Solo Campaign Development Discussions - July to Sept. 2014

[7eat51]

Ahoy Mateys,

If you are interested in participating in a three month solo campaign starting 1 July and running through 30 September, welcome aboard.

For our first campaign, we'll have a monthly scenario, each developed by a different volunteer. Each month, all of us who participate will play the scenario, and post an AAR. This campaign will provide us the opportunity to play test a basic solo rule set, and to enjoy playing together, despite our geographical locations. We will use Wave 1 Ships, and the actions would encompass no more than 3-4 ships per side.

Each participant will create a roster of captains. As captains gain experience, they will receive additional abilities. After this campaign, hopefully, we'll have another set of rules developed that includes additional rules, for example sail or ammo selection. Surviving captains will be able to move onto the new campaign. As captains are injured, they might not be eligible for a scenario or two. Initially, create a roster with 8-10 captains.

If you are interested in playing, please state so in this thread. If you are interested in creating one of the scenarios, please indicate which month, based on first to post. Scenarios need to be uploaded one week before the first of the associated month. Scenario requirements will be provided.

[7eat51]

Italicized portions will be deleted.

Rosters
Each player will create a roster of eight captains. During a game, players can choose, from their roster, those captains that are available. As captains gain experience through victories, they will gain skills. As they are injured, they might have to sit out one or more scenarios. Assign ranks to your captains as appropriate to the nation for which you sail.

We'll play two three-month mini campaigns this year to play test rule sets. In January, we'll kick off a year+ campaign that will be thematic and chronological. However, for those few who brave the waters during these two mini campaigns, whatever victories they, and their AI captains, have achieved will follow onto next year's campaign. In that sense, these mini campaigns can be thought of as backstory, albeit loosely. I will set up a spreadsheet to track successes, deaths, and injuries of our captains.

For the 2015 campaign, we'll probably focus on British vs. French given the ships that are available since that campaign will be thematic. For the scenarios between now and the end of the year, we can do anything we want, substituting ships for ships of other nations. Any scenario writer who wants to do so simply tells us what we need and gives us the stats - for example "2 Dutch SoLs with the following ship logs". Any captains from this year's scenarios can be carried over to next year's campaign, and if the captains are not British or French, then they can be assumed to sail under those colors next year, or have their names “legally” changed. I will create rosters for the AI captains, and they, too, will gain experience.

Captain-Crew Mixes
Captains are able to move from ship to ship.
Crews are assigned to a specific ship.

With our game, it could make sense to have some limits based on rank, for example a Lt. not commanding a 1st rate. I don't know how restrictive we should be given that this is for fun, and is not a tournament or competition.

I think the above scheme would be the easiest regarding record keeping, and it would allow some choices as to how players set up their side for a given scenario. It might to might not be historically accurate, but it probably will work for fun gameplay.

Skills
Captains accrue skill points according to the following schema. For every 10 skill points accrued, a captain gains a new skill.

• 1 point for every ship defeated (sunk/captured) that is of a broadly defined smaller class, for example a 74-gun SoL defeating a frigate, or a frigate defeating a sloop. The scenario author will define such classes.
• 2 points for every ship defeated of the same broadly defined class.
• 3 points for every ship defeated of a broadly defined larger class.
• 1 point for achieving a scenario specific goal - does not require the taking of a ship but the achievement of a strategic goal as defined by the scenario writer.

For the first solo campaign, choose two captains and assign each one a skill of your choice.

If a crew survives two scenarios with 50% or more of the crew intact, the crew earns a skill. It will maintain the earned skills until it receives more than 50% casualties. To earn a skill, the crew must have engaged in battle, i.e. the crew must have fired its guns at an enemy ship, and received fire from an enemy ship.

Skill List

• Good Aim-When firing a broadside, and opponet draws one or more "0s", you may use this ability to make them draw an additional counter (may be used twice)
• Well-trained gunners- Single broadside may be reloaded after it has fired (may be used once)
• Elite Marines- When shooting muskets, if a "0" damage counter is drawn, you may force the opponent to draw an additional counter (may be used once)
• Hold Fast- Ship has one free crew damage box left to take a crew hit in, the ship may take an additional three crew hits before surrendering
• Skilled Quartermaster- May increase Veer by 1 for duration o the turn (may be used twice)

Folks, let's create a list of potential skills that folks can earn as they accrue victory points. I read through the captain/crew cards, but I think a more expansive list of captain/crew skills is desirable.

