Wing Commander
Mongoose
Hiff has mentioned in a few Threads that he is taking part in a more detailed B5 campaign which has been running for a while now. I've written the campaign rules (they are still work in progress though - we're tweaking as we encounter hiccups) to be more indepth with greater resource management, fog of war, etc. The game is set in a mysterious Vorlon system which appears to be undefended but heavily interferes with long range scanners, hyperspace travel, etc.
Each player begins at a safe anchorage and knows roughly which direction the primary is in and that's it. They must explore, bring in supplies and build facilities to aid them in unlocking the secrets of the Vorlons who once inhabited this area.
Supply routes are of paramount importance as whenever you "order" a part or "sell" resources they still need to be delivered via convoy. Your fleet must be broken up into groups (Flags) for exploration, protection and convoy duty.
As this is a more realistic (with minimal paperwork) approach it leads to some great situations. Thus far, out of 9 players the Raider player is running amok and causing total and utter havok. Something which normally is impossible for Raiders. He has attacked several convoys already and either grabbed resources or simply blackmailed money out of his target. "Ok Brakiri Captain Bobbins, I've got a whole bunch of Battlewagons lined up on those 6 Freighters. Space is a dangerous place, how much are you willing to pay to ensure that they will arrive at their destination in one piece?" - yes, he's running a protection racket. The funniest Raider run was against the Centauri, having previously captured a Vorchan and knocked out an entire Convoy the Raiders hit the Centauri again, using the Convoy scenario. He simply placed a Tethys on the table and asked the Centauri CO what he'd be willing to pay to avoid him putting the rest of the fleet on the table,....
The Centauri handed over the keys to a Vorchan and Corvis, which is just as well really as the rest of the Raider fleet consisted of a 2nd Tethys....
The campaign promotes and encourages play like this, you can have 1 sided battles but this works both ways and rewards tactical thinking and good planning. There is also a loose narrative so that the GM gets to have a little bit of fun, not to mention the Encounter charts which Hiff has had an unfortunate run in with... (Don't mention Techno Mages to him).
I have written the rules which are available to download over at ID Gamings forum (www.idgaming.co.uk) and have an Excel spreadsheet to track the Resource management for each player.
If you are interested, please feel free to download and give feedback but it is a work in progress and there are a few updates already, overall though it seems to be working as we're now in Turn 8 and there has been muggings, protection rackets, pitched battles, Intelligience tricks and more.
Each player begins at a safe anchorage and knows roughly which direction the primary is in and that's it. They must explore, bring in supplies and build facilities to aid them in unlocking the secrets of the Vorlons who once inhabited this area.
Supply routes are of paramount importance as whenever you "order" a part or "sell" resources they still need to be delivered via convoy. Your fleet must be broken up into groups (Flags) for exploration, protection and convoy duty.
As this is a more realistic (with minimal paperwork) approach it leads to some great situations. Thus far, out of 9 players the Raider player is running amok and causing total and utter havok. Something which normally is impossible for Raiders. He has attacked several convoys already and either grabbed resources or simply blackmailed money out of his target. "Ok Brakiri Captain Bobbins, I've got a whole bunch of Battlewagons lined up on those 6 Freighters. Space is a dangerous place, how much are you willing to pay to ensure that they will arrive at their destination in one piece?" - yes, he's running a protection racket. The funniest Raider run was against the Centauri, having previously captured a Vorchan and knocked out an entire Convoy the Raiders hit the Centauri again, using the Convoy scenario. He simply placed a Tethys on the table and asked the Centauri CO what he'd be willing to pay to avoid him putting the rest of the fleet on the table,....
The Centauri handed over the keys to a Vorchan and Corvis, which is just as well really as the rest of the Raider fleet consisted of a 2nd Tethys....
The campaign promotes and encourages play like this, you can have 1 sided battles but this works both ways and rewards tactical thinking and good planning. There is also a loose narrative so that the GM gets to have a little bit of fun, not to mention the Encounter charts which Hiff has had an unfortunate run in with... (Don't mention Techno Mages to him).
I have written the rules which are available to download over at ID Gamings forum (www.idgaming.co.uk) and have an Excel spreadsheet to track the Resource management for each player.
If you are interested, please feel free to download and give feedback but it is a work in progress and there are a few updates already, overall though it seems to be working as we're now in Turn 8 and there has been muggings, protection rackets, pitched battles, Intelligience tricks and more.
