Author Topic: ISaW Campaign: Need advice  (Read 3316 times)

Mishkin

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ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« on: 09 August 2016, 14:00:36 »
Dear Battletech community,

My friends and I are planning a Inner Sphere at War campaign (with myself as the GM) using Alpha Strike at the unit level (which we enjoy playing) to resolve combat over planets.  I've read back over IO (and now CO) and I am still baffled on how to scale down from a combat command to Alpha Strike engagement. 

Ideally, we would like to have way to work through the following steps:
1. Take the number, experience, and loyalty of Combat Commands involved in a battle to create a PV and available list of units for alpha strike.
2. Rules for players to pick forces for mission.
3. Roll up a scenario/mission for Alpha Strike that depend on values in Step 1 and planet type.
4. Input a outcome for the ISaW based on Alpha Strike VP (think overwhelming victory, marginal victory, amount of salvage in RP, etc.)

We are also picking between setting the game in ~3025 or 2786.  We would like to make this campaign a whole retelling of the history of the Inner Sphere, which makes starting at 2786 very appealing, but dealing with lots more tech, warships, and nukes seems complicated.  2786 also has complete field reports for each of the 5 players (which I don't think we have for the 3rd Succession War or 3025).  On the other hand, ~3025 is what we love about Battletech: low tech, a couple of 'mechs taking a whole planet, less complicated, etc.  Thoughts on 2786 or 3025?

Best,
Mishkin

Adrian Gideon

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #1 on: 09 August 2016, 16:57:40 »
Check CO again, there's a chapter specifically dedicated to what you're asking, at least for items 1 and 2. 3 and 4 are where you as the GM come in (and they're more or less linked).
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Mishkin

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #2 on: 09 August 2016, 21:36:53 »
Thanks, Adrian!

Alright, I think I see why I was confused.  In order to do what we want to do in this campaign (convert Combat Commands to Alpha Strike size forces), we have to go from CC to ACS, from ACS to SBF, and then from ACS to Alpha Strike with a PV.  Isn't there or shouldn't there be an easy way to go from a Combat Command with two values (Exp/Loy) to PV for an Alpha Strike mission (one value).  Players would then need a table of available units, but doesn't the Master Unit List do that for us?

New questions: is there any source (other than the total number of CC listed in IO) for the specific units for each of the five factions in 3025 or another time in the 3rd Succession War.  I mean, I know the Lyran Commonwealth has the Donegal Guards, but how many of the CC are members of this unit, and what is their Exp/Loyalty rating? Is my best bet at this point to just take the commands listed in the Field Report: LCAF 2765 and weed the units down to the number listed in ISaW? 

Last question: Does anyone know where I can find a copy of an Inner Sphere map (like the 3025 one on the downloads page) but without the borders and hexes and with a transparent background (essentially, just a map with system names and locations)? 

Alexander Knight

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #3 on: 09 August 2016, 21:52:54 »
Mishkin:  Historical: War of 3039 has experience / loyalty levels for the AFFS, LCAF, and DCMS in 3039, and Brush Wars has them for the FWLM, CCAF, and MAF in 3030-3035.

Aside from that, the only sources I can think of are the old FASA house books, and Worktroll's army lists.

Mishkin

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #4 on: 10 August 2016, 09:26:37 »
Alexander, thanks for the advice.  I don't have the old FASA books (RIP) but I'll be on the lookout for them.  I googled "Worktroll's army lists" and found what you were referring to...with this, the old field reports, and Sarna, I should be able to put together a list of Unit names for our campaign. 

Best,
M

Adrian Gideon

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #5 on: 10 August 2016, 16:53:33 »
Isn't there or shouldn't there be an easy way to go from a Combat Command with two values (Exp/Loy) to PV for an Alpha Strike mission (one value).
That just isn't enough to go on. Exp/Loy doesn't truly relate to units the CC would have in any meaningful way, you'd essentially be open to choosing anything faction appropriate—which is perfectly fine, but doesn't do much to aid or guide you.

