I'm reviewing the information for the 4.0 version of the TC campaign and just wrapping my head around it. Planning to run it at our weekly drop in at the FLGS in a few weeks/months.

What has your experience been like with it? Any tips?

Link?

I'll have to look at it when not at work. Dropbox isn't good for me here.

I agree - I wasn't enthusiastic about the Dropbox. I got it on my phone but its a lot to read on a mobile device. I barely get to my desktop these days.

*sneaks into thread*

I ran two online iterations of the campaign (previous versions). What would you like to know?

How was it received?

Was the onus for keeping track of details placed on a single representative like a TO or did each player keep track of their own details?

Is the game played strictly as 1v1s or are there scenarios for multiplayer?

Is each player required to have an epic ship in order to participate?

Are existing unique pilot abilities purchasable by XP or only EPTs?

Just had a skim and i cant believe how incredibly similar it is to the one i wrote last year and stuck up.

Lots of different stuff but a lot of very very similar stuff.

Clearly just 'great minds think alike' but spooky all the same.

Annoyingly i'm not going to be able to read them properly or even look at them again until i've finished my system (which even at first glance i think is simpler and less overbearing) as i dont want to be influenced by TCs campaign although we have almost written eactly the same rules in the first section i read about choosing fleets, seperate ship and pilot costs etc etc

I am *genuinely* mind frazzled how similar they seem to be given that they were clearly written in isolation of each other and TCs seem to be a variant of a babylon 5 system that must have been written before i wrote my rules.

I wrote mine on 8th of september last year and had no idea TC had a campaign at all.

Here is our, slightly more compact and still slightly unfinished version but you can see how uncannily similar a lot of it is:

Okay here is version 2 of the rules. It's a lengthy post, but Gadge and I have been coming up with rules tweaks on a daily basis. It's very much a work in progress, but we like where it is at the moment.

Pre Campaign

At the start of the campaign, each player is allowed to choose 200 points of non-unique ships, cards and pilots for any one of the three factions. You don’t have to spend all 200; anything you don’t spend can be saved for use later.

Only pilots of PS4 or lower may be chosen for the initial list, except for *one* unique character who may be chosen as your leader. This named character’s EPT (if he has one) may also be unique.

Pre Battle

Only 100 points may be fielded per engagement, unless you are playing a special scenario. This 100 points includes the full value of any upgrade, even if you paid less for it in credits (see special rules for ordnance below). Each ship's cost to field is the amount of credits listed below in "New Ship Costs", and the pilot costs an amount equal to his PS plus any EPT he has. This makes them cost roughly the same as the pilot cards, but gives you the flexibility to swap pilots around between ships.

Any pilot can fly any ship in your roster.

During Battle

Any ship may ‘flee’ from their friendly edge and not be destroyed.
Fleeing from an enemy or neutral edge may result in capture or being ‘lost in space’

Any ship that flew off any table edge other than your starting area rolls three dice; add one if you won the encounter, subtract one if you lost and further a one if you are attempting to flee from the enemy start line. If you get at least one evade, you successfully make it back to your home lines. Ships with hyperdrives, stealth devices or cloaking devices may count ‘focus’ results as ‘evades’. Rolling no evades at all means the ship is ‘lost in space’.

Post Battle

Salvage

Each ship “destroyed” during the battle should roll one red and one green die. Additionally, for each Crew upgrade a destroyed ship has, roll an additional green die for him to see if he escapes too. If you won the encounter, you are allowed a reroll of any green dice (but not red).

Green die results:

Blank means the pilot (or crew) is killed.

Focus means he is pulled, barely conscious, from the wreckage and must miss the next battle while he recovers. He also cannot roll for experience after this battle, even if he has enough XP – he barely made it out alive and is too busy healing.

Evade means he ejected in time and was recovered by his comrades.

Red die results:

Blank means the ship was totally destroyed and reduced to space dust.

Focus means the ship is a wreck but can be stripped for parts; it generates 2 credits worth of scrap.

Hit means the ship is badly mangled but yields 5 credits worth of useable parts before heading for the scrap heap.

Critical means the ship survives the battle with one hull point left and can be repaired as normal and re-used, or scrapped for a flat 10 credits worth of parts.

Whoever controls the field at the end of the battle gets the benefit of whatever usable wreckage from both sides is left as above - a good incentive to try to "win" the game rather than just survive it by running.

