Winter, 4821

I've got the first strategic campaign turn of my solo 5150 foray finished up and here are the results. There's usually a lot going on in a single campaign turn (which comprises an entire season), so any battles and what-not will get their due as a true bat-rep. To see who's going to war with whom, what morale rolls and all of that good stuff are I'm referring back to this original post. One season consists of three months, and each month is broken down into two halves, with each half potentially seeing action. At the very start of the campaign turn (season) you roll to see which empires are at war, and with whom.

Gone to War:

• Quar vs. Bugs, in Bug space. With the Bug territories encroaching on the system that holds both Quar planets, a pre-emptive plan is put into motion. A Quar strike force launches out in their astro-zeppelins on a suicide mission to head off the approach.
• Grath vs. Grath, intersystem conflict. Two minor warlords, both governors (and both brothers) start a brutal civil war that begins to draw in neighboring provinces. The nature of the conflict is incredibly trivial, having to do with a disagreement over a misunderstood etiquette protocol that occurred during a large stately dinner party.
• Drantakh vs. Zhuh-Zhuhs, in neutral space. Drantakh deep range scouts survey a potential habitable world, but stumble upon a Zhuh-Zhuh war fleet licking their wounds from a previous battle in what they thought was unoccupied space.
• All others at peace.

Turns:

• January (early): ER (Encounter Rating) 1. Result: Pass 0d6, no encounter.
• January (late): ER 1. Result: Pass 0d6, no encounter.
• February (early): ER2. Result: Pass 0d6, no encounter.
• February (late): ER2. Result: Pass 2d6, encounter. Star Army vs. Nomads. On a backwater moon reserved mostly for Star Army training and maneuvers, the Star Army encounter Nomads tampering with sat-comm equipment and move to intercept and apprehend. Before the Star Army troopers are fully in position the Nomads spot them and open fire. Things go from bad to worse for the Star Army, as their troopers are taken out left and right. The Star Army NCO manages to escape battlefield after grabbing a fallen trooper’s SAW. Two Star Army troopers are killed, two more are taken hostage. Two Nomads are killed in the battle as well.
• March (early): ER3. Result: Pass 1d6, with immediate re-roll, no encounter (but close). The surviving Star Army NCO gets whatever troops are on hand back in the field to try and track down the Nomads before the trail goes cold. After searching they find two fallen Star Army troopers in a shallow grave. No signs of the Nomads, or the hostages, anywhere.
• March (late): ER1. Result: Pass 0d6, no encounter. The trail goes completely cold as the Nomads disappear into the wastes with their two Star Army captives and loot; four suits of Hard Body armor, and three laser rifles.

End of Strategic Campaign Turn One

With the way strategic turns are set up, you are given a lot of options of when and where the action takes place and with whom. You could easily go with one of the wars currently taking place, or do what I did and go another route entirely. Of course it also depends on what figs you have on hand, but with so many races in the mix, I foresee a lot of proxying. It's also a great way to get inspired to paint something up quickly.

Being the first turn of the campaign (consisting of six "mini-turns") I kept the encounter ratings low so I could ease into things. From the turns that took place here you can see there actually was some action that took place anyway. I played this out as a full battle (which I'll post soon). All in all I don't have any complaints with how the system is working out. The only way to get to know the rulebook is to actually use it on a regular basis, so there is a learning curve at play. So far I've just been dealing with the 'military operations' part of the rulebook, but the ultimate goal for me is to get to the 'adventurers' section where you're using even fewer models per side but they're more like true named personalities with skills and can gain experience. It becomes kind of like a hybrid roleplaying and tabletop game.