Planning to give it a go as a GM for an ongoing campaign. My experience with GM-ing for an RPG is very limited. I know it is going to be a work in progress when it comes to getting better. I've watched a number of videos on YouTube about the experience from a fantasy perspective. Hopefully I can do right by my players.
Since there is not much in the way of support for AToW, I wanted to share my campaign with the forum: both to help me get better and to help with people wanting ideas. This is, I hope, going to be a bit collaborative. I don't want to make this too difficult, but I also don't want to make it too easy even for a first campaign.*
My group of players have named themselves The Dead Atlas Troupe. The characters they are creating are based off of what they used for a few games of Alpha Strike. The best part is that one of my players managed to salvage his wrecked Atlas, but doesn't have the resources to repair it. Since the setting will be roughly 3024, I find this to be wonderful.
Here is the intro for my players. I am still working on details, which I will update with time. I am debating on going in depth or leaving it open enough that anyone could pick it up and choose whatever planet controlled by whatever main faction. There may be characters that deal with specific cultural behavior, but nothing that is restrictive. So without further ado:
X is a dry, desert planet that has weathered the Succession wars badly. Although once wealthier due to mineral deposits and Star League technology making for more fertile soil, currently only the northerly climes are inhabited. Small villages dot the landscape surrounding the main city of Y. The city itself rarely suffered blows in war, but rather has been hallowed out by depopulation. The main driver for this was the breakdown of infrastructure as Star League tech became increasingly difficult to maintain.
As the 3rd Succession war has ground on, X has been left to its own devices. While a weak, local government exists, the true ruler of the planet is a group of bandits that controls with force and terror. Operating from the mountains and named The Hatchets, they bully the villages for food, but save most of their resources for their limited off-world campaigns to seize wealth, military supplies, and be generally despicable human beings.
Despite their thuggery, The Hatchets are a relatively minor threat to neighboring planets. With resources being stretched thin as the Succession wars continue, no major power has been willing to put forth military effort to get rid of them. However, recent petitions through ComStar by the people of X have not been in vain. The regional authority has granted enough funds to hire a mercenary unit to find the bandits' hiding place among the mountains and eliminate them.
Mind you, not enough money to hire a good mercenary unit. Just enough to hire you.
* PS. This is the group of players that lost of a lance of 'mechs to a lance of Vedettes. I can't go too hard on them. ;)