Any new games starting ??

[kato13]

hawke 07-24-2005, 07:52 AM Greetings all


Its been a while since I last played Twilight 2000 but I loved the story and background behind it and was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a game. (Probably an online one considering im in Australia)


Cheers

Scott

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ReHerakhte 07-24-2005, 11:18 PM G'Day Scott.

Where abouts in Australia are you? I'm in Perth.


Cheers,

Kevin

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hawke 07-25-2005, 04:41 AM Hi Kevin


Always good to see another Aussie. Perth here for me too.


Cheers

Scott

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Targan 10-14-2005, 02:22 AM I know the initial post was some months ago, but I have just joined these forums. I am considering starting a fresh T:2000 game, and I have already spoken briefly on-line to ReHerakhte about this. I am in Perth, too.

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ChalkLine 10-27-2005, 07:33 PM Are you guys thinking of running the game set here in Oz?

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Targan 10-28-2005, 12:04 AM Now there is a thought. Hmm. I shall ponder this idea awhile. I don't recall having run or played in any games set in Australia before, and I've been RPGing since about 1982!

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kcdusk 10-28-2005, 12:28 AM I have thought about doing this a number of times.


But ...


It always seems easier to be in Poland shooting Russions.


Call me racist, but i find it harder to "see" anarchy breaking out in australia to the point of shootings, little own full-blown fire fights. Who would we be shooting, but other Aussies?


Unless you have the Russians or some other coming in un-invited, I cant envision an australian based game. Thats why i play an australian, fighting in Poland!

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Targan 10-28-2005, 12:38 AM Yup, I hear you. I have run T:2000 games set in Poland/Ukraine/Germany/UK, the Middle East, Norway/Finland/Russia, California, the US East Coast, the Carribean, and Texas/Mexico. But never here. Jeez, some big fun could be had playing Sabre Teams from the Regiment conducting operations in the Kimberley/NT/PNG/Indonesia. And there were ANZAC troops operating in the Twilight War in Vietnam and Korea as well. Think East Timor, but with the AO expanded a hundred fold and the rules of engagement somewhat less stringent!

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ReHerakhte 10-28-2005, 05:20 AM Well you Sons Of ANZAC, Twilight did imply that Aussie and the Indos would be having a bit of a stoush so... :blueflag:


Cheers,

Kevin

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Targan 10-28-2005, 07:55 AM The yellowcake used to make the uranium for the first atomic bombs was mined in South Australia. Granted, nukes suck if you are on the receiving end, but it seems dumb for Australia to have the world's largest accessible yellowcake reserves and make virtually no use of uranium. It stands to reason that in the Twilight environment, the Indos would pose a greatly reduced threat if every island in their archipelago was uniformly flat and coated with glass. And many parts of their country currently don't even have street lighting, so it would solve that problem, too. Come to think of it, Malaysia has had a few unkind words to say about Australia in the past. And Singapore keeps looking at us funny. No, wait, I'm getting carried away.

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ChalkLine 10-28-2005, 03:56 PM Indonesia is not to be sneered at, and has many unique strengths and weaknesses, I'm not sure how well Oz would do against the Indonesians in a general engagement.

There is a LOT of them, and the army is a caste in itself with good morale. If Indonesia was secure in provinces such as Aceh it could amass a lot of seasoned, ruthless troops who have a lot of experience in dealing with insurgency. Their heavier assets are light in comparison with powers such as the US but are mobile and often well coordinated. Their command structure is extremely prone to infighting and rivallry, and this can extend far down into individual units. The army can summon large amounts of semi-trained militia that have negligible discipline but are savage in their dealings with the enemy. Second rank Indonesian troops are not known for caring for their equipment or discipline, and even elite troops sometimes treat their gear badly (I know a clearance diver that taught the Indonesian Navy, he was amazed to find that most of the men he trained were alive a year later.) The very lightness of the bulk of the army's equipment allows it to be moved quickly, and there's no saying that an Indonesian Rommel may not arise (although he'd probably get snared in the political mire that usually dissipates the army's energy)

If the restraining influence of the US and UN was removed, Indonesia is prone to sudden strange actions that seem hard to detect diplomatically that come from internal pressures (Malaysia has this facet as well). The rich resources in the Timorese gulf and the North West Shelf are an extremely tempting target, while the mainland itself isn't very appetising operations could be undertaken there to interdict Australian troops mobilising, the obvious areas of action would have to be Darwin and Broome.

Of course, this is where Australia and the US pointedly exercise in a show of what unfortunate results may arise should anyone pop in from the north unanounced. Perhaps something clever could be undertaken to stage a premptive blow or the possibility that forces are elsewhere and the political climate has changed markedly and permanently to remove or minimilise alliances.

I'm not saying that this would happen, but as a scenario it's not farfetched and wouldn't be a bad basis for a setting.

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ReHerakhte 10-28-2005, 06:52 PM To add to what Chalkline mentioned, the port of Dampier (in Western Australia) is a major centre of iron ore exporting and considering that Western Australia generates a massive percentage of the GNP, hitting such facilities would put economic strain on the nation.

While it would be pretty pointless trying to capture or damage the facilities there in the beginning, (I've been posted there on exercises and just securing the place was a major operation - typical sabotage attempts would likely just result in annoyance damage that could be repaired quickly given the maintenance infrastructure they already have in place), sinking a loaded ore carrier or two in the harbour approaches would be a significant problem that would render the port ineffective for months.


Other areas of interest would be Port Hedland, which also has ore loading facilities and is the site of the Harold Holt Communications base, a facility used by the US for submarine communications.


The advantage the Indonesians have is massive numbers and a proven infiltration technique (illegal fishing in Australian waters, in the recent past, an Indonesian army officer was 'detained' after he was found 'wandering' in this region of Western Australia, he had water and food but he hadn't entered via any of the normal means, the consensus being that he came ashore from a fishing boat illegally in Aussie waters) while the problem the Australians have is a huge area to patrol and a small force to do it.

The few benefits the Aussies have are that the Indos at that time have no long-range aircraft besides cargo planes and their navy isn't as technically advanced as the RAN, plus the Jindalee Over-The-Horizon radar would probably be pushed forward to completion to monitor the region.


And as pointed out, the scenario is not far fetched, the Indonesians invaded East Timor shortly after the Portuguese gave the territory it's freedom, they also invaded West Papua (renaming it Irian Jaya) because they needed (as the Nazis claimed in the 1930s) 'living room' for their people and more resources. There has been talk in the past from Indonesia that they considered Singapore, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Borneo and the Phillipines as part of a Greater Indonesia.


