Fifth Frontier War

[dmoran]

Hiya, folks.

I'm running a campaign (in T20, since I'm most familiar with d20 mechanics) set immediately prior to the 5th Frontier War.

The campaigns currently about halfway through 1104, so I'm about 2.5 years off from the start date of the war (from the information I've been able to piece together).

Can anyone point me at a site which describes the conduct of the war? What systems were attacked, what was the general timeline of the war, that sort of thing.

I'd also be curious about how other GMs have handled the war in their campaigns. My campaign's centering down in Glisten & surrounding regions, so the direct impact is minimal, as far as I can tell, but there are Zhodani clients and outposts in the region that might be involved in the war effort.

Thanks.

 

[JTSmythe]

Hey Fax, I downloaded a file that has the chronology of the Fifth Frontier War compiled from various sources. I can send it to you if you give me your email.

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by Fax:
Can anyone point me at a site which describes the conduct of the war? What systems were attacked, what was the general timeline of the war, that sort of thing.

I'm afraid I can't. Creating a definitive timeline for the course of the 5FW from all the myriad of references there exists is one of the projects a fair way down my 'to do' list. The best I can suggest is that you somehow get hold of _Spinward Marches Campaign_ which contains a comprehensive description of the conduct of the war. Be aware, however, that whoever complied the chronology in SMC failed to account for communication lag when he looked at the TNS newsbriefs form JTAS (That is, if a newsbrief showed that the news of an event in Ruie reached Regina on day X, he wrote in the chronology that the event took place on day X, rather than on Day X-7 or X-8.

Also be aware that the description of the 5FW in Behind the Claw differs in significant ways from that of previously published material.

Hans

 

[rancke]

Here's a bit of 5FW trivia from a rather obscure source. Tarsus and Beltstrike contains some ready-made PCs with brief biographical sketches, some of which may be of interest to anyone trying to chart the history of the 5th Frontier War:

Sten Commarre: Service with the Imperial 850th Lift Infantry Division at Efate and Menorb.

Gaz Donnerkindt: Served with 6127th Imperial Marine Regiment at Quopist and Rhylanor.

Talia Calcidor: Ship's Troops commander aboard CL-10867 Vilishu in operations over Efate. Later involved in operations on Quopist.

Lise Elhodiri: Served as Imperial Army Aide on the staff of Admiral Elphinstone in the Yorbund Campaign.

Enli Eriskany: Served with 1931st Marine Regiment at Lanth and Rhylanor. Awarded MCG for rescuing a squad trapped in a downed assault shuttle during campaign around Lanth.

Joan Eshunnak: Service with Scout Squadron 53. Captured at Battle of Thanber; exchanged. Later served at Lanth and Rhylanor as boat gunner attached to Marine landing force.

Lee Huseyin: Served with the 8327th Imperial Marine Regiment at Thanber and Garda-Vilis.

Dr. Arpad Nushur: Medical Officer of colonial cruiser BC-9525 Agidda. Served in the Querion and Vilis subsectors, and at the Battle of Thanber.

Anicia Pantabreve: Served as boat pilot and assistant navigator aboard CL-10867 Vilishu in operations over Efate.

Ganidiirsi hault-Reitan: Duty as Imperial Army Aide on the staff of Admiral Stvi at his headquarters on Equus.

Tsutomu Woronow: Served as engineer aboard colonial cruiser BC-9525 Agidda at the Battle of Thanber.

Hans

 

[Ranger]

JTAS #19 has all the Traveller New Service snipets from the war. You can find these posted on line at:

http://www.jtas.org/TNS/

This is the news from the front your group would be hearing.

Hope it helps,

Rob

 

[s-feige]

Or go to this URL, and look under 'Integrated Timeline'.

"Part E" is labeled "Fifth Frontier War"

Have a nice day,
Aldan Romar

 

[JTSmythe]

Aldon's url link is where I got the timeline from. It's pretty cool.

 

[dmoran]

Excellent!

This is just what I was looking for.

