Post by Theaetetus on Jul 26, 2021 2:02:48 GMT
Hello sirs,
I going to be running a W@S campaign with some friends (none of whom own any W@S, but all of whom have played), to have some fun and try, get a feel for how my collection works in game, and to have a series of games that can (hopefully?) which require tactics and strategy. All of ye are more experienced and wiser than I (KISS is something I easily lose track of ), so I'd like to ask your guidance and input on how I am planning to put the campaign together.
Campaign Scope:
I have about 150 units I would like to use, a breakdown of which I have linked here. I plan on GMing the Axis, who have about 400 points of Japanese units and 200 each of German and Italian units, and will going up against the other three with an Allied fleet with a roughly similar breakdown for the US, UK and allied navies respectively. The group is would like something at least somewhat historical.
Working with Three Other Players:
This is my first difficulty: I want each of the three other players to participate together in each session, but I am not sure how to do that naturally. I have considered having each of them build their fleets and rolling initiative for their task forces separately, giving them bonuses like the forumini admirals, or trying to figure out a different way to split up command, but none of these seem to come together as harmoniously as I'd like.
How do y'all think I could make so that all three are able to play each session and have a good time?
Geographic Scope and Ideas:
Having written this, I am leaning towards a combination of the latter two, but how could I work this so that: battles are strategically meaningful and players have to make choices about when and how they use their units?
The "Legacy" Part of the Campaign
One of the reasons I really like campaigns is the legacy aspect: slowly building one's fleet and managing it through repeated combats. Ideally this would involve either units upgrades or the admiral idea I mentioned earlier.
That's probably enough for now. I would be grateful for your input, since all of y'all are wise and percipient in the ways of W@S.
-Theaetetus
P. S. (I also would be glad to post photos as we go through the campaign, if any of ye are interested)
I going to be running a W@S campaign with some friends (none of whom own any W@S, but all of whom have played), to have some fun and try, get a feel for how my collection works in game, and to have a series of games that can (hopefully?) which require tactics and strategy. All of ye are more experienced and wiser than I (KISS is something I easily lose track of ), so I'd like to ask your guidance and input on how I am planning to put the campaign together.
Campaign Scope:
I have about 150 units I would like to use, a breakdown of which I have linked here. I plan on GMing the Axis, who have about 400 points of Japanese units and 200 each of German and Italian units, and will going up against the other three with an Allied fleet with a roughly similar breakdown for the US, UK and allied navies respectively. The group is would like something at least somewhat historical.
Working with Three Other Players:
This is my first difficulty: I want each of the three other players to participate together in each session, but I am not sure how to do that naturally. I have considered having each of them build their fleets and rolling initiative for their task forces separately, giving them bonuses like the forumini admirals, or trying to figure out a different way to split up command, but none of these seem to come together as harmoniously as I'd like.
How do y'all think I could make so that all three are able to play each session and have a good time?
Geographic Scope and Ideas:
- One idea I had was to make a world map (link here) for the campaign to occur over. The roman numerals are the seas in which fleets could operate, and with the countries are were the players would have facilities that allowed player to build, repair, and base units, though this looks like it might be a piece of work trying to determine and balance the available facilities (more on that and strategic facilities later).
- I could also do something closer to what flakstruk is doing (though I am not sure entirely how that works yet) and have a more abstract campaign, with standard games being the path to victory.
- Finally I realised I could take my inspiration from mnnorthstars campaign, and assign missions that involved allocating existing fleet units to different tasks, (i. e., each year has a convoy scenario, a fleet battle, etc.) and avoid being bound by specific geography.
Having written this, I am leaning towards a combination of the latter two, but how could I work this so that: battles are strategically meaningful and players have to make choices about when and how they use their units?
The "Legacy" Part of the Campaign
One of the reasons I really like campaigns is the legacy aspect: slowly building one's fleet and managing it through repeated combats. Ideally this would involve either units upgrades or the admiral idea I mentioned earlier.
- The first rule I am adding is what a friend of mine called "mission kills;" when a unit takes damage equal to or greater than its vital armour, it remains in the game, though it can only move and use speed related abilities. It is also allowed to exit the map from any hex. This will hopefully improve survivability(?) and mean that more units will make it back home.
- The second rule is WiP, but would involve strategic facilities that players could use to repair units. The factors at play seem to me to be: how much does damage cost to repair (compared to buying new units) and how long does it take to repair units. Again, I like flak's system, using armour as the number of points needed to heal one damage, though this does not account for the time factor, which I would like to account for if it is not too much. I have also considered having two types of repair facilities, one which repaired damaged and crippled ships, and one which repaired disabled ships. Players would have a certain number of these available, and so would have to allocate them sparingly, and perhaps fight to capture more of them.
- There is also the question of fleet building. I like the idea of doing something escalation style, though this leaves the Allies outgunned until 1943, when they finally get carriers, and have access to a bulk of the US fleet, so that probably won't work. The classic way to do this would be through points, but that becomes a little more difficult when split three ways, and gets back to the problem of how to include all three.
- While it would be cool for each player to get a nationality, my pieces are not balanced that way. I would however like each player to be able to work on and experience building up their own fleet, and also (if possible...) work together to complete the scenarios I give them.
That's probably enough for now. I would be grateful for your input, since all of y'all are wise and percipient in the ways of W@S.
-Theaetetus
P. S. (I also would be glad to post photos as we go through the campaign, if any of ye are interested)