Different Perspectives Needed

Kyu Kage

Mongoose
Greetings ladies and gentleman, I require your assistance.

For some time I have been planning an A:2089 global campaign.

Whilst the initial focus will be around Europe, it will quickly shift to a global focus after the first few missions.

Unfortunately, many of my players know what to expect from much of my A:2089 gaming, since I, like any player/GM, have favourite tactics and units that consistently turn up in games.

So I turn to you all for inspiration.

What I need is two separate and distinct mercenary groups. Whilst their budget is similar, tactically and flavour wise I need them to be different.

The first needs to be of European focus and equipment. I would prefer it if they only used European manufactured units. I would also like them to have two bases of operation. I was going to make them a ground base in Lithuania and an air base in France, but like I said, they know what I do…

The second needs to be of western focus. They must have a large base in the Outback of Australia, a combination land/air base. Maybe even with repair facilities. Some secondary bases in the States or Asia may be a good idea, even if they're just refuelling stops the group has leased.

They also need to have at least one satellite asset.

As for their makeup, they can use pretty much any company’s product. No Cannons above 100mm, and lots of 30mm Auto-Cannons are part of their flavour. They also refuse to use any form of biological weapon. Their commander prefers to avoid having larger WarMeks, preferring the speed and ease of transport of the smaller chassis.

Other than that, they have no equipment restrictions.

Now for the important bit, the money.

Both groups get $20M for purchasing WarMeks and support vehicles, and $59M for purchasing Air assets and support vehicles. At least 78% of the money must be spent on its intended ‘area’.

The Europeans then get another $7.5M for purchasing other assets, and the Westerns get $12.5M. The Westerns also get another $21M that must be spent entirely on combat units. This is simply due the fact that the PC's will have well and truly upgraded by the time they branch out.

Any money left over from any area may be spent in others. Any money left over after everything is bought is doubled and kept as their initial operating budget. I’ll probably also roll a couple of d8’s and add that to the cash reserve (x10k of course).

I’m not to concerned about having NPC’s ready, it’s more the equipment I’m concerned about. However, if your feeling helpful, here’s what I’m thinking. Initial personnel will be a 12th level, a 10th level and four 5th level characters. Add a pair of 10th levels for the Westerns, and bump the 12th to a 15th. Stats for all I’ll leave up to you, but no more than a single 18 for each please.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thankyou all in advance for your assistance.
 
Well it's been a couple of days and the topic has had over 40 views, so someone has obviously read this.

If anyone has any sort of suggestion I would appreciate any feedback I can get.
 
Well it appears that no-one is reading these forums.

Ah well!

It's still a great game none the less!

I'll still monitor this thread in case anyone replies.
 
I feel for you, but I don't have this game and thus have not read it so my answer is probably worthless.

Obviously I can't hazard a guess at the budgets for these companies but here are some ideas.

Why don't you place one of the companies to Finland (yup, my fatherland)? I suppose your players can't guess that one :) Besides there are great forests up north that can be used for mercenary bases. I know, it's a bit far from the central Europe...

I would base the second company to a South-American country for the similar reasons.

About tactics. Maybe one has a lot of hardware and is specialized in protecting targets and heavy assaults. Other corp might have lighter gear and they specialize in intrusions and rely heavily on intel and recon. They will probably use guerrila tactics. Maybe they have the satellite capacity for getting better information on their enemies etc.?

As an unrelated topic I have been tinkering with the idea where you could try and catch the broadcasts of some military satellites in your area and decrypt the messages and thus possibly see what the satellite sees without actually hacking it and taking it over. Maybe the second company is adept at it too?

I hope this helps...
 
SnowDog said:
Why don't you place one of the companies to Finland (yup, my fatherland)? I suppose your players can't guess that one :) Besides there are great forests up north that can be used for mercenary bases. I know, it's a bit far from the central Europe...

I would base the second company to a South-American country for the similar reasons.

As an unrelated topic I have been tinkering with the idea where you could try and catch the broadcasts of some military satellites in your area and decrypt the messages and thus possibly see what the satellite sees without actually hacking it and taking it over. Maybe the second company is adept at it too?

I hope this helps...
I really like those ideas.

Especially the Finland and Sat decrypt ideas.

I have no doubt the players will wind up gaining a significant satellite presence, so this would be a great way of playing with them.

"Sure, use the satellites. They'll know what you know!" :)

As for Finland, it's a definite possibility. It wouldn't be a location they'd be expecting, and it would provide some new options...

"What do you mean we can't hit a sub!" :D

Much obliged SnowDog!
 
A quick question (I am unfamiliar with the setting, having only looked at the book a few times): What is Switzerlands position in the world of 2089, and are they still honoring the Vienna Accords? (Though even if they are the image of Vatican City patrol mechs is amusing...)

The Auld Grump
 
I'm glad if I could be of assistance. I didn't quite catch that reference to sub, what do you mean by that? Finland doesn't posses submarines at the moment but there is sub activity at the Baltic sea...

Anyway, good luck with your project!
 
SnowDog said:
I'm glad if I could be of assistance. I didn't quite catch that reference to sub, what do you mean by that? Finland doesn't posses submarines at the moment but there is sub activity at the Baltic sea...
It was more along the lines of equpiing the opposing mercenary company with a naval presence and splitting their base into two areas.

One a naval base on the coast, the other an airfield/ground base hidden in the forests.
 
Any restrictions on sources, I'd hate to list equipment you lack the references for.

Stock units, stock w/ mods or custom meks?

Would have offered to help earlier but recently moved and only unpacked books this week.

--
Lane
 
Lane Shutt said:
Any restrictions on sources, I'd hate to list equipment you lack the references for.

Stock units, stock w/ mods or custom meks?

Would have offered to help earlier but recently moved and only unpacked books this week.

--
Lane
No problem, I understand the pain of moving.

As for books, I have all except "Behind Enemy Lines: Kazakhstan", "Earth 2089" & "The Soldier's Companion".

Having said that, I will have "The Soldier's Companion" by the end of December. It's taking that long for the store near me to get another copy in...

Prefer stock equipment for the first group, just far easier from the planning perspective.

As for the second group, probably allow say, 20% modified stock.

If they (the players) get really lucky and score a bunch of salvage with minimal damage, then a custom surprise may be called for.

We're looking at a early Feb start for the global campaign, with a light "training" scenario to start in either late Jan/early Feb.

As a result, feel free to go over the budget for ground pounders a little.

Thanks.
 
Looks like the game has been pushed back to mid Feb start due to other game commitments.

I've also decided that the players will start with a base of $20M and will add 1d8 Million to that for each player after the first(currently looking at 4 players). Double that if the player wants to be a Flyer rather than a Ground Pounder.

Probably won't get any work on it done over the Christmas break, but if anyone has any more ideas, I'd appreciate them.

Additionally, if anyone has any notes about their homeland I could work into the game, I'd appreciate it.
 
This game has been postponed indefinitely in favour of me actually playing something! :D

Means I get more time to plan... :wink:
 
There is a chance I could be starting this game up again shortly.

That being the case, I would appreciate if anyone could help with the above.

One change though.

The Westerners now get another $4M that must be spent solely on Air support (fighters, choppers, satellite assets), as one of the players seems to be edging towards air combat.
 
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