[NGTM-1R]

THIS IS...where I chatter about how you develop a campaign and you all tell me how much bull**** my method is.


Sometime in early 2009: a concept called Small Victories occurs to me and I write it down.

Sometime in mid-2010: the computer on which the Small Victories concept is stored goes belly-up.

December 16th: reconstruction begins. Coincidentally, so does troubles with the cable caused by someone crashing into the cable box at the top of the hill.

Small Victories is, in essence, two campaigns in one, as it has two viewpoints. (Something I've toyed with as a concept for about three years.) Unlike more ambitious ideas, these are both on the same side, following two different units.

It descends from earlier concepts I had for a post-Capella Shivan incursion, but has a couple of important additions that will probably become apparent as time goes on.

December 27: I post about if for the first time, omg.

December 31st: Post part of a Fiction Viewer bit.

Small Victories is divided into two parts, representing the two viewpoints. The first is the Ross 128 System Defense Force. The second is 9th Fleet. They are currently subtitled, as separate campaigns (which they may not be by the time I get around to release). The work is intended to be more of a history than a conventional story; showing off the tactics, methods, and events rather than driven by characters. (The fiction viewer will probably used a good bit.) As of this point, nothing has been FREDded. As things are FREDded/written I'll add pretty pictures and other drivel. 

Small Victories
Ross 128 SDF: This is the way the world doesn't end.
7 missions, subject to change.
Firestorm; First response.
Breakdowns; Because Derelict's "Narly cues the riot" wasn't enough.
Running Ragged: It's not fun trying to hold back the Shivans, you know.
Holding The Door Open; You want reinforcements, they have to be able to get to you.
Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil: Resupply operations.
The Heart of the Problem: The SD Set.
Riposte: Lose Last Post Station, but win the war.

9th Fleet: Wars are not won by defensive action.
7 missions, subject to change.
Boots And Saddles; Arrival in style.
Strike Circuit (3 mission red-alert); Demonstrating the power of subspace mobility.
Chase Action: Always leave your opponent the appearance of a way out.
Strangelove's Lament: Usually, there's more to victory than holding the field. But not always.
The Bomb: Node Disruptor Weapon #7 does its thing. But not where it was expected to.

[CommanderDJ]

This sounds awesome. Good luck with development!

[Snail]

Good luck

[TopAce]

But where's the story? Is this simply a sequence of loosely connected missions?

[Snail]

I assume the story is interwoven between two otherwise self-contained perspectives.

[Mort]

Sounds like bull.

Just kidding. Good luck with it

[NGTM-1R]

But where's the story? Is this simply a sequence of loosely connected missions?

You get that as it's done.

[NGTM-1R]

So I've been prodding away at some of the missions in FRED but nothing screenshotworthy yet. Here's something though.

Combat experience from the Second Incursion and GTVA wargaming have consistently pointed to a single fact: the first two weeks of the next Shivan invasion will decide the conflict. If the GTVA cannot rapidly defeat the initial incursion and seal the entry point with a Node Collapser Weapon then there is every reason to believe that Shivan logistical superiority will win the battle, wearing the GTVA down in attritional combat even without the intervention of the juggernaut fleet.

To this end, any detected Shivan incursion must be responded to vigorously. Though the Fleet Initiatives passed immediately post-Capella have just started to produce usable logistics facilities to support it, current GTVA war plans anticipate committing all GTVA warships and fightercraft squadrons to battle within one and a half weeks of the alarm being given. At this time the logistical thread by which the fleet would hang, all packed into one system, is quite slender, and shortages of munitions and personnel will probably result. Nonetheless, this "do or die" approach to the next incursion is believed to hold the greatest chance of success.

In the event of a Codeword Firestorm situation, all GTVA ships and fighters are expected to drop everything and report to their staging areas at once. Further orders will be issued there. Orders related to Project Golem are the only ones which supersede Firestorm.

[Dilmah G]

Hmm, that's interesting. But really? Committing everything? A good Commander always has a force reserve; or by committing is this also taking into account committing forces to force reserve for the campaign?

[NGTM-1R]

Hmm, that's interesting. But really? Committing everything? A good Commander always has a force reserve; or by committing is this also taking into account committing forces to force reserve for the campaign?

The GTVA has to win, and win big, immediately; in essence duplicate the early successes of the Nebular Campaign from FS2. Operationally the role of reserve would be held by the continuously-arriving stream of reinforcements as well as units currently resupplying or too badly damaged to be committed to the front line, so they are not without options. But to put it into perspective, you have five seconds to kill someone or they will, with absolute certainty, kill you; holding back to combat an "if" is unappealing as they are pitted against the ultimate and utterly final "when".

