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A really good scenario to sell FedCom to a burned out player

 
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Aabh
Lieutenant SG


Joined: 27 Aug 2011
Posts: 134
Location: Arvada, Colorado

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:27 pm    Post subject: A really good scenario to sell FedCom to a burned out player Reply with quote

So... story time (It's always story time with me):

We started playing a while back and half of our team, being people who like to tinker with games, started working on a large-scale campaign thing, with characters which influence ship operations and organic objectives (As in tactically this planetary system will be the one most of the fights will be over as it is in a "hole" in a nebulae cluster or is close to the border or has really rich dilithium deposits, etc), stuff like that (I was one of that half... I bear the burden of this).

Naturally, we had only played one or two games at this point, so the complicated rules for characters and "Warp movement" (Moving from one "game board" to another) meant we simply made the entire crew mad at us (arguing over game rules that weren't even part of the game). One burned out and another walked away from Fed Com completely. Um... so perhaps though we had our best intentions at heart, it was too much without knowing the game. We know it was silly, no need to chew our ears on that Very Happy.

We talked last night and between the four of us we have invested a lot of money into FedCom, all of us agree that it's ridiculous to walk away from this cool game and punish FedCom because WE were dinking around with the rules before we even understood said rules (Sorry about that guys!). So we have agreed to play the game "out of the box" for the next year.

[Here's the actual question]: So what would you say are interesting scenarios that we could play that aren't just "Bash each other to bits"? So we can attract our Cat player back (He's the one who got fed up with FedCom, but is willing to give it a shot so long as we play it out of the box). The players at the moment are Federation, Romulan and Lyran/Kzinti (He's a cat guy, he'll play either race, he doesn't care so long as they are cats). Our fourth will play just about anything. We are long time friends and are just fine playing against each other, in teams of 2 or all of us against an automated opponent. No feelings were hurt (We've been friends too long for that to happen), I just want to make FedCom look awesome again. Smile
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storeylf
Fleet Captain


Joined: 24 Jul 2008
Posts: 1897

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We did once play a few scenarios, but they all seemed pretty unbalanced. I'm not sure what the newer ones are like, but the early ones were, I assume, ported from SFB and don't work in FC if you are wanting any good balance.

One off bash em games work to help get know the rules.

Campaign are best (IMHO), you could come up with your own campaign (it can be fairly small scale) but leave the actual FedCom games as it is out the box, which is effectively what our group has done for the last 2 or 3 years.
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mjwest
Commodore


Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 4069
Location: Dallas, Texas

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sounds like you need some kind of campaign system to go through. If individual scenarios don't work, you need to set up a small campaign and figure out how things move forward from scenario to scenario. Most campaigns you will see referenced on this board involve things from a fleet perspective (i.e. you and I are at war, we have such and such production, and move so far strategically, and use that to set up battles). This is typically done as it gives a more "realistic" feel to the set up. However, there is no reason you can't do something much simpler where each person takes a ship (or three) and beats each others heads in round-robin, with damage carried forward after some pre-defined set of repairs. (Similar to the old Captain's Campaign in SFB.)
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storeylf
Fleet Captain


Joined: 24 Jul 2008
Posts: 1897

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Reading your other post, one type of campaign you might try (if people are not really set on playing certain empires) is an Orion pirate campaign.

Basically you need somone (the GM) who comes up with scenarios for a group of small orion ships to play - convoy raids being bread and butter, but assasination, mercenary etc. Each player has a bank account, from which they buy their initial, small, ship. Every time they play they pay a fee that represents the cost of running the ship (bigger more expensive ships cost more). They also pay a fee to repair their ship based on how much damage they took - you need to track that so DamCon doesn't make it free. They can gain money by getting away with cargo or for fees paid for other missions by parties who hire them. If they save enough money they can buy a bigger and better ship.

