Federation Commander

Our last campaign got 'postponed' when we got into SF:ACTA early in the year. We are now looking to start another FedCom campaign, so, despite some misgivings about whether I can handle a 'map' based campaign I have come up with another campaign.

Again there are 3 powers like our last one, but there is more freedom to move around and capture planets for extra money etc. It is also more likely to reesult in a wider raneg of game sizes, from 1 vs 1 frigate action to larger fleets meeting.

The rules are as below:

===============================================

Collect income
Pay upkeep
Repair ships
Buy ships
Place new (degraded crew) ships
Place new freighters
Place raiders in holding area
Write orders
Reveal orders
Pay offensive supplies.
Move ships
Place raiders in raided areas
Purchase Orions
Fight battles / retreat losers
Return raiders
Place new ships (that were not placed earlier)
Collect freigter income
Buy tug stuff


Start and End
============

The game starts with each player having a Starbase in their home zone. They have no ships.
The game ends when someone loses that starting Starbase, the winner being the one who destroyed it.


Collect Income
==============

Receive 25 for the home area.
+1 per region you control (apart from home region).


Pay Upkeep
===========

Total the EP cost of all your ships, you pay 5% (1/20) of this rounded off in upkeep.
+ 1 per command ship (DN, BCH, or 'command' vessel).
+ 1 per ship that can carry fighters (whether it does or not).


Repair Ships
============

Damaged ships at a planet or FRD can repair for 1 point.
Crippled ships at home base or FRD can repair for 2 points.
Carriers replace lost fighters if at a planet. (The 1 pt extra maintenance covers the supply of extra fighters).

Buy Ships
==========
Secretly work out what ships you want to buy. They cost 1/10 the ships BPV, round off (half up). Carriers/hydrans must buy with all their fighters as well.

At the start of the game each empire has limited ability to build large ships. The following shows what turn you can start to build each size ship (in Move Cost).

1 = 1/4
2 = 1/2
3 = 3/4
4 = 1
6 = 1/25, 1/5
8 = 2

You may only build 1 ship of each size class above in any turn, but can other wise build as many ships as you can afford given that limit.

You may use a slot to buy a smaller size ship, but not a larger ship.


Place new Ships (degraded crew)
===============================

New ships can be placed now for immediate use this turn, but will have a degraded crew. There is 50% chance at this point each turn that any existing degraded ships lose that status (not penal ships which are permanently crap).

Place new Freighters
===================

Each planet you own generates a convoy equal to the planet value in its zone.


Place Raiders in holding Box
============================

Any non crippled Fast ships/light raiding DNs can be placed off map as 'raiders' or fast reserve for 2 point each.


Write orders
============

Secretly write your move orders for the turn.

Each ship can only move 1 region per turn.

Pay Offensive supplies
=======================

For each of your ships that is trying to move into another players zone pay Move Cost points in supplies (not including raiders). The overall total across all attacks is rounded UP.

E.G. you have 2 FF, 3 DDs and 2 CAs attacking enemy zones this turn, that equals 4.5, rounded up to 5 points.

Move ships
===========

All ships are moved as per the orders. There is no pinning etc, moves are assumed to be simultaneous.

If 2 forces are attacking each other they do not cross in the middle. The one that moves is determined randomly and the other stays put, unless one side has a scout and the other does not, in which case the side with the scout decides to move or await the attack.

Place raiders
=============

Ships in the raider holding box can be placed in any zone, enemy or friendly. If they join friendly ships then they can fight with them as normal.

If they are put in an enemy zone with no other friendly ships then they are raiding and cannot control the area. They can fight any enemy there, including convoys, but afterwards are placed in the nearest friendly zone (after all battles are resolved).

Purchase Orions
===============

One orion mercenary may be purchased per upcoming battle. They cost the same as though it were a new ship, however, so long as the orion survives half of that (rounded down) is refunded after the battle. The orion will only fight for one battle, he does not join your fleet afterwards.
Orions do not count towards your command limit.


Fight battles
=============

Any zones with 2+ players in are battles. If there are multiple battles to resolve then each player rolls a dice and the winner chooses one to fight.