[Dilmah G]

Hmm, I see, that makes sense. Are contingencies going to be explored? I mean, surely there are going to be some potential issues in getting everything there?

[NGTM-1R]

Hmm, I see, that makes sense. Are contingencies going to be explored? I mean, surely there are going to be some potential issues in getting everything there?

That's actually the point of one of the missions.

[Dilmah G]

Ah, well then, fair enough.

[Snail]

Shivan Commander Bob looked over teh kaptured battleplans.

Okay he said let's send 1 Cain into this node here and send everything else on the other side of teh galaxy lolololol they wont be expecting that !!!!



Not sold on the "send everything at once!!!!1" plan.

[NGTM-1R]

Not sold on the "send everything at once!!!!1" plan.

If the next Shivan contact is intentionally initiated by the Shivans, everyone is dead. There's no way around that. The GTVA can't fight the Shivans stand-up so if the Shivans arrive with the intention of a stand-up fight, it's time to pull a Hudson and scream "GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER" then bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. The GTVA does have a plan for that eventuality, which basically involves sectioning themselves off using Node Collapser Weapons at key points.

However, the Shivans appear to stumble through the door and look around before they call in an orbital strike to kill everyone in the building. The GTVA is planning to kill them after they come in the door but before they call the strike, because that's A: the most likely option in their experience, and B: the only scenario they can currently do anything about.

_{They're also cheating a little, but I'm not saying much about that yet.}

[Snail]

What happen if the Shivans come in from multiple fronts like in FS1?

[NGTM-1R]

What happen if the Shivans come in from multiple fronts like in FS1?

We don't actually know that they did. We know that by the time the GTA realized (or at least formally acknowledged) they were already striking pretty deep into Terran space, but several things predicate against that happening again. The GTVA realizes the danger now; during the Terran-Vasudan War the Shivans essentially attacked via the "unengaged" side of Terran space. They could hit hard and strike deeply because there was nothing there to provide a warning or a defense, and by the time anyone realized their danger they were already heavily engaged on multiple fronts. In essence it was a classic demonstration of how to conduct blitzkrieg: find a hole in the enemy lines, and drive your main force through. By the time your opponent realizes what's happened, you're everywhere. The GTVA has vested considerable effort in insuring this does not happen again.

Under the current situation the real nightmare scenario is that the Shivans will access a previously unknown node into a core as opposed to a frontier system, but all things considered the likelihood of multiple entry points is slim. And if it does happen, we're back to the Shivans probably intentionally staged this at which point you bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. That said, there's more than one NCW hull. (About fifteen, in fact.) You could, in theory, react to and try to close multiple near-simultaneous entry points. It's a tossup whether the GTVA would actually attempt to do so and would depend greatly on the level of contact and the likelihood they'll be able to locate the entry points. If the Shivans suddenly appeared in two separate systems without unexplored nodes known, the GTVA will, at the least, sacrifice one of them by using NCWs on its nodes. They might simply proceed directly to Operational Contingency Solitary.

[ShadowWolf_IH]

I think that given the arguements all forces would end up moblizing and being committed strategically, with some forces being held in reserve tactically.  If I am reading things right, that's where both of you were heading, just getting there on different roads. 

Given the scenario here, I think it very likely that the GTVA will not attempt a defensive war.  Well entrenched as they may be, the Shivans can still destroy entire systems.  This alone shifts planning from a defensive war to an offensive war footing.  In this offensive war, the goal isn't the destruction of the Shivans, but is instead a getting to the door and slamming it shut, then worrying about the Shivans who are here.  This being the primary strategy of this campaign, I can easily see committing everything.  Committing everything to the conflict does not mean committing everything to every engagement.  Like snail said, a good commander will hold forces in reserve.

Just because they are in tactical reserve does not mean that they are not committed to the conflict strategically.  I can see forces being sent to slow the Shivans, while others are sent to close the door, while yet others are held in reserve to reinforce a front that will win.  These forces would never be committed to reinforce an engagement that has already placed the GTVA in a disadvantage.  Basically, in this kind of a war, you don't reinforce a bad position and look for victory, you send out enough force to hold your enemy while you tactically retreat, giving him ground.  You become Russia. Give enough ground fast enough and Generals January and February close the door.  Once the door is closed you strike at logistics that are stretched thin because the advance was so much faster than was planned for.  In this instance the reserve force can act as light cav using speed and mobility to wreak havoc in the backfield, then you win.