Just thinking, board at work (sorry for pun) ...

Since FFG took over we have:

• easier to play game with new rules & equipment cards
• 1st 3 Factions evenly fleshed out (in qty)
• the 4th Faction being introduced
• 7 map options including Operation Hinansho
• more scenarios available through the expansions (always had plenty with fan resources though)
• a campaign in Daedalus (although not favored by all)
• numerous player-created resources such as custom characters & maps (had this for a while too)

But I guess i want something 'more' ... not so much in quantity, but I guess as far as cohesiveness maybe? I love everything made & released for this game, but it seems fractured to me. We have a lot of stuff that all relates to everything else ( somehow ...Asteros was tough sell on theme to a couple friends lol), but it feels like its missing something that unifies everything....like an over-encompassing story? So i'm excited to hear of the upcoming novel, and although Heroquest is the closest i've come to playing an RPG , I would give it a shot if this game had one created for it. So i suppose I'm talking about Theme here.

imo there's PLENTY of 'stuff' out already for there to be enough to keep those who play it only occasionally satisfied - it really takes a long time to play ALL the characters available, with all their packs, on all the maps, in all the modes & scenarios...I wish my mathy friend was around who'd have the equation and large number of iterations that indicates high replayability. Also there IS a fair amount of backstory for characters, certain events, etc. I'm happy with that!

I'd be HAPPIER though if there was a 'mode' where you played a metagame made up of several missions/games - using all characters of a faction and several maps. Where Heroes don't reset after each game - they upgrade to stronger/better gear, get promotions (initiative Ranks), acheive awards (Medals, etc). Hero lives - he gets better. Hero dies, he's gone from the campaign. We have enough characters & maps to do this now (although more is always appreciated!). I have no idea mechanically how it would be done, and yeah if Heizinger survives a few missions he would be pretty hard to take down...but that could be balanced out somehow, im sure. It would just be fun to start off with say MacNeal with just a Colt .45, his Nighteyes, and maybe the Boxing ability...then end up with a Flash Gun, combat medals, promotions and who knows what else he picked up during the course of the games. The lead characters like MacNeal & Heizinger generally have more stuff like medals and ranks and extra equipment available they can earn...but i guess that's why they're the 'leaders'?

Through the campaign, the overall story could be told, from each faction's side. And/Or one for Union & Matriarchy vs Reich & Shogunate (which i'm hoping there is some attempt at this in Hinansho). Or peice together existing scenarios in a story arc that focuses on individual characters, adding a couple scenarios for continuity maybe.

Failing that though, I'd be just be satisfied with 2 more Shogunate heroes and another mercenary counterpart to Gorgei.

Does anyone else want something like this or even something else in a meaningful direction with the Tannhauser line? Or just more of the one-off game experience? Not that there's anything wrong with that! (i'm assuming in the Tannhauser Fan Forum Bubble, we all want more of something for this game

Operation Daedalus had a short campaign which is closer to the idea you have. Otherwise, I agree, a longer, story-driven campaign would be great. The background could also be better fleshed out. Despite all the information in it, huge holes remain such as the details about what started the war! A campaign which filled that information in would be ideal.

I'd also like to see more cohesiveness to the rules - I feel the rules themselves are quite fractured. Its often unclear how abilities interact with each other and some of the answers we get only create more confusion.

New high quality content is always good as well =)

Let me give you guys a quick bit on my RPG I'm running.

We have 6 players, each have made Tannhauser custom characters- and are quite awesome in my opinion.

For advacement I've settled on a two ideas:

Begin play with at least 1 pack

-form other packs as you progress.

-gain bonus tokens by collecting them from corpses of bad guys.

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My rpg system which is still a work in progress uses 4 stats, and those combine to form the tannhauser battle stats.

Any "test" or duel works just like the game using 4 dice and counting successes

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For story I've been borrowing heavily from what is already printed and adding a few new things I've been toying with.

-The attack on Csechtahowa by the Matriarchy to acquire the Black Madonna

-Heizinger acquiring the Patmos amulet and the creation of the first Stosstruppen

-Rasputin summoning the spirits who will inhabit the power suit Zorka and her sisters

-The Union's discovery of the Roswell incident

-The realization of the Han'ei Project (Iroh and Itami)

-introducing a new enemy faction for the heroes and it's nemesis who will serve as their point of contact

-a zepplin/train ride where all hell breaks loose

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I have been having a lot of fun with it, although we've only gotten our second session in (we're heading to see the birth of Zorka)

It would be nice to have a resource for ideas of puzzles and interaction scenes, since the combat i feel is already where I want it.

I'm hoping to do a write up for Miah's blog, but writing new material each week is already taking a lot of my time lol =)

The main problem with the current version of the lore is that we don't have a big picture of the world.

We don't know what exactly the Union is (Is it the United States, or the named of the Allied forces ?), how the power blocs came into existence, how global is the war (is the european front the only one ?), etc. Much like in the classic war movies we only have a tiny fraction of the information, the one needed to play the game and it make me sad.