Cheers,

Kevin

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ChalkLine 10-29-2005, 01:25 AM While I don't have any up to date info on Indonesian Military capabilities, here's a summary from the 1981 Janes 'Millitaries of the World';


AFVs:

M3A1 (USA) x100

AMX-13 (France) X150

PT-76 (USSR) x75


RVs:

Saladin (UK) x75

Ferret (UK) x55


APCs:

AMX-VCI (France) x??

Saracen (UK) x??

V-150 Commando (USA) x60

BTR-40/60/152 (USSR) x130


Artillery

122mm M1938 (USSR) x??

105mm M56 (USA) x40

76mm (USSR) x50

57mm S-60 AA (USSR) +

40mm AA (USA-Sweden) x200


AT

106mm M40A1 RCL (USA) x??

ENTAC ATGW (France) x??


Mortars

120mm M43 (USSR) +

81mm M1937 (USSR) x200

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ReHerakhte 10-29-2005, 07:30 PM By the 1990s they had dumped some stuff from inventory and replaced it with more modern equipment (typically supplied by France!) although there is little information to show if it was scrapped or put into storage.

So to add to ChalkLine's list...


AFVs

M3A1 no longer in service


RVs

AMX-10 PAC90 (France) for the Marines

Commando Scout (USA)


APCs

BTR40 modified for Internal Security duties

AMX-10P (France) for the Marines

BTR50 also in service with Marines

ACMAT VBLA (France) in Police service (police are para-military)

Commando Ranger (USA)

Condor (Germany) possibly for Internal Security duties


Artillery

76mm M48 Mountain Gun (Yugoslavia)

76mm M1942 Field Gun (the Soviet 76mm mentioned by ChalkLine)

105mm Light Gun (United Kingdom)

105mm Mk 61 SPG

105mm M101 Howitzer (USA)

122mm M1938 Howizter also in Marine service



And it's worth remembering that Indonesia has licences to manufacture or shares manufacture of, helicopters (Eurocopter) and aircraft (CASA) as well as having at one time produced their own copies of the Browning HP pistol, Beretta SMGs and some rifles. Also, some time in the 1990s they bought a massive number of the former East German naval fleet. However, most reports indicate that they didn't have the personnel to crew or maintain the vessels and whether they actually had them delivered to Indonesia or not requires a few references that I don't have! The most significant aspect of the former Volksmarine fleet for Australia is the amphibious warfare ships.


Cheers,

Kevin

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jtr 10-31-2005, 04:02 AM G'day,


A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of this thread.


I also live in Perth, Western Australia. If we have four or five people why don't we see if we can get a round-the-table game going?


I currently run several T2k PBEM campaigns over on Yahoo Groups, but I'd love to get back into face-to-face gaming.


Cheers


John

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Targan 11-01-2005, 12:06 AM Yup I'm keen, but I am a much better GM than player, and I would much rather run a game using Gunmaster than any of the Twilight systems as Gunmaster does a far, far better job of presenting realistic combat. You guys need to see it to believe it. It rocks. Just the character sheets alone are works of art, and provide levels of detail that would make most of us military minded types drool.


Having said that, I mostly use T:2000's rules for vehicle combat, and use all the setting material.

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jtr 11-01-2005, 03:16 AM G'day,


I'm a GM of LOOOONNGGGGGGG experience but I'm happy to sit back and let someone else do the work.


I personally prefer the 2.2 rules. I have a whole swag of house rules which I've developed over the years. I've never heard of the gunmaster rules but I'm certainly willing to have a look at them.


What sort of campaign were you thinking of?


I sent you a message off list, so you have my email. Please feel free to contact me to discuss times and places.


Cheers


John

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Targan 11-01-2005, 03:55 AM Hello, John. I can not access my private messages at the moment. Hopefully that will be resolved before too long. I only joined these forums recently but no doubt by now many readers will be sick of me going on about the glories of Gunmaster. It is a fantastic set of house rules developed by my friend Warflail, whose site Warflail.com has the Gunmaster rules available for download. Gunmaster is a rules extension for Harnmaster, which is the basic system I use. It is a mediaeval RPG system, but with Gunmaster makes one of the best modern day systems I have ever used. I would compare the various T:2000 rules as being about as complicated as Runequest or Call of Cthulu, but Gunmaster, while not being much slower to use in combat resolution, does a much better job of things. When you say a GM of lonmg experience, how long do you mean? I have been GMing T:2000 since I was about 14, and I am 34 now.

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jtr 11-01-2005, 04:14 AM G'day,


Sorry to hear about your email woes.


I have read the Harnmaster system. I have a friend who has it but I've never played it.


Most of my rule tweaks to T2K have been to even out the differences between PCs and NPC and make it more deadly.


As for GMing, my first RPG was the original black book Traveller. I bought it when it came out in 1977 or early 1978, just after Star Wars came out. I remember standing in line in City Arcade to go and see the movie! I was 42 last Saturday.


I've been GMing T2K since I became aware of it in the early 90s. It was and is my favourite RPG.


Cheers


John

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Targan 11-01-2005, 04:27 AM OK, you've been RPGing longer than me! I started playing when I was about 11, I think, with Basic D&D (embarassing I know). I played heaps of the original black book Traveller, absolutely loved it! Great that you have read Harnmaster, so will will already know that it is a system of great quality, even if you have not played it. You want deadly, Gunmaster is it. You tend to accept in Harnmaster and Gunmaster that if your character survives a serious injury, they will be impaired for the rest of their lives. In previous posts in these forums I have explained that my current player group depress me, because they play a bunch of psychos and half the time I spend roleplaying NPCs being tortured, and it is no fun to RP begging for your life for half an hour at a time. When I play (which is very rarely) I like to play good guys, not war criminals.

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jtr 11-01-2005, 04:59 AM G'day,


It's not really a competition, but I have been doing it a while. It seems like our generation are the roleplayers. After monopoly but before computer games. Most kids these days seem to be playing computer games or roleplaying through online games. Books and dice are more our thing.


I've still got all my Traveller stuff! I never sell anything or throw anything away. My place is packed to the gunwales with books and games and figures.


As for T2K I try to find a balance between playability and realism. I'm pretty happy with my version of 2.2. Unfortunately it's all in margin notes rather than written out in a document or I'd send them on. I have the character generation changes which I usually post to my PBEMs.


As for your war criminal players, I'd have to say that I'd personally blow them off. I did the chaotic evil thing when I was 17. It holds absolutely no interest for me at 42. I'd rather not play than play with a bunch of concentration camp guards. I'm not saying that my characters are all sweetness and light, or that bad things don't happen in my campaigns, but my characters see themselves as forces for good and reconstruction not perpetuators of the darkness and chaos of war.


