Greyhawk Adventure Time!

Well!  It's nice to be back in familiar territory once again.  Greyhawk Adventures was the first place many of us ever explored, and I must say it's the setting for D&D that's most familiar to me.  Sure, I had my love affairs with Dragonlance and Ravenloft, and even a little Forgotten Realms on the side.  I cultivated a secret love for Dark Sun, but to me Greyhawk is the ridiculously impossible "vanilla" D&D coolness.  You know, the one with all the tropes and gamer nerd paraphrenalia?

Our Greyhawk campaign will take us through the forgotten editions of Dungeonland.  We're doing this is AD&D 1st Edition (hence referred to as 1e) and all the orange spine items.  We've got a huge collection of stuff here, and I plan on using all of it!  All the stuff from the basic, printed rulebooks are in use, and of course all the new stuff from Unearthed Arcana.  Well, it's not new now...but you know what I mean.

We're about to embark on a quest.  That is, the club.  We're going to play huge, published campaigns in every edition of D&D over the next few years.  Now, we've been playing a lot of Pathfinder and 3e but now it's high time we ran some of these old-school published adventures, and played them how they were written with the rulesets they were written for.  That's why there's no Edition War here.

We're starting out with T1-4:  The Temple of Elemental Evil, but I have a lot of material from that same era and we'll be showing how it progresses in the Campaign Log.  We've got the entire classic campaign together, and to avoid any more spoilers than I've already given (though you can pretty much predict the course of the campaign, if you were so inclined) I'll not be giving the exact list of modules here on the site until the 1e romp is finished.

The group had a blast at the first real session of the game, and even though we didn't have big turnout it was sorta an off day for the club.  Next week however, we'll most likely have 50% more players...and it should be noted that 1e was written for a much larger group than 3e's assumption of 4 players.

For my own opinions, I'd just like to leave you with these nuggets.

I believe magic items are bought and sold on Oerth, but it's shops of magic that are rare, rather than magic items themselves.  Oerth is completely saturated with magic.

We will be using the printed works as best we can, RAW (Rules as Written).  

There is some contention on the intent of certain passages in the old Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide.  1st Edition is a completely different beast when used on it's own.  I'm pretty sure I have all the pertinent information nailed down for reference, though we're sure to encounter some more strange obfuscation at some point.

Then again, we are prepared for a different sort of game now.

We can only hope the Player Characters are ready for that game.

Imperial Crackdown Log and Finals!!

Imperial Crackdown

2012 Necromunda Campaign

The Capital of Lucruzu Primus, Domagoshch.

Lucruzu Primus, Vae Salubrious Subsector

Though it is the seat of much unrest in the past few years, Lucruzu Primus remains one of the more productive worlds in the sector.  It's relatively idyllic vistas have recently been marred by rioting, pogroms and an almost full scale revolt.  The planet is recovering from a recent power struggle, and it is imperative that Lucruzu Primus continue to function as the trade hub for the sector that it has grown to be.

Recently havnig tithed a large amount of men and equipment, the Merchant Guilds have asked that nearby forces of the Mardannon Crusade contribute to maintaining the peace.  An attempt was made during the moving of men and equipment to undermine and usurp the rule of the Merchant House Semetov.  However, agents of the Emperor's Holy Inquisition were at work to maintain the status quo, and the government of the planet remains mostly intact.  However, there are much fewer soldiers to police the entirety of the populated zones.

In the rest of the subsector, wars encroach on many other worlds.  The Crusade is needed elsewhere, but control of Lucruzu Primus (and Domagoshch in particular) is critical.  Though Lucruzu avoided full-scale war, heretic uprisings on nearby Vae Salubrious itself have weakened the morale and sapped the vitality of the Imperial citizenry. Now, the Imperial Navy and other fighting elements have seen fit to use Lucruzu as a staging ground for the Crusade.

A heroic push of men and machines will roll out of Lucruzu soon.  The battlefleet in orbit grows to an impressive size, and more fighting forces arrive in system even now.  The Imperium sees this as an opportunity to show the people of Lucruzu Primus they are watched over by a benevolent Emperor, and plans are drawn up to send military units to the surface to aid in the suppression of non-conformist elements. The Imperium is cracking down on seditionists, heretics, and foul people of all kinds.