If more than one player entered a region then roll to see who arrived first, second etc. Battles are fought as soon as there is more than one side in the zone. The winner can choose to fight the next person as they arrive with whatever they have remaining.

Either side can choose to retreat if they want before the battle. The defender chooses first to do so.

The battle will take place around any terrain or planet or bases if the region has any.

Convoys cannot be directly attacked by non raiding ships. But they cannot retreat either and are automatically destroyed if abandoned (there is no capturing).

Raiders on their own can always attack convoys if they want, which can be defended by any other ships present. Convoy raids do not take place around bases, and will ony take place around terrain if the convoy decides to, I.E. the raiders always catch them away from bases, but they can only be caught where they travelling which may not be near danagerous terrin if they so choose.

Only a certain number of ships can fight. Nominate a ship to be the command ship. It can control itself + as many ships as thats ships DamCon. So A cruiser means you can have 5 ships. If the command ship is a proper command ship then you get a +1 bonus ship rating. So a CC can command 6, and a DN 8.

All standard FC rules apply to weapon restrictions etc (e.g. PPD limits).

You can only have 1 special ship per 5 normal ships (or part thereof). Special ships are Drone ships, Scouts, aegis, Maulers and Carriers.

Battles last a max of 10 turns, after that if the attacker has not cleared the defenders he 'loses' and must retreat.

Post battle Damage
------------------
A ship that ends up crippled is marked as crippled in the campaign, until repaired at home base (or FRD). A crippled ship takes DamCon *10 damage at the start of any subsequent battles.

A ship that is damaged at the end of a battle gets 4 turns of DamCon (or from the point it disengages) if it is still damaged by even 1 box then it is marked as 'damaged' at the campaign level, until repaired at a planet. A damaged ship starts any subsequent battle with DamCon * 3 in damage.

Fighters that are destroyed are noted as such on the ship (so it has a reduced complement until they are replaced), but any fighters still alive are auto repaired at the end of the battle so long as there is carrier space in the victorious force to carry them. Fighters beyond the remaining fighter boxes are lost. Fighters still on the map of a retreating/destroyed force are all lost irrespective of whether there is space on their parent ships.

NB Frame hits still count as a non repaired box, so a ship that takes frame cannot possibly repair itself using damcon and will therefore always be noted as damaged, at a minimum, after the battle. However, we do not track frame hits at the campaign level, so it will not start future battles with the frame hits.

NB A ship can never repair its campaign status during a battle, if it started 'damaged' then no matter how much it repairs itself during the battle it will end at least damaged still.

Captures
--------
A captured ship cannot be used. It provides 25% of its value in EP.

Convoys raids
-------------
If raiders are attacking a convoy you must have 100 cargo boxes per 10 points of convoy.
Before the battle you can swap one freighter for a Q-ship at the normal cost of a Q-ship (6 for small, 10 for large).
The value of the cargo is evenly spread around the convoy. After the fight count how much % of the cargo was destroyed (even if repaired) that is the % value of the convoy lost, rounded up. Assuming no Q-ships, this means 1 point per 10 cargo or part thereof.

Retreats
========

Losers, or those who choose to retreat, must fall back after all battles are complete. They must move to another friendly zone. If they cannot they must move so that they are closer to one than where they are. If they move into a zone that has (non retreating) enemy ships in they must fight another battle with those now.

Again roll to decide who chooses a force to retreat if it may be important on who retreats first.

Return raiders
==============

Any raiders that were in enemy zones on their own (and arrived via the raiding box) must now be moved back to the nearest friendly zone. They do not worry about how far that is, they just arrive back safe.

Place new ships
===============

Any ships bought this turn but not placed earlier are now paced at the home base. They have standard crews.


Collect freighter income
=========================

Any convoys that are at the home base are removed and add their value to the players bank.

Buy Tug Stuff
==============

If a tug is an area you may purchase a base item, or FRD. Bases may be built up through the stages of Mobile base, Base station, battle station, starbase. Each stage cost the same as though you were buying it as a ship, e.g. a Mobile base costs 10. Upgrading a Mobile Base to a base station costs another 14 etc. Bases cannot move afterwards. They are assumed to be around the planet if built in a planet zone.