Awards
If you know of awards/medals captains of your respective navy earned during the time period covered, please list them here along with their requirements. These will not affect gameplay, but will give us something to toast upon recognition.

After Action Report (AAR)
After each player plays the given month's scenario, the player will write up an AAR and post it in the campaign thread. Again, I will set this up. You can write in any style you want. I will provide some guidelines as to the information I will need at the end of the AAR to do the record keeping.

Basic Rule Maneuver Principles:
Solo Maneuver Chart: http://sailsofglory.org/downloads.php?do=file&id=84
1. Choose the quadrant in which the majority of the appropriate ship is. If the ship is equally in two sectors, choose the quadrant containing the front of the ship.
2. If the wind direction falls exactly on a quadrant dividing line, randomly determine which quadrant via a die roll.
3. If a ship is taken aback, use the red card corresponding to the maneuver card generated by the AI chart.
4. When determining the +1 or +2 die roll modifier due to range to enemy ship, measure from the most advantageous firing arc red dot on the AI ship to the base of the player ship.
5. Sails are set to Battle Sails.
6. If a die roll would cause a ship to violate veer, choose sharpest turn within veer limits.

Basic Rule Combat Principles:
1. Only use Ball ammo.
2. When choosing between short and long distance shots for the AI ship, always choose short unless raking - B-damage is more deadly than A-damage - better to have less chits with greater chance of inflicting damage per chit.


Disengagement
When a ship is within the last three boxes of hull damage or crew hits, role a 6-sided die for disengagement: 1-4 = remain in battle; 5-6 = disengage. Roll each time a ship takes additional damage. Disengaging ships will attempt to exit their side as directly as possible, and will avoid combat, only taking shots of opportunity. The nature of disengaging can be altered based on scenario specific rules.

Modifiers to Disengagement Die Rolls

• +1 if both hull damage and crew hits are within the last three boxes
• +1 for each enemy ship that is not disengaging
• -1 for each friendly ship that is not disengaging
• Additional modifiers as per relevant captain/crew skills

[7eat51]

Important Links

Solo Maneuver Charts

Player Rosters

[7eat51]

res6

[7eat51]

res10

[Ducky]

Count me in for the campaign! Dont know If I have enough experience now to make a scenario but I have a scenario with Dutch vs English fleet in mind

[7eat51]

Count me in for the campaign! Dont know If I have enough experience now to make a scenario but I have a scenario with Dutch vs English fleet in mind

I think as long as the ships use the same stats, so no one has to do much work in preparation, I am fine with ships substituting for other navies, especially given the limited range of ships we currently have. Additionally, scenarios need not be based on actual historical events. They can be completely fictitious, or representative of a given, or typical, historical events, such as the generalized attack of merchant ships with escorts.

One thing to consider, though, is that you will play for the same country throughout a given campaign, hence the roster. Similarly, the opposing side will have a roster to enable advancement of some of its captains. We do this in the WoG campaigns, adding an ace skill every five kills a given pilot scores.

Looking forward to playing with Thijs.

[Ducky]

Using both french and english ships among with their stats for my Dutch navy at the moment.
From what I know the Dutch navy seems to have similar tactics as the French navy.

The Dutch ships even had French flags on them during the time it was under the control of the french republic.
But when in port the french flag was substituted for the Dutch one.

Do you want to use the captain and crew ability deck for the careers of the captains and their crew in a campaign?

Looking forward to sail with you too shipmate!

Cheers,

Thijs

[Nightmoss]

I'd certainly be interested in taking part of this too. Let me know what I should be reading/reviewing and I'll start my preparations right away.

[Ducky]

Glad to play with you Jim, your ships look nice in every AAR!

[fredmiracle]

I'm interested in playing and scenario writing

[luckysolo7]

Count me in. Sounds interesting.

