Author Topic: Proposal for 2018 World Wide Event  (Read 2248 times)

Precentor Scorpio

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Proposal for 2018 World Wide Event
« on: 12 December 2017, 08:39:18 »
Operation:      LOVE AND REGARDS
TIME FRAME:   January 25th 3072 – February 14, 3072 so maybe the battle takes place on February 2 3072?
Objective       Coalition Liberation of Donegal // WOB Retention of Donegal

Per Blake Documents pg 24 Operation Steel Hammer the following entities were involved with the liberation of Donegal

WOB:                     COALITION
18th Division                  Wolves in Exile
31st Division                  LAAF
50th Division                  Com Guards
(Maybe a Level III of reinforcements for the 31st Division were rerouted to Donegal??)

Proposed additional forces that will not change the history:

WOB - ROM                  LIC - Loki
WOB - Mercenaries               Coalition – Mercenaries
                     Planetary Militia

Premise:
Choosing Donegal allows for a wide range of actors in the battletech universe. (MD, WOB, mercenaries, planetary militia, Clan, ComGuards, LAAF regulars, special forces for a roleplaying or infantry small unit action, etc.)

Proposal – The Catalyst Games Demonstration Teams will host a worldwide event during GENCON where there will be a command table at for the Word of Blake and a Command table for the Coalition.  The command tables will allocate resources (artillery, air support, and reinforcements) to the actual battles.  (I understand that maybe the game cannot be run at GenCon for legal/marketing reasons but for this situation it can be run.)

While the command tables are being run at GenCon, the Demonstration teams from around the world will run battletech events related to Donegal.   (There maybe battles going on at GenCon related to this event as well.  Maybe a “WIE” headhunter strike on a WOB airfield thereby denying the WOB fighter support in the fights that are occurring in California later in the day.)

The local Demonstration teams will create a scenario based mission(s) for both sides.  For example, a game in Denmark might have the Word of Blake attempt to destroy a bridge while the Coalition attempts to get 50% of their forces across the river.  (Yes, it is possible for both teams to win or both teams to lose based on their missions.)  A game in Atlanta might have a WOB mercenary unit attempt to eradicate the remains of a planetary militia unit and the Coalition sends two Level II’s of Com Guards to save the militia.  (The local Demonstration team will create and run the scenario.  The players playing the scenario must contact the command tables to see what if any support is available and provide updates throughout the battle.)

So, during these local battletech games the players will send information to the command tables informing them of the game status.  The Command teams will reply with stuff like, I have a flight of Stukas available for a dive bombing mission.  But it will take forty seconds for the planes to arrive.  (So, in four turns of battletech.  If the request was made on turn 2, then on turn 6 the planes arrive.)
If any of the planes are shot down or suffer significant damage, the planes will not be available for future missions later in the day.  Damage to the aerospace assets that cannot be repaired will impact future missions.

.
Artillery support could be something like this:
“London Command (store in London), “Precentor Regan (Commander 18th Division WOB) has allocated 18 Arrow IV artillery rounds to your battle.  The first six rounds will arrive in twenty seconds and are high explosive and will arrive in their pre-plotted hexes.”  (Command will need to roll to determine if the artillery hits or scatters.)   “The remaining twelve rounds are tagged and will arrive in flights of six rounds in thirty seconds and forty seconds.  Please confirm receipt of this message.”

Other options for support include having the command table send reinforcements to the battle.  Maybe the coalition command "knows" of a Lyran unit of two Fulcrums in the area and so command has given instructions for the Fulcrums to join the battle being held in Atlanta and the Fulcrums enter the battle on turn 4.

So, before the game begins:
Step 1:  The Demonstration teams must contact Catalyst games about their intention to put on a game in their area and provide information about the scenario/mission.  (Both the WOB and Coalition forces should have at least one mission.)  Step 1 should be submitted probably two months before the event and at the minimum should include mission objectives and the military forces involved.  The final forces involved do not need to be determined at this point, but the mission objective and scenario should be almost finalized at this point.

Step 2:  You will need to begin organizing the battles, each battle that is submitted in step one is given a code name so every location can be identified quickly and efficiently.  Remember, points are awarded based on the mission/objectives achieved as well as the information provided to command.  (You might win the battle, but this is a planetary assault and given time, assets can be reallocated to wipe out your unit in a future battle so your team might lose strategically)

Step 3:  Both Command teams will need to communicate between themselves and agree to the resources available to both sides.  (Maybe an agreement to limit artillery to:  30 tagged artillery rounds, 45 HE, 21 FASCOM, 12 Smoke, 12 Flechette, 24 Cluster, and 6 ARROW Inferno rounds and 12 identical aerospace fighters with the same number of bombs, etc.  Steps 2 and 3 should be accomplished within a month of Step 1.  (I would think the Chicago battletech group would be best choice as being in charge of the command teams.  You can still have "players" attending GenCon play as the command teams but the Chicago battletech group would need to do the leg work in organizing the tables and assisting in being the game masters for the tables.)