Apart from a semi random scenarios you can have some back story, I was going to run something like this years ago where the orion players would prevent (without knowing at first) a romulan surprise attack on the Federation, and the romulan commander would then start seeking revenge culminating in an assault on their base. so they would play some scenarios that were pure profit motivated and others related to the back story. We never played the Role playing game, but if you are into the RPG side of things then that could be perfect for the back ground plot part.
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mjwest
Commodore


Joined: 08 Oct 2006
Posts: 4069
Location: Dallas, Texas

PostPosted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are set on a certain set of empires, do a simplified Captain's Game. Namely, every pick a ship of their favorite empire (or set of ships) based on a certain point value. Set up a sequence of encounters:
- Monster scenario.
- Fight against Orions.
- Two fights against opponents.
- Fight against a convoy.
- Fight against a "surprised" enemy.

The latter two give everyone a freebie (convoy) and a turkey shoot that can turn dangerous quickly (surprised enemy). The others are straight up combat. Randomize the order of the scenarios for each player (I listed six out of convenience). At the end of each scenario you get some number of repair points to repair your ship (shields are automatically refreshed). Once over the whole campaign you can repair all of your ship's damage (and you get some kind of bonus if you never do this).

Obviously, you will have to work out the victory system, the points to use, and the number of repair points per round. But something like this would give you an individual level compaign that lets everyone fly what they want without worrying about everyone else (mostly), but still keeps consequences from fight to fight.
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Sean Xor
Ensign


Joined: 26 Feb 2013
Posts: 18

PostPosted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have only played a dozen or so scenarios, but I think the two of that have gone over the best were "Practice, Practice, and then what?" and "Hun in the Sun."

The first one is from Romulan Border. It is a three player scenario where a Gorn and Federation ship were practicing in a simulated battle when a Romulan ship comes by them and attacks. It is a very interesting asymmetrical game where the Romulan starts with an advantage that then begins to dwindle. If the friend is a Star Trek fan there is an added bonus that this scenario happens to be very similar to a Next Generation episode (only it was two Federation ships and a Ferengi ship that attacked).

Hun in the Sun is a two player duel scenario from the most recent Communique (#89). We really enjoyed this one because there are special rules caused by a solar flare that really make the angle of attack important. This really emphasizes the importance of maneuver and created a high risk/high reward scenario since getting to close to the sun "shaved shields" but gave better position.
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Mike
Fleet Captain


Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 1675
Location: South Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 1:21 am    Post subject: Campaign Game Reply with quote

Based on the Captain Campaign from the old Commander Edition of SFB.


The Campaign Game

This campaign is intended to test your abilities as the captain of a single starship. Selecting any ship in the game, you must play nine scenarios in the specific order given. This campaign represents the typical amount of combat action a ship and its captain would see in a period of about five years of peacetime (wartime is much more active).

Number of Players
Two players in scenarios 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. One or two players in scenarios 2, 4, 6, and 8.

The following scenarios comprise the Campaign Game:
1. (8KB2, 8D) The Duel
2. (8CM3) Cruise Drones (use speed 24 drones)
3. The Duel
4. Any solitaire or monster scenario
5. (8KB6, 8H) Base Assault
6. Any solitaire or monster scenario
7. (8RA1) The Surprise Reversed
8. Any solitaire or monster scenario
9. The Duel (with a Pirate ship) or (8CM17) Diplomatic Immunity

Initial Set-Up
Players choose a ship of a given empire and use it in all nine scenarios. The opponents for scenarios 1, 3, 5, and 7 are shown below. One or more opponents must be found to play the opposing ships.

