Campaign on Vassal

[Lord David the Denied]

Hey all,

Would any of you be interested in playing a campaign via Vassal? I've had this idea for a while, seeing as Vassal games are the only games I can get at the moment, and campaign play is the most appealing aspect of the game to me. If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, glaring reasons why it won't work, wants to play, or just wants to call me names, post it all here...

 

[Triggy]

I'd be interested.

The most important thing I'd recommend is to keep things simple! Allow campaign turns to take place in player's down time and not require a player to log on more than once or twice a week (with a view to a game every two weeks).

The system I'd use would probably be something like a turn every two weeks and a player can nominate any moves he wants, any repairs and any ship building in that time. At the end of the turn all battles are revealed and fought during the next turn where moves are allocated. Saves a lot of time waiting about. Also forces players to plan ahead in a slightly "central command" way with not knowing battle results until one turn after!

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Interesting. Triggy, mate, I think you've just volunteered to help set this up... :wink:

Any more takers? Anyone have suggestions for timeline, starting date and so forth?

 

[JayRaider]

Yes i'd definitely play. I haven't played a campaign before so can't offer any sugggestions.

 

[Locutus9956]

Id be interested. Ive played a few campaigns on the table tops and would suggest campaign moves be submitted on one day and then have a set amount of time for people to play their games for that turn (but keep it fairly slack or people will fall behind I suspect).

Also id suggest you keep it simple using by-the-book SFoS campaign rules for a one system campaign. The only other thing I'd suggest is that with the big 'A' now just around the metaphorical corner maybe waiting a little while as Im sure people will want to use the new rules when they hit.

 

[prelude_to_war]

Depending on when this starts, I could be interested...would it be a 10pt. Battle list to start?

 

[waldronbob350]

you can count me in i will even make a map for you on paint did it befor once looks ok but as we are doing this online it would be alot better due to every think has to be done by computer.

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Ok, cool. Prelude - yeah, ten point battle by-the-book stuff. I'm thinking of setting it around 2262 so the Shadows and Vorlons have buggered off and everyone else gets most of their nice toys.

No rush to get started, obviously, but "the big A" is still a month away, and I'd prefer to get going before then. Unless everyone else is adamant to wait for it...?

That'd be six players if all of you who've posted here joined in. Fancy giving me an idea what fleets you'd all want to play? Centauri for me, fairly obviously, unless we'd need an independant admin-type-person to keep things running smoothly...

 

[locarno24]

unless we'd need an independant admin-type-person to keep things running smoothly...

[Pops head up]
Did someone ask for a gullible mug?

I've yet to use vassal, so wouldn't mind watching some games (if I can figure out how to do so), but am happy to cover scorekeeping, system maps, refits, etc, and assorted plot bits (if you want assorted plot bits).

10 point battlefleet is one system, still, that you're intending to use?

 

[Lord David the Denied]

That's correct. You can take the admin job if you want it, dude. Well volunteered. If you've got MSN messenger, add me for a Vassal walkthrough some time. Details are on my profile, I think. If not, PM me.

 

[Triggy]

I may just take something a little different to normal (as I can't take Shadows...) - perhaps Drakh

BTW, there will be modifications that substantially affect the game in Armageddon (such as to stealth) so I'd suggest that any campaign only start after its release. However to speed things up fleets could be picked beforehand and everything just starts with Armageddon's release.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

I wouldn't mind playing.

 

[Triggy]

The other thing you need more than any tournament setting online is a set of rules that works if:

a) Somebody is absent for a period of time
b) Somebody drops out for any reason

I can see potential issues here due to adjacent players getting an easy time of it if an enemy drops out, etc. Something like a compact map with good links between each player would work best in my opinion. Also, having some sort of defined victory conditions (whether time or territory) that are achievable within a reasonable timeframe would be very welcome to me.

If you like I could come up with a slightly more detailed suggestion for the framework to play in that would attempt to be as close to the main campaign rules as possible!

 

[locarno24]

In a single-system campaign, any palyer may elect to whomp on any other player.....

I like Triggy's idea, as that gives two weeks for people to make up their mind.

Everyone sends their "fleet orders" to the admin during a turn, who will bounce conflicting bits back and forth. they're revealed at the end of the turn.

games played as normal with random force levels, results sent to the admin asap so he knows which ships have acted and the damage status

dice roll for refits, duties, etc done by the admin.

A big post (possibly with flashy colours, etc) and updated map posted at the end of the turn by the admin.

At the moment we've got 7 players: that's about as many as I'd be prepared to admin for, I think...

for the purposes of everyone being able to see the same copy, except where as noted abovethe campaign/system/repair rules in
http://www.pcsii.com/josborn/b5/B5_ACTA_Quick_Reference_SFOS.pdf
get used.

If someone's not going to be availible for a full turn, notify admin before the turn starts.

the admin can reserve the right to jab any player or group of players repeatedly with a sharp pointy stick where he feels it is justified.


if we're looking at short time, I'd say just try for 2 months (4 turns) and see who is in what state at that point. it's longer than people think....we can see then if people want to continue or leave.

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Ok, sounds good. I suppose we will have to wait for Armageddon, much though it pains me to do so. I suppose I'll have to buy a copy and everything, now...

 

[locarno24]

hmmmm......if we're going to wait and switch, this may be a problem; I'm not sure where round here I can realistically get a copy. Not having a credit/debit card, mail order or download will be trouble...

I'll have a look, but if we're not just going to go with the current rules, may have to temporarily un-volunteer.

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Hmm. What's everyone else think? Wait for Armageddon, or get started sooner and incorporate any rules changes as and when?

 

[prelude_to_war]

As much as I hate to say it, we may as well wait for A. As soon as it comes out I see the campaign losing steam and incorporating new rules half-way through doesn't sound like a good idea.

 

[Lord David the Denied]

Well, I'll buy a copy pretty much straight away, so I can explain the major changes to Locarno as and when...

Looks like we'll have to wait.

 

[Locutus9956]

Yeah, I wouldnt mind playing some random games sometime in the meantime but I (like alot of people) am going to want to play lots of games with the new rules as soon as they come out which will mean the campaing would probably lose players if it carried on with the old rules. And trust me from experience switching over rules mid campaing REALLY screws alot of stuff up. (I was running a campaign at my local club with the original rules when SFoS came out, I looked into changing things over but it would clearly mess with people fleet lists. Now Armageddon isnt as big a change to the lists (I think ) but any changes, especially ships changing stats and levels (of which there are plenty) will probably lead to huge problems.