Fifth Frontier War: How's your war going?

[Starqueen]

Anyone else running a campaign set in the 5th Frontier War? I'm running two adjacent campaigns, one started with "Opening Moves" and another started with "Flashpoints." Hoping they'll cross over at some point! So far no big surprises, except my "Flashpoints" Group looks like they want to head towards the Vargr Extents and use their superior stealth ability to help two of the players former pirate crew "The Exploding Fangs." Thinking this could potentially change the outcome of the conflict here, maybe leading to a more effective Vargr campaign.
My 'Opening Moves' crew may end up helping out the Swordworlders as they all seem to be amoral mercs and one of them is from the Sword Worlds... we shall see.

What about your campaigns? Any highlights, unexpected goings on, or tips?

 

[Arkathan]

It has not started in my game, but the players know that something is coming.

 

[Vormaerin]

I have a deep seated loathing of using published material that is incomplete and doesn't tell me enough to know what is happening, why, or where it might go. This is probably because I don't generally use things as is, so I want to know how changing things will affect the overall structure.

At some point, the 5FW material might tell us enough to be usable, but so far it's just cool lore books for the bookshelf.

 

[rinku]

I haven't yet felt the need to get any modern FFW material - the CT stuff does me just fine for what I need it for (which is pretty much background colour).

The campaign I ran from about 2019 to 2024 I set in Glisten at the outbreak of the war. Shortly after the news arrived, the group were involved in a convoy ambush (mostly set up by the Ine Givar, but a co-ordinating Zho raider was involved). Later, I had a strong Zho raider fleet attacking Glisten as they were jumping in. Totally out of their league, but they were directed by the Navy to group up with other civilian ships and did some useful work keeping Zho fighters away until the Imps won the day and the Zhodani retreated. Big drunken party at Glisten prime that night... next session I pulled a Hangover on them and they woke up on an asteroid base with no idea how they got there, what exactly had happened last night and for the engineer, who that naked woman in bed with him was... (she turned out to be the Zho spy who had subtly manipulated them into getting roaring drunk and stealing a shuttle so she could get to the location where her escape ship was stashed).

After that (and for other, unrelated reasons that had gotten prices put on their heads and private bounty hunters chasing them), the players decided that FFW Imperium was a bit hot, and wouldn't it be lovely to visit subsectors further spinward...? We wound it up after they got to Five Sisters as I had burned out running it.

 

[collins355]

My FFW boardgame ended in stalemate - both sides suffered enormous losses and couldn't achieve outright victory. The Zhodani did hold the Jewell cluster though.

 

[rinku]

Zhodani strategic objectives achieved then...

 

[Sigtrygg]

I'm not interesting in running a game in MJDs after action reports. So far the MgT FFW has been a bitter disappointment. I'm still buying it because it is interesting to read, and I am too invested now to give up so will see it through to the end.

But we should have been given the Zhodani war aims at the start, and more agency in fleet deployments and armies. yes I know "rule zero" change what you want... if that's the case there was no point in buying it in the first place.

If I run FFW or Rebellion then I want to control the fleets, the armies and the battles, not read about how someone else says it turned out.

Fortunately Mongoose has lots of other things that I can dip into... Deepnight, Ancients trilogy, Singularity (Singularity is one of my favourite rpg campaigns ever, right up there with Masks and RQ Borderlands) not to mention lots of adventures not tied into the FFW.

 

[MongooseChris]

My FFW boardgame ended in stalemate - both sides suffered enormous losses and couldn't achieve outright victory. The Zhodani did hold the Jewell cluster though.

Sounds like a Zhodani victory. How was the game? Enjoyable?

 

[MongooseChris]

Fortunately Mongoose has lots of other things that I can dip into... Deepnight, Ancients trilogy, Singularity (Singularity is one of my favourite rpg campaigns ever, right up there with masks and RQ Borderlands) not to mention lots of adventures not tied into the FFW.

Thank you for saying so, Sigtrygg. Much appreciated.

As for FFW, Martin has big plans to wrap up the series. Hopefully everyone enjoys the epic conclusion.

