops:

Oh'ktava'n's Experimental Company - The Stalwarts: Regular E0
Kas'trum Fencibles: Irregular X0

First Kas'trum Marines: Regular V1S

Loyal Kas'trum Company: Irregular T2
Kas'trum Civic Guard: Irregular X2

Red Caps and Blue Bonnets: Irregular V1s

Foreign troops and Mercenaries:

Num'da's Raiders: Irregular V2

Kas'trum Scouts: Irregular V2

Second Oenotrian Lancers - The Canal Terrors: TBD

British stats will be pulled from one of the stock units.

Lots more to come.

Kas'trum Campaign

Kas'trum

One aspect of history and war gaming that has always interested me has been the underdogs, the ordinary, the forgettable and the forgotten. It's easy to get excited about the heroic, the dashing, the elite troops with all the kit as well as the skills and attitude to go with it. But I was never into the easy.

Space 1889, and its mass battle rules The Soldier's Companion, is  human and European focused. There is nothing wrong with this but to me at least, it is unsatisfying. Martian culture is supposed to be very old - older than that of Humanity in fact, yet it is presented as a culture in decay. The Martians, even when allies of Earth, are plot points or antagonists with the odd NPC thrown in for interest. Where are the stories from the Martian perspective? Why must they be two dimensional?  From the classical colonial perspective this makes some sort of sense, The Canal Martians stand in for the Raj with the Hill and High Martians taking on the roles of Steppe Tribes / Plains Indians and slightly exotic barbarians respectively.

Over hundreds of years of inter city conflict we are expected to believe that the Martians lack any technical finesse, any sense of strategy. At the very least, flying ships are something they know intimately while the Earth empires are just trying to figure them out.

It is also somewhat unsatisfying to see that in the fluff the British campaigns are held up not because of any skill on the part of the Martians but due to human incompetence. The Zulus and afghans got more respect than this.

I need to change this narrative so I give you the Kas'trum Campaign. this will be a series of battles fought using a ladder structure rather conveniently based on a British expeditionary force moving up the canal. The British force will be somewhat automated. It will receive support as its fortunes ebb and flow. The Kas'trum forces will be more fixed, with compromise required to get assistance from the hill tribes or High Martians as well as the larger city states in the area.  The aim of the game for Kas'trum will be to maintain its independence while driving back the invading Earth forces. This could be through a negotiated peace with the Earthers or causing them enough casualties to make them withdraw.

More to follow in the coming days.