Author Topic: Inner Sphere at War beginner advice?  (Read 3983 times)

Gallowglacht

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 50
Inner Sphere at War beginner advice?
« on: 30 October 2017, 06:09:10 »
I love the idea of Inner Sphere at War. I've wanted to do something like it for ages.
Put up a speculative question on facebook last night, and already have 3 friends who want in already.

So, I guess this is happening.
Eeeep. Can anyone give me some tips/advice/encouragement?

ScrapYardArmory

  • Master Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 316
    • ScrapYardArmory
Re: Inner Sphere at War beginner advice?
« Reply #1 on: 31 October 2017, 11:31:05 »
Start small.

Don't let your first game be a complete Inner Sphere conquest.  You are going to have to build a system for order, tracking, and battle resolution along the way and you will most likely learn a lot while you are at it.

So do something small.  Something on the order of the Ronin Wars or just make up some regional conflict to keep the numbers down.

After you cut your teeth, share with the rest of us, and then take the plunge into deeper waters.

Best of luck!  Keep us in the loop!

The Purist

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 448
Re: Inner Sphere at War beginner advice?
« Reply #2 on: 31 October 2017, 11:36:37 »
3039 or the Anton Marik Revolt of 3014.

Take your time in setting things up. We spent over a year testing, converting, discussing and researching before taking the plunge and turning our own old campaign system into ACS/ISaW (note that we were doing late 3rd SW from 3010 forward and a verrrrryyyyy leisurely pace).

And ask lots of questions. There are a lot of people here who answered my questions.

If you do not have 1st and 2nd SW I would suggest getting them Both have good additional rules that spice up the game (especially the Intel/Spec Ops rules from 2nd SW)
Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thought upon the unthinking - John Maynard Keynes.

"...Remember also the two "prime directives" in playing BattleTech:
1. HAVE FUN
2. DON'T LET YOURSELF GET SO CAUGHT UP IN THE RULES THAT YOU STOP HAVING FUN"
Page 168 - Reunification War

Gallowglacht

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 50
Re: Inner Sphere at War beginner advice?
« Reply #3 on: 31 October 2017, 18:10:04 »
Right, so things I need to record/keep track of;

Planets-
Name, what Hex they are in, who owns it, its industry level, if it's a regional/national capital, fortress levels, turns until pacified.

Anything else?

Combat Commands-
Wow, a heap of stuff. Name, location, composition, jumpships attached, damage, XP level, XP points, fatigue, loyalty.

They are the 2 big things I need to keep track of right, Planets and Combat Commands?

ScrapYardArmory

  • Master Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 316
    • ScrapYardArmory
Re: Inner Sphere at War beginner advice?
« Reply #4 on: 14 November 2017, 09:09:17 »
That's a good start.  Also Orders via some order tracking sheet.

Some of the previously mentioned resources have generic Combat Units which makes combat commands much easier to generate.

Gallowglacht

  • Corporal
  • *
  • Posts: 50
Re: Inner Sphere at War beginner advice?
« Reply #5 on: 01 January 2018, 10:41:32 »
Right, so New Year is here, time to start prepping for this (I didn't want to start a game in the run up to Christmas. Everyone was busy and I'm sure the game would have died quickly due to distraction and missed turns).

First up, my map. (still a work in progress) While the proper one on the Catalyst site is prettier, this one is editable by changing single characters in a text file.



Next up, looking at the battle resolution, the Abstract Combat System is still too detailed for what I'm looking for.
So I've decided to just add another layer to the pile. I'm going to combine combat commands into units made up of up to @8 Battalions. Normal Combat Commands will be split Medieval Warfare style Vanguard, Battle-line and Rearguard units, the smaller mercenary commands can be a single unit, and so can planetary garrisons. I'll average the speed and TMM, add up the armour and damage values and divide by 3, similar to the other conversion steps.
This way a Capellan Combat Command becomes 3 units, rather than 19. Which seems much more manageable. I'll be running all the combats as a GM, rather than playing them out with the players so the added detail isn't really needed.
« Last Edit: 01 January 2018, 10:43:52 by Gallowglacht »

 

Register