Surviving pilots

A surviving pilot gains one experience point for surviving a battle and a further point of experience for every ship he personally destroys (disabling part of a huge ship counts as destroying a ship). Additional experience points can be awarded for completing scenario requirements.
Roll a number of red dice equal to the pilot’s PS every time he/she gets 3 experience points or a multiple thereof, and takes the best result from the following:

All blank: “Back to the academy with you, son”. This pilot loses one PS (to a minimum of 1)

At least one focus: “Keep practising”. Pilot gains nothing, but loses nothing.

At least one hit/critical: “You’ve got some talent”. Gain 1 to your PS.

Two or more hits/criticals: “The kid’s quite a hotshot”. Choose an EPT costing up to 2 points, or increase your PS by 1 if you already have an EPT or don’t want to take one.

Three or more hits: “Impressive…” Choose any EPT (or increase your PS by 1 if you already have an EPT).

Three or more crits: “The force is strong with this one”. Choose a named pilot card at random for the ship you were flying in this battle; this is now your pilot card. Increase your PS by 1 if you are already a named pilot.

Note that PS can go to 9 maximum; no improvement is possible beyond this!

Resupply from HQ

Roll 3 red dice after each battle, and add an extra die if you won the encounter (i.e. you were the last side left on the battlefield or "won" the mission).
For every:

Blank = 2 credits
Focus = 5 credits
Hit = 10 credits
Critical = 15 credits, plus roll an extra die.

Resupply credits can be used to fix ships, buy new equipment and reload ordnance, or just be kept in the equipment store ready for a rainy day.

Repair and Refit

If a ship with shields has lost them all, then the shield generator has been overloaded and burned out. This costs 5 credits to repair. Alternatively, at a cost of 1 credit the shields can be jury-rigged; if jury-rigged shields sustain a critical hit, they immediately burn out and the critical hit is applied to the ship. Normal hits (including as part of the same attack) are still blocked by shields as normal. Jury rigged shields can be repaired properly between battles for 5 points.

All ships with partial shield damage recover them fully.

Hull points can be repaired at 5 credits per hull point.

Critical hits cost an additional 5 credits each to repair, unless they destroy an upgrade card, in which case that upgrade is destroyed instead and must be replaced (the hull damage still needs to be paid for though).

Repairs and refits to captured ships not of your faction cost double (you don’t have the parts!)

Injured pilots (escaped injured or sustained a Pilot critical) must miss the next battle while they recover from their wounds.

New pilots may be recruited between battles at the following cost:

PS1: 1 credit

PS2: 3 credits

PS3: 6 credits

PS4: 10 credits.

Ships in your hangar may be fitted with upgrade cards between battles at the usual cost for that upgrade. Most cards can be freely purchased – any spare parts dealer on most backwater worlds will have them in stock somewhere.

Unique cards are available, but you have to be very lucky to find one! If you want to purchase any unique card, roll three red dice. If you roll all criticals, the item is available. If not, it isn’t. You can only try to buy one unique upgrade after each battle.

The following cards, once fitted to a ship, are permanent:

1. Modifications
2. System Upgrades
3. Titles (note that the "A-Wing Test Pilot" title is not available in this campaign)

The following cards may be freely swapped around between ships that can use them:

1. Astromechs / salvaged astromechs
2. Crew
3. Turrets
4. Illicits

The following upgrades use special rules.

Torpedoes:

When a ship is first given a torpedo upgrade, it is assumed to be fitted with torpedo tubes, and can use any torpedo type from then on. Reloads are paid for at 2 points less than the usual cost for that torpedo type. This means that a ships with torpedo tubes can always fire flechette torpedoes at no extra cost.

The Bomb Loadout card, once equipped, may not be changed. Extra Munitions, once paid for, can be removed and refitted to other ships for free.

Missiles:

When a ship is first given a missile upgrade, it is assumed to be fitted with missile rails, and can use any missile type from then on. Reloads are paid for at 3 points less than the usual cost for that missile type. This means that a ship with missile rails can always fire Ion Pulse Missiles or Proton Rockets at no extra cost.

If an A-Wing receives a Chardaan refit, this is a permanent modification and cannot be changed later.