Reinforcements should not be Timberwolves but rather light mechs or damaged mechs or vehicles, etc.

Try to think of the allocation of resources finite.  The allocation of these additional resources should not be an automatic game changer. 

Step 4:       Sorry, I am not a tech wizard, but you will probably need a generic email for each side so that communications maybe established between the command tables and the battlefields.  Those individuals that have the knowledge might create webpages, or even a Facebook page so the photos can be uploaded.  (A webpage or Facebook posts will allow individuals not playing in the event to watch and imagine the real-time battles.)
Personally, I am not against the command tables spying on the other team's Facebook pages, but only spying.  No sending of false messages or sabotaging the communications between teams during the game. 

Step 5:      Maybe some additional laptop monitors can be established at the command tables so that the photos and other pieces of information can be available for spectators to see and watch.

Step 6:      On the day of the event, command needs to establish contact with the various demo teams and because it is a worldwide event, the teams in Europe might conduct their battles at 1400 hours their time but it might be 0800 hours at GenCon. 

So, before their game begins, the teams should inform their command of what they are facing. If possible, the opposing unit should be identified.  For example: “Command, this is McCleod’s Highlanders 2nd Company at Utah beach.  We are being opposed by seven mechs and six Maxim hovercraft showing the insignia of the 18th division.  We are attempting to further identify the unit now.  Photos are being sent now.”

(I would assume that the Maxims are carrying battle armor or infantry to bring this WOB force up to three Level II strength.)

Command might see the opposing mechs, see the listed strength of the McCleod’s Highlanders and inform the Highlanders of the following:
 “Highlander Command, we are allocating two Stukas that should arrive in sixty seconds.  We need you to identify the enemy commanders.  No later than forty seconds from now we need you to inform us (command) of the enemy commander’s and the other Level II commanders’ identities.  We want the Stukas to dive bomb the enemy commander and the Word of Blake’s second in command.  If you do not contact within forty seconds, the Stukas will abort the mission.”
(During this same scenario, the Word of Blake might assign a Falcon battlemech that was performing recon in the area and have the Falcon arrive on the battlefield on turn 3.)

Then you let the game proceed.  During the game, both the Highlanders and the WOB might request additional support and their commands might respond with artillery support. But the local teams might not get what they want.  The local team might want some ARROW IV homing rounds but command might only have five cluster rounds available.   These cluster rounds will arrive in three turns.  Now, the local team commander will need to anticipate where he/she wants the rounds to land in three turns.  Technically, the desired location only needs to be given to the local game master.  But the rounds will need to be requested and confirmed with Command because there is only a finite number of resources available.

Determining who wins at the local level is easy.  All you need to know is who won the battle or were the objectives achieved? 

The command level victory conditions might depend on the military intelligence obtained between the battles and command.  What resources were used and in the case of aerospace fighters were any fighters lost or significantly damaged?  If you start the game with 45 tagged rounds and it is discovered that 48 tagged rounds were used, Command will get penalized for poor paperwork.

Finally, it doesn’t matter who won, I think this is a different and never tried before scenario (I could be wrong) and most people will enjoy the event.  Even if your team loses, the concept of additional support that have no control over might be appealing as a one and done event.

(I suppose the liberation of Terra would have more powers in play if the Clan players remember to keep Clan combat to the moon and Mars?)

Another advantage of invading Terra would be found on pages 94 and 95 of the “Jihad Hot Spots Terra” the Coalition forces are already allocated to the various Task Forces and Operations.  The local demonstration teams will simply create the cheap fiction and scenarios to agree with these deployments.

(Sometimes when I have an idea, I can't keep the idea to myself.  It might sound complicated, but each table/location is a really a separate event.  The command tables are simply adding some flair and the unknown to the local events.)




GreyWolfActual

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Re: Proposal for 2018 World Wide Event
« Reply #1 on: 13 December 2017, 18:02:34 »
I appreciate the suggestion but the 2018 WWE has already been picked and design is well underway. Additionally, tie-ins with Origins and GenCon are difficult to do owing to the event registration systems in place for both conventions. For the foreseeable future, it is unlikely that WWEs will tie-in to major conventions.
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Colt Ward

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Re: Proposal for 2018 World Wide Event
« Reply #2 on: 19 May 2018, 01:18:32 »
Who designs the events?  How long in advance is it planned out?
Colt Ward
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GreyWolfActual

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Re: Proposal for 2018 World Wide Event
« Reply #3 on: 19 May 2018, 08:34:10 »
<----------------

The CDT Global Events Developer. :thumbsup:

Planning usually begins the previous spring (April of the year before). In other words, 2019 development is already underway.
"My name is Saul Tigh. I'm an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be."
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