Hex Campaign Rules

 I have built a large number of 60mm hex tiles to generate 3-D maps to fight campaigns on. I have different buildings to enable me to fight campaigns from Ancient Rome to Vietnam War. The hexes fit into a cheap picture frame. To be honest this added dimension has really made campaigns come alive for me. I play solo campaigns and the trick is to play honestly

Vietnam map

Italian Wars map

To make a functioning campaign you need to; make the map, sort out the economics, set up the diplomacy and move the armies around until fighting takes place. I will use the Italian wars campaign as an example

1. Building the map
1. Position the cities. I have 5 cities, which gives me 5 city states. The frame gives me a map 14 hexes by 9 or 10 hexes. Roll a D10+2 to give the vertical hex co-ordinate and D8+1 for the horizontal. Postion the 1st city at this location. This will prevent each city being on a map edge. Repeat for each city. Do not place cities within 2 hexes of each other.
2. Once the cities are placed pick a corner and roll for terrain in that location. I have farmland, towns, woods, rivers, hills and mountains, plus a few specials including mines and quarries. I have different numbers of these so roll a D10  with, for example, farmland being 1-3.
3. If a river is drawn then I roll a D6 to set it's direction and then complete its course across the map by rolling D6 for straights, bends, bridges and forks. When it reaches the edge of the map I go back to the next empty hex and start again. Rivers don't just magically start in the middle of the map so they start with hills, mountains or marshes. Rivers can only be crossed at crossings.
4. Simialrly mountains don't usually occur a single hexes. If a mountain is drawn then roll for the surrounding hexes to see if they are more mountians, hills, rivers or flat terrain. Repeat until all the mountains are surrounded by non-mountain tiles. Mountains can not be crossed, i have some mountain pass hexes.
5. Once map is complete remove any stupid geography. It's really simple after a couple of practice maps
6. I then roll to replace 1 set of hills with a quarry,1 mountain with a mine and 1 square with a castle (use co-ordinate roll, don't put castle in the river!)
2. Building the city states
1. Each city is surrounded by 6 hexes. This is home state and is used to determine your core army (see economics).
2. Each state takes it in turn to occupy a hex. Hexes must be adjacent to a hex they aready owned. Continue until all hexes occupied. Some cities will run out of tiles to occupy early and this is 1/2 the fun
3. Economics
1. Each tile is worth a fixed income per turn. Cities = 4, towns and farmland = 2, woods, hills and rivers = 1, mountains and castles = 0, quarries and mines = 2
2. This income is used to pay for mercenary armies. I use Kings of War rules so a troops and artillery pieces cost 1, regiments cost 2 and hordes cost 4.
3. Each city has a home army which is its standing army. The size of this army is the total value of the city and its 6 surrounding hexes. A city can always field this army in its city.
4. The number of armies a city can field is 1 for the capital plus an additional army for each 2 towns it owns and an additional army if the city owns the castle.
5. Each army is made up of the home army and which ever mercenaries the state recruits using its turn income. Income can only be spent once per turn so if a state is to fight 2 battles then you may want to split the income between the 2 battles
6. For added zest give each side duplicate ghost armies. These move identically to the standard armies. They can flip ownership of tiles. However when moved into contact the army disappears. All tiles adjecent to the army that have been flipped revert back to the original army.
4. Diplomacy
1. I roll for the diplomacy between each state using a D10 from Allies through to WAR and each turn I roll a D6 to see how this has changed (1,2 more positive relation, 3,4 no change and 5,6 more negative relation). Armies may only move through the terrain of enemies or allies
2. I use modifiers to impact diplomacy, eg at war with an ally, etc.
3. Revolt. Each turn there is the possibility of a peasants revolt in each state. Roll D10 and add the following factors. At war +1 for each enemy, +2 if excommunicated, +2 if capitol besieged, -1 if Pope an ally. -1 for each ally. If result is >10 then there is a peasants revolt. roll for random location, can't be within 1 hex of capitol.
5. Espionage
1. Each turn a state may conduct a single act of espionage. Each task is rolled against a percentage success. A state may allocate turn income to the roll to improve the chance of success. Successful espionage attempts do not result in war between states.
1. Identify army, if it is a ghost army then it is immediately removed from map. It can reappear in the capitol next turn, although the opponent will need to not be paying attention to not be able to follow it again. To identify roll 70% or above 
2. Bribe an army. The army immediately disappears and can reappear in capitol next turn. To bribe roll 90% or above
3. Assasinate an army general. The army must remain stationary next turn until a replacement is appointed. If engaged in battle then the general is not fielded and therefore the related bonuses are missing.To assassinate roll 80% or above
4.  Ferment revolt. You can bribe and enemy settlement to rise up in revolt. An independent peasant army then appears in the hex and can move as a normal army, acquiring hexes and buying mercenaries. Capitols can't revolt. Only one army can be formed and it is the last army to form. This uprisingTo ferment an uprising 90% +10% for each hex away from the briber's territory.
5. Bribe hex to swap sides. Hexes adjacent to a states territory may be bribed to change sides. They cannot contain an enemy army. Roll 90% plus 10% if contains town, mine or bridge. minus 10% if river or inpenetrable terrain.
6. Counter espionage. This is a reaction to an espionage attempt. A state may spend money to reduce the success of an espionage attempt. If successful then the attempt fails.
7. Worsen relations between 2 states You spy generates fake news that puts stain on a relationship between 2 states. This gives +1 to the diplomacy roll. To worsen relationship 60% or above.  
8. Improve relations between 2 states. Your spy goes on an embassy to the states and attempts to improve relations. This gives -1 to the diplomacy roll. To improve relationship 60% or above
9. Remove excommunication.Go on Embassy to the Pope and negotiate on your states behalf. To remove excommunication roll 100% or above plus 10% if the state is at war with the Popes home state. This gives -1 to the diplomacy roll 
10. Get a state excommunicated. Go on embassy to the Pope and negotiate to get a state excommuncated. To get state excommunicated roll 100% or above plus 10% if state is not a war, -10 for each state at war with, -20% is at war with Pope's allies, -20% if at war with Pope's home state
6. The turn
1. Undertake espionage
2. Each army rolls a D6 each turn. 1= no move, 2-5 = move upto 2 hexes, 6 = move 4 hexes
3. If an army moves through an enemies hex it automatically belongs to that state.
4. If 2 armies enter the same hex then there is a battle
5. Armies are rolled for randomly until all the income limit is reached
6. If an army moves to within 1 hex of an unmoved army then the unmoved army may immediately move to attack it.
7. If there are 2 adjacent armies and one of them is engaged in battle the 2nd army may also join the battle as reinforcements. They will arrive after D6 turns, work out appropriate terrain factors that may delay, speed up, or fragment the arrival.
8. Once battle is fought then armies move based on result. Draw - both armies move back 1 hex, minor victory and loser moves back 2 hexes and victor stays put, major victory and loser retreats to city and victor advances 1 hex.

That's about it. It works really well and is simple with little book keeping. Each campaign I try new things and tinker.