Defense sats can be built around a planet, costing 10 for a group of 5. They pay upkeep as normal, but they are always restored to full strength of 5 at the start of any battle, so long as you keep control of the region. The cannot control a region though if an enemy ship enters.

An FRD can be built at a planet. They can ony be moved by the tug. A tug cannot build anything in a turn it moved an FRD.

A tug can only build/upgrade one thing a turn.

We have spent the first evening starting the campaign.

The 3 powers are:

LDR (Yellow) - NB we use the LDR adjustment that appeared in an early communique, it effectively adds 6 points to a ship with 2 gatlings, and +16 for 4 gatling on top of the normal LDR cost.
Fed (Red)
ISc (Green).

As expected the evening saw litte action, just one small fight at the end of turn 6. Most of the evening was just grabbing regions and posturing as we build up fleets. To start off with everyone put out degraded ships to make early grabs, before shifting to later deployment so as not to worry about degraded crews. There are currently no degraded crews left, all those ships having since 'pulled together' on their missions along the borders..


The Map below shows the position at the end of turn 6. The blue arrows are where there were attacks into enemy regions (or in the case of region E, both the ISC and Fed both advanced into the neutral region).

The Fed advance from O -> N in order to beat the LRD Frigate and take control of the 15 point planet was aborted when the LDR were able to just wrestle up enough coins to hire an orion slaver to help in the fight. The Feds then retreated rather than fight.

The ISC advance into Region J saw the LDR frigate who was there fall back towards the heavier LDR ships building up behind it.

The Feds advanced unopposed into region R.

The ISC and Feds both adavanced into neutral region E where a battle was fought between the ISC CS vs Fed FF and FFB. The Feds were rather unlucky - every photon fired missed and the FF was pounded and captured. At which point the FFB disengaged back to region D, leaving the barely scratched CS to control region E.


The Bank balances at the end of turn 6 are

LDR = 21
ISC = 24
Fed = 0


So as we head into Turn 7 we see the LDR looking rather powerful as they prepare to face off against the ISC but with little to face any Feds that decide to head their way. The Feds are also advancing on the ISC against the weaker ISC forces over that side. On the other hand the Feds are looking skint. After several turns of no one going for the 20 pt planet in the middle the Feds do have an oppotunity to grab it without much likelihood of opposition.



PS the splodges are:
L = asteroids
K = nebula
S = pulsar (pulses every turn 2nd impulse! yikes)
F = black hole
Q = nebula
C = pulsar (pulses every 5 turn 5th impulse).

This seems interesting. I will have to give it a try.

Turn 7
=======

Less happened than I expected.

The ISC and LDR both built a CF, and placed it early (hence degraded) in order to start threatening convoys.

The ISC also built a DNP, as it is the cheapest ship with a DamCon (and therefore Command rating in our campaign) of 6+. The LDR added a Frigate (also degraded) and scout. The Feds bought a frigate scout and some defsats around the planet in region D.

During movement the Feds move in to the center region unopposed. Whilst the ISC attack region R, however, as the Feds have moved out the ISC take it without a fight.

The LDR raider raided Fed region V, but forgot that the convoys moved at the same time, so it ended up with nothing to attack.

The rest of the turn was some shuffling around of other units. There was no LDR offensive against the ISC, as half expected.

Turn 8
========


This turn sees some action.

The Feds buy 2 battle frigates (degraded) and DefSats in Y and V, so they now have sats in each planet region.
The ISC buy a CS and DD, to be placed late so as not to worry about degraded ships.
The LDR purchase DW and CA, placed as degraded crews.


The LDR and Feds shuffle around their ships, without attacking anyone.
The LDR raider tried his luck in Region Q but the amount of Fed warships that suddenly turned up forced it to just retreat back to safe space.

The ISC attack from T -> X against the LDR and from R -> D against the Feds (who have a FFB and defsats defending).

The Feds hire an orion BC (with a PPD and disrupters) to help the defense, for a whopping 16 points (of which they can get back 8 if it survives).

