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Play by E-mail- FFW

G

Gatsby

SOC-12
I got a blank page on the 'Post reply' option, so I am doing it here:

The venerable 'Fifth Frontier War' Game (which I just dug out of the basement), lent itself to this format, with turns being just like that. FFE is reprinting the rules for their April Re-print series...it doesn't have the full map or counters (just scanned images), but I think that should suffice for E-mail anyhow. The game is a two-player, but that could be broken down into fleet commands and along the racial lines (Imperial, Zhodani, Vagr, Sowrld Worlds, Aslan). You need one Host (to keep the Master map and roll the dice) and then ...whatever!

Hope this helps...
Gats'
 
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>From original post:

Wouldn't it be great to also have a PBM or PBEM version of a grand strategic level wargame set in the Traveller universe. You could have players issue orders to their fleets and then sit back and wait as every week a new set of dispatches arrives from the front lines. Weekly turns would sync up just right with the weekly jumping of fleets and so forth. Imagine the possibilities of charging say $1 per turn or so! And with the different time periods beig considered, you have a natural set of games to play.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A Real Time = Game Time setup? Doesn't sound too interesting too me - maybe I'm missing something here... (And paying for each turn sounds kind of silly in the extreme!)

I can see a chess game, where the responses are limited, and the depth can lead to protracted contemplation as to one's next move. And there is only one move were a response is demanded - Check. Others such as Checkmate are obvious. Playing out a gambit is likely to involve a little anticipation, but again the actual number of immediate responses are limited.

I vaguely remember playing Fifth Frontier Wars, but nothing more. Is there a lot of strategy involved?
 
I suggest this for those non-profit individuals that want to set up a game over the internet, lacking other players nearby. (unless FFE can make a Computer Game out of it - hint, hint...)
As to the options, the game involved the fleets in the Traveller universe duking it out to push the their lines forward in the Spinward Marches. The main mechanic was a simulation of the fact that fleets travelled almost as fast as communiques, so most fleets (depending on your limited amount of Admirals and their leadership abilities)would pre-plot their actions a few turns in advance (going on orders). Noting that, with Jump, you might have enemies popping around the map and it was a matter of Command and Control.
Then when a fleet moves into a system, there was a matter of defense fleets, System Defense Boat waves and ground troops to take the system. All done in the usual Traveller efficiency, too (the complex made simple).
There was also a section detailing how to play the game, and use each of the turns as a backdrop for your RPG players, synching a turn of a week (for the Jumps needed) to your campaign. That designed in, it also made the game playable by E-mail some twenty years later.
As to 'real-time', a week would allow each player the time to respond, and the Host to 'do the turn' on his master map and get back to the players with the results.
Their are 14 Imperial fleets (4 to start), 14 Zhodanhi fleets (7 to start), 2 Sword World fleets and 2 Vagr fleets. Players could be made of these, one to a fleet (as their is one Admiral to a fleet).
An optional rule could be for the Host to plot the actual lines of communications, only informing the other players of incoming deployment messages sent (by the players) when a X-boat or courier could catch up to the fleets involved. The same could be said of enemy fleet Movement Intelligence gathering. In the standard game, all players are pretty much aware of the deployments as they happen each turn.

Gats'
 
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gatsby:
I got a blank page on the 'Post reply' option, so I am doing it here:

The venerable 'Fifth Frontier War' Game (which I just dug out of the basement), lent itself to this format, with turns being just like that. FFE is reprinting the rules for their April Re-print series...it doesn't have the full map or counters (just scanned images), but I think that should suffice for E-mail anyhow. The game is a two-player, but that could be broken down into fleet commands and along the racial lines (Imperial, Zhodani, Vagr, Sowrld Worlds, Aslan). You need one Host (to keep the Master map and roll the dice) and then ...whatever!

Hope this helps...
Gats'<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


It should be easy to convert a game like FFW into one which you can play by e-mail using one of those boardgame conversion programs out there. Has anything like this been done with any of the Traveller games?
 
Hmmm...

Basicaly you're talking of doing a board game - FFW - over the net in delayed time? Sort of like battleship over the net?

>So everyone would 'privately announce' their moves once a week and turn would be resolved within X days of cutoff?
>Against each other or against 'them'?
>Is there a 'win' situation, or does this just continue on like an RPG?

Sorry if questions seem lame - I'm too much of an action/reaction type to have experience with PBEM. (I was also allways the last one to get EMail in every IT group I was in - mostly used it to play with inferior minds by hacking server time stamps
biggrin.gif
. Ironic, considering I was usually the one who fixed the email servers all the time and instrumental in their purchasing, setup and backups!) Back in the old 2400 baud BBS days I tried a few systems, but never got into any of them.
 
1) Players would probably only communicate via the Host (ala X-boat), trying to simulate command and control. Yeah, i know this is SO easy to get around, but the fun, here, is your ability to command fleets facing communications delay.
2) There, I assume, would be a group of players. Those on the other side of the war (whom you try to out-manuever and arrange superior fire-power and traps for their fleet) and players on your side (whom you have to work with to get this war to work for your side). the host simply takes care of the mechanics and messaging.
3) Use the victory conditions of FFW.

I have always been one who wants to stare across the table at my opponent, but I can see where this 'Admiral's War Room' type of simulation could have it's own....it is relatively easy on even the busiest lifestyle, and it is largely non-confrotational (no extreme personalities get through the X-boats). Can be fun.

Gats'
 
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