federation commander campaign

[PallidaMors]

Hail and well met.

In the next 20-30 minutes or so, Sir Drake (one of hte empire players) will be posting the various logs that have ben created for the game, they are the most critical record keeping tools that the players use. there are a few GM logs that are in play as well but they are not as important as the logs about to be posted.

this is the ifrst time we have sent these out.

have fun.

Pallida

[Sir Drake]

PallidaMors ask me to up load some of the player forms and here they are.

First is the empire turn record it lets you work out your production and expenses as well as fleet organisation numbers

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15 ... ORDLOG.jpg

next is the latest form for ship role and turn location map. The center area is a place to draw a map of your empire and label the diferant empire borders. around that are areas to write in ship types and names in what ever role they are in for that turn.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15 ... IONLOG.jpg

this next chart is where you track the ships stats and officers as well as victory points.

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15 ... RECORD.jpg

last is the form we fill out during the game turn to generate battles. the attacker lists his ships and where they are attacking. Then if the defender is going to bring a force to fight he lists his ships below. this is held by the game master till the day of the battle to confirm what ships will be involed in the table top game. After the battle, damage and vps will be added to this sheet for permanent records

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk15 ... RECORD.jpg

[Commodore Mendez]

Wow these are really well done! Who came up with them?

[PallidaMors]

thanks, I made them with the support and input of my great players!!

[Pinkfluffychicken]

HOw interesting, in your campaign as well as in mine. the Hydrans and Kzinti are at war, and they occupy the northwest secion of the map (alpha Quadrant) and the Lyrans and the Klingons are at war as well in the Southeast corner of the map....how coincidental.

Funny how things work out. Ok, some of it is the coincidence of geography (neighbours either ally or fight) but I wonder if to some extent players of particular races seek out certain other races as preferred opponents? chuckle. In our campaign we definitely have certain players who are determinedly trying to find particular other players to beat up. The fact that these two very old friends are at opposite corners of the map has led to to some interesting strategic manoeuvring.

Both the campaigns I've been in the Romulans and Gorns have been next to eachother, but have allied rather than fight endless plasma ballets (at least, until I stabbed the Gorn in the back near the end of the last campaign ). I have the impression (not going back to check!) that the Gorns and Roms in your campaign have certainly fought in the past, but I've lost track of who's allied to whom at present.

It was bound to come sooner or later, but I'm at the point where the campaign is getting too big for me to administer efficiently enough for my (or the players') satisfaction. chuckle. This is more of a comment on my administrative skills than it is on the size of the campaign. In consequence, I'm trying to shunt a good deal of the administrative side on to the players themselves. They've responded in one case so far by appointing a third player as a sort of local referee who tells them who sees what when. It's a comment on the character of the players that we all know we can rely on any local referee (who is actually allied with one side or the other) to retain a suitable impartiality in the role.

If it works I'll be left with hidden movement, keeping the master map up to date, checking economies, and the Rules, with which I think I can cope.

[toltesi]

Thanks for posting the map!

[PallidaMors]

Hello, as I'm looking through the rules I have some questions about the basic setup of the campaign.

1. What do you use for a strategic map? The F&E hexagon-based map? I'm going to continue my comments based on this assumption.
The map was started on 4 blank hex manps, to be exact I used 4 FC star maps and laminated them, then I designated them map A,B,C,D or alpha, beta, cetta, delta.

2. Is each hexagon on the F&E mapped separately on an as-needed basis by the players (I will call each hexagon a "sector" from here on")? Based on my reading it looks like the answer is yes.
does not apply, I was goingt o use my huge 6x4 fe map but I did not want traditional lines or neibhors, and i wanted expllorataion and expansion.

3. Where do you put these lines on the front and back of each box to indicate defensive capabilities? The strategic or sector map? I'm very confused, an example for people who have not seen your setup would be most helpful.
it is assumed from only one direction, and it reflects the overall defensive capability and organizatioon within a sector of a system. this concept is very similiar to the admirals game if SFB.

4. How do you translate the sector map with all these lines front and back into board setups for a tactical FC battle?
if a system was attackd that had a BATS, then the attacking player and the defending player secretly assinge ships to each sector, then each battle is fought out on the large tabel we use. each sectors terrain and or stations are placed on the table. the table is a huge 7x5 table with a black velvet cover we use miniatures.

5. How do the results of a FC tactical battle translate back to the sector and strategic map level? Can you actually loose a hexagon from the strategic map or are you simply fighting over the parts of a sector?
if the enemy disengages you win the system, in mulit sector battles in a system fight you have to win all the way back to the farthest sector to win the hex once this is doen the hex and it PV value are immediatly given to your empire.

