To be honest, in my opinion it's a pity that there will be no MP campaign.

I don't think a MP campaign would get in the way of PBM playing. Its just two different types of games.

Although I quite like MP games myself, I know there are a lot of people who don't like competitive gaming against other human players. I am sure there would still be enough interest in PBM games even if the option of an MP campaign was there.


Now here is another thought :
Cooperative MP games against the AI. That would be nice