THE SQUARE CAMPAIGN: Ladder-campaign adjacent rules for a limited duration, thematically coherent four-player wargame campaign

Here's a system I used to play a GMless Warhammer Fantasy Battles (8th ed) campaign in 2023. I quite like it, and I think it'd be useful for others too. It has the advantages of not requiring a GM and reflecting the progress of each army whilst still producing thematically coherent outcomes. It's not going to be as in-depth as a GMed map campaign probably, and it needs exactly four fairly committed players (well, I'm sure you could make a triangle or hex variant tbf), but what can you do? Although built around Warhammer, it should be workable for any wargame that uses points and has scenarios - you may just need to find a suitable way to replicate the massacre/major victory/minor victory/draw distinction WHFB makes.

My experience has been that it's played pretty quickly and produced plausible, fun results. (Rules which didn't do this were smoothed out over time). There's a bit of a death-spiral, but it's not so quick that people can't make a comeback, and besides I don't think a death-spiral is necessarily a bad thing in campaign play. Disclaimer that we never did finish our campaign, largely because we all ended up living quite far apart and Warhammer: the Old World distracted us for a bit with all the excitement/slight disappointment, so I can't say for sure it's all perfect and I definitely can't guarantee that it'll bring about a successful campaign experience... but I think it got us further than other setups would have.

Setup:

You need a grid like the below, populated with scenarios for games set in the world you're playing in. We used a mix of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer Skirmish, Mordheim, a duelling minigame I'd created, and a modified Dreadfleet variant.

You could have one player populate the grid with appropriate scenarios - I did this - or add a tactical element by letting each player pick their own and then one Open Battle and two mixed-colour battles each. Player-chosen scenarios still need to meet the standards for each scenario described below. I strongly recommend that corner mixed-colour scenarios hold some slightly weird stuff, third-party factions or rules-changers that reward players for wandering off the map a bit.

The Rules:

• At any time, each player occupies a square which contains a unique scenario.

• At the beginning of the campaign, each player chooses a square to occupy – either one of their uniquely themed Skirmishes or a generic Open Battle.

• Whenever two players play against each other, they roll off to determine who will choose the scenario that they play. The player who most recently won a campaign game, if any, adds +1 to their roll. The winner will then choose either the scenario of the square they presently occupy, or that of their opponent.

• Players may play each other at any time. There is no requirement that everybody play the same number of games, though there should be a social contract that everybody will make some effort to play games and will not attempt to gain unfair advantage by manipulating the number of games they play. (If they do this, that's not a problem the rules can solve. Talk to them and sort it out.)
• If two or more players simultanaeously wish to challenge another – to take advantage of their being Cornered, for example – they should roll off to see who gets to go first if they wish to resolve it quickly or, more interestingly, fight a standard Battleline battle between themselves for the privilege.
• Such a 'roll-off' battle triggers no territorial loss or movement.

• When the game is won, the square of the scenario is marked CONQUERED: (ARMY OF VICTOR) and the scenario deleted from it. Each player then moves one square directly in the direction of the edge of the loser, or, if they are already positioned on that edge, one square up or down it (player’s choice).

• If this movement would take the losing party into a Decisive Battle, this still happens but they are on the Defender side. Trapped in enemy territory, they are forced into a highly dangerous situation on ground of their opponent’s choosing.

• Conquered squares are considered not to exist for the purposes of this movement: they are skipped over into the next available place, except in the four scenarios below:

• If this movement would take you out into a board edge, you ‘bounce back’ through the square and return to the space you were in beforehand, possibly causing you to become Cornered (see below).
• If a player moves into a square Conquered by the player they have just defeated, they skip over it as normal but recolour it to have been conquered by them instead. If they skip over multiple squares, they may recolour only one.
• If a player moves into a square Conquered by them as a result of this movement then instead of skipping it they may choose to move into any square adjacent to it, including diagonally.
• If a player moves into a square conquered by the player who had just defeated them as a result of this movement, they remain there: they are Cornered and in particularly dire straits. When choosing a scenario, the scenario of the player in this square is always considered to be a Last Battle – see below.

• Moving After a Draw: if a battle results in a draw, both sides move as though they had lost it, except that they treat squares of their opponent’s colour as squares of a non-participant’s colour and thus are not Cornered if they move into them.

• For every square above 6 of the player’s colour on the board – both Conquered squares and as-yet-unfought ones - they may add 2.5% of the standard points to their roster in any battle that they fight. This is tracked alongside reductions from Decisive and Last Battles (see below).

• Ceding Ground: if you do not wish to play an opponent in a particular Skirmish, Territory or Open Battle, you may choose to Cede Ground before fighting them. You and your opponent both move as if they had defeated you, and if the battle you were avoiding was of your colour then it is Conquered.

