PBEM evolving into a strategic wargame!

Needed: Military analysts used to the outer space theater of operations. Familiarity with the Star Trek technology-lore helpful but not required. Fresh approaches to classic situations are desired.

Here is my situation. For the last year I have been running a Star Trek Deep Space Nine continuance in the pbem format. I have about four reliable players and two more that are intermitent. We picked up a year ago with a campaign that stated a few months after the end of the DS9 television series. The Cardassian Union was defeated in place, the Dominion restricted to their side of the wormhole, and the Breen back on their side of the line.

The players play key personnel in the spirit of DS9. One is a Romulan admiral called out of Senatorial service to become the Viceroy per say of the occupied lands. He commands a senatorial fleet (read: squadron) and a regular navy fleet (that is just arriving); we have Klingon brigadier commanding the 10th Expeditionary Fleet (27 warships) and a forward support base on a terrestrial planet called Ada. We also have a Gul Jak'Kar (Yes he was inspired by the B5 character of a similar name) that is our current commanding legate representing the Cardassian interim government until a pro-federation regime can be established. Finally we have two Starfleet captains, one commanding a galaxy-class cruiser, and the other commanding a heavily damaged excelsior-class cruiser. (The battle that damaged the excelsior was between it and an escorted Breen heavy cruiser - the Breen had ambushed a Cardassian patrol of four Galor cruisers and the Starfleet ship had responded coming to their aid - great fun!)

I am using the now-defunct Last Unicorn Games Star Trek series (predominately their Deep Space Nine materials) and material from the new Decipher game. For the strategic battles I am thinking about using the Traveller 4th edition Imperial Squadrons and Pocket Empires books. I would use the combined energy weapon attack strengths and shield strengths to determine attack and defending factors, use the missile strengths for bombardment factors, and apply losses to the combined hull points for the fleet. Then just apply them to the CRTs provided in the Traveller books.

The environment is very playable, players are making strategic decisions on deployment and intelligence collection. The results are then synthesized into a monthly narrative with the "intelligence" imbedded in the story for the players to filter out.

Originally the game was suppost to be a classic Star Trek soap opera set in the Gamma Quadrant as the players directed the exploration and the exploitation of the play environment. But just as the series did, it gravitated toward the geopolitical drama of having so many competing groups coming together in one spot.

Current Strategic Situation: The Breen have decided to withdraw from the Treaty of Bajor that requires them to pay war reparations to the Federation and its Alliance. The Breen have decided that is too stiff a penalty and have decided to renew their pressure on the Federation-Cardassian border. The Klingon Empire is politically unstable as it comes to terms with its former Chancellor's death in a duel and the ascendence of General Martok to the Chancellorship. The Cardassians are in the early stages of reorganizing and establishing a permanent government to replace the now defunct Central Command, squabbling abounds. The Romulans are not standing idle during all this and are poised to exert their own kind of organization to the floundering Cardassian situation. And finally the Federation and its Starfleet are no longer the Utopian Socialist Technocracy that they once were. They lost tens of millions in a single attack on Earth from the Breen and hundreds of millions during the war. The fleet is extremely stretched thin and the troops are tired and worn out. (Can you say: Korea in 1950?) Rumors are that the fleet lost between 1/3 to 2/3rds of the fleet in the war which started with approximately 8,000 commissoned starships.

Add to this I am adding two new races: a mysterious Insectoid race from beyond the Breen borders spinward of the Federation - not actually contacted yet. And an emergent warlike felonid race that is similar to the Kzinti/Aslan. This particular race I intend to use Traveller-like technology explaining why they are in the middle of the play area but are not a before mentioned major factor.

What I would like to do with those that are interested is develop dialogue on the inovations and strategies that would be imployed in a conflict such as this. Star Trek's Korean War so to speak.

This is my website supporting this campaign:

http://groups.msn.com/EpsilonStation/_homepage

The narratives are being featured at this website to in the Fan Fiction Section:

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/


Forgive me for violating the Mailing List with Trek material.

I hope to hear from some of you.





Bob Range
aka Olegamer
"So much to do, so little time to do it!"