Mongoose and the 5th Frontier War

[kafka]

maybe this is better here...

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So a History of the Fifth Frontier War, written as just that, a blow by blow history with some stats and adventure seeds, but keep the core game at 1105 so this is there if you want to move into the VFW.

Sort of like the CT Spinward Marches Campaign for CT but with players in the thick of it...interesting...I like it. Long ago, I proposed to Liam D. that he write such a campaign based upon his experiences in Iraq. He echoed the sediment, that it could also be mapped onto Homer's Odyssey.

I also was intrigued by the film Tears of the Sun & more recently Whistleblower (I admit it I like Monica Bellucci) however both films also deal with rescue in some way. I think that overlaying with conflict of the FFW would make a cracker adventure campaign.

You could have war for the war buffs and tree hugging adventures for the more passive...in the end have a resolution that home is not the same as you left it.

[Fovean]

I like a slow-burning build up to the war - you start out doing scouting and surveillance for your old Scout contact, then you're escorting mucky-mucks away from the border because your old Naval ally needs a few extra hands, then suddenly there's an outright attack on the system you're in and you realize war has begun.

I sincerely hope that as Mongoose (re)develops the FFW, that they continue to push the milieu to grow in new ways... it would be really fun to me to see the Zhodani and the FFW be the straw that broke the Imperium's back... imagine a strong Zhodani front strengthened and extended by Vargr corsairs; the Aslan ihatei make a big push, allowing the Sword Worlds to gain a few systems; the Navy is stretched too thin and within a few years the whole spinward side of the Imperium is buckling.

That's when there's a revolt at Capitol and Lucan enters the chamber... no Virus, please, just good old Human nature...

[kafka]

I like a slow-burning build up to the war - you start out doing scouting and surveillance for your old Scout contact, then you're escorting mucky-mucks away from the border because your old Naval ally needs a few extra hands, then suddenly there's an outright attack on the system you're in and you realize war has begun.

I agree with this...if the Secret of the Ancients Mk 2 is going to have the missing Chapter and Twilight's Peak included. Then you could have FFW as a sequel of sorts it could start with an INI (Imperial Navy Intelligence) Agent combing through the remains of the Ancient base spotting the Zhodani frigate refueling, as the view pans out, an entire flotilla is descending into the atmosphere of the GG. Then it is the mad scramble to avoid Zhodani and relay this information to the Admirality of the Marches on Mora.

Weaving in between the vested interests, this young Lieutenant Windhook must convince the Admirality for general mobilization. Then FFW continues as it normally does. And, my story for the aftermath based on the Odyssey still stands.

[Easterner]

My Draft notice came in the mail in a brown legal size.

I was a Navy Captain.

FFW

With TRIPWIRE MgT changed canon adding a Duke to Jewell and diminishing the Regina Duke's holdings.

So with that change the gloves are off. MgT is free to alter war events and post-war activities. GDW wrecked the 3rd Imperium because they thought it was getting boring. Since we're still playing the game 35 years later I'd guess they were wrong. Hopefully MgT figures this out too.

[kafka]

I don't think the Rebellion wrecked the Imperium as it did refine it. Take the DGP boys who laid out all the sectors on the ground from Atlas of the Imperium and said what will is there - so many dragons and proceeded to fill in the details.

GDW (small case dgp, as they were major contributors) saw the Imperium as one giant battle map as an outgrowth of their legacy as a wargaming company. As Marc stated, he wanted the Rebellion as an excuse to drop a Naval fleet into any given system. What they failed to appreciate and develop was the consequences of the FFW. The War lasted a few issues of JTAS but ultimately gave way to a Cold War. If Mongoose is do the FFW right - it must include the human stories which is why I suggest the Odyssey as a campaign arc and Liam who has lived through Iraq twice (three?) would be the perfect writer.

GDW in developing MT was actually developing the Imperial Campaign by consolidating it. I have always viewed the Rebellion in political terms, otherwise, it is the overlay or a filter to view the CT universe through. It is quite possible to run everything is normal (a la CT) in MT in the Safes with the gradual encroachment of the clouds of war till they block out the radiant future.

Similarly, I have seen how it can be done with TNE albeit at a lower tech level, save, those of the Regency.

The secret to the background story is to keep it in the background otherwise, it might influence choices the players make but it is ultimately the players who decide the fate of the game. Not Mongoose, not Marc but ourselves. Forums may offer suggestions on how that background can be better released. But, I would not want to play Norris or his butler fetching the warrant but rather the ordinary joes who in the end swoop down and rescue Norris when he was in the gun lens of the Zhodani frigate.

[GamingGlen]

.....

But, I would not want to play Norris or his butler fetching the warrant but rather the ordinary joes who in the end swoop down and rescue Norris when he was in the gun lens of the Zhodani frigate.

Or, be that smiling Zho gunner looking through the targetting lens at Norris, and with the squeeze of the trigger change the course of the war completely* ...



*the Zhos win the FFW game easily anyway

[kafka]

.....

Or, be that smiling Zho gunner looking through the targetting lens at Norris, and with the squeeze of the trigger change the course of the war completely* ...

*the Zhos win the FFW game easily anyway

"...this is Free Trader Beowulf..."

"...Mayday, Mayday ..."

"We are under attack..."

"Main drive is gone . . . "

"Turret number one not responding..."

"Losing cabin pressure fast calling anyone . . . "

"Please help . . . "

You don't believe for a minute (ok, if you play Traveller AR) that the Duke would have a transponder ID marking him...to retrieve the warrant, it would be necessary to travel incognito and why not with a bunch of Travellers on the good ship Beowulf.

I always thought that this opening line could be the preamble for a Zhodani boarding party or Vargr corsair. Yes, each would have every incentive to blow the Duke into smithereens. But, the more interesting adventure would be his capture and ransom.

The psi officer effectively blocked by Dijainni (who is a Ive Gnar mole) and the Zhodani taking their prize back to base. However, players could formulate a revolt a la Prison Planet take control of the Zhodani ship and try to fly it back to Regina with the Zhodani hot on their tail and the Imperial taking potshots at them every system they fly into...afterall, there is a war going on.