• Two players may never occupy the same square for any reason. If this would happen for whatever reason, both may choose to move to any square adjacent to the co-occupied one; if neither will, they must roll off, the loser being forced to.

• There are four types of battles represented on the grid, as well as an additional two types triggered in special circumstances:

  • Open battles take place in the spaces between player territories, neutral or contested ground. They are played using normal WHFB rules.

  • Skirmishes are small-scale battles which, whilst significant, are more preludes or interludes to the grand events of the campaign. They might be played using Duel, Mordheim, Warhammer: Skirmish or whatever other imaginative system.

  • Territory Battles take place in ground themed around the player to whose edge they are adjacent. They represent conflicts in that player’s lands. They are played using normal WHFB rules.

  • Decisive Battles take place in key heartlands of the force who is presently defending in them, and therefore rouse the most of their support. They often have an Attacker and a Defender, with scenario-appropriate rules and victory conditions for each. Usually the defender will be the player whose scenario it is, but in rare circumstances as described above the nature of movement may force a former assailant to defend on enemy soil.

  • An army that loses a Decisive Battle has 10% fewer points available for all future battles in the campaign; this is cumulative with all other modifiers. 
  • Some Decisive Battles allow the winner a choice between inflicting this or inflicting 5% losses and gaining a special benefit. For example, one scenario in our campaign allowed a winner who chose to harness the wild magic of the battlefield to turn any future battle into a Storm of Magic game. 
  • An army that suffers a Massacre in a Decisive Battle remains in the now-Conquered square rather than moving and as such is Cornered.

  • Last Battles take place when an army is Cornered, or when there are no squares of its colour left on the board. In the latter case, they should be played using the rules of whichever square the army or the opponent attacking it (depending on dice-off) now occupies; in the former, play a Last Stand (see below). The battle can have the following outcomes:

  • If the Defender scores a Major Victory or Massacres their opponent, they achieve a Glorious Resurgence! They regain all points previously lost due to Decisive Battles (not due to other battle types or territory loss!), Conquer the square they are in and may move to any adjacent square following the normal rules for moving after a victory.
  • If the Defender scores a Minor Victory they choose one of the following options:
  • Escape the battle largely unscathed and may move to any adjacent square, including diagonally, but do not Conquer any squares. 
  • Die to the last man but inflict heroic losses on the enemy – the enemy army reduces its points for all future rosters by 20%, but the Defender player's army is out of the campaign (though they may have return roles to keep them invested – see below for some suggestions) and will never return. In this latter case, all of their remaining squares, if any, are changed to the colour of the player with most squares of their colour adjacent to them, or to an aesthetically pleasing neutral colour if that colour would be their opponent’s of this battle or there is a tie. 
  • In addition, all parties are compelled to stand in awed silence and humble respect for their heroism, and treat them as the moral victors of the campaign even if they cannot now actually win it. THIS RULE IS NON-OPTIONAL.
  • If the two sides Draw, the Defender chooses one of the following option:
  • Barely escapes and may move to any adjacent square except diagonally, but their roster points are reduced by a further 10% in all future battles.
  • Die to the Last Man but inflict heavy losses on the enemy – if they do so, the enemy army reduces its points for all future rosters by 10%, but the player is out of the campaign (though they may have return roles to keep them invested – see below for some suggestions) and will never return. In this latter case, all of their remaining squares, if any, are changed to the colour of the player with most squares of their colour adjacent to them, or to an aesthetically pleasing neutral colour if that colour would be their opponent’s in this battle or there is a tie. 
  • In addition, all parties should shed a single noble tear for the senselessness of the slaughter. Players without functional tear ducts are encouraged to say a few stoical words. Players who think crying is somehow weak are encouraged to grow up.
  • Negotiated Peace sees the attacker and defender agree to leave each other be. If either henceforth plays games against the other, they should do so on behalf of one of the other players (with that player’s agreement). Neither may conquer one of the others’ territory (not counting any conquest made as a result of this game). In multi-player games, the defender may not attack the attacker unless they are first attacked. If playing a multi-player game and the attacker and defender are the only forces left, the attacker may choose to end the game without it counting as a concession (victory points are calculated normally).
  • If the Attacker scores a minor victory, the defender may choose one of the following options:
  • Pragmatic Vassalage - the defender henceforth pledges themselves to another – or perhaps to multiple others! They divide their remaining points percentage by two for the defeat, then split it up between the remaining players; the number of points of their army dictated by the granted percentages may appear fighting alongside their new allies in future games, probably played by the player so they have something to do. They also divide up their territory as they choose between the other players. They are out of the campaign as an independent force.
  • If their new masters suffer further points reductions in future, the controlling players may decide how much of that points reduction comes out of their assigned allies.
  • Negotiated Peace sees the attacker and defender agree to leave each other be. If either henceforth plays games against the other, they should do so on behalf of one of the other players (with that player’s agreement). Neither may Conquer one of the others’ territory (not counting any Conquest made as a result of this game). 
  • In multi-player games, the defender may not attack the attacker unless they are first attacked. If playing a multi-player game and the attacker and defender are the only forces left, the attacker may choose to end the game without it counting as a concession (victory points are calculated normally).
  • Defiant to the Last, their memories will live on. All of their remaining squares, if any, are changed to the colour of the player with most squares of their colour adjacent to them, or to an aesthetically pleasing neutral colour if there is a tie. The player, clearly, should still be allowed to partake in the campaign – perhaps they can play NPC mercenaries or other forces, sub-commanders within a player’s force or even GM some interesting scenarios.
  • Flee to Exile: All of the Defender's remaining squares, if any, are changed to the colour of the player with most squares of their colour adjacent to them; ties are broken in favour of the Attacker. However, from a narrative perspective, the defender’s leadership (at least those not killed in the battle) have survived and retained a core of loyal supporters who can be counted on to carry on the fight. They take no further part in this campaign’s battles (though they may continue to play a diplomatic role), but who knows when they may return?
  • Fighting on from the Shadows, the Defender retreats into guerilla warfare, with the following effects:
  • Their points are halved for the purposes of non-Skirmish battles
  • They lose an additional 1 from each of their Special and Rare choices
  • All remaining squares of their colour are recoloured to the colour of their attacker – except for skirmish games or Conquered tiles which formerly contained skirmish games. 
  • If all of their Skirmish game squares are Conquered, they count as Cornered. This option may not be selected again should they lose a subsequent Final Battle.
  • They henceforth play Skirmish games with no points modifiers, and thus remain at least somewhat in the campaign. 
  • In main battles, they will obviously be at a pretty severe disadvantage; to make up for this, all of their units gain the Skirmishers rule if applicable, and may choose one of Vanguard, Scouts, Ambushers, Sniper and Strider. (Adjust as appropriate to your game system)
  • If the Attacker scores a major victory, treat it as a minor victory but the Attacker chooses three options from above (for the purposes of Pragmatic Alliance, treat each allowable ally as an option, so the total list is Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, Negotiated Peace, To the Last, Flee to Exile, War from the Shadows) and the defender may only choose between these.