Bombs:

When a ship is first given a bomb upgrade, it is assumed to be fitted with a bomb launcher, and can use any bomb type from then on. Reloads are paid for at 2 points less than the usual cost for that bomb type. This means that a ships with a bomb launcher can always use seismic charges at no extra cost.

Cannon:

Once a cannon is fitted, it remains fitted to that ship, but may be removed after a battle and fitted to a different ship at a cost of 2 points less than its original cost. This means that a flechette cannon can be removed and refitted free.

Special case: The Scyk interceptor is designed to be modular, and is not subject to the above rules. Once the “Heavy Scyk” title is chosen, then any cannon, missile or torpedo may be fitted free to that ship as long as you have one available, and the upgrade type may be changed between battles.

Scrapping ships

You can cannibalise any damaged ship for parts instead of repairing it – you might wish to do this if you have a ship that has lost so many hull points that it would be cheaper to buy a new one than repair it (Y-Wings especially are prone to this, as I found out to my cost!). Roll a single red die to see what’s salvageable:

Blank = 2 credits worth of scrap metal.

Focus = 5 credits of spare parts

Hit = 10 credits of good stuff for the workshop

Critical = 15 credits worth of valuable wiring, weapon mounts, and armour panels. Even the furry dice aren’t too badly scorched.

New ship costs and special rules

The cost stated is for a brand new ship with no upgrades and no pilot.

REBEL

X-Wing: 19 points

Y-Wing: 16 points

A-Wing: 16 points (14 if taken with Chardaan refit, which is permanent)

B-Wing: 20 points

E-Wing: 26 points

HWK-290: 14 points

Z-95: 11 points

YT-1300: 26 points (maximum of 1 only, and no named pilots may be taken for this ship)

YT-2400: 28 points (maximum of 1 only)

IMPERIAL

TIE Fighter: 10 points

TIE Interceptor: 17 points. (If the Royal Guard TIE upgrade is chosen, then the ship may only be flown by PS4 or better pilots from that point on.)

TIE Defender: 29 points

TIE Bomber: 14 points

TIE Advanced: 19 points

TIE Phantom: 22 points

Firespray-31: not available (it’s a Scum and Villainy ship!)

Lambda class shuttle: 19 points (maximum of 1 only)

VT-49 Decimator: 37 points (maximum of 1 only)

SCUM & VILLAINY

Z-95: 11 points

Y-Wing: 16 points

HWK-290: 14 points

M3-A Interceptor: 12 points (14 if taken with Heavy Scyk title)

Starviper: 24 points

Firespray-31: 30 points (maximum of 1 only)

Aggressor: not available (no flesh-and-blood pilot would be able to fly the ship).

Strictly speaking, it is my campaign system, not TC's. It has been posted here in the past.

How was it received?

Was the onus for keeping track of details placed on a single representative like a TO or did each player keep track of their own details?

Is the game played strictly as 1v1s or are there scenarios for multiplayer?

Is each player required to have an epic ship in order to participate?

Are existing unique pilot abilities purchasable by XP or only EPTs?

Quite well. The first iteration only lasted a single turn, but that was because we found a large number of things that needed to be changed. Originally I had an entirely original system for recon and capital ships (this was before we had any epic material), and the players quickly found ways to break it, as they will do. The second run had 12 players and lasted 7-8 turns as I recall. Several players, including myself, wrote up some of the battles as if they were RPG encounters. We learned a lot and tweaked the system on the fly.

I acted as TO and kept an eye on everything, but players were responsible for maintaining their own Squadrons. We also appointed COs and XOs whose duties includes double checking Squadrons for their players. We put together several spreadsheets that made things considerably easier.

All the battles are 1v1, as this is how FFG constructed the scenarios. You could certainly run some of the bigger missions with multiple players per side though. For us, it was just more difficult to get more people online at the same time for 2v1 or 2v2, etc.

I would say as long as you have access to the necessary epic ships, you should be good to go. Bear in mind I ran my campaigns via Vassal, where we did not have to worry about our physical collections.

Pilot abilities on existing unique pilots are not purchasable. Generic pilots can only gain pilot abilities that are on EPTs or generic crew cards. This keeps unique pilots, well, unique and relevant beyond their usual high PS (and makes it hurt if you lose one). It also prevents heavy abuse cases (they are all Biggs, which one can I shoot?!?).

This sounds really cool, I'd love to have a go at running it in my local area! Have you considered different scenarios?