Planetary invasions after Shoreridge III

[Xalphox]

Hi guys,

 

So one of the big changes of the Civil War arc is that we've pivoted from being a server that focused on running 4 formulaic missions a day to one that is more heavily focused on a coherent, player-driven narrative that focuses more on quality and roleplay at the expense of quantity. I'll be perfectly honest with you guys: I was pretty burnt out and if this didn't work out I was seriously considering handing SSTRP over to someone else or shutting down altogether - but I am delighted to say despite my fears and despite running fewer events our popularity has soared, and genuinely some of the best roleplay I've ever had on SSTRP has been in the last couple of weeks.

 

 

It was risky but I think it has paid off. Our story line, though guided so that there is a semblance of a grand plot, is no longer railroaded: the 6 factions of the civil war are led independently by 6 different people, each responsible for their own fleets (issuing orders ship-by-ship), their own economies and their own strategies, with the strategy of the Sixth mostly being governed by a council of all the commission officers on ship. Indeed - the outcome of the fleet battle earlier was never predetermined, and this weekend could have either been an invasion or a desperate defence.

 

 

As we move into a stage of the game where planetary invasions are more commonplace, I am looking to develop the game further: from next weekend (hopefully - I'm abroad this week in Japan but I get back next Friday) I am hoping to start distributing hexagon maps and spreadsheets that list our ground forces & support elements (see below) to Military Intelligence, who will be responsible for putting together our strategic invasion plan all the way from preparation (where they will do everything from research to possibly even dispatching Pathfinders ahead of time to perform recon/sabotage) to conclusion.

 

What this will mean in most circumstances (again though - it's not railroaded, so who knows what they'll come up with!) is that after an initial invasion where the Mobile Infantry have secured a beachhead, Military Intelligence officials will land shortly after and will direct and task the units under their command in a manner similar to RTS games like Hearts of Iron or Supremacy 1914 - including both NPCs and even the 112th. Once all of the hexagons are turned blue, the planet is ours (or if our beachhead is captured, we lose...)

 

So long story short: for all of you who have expressed an aspiration to take a greater part in the strategic side of the Civil War, I would say it's about the right time you apply to Intelligence. 

 

 

An example map: the ones we generate will use a style that is less goofy and more similar to atlases. 

 

 

ALSO JUST AN EXAMPLE. TRY NOT TO HAVE AN ANEURYSM, MILSIM NERDS.

 

[Deck]

Yes.
Yeeesss!
YEEESSS!
NICE! Amazing.
Oh, and one question, does this mean we can gather our senses after leaving the dropship and make plans instead of /me exits dropship and inmediatly runs whatever direction 

[Tonic]

4 minutes ago, Deck said:

Yes.
Yeeesss!
YEEESSS!
NICE! Amazing.
Oh, and one question, does this mean we can gather our senses after leaving the dropship and make plans instead of /me exits dropship and inmediatly runs whatever direction 

Short answer, yes.   You've always had that ability.

 

 

The long answer is that your NCO's are experienced players who typically know how to start a mission (even if their middle/finale could use work).  They know to quickly move from the dropships to avoid getting hit by enemies moving to the location they saw a troop transport settle down.

 

Intelligence will paint the missions in broad strokes, only giving specifics where needed (ex: land and head east, because that's where the objective rests), and leave all of the detailing to the MI CO & NCO staff.  The plan is to work together to create a magnificent crowdsourced painting rather than a self-portrait of the Intelligence officer who briefs the MI.

[Deck]

good, because I feel we really just need a quick "alright, troopers, circle around me and listen up" to make any plans and tell us exactly where we going and what should we expect, as sometimes it's just "drop leads divide and takes a squad each to follow them"

[Archer]

that's the NCOs to blame (if at all). how they run the drop should be entirely on them, nobody ever plays it slow because generations of NCOs saw the same thing with little variations - and it worked.

[Heresiarch Grimm]

Genuine question;

 

Will this eventually be expanded to WHICH planet we invade and if so, is the map that Jordan and I worked on going to be used given that it shows an abundance of planets and other useful info?

[Yuki || 日本語の悩み]

U go to Japan without me! -- Also, cool.

[El Excellente]

51 minutes ago, Lalatina said:

U go to Japan without me! -- Also, cool.

ur already awkwardly quirky enough, i don't think japan would do you any good

[Yuki || 日本語の悩み]

Just now, El Excellente said:

ur already awkwardly quirky enough, i don't think japan would do you any good

 -- Tru.

[Appetite Ruining Kebab]

1 hour ago, Heresiarch Grimm said:

Genuine question;

 

Will this eventually be expanded to WHICH planet we invade and if so, is the map that Jordan and I worked on going to be used given that it shows an abundance of planets and other useful info?

 

There's an advantage in not having a square map shoved directly into your attention span with all of it's million planets. The current map is easier to introduce newer/detached players to. If half of your playerbase can't comprehend the plot, you're better off having none at all.

[Heresiarch Grimm]

4 hours ago, Appetite Ruining Kebab said:

 

There's an advantage in not having a square map shoved directly into your attention span with all of it's million planets. The current map is easier to introduce newer/detached players to. If half of your playerbase can't comprehend the plot, you're better off having none at all.

I never said "Replace the paint blob map."

[El Excellente]

paint blob map is civil war only afaik

[Appetite Ruining Kebab]

Then I wouldn't mind using the square map for non-civil war purposes.

[Xalphox]

 

My first attempt, and I made it way too small, but this is an example of the sorts of maps we'll be getting. 

[Appetite Ruining Kebab]

*Planetside 2 Flashbacks*

[Xalphox]

Hey guys

 

Sorry for the delay - I was in Japan this week.

 

News is good: I've built up our first target for invasion, selected a tool that we'll be using for battle planning, assembled a list of units that will be at Intel's disposal and and I'll be running a town hall this evening around 4.30 PM EST (or 9.30 PM GMT) to discuss everything around this.

 

[F r a n c o]

wtf tool is that?????

 

[El Excellente]

2 minutes ago, F r a n c o said:

wtf tool is that?????

 

one thats easy to use

[F r a n c o]

Just now, El Excellente said:

one thats easy to use

as per usual SW is incredibly useful, tyvm

[Brand1065]

As a lover of RTS. I praise you.

[Xalphox]

So this first iteration was not quite as successful as I was hoping for - things bottle-necked around Franco and Grimm more than I would have liked which caused stagnation whereas I would have preferred strategic decisions, particularly around what the 112th were doing, to have been made in-game with the input of the command staff & the NCOs. But this is new for us - we've been blessed that the transition to the civil war model of SSTRP thus far has been relatively painless, but there it was guaranteed that there would at some point be teething problems.

 

I'm going to make another attempt this week - but this time I'm going to lead it personally on General Larsen and make it more inclusive, starting with a war council tonight, and culminating in regular round tables with Sgts+ around a command tent (or something similar) whilst on planet to work out our next steps. GnT will instead be given NPC battalions to control, with clear but separate objectives on other parts of the map. Another thing I'd like to consider is having individual admins take control of OPFOR battalions to serve as opponents to GnT.

 

Furthermore I've also FFRL to kick themselves into drive - some of the technology that they have the ability to research would be extremely valuable to the war effort.