September Mission now in place Hugh.
Eileen seems to have caught the leak in time, although we had a bit of a do last night when a secondary leak started which ended up with me having to turn the whole system off at the Mains. We now have cold water back on, but no hot until the new tank is installed tomorrow afternoon all being well.
Cold showers for everyone tonight.
Rob.
It will keep your showers brief i suppose...Originally Posted by Bligh
Again I think I've caught up and updated the completed Breifing/AAR thread.
With Eric out of action, do we know who is doing the November Scenario?
Rob.
Myself Rob.
It will be entitled: A Dark Day.
Then we are saved! Huzzah!
Bligh.
You might not be once you've read it!
Looking ahead:
1. Do we want to continue into 2017?
2. Do we want to continue the same format, ie bi-monthly games alternating between squadrons and single ship actions?
I would like to carry on in much the same vein, except that the single ship actions should be linked to the main fleet story line. This would allow people who have painted special ships to use them more if they could appear also in the Fleet actions from time to time.
Rob.
Hello fellows,
I liked the bi-monthly campaign this year very much. And all the creative scenarios.
But somewhere in early summer I "got lost in the fog" with it.
September I started to move new ships: Star Wars Armada. Very nice strategic gameplay...
There is my focus now and my game time is short. So I need to "sign off" here temporarily.
Thanks for the great time.
Have a good time!
Sorry to hear that Matthias.
I'm sure you would be more than welcome to drop in for the odd action even if you could not fit it all in.
Neil is very flexible about that.
Rob.
I kind of got lost after not knowing how to repair ships and all that.
I think that either we loose that stuff all together or we have an extremely simple way to deal with it. Perhaps in the lines of: You get to repair half the boxes of all your ships every two month. If you capture ships you get some other bonus and could take them into your fleet after repair as mentioned.
I'm thinking that perhaps next year I will only play the single ship campaign. Just one ship to worry about repairs of.
I just stopped bothering with repairs when I found out what a chore it was for Neil to do.
If the dockyard can't get your ship repaired in time, they just commission another one for you.
For Crew, I find the Press gang very useful.
Rob.
I started my final year at university at the end of August and have had almost no spare time what with work and kids and coursework. I will get my games done though. Family is out of town next weekend so I will catch up then.
Yep the repair thing didn't work and fell down when my work load on the Aerodrome tripled and real life got in the way.
I will leave it up to you the players to resolve this in whatever way you wish. Perhaps each player can do whatever they wish in keeping with their solo campaign as it will not impact on other solo campaign players.
I will run a simplified spreadsheet keeping a tally of who sank what and what was sunk.
Neil
Sounds like a plan Neil.
No one is criticizing, it is a horrendous workload for anyone. I could not get my head around it for even just my ships let alone everybody elses.
Rob.
Don't worry Rob. I'm only worried I let the side down a bit by dropping the admin ball. Never took any of the posts as criticism just fact.
I'll run the spreadsheet like 2014/2015.
The Single ship actions will be incorporated within the fleet games but can be left out or played as players see fit. So it's play them all, some or one or the other.
Neil
Sounds like a good call then. We get the best of all worlds and no one is under too much pressure to perform in all the games. With some personal stuff at the moment even I as a retired person am finding it hard to put in as much time as I would like.
Rob.
Ok. I suppose the next question is who is playing in 2017?
I should catch up soon. Honest.
I am.
Rob.
I am!
Good man.
Bligh.
I'll volunteer to write a scenario if you'll have me
I am sure that Neil will agree that all offers to write a scenario will be gladly accepted Hugh.
Thanks for offering.
Rob.
Well that makes 3.
I will play some form of scenarios with my old trusty heroes of old. In what form only time will tell...
Four said Slightly.
Rob.
OK, I'm going to rework the spreadsheet. This is how it will run.
1. Nation v Nation.
a. Reputation to the captain = the Hull factor of ship sunk.
b. Reputation & prize money to the captain = the hull factor of ship captured.
2. Letters of Marque.
a. Reputation to the captain = the Hull factor of ship sunk.
or
b. Prize money to the captain = the hull factor of ship captured. + c. 50% of hull factor as prize money.
Repairs:
NvN.
Immediate repair of Hull factor of ship damage. ie Hull factor = 5 hull damage = 6 repair 5 with 1 hull box left damaged.
Immediate replacement of crew = to hull factor plus captains reputation+1 if the enemy ship had at least 1 crew box left.
Any boxes unrepaired or unreplaced can be fixed using 1 prize money per damage/crew box any still left unrepaired or unreplaced then they stay empty until end of next senario.