 

[ColinD]

Don't know if this counts, but I used it as the background for some pre-generated characters at TravellerCon/USA 2025. The adventure was set five years afterwards and they special forces veterans of the 5th Frontier War, sort of like TVs, "The A Team". The theme for TravellerCon/USA 2026, this October 16-18, will be "The Fifth Frontier War".

 

[nats]

Being cynical as I am, FFW just sounds like a means for Mongoose to release loads of expensive new books. And then afterwards re-release a load more expensive books once it has all been concluded and the whole of the 3rd Imperium has been changed and all the current stuff is outdated

I suppose it might give ideas for some battles, character missions and background events, so I am semi-interested in following the war as it progresses in terms of a storyline. But the books are too expensive to buy just to sate my general interest in the storyline.

 

[MongooseMatt]

And then afterwards re-release a load more expensive books once it has all been concluded and the whole of the 3rd Imperium has been changed and all the current stuff is outdated

That is the one thing we are not doing.

Seriously, that way lies madness...

 

[Endie]

Thank you for saying so, Sigtrygg. Much appreciated.

As for FFW, Martin has big plans to wrap up the series. Hopefully everyone enjoys the epic conclusion.

This "wait until you find out the epic conclusion!" is the big problem for me, that stopped me buying beyond the Armies and Navies books* and the (rather good, in general) ICS Papers. Abandoning the "your players can make a difference!" approach and adopting the Dragonlance method has some problems: key amongst those is what @Sigtrygg points out: the fact that we're asked to somehow GM a campaign without having any clue as to what the goal of the Zhodani actually is, or just what they said to persuade the Swordies to submit their fleets to inevitable murderzoning (which we know from Fleets does indeed happen in the MJDverse).

We can't just make up a Zhodani motivation because the metaplot (look at the "turning tide" title from later on!) is so scripted. So playing through FFW before everything is released is a ticket to "how do I make that amazing battle happen in Macene when the front lines are now in Deneb ([or Riverland etc]?"

I'm sure I'll buy some of the others at some point, like the Sword World/Darrian/Vargr splat book. I want to support Mongoose by buying stuff. But this approach has made it so very hard.

*Those two are widely useful even if ignoring MJD's fixed narrative.

 

[OriginalCaruso]

I use FFW as a backdrop which occasionally interferes with the Travellers plans. I am absolutely not using FFW as intended and the books remain firmly rooted on a shelf

 

[Endie]

I use FFW as a backdrop which occasionally interferes with the Travellers plans. I am absolutely not using FFW as intended and the books remain firmly rooted on a shelf

Yes, my more advanced PoD group are currently at 063-1107 (as of last night's session) and there have been a few teaser stories from the Marches to set up the conflict a bit in advance. They will start to hear the first news later in the year and it'll intermittently impact them in positive and negative ways. It depends on whether they decide to engage and take advantage of the distraction or desparation of various powers. I'll have fun running it in the background with the help of some dice to simulate the fickle gods of war.

 

[collins355]

Sounds like a Zhodani victory. How was the game? Enjoyable?

Not a Zhodani victory by the game's victory conditions, but not a defeat either. The Swordies and Vargr allied in the Outworld Coalition suffered greviously though. I don't think they'd be very happy at all.

The game was enjoyable, and I liked my jerry-rigged solitaire adaptations of the rules enough that I'd even consider using them in a face-to-face game. They sped things up immensely, and no modern wargamer likes written orders anymore.

 

[Sigtrygg]

I like written orders, just started getting into Kreigsspeil.

 

[collins355]

Or even more fun, designing a Bug underground city in Avalon Hill's Starship Troopers in pencil on their paper mini-map and then having the Mobile Infantry player try to divine where the tunnels went and where the Brain Bugs were hiding.

 

[Grognardia]

Not playing currently but the FFW is happening in the background for the Morrigan crew:

Opening Moves by Tales from the Morrigan

The Fifth Frontier War begins. One highport, a panicked crowd, and the Morrigan crew trying to slip free.

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