Cheers


John

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kcdusk 11-01-2005, 05:01 AM Targan


This Gunmaster you talk about, is it Bill Gants Harnmaster site?


If not, can you post a link. I'd like to take a look?

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kcdusk 11-01-2005, 05:10 AM Answering my own question, yes, looks like it! Just downloaded GunmasterGold.

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Targan 11-01-2005, 05:20 AM Excellent! Let me know what you think of those rules. The Gunmaster rules I use are mostly like Gunmaster Gold, but I use an older version of Harnmaster than Harnmaster Gold (although I do own a copy). I think you will find my name (Geoff Semple) somewhere in the Gunmaster credits. I helped write them, as well as the old Harnmaster II house rules, and provided some of the artwork.

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jtr 11-01-2005, 05:32 AM G'day,


I shall have get my friend's Harn rules off him and go back over them.


You should have told us you had an 'interest' in the rules! :]


I'm actually trolling through the site at the moment but everytime I try to view a pdf my system freezes. Last time the whole system crashed and I had to reboot. Maybe something wrong with my system because it doesn't seem to like opening pdfs online.


Cheers


John

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ChalkLine 11-01-2005, 04:20 PM .pdf's are notoriously slow to load online, and this may be a factor.


(Hey John, it's Jim!)

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jtr 11-01-2005, 04:32 PM G'day Jim,


Thanks for the referral. We might actually be getting a face-to-face game going over here! :O


It doesn't help that this system is ancient. The keyboard is in hieroglyphics and the modem is a set of drums. We are talking ANCIENT.


Cheers


John

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jtr 11-03-2005, 11:48 AM G'day,


Reporting back on Gunmaster.


The short version is that it's a nice set of rules, lots of details, but probably more complex than I want to get. I think I'd trust the GM more to provide an accurate 'feel' to a game than sit there half the night poring over tables and rolling dice.


Maybe I'm getting old but I'm more of a ROLEplayer these days than a ROLLplayer. By the time I'm finished rolling all the dice I've forgotten what I'm rolling for! :wink:


Cheers


John


BTW I'm still hoping to get a game going here in Perth. Has the idea died along with my other hopes and dreams?

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ReHerakhte 11-04-2005, 04:13 AM Sorry John and everyone else here in Perth in regards to this. I haven't intentionally neglected the idea, I'm in the middle of planning my holiday to Egypt & UK at the moment so some things get pushed to the back burner.

Along with that I have just recently started up a post-apoc game that is a mix of Dark Conspiracy and The Morrow Project and the next session is this weekend so I have also been a bit preoccupied with that.


Having said all that, I am still interested in a Twilight game as a Player.

Also, like John I have checked the Gunmaster rules and while I appreciate the detailed tactical opportunities you can derive from the rules, my math skills are crap and it takes me 5 minutes to nut out what takes the average person 2 minutes. My big worry is that I would slow down the game trying to figure out the calculations and if I got frustrated with the math I wouldn't enjoy the game as much :confused4



Cheers,

Kevin

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Targan 11-04-2005, 04:24 AM Fear not! Virtually all the maths required in-game is either handled by the GM, or has been pre-calculated and the results written on the character sheet. The only maths required in-game involves either adding or subtracting modifiers to skills as ruled by the GM, subtracting maximum potential skill level from current skill level to determine the target number for skill improvements, or determining the multiple of a stat that a 1d100 roll result falls under. That literally is it. The rest is all on the sheet. All the player has to do is book-keep their own character sheet, and roll their dice.

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jtr 11-04-2005, 02:14 PM Fear not! Virtually all the maths required in-game is either handled by the GM, or has been pre-calculated and the results written on the character sheet.


I have to do MATHS? Oh my god!


No, sorry. I think I'll stick to the 2.2 rules, either vanilla or house rules.


I hope it's not a deal-breaker.


Cheers

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ChalkLine 11-04-2005, 02:37 PM I'm a big fan of the Harn rules, they're suprisingly quick in play although daunting to look at. I haven't played Gunmaster but if it's similiar you mightn't find them too hard.


As John can tell you, I'm a devotee of the cyberpunk 2020 rulesset and I've converted Twilight to those rules, most just port over as the Cyberpunk Rules are (Statistic [1 to 10] + Skill level [1 to 10] + 1d10) for all the rolls.

The problem with these rules is that they're lethal, players will probably be seriously messed up from a heavy calibre bullet if they don't die instantly (or loudly and messily), so it needs a less gung-ho approach.


I'm still advocating an Aussie Twilight game online, either that or I'm going to start submitting PCs to Jaeger John!

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jtr 11-04-2005, 02:59 PM G'day,


I'd rather stick to something I know, particularly if I'm going to GM.


I've played Cyberpunk for a number of years and Jim's right, you want to avoid fire-fights like the plague. The only think that keeps you alive in CP is armour and there ain't none worth speaking of in T2K!


My only quibble about an Australian game is that all the characters have to be regular military. I can't see them re-introducing conscription, though with Little Johnny you never know... I'd play a choco.


I'm not a real big fan of playing regular military because it just isn't me. Hard to get my head around volunteering to get shot at. Still, depending on the campaign and the GM it might be worth exploring. What are people's ideas?


Jim, you're always welcome in my campaigns. A character for Jaeger Gruppen would be excellent. I'm still a little light in the character department in that game so someone from you would be perfect.


Cheers


John

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ChalkLine 11-04-2005, 03:10 PM In my at-home campaign I have a RL ex-soldier from 3 Cav who specialised in M113s, Leopards and Centurions. Two other guys have reserve experience, the other three have none. I've made the 3 cav guy a sergeant, the two ex-reserves are corporals and the other guys are mobilisation-only privates.


They're in a worn out M113 in the Gulf Country of North Queensland, cut off by a landing further along the coast and without enough fuel to get out across land. They're cautiously looking for a boat right now, big enough to take the M113.

The guy who's ex-mil is showing them (and the GM!) the ropes, it's kinda fun but a strange game (lotsa beer).


Actually, I have a Bundeswehr KampfIngenieur I could modify . . .

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jtr 11-04-2005, 03:29 PM G'day,


Folks with RL military experience. It's the way to go. I think Kevin is a reservist, so he might be the information mine. I'd feel a lot more confident if we had one or more people with RL Army experience. Also, if the game is set in Oz, civilian characters could be an option. Depending how bad things are the military may or may not accept help from the locals. Most professionals get a bit windy when amateurs start popping off...


What are you thinking? An Oz game on Yahoo? I'm sure there's one or two Oz troopies on the T2K lists.


As for JG, there's just been a call for the pioneers so bring your guy on.


Cheers


John

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ChalkLine 11-04-2005, 03:47 PM A good possibility is when local military units need specialists, such as ship crewmen. A stranded section finding a fishing ship tied up with the crew not sure what to do mixes soldiers and civilians, and Oz is essentially a coastline with a dessert in the centre

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jtr 11-04-2005, 04:22 PM G'day,


Sounds fine. If people want to run civilian characters there are always ways of bringing them in.


Personally I've never bought the Indonesian threat scenario, but any excuse for a game of T2K. Hell, if you wanted you could have the Japanese, the Russians or even the Americans as the bad guys. I've always though the Americans were the bad guys anyway...


You want it online?


Who's GMing?


Cheers


John

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kcdusk 11-04-2005, 04:30 PM Chalkline


I have a PC in johns game. From what i can understand, we need some GRUNT to survive the night ... i hope your angry troopers can arrive in time ...

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jtr 11-04-2005, 04:43 PM G'day,


At present I'm answering some tactical questions from the senior members. I believe they will be asking for some pioneer assistance to prepare some pits, and I think they're also asking for some Weapons Platoon assistance in the form of HMs and/or AGLs. All prudent requests.


Both Michael and Fred are old soldiers so they know the score. They are the guys to watch and learn from.


Cheers


John

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kcdusk 11-04-2005, 05:15 PM Why the worry John?


Its only one night :-)

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jtr 11-04-2005, 05:27 PM G'day,


If you think that you may find yourself staying far longer than just one night...


Cheers


John

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Targan 11-06-2005, 11:04 PM Chalkline, I have previously converted the ENTIRE Cyberpunk 2020 rules to Gunmaster and it was a huge job, but plays incredibly well. Let me tell you, converting the Blackhand's weapons book using Guns,Guns, Guns was a massive job! I'd love to run another campaign of that, too.

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ChalkLine 11-10-2005, 01:03 AM Australia Invaded (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/...ralia_Invaded/)


John has started a new play by e-mail game, and the concept is Australian and friendly national soldiers and civilians fighting a desperate war in the arid north west of Australia.


You don't need to be Australian, but John would really like some Aussie people (especially with OzMil experience). The action is looking like Long Range Desert Patrol style strikes and maybe other commando style work in some of the harshest country on the planet.


Pack your sunscreen and load your weapon!

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kcdusk 11-10-2005, 01:24 AM I'm in, I aint havin no borders of mine violated.

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Badbru 11-19-2005, 03:54 PM You guys can add me to the list of Perth people interested in playing in a face to face t2k game. I mostly only got to run them back in the 90's and would love to play again.

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jtr 11-19-2005, 08:47 PM G'day,


Sorry to say the idea seems to have died a bit of a death. I'd still like to get a game going but we all have other commitments.


Cheers


John

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Targan 11-20-2005, 11:06 PM Badbru, I am still interested but my preference would be for me to GM and to use the Gunmaster rules for the campaign. I understand other players' reticence towards using rules they are not familiar with. Its just that the rules I use are so superior, once you've used them you can't go back to the original rules, 'cause they don't cut the mustard.

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Badbru 11-21-2005, 12:09 PM I'm not adverse to giving anything a go.


I've played in a couple of Harn games before though fantasy is not really my thing.


I've run T2k before using both rules sets and currently run a Traveller TNE game which uses allmost identicle rules from V2 T2k. Infact my copy of TNE is the first printing and you can easily see whole blocks of text that have merely been cut and paste inserted from T2k.


Heck I'd allmost be willing to join Po in your group of psychopaths that seem to run around torturing people though I doubt any character I could play in that game would last for long. No offense and it also sounds like you'd rather something new too.

I just really miss playing, and remember T2k games from the early 90's with much fondness.

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Targan 11-21-2005, 11:11 PM Cool, if you have played Harnmaster then I suggest you check out the gunmaster rules, available for download at warflail.com, as they will not be a complete mystery to you in terms of how they work. Yes I would like to start a new campaign, I wouldn't want to inflict Po on anyone new to the game. It could scar you psychologically. The main stumbling block to Gunmaster is the number of hours it takes to generate a character, although the end result is worth it. I will get back to you on when I might have some time to discuss possibilities.

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ReHerakhte 11-24-2005, 02:47 AM G'Day all,

Been thinking about gaming while at work today and has been pointed out earlier in this thread, the idea for a Perth face-to-face game is great but doesn't seem to be a happening event.

I have a few suggestions/questions: -


1. How many of us are interested in meeting somewhere to further discuss gaming? And as much as I would favour the pub as a meeting place, you get some strange looks from people when they hear you talking about playing a survivor of WW3... although, maybe I'm just being paranoid! I suppose if we really wanted to, we could meet at one of the gaming clubs and impose ourselves on them for a short time :-P


2. Where abouts in Perth are we all located? Probably the most important question of all if we want a venue close enough to everyone. I'm not asking for specific suburbs or anything on a public forum, just general locality (e.g. best known suburb near you and so on). I clutter up the neighbourhoods around Midland.


3. What game style do people prefer. I favour character & story development over simply rolling lots of dice, I've been involved in a number of games where PCs spent more time pursuing simple things than actively doing stuff that required intensive rules use e.g. they spent an hour trying to cultivate a friendship with a local woodseller once, because they figured he would know much of the town gossip so would be a good source of info and if they could convince him to lower his prices, the locals would regard the PCs with favour as well. I really like that sort of thing but I know other people don't necessarily get much out of it so I feel this should definately be a high priority for discussion because it will become a game-breaker for some people.


4. What rules set does the majority desire? We all have our own favourites and even favourite modifications to the rules we like. This also should be a high priority for discussion before we commit to anything and should be a consensus, if we can't get a rules-set sorted out, we simply are not going to get a game happening. My personal "prejudice" is for a rules set that runs under the surface and is quick to execute. I don't favour rules that overshadow the gameplay because I don't want to play a rules-set, I want to play a part in the story (yeah, yeah, I'm a Role-Playing Snobby Wanker!), this is the main reason I favour the Twilight 2.2 rules because for my preferences, they are quick and easy to implement without bogging down the game.


5. Style of campaign. Okay, so you could argue that this is pretty closely related to style of play but I mean it more as, do we want to pursue a traditional Twilight game or go with the idea from an earlier PBEM (that some of you may have been involved in or know people from!) that had a group of Australians made up of military, police & civilian personnel serving in UN positions near Europe (e.g. Cypress) grouping together after the Twilight War started or do we want something different like a partisan/freedom fighter campaign in occupied territory or play a low-tech variant of the main game etc. Do people want a hardcore Twilight campaign or do they want some strangeness e.g. mild/strong supernatural themes or an alien invasion (either taking advantage of the war or having caused it in the first place) or even take the idea from the Harry Turtledove novels "World War" (where the aliens always intended to colonise Earth but plan for these things over hundreds of years, they expected to meet men in steel armour on horses and armed with swords, instead they ended up in the middle of WW2) and set it during WW3?


6. Timings, both session time and day of the week. I'm currently running a post-apoc techno-horror game once a fortnight so one Saturday in the fortnight is out for me. I have also hijacked Hawke into this game and unless someone lures him away :-P, he will also be unavailable on those Saturdays as well.

However, I don't have any particular objections to Friday nights, alternate Saturdays or even Sundays (during the day as I start work at 7AM weekdays - this is also the reason why I prefer the end of the week rather than weeknights). I don't have a vehicle but I am quite happy using public transport, is anyone else in the same situation?


7. Venue. There's five of us definately in Perth (don't know what part of the nation you are kcdusk and I know that transport costs twice a month will screw ChalkLine's chances of being here!) so a large venue isn't required unless we have any offsiders who we want to drag along. Unfortunately, I'm a messy bastard who collects lots of books and I share a house with an equally messy person, two cats and a dog, we don't have lot of room for gaming. I have no objection to gaming at one of the RPG clubs (if any of them still run! LOL) in town, even if it means membership fees etc.


8. What size group do we want to stop at? I know there are some of us who may be in contact with old gaming friends or, as in Targan's situation. actively run a game at the moment. So how many other people besides us, do we know who might like to get involved and when does the Player group get too large for the Referee?


And last of all...

9. With all of those considerations, who would want to Referee it? I don't particularly want to because I already run one game and don't have the patience to run two at a time particularly as I will be absent for about 6 weeks next January/February.


Cheers,

Kevin

********************

jtr 11-24-2005, 03:28 AM G'day,


To answer your questions:


1) Pub, restaurant, parking lot, secret location. Attendees should not wear camouflage, or tea-towels on their heads, or speak in a Middle Eastern accent. The cops around here are nervous enough...


2) Northbridge-Highgate. Under the circling black helicopters.


3) Roleplaying, character development, assorted touchy-feely scenarios. Combat is fine and useful at times but I'm not interested in playing a 40K-style dice-fest.


4) Twilight 2.2. I've got some house rules that makes combat a bit more deadly and streamlines some of the wounding process but refusal doesn't constitute a deal-breaker.


5) I prefer Twilght War & aftermath campaigns. Poland, US, Oz, doesn't really matter. But iffy about Merc campaigns because they tend to turn into combat catalogue love-ins. NOT interested in SF or Monty Haul campaigns.


6) Prefer evenings. Any evening is fine by me. I don't have a life.


7) Prefer private location rather than club. Unfortunately, I'm a messy bastard who collects lots of books and even though I live alone it LOOKS like I share a house with an equally messy person, two cats and a dog. My place is possible but I'd prefer others not to know what a pig I am.


8) Three players plus GM works pretty well, up to maybe five players. After that it can get a bit of a headache. Once played with seven players plus GM and that was too many. Not a fan of spectators.


9) I am an experienced GM of both round-the-table games and PBEMs. I'm prepared to GM if that is required but I'm prepared to let someone else GM if they want to.


Cheers


John

********************

[kato13]

Targan 11-24-2005, 05:31 AM Excellent, we've reached the preliminary planning stage. Good work, lads. I would like to address the relevant points:


1) Much interested in hearing what everyone wants/has to offer. Pub/restaurant etc not such a good idea, because those new laws just got passed and a confused member of the public with a mobile phone could be just a little too alarmed but not alert enough. Gaming store idea actually not too bad, as I remember seeing tables and chairs in the anteroom to Tactics in London Court. Weekdays I work 13:30 to 21:30 and that is at an office in Leederville. My place very small, cluttered, and my sister is a freak of nature.


2) I live in Mt Lawley, near the intersection that has the cinema and Fresh Provisions. Glad that John's drawn the heat off me for now.


3) I agree that character and story development are what it is all about. A T:2000 game with lots of combat has something wrong with it, because either the players are rolling up new characters often or the system is not realistically portraying the hazards of operating in the modern or post apocolyptic battlescape. As a player I like my characters to interact verbally with PCs and NPCs, and gathering intel and conducting effective interrogations should be done in real time if possible. Although I am very verbose and prone to wandering off topic in these forums, I do not actually have a dominating sort of personality. Its just that I write all day, every day. Unsure what touchy-feely scenarios means, but I'm guessing John might want to play some sort of Occupational Therapist


4) Written enough about my views on this point, not going to annoy you guys further. BUT... this would be a great opportunity for me to bring some material from my current campaign to give you a solid idea about where I'm coming from. Really wouldn't be at all offended if it is not everyone's thing. As long as the rules set simulates RL even vaguely, it's cool by me. Not interested in a rules set like Phoenix Command, for instance. That's just taking the need for realism too far.


5) Supernatural/SF themes not required, only had them in current campaign because I play with the same guys in two Harnmaster campaigns. Prefer WWIII classic Twilight game world, not very keen on Merc:2000. Australian themed campaign sounds fine to me, but wherever and whoever, really. Over the monty haul thing, too. Lean, gritty, immersive would be good.


6) Bi-weekly games on a Saturday sound great to me. See above for my work hours during the week.


7) I, too am messy, and my place is a compact townhouse, so it would be cramped to play in my miniature lounge. My place is quite central, though. I think my sister would frighten you all away.


8) I agree with John that more than five players in a T:2000 game starts to be a bit of a headache. Lets just see how many we are looking at after we have a tet-a-tet.


9) Frankly, I am a better GM than player, and I can put together storylines, NPCs and encounter scenarios on the fly with no problem at all. I've GM'd since the early 80s and been running Twilight since about 1985 or 86. However, if we are not using my preferred gaming system, I'd rather play.


"Redleg, this is Bravo Two-Six, expend all remaining ordnance on my poz... its been a lovely f..kin' war gentlemen. Bravo Two-Six out."

********************

jtr 11-24-2005, 06:20 AM G'day,


1) Where-abouts in Leederville? Anywhere near the library?


Tic Tacs is fine. I have to go into the Map Centre to pick up some maps for my latest PBEM extravaganza so I can kill two birds with one stone.


2) I've drawn what heat off you?


3) 'Touchy-feely' as in there is more to T2K than assassinations, commando raids and snake-eating SF daring-do.


4)


5) I think we all agree here.


6) I'm the most flexible here I think so I can fit in with the rest of you.


7) Looking forward to meeting your sister. She sounds fascinating.


8) My guess is that you'll be playing then...


Cheers


John

********************

ReHerakhte 11-24-2005, 06:36 AM ...G'day,


2) I've drawn what heat off you?


...Cheers


John

I reckon he's talking about those BLACK HELICOPTERS!!

Probably the bloody T R G practicing to raid your neighbours house... if you succeed at failing, what have you actually achieved?

Is this the reason they call them Totally (w)Rong Grid?


Cheers

Kevin

********************

jtr 11-24-2005, 06:47 AM I reckon he's talking about those BLACK HELICOPTERS!!



Oh, the helicopters! Right. They are bloody noisey. But the good thing is that with all those rotors whizzing about up there the aliens haven't been able to beam their messages into my head recently. Mind you, I do miss my little chats with Elvis...


Cheers


John

********************

Badbru 11-24-2005, 08:04 PM High guys. Nice to see some movement on the thread. I've been away from here for a few days reading through Twilight 2000 The Stalemate War on RPG.net so missed the action. Here goes;

1) Meet and discuss? Yeah I'm up for that too. It'd be nice [maybe ] to put some faces to these names.

2) I'm just east accross the river from whom ever was in Mt Lawley. I know "that" intersection well as Planet Video is on the other corner.

3) Game style well I might be the odd one out marginally as I like to have a rules set to hang my actions on and I don't mind letting the dice determine alot of stuff. But then that's probably the GM in me talking as I haven't actually been a player for a long time.

4) Rules set- well I really don't care though I am most familiar with 2nd edition so what's that 2.2? It would cut down on having to learn anything.

5) Style of campaign- Well in my intro I said I'd been reading through "The Stalemate War" and in my opinion that's a rocking campaign which focus's much more heavily on role playing than roll playing but then again it's also more of a collaborative writing exercise too. (John is Australia Invaded anything like that?)

6) Timing- Well I work evenings weds through to sunday so for me its either Monday or Tuesday nights or the middle part of the day on sat or sundays, say for a few hours between 11am and 4pm.

7) Venue- Sad to say I think I'm much like John, I live alone in a one bedroom appartment. You get more than three guys in my place and you can't even throw dice! Though you'd be welcome to try if I cleaned up first. Plenty of parking here atleast.

8) Group size- Are we talking Party size or number of players?

If it's party size I guess that's kinda up to who ever Refs and how many npc's they feel they can handle.

If, as I think it was, you're talking player numbers I think we've got four keen in ReHerakhte, Jtr, Targan and myself. I have two players in my TNE game and I'm often thinking one or two more would be good but I've played in games with groups larger than four and they don't last, it's just too hard these days to co-ordinate the lives of that many people.

I'm thinking if we four can kick it off, then we can debate adding more later on.

9) Who Ref's it? Well I was really keen on playing, mostly cause I do run a TravellerTNE game, irratically, currently. Though if it takes me to run it to get it going I'd be willing but I've hardly looked at a T2K book in the last 10+ years.

********************

Badbru 11-24-2005, 08:46 PM So anyway, assuming I was right and Reherakhte, Jtr, Targan and I are the four keenest here now that I've replied we can summarise.

1) It seems we all want to do a meet and greet atleast. See 6) for more thoughts on this

2) meh

3) Seems we like to think of ourselves as "Role"players

4) Sorry Targan but 2.2 is winning here hands down.

5) see 3) and or 1)

6) As near as I can tell from what's been posted the biggest block of common free time to all is Saturdays between around midday to around 4pm

7) This seems to be our biggest stumbling block and yet nobody said "uh uh not me" to even this.

8) I think we have four definates don't we and maybe Hawke too. How many do we need?

9) Then again, this maybe our biggest stumbling block.


So what do you think guys, can we atleast agree to fullfill item one on the first Saturday in December, perhaps someplace neutral north of the river like Hyde park? Or Tactics foyeur if they open tween 12 and 4 and not full of kids. I really think we can make this game happen.

********************

jtr 11-25-2005, 03:59 AM 4) Rules set- well I really don't care though I am most familiar with 2nd edition so what's that 2.2? It would cut down on having to learn anything.


2.2 is an improvement, vast in my opinion, over 2.0. It actually says 2.2 on the cover. If yours doesn't then you have 2.0. 2.2 uses the same rules as Traveller: The New Era.


5) Style of campaign- Well in my intro I said I'd been reading through "The Stalemate War" and in my opinion that's a rocking campaign which focus's much more heavily on role playing than roll playing but then again it's also more of a collaborative writing exercise too. (John is Australia Invaded anything like that?)


No idea. Not familiar with "The Stalemate War."


6) Timing- Well I work evenings weds through to sunday so for me its either Monday or Tuesday nights or the middle part of the day on sat or sundays, say for a few hours between 11am and 4pm.


This could be a problem...


7) Venue- Sad to say I think I'm much like John, I live alone in a one bedroom appartment. You get more than three guys in my place and you can't even throw dice! Though you'd be welcome to try if I cleaned up first. Plenty of parking here atleast.


Are we a sad bunch of gits or what?


Cheers


John

********************

jtr 11-27-2005, 01:31 PM G'day,


Let's move things along.


We're meeting in Tactics foyer. What day? What time?


I don't believe Tactics are open on saturday mornings. Please correct me if I'm wrong.


Fill in the blanks


Targan works 13:30 to 21:30 weekdays at an office in Leederville.

Badbru works ____________ (times) __________ (days) at _____________ (suburb).

ReHerakhte works ____________ (times) __________ (days) at _____________ (suburb).

JTR is a lazy bum that wouldn't dream of working...


Just for general discussion while we wait for our meeting, what sort of scenario do people have in mind?


I suggest the characters start in Krakow in the summer of 2000. Why?


1) Character flexibility. Characters can be almost anyone from NATO or the Warsaw pact, or even a civilian.


2) Gear choice. Weapons and equipment can come from any of the major players or from almost any European country.


3) Being in the Free City of Krakow means that the characters are well outside the chain of command. They are free to choose their own leaders, set their own goalsand make their own enemies.


I don't think any other Twilight War or Mercenary setting offers quite the same flexibility.


Thoughts?


John

********************

kcdusk 11-27-2005, 09:27 PM erm, i know i'm not involved in this, but since its an open discussion (and lets keep it that way, eh?) i would support jtr about starting in Krakow for the reasons he gave. Good idea, good flexibility.


It would be good for Me and the rest of rpgnow to see your game develop/read updates much like The Stalemate War, someone here posted they are following that site too ... if you have the time to read it all (the Stalemate war) its great work by those guys ... they have been running that game for years ... I don't know if any of them post here or not ... but I have emailed the Ref a couple of times.


Anyway, good to see it looks like this is progressing, well, progressing for you guys anyway!

********************

ReHerakhte 11-28-2005, 01:25 AM We're meeting in Tactics foyer. What day? What time?


I don't believe Tactics are open on saturday mornings. Please correct me if I'm wrong.


ReHerakhte works ____________ (times) __________ (days) at _____________ (suburb).

I work from 07:00 to 15:30 weekdays in Redcliffe. I use public transport but I can be at Tic Tacs at around 16:00 on a weekday.


I think tactics is open from 11:00 on a Saturday but I would have to check that (but this Saturday is screwed for me as I have a game starting at 12:00 - last Saturday would have been screwed as well because I had a Doc's appointment for 10:00 to get injected with some nasties!)



Just for general discussion while we wait for our meeting, what sort of scenario do people have in mind?


I suggest the characters start in Krakow in the summer of 2000. Why?


1) Character flexibility. Characters can be almost anyone from NATO or the Warsaw pact, or even a civilian.


2) Gear choice. Weapons and equipment can come from any of the major players or from almost any European country.


3) Being in the Free City of Krakow means that the characters are well outside the chain of command. They are free to choose their own leaders, set their own goalsand make their own enemies.


I don't think any other Twilight War or Mercenary setting offers quite the same flexibility.


Thoughts?


John

I like this idea very much for all the reasons given, Krakow also gives me a chance to try and fulfil my 'scrounge list' (non-issue items that I consider worthwhile or essential to carry e.g. rolls of electrical insulation tape)

It is also a great situation for those people who like a bit of scavenging/trading (equipment, weapons, vehicles, supplies etc.) to get started (running around with a large truck recovering gear from battlefields or government, medical, industrial facilities trying to stay out of major fights and on the right side of everyone is a campaign idea I've thought about but never pursued, Romero's "Land Of The Dead" illustrates pretty much the sort of thing I mean).

And the situation in Krakow is similar to earlier times in Europe where freelance troops would hire out and could conceivably end up anywhere there was a conflict, should anyone desire to pursue that type of campaign.


Cheers,

Kevin

********************

Targan 11-28-2005, 01:42 AM What about midday, Tic Tacs, December 10 (a Saturday)? A Krakow campaign sounds fine to me.

********************

thefusilier 11-28-2005, 04:48 AM I got a great idea... you all fly up to Bangkok so I can play! C'mon!

********************

Targan 11-28-2005, 05:09 AM Thanks for the offer, thefussilier, send me my airline ticket and I will sort out my passport! Are you staying in a part of Thailand that is subject to a particularly large sea swell? If so, I will have to organise a surfboard, too.

********************

Badbru 11-28-2005, 09:52 AM I can make midday Sat December 10th - Tic Tacs' foyeur. (assuming they're open)


I can see a campaign starting in Krakow working, though I'd be just as happy starting from the 5ths' defeat. Krakows usually a bit into a campaign isn't it.


jtr, oops my copy doesn't say 2.2 on the cover but I have the TNE rules.

********************

Blackrider 11-28-2005, 10:35 AM well i run mostly v1 cause thats all i own, all my 2.2 and 2.0 stuff disappeared from my mother's storage after 5 years... along with almost all my ADD stuff vintage 1st ed stuff as well. :mg:


but i do have all my 2300AD, MERP stuff as well. currently a member of the the Hall

********************

TiggerCCW UK 11-28-2005, 12:10 PM I'm so jealous of you all!! My own FTF game should be starting in the next few weeks, but my players aren't convinced that they'll be into the whole T2K experience (heatherns!). They are all pretty much fantasy players who aren't 100% sure about a gun game! Good luck getting started, and if any of you want to commute to Belfast for a game then let me know :-)

********************

jtr 11-28-2005, 12:10 PM G'day,


Targan works 13:30 to 21:30 weekdays at an office in Leederville.

ReHerakhte works 07:00 to 15:30 weekdays in Redcliffe.

Badbru works ____________ (times) __________ (days) at _____________ (suburb).

JTR is a lazy bum that wouldn't dream of working...


Tactics 12:00 Saturday 10 December? ReHerakhte can you make that date?


Is it possible to bring the meeting forward? Make it this coming Saturday for instance? The 3rd of December?


Cheers


John

********************

jtr 11-28-2005, 01:27 PM Moving right along...


If everyone is happy with 2.2 and Krakow, go ahead and create a character using the 2.2 rules.


Anyone who could conceivably be in Krakow in the summer of 2000 is suitable. No SF characters. Try and keep it 'real' please.


Equipment is anything you can have on your person, in your webbing and in one rucksack. You will have traded any flash gear, supplies and/or vehicles for city citizenship. Again, try to keep it low key. MREs, pharmaceuticals, batteries, NVGs, thermal sights and ATGMs are all OTT. Players who ask for a few choice items are much more likely to get them than players who ask for the world's supply of flash gat.


Send your characters to my email address or via private message. Those who send via private message please attach your email and/or phone numbers so I can reach you.


Cheers


John

********************

Badbru 11-28-2005, 04:28 PM jtr

Seems by that last post you're willing to run the game.


If so kudos for stepping up.


I'll pm or email you with my work times if it's essential (public forum an all that) suffice to say it's evenings and I'd have to leave any gaming session by 4pm wed through sunday with the occasional tuesday thrown in. Everyone appears to have saturdays more or less free, atleast between midday to 4pm?


I can make either the 3rd or the 10th.


Can I build a character in my version 2 rules set?


edit: Howdy Blackrider, I see you're in Perth too. Will you be joining us?

********************

jtr 11-28-2005, 04:56 PM Seems by that last post you're willing to run the game.

Yup.

If so kudos for stepping up.

Cheers.

I'll pm or email you with my work times if it's essential (public forum an all that) suffice to say it's evenings and I'd have to leave any gaming session by 4pm wed through sunday with the occasional tuesday thrown in.

It's just to get an idea of when people are available. It's starting to look like we won't be able to find a time to suit everyone.

Can I build a character in my version 2 rules set?

Use the TNE rules if you have them. If not, then use 2.0.

Howdy Blackrider, I see you're in Perth too. Will you be joining us?

Any T2K players living in Perth are welcome to join us. If we're over-subscribed we can always start a second group!


Cheers


John

********************

jtr 11-28-2005, 06:56 PM G'day,


Can I ask players to give some thought to playing Polish or other Eastern European characters.


Cheers


John

********************

Targan 11-29-2005, 12:17 AM Darn. I thought we would all get together for a chat face to face before moving on to such items as who will run the game, what rules we will use and what protocols to abide by for generating characters. It seems things have moved beyond that now. I was looking forward to presenting my case but I guess that's out the window. I look forward to reading about how your campaign goes.

********************

ReHerakhte 11-29-2005, 03:12 AM G'Day all,

Tactics is open 09:30 till around 16:00 on Saturdays and from I think 10:00 till around 17:00 during the week (I phoned them today - from work, naturally!)


Midday of Saturday 10th of December is OK with me. If you guys want to meet on 3rd of December I unfortunately won't be in attendance (prior committments) but don't let that stop you, I have John's email - and have been sending copious amounts of self-indulgent nostalgic dribble to him to (allegedly) help in one of his PBEM games - so I can get in contact with him pretty quick if need be.


Cheers,

Kevin

********************

Targan 11-29-2005, 03:16 AM Ah good, a pre-campaign face to face chat is still viable! Excellent. December 10 at Tactics is fine with me. What say you all to around midday?

********************

jtr 11-29-2005, 12:39 PM G'day,


My apologies for jumping the gun. I'm just keen to move the whole thing forward. Impatient I guess.


Midday, December 10th in Tactics foyer is fine by me.


What can we chat about in the meantime? Rules? GMs? Setting? Characters?


Cheers


John

********************

Badbru 11-29-2005, 12:59 PM Darn. I thought we would all get together for a chat face to face before moving on to such items as who will run the game, what rules we will use and what protocols to abide by for generating characters. It seems things have moved beyond that now. I was looking forward to presenting my case but I guess that's out the window. I look forward to reading about how your campaign goes.


I'm looking forward to December 10th too. It should be interesting if nothing else. Though I'm wondering about the last line of this post. Reads like if you don't get your way you're going to take your bat and ball and play somewhere else. I really hope that is not the case and we're all willing to make a compromise here and there to actually make this happen.

********************

Targan 11-29-2005, 11:51 PM Yup Badbru, you got me there. Sorry if I sounded a bit petulant, I was having a bad day yesterday. Look, its like this - I play and have played a variety of RPGs, and if I am playing in some fantasy or superhero game, any rules set will do. Realism is not of concern. But I play T:2000 because I have been in the military, and I play with other people who have been in the military or have an interest in such things. So, I like my T:2000 games to have a realistic feel, and for events to occur in-game which are believable. When I started playing T:2000 I was in my early teens and didn't know bugger all about warfare, so I was not too concerned about the rules. But now I know what warfare (at least simulated warfare) is like, I have a need (call me crazy) for my gaming to feel like what I have experienced in the military.


If, when we all meet, you guys totally reject what I have to offer, I may still be interested in playing if I can be convinced that the game we play will be realistic. I know we have all agreed that its about roleplaying not roll-playing, but the combat has to at least vaguely correspond to how it works in real life, otherwise I had may as well go back to playing munchkin-style D&D. And frankly, I would rather cap myself than play D20. Can you see where I am coming from?

********************

Badbru 11-30-2005, 10:48 AM Yeah Targan I guess I get that. I didn't mean to come over all grumpy like and I know no-one likes to be lumbered with a clunky or unrealistic system.


Personally I have my concerns with the GDW House system too. The stats waaaaay overpower the skills in my view. A guy fresh out of basic with rifle-1 but blessed with STR-9 has rifle asset 10 yet a veteran with time in the field and rifle-3 but only STR-5 is a worse shot at Rifle-8 .


The other aspect though is on the one hand you have hi detail hi realism, verses ease of play. Take me with Traveller for instance, I run TNE and love the Brillant Lances combat system for ship combat. Ships use fuel, weapons have acrs of fire, rates of fire, you need sensor locks, electronic warfare is important, ships have hit locations etc etc. It's all highly realistic, atleast as far as Traveller ship to ship combat rules goes. But, PLAYABLE? its a fatherless obease bovine and all my players groan at the thought of a ship combat.


Mostly though, speaking for myself, I've not "played" in any game reguardless of genre or system for atleast ten years. I'm just really stoked that it might be possible to change that little fact soon and didn't want to see it taken from me, cause incase you hadn't noticed I'm really keen for this game no matter who runs it under what system. Though levels? D20? Bluuurk, you've given me a stomach upset just thinking about it, so right with you there.

********************

Targan 11-30-2005, 10:55 PM Badbru, I sure hope you can join this little powow we are planning because then I can show you a system which allows you to keep an authentic T:2000 "feel" while providing all the detail and realism you could want and ease of play. I think showing you guys the character sheets from Gunmaster:2000 alone should sway at least some of you to give it a try.


Believe it or not, I have played heaps of Traveller, many years ago, and several different versions of the Traveller rules too. I found the later versions of the Traveller rules worked just fine for that style of game, but I can not believe that those rules would provide anywhere near the levels of realism I need for Twilight.


Fear not, I will listen with an open mind to whatever ideas for a Twilight game are presented, and I won't be heartbroken if it turns out not to be for me. Lets just wait and see, shall we?

********************

jtr 12-01-2005, 12:11 AM Badbru, if you're interested in Targan's amendments to the Harn rules I suggest you have a read through them and see what you think.


I believe there is a reference or a URL to them earlier in this thread.


Cheers


John

********************

Targan 12-01-2005, 12:20 AM Good call John, thanks. I should have mentioned that in my last post.

********************

kcdusk 12-01-2005, 04:47 AM Hey, all you guys that are meeting up. Do you have a list to run through for everything you need to get squared away on the day? Otherwise, you'll get carried away and end up having met but maybe not advancing too far.


Unless of course ... this is just a meet and greet session.

********************

Targan 12-01-2005, 04:52 AM Kcdusk, why don't you give us a sample list of what you think we might need to bring. Couldn't hurt right? And thanks for your interest, I think we need all the help we can get!

********************

kcdusk 12-01-2005, 04:54 PM What do you hope to get out of this first meeting? Just decide on a setting, a rule set and who will GM? Or do you want to get more out of it?


If your going to be doing FtF then you need to know your going to get along as a group, as people, before even talking about T2K. No good having a great game happening then find out someone objects to something they personally cannot accept. Its almost like a job interview, are you going to be able to get along?


Confirm around the table peoples understanding of the setting. Sure, its T2K, but have each person give a brief talk about how they "see" that T2K world. Just to make sure people are on the same page. Do aliens exist (god i hope not), what about zombies (is this T2K or cathulu?), are you going to allow swearing (are you a real man or not?). What about religion, is there going