Re: Random thoughts on campaigning

G'day Mikko,

Heres Derek's basic campaign rules we used down here last year, they
worked 
pretty well all up though you could probably do better in a couple of
spots 
as they don't address all the issues you raise, but as food for
thought....

Enjoy

Beth

 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

We drew up the map by rolling to see if a planet was in each hex (OK
thats 
about half hour plus at the start so if you have a pre-existing starmap
all 
the better) and then made sure that you could actually reach all the
stars 
(so ones sitting out beyond travel distance had a stepping stone star
added 
so you could reach them). Ended up with arms and jump lanes and choke 
points with out much hassle really.

THE SETUP:
Each player starts with:
   - A single star system with a planet which produces 100 points per 
economic phase.
   - A budget of 2000 points, which the player can use to buy units to
make 
up his fleet, etc. (this level is actually arbitrary its just that in
this 
campaign we had a lot of guys with starter packs and so we didn't want
them 
to feel outgunned).

THE MAP:
A hex map was used. To keep things simple star systems will be reduced
to: 
the planet (assumed one habitable/useable planet per system), deep
space, 
the edge of the star system.

TURN SEQUENCE:
Each turn of the campaign is broken into the following three phases.
   - Economic phase. Every 4 turns there is an economic phase, in this 
phase players maintain existing fleets, replenish consumables and build
new 
units.
   - Movement phase. Players move fleets between star systems.
   - Resolution phase. If two players fleets meet in the same star
system, 
the situation is resolved and battles fought on the tabletop if
required.

CAMPAIGN VICTORY:
The campaign is over when a single player at the end of a turn controls
at 
least 50% of the star systems on the map the campaign is finished and
the 
player is declared the winner (as is so often the way it lost omph
before 
then due to Christmas breaks and stuff so you may want to rethink that).

ECONOMICS:
Each planet produces 10 to 100 points per economic turn. When a player 
arrives at a planet for the first time and no other player has owned the

planet before a roll a D10x20 for the number of points produced per 
economic turn by that planet (if a player has owned it before than use
that 
value). A players total resources is just the sum of all the points on
all 
the planets within their empire. If a player does not spend any/all
points 
these may be banked away in a fund

BUILDING AND MAINTAINCE:
Each turn (i.e every turn not just economic turns) players can use
points 
to replace consumable (for example, missiles and fighters at normal
cost)
Each economic turn a player can use any stored points to:
   - Maintain existing units. At the start of each economic phase the 
player must pay to maintain all his existing units, to do this the
player 
pays 15% of the total cost of his fleet. (Note that units bought with 
points from the start up budget do not need to pay maintenance for the 
first economic phase of the campaign).
   - Build new units. When building new units the player listing what he
is 
building, where he is building it (planet's name), how much it costs and

the turn at which the unit will be completed.To build a unit the player 
must have enough points to pay for it when he adds it to his
construction list.

Time to complete construction.
Light escorts; up to mass 49	1 Economic turn
Cruisers; Mass 50 to 99 2 Economic turns
Capital; Mass 100 to 299	4 Economic turns
Very Large; Mass 300 plus	8 Economic turns

<While Derek's probably right on how long it takes to build stuff, and I
do 
think there should be some lag these times did feel a bit foreboding
when 
you were actually trying to cope with a war, I ended up trying to
capture 
rather than destroy ships as a result, so you may want to modify this a 
little, especially at the higher end>

LINE OF SUPPLY.
At the beginning of each movement phase players must be able to trace an

uninterrupted line from his fleet(s) back to a star system belonging to 
their empire. Fleets unable to do this will be unable to replace 
consumables or repair damage.
At each economic phase a player must be able to trace an uninterrupted
line 
from his fleet(s) back to a star system belonging to his empire. Fleets 
unable to do this will be unable to carry out maintenance for that
economic 
phase.
If desired a player can load a ship with points provided that ship has 
cargo space, the player may load 5 points for every one-cargo box. If
the 
fleet the 'cargo ship' is with is out of supply then the player can
expend 
these stored points to replace consumables or carry out maintenance.

MOVEMENT:
·	A fleet can move 2 hexes per turn and must start and finish at a
star 
system.
<We never got to the point were mobile bases became an issue, but I for
one 
wanted to know if you could create your own artifical lanes across voids
by 
the deployment of forward bases, so something else you may want to
clarify>

RESOLUTION PHASE:
When two or more fleets finish their move in the same hex each player
must 
supply the following information about their fleets.
   - How many ships there are in the opposing fleets.
   - What their basic classifications are (use of weasel boats is 
encouraged). Where the following table is used for classification
purposes:
Size class	
Mass 1-4; Fighters and missiles.
Mass 5-49; Light escorts.
Mass 50-99; Cruisers
Mass-100  299; Capitals.
Mass 300 +; Very large.

   - On the basis of the information given players decide whether to
engage 
the enemy or withdraw. Players write down what they intend to do and
then 
intentions are revealed simultaneously. There are three options
available: 
(1) Engage the enemy, (2) Withdraw from the system and (3) Stand off. If

both players agree to engage then a tabletop battle is fought.	If
during 
the course of the battle one of the player's fleets manages to disengage

from the battle (refer page 28, FULL THRUST) they are considered to have

separated within the star system and the fleets remain there until the 
beginning of the next campaign turn. Players who choose to withdraw must

leave the system in the movement phase of the next turn.	Players
who choose 
the stand off option choose not to attack the enemy but they do not 
withdraw either. If a opposing player chooses to engage then a battle
will 
occur as normal, but if all players choose stand off for their fleet
then 
both fleets remain in system and may move as normal next turn. Any fleet

that withdraws either before a battle or disengages from a battle by FTL

drive must in the next movement phase move towards a friendly system.

REPAIR:
After a battle player can repair damaged units, All systems lost to 
threshold rolls are restored and one quarter of the hull lost in that 
battle is also repaired. To fully restore the hull boxes the fleet must
be 
in a friendly star system at the beginning of the movement phase, when
the 
player pays to replace consumables he may also pay the points value of
the 
damaged hull boxes to fully repair them.

CONTROL OF A STAR SYSTEM:
At the end of the resolution phase players check to see who controls
what 
star system. If a player owns the only units in the star system and
there 
are no other units belonging to another player then that player can
claim 
control of the star system.

MOTHBALLING SHIPS:
If a player can not maintain all the ships in his fleet then the excess 
ships can be mothballed. Ships can be placed in mothballs at any time
but 
can only be removed from mothballs in an economic phase. It costs
nothing 
to mothball a ship and while in mothballs ships don't have to be 
maintained. But on the economic phase in which they are brought out of 
mothballs the 15% maintenance must be paid. Also, a player can place a
ship 
(or any number of ships) in mothballs even if they still have the points
to 
maintain them.

OTHER IDEAS:
Strike the colours rules were modified based on behaviour (if you killed
a 
crew or blew up a ship tat had struck then that nation is going to be
much 
less inclined to do it again), so depending on player behaviour it
becomes 
harder or easier to strike the colours.

Scuttle the ship, self-destruction.

Refit, may refit up to 40% of initial designs points value (if upto 25% 
change made then takes quarter of buildtime to refit, if maximum refit 
takes half build time, with a minimum of one economic phase for the
refit).

OTHER RULES IN USE
Sensors and ECM
MT missiles

------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Elizabeth Fulton
c/o CSIRO Division of Marine Research
GPO Box 1538
HOBART
TASMANIA 7001
AUSTRALIA
Phone (03) 6232 5018 International +61 3 6232 5018
Fax 03 6232 5053 International +61 3 6232 5053

email: beth.fulton@marine.csiro.au