Following reading more Science Fiction books than has been usual for me over the past few years I thought it would be appropriate to run another campaign inspired by my reading. The system used was fundamentally the combat system from Twilight Imperium 4, combined with the luck dice system occasionally mentioned in other systems, majorly off set by officers who would be rolled up before battle. Each turn I would add +1 to the player’s second roll to simulate the winnowing effect of his casualty warfare, generally bad officer traits were more heavily concentrated in the first few turns and the players had the option to fire or otherwise remove unacceptable officers. There were a lot of bad officers.
Officer Generator. (2D6)
Primary Skillset.
1. Assault; +1 to attack throws.
2. Defense; -1 to enemy defense throws.
3. Logistics; +1 to supply rolls.
4. Morale; +2 to morale rolls.
5. Trickery; Cancel an enemy hit.
6. Press Relations; +1 to civilian interactions.
Hidden Trait. (Progress… As game turns happens.) (Biafrans Re-roll. On a 6 no one emerges.)
1. Ornamental; Primary skillset does not work. If he wins a battle he may learn a relevant skillset.
2. Professionally Trained; Roll up a secondary skillset, these can stack.
3. Deadwood; -1 to all combat rolls, destroys any Pops in the hex during the combat.
4. Coward; 1-2 divisions around him will rout in battle. (Starting with his own)
5. Drunkard; On a failed luck roll half of the troops under his command do not roll in the next combat.
6. Paper Pusher; Automatically successfully makes supply rolls.
7. Early Veteran; +1 to combat rolls.
8. Wisened by Defeat; His unit takes an extra hit to destroy.
9. Son of Mars; +2 to attacking combat rolls.
10. Maverick; +3 to attacking combat rolls, when alone with his unit.
11. Craven; 1-6 divisions around him will rout in battle. (Starting with his own)
12. Medal Magnet; +3 to attacking combat rolls,
13. Hero of the Republic; +4 to attacking combat rolls.
14. Weird Warrior; May cancel one hit against an allied unit.
15. Late Veteran; +2 to defense rolls.
16. Shell Shocked; 1-3 divisions around him will rout in battle. (Starting with his own)
17. Savage; +2 to attacking combat rolls, destroys any Pops in the hex during the combat.
18. Son of War; +2 to combat rolls.
The planet to be defended was quickly drawn up and layered with a numbered hex map for ease of giving orders. I originally and quite mistakenly thought this could be played out in 1 phone call, but the campaign extended into 4 sessions over the month of June.
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| Continent with Names |
The players were to be judged on the following objective list, without knowing precisely what was on this list. There were originally meant to also be offered private, secret objectives, but time constraints held me back from adding those in. Time constraints made the Not Scored category necessary as well.
Public Objectives. (Scored from 1-4 stars.)
1. Preserve 100% of the civilian population.
2. Preserve 100% of the designated farmland.
3. Preserve 100% of the industrial land.
4. Preserve 100% of the transit infrastructure.
5. Preserve 100% of the military population.
6. Preserve 100% of the religious infrastructure.
7. Preserve 100% of the designated stockpiled resources.
8. Preserve 100% of the natural wildlife of the planet. (Not Scored)
9. Preserve 100% of the historical infrastructure. (Not Scored)
10. Deny 100% of X supply to the alien. (Not Scored)
11. Deny 100% of the world to the alien.
12. Destroy 100% of the known traitors.
13. Destroy 100% of the Invading forces; ground forces.
14. Destroy 100% of the Invading forces; elites forces.
15. Destroy 100% of the Invading forces; space/air forces.
Team Score. 58
D.P. (Controlling out of the Continent of Landing.) 27
D.Y. (Controlling out of the Continent of Biafra.) 31
The Opposing Force was labeled the ‘Cyan Warlord’ and he was given some other blue personalities labeled as originating from his court.
Cyan Warlord Order of Battle.
Armor; 5 Divisions.
Cavalry; 10 Divisions.
Mechanized Infantry; 20 Divisions.
Militia; 20 Divisions.
5 Air Forces.
3 Jet Pack//Helicopter Mixed Formations.
2 Heavy Bomber Formations. (Lowest Priority.)
Navy.
3 Fleets. 9 up to hit.
Has 11 Mass Landers from the Great Ship.
Mass Landers 2 Hits, can carry a fleet or 3 land units.
Cyan Warlord Order of Battle end of last turn.
Mechanized Infantry 7.
Mass Landers 3.
Commentary on the Opposing Force play.
To avoid bias and unfair knowledge of the player’s plans I pre-wrote the Cyan Warlord’s movement orders and read them out at the beginning of each turn. In hindsight I should have at the very least not done this every turn, to avoid player complacency. A huge mistake I made, I only just noticed in that I originally had intended the Mass Landers to take 2 hits to destroy and never put this into practice. This likely would have been decisive in at least one of the battles. The other big mistake I made was in the middle of one of my attacks on a northern city to realize I had been rolling D8s for units that needed a 9 or higher to hit, hence explaining three turns of not hitting anything.