Players would then need a table of available units, but doesn't the Master Unit List do that for us?
If you're choosing for yourself instead of rolling randomly, that's correct. The MUL is wide open.

To expand, you'd be expected to go through the motions of Combat Command > ACS > SBF > AS (/TW/BF) to get your AS units, because what you're really doing is determining the makeups of constituent battalions and companies. If you're not interested in that but instead lances here and there and *maybe* companies, you should be just fine with using existing methods of picking your forces, whether from Total Warfare or the Combat Manuals, with limitations dictated by the scenario and the setting of the overall ISW campaign you're running.

That said, you can still use the conversion rules from the Campaign Companion, you would just skip through them a little quicker. Here's an example.

You wish to create an Alpha Strike company for the 7th Donegal Guards, "Earthquakers," circa 3025. The House Steiner source book (available for sale at the BattleShop and DriveThruRPG), have their Experience Rating as Regular, but don't list a Weight (some House Books do). This information (and more) will be in Combat Manual: House Steiner, but that's not available yet. Looking at their information it's likely that they're a medium Weight Combat Command.

Using that information, You can create your AS company using the Random Method or the PV Method.

Random Method: Use the table on p. 89 of Campaign Companion to roll up your company's lance composition, using the "medium" column (this table is for determine a regiment's constituent battalions, but works just fine in this instance). From there, follow the rules on p. 91 under Random Method. You'll need Total Warfare (for tables) and War of 3039 (for Random Assignment tables). Follow the Random Method rules for assigning Skill Ratings, keeping in mind that the 7th is rated as Regular.

PV Method: The only difference here, is since I'm using a company as a starting force, we turn to p. 96 of the Campaign Companion (which has the different default stats for Lyran Commonwealth formations circa 3025), and look at the middle table, which pertains to companies. Cross-reference the "Medium Mech" row with the PV (PV SBF) column, and look at the results in parenthesis—96. Multiply this by 4 for a result of 384. This is the total PV available to build your company. From there, follow rules as laid out in the PV Method section on p. 91, just ignore the first two sentences which we replaced here. As explained in that section, you can adjust Skill Ratings for this Regular Combat Command to be Green, Regular or Veteran (all within one 'step' away from Regular), and PV is adjusted accordingly. To choose your forces you'd use the Master Unit List within the Late Succession War Era setting.

That's just a tiny leap from the rules as written to get the results you need.

New questions: is there any source (other than the total number of CC listed in IO) for the specific units for each of the five factions in 3025 or another time in the 3rd Succession War.
As above, for this period, the Combat Manuals which are currently being produced, the House source books and the War of 3039, all available on the BattleShop or DriveThruRPG.

Last question: Does anyone know where I can find a copy of an Inner Sphere map (like the 3025 one on the downloads page) but without the borders and hexes and with a transparent background (essentially, just a map with system names and locations)?
Nope.
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Alexander Knight

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #6 on: 10 August 2016, 17:16:56 »
Adrian:  Actually you'd multiply the company PV by 3.  Not 4.

AS PV is divided by 3 to get lance PV.  Company PV is divided by 3 to get battalion PV.

Adrian Gideon

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #7 on: 10 August 2016, 17:36:20 »
I know. But that's not what's happening in that process. Look again. ;)
(I don't want to confuse things. We can discuss offline and if I'm wrong I'll come back and edit appropriately.)
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Alexander Knight

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #8 on: 10 August 2016, 17:48:12 »
Ah.  I see.  Correction retracted.

Mishkin

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #9 on: 19 August 2016, 11:26:45 »
Adrian,

My apologies for the late reply.  It took me awhile to process these rules, but I think they make sense to me now!  Again, many thanks.

Best,
Matt

Adrian Gideon

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #10 on: 20 August 2016, 02:42:18 »
No problem, let us know if you have any other questions.
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Mishkin

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Re: ISaW Campaign: Need advice
« Reply #11 on: 20 August 2016, 18:34:38 »
Will do, Adrian!  Since it's a completely different ISaW subject so I decided to start a new topic. 

 

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