The Guild Authority has been fully mobilized.  The merchant houses of Lucruzu move to protect their domains, but a little confusion is always on hand.  As 'peacekeeping' forces from the crusade move onto the planet, there are bound to be some losses as various factions attempt to accomplish their own missions.  The Administratum has estimated that casualties from planetside operations will be within acceptable bounds, much less than if a full-scale rebellion broke out.

It's time to save some souls and uphold the laws of the Emperor!

---

The view of Domagoshch is...grey.

Campaign Rules

This year's Necromunda campaign will utilize the rules and scenarios from the basic rulebook.  The main difference this season with how we've been running our campaigns is that we are removing the 'set game' limit.  Therefore, you no longer have to appoint games against various club members, but rather it will be a more freeform, open-ended campaign.

Here's how it works.  Gangs will fight as normal, and you're not allowed to play the same player more than twice in a row as in the rulebook.  However, scoring is a little more complicated than just Gang Rating.

Wins, Losses and Draws will be compared to create an Influence Score.  The greatest number of battles among the players will be our Battle Magnitude, and represents the faction's committal to the campaign.  For each battle a player is behind, he suffers a cumulative -5% penalty to his influence score.  Your adjusted Campaign Score is equal to your adjusted Influence multiplied by your Gang Rating.

Highest adjusted Campaign Score at the end of the campaign wins!  The game will run from July 1st to October 1st, 2012!  Get as many games as you can, that's the only way to ensure a win!


Currently Active Units

1. Precinct 69 (Enforcers)
2. Lumisi Interdiction Team (House Orlock)
3. House Semetov (Unknown House)
4. Red Redemption (Redemptionists)
5. Band of Basterds (House Orlock)
6. Abu Dabis (Ash Wastes Nomads)
7. The Dingoes (Ratskin Renegades)

---

Campaign Updates

1. The campaign has begun!
2. 8.19.2012 - After a month of brewing hostilities, House Semetov moves against what it sees as insurgents in a military action.
3. 9.21.2012 - Three weeks on hard fighting sees House Semetov in near complete control of Domagoshch.
4. 10/1/2012 - The campaign is over!  House Semetov is victorious, but the wasteland nomads calling themselves the Abu Dabis are a close second...

---

It's only about five weeks late, but we have to put up the record!

We've had a short hiatus, but that doesn't mean we've been inactive.  In fact, my House Semetov gang won this year's Necromunda campaign, though competition was stiff and time constrained.  The club finally awarded me the prize...this campaign is the first one where we award a single title!

Captain Video awards Dave Bone the title of Boss Tough Guy.

Now,  our campaigns will actually have champions!  For 9 months between each game's time slots, the winner of the previous year's campaign will be known by a title, which they will have to defend in the next campaign from the ground up!  For Necromunda, the reigning champion will be called Boss Tough Guy.  This year...I am that tough guy!

Next July, I'll have to fight to retain that title...and no doubt the competition will be stiffer and the blood will be pumping hard in the hate-filled hearts of my enemies.  Just look at the expression on the good Captain's face as he hands me that title...

Many thanks to the awesome club!  Thanks for the title, and rest assured I'm going to keep it as long as I can!

---

Kobach Semetov surveyed the buildings where he believed the wasteland nomads to be hiding.  The crazed terror-mongers had been striking at the government supply lines, but Imperial control had returned to Domogoshch and was quickly spreading all over Lucruzu Prime.  Now, the Crusade's real push could begin, into the galactic south...

He thought about what it would be like to join the Guard on the crusade...briefly.  Honestly, the Lumisi soldiers that were supposed to be aiding with the interdiction didn't seem to be up to the job.  Kobach wondered briefly what sort of training passed the bar for the Guard, but he knew their hearts were in the right place.  Even if they had to kill a few of them to get the point across - Lucruzu belonged to House Semetov.

Right then and there he resolved to visit the stars on his own terms.  A few of the men who had been in his home defense units had been talking about taking a pilgrimage.  It wouldn't take much for him to arrange passage on one of the Ecclesiarchy vessels that accompanied the Crusade, and from there...they could go anywhere.  Perhaps they could visit Vae Salubrious, and pray at the very Shrine of Mardannon.

