Foreword: This is a completely unique game type and idea formulated by me and is also most certainly not influenced by games of the same genre here, nor is it heavily influenced by Planetside 2, and for sure nothing is blatantly ripped from said game. All of that is also a
flagrant lie.
You belong to one of three companies contracted by the Unified Planetary Alliance (UPA) tasked with creating new armament for the systems-spanning empire of mankind! Facing an infinite number of threats from within and without, UPA has decided that weapons companies would be best off developing weapons at a rapid pace if they could be field tested immediately, but doing so could result in unacceptable losses on the battlefield.
Their solution to this was to dedicate an entire star system to simulating warfare across a wide variety of terraformed environments! Planets, moon, large asteroids, nearly every celestial body of sufficient size in the Auraxis System was repurposed to provide "killing fields" for humanity's top three arms development companies.
The companies,
Terrestrial Reserve,
Victory Services, and
Nextgen Consortium are tasked with arming forces contesting a unique environmental region until one side shows sufficient dominance in the area. The fighting will then be moved to a completely new, totally unknown environment (for the companies and troops participating, anyways) that will be mapped out once they have feet on the ground. This is meant to test their adaptability and willingness to conform to a constantly evolving battlefield, and meant to simulate the wide array of possible encounters in the galaxy. "But what of the lives needlessly lost?" asks that guy in the back. Thanks to advancements in Nanite Revivication Technology, those killed on the battlefields within Auraxis will be "respawned" at a nearby location controlled by the company they're fighting for!
----------------
The Arms Race will consist of
Five(5) Preliminary Turns where you will be able to customize your side before engaging your opponents. These will not work as your standard turns, but will have certain modifications to them. If you were involved at the start of my other Arms Race then you'll be familiar with this. Also, there's no plans to introduce
totally game-breaking time/dimensional shenanigans this time around. No, I'm never going to let that go,
person.
Anyways, each standard turn will include a Design, Revision, Strategy, and Combat Phase. Each turn represents a month of combat on whatever forsaken rock your soldiers have been thrown at.
The three Companies are currently Undefined. It is up to you, the players, to figure out exactly what the company you're working for is like! DO THIS IN-THREAD. I'll allow team-switching only if you decide you don't like the direction your team is taking before decisions are finalized - message me about what you want in a team and I'll see if one of the other two is a better fit. OpSec and all that. Some basics you need to decide are as follows, and remember that these will define the company's focus as well as some of their starting equipment and will not lock them out from developing into other fields in the future.
Preferred Weapon Type: This one is a simple binary Ballistic/Energy decision.
Primary Infantry Arms Focus: This is more open-ended. Is the company known for heavy, slow-firing weaponry? Does the company prefer rapid-fire, close-range weaponry? Or are their weapons focused on precise strikes at range? You are not limited to these three focuses (...focii?) - if you come up with something you want to try just post in thread or ask in the discord and I'll let you know if it's acceptable.
Primary Vehicle Focus: Another open-ended decision that will affect both air and land vehicles. Does your company produce armored vehicles that can take quite a beating? Or lighter ones to dish it out? Do you utilize experimental technologies or perhaps the company preserves more conservative, tried-and-true vehicle designs?
You are also allowed to further define your company's attitude/outlook as well as that of their troops, however that will only affect their portrayal and will not have a mechanical effect.
Each company has a combined arms force fighting for them made up of a selection of soldiers, with the soldiers themselves separated into "Classes" with their own independent load-outs except for the Uncertified and, save for Uncertified once again a piece of equipment that makes them unique. Forces will consist of a mixture of classes based on a number of factors, but They are as follows:
Uncertified: Your basic footsoldier. They make up the bulk of your army and will take up weaponry based on it's Availability regardless of Class Restrictions at the cost of effectiveness.
Infiltrator: Your snipers, assassins, and saboteurs. They utilize a basic Nanite Cloaking System that temporarily makes them invisible to the naked eye.
Light Assault: Close-range skirmishers and flankers. They have a jet pack that provides an increase in vertical mobility.
Heavy Assault: Front-line heavy weapons specialists. They take advantage of a Nanite Overshield that provides additional protection against incoming fire.
Combat Medic: A soldier focused on supporting others. Utilizes a Medical Applicator that is capable of healing a range of nonlethal injuries.
Engineer: Troops focused on constructing and maintaining defenses and vehicles. They have a Repair Tool that can patch damage to said defenses and vehicles.
Once you define your company each class will receive a loadout befitting their employers. You may freely adjust Class Loadouts during the Strategy Phase, though keep in mind the volume of Certified Classes will be dependent largely on the Availability of their equipment.
Each company's army will also have an Outfit fighting for them as a specialized force. Outfits are outlined below.
Before you begin fighting in earnest you will need to also define an Outfit unique to your army. An outfit is a band of brothers, or perhaps a company of heroes, that stands out from your main force for some reason. When defining them you'll need to include the following:
-Name of the Outfit
-What type of equipment they specialize in - some examples include Infantry Anti-Vehicle weapons, cloaking equipment, or explosives
-Their preferred methods of engagement and combat tactics - for example are they a small infiltration force, or a large group of brutes? Do they drop on enemies from above or prefer a slow, sweeping advance on foot?
-Anything fluffy you want to include
Outfits will be balanced against one another at creation to keep one side from from getting a superior...superior force. Once Combat Phases begin you'll be tasked with ordering their deployment. Outfits can also be granted specific tasks (sabotage base defenses, provide a breakthrough, defend a chokepoint, steal helmets, etc.) in order to attempt to further tilt combat in unexpected directions.