The players, before reading this article will have no idea that the Jet Pack formations ever existed as they never saw them, successfully blowing up that lander and destroying its entire compliment.
Fundamentally, Cyan strategy was intended to be on that of siege and terror, rather than on direct assault or maneuver. Despite successfully salting the fields of Landing, This clearly failed.
Commentary on the Player led Faction performance.
The player commanding from Biafra had consistently horrible luck on virtually every luck dice he rolled or I rolled for him throughout the first three sessions. By contrast he had very good planning and good luck in dealing with the attempted Cyan subversion.
The player commanding from Landing had consistently excellent luck, off of the battlefield, successfully developing an extraordinarily effective chemical weapons, rallying a people passing the verge of starvation and holding out in the final hour. He had worse luck on the battlefield, losing 3 general grade officers to their bad traits and losing control of the minor northern continent.
Here is some commentary from that player….
A short Commentary on The Cyan War.
The Cyan war has several points of interest, chief among these are is the passivity of the forces that invaded Landing. It is uncertain whether the Cyan warlords generals were aware just how thinly stretched our forces were, had they utilized their 15 divisions that made it to Landing, even accounting for further losses due to artillery shelling, they should have been able to capture the entire continent in a very short time frame, that they did not is a source of much debate and contemplation. The rapid fall of Gen-Ra further emphasizes this disparity.
Another point to note is the extreme lack of coordination between the Cyan warlords generals, almost to the point of each doing as he saw to be best in his own eyes, this again lends credence to the idea that they did not really know their enemy at all, nor even bother to find out about their enemy when it became necessary that they ought to, perhaps prior victories on previous worlds had clouded their judgment.
A further point of interest is their final assault on First Landing that was for all intents a suicide attack as they were outnumbered and outgunned at this point. One must assume that having twice taken cities with no casualties and where the defenders fled en mass that they assumed the same result for New Landing, the reality was a massacre and an end to the Cyan warlords ability to conquer Landing.
In the aftermath of the Cyan War, our Glorious Dictator set up a monument to those fallen in defense of the continent, furthermore our illustrious bomber squadron was given high honours and their commander given even more. The marine corp was commended on their great improvement over the initial pathetic showing at the fall of Philipsburg.
***
He Cyan, (With Apologies to Dr. Seuss)
He Cyan,
Cyan is,
That Cyan man,
That Cyan man!
I do not like
That Cyan man.
Do you like
Salt and hot fields?
I do not like them,
Cyan Man.
I do not like
Salt and hot fields.
Where would you like them?
Here (Landing) or There (Biafra)
***
Some Notes from the Other Player, an AAR written in world.
Dear Family,
I write home to inform you of the war here.
I never had the opportunity to face the enemy directly, as I was assigned to the intelligence departments. I did not expect to be promoted so quickly, but Biafra faced an existential threat, and many capable men died attempting to fill roles they were never meant to occupy. I stepped forward and assumed command where I was needed.
We first detected the alien landings near New Nairobi, but by then it was already too late. Although our troops managed to halt the enemy advance, the city itself was completely devastated before it could be saved.
As if this were not troubling enough, a massive alien force landed on the eastern front and launched an assault upon our neighbors in the Continent of Landing. The invaders successfully established a fortified stronghold in the mountains, creating a constant threat to the region.
During this period, we managed to capture one of the so-called "Cyan" warlords. To our surprise, he proved cooperative and ultimately became a valuable source of intelligence against his own people. Through him, we learned much regarding the enemy's biology, military organization, and methods of warfare.
We employed our naval fleets strategically, using them to provide bombardment support and reinforce the defenses of Landing. Several units were deployed to assist in the reconquest of the continent. The operation was largely successful, and our forces suffered no losses during these actions.
At the same time, multiple airborne divisions were trained and maintained at a constant state of readiness, prepared to defend any island threatened by invasion.
A second attack against Biafra occurred when a large force of alien cavalry charged the defensive lines we had established around New Lusaka. They were met by a disciplined and devastating volley of fire that tore through their ranks. The assault collapsed almost immediately, and the surviving enemy forces offered their surrender, which we accepted.
As the months passed, the strength of the Cyan warlords steadily diminished. Recognizing an opportunity to secure peace, I negotiated a truce with the Cyan leadership. The agreement was made on the condition that we retain all prisoners currently in our custody and that our sovereignty over our lands be fully recognized.
Thus ended our involvement in the war.
In full honesty, I believe this war has helped unite the Biafran continent. Not only have the people learned to forget the past hate of their forefathers, but they have learned to be strong as a whole. Our people are stronger than ever, and our military is fine-tuned.
The Continent of Landing is a concerning sight to see, as a new dictator took his place to lead the people against the alien foe. Whilst he may be brilliant with combat, this raises many ethical questions as to the right he has to be dictator. However their problems are not my main focus. I have now been stationed to rebuild New Nairobi.
Long live Biafra.
Your loving son,
Nunu Savea
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| One of the players put together some these for each of the characters rolled up. Really added to the experience. |
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