[7eat51]

Thijs, you have first dibs on which month to prepare a scenario; Jim, you have second choice; Fred you have the remaining month. If any of you rather not write a scenario, please let me know.

As for scenarios in this campaign, they need not be thematically tied to each other. This campaign is an opportunity for us to cut our teeth with a set of solo rules, running a campaign, writing AARs, etc. Therefore, write any type of scenario, historical or fictitious, using Wave 1 ships and the basic rules we'll have completed by the end of June. Another reason for the 1 July start date is to force us to complete the first round of a basic set of rules within this next month. For the basic set, we should keep to ball ammo, one setting for sails, etc. During the campaign, we can work together on a standard set of rules for the next campaign.

Once we have a more thorough set of rules hammered out, we'll do another short play testing campaign, say October through December. With the two short campaigns under our belt, we can look to 2015 to play a thematic campaign, for example engagements that take place during a given set of years, a given war, etc. Those games can be based on historical events or loosely based on the types of engagements fought. We would run such a campaign chronologically though, so the scenarios would be based on what was happening during the chosen time period in a chronological fashion; this is what we do on the 'Drome, and it works out quite well.

This current campaign can have three discrete, unconnected engagements. The captain and crews can move on, though, accumulating experience accordingly, so one way to think about captains this year is that these scenarios are like the backstory to their positions come the first scenario in the 2015 campaign.

[JAC]

I will love to join all of you in the solo campaingn. I am a VERY green sailor (just get the game 2 weeks ago) but I m loving it!!! the problem is that there is not many people around to play with!! Where can I find the rules to play solo so i can give them a try and join all of you?

ps. By the way…what is AAR?

[7eat51]

Hi Jaime,

Welcome. Stop by the Welcome Aboard forum and introduce yourself; folks will be happy to meet you: http://sailsofglory.org/forumdisplay...Welcome-Aboard

I will post some stuff here for you in a few minutes.

[7eat51]

Jaime, an AAR is an After-Action-Report. After you sail a mission, you will write up an account of what happened. You can do this in various formats, making it straightforward, writing from a 1st person perspective, etc.

Below is a two-part scenario we played in a solo mission on the Aerodrome. Look at post number 3 in the scenario link for the specific mission. Following that, is 2 AARs that cover both parts of that given scenario. You can read other AARs to see how different folks put different spins on things; F.O. Kyte, for example, is a master story teller. Be free in creating AARs as you desire; in the end, it's about having fun playing together and interacting with each other's stories. You will find that by playing in the solo campaign, you will have a great opportunity to learn, ask questions, share different things you try during games, create some additional house rules, and the list goes on.

Scenario: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...aign-Scenarios
Part 1: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...and-Back-Again
Part 2: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...ou-hear-me-now

[JAC]

Hi Eric, thanks for your soon answer! This looks great!! I love wings of war also and this seems great! Now about Sails of Glory campaign…where do I find the solo rules so I can start trying it and be ready for the campaign?

[Ducky]

The solo Rules are in the download section:
http://www.sailsofglory.org/downloads.php?do=file&id=76

Its just a chart and works with the same template used for wings solo play
I believe the sector template isnt in the sails download section.

The Rules are still in development right now but playable, we are tweaking the Rules a bit to get a decent solo ruleset

[JAC]

Great I will try them and let you know how it goes!

[7eat51]

Jaime, if you look at the link below, you will see the type of rule system toward which we're working. On post #3, you will see links to maneuver charts, etc.

Hopefully, we'll have a few versions of rules developed by year's end, so players can use a set based on the degree of complexity desired. As you play, please share any ideas, feedback, etc.

Final Months Rules: http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sho...Campaign-Rules

[Ducky]

End of the year ? I believe we can do better than that :singing:

[7eat51]

I figure we'll have a set of basic rules by 1 July, and an intermediate set by 1 October, in time for a second three-month campaign. That should put us in a good place for a year-long, thematically unified campaign for 2015. Thijs, I look forward to the ideas you'll be putting forward. If here is anything like the 'Drome, we'll see quite a few house rules being born out of these solo campaigns.