AAR battle for region D
========================

The ISC arrive with a CA, CS and DD. They face a Fed FFB, Orion BC and Fed DefSats around a midsized planet.

Note. Lost/Damaged DefSats will be replaced for free after a battle so long as the owner retains control. However, DefSats on their own cannot contest a region if enemy ships are in it. There is therefore every incentive to use them and not just stay invisible.


The ISC and Fed ships start about the 26 hexes apart, the Feds just in front of their planet.

The ISC advance at mid speed as they arm up, the feds turn around to move away from the ISC, possibly hoping to draw the ISC onto the DefSats. That plan goes wrong when the ISC take a range 19 shot at the back of the frigate with their PPDs (and phasers) and drop the shield doing noticeable internals. The Orion BC turns and hammers the ISC DD then turns back and runs from the cruisers, whilst the Fed frigate is already hiding around the other side of the planet.

The ISC chase the Orion whilst re-charging PPDs, the cruisers following it around the far side if the planet whilst the DD takes the near side to maybe cut it off or get that FFB. In the end the DD ends up engaging the DefSats and then turning away, hurting somewhat. The 2 ISC cruisers pile through the DefSats at far side of the planet, destroying 1 with Ph3s and a rear plasma, whilst taking heavy fire on the CS, but it does take each Sat on different shields.

The ISC come round the far side of the planet, getting very close to the Orion and the FFB, and are hoping to launch Plasma S at the Orion, but the FFB seeing that it will otherwise expose its downed back shields HETs and goes head to head with the ISC cruisers. The ISC CS manouveres a bit futher away than the CA to the Fed ship, so the photons hit the CA instead, which nobbles a shield but does little else. The return phaser fire guts the FFB, but the CA has not enough power left to upgrade the plasma in the tubes and launches them as Gs at the FFB, which is unable to avoid them, and then another rear plasma straight afterwards. The FFB does take each launch on decent shields, but it is now only a few points of damage away from dead.

The ISC cruisers now pull back around the planet, the CA finishing the FFB with another rear plasma. The Orion is now chasing the ISC DD in an attempt to kill something, but the DD is going fast and is able to keep it distance as it moves to pull the Orion towards the cruisers. Just as the Orion is catching the DD against the map edge it disengages. Leaving the pristine Orion to face 2 ISC cruisers. The ISC have taken a bit more damage from Sats as they moved around the planet again, but it is still just largely shields damage and an odd burnthrough.

Facing 3 PPDs and a heap of phasers the Orion runs, somehow thinking that he can achieve something, the Fed player does not disengage to get the refund, and eventually the ISC get into a good range and the PPDs rip into the Orion, leaving it badly crippled, whilst the Orion managed to score internal damage on the CS at last.

As it was now very late, there followed a discussion about wether the Orion could somehow survive to disengage, or obtain some better campaign result e.g. cripple a ship, which was eventually decided in favor of the ISC. Hence the Orion was assumed to be killed.

So the game ends with both the Fed and Orion killed, which also means Region D falls into ISC hands (and hence the DefSats are dead). The ISC CS and DD are damaged, and start with DamCon * 3 in damage at the start of future battles until repaired.


Whilst the loss of the region to the ISC was probably not in any real doubt it proved an intreresting game. The DefSats are something that we haven't played with much, they certainly make life awkward as you cannot really kill them without closing (to encourage them to fire) which means they can inflict some decent damage. The ISC CS and DD took a shedload of damage from them, but managed to keep most of it across a range of shields.

This is the map as it currently stands at turn 8. The battle for Region X is still to be fought, all the ISC forces in T are attacking




Ships with # are still degraded.
Ships with * are damaged.

Well it looks like that this may have been our shortest campaign. On the bright side that is because we appear to have a 4th FedCom player! so we will be starting a 4 player campaign soon instead, using the same rules as this one.

It is very pleasing that the ISC and the LDR have fled. On seeing the Federations cunning plan! Named coiled spring mark2!

As Max Head Room wouuld say
RE-RRRRRRRRRRRRRe STARTTTTTTTTTTTTE
New game we have 4