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The following are some thoughts on low maintenance campaign rules.

My goals are few, yet certain:

1. Low crunchy bits
   
2. Low maintenance
   
3. Low frontloaded narrative
   
4. Quick ending
   
5. "Discovered" narrative structure
   
6. Open play
   
7. Limitation on special characters, yet an expectation that they will appear.
   

I like the campaign structure published in Warmachine: Escalation
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Warmachine:_Escalation

It's essentially a round robin league with rewards for games and a final big game. The
story elements are somewhat involved (something that I wanted to leave out, at least
I wanted to leave out the scripted events).

The method is this:

Players have multiple lists, one for each battle.
Each battle is against one other player in the campaign (round robin).
Each battle has an associated reward.
Players can only use each special character once.
Rewards can be used in battles leading up to the final battle.
The final battle is between the top two players, who can use any saved rewards.

More complicated version:

Strategies. There's a deck of strategies. Each player assigns a strategy to a specific battle.

More complicated version:

Strategies. There's a deck of strategies. Each player assigns a strategy to a specific battle. Players
with lower priority pick their battles and strategies first, players with higher priority pick their
strategies second.

Strategies are large events. Every player has access to every strategy. Strategy and
mission is where you create the story of the encounter.

Sample Strategies or Advantages or Rewards

1. Allowing a force organization increase. (Warmachine would increase Force Allowance by one)
   
2. Allowing some kind of scout move in game. (Warmachine would give not advance deployment but advance movement)
   
3. Reserve roll increased by 1.
   
4. Put an opponent unit in reserve.
   

I don't know, something like that.