[fredmiracle]

I guess it would be good to nail down who is designing the first scenario sooner rather than later (or, more specifically, is it me? )

[Ducky]

Uhm for me rather later. Dont have the experience yet and would like to see what you guys come up with...
Ive got the story in mind but it needs to translated into a scenario.

How many ships are we going to use per side in the scenario?

And do the three scenario's fit together like a story or are they single scenario's?

[Nightmoss]

Uhm for me rather later. Dont have the experience yet and would like to see what you guys come up with...
Ive got the story in mind but it needs to translated into a scenario.

How many ships are we going to use per side in the scenario?

And do the three scenario's fit together like a story or are they single scenario's?

I think most of your questions are touched on or answered by Eric in post #19 of this thread. You were first up and I was second, Fred was third. I'm not ready to be first that's for sure. As Eric gets ready for Origins some of this discussion might have to wait until he gets back next week?

[fredmiracle]

Sounds like I'm doing the July scenario by default? (Dang, I used my best ideas for the scenario contest )

I think it would be more enjoyable if the three scenarios fit together into a single narrative, although that doesn't seem to be a hard requirement.

I looked at a few of the airplane scenarios, but I'm going to spend some more time over there to get a feel for what is required and what creative ideas people have come up with.

On the other hand, we are trying to test the rules and kick the tires, and restricted to wave 1 ships, so I think these will necessarily end up being fairly small/simple scenarios. That probably makes having a good backstory all the more important to keep it fun...

[7eat51]

I guess it would be good to nail down who is designing the first scenario sooner rather than later (or, more specifically, is it me? )

Fred, since you have third choice, and since our another two authors do not desire July, then it is true that the last shall be first.

If you have not read any scenarios from Over the Trenches - Final Months on the Aerodrome, I suggest a quick read there. It will give you an idea of what we will be working toward. Keep it simple, given that we're using a very basic set of rules and options. If you want to include scenario specific rules such as the French get to shoot first in the first combat phase, and damage is assessed before the British return fire, so be it. The story could be that the French caught the British asleep or some such thing. As long as scenario specific rules are easy to implement and do not require much beyond the basic rule set, you're fine.

[7eat51]

Rosters

When I return from Origins, I will set up a spreadsheet to track successes, deaths, and injuries of our captains. Each player needs to create a roster of eight captains. During a game, players can choose, from their roster, those captains that are available. As captains gain experience through victories, they will gain abilities - akin to flying aces. As they are injured, they might have to sit out one or more scenarios (I am creating such dice charts).

For the 2015 campaign, we'll probably focus on British vs. French given the ships that are available since that campaign will be thematic. For the scenarios between now and the end of the year, we can do anything we want, substituting ships for ships of other nations. Any scenario writer who wants to do so simply tells us what we need and gives us the stats - for example "2 Dutch SoLs with the following ship logs". Any captains from this year's scenarios can be carried over to next year's campaign, and if the captains are not British or French, then they can be assumed to sail under those colors next year, or have their names legally changed.

I will create rosters for the AI captains, and they, too, will gain experience.

After each player plays the given month's scenario, the player will write up an AAR and post it in the campaign thread. Again, I will set this up. You can write in any style you want. I will provide some guidelines as to the information I will need at the end of the AAR to do the record keeping. Before the end of the month, post your roster in this thread. As for ranks and starting experience, I will provide some info upon returning from Origins. For now, simply choose names.

[7eat51]

Fred, you're spot on. These first few scenarios are simply to play test rules, gain experience writing AARs, etc. Keeping the scenarios free from thematic ties will be easier. During the fall, we'll run another three-month campaign to test additional rules. Next year, we'll run a 12-month campaign that is thematically based on a given time period. We have plenty of time to discuss that during the fall, and hopefully by then, we'll have a better idea of available ships for next year.

I suggest keeping all scenarios to a few ships or less per side, otherwise it could be quite unwieldily and time consuming. This is especially true given that players will be taking photos and notes for the AARs.