Thank you to everyone--my players will thank you, too, as they slowly get embroiled in this.

Now, to cook up some Zhodani mischief on the rimward flank...

 

[shield]

Try the following site.

It has details of the war + ship designs + fleet compositions and depolyments.

www.jtas.org/travelleratlas

Cheers
Richard

 

[thomryng]

www.jtas.org/travelleratlas

The link to FFW seems to be broken...

cheers,

thom

 

[sandman]

Originally posted by Valerian:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />www.jtas.org/travelleratlas

The link to FFW seems to be broken...
</font>[/QUOTE]There is a problem affecting JTAS.org, Downport and some others... been talk about it on TML

[/me searches his e-mails...]

ha... Here it is

Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 19:40:24 -0500
From: "Colin"
To: "The Traveller Mailing List"
Subject: RE: [TML] Problems at Downport.com (fixes

For no good reason and without warning, Downport.com's provider decided to
no longer allow symbolic links on the server. This was the "last straw" with
that provider (cari.net) and Downport.com and its affiliate web sites
(freelancetraveller.com, jtas.org, travellertrader.com, etc.) are moving. We
are going back to a co-located server arrangement so that we can do as we
like with setup (even though we'll have to administer and monitor it
ourselves). Meanwhile (probably until the weekend), I am trying to make do
by changing the links off of the front page to the /~username where
practical. Since much of the site, several hundred pages in fact, have BASE
tags that point to obsolete symbolic links, many things will remain broken
until the move is completed.

Sorry for the inconveniences. Life goes on
_____________________________________________
The Traveller Web Portal
http://www.downport.com
webmaster@downport.com

 

[Hal]

Try this URL...

http://members.tripod.com/travelleratlas/Fleets/Battle_Fleets.html

 

[kafka47]

There was also the GDW module entitled the Spinward Marches Campaign, that also had a fairly comprehensive background to the war.

 

[thomryng]

Originally posted by Hal:
Try this URL...

http://members.tripod.com/travelleratlas/Fleets/Battle_Fleets.html

Right. That one works. Thanks!

cheers,

thom

 

[Liam Devlin]

Originally posted by Aldan Romar:
Or go to this URL, and look under 'Integrated Timeline'."Part E" is labeled "Fifth Frontier War" Have a nice day,Aldan Romar

________________________________________________
yer link,
http://winterwar.prairienet.org/dmckinne/trav.html
was most useful. You have the thanks of myself, and the crew of the ISS URSULA!

Mike Rourke
"A simple Cook"
Site Mgr.

 

[trader jim]

does any one have the 5th frontier war BOARD GAME....like you see fro sale on EBAY...are the counters cut very clean, streight, clear???? is the game worth the amount people are paying for it...does it have replay value???

 

[Ranger]

In response to your questions

Originally posted by trader jim:
does any one have the 5th frontier war BOARD GAME....like you see fro sale on EBAY...

Yes, I have a copy

are the counters cut very clean, streight, clear????

Yes, at lest the one I have is. The Map is very nice too. GDW game components were generally of very good quality overall.

is the game worth the amount people are paying for it...

I guess that is a value judgement. I got mine gratis from an old friend.

does it have replay value???

Well, to be honest, as a board game, it looks unplayable. One of it's most interesting fetures makes playing the game rather labor intensive. Each commander is rated for planning ability (lower numbers are better) and you have to plan a fleets moves a number of turns in advance, write them down, then execute them. I think it would make a very nice computer moderated game, but I can't see playing it in a couple of hours. As a campaign backdrop, or a protracted campaign game it looks pretty good.

Hope it helps,

Rob

 

[vegascat]

My wife found FFW for me on E-Bay a few months ago in a Canadian book store for $60 U.S. The prices quoted to her by multiple U.S. book stores and game shops was $100 to $150 if they could track one down.
Havn't found anyone to play with yet.
Has some nice info in it. Counters are good. The game system is bulky due to the 5 turn movement forcast system. It is a realistic way to handle mevement.