Worse the only attempt a starting to fill the holes was the Take on You chronology which was badly mistreated by FFG back then. Thus I have high hopes tha the novel will help fill some holes...

Plageman wrote: The main problem with the current version of the lore is that we don't have a big picture of the world.

Agreed. Tannhauser is a small-scale skirmish game and most of the lore has been focused on the same scale or on specific characters. It seemed that TOY had a bigger picture in mind, especially when you consider some of the items in the chronology, but unfortunately, most of that bigger picture remains in the dark for us.

Plageman wrote: We don't know what exactly the Union is...

I consider it to be the US based on what we know of its governmental structure and the characters introduced thus far. I know others such as Miah consider it to be the alliance, and I picked up the game after TOY was defunct. Was there more information from TOY that hinted that the Union was the alliance itself?

Plageman wrote: how the power blocs came into existence...

It seems like the major players in the war are setup somewhat similarly as from our history, though the "web of alliances" that preceded WWI does not seem to exist in the Tannhauser world, or, at the least, was not as extensive at the start of the war.

Plageman wrote: how global is the war...

I've wondered that as well. It looks like we have an active European front which includes Eastern Europe and an active Asian front. I'm not so sure if there is an active American front or if battles there are limited to the occasional incursions that have been mentioned. Meanwhile, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica remain even bigger unknowns. I'm especially curious about the role (or lack thereof) of the Ottoman powers in the Tannhauser world.

Anyway, I had planned to post a brief excerpt from my Companion about the status of the factions at the start of the war as compared to their place in real life history, so this was a nice discussion. Thanks for that. Also, if there is interest on the Black Sheep Forums, we can try to arrange some translations of resources* from my Blog. I do not know any French, but maybe we can work it out with a combination of Babelfish and some helpful fans =)

*Probably not the Companion itself though... too much to type all over again!

Rhydderch said:

At least parts of Africa are in the hands of the Reich, as Egypt was succesfully invaded and Obscura Korps headquarters are located in Kairo. That´s what I learned from Heizinger´s entry in the rulebook.

And right, Ottoman powers would be really nice to know, since Turkey was allied with Germany in real WWI. I hope for their appeareance as a Reich-allied semi-faction someday.

Oh, and I forgot: In the old, french daedalus expansion rulebook are some maps showing power constellations in the Tannhäuser world. I´ll look them up to see if I can learn anything from them.

I love this community

I also find it amazing how there are followers and leaders in any community

Tannhauser is a fiction ........ help create it

-Nhoj

Katsuyori said:

Yup, there were a few incursions into Egypt earlier and the Reich holds Cairo. Even there, we do not know if its an active front that is still contested with current battles though it does sound like Cairo is firmly in the hands of the Reich since they moved the Obscura Korps HQ there.

As for the maps, I have the Daedalus maps and all the old JPC maps from the Black Sheep Forums. Those show a few key battles but still do not give a sense of the bigger picture. I think over time, they would have, but of course, FFG has not continued the JPC format. Miah also posted a series of maps which give a general sense of the power blocs. He was even kind enough to let me use those in my Companion! =)

Nhoj said:

Haha, well said! I actually have over 20 pages worth of custom background for Tannhauser. At the same time, I like my additions to fit into the context of the official material and its easier to do that if we have a wider view of the war, which is why I'm so interested in it =)

Rhydderch said:

Right so. Would you bother to share it?

Katsuyori said:

Sure, if there's interest. Remember, its background in my Companion format, so its comprised of mostly reference information instead of stories. Anyway, I need to get all the information for the regular (non-custom) Companion entered first. I have most of the information from the Shogunate releases typed up now but still need a few entries.

definitely interested in seeing the work diversionArchitect & Ryddererch have done

I hope they'll make new troops for the Union and Reich. We have enough heroes at the moment in my opinion and especially with the allied factions rules we'll be abel to create some very cool team set-ups. But I think the Union should get their melee oriented Omega troops and the Reich should get some kind of supportive troop, maybe some kind of demon with psychic powers or the ability to boost psychic powers.

that's what I want, but any new Tannhäuser material will be loved and appreciated.

Rhydderch said:

Lemme know if you need any input or info- I know I can't make my stuff look as pretty as yours =P

I have created some background rules for running campaigns and having this character development you are looking for. Miah posted them in his blog here

You get characters to keep items from defeated characters (only if the owner dies), characters evolve and also they start with worse stats than usual enabling a different initial balance whch I think can be really interesting.

Have a look at them and tell me what you think. The fluff is not there as the rules are meant to be universal, for any campaign/scenarios you can come up with.

Some of the ideas are loosely based on the GW Bloodbowl character advancement system. The main idea is to keep it simple, the whole campaign rules fit in two pages!

As I said, feedback welcome!