Player Scenario 1 Scenario 3 Scenario 5 Scenario 7
Fed CA Klin D7 Kzin CS Gorn CA Rom KR + 3xWE
Klin D7 Fed CA Gorn CA Rom WE Kzin CC + 2xCL + 2xFF
Gorn CA Klin D7 Kzin CS Fed CA Rom KR + 3xWE
Kzin BC Rom KR Gorn CA Fed CA Klin D7 + D6 + 3xF5
Rom KR Kzin CS Klin D7 Fed CA Gorn CA + CL + 3xDD

Objective
Victory: The level of victory is determined by accumulating victory points for each scenario.
Solitaire or Monster Scenarios: scenarios 2, 4, 6, and 8
> Monster destroyed or contact established or mission accomplished = 5 pts
> Ship disengages without destroying monster or does not complete mission = 0 pts
Duel Scenarios: scenarios 1, 3, and 9
> Enemy ship destroyed, own ship crippled = 3 pts
> Enemy ship destroyed, own ship not crippled = 5 pts
> Enemy ship crippled, own ship not crippled = 3 pts
> Enemy ship received more damage = 1 pt
> Enemy ship captured, own ship not destroyed = 7 pts
> Pirate ship captured = 9 pts
Base Assault: scenario 5
> Each enemy ship captured = 7 pts
> Each enemy ship destroyed = 5 pts
> Each enemy ship crippled = 3 pts
> Each enemy ship disengaged = 0 pts
> Defending ship crippled = -2 pts
> Defending ship lost = -4 pts
> Base crippled = -6 pts
> Base lost = -12 pts
Surprise Reversed: scenario 7
> Marginal or lower = 0 pts
> Tactical victory = 2 pts
> Substantive victory = 4 pts
> Decisive victory = 6 pts
> Astounding victory = 8 pts

Campaign victory is determined by the total points earned through all nine scenarios:
Less than 10 pts = court-martialed and executed for treason (except Fed)
10 - 25 pts = quietly retired at end of cruise
26 - 40 pts = "promoted" to a desk job
41 - 50 pts = assigned to teach at the Academy
51 - 65 pts = promoted to commodore
66+ pts = becomes known as a legendary captain; left in command (he is too valuable to promote)

Special Rules
1. Damage Repair. Almost all damage to a ship can be repaired between scenarios, but there are some limitations. All damage to a ship (except for Frame damage) is completely repaired after each scenario. All damage to a ship's surviving shuttles and fighters is completely repaired after each scenario. All drone racks, probe launchers, and ADDs are completely reloaded after each scenario. All Marine boarding parties are completely replaced after each scenario. One destroyed shuttle or fighter can be replaced after each scenario.
2. Overhaul - once during the entire campaign the ship can be overhauled. This repairs all Frame damage, but does not replace lost shuttles.
A bonus for NOT using the overhaul during the campaign is +5 points.
3. If the player's ship is destroyed in any scenario, he loses 25 points and begins the next scenario with a new ship of the same class.

Force Dynamics
Other players may intermesh their own Campaign games into a group effort. Multiple players may each take a ship from a different empire and play the various scenarios against each other. In the case of duels, it is straightforward. In the Base Assault scenario, players should randomly decide who will be the attacker and who will be the defender. The attacker gets only his own ship; the defender gets a base station. In the Surprise Reversed scenario, each player should play against a player who is not participating in the campaign. Players can only be the defender (the ship played by the Fed cruiser).
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Aabh
Lieutenant SG


Joined: 27 Aug 2011
Posts: 134
Location: Arvada, Colorado

PostPosted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 4:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

AWESOME! Thanks guys! I'll report back and tell you how it all rolled out! Very Happy
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Spacecowboy87
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 03 Jan 2012
Posts: 209
Location: Colorado

PostPosted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Try this-- Instead of one person being your "cat guy" or your "Rom guy"
force yourselves (or rather encourage one another Razz ) to try different races.
Everyone in our group has their preference of race, but we all take turns picking the scenario, then we roll dice to pick sides. It gives every member a chance to be "in command" now and then. Yes, we can predict which player will choose which race when his/her turn comes up, and that forces the rest of us to play unfamiliar or undesirable ships, but we all know that sooner or later our turn will come up. And our "sides" are always different. There's a different dynamic every week.
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