His comm crackled to life, and he heard a familiar voice in an unfamiliar way.

"Kobach?  Kobach Semetov?"

He winced.  He knew that voice...but what was it doing on the House Guard's sealed vox-network?

"Castella?"  he asked his cousin incredulously.

"Yes Kobach, it's me.  I'm at the field house."  Castella Balka's voice was quite welcome, and suddenly he knew something must be wrong.

"What's the problem?" he asked brusquely.  Even though he hadn't spoken to her directly since this all began, House Balka's guard were underequipped to handle the low tech nomads that poured into the city of the last few months.  He knew he was about to receive new orders.

"No problem at all.  You've done a fantastic job, but I wish to speak to you directly."  she spoke, evenly and commandingly as always.

"I'll be there in twenty microts.  What's this about?"  he barked into the field vox.  Highly irregular, he thought.

"It's about the crusade..." Castella began, "I have someone here I want you to meet."

"Kobach Semetov."  another voice came on the vox, this one was male, and obviously used to giving orders.  

"Affirmative, you speak with the commander of the House Guard.  Who is this?"  Kobach demanded, his patience wearing thin.  He had no time for Castella's flings with noblemen who thought playing at soldiers was fun.

"My name is Brown.  I represent the highest authority."  the voice intoned, slowly enunciating the last three words.  "You know what that means."

Kobach blanched.  He knew well what that phrase meant, though not everyone in the Imperium would have.  A meeting with a representative of the Inquisition?

"I'll be there in ten microts." Kobach stated to the vox, and turned to signal his driver to mount the rover.  The day just got a lot more interesting...

Theaters & Eras

The Wargate opens to (there/here), (now/then).

Flames of War is organized a little differently than most of the games we're used to playing.  Rather than having a centralized game / conflict with various manuals to cover the different factions in the game, such as Army Books and Codeci, Flames of War focuses on different "phases" of the war.  In addition to this, the "theater" chosen dictates what forces are available and how much each unit costs.

The "phases" of the war are easy to understand.  The second World War was an arms race, and early in the war the weapons used were the ones developed in the 1930's.  As time marched on, guns and tanks grew bigger and nastier.  The old pieces were rendered inferior or destroyed.  This is represented by splitting the game up into three "sections" or "phases", called Eras in the game.  In succession, these are Early War, Mid War and Late War.

In choosing a theater, you have a lot of options depending on era.  North Africa?  Check.  The Eastern Front?  Check.  How about the Allied invasion of the West?  Yeah.  All of these are awesome, but when attempting to get people into the game, especially a club, it's best to choose an era and theater that everyone can get behind.  Take a look, do some research and decide what you want to fight over.  Unlike many other games, there is a strong historical drive associated with this game.  You don't have to be a purist, but it helps.

For our game club, we have chosen the Eastern Front as our theater.  Books are available for Mid and Late War eras.  Though the Late War is the most popular, the Wargate has chosen to focus on the Mid War era for a number of reasons, mostly because it's got the what we perceive as a good balance of technology.  Not too low or too high.  We chose the Eastern Front as the theater we would focus on mostly because it was the most intensely grueling, longest and bloodiest conflict.  Also, it's totally metal.

Generally speaking, no matter what theater you choose, as long as an army is from the same era you can guarantee a balanced match.  That's how tournaments can be organized to make things more or less "fair".  Yet for structured campaigns, it's kinda strange seeing Americans fight Soviets...at least if you doing straight historical like we are.  Could be an interesting direction for other clubs to go...

We have the Eastern Front books for the Late War era, but if you're planning on gaming with us you should stay with Mid War.  Late War stuff is available (not all of it) at a premium in this era, so you should be able to use most models available.  That means you're really limited to either the Eastern Front or North Africa volumes.  However, you'll find a world of choice in those two books.

Now, that's not to say that we wouldn't bring up forces for Early or Late War campaigns if someone were to organize them.  However, since we're the only ones organized at present we must encourage the purchase of those two volumes and models to accompany them.  As far as I know, all the boxed starter sets contain models that can be used in Mid or Late War, so don't fret and pick up an Achtung! or Open Fire! from our friendly neighborhood game store, The Cave.

And tell 'em Dave sent you.