Re: the Great game was Re: A new power to deal with, The New Con

On Tue, 19 Jan 1999, Thomas Barclay wrote:
> Thomas spake thusly upon matters weighty: 
> > senior members of the list who don't mind being neutral - to keep
track of
> > things and generally administer (they'd be the UN). everyone else
who
> > wanted in would become national officers - admirals or grand
admirals.
> 
> The UN is only partially neutral. The UN could actually be involved 
> in some of these conflicts...

i thought that in a free-for-all like SW4, they'd just sit tight in the
core systems and try to keep at least half the human population alive.

> > we'd use a big map / astrographic database, using Nyrath the
Entirely
> > Indispensable's data.
> 
> Nearly? No nearly in my books.

did i say nearly? the man's a hero.

> >  the grand admirals would move fleets about in space
> > and use some sort of campaign system (must be quite simple), and
battles
> > would be resolved by two players meeting up somewhere in realspace
and
> > playing a game.
> 
> Or over netspace via something like what Jon D used for some PBEM.

sure, PBEM/PBIRC/PBwebRPG could all be included, but i think physical
battles would be best - they're somehow more concrete. also, we can get
photos: i'm thinking of Los's Op Sawmill report.

> Canada Customs: "Do you have anything to declare?"
> Schoon: "Yes, the entire Eurasian Solar Union 4th Solar War 
> Battlefleet."

it's easier than the other way round; most of australasia is a
nuclear-free zone:

HM Australian Customs: "... looks ok, mr barclay. oh, and one more
thing, 
cobber: are you carrying any nuclear power plants or weapons?"
Barclay: "Ummmmm... how can i put this..."

> And the minor powers could even put in brief 
> appearances in scenarios.

i was thinking the minor powers would be in it anyway - SW4 should be a
totally random beamfest, with the nac, esu, nsl and fse providing the
rhythm and the rh, if, ni, ou, dutch, scandinavians, pau, llar, ic and
even the nre dancing to the beat. the bavarians would, of course, be
filling in the dance cards.

> > i think that's a bit excessive - too much would be dependent on the
turn
> > of one or two battles. my model has no one player in a position to
change
> > history (provided the campaign game made decisive strategic strikes
hard).
> 
> Sure. But there are always focal points where you get the "TSN 
> Turning Point" to steal a sports idea. 

sure - that's good space opera. the only problem is that if grand
admiral
los consistently outwits grand admiral bell, the projected five-year
story
arc could all be over in a couple of episodes.

oh, and there's another idea - keep good records and sell the rights for
the tv series ...

Tom