[7eat51]

It looks like we are solidifying a set of basic rules, and, therefore, should be ready to go come 1 July. If you would like to play in this campaign, please send me a roster of captain names, and the navy for which you would like to sail. Information about the campaign can be found in previous posts.

[Hobbes]

I would gladly join.

[David Manley]

Coming late to the party, sounds like fun.

Is that 8 captains for one nation?

[7eat51]

Coming late to the party, sounds like fun.

Is that 8 captains for one nation?

Yes - one nation. This way, as captains go down or are out due to injuries, you'll have other captains to fill in. I will develop a spreadsheet to be shared via googledocs, tracking successes, injuries, fatalities. I will also develop rosters for the AI fleets players will go up against.

As captains (players and AI) score victories, they will gain abilities akin to ace abilities in WoG. We'll play two three-month mini campaigns this year to play test rule sets. In January, we'll kick off a year+ campaign that will be thematic and chronological. However, for those few who brave the waters during these two mini campaigns, whatever victories they, and their AI captains, have achieved will follow onto next year's campaign. In that sense, these mini campaigns can be thought of as backstory, albeit loosely.

I played in a solo campaign for WGF this past year, and am starting one for WGS this month - a little late to that party. I can attest that the campaign was a lot of fun, gave me a chance to learn through playing, reading AARs, and experimenting with house rules, and helped me connect to a dozen folks. I also learned history and about technology as some players based their missions on historical events. It was well worth the time. I am looking forward to the same happening here.

[Nightmoss]

I will sail for the French. My Captains are:

1. Rene Rapin
2. Jean-Paul Leconte
3. Barthélemy Delcourt
4. Emmanuelle Cabaret
5. Yanis Duchateau
6. Gaspard Florin
7. Victor Catteau
8. Boniface Merlin

Let me know if there's anything else you need? Cheers!

[7eat51]

So far, we have the following rosters:

British
David (David Manley)
Rob (soul taker)

French
Jim (Nightmoss)

Undeclared
Sebastian (Hobbes)
Fred (fredmiracle)
Thijs (Ducky) - Dutch?
Glen (luckysolo7)
Jaime (Jac)
Eric (7eat51)

We do not need the same number of players for each nation. I will do a little math after each month to give an idea of how the two, or more, nations are doing. A little bit of bragging rights is not a bad thing. A forewarning though, having worked for Chicago's Board of Election Commissioners in my younger days, the nation for which I play will always be, miraculously, in the lead.

As a reminder about rosters:

I will set up a spreadsheet to track successes, deaths, and injuries of our captains. Each player needs to create a roster of eight captains. During a game, players can choose, from their roster, those captains that are available. As captains gain experience through victories, they will gain abilities - akin to flying aces. As they are injured, they might have to sit out one or more scenarios (I am creating such dice charts).

For the 2015 campaign, we'll probably focus on British vs. French given the ships that are available since that campaign will be thematic. For the scenarios between now and the end of the year, we can do anything we want, substituting ships for ships of other nations. Any scenario writer who wants to do so simply tells us what we need and gives us the stats - for example "2 Dutch SoLs with the following ship logs". Any captains from this year's scenarios can be carried over to next year's campaign, and if the captains are not British or French, then they can be assumed to sail under those colors next year, or have their names legally changed.

I will create rosters for the AI captains, and they, too, will gain experience.

After each player plays the given month's scenario, the player will write up an AAR and post it in the campaign thread. Again, I will set this up. You can write in any style you want. I will provide some guidelines as to the information I will need at the end of the AAR to do the record keeping. Before the end of the month, post your roster in this thread. As for ranks and starting experience, I will provide some info upon returning from Origins. For now, simply choose names.

[spiessbuerger]

Sounds very good.
So I report for duty too!

Did I understand right? We can choose each nation we want for this year campaign?

[7eat51]

Sounds very good.
So I report for duty too!

Did I understand right? We can choose each nation we want for this year campaign?

Yes, you can choose any side. If you choose a navy for which we don't have ships, simply pretend. This first campaign is an opportunity for broader play testing of the solo rules, for all of us to start gaining experience with solo play and AAR writing, and a chance to play and spend some time together. For this campaign, we'll only use Wave 1 ships, and at most 3 per side. Starting in January of 2015, we'll set up a longer, thematic campaign - think chronological through a given time period/war. As new ships are produced, we can incorporate them as appropriate.