  • If the Attacker scores a Massacre, the defender is scattered to the winds, as in the To the Last option above but with substantially less glory. All of their remaining squares are Conquered by the attacker.

  • Climactic Battles take place when every non-Conquered square is occupied by a player, or when only two players are not subjugated or destroyed and there are no Skirmish battles left unconquered, or when the players agree they wish to end the campaign. 
  • They may follow the rules for any other type of battle, but they also incorporate some other interesting set of rules, uniquely tailored to this glorious moment (perhaps a Storm of Magic, a naval clash… you get the idea.) The player/s, if any, who are out of the campaign, or failing that the player/s with the fewest points, design/s the climactic battle. They are of course encouraged to solicit input to make it as interesting and fun as possible and the other players should feel free to veto anything they wouldn’t enjoy playing. 
  • The result of a Climactic Battle is the result of the campaign.
• Limited Resources: When a unit, item, upgrade etc., can be fielded a limited number of times in a list, access to it in the theatre of conflict as a whole is restricted. The unit is valuable and should not be wasted! Every time such a unit is destroyed, the total number of them counting as already being fielded in future lists increases by 1. 
  Example: If playing Warhammer 8th edition, you can have a maximum of 3 duplicates of a Special or 2 of a Rare unit. If you field a unit of Skaven Rat Ogres (special) and lose it in a game, all of your lists count as already including one - they do not actually include an extra one. As such, the maximum number of Rat Ogre units you could field would now be two. If the unit included a Master Moulder with the Electro-Whip magic weapon, all future lists would also count as including one (free, invisible, intangible) Electro-Whip, which would mean no Electro-Whip could actually be taken since duplicates of magic items are not permitted.
• This applies only to limitations on the specific number of things that can be present, not to limitations on numbers of units per other unit of a particular type or total-percentage-of-list limitations.
• This is the rule which will likely most need to be tailored to your specific system. I hope you get the spirit.
• I used a variant on the magic item loss element where if you rolled percentile dice and got under the item's cost it was lost, on the basis that more powerful items would be more likely to be retrieved. You could easily modify that further to say you roll twice and pick the highest result if you won the battle, or the lowest if you lost.

Hope this is useful to somebody! Feel free to ask any questions that you have or to point out anything I've missed.

The results sheet as it stood on the last game of our campaign: Orcs holding their own, Empire crumbling, Nippon pushing deep into everyone's territory but Araby (me!) mounting a somewhat underhanded resistance, flanking round deep into Nipponese territory