What I would love to see if some digital photos taken and posted of your map setups. A photo-based tutorial of the setup and first turn of the campaign portion of Empire would be most helpful.
done

Given that the Prime Directive RPG game seems to be making a comeback with the upcoming release of PD:Federation, might I suggest the following to help with the scalability of this campaign:

1. Since each hexagon in the F&E map (west http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/west_map.shtml and east http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/east_map.shtml ) contains some 50 or so unexplored but habited/habitable worlds that make interesting RPG settings, can you create a sheet that allows you to catalog worlds within each hexagon as it is explored and subsequently "fortified" with lines at the front and back. This would allow your campaign to integrate with the RPG, bringing more people into the fun.

I like this idea and will look into, we have alraeady tentativly decided to have a rpg element and it already exists, but we want to hav characters that are immersed in this campaign.

2. Please consider organizing your rulebook using the same numbering system that FC uses. I have a Microsoft Word Document already setup with the system if you'd like a copy so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.
one of th players is currently reorganizing the rules to reflect this.

3. Please add a section to the rulebook whose focus is the base setup and the introduction of the campaign tools (forms).

yes that is being added to version 1.5 along with the new legendary officers expansion, code of war.

4. Please create separate player visual aids much like the laminated sheets in FC that allow players to not have to have the rulebook open during play.
done

5. Please make more use of actual digital pictures of your setup so the players can actually see what it looks like.
will do

Thanks so much for reading! It looks like a great campaign, I just can't figure it out yet unfortunately. I look forward to your responses so I can playtest it!

my pleasure, thanks for the questions sorry for the delay in replying, I typed my respinses uder your questions.
pallida

[PallidaMors]

Anyone wanna take bets?

lol, those battles commence this next friday night, two of the main elements of both empires will gather for battle. I have a feeling that these two battles may be the most bloody battles yet to be seen in the campaign. There will be alot of wrecked ships after these two battles are cleared up.

here is the OB for both battles.

battle #1 level 4 system.

Kzinti: 1xHDN, 1XBCH, 2X CMD, 1X CC, 1XDW (TSE allies) 1XDW, 2XFF
point value 1,264

Hydran: 1XMB, 1xHDN, 1XLB CC, 1X MHNCA, 1XDRG, 2X KN, (mercs) 3XBR
point value 1,451

Battle #2.

Kzinti: 1XLDN, 1XBCH, 1XCMD, 1XCM, 1XCF, 1xDW
point value 928

Hydran: 1XLDN, 1XLBCC, 1XDRG, 2XKN, (mercs) 2XLR
point value 948

wish the empires luck! however you side with, either the Kzinti Theocracy and thier backers the TSE., or the Royal Hydran Monarchy and thier backers the Federation and paid mercenaries.

PM

[pinecone]

In the first battle if the kzinti don't run they will likely lose many ships (depending on the cooperation between them and their allies). Even if they do cooperate, they are still outmatched.

If everyone stayed and fought to the bitter end (and the odds were equal on both sides) The Hydran MB will be the last ship standing, lightly damaged.

[asguard101]

I've noticed, in thier pervious battles, commanders tended to retire thier ships quickly to avoid them being detroyed. I think some of the smaller ships might get destroyed, but the larger ones will prob leave with internals. As to who blinks first, I'm betting on the Kzinti. I think Hydrans can't afford to lose those systems, so they will prob not withdraw, unless it is clearly over with no chance to win. I don't think the Kzinti can afford to risk that many ships.

[Commodore Mendez]

I've noticed, in thier pervious battles, commanders tended to retire thier ships quickly to avoid them being detroyed. I think some of the smaller ships might get destroyed, but the larger ones will prob leave with internals. As to who blinks first, I'm betting on the Kzinti. I think Hydrans can't afford to lose those systems, so they will prob not withdraw, unless it is clearly over with no chance to win. I don't think the Kzinti can afford to risk that many ships.

I agree, in following the many battle reports it does seem that the commanders really guard thier big ships against any kind of damage, that may be what leads to all the maneuvering that is written in the recaps.. But I think this battle may be different. these two empires really seem. to be serious about total war.

[asguard101]

Palli,

When is 1.5 and Code of War planned to be ready? And are you planning a restart when it's ready?

[PallidaMors]

Palli,

When is 1.5 and Code of War planned to be ready? And are you planning a restart when it's ready?

well 1.5 in novemeber and code of war next month. as far as starting over, no I do not anticipate that to be the cae, the rules will be intoduced and then slowly woven in, most of 1.5 deals with clearing up technical issues and making the rules more reader freindly, not many changes as much as better clarity.

code of war will be massive in impact as it will introduce the new battery of legendary officer skilss and 2 new classes.

the Commodore, and the Admiral.

Pallida

[asguard101]

Palli,

Does the command limit to ship in a fleet, for the invader and the defender?

Example: Defender only has has 3 DD and 2 FF to defend a system, can only three of these defend against however many invaders there are?

[PallidaMors]

yes that is correct, though they may be assigned to the reserve pool, and brougth into battle if a ship is destroyed. though you have to roll how many turns they will show up.

so in short, yes the Command Rating applies to both