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This is going to be a solo playtest game that is intended to test out a bunch of new optional rules for VBAM 2E, the most important of which are the alternative encounter resolution and single squadron CSCR concepts that we've been talking about the last week. The rules are going to be constantly in flux, but I think this is going to be the best way for us to gain a common frame of reference to see what works and what doesn't work.

I am going with a 2-player Enterprise-inspired campaign as that is going to be easier to manage starting out. The two empires are starting with very limited technology (nothing bigger than a destroyer!) and will have to push forward on research to unlock more advanced craft.

I'm going to be trying out a modified construction system where ships are a bit more expensive, plus a slew of other optional rules that I'm slowly adding notes about here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s_D ... sp=sharing

The intent is to see if any of these optional rules really work, and if they prove especially popular or effective they'll get rolled back into VBAM 2E.

Here is the map for the first turn of the campaign. I am starting my campaign diary in a Google doc so that people can access it there. I'll do PDF exports periodically as I have updates and post them here, too, for those that don't want to deal with the GoogleDoc:

Prelude to Federation - Campaign Diary

Crossover Conversions

This is the first time I've really done a public campaign diary like this, and the first time running a campaign using GoogleDocs. We'll see how it goes!

I played through another two turns of the campaign tonight in between working on Galaxies. Check out the diary for some new content for 2251.04 and 2251.05.

It's taking some time to get back in the saddle, and the changes to the sequence of play to make it more board game like is taking some adjusting on my part. It's working pretty smoothly given that each phase is now completely self-contained, and the change to Economic Phase so that all purchases happen there seems to really reinforce that once you spend those points they are GONE.

United Earth is having a pretty good start to the game with early exploration luck. The Klingons have lost most of their scouts, unfortunately, but they were saving up for some Productivity rather than spamming scout destroyers (like they probably should have). I'll have to hurry up and get Tovok colonized if I want to be able to get a population increase roll at the end of the year.

I played through 2251.07 and updated the diary with a new entry! It's slow moving right now, but I am slowly working through the new sequence of play and isolating rules that may need to be adjusted or reimplemented slightly in Galaxies.

After working through some playtest rules updates I was able to finish out to the end of the campaign year! The last five months of 2151 were fairly eventful, including a 17 EP raider fleet hitting the Klingon homeworld on a 1% chance ( ).

I think I have things set to move smoother heading into 2152. It took awhile to get into the groove and figure out the best way to move through the turns. I've gotten a little bit rusty after not having had the time to sit down and play a "relaxing" test game for awhile.

Sorry about the image quality, GoogleDocs down samples pretty hard, but you should be able to get a feel for what things look like. Still no contact between United Earth and the Klingon Empire, but there is one definite point of contact in their future there in the center of the map.

Really enjoying reading these! Can't wait until things settle down mid-november and I can join in the fun and run another sample campaign or restart the Omerth Crusade.

I'll try to keep them coming!

As the rules get closer to a finished state it's becoming easier to move through the turn with confidence that I'm not missing too many rules. By the end of this next campaign year United Earth and the Klingons should be in contact with each other, which means a good opportunity to do some more combat testing, because (spoiler alert) I plan on having the Klingons try to invade Earth.

I look forward to when you have time to jump in and test, too. It's always lots of fun to read the campaign reports and see what kind of situations develop. Strange alien empires everywhere! By the time you're ready, BroAdso, I may finally have the NPE rules reconciled and updated in the Companion draft to get them ready for use, too.