[7eat51]

British
David (David Manley)
Rob (soul taker)
Eric (7eat51)

French
Jim (Nightmoss)
Fred (fredmiracle)

Undeclared
Sebastian (Hobbes)
Thijs (Ducky) - Dutch?
Glen (luckysolo7)
Jaime (Jac)

[Ducky]

Dutch, captain and ship names will follow

[spiessbuerger]

Then I sail for Prussia.
Names will follow

[7eat51]

We have quite the international representation occurring here. The scenarios should be written in such a way as to accommodate different nations. I just read a preview of one by one of our scenario authors, and he did just that, splendidly.

I will post AAR guidelines and we will solidify campaign rules over the next week, so by 1 July, we should be good to go. The first scenario will be posted close to 1 July, once we have the rest of the items settled.

British
David (David Manley)
Rob (soul taker)
Eric (7eat51)

French
Fred (fredmiracle)

Dutch
Thijs (Ducky)

Prussia
Matthias (spiessbuerger)

Privateer
Jim (Nightmoss)

Undeclared
Sebastian (Hobbes)
Glen (luckysolo7)
Jaime (Jac)

[Nightmoss]

Eric, congratulations on 3,000+ posts! Not sure when that happened, but not too long ago I'm sure.

[CSherrange]

Would love to join, flying either American or Privateer colours, or an American Privateer fleet. Or if it fits in better I could fly either Spanish, Dutch, Russian, or a Scandinavian country's colours.

[CSherrange]

Will create captain names once youguys tell me what Nation to sail for...

[7eat51]

Will create captain names once youguys tell me what Nation to sail for...

For this campaign, choose whatever you like. We will have another short campaign October through December to test play additional rules. Starting 1 January, we'll look to do a full year campaign that will be thematic, based on a given time period. During that campaign, specific nations will be more pertinent.

[CSherrange]

I'll sail for America then, with the following captains-
1)Colton Miller
2)Paul Williams
3)Caleb Thompson
4)Isaac Davies
5)Charles Simpson
6)Benjamin Dance
7)Ephraim Hill
8)Daniel Jones

Greatly looking forward to this, cannot wait to post some AARs...

[Hobbes]

I'll fight for the English, Hessen-Darmstadt (during the Napoleonic Wars being souverin over my home town), not having any coastline forcing me to seek my fortune elsewhere.

My Captains are:
Captain Thomas Boulden Thompson
Captain Robert Devereux Fancourt
Captain Henry Inman
Captain Edward Riou
Captain Graham Eden Hamond
Captain Samuel Sutton
Captain Jonas Rose
Captain William Bolton

If seniority has any influence, they are already sorted. Do we need Commanders for later campaigns involving ships of the second wave?

[Comte de Brueys]

Missed this thread during my participation at Prague Summer Con.

Only one French player???

Inacceptable!

Please count me in for the Revolutionary French, Eric.

I want to give the development of SoG solo rules a chance.

1) François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
2) Louis-Jean-Nicolas Lejoille
3) Louis-René Latouche Tréville
4) Jean-Jacques Magendie
5) Luc-Julien-Joseph Casabianca
6) Jean-Françcois Renaudin
7) Joseph Marechallannes
8) Gerard Dujardin

[CSherrange]

Also just realized we will be using wave 1 vessels. Just got into this game 3 weeks ago and I have a starter and all of wave 2, most I have 2 copies of, but very few wave 1 ships. I'm sure we can make it work and I do plan on buying more wave 1 when they are in stock.

[Jack Aubrey]

Hi friends,
think I will join and try it.

I will sail for the historic privateers, called "Vitalienbrüder"

My Captains are:

Arnd Stuke
Henning Mandüvel
Nikolaus Milies
Klaus Störtebeker
Gödeke Michels
Henning Wichmann
Klaus Scheid
Magister Wiebold
Wilhelm Varensbeke

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victual_Brothers

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitalienbr%C3%BCder

Cheers