Each Class is to have a defined loadout based on your available equipment by the start of combat, and they can be altered at every Strategy Phase. Loadouts include, but do not necessarily need to fill, the following slots.
Primary Weapon: The weapon the class will be utilizing most often. This will tend to define what ranges they'll prefer attempting engagements in.
Secondary Weapon: A second weapon for the class to utilize. While it is heavily suggested that this be a sidearm, assigning another larger weapon to this slot is possible, though there are drawbacks related to hauling a pair of big ol' guns and their related equipment.
Class-Defining Equipment: The only necessary part of a loadout. These are the pieces of equipment that make each class special.
Auxiliary Slots (3x): Three slots for extra equipment such as, but not limited to, grenades, launchers, armor, augmentational equipment, and deployables.
Some equipment will take up multiple slots or have multiples per slot, and will be labeled as such in it's description.
The first phase of every turn is the "Design" phase. This is where you introduce new ideas and creations. Results of a design are based off of 2d6, with rolls of 6, 7, and 8 being equivalent (I like the way it worked in IWAR, fukk off m8). Design results are also modified by difficulty. Generally the results of a Normal Design scale as below:
Utter Failure (2): Nothing is gained but the knowledge of how not to do it next time.
Buggy Mess (3): The design functions, just not too well at all. At least some experience is gained.
Poor (4): The design can be used without being a threat to anyone handling it. Still, it is far from reliable.
Below Average (5): It works, but there is clear room for improvement.
Average (6,7,8): The design functions as intended.
Above Average (9): The design works, and something about it works out better than expected.
Superior (10): It works much better than intended, and a lot is learned in related fields of research.
Masterwork (11): This is the perfect design.
Unexpected Boon (12): Development of this design goes so well that some sort of extra benefit is provided to the side building it.
The difficulty of the design modifies the roll for +4 (Simple), +3 (Trivial), +2 (Very Easy), +1 (Easy), 0 (Normal), -1 (Hard), -2 (Very Hard), -3 (Theoretical), -4 (Ludicrous), or -x (Impossible). Difficulty is based off of the ambition of the design as well as how experienced you are with similar concepts. Impossible designs will always fail, but they may still result in some sort of progress on a higher roll.
Each player is allowed to vote for up to two proposed designs per phase, with the design with the largest number of votes being rolled for. On account of an unbreakable deadlock a coin will be flipped or proper-sided die rolled depending on the number of ties in order to randomly select an option. This will only happen as a last resort, and it is preferred that players attempt to persuade one another instead.
The second phase is the "Revision" phase. Revisions use the same 2d6 and rules as designs, but are restricted to altering preexisting designs and at a slightly higher difficulty than the same proposal as a Design. Results on either end of the spectrum of rolls are also generally less extreme. As with Designs, each player is allotted up to two votes for favored Revisions, with the most popular Revision being rolled for. The same rule for ties also applies.
Designs and Revisions will be hidden from the opposing side for the first five turns of the game during the pre-combat turns.
The Strategy Phase comes after the Design and Revision Phases. In this phase each player can vote for which Hex they wish to try to pry from their enemies. The Strategy Phase will also be when any other miscellaneous votes are finalized.
Nanites! Glorious Nanites! There the only resource that matters in the Auraxis System, and there's no need to tack a number onto your supply of it! Instead, each piece of equipment will simply be tagged with a cost based on it's complexity as well as what it winds up rolling! The Costs are below:
Cheap: The design can be used wherever desired.
Expensive:An Expensive design is going to see moderate use on the battlefield, but might not be exactly where it's needed at any given moment.
Very Expensive: A Very Expensive design is very rare and sees limited use in the field
National Effort: You can only produce and field a single example of a National Effort Design (though multiple NEs can be fielded at a time).
Theoretical: You've somehow made something that's too difficult to produce even with space magic Nanites.
The Combat Phase is where the magic happens! All you need to do is wait to see how things turn out. Note that each side will be receiving reports in their respective threads - this thread's purpose is for information, event submissions, and trash talking between the teams.
Each team will receive a map only after the first turn in which their troops are deployed. This means your prep turns are also completely blind. This way you focus more on filling out your armories as you want to and not try to min-max everything you damn nerds. The maps will be Hex-based, with some of them providing various benefits to the controllers. Yes, sometimes starts will be unbalanced - you're supposed to be testing your ability to adapt and overcome, after all. I'll try to keep it averaged out so don't whine if you don't hold Obelisk Gun 3000 in the first turn. Especially since I'm not going to put an Obelisk Gun 3000 on the map.
When a Hex is attacked it will either be held or flip control - there is no partial occupation.
Credits are awarded upon completion of certain events. You will be told when a Credit is available for taking. Credits include, but are not limited to:
Expense Credit: Can be used to reduce a design's cost by one level for a single turn.
Espionage Credit: Allows a number of things such as theft or sabotage of a design or various other acts of subterfuge.
Research Credit: Allows an extra 2d6 roll on a design or revision, with the highest one used for the result.
Design/Revision Credit: Grants an extra Design/Revision.
I've read this over 50 times by now so I'm just saying "fuck it, postin' time" but feel free to ask me for clarification regarding anything!
Author
Topic: WarBiz - An Arms Race // Core Thread // Y1M5 Combat Report (Read 3999 times)