Suitable for Galley warfare?

[Tas]

I'm after a campaign system for a Roman-era Galley warfare campaign - would this product be suitable with some tweaking? And how much tweaking do you think would be required?

thanks!

[Gareth_Perkins]

I don't see why not,

The rules are fundamentally pretty simple, you'd just need to decide upon ship stats, and perhaps work on "terrain" (many galleys hugged the coast when moving right?),,

[mwaschak]

I agree. FASB Edition does have prevailing winds, which are probably less relevant to galley operational movement. All in all you still have the essential elements of a naval campaign system. If you do decide to give it a go let us know as I would be happy to help out.

All the best,
-Jay

I don't see why not,

The rules are fundamentally pretty simple, you'd just need to decide upon ship stats, and perhaps work on "terrain" (many galleys hugged the coast when moving right?),,

[Tas]

Thanks for the snappy replies guys.

Indeed galleys did hug the coast where possible, enabling them to run their boats up the banks to rest if needed and also to evade storms (galleys were notoriously unseawrothy in storms). This indeed makes coastal terrain types very important (reefs, shoals, sandbanks).

Prevailing winds are key for movement, as this was the primary method of mobility outside of battle where conditions allowed.

Ship stats should be relatively easy, converting tactical comparisons into strategic differences.

Do FASB have rules for differing levels of commander skills & traits, crews etc?

I'll do that Jay, thanks!

cheers

[Gareth_Perkins]

Thanks for the snappy replies guys.Do FASB have rules for differing levels of commander skills & traits, crews etc?

Yes and yes (indeed, both are presented as non-optional in the FASB edition - not that you couldn't ditch them if you didn't want them),

Crew ratings only help with boarding actions if memory serves, but could easily be incorporated into other areas if needed. The system for crew improvements is pretty good as well (being based upon "experience" and time at sea),

Officers are dealt with by "unique officers" and it ignores the generic officers in order to present only the "notable officers" - be they good or bad. In my opinion this is the best VBAM officer system (much better than the officer rules from VBAM:CM) as it's simple and neat, and presents both good and bad characters (you can have a "notable" character who is notable because his crew hate him - reducing his crews crew-rating! And to make matters worse, his rank and/or political connections may ensure that you have to give him a prestigious post...),

[Tas]

Thanks for that Gareth, most useful indeed and I like the sound of how that works. That would let me, for example, have poor to average Commanders for the Romans, with high crew factors to represent their hand to hand skill, while Carthaginians have more skilled ledaers with more average crew - is that right? My tactical system then takes care of the battlefield effets of this.

And to make matters worse, his rank and/or political connections may ensure that you have to give him a prestigious post...),

I think Histoy is repleat with sufficient examples to make this almost a not unusual occurance!

Not being familiar with the VBAm system, could I please have a brief overview to ensure its the sort of system I'm after? Is it hex based?

thanks again!

[Gareth_Perkins]

That would let me, for example, have poor to average Commanders for the Romans, with high crew factors to represent their hand to hand skill, while Carthaginians have more skilled ledaers with more average crew - is that right? My tactical system then takes care of the battlefield effets of this.

Yep,

The basic rules include bonuses for qualities for several Napoleonic factions which you could use as the basis for your background (so the British generally get better crews - and so get a bonus to crew quality rolls at the start of campaigns, and an imrpoved rate of quality advance, wheras the French simply get bigger crews for equivelant vessels),

Officers are a bit more random, but fundamentally it's a big chart of abilities, with poor abilities tending to be towards the bottom of the chart - so it could possibly be re-written, or you could use a bonus/penalty/reroll mechanism to swing the results a little if you want,

Not being familiar with the VBAm system, could I please have a brief overview to ensure its the sort of system I'm after? Is it hex based?

Yes - it is hex based.

There's a sample map in the free Caribean supplement, which might give you some idea of the scope and scale.

http://blog.vbamgames.com/?p=113

Essentially each turn you roll for weather conditions and calculate income, and then each side writes down orders for the following:

• Fleet movement and orders (close or distant blockades, avoid/pursue combat, land troops, etc)
• Construction and requisitioning
• Intrigue (spying, sabotage, etc - possibly also diplomacy if you are playing empires rather than theatre commanders)

Then you simply follow the turn sequence, performing each activity as it comes up. Combat is dealt with by generating "encounters" (deep-sea encounters tend to occur only by random chance even if cohabiting the same hex, other encounters will occur according to the will and orders of the participants) - and then playing out any generated encounters using either the built-in system (the CSCR), or the tactical system of your choosing (Hoist the Signal, Fire as She Bears, etc in which case the type of encounter (deep sea, coastal, blockade breakout, etc) is the "scenario" for your game),

Ground combat (including landings, and land movement) are handled in a more simplistic way, but there's enough meat to give you some options,

Each turn represents one month of game-time, and the system is modular enough that you can ditch elements or write in your own rules with a certain amount of ease,

[Tas]

Thanks for taking the time to explain all that Gareth - that sounds perfect for what I'm after. I'll be purchasing the pdf this weekend I think, and will be sure to let you know how it goes and what adaptions I use

cheers!

[Tas]

No I havent forgotten about this project, but have been delightfully sidetracked by the VBAM pdf bundle I bought!