LoM
Immediate repair of Hull factor of ship damage. ie Hull factor = 5 hull damage = 6 repair 5 with 1 hull box left damaged.
Immediate replacement of crew = to hull factor plus captains reputation+1 if the enemy ship had at least half crew boxs left.
Any boxes unrepaired or unreplaced can be fixed using 1 prize money per damage/crew box any still left unrepaired or unreplaced then they stay empty until end of next senario.
That looks a lot easier to follow Neil.
Thank you.
Rob.
I don't understand how those repair rules work.
What is hull factor?
Is that per scenario?
Hull factor = the hull damage number on the ship card. ie 5,4,3,2 etc.
At end of each scenario amend ship damage as per above.
Any boxes unrepaired or unreplaced can be fixed using 1 prize money per damage/crew box any still left unrepaired or unreplaced then they stay empty until end of next senario.
So a completely damaged first rate could be repaired in four months but a sloop would take more than a year?
To tell you the truth I'm swamped. It's been a bugger trying to keep this going. At the start you, the players, wanted reapirs etc to add some kind of 'campaign' feel to the course of games rather than they being just one off's.
I tried, I failed, I'm human. Whilst you all have enjoyed playing the scenarios I haven't played anything since June!
Yep I'm having a rant.
Anyone want to buy 30+ sails of glory ships plus loads of add ons?
email me if interested.
I didn't mean for you to take it personally.
I'm used to us gamers being experts at seeing loopholes in rules. In Sweden we had governmental financial aid for hobby associations being out for consultation and the gamer associations found all these loopholes that the politicians still did not correct. Well now I'm ranting too.
I've been bad at playing scenarios too and am about as far behind. Life happens and if you see it as a duty to play instead of something fun it will not be any fun. I know that it's the will to help the community behind your hard work. Perhaps it's time to think of yourself a little. We will manage.
I hope you will keep your ships and perhaps put them on the top shelf for a little while until one day a though will occur:
"Wouldn't it be fun to play a game of Sails of Glory?"
I was very sad to come in on this and find a misunderstanding had occurred.
I'm sure that when everyone has a chance to take a breather all will be much better.
End of a busy year and all that.
I am also sure that Neil was only blowing off steam and will not take the ships all to the next car boot sale.
I think that the hull damage works O.K. Queen Charlotte for instance has a six. Hermione has a three, whilst the Sloops have a one. Could we not take that as the base factor for repairs. A sloop could repair all its boxes in one month. a frigate would take three, and a First rate 6 months. if half its boxes were damaged three months etc. One prize money could buy the months back, as suggested by Neil.
Rob.
Perhaps, just perhaps I thought someone might have come up with a better solution. Try taking a bit of ownership and engagement other than providing criticism. I enjoy constructive criticism, ie come up with an alternative or an alteration. (negative criticism was never my forte).
I'll post, I'll play....run the campaign next year? I think I'll pass. Since taking over from the end of 2014 it's been a rollercoaster, I like roller coasters but this one has fallen off the tracks, much of it my own doing.
UJ.
Sorry to hear that Neil, but we all need a change and a break from time to time.
I guess I will carry on with what anybody cares to put on offer and otherwise just make up and post my own AARs from time to time. Anyone is welcome to copy mine but don't expect one every month. and remember in my Briefs I have open ended scripts where captains need to make their own decisions on how to tackle a problem.
Rob.
I posted a suggestion that was ignored so I didn't know if more suggestions were welcome. My suggestion is near the top of the page.
Last edited by TexaS; 11-06-2016 at 09:35.
Can you put the number of the post to which you refer Jonas, and I will have a look at your suggestion.
Rob.
It was in #263.
I have to say that I'm not used to this climate of debate.
When I'm active on an internet forum where a co-operative project is worked on an someone puts out a rule it's always taken as a suggestion that is supposed to be considered for strengths and flaws. If someone detects a flaw it is mentioned so any weird effects can be avoided for the good of the community.
I have thought that the Anchorage worked this way too.
This campaign is a co-operative effort where several people write the scenarios and it is created together.
I don't see the big problem with pointing out a weird effect of a suggestion of a rule so that effect can be avoided. I didn't make suggestions for how to change it since my suggestion didn't use that kind of detailing.
That is the one that I agreed with Jonas. 264. It may have been my remark which sparked this off rather than your own. I was not attacking Neil for his suggestions just voicing my view that it was too hard for me to follow, and I would like yourself like something more simple for my simple mind to get to grips with.
I don't think Neil minds a debate, just that he tried to simplify it, and was rather too busy to take it on board any further.
I can well understand, having done his work on the Drome, which can be up to two hours some days, that doing that and running a Campaign, and trying to get your AARs done for both sites becomes a chore.
I am retired as you may know, but even I had to give up doing my Malta Campaign, and pass the 100 years ago today thread over to Neil, because I could not manage that and also the Admin on both sites when Eric had to take leave six months ago. We manage, but please bear with us if sometimes we let off steam. It is quite hard to always combine real life with doing our part in the life of the site.
So please bear with us. I'm sure we can sort something out for next year if the shipmates think it is worth carrying on with a Campaign.
I hope nobody takes this in the wrong way.It is well meant.
Rob.
I was more surprised than upset.
I do understand that it can be a tiring job and take more time than you can give it sometimes to manage this kind of campaigns.
My suggestion for a simpler system was to make the upkeep myself and that way take a little bit of the workload off of Neil.
There could of course be a very complex version where you choose what kind of harbour your home port is and if it has a dry dock and what kind of defenses. All this adds up to a repair factor that might be a hundred repair points that can be spent to repair hull boxes and each hull box costs the ships burden to repair. If the ship has lost two thirds of all boxes it needs to use a dry dock to be repaired at all and the ship that uses the dry dock can be fully repaired until the next scenario, otherwise you can only repair up to half the hull boxes. Crew can be recruited and pressed at a rate of recruitment points that fill the boxes in the same way as repairs, one box per burden points spent, but recruitment points will not fully refill between scenarios but only refills at half the total amount of the maximum value. There will also be an option to take from the fortifications of the harbour. If those are used, for the first scenario that ship will have the crew card "untrained sailors".
There could of course be interesting scenarios made from this. To repair your ships you need to protect two transports which carry their burden repair points per box cargo. You get half the burden per non damaged box from captured enemy ships if you use them to repair ships of the same burden or you get one third if the burden is one larger or smaller.
The design of the home port could be decided by selecting features from a table of things you can "buy" for your port, like small/medium/large/impregnable defenses, extra forts, small/medium/large/huge population to recruit from, dry dock, possibility to refill supplies over land, naval hospital, quarantine island/hulk and so on.
All this is just thought up as I type and way too complicated for my taste. It could possibly be a game of itself and perhaps may be a fun challenge too, but for this campaign I would think it detracts from the actual sailing. It's me vs my own enemies and not a play by mail vs other players. It doesn't need super complicated rules but something to make the battles go together is nice. At least if it makes for a good story...
Where on earth has all of this tension come from? Are we really falling out over admin for a game of toy sailing ships?
I hope not Hugh.
The initial idea, was for a simple game as Jonas has just suggested.
Like we do in Wings of war the rules are just guidelines to use or bypass as you like. As in the real game of Sails rules, you can play simple rules or advanced as you wish, put in or leave out whatever you feel uncomfortable with. The Scenarios are there to give a basis for play, and can be manipulated as you wish to enable you to use the resources you have, or fit in with your own general ideas.
For example I have altered things to fit the Indian Ocean, and dropped the repair points system as it takes too much of my time. I just look at the overall picture and decide if I can justify using certain ships in the next scenario. If not they miss one. Simple as that.
The main thing to remember is that you only have yourself to please, and if you are enjoying the game, which is the main reason for playing it.
We do not need to dissect every aspect of the actions to get some enjoyment unless that is what we want to do.
Rob.
"Ok guys, enough is enough," Mr. Bos'n said in his best teacher's voice.
"Thanks Union Jack for listening to comments made and offering a suggestion to simplify the repair complexities of the solo campaign. Good job!"
"Texas, thanks for pointing out that the game works better with simplicity. Kudos too for working the math and pointing out that tying repair to burden just doesn't work as well as it sounds."
I will always cherish the story created out of the first scenario played by the Barbary pirate, Murad Reis, this year. He lost, I reported as much, and that report started an open conversation between Neil and me that fleshed out my character and made him my favorite part of this campaign. I even prefer the Letters of Marque scenarios over those of my beloved American squadron fighting the French and protecting American trade in the Caribbean Sea.
Bligh, your stories about, Pound, Farthing, and the rest of your group are a hoot. Don't let us lose them.
This is more than a silly little game using silly little ships; it is a group of friends from all over Europe and here in the New World coming together over the internet to share fictitious stories about their silly little boats.
Bob
Rules are rough approximations of what you think I might do!
Here here!
I thought things had settled down now.
We will get some games written for next year's campaign, and we will try to work out a simple book keeping system for those who want to follow one, but it will probably be a DiY one.
Rob.
I am glad. I was surprized by the raw emotions I was hearing in those comments by people I really respect. I am sorry if my comments were not timely. I haven't been on the Captain's Cabin for a while.
Bob
Rules are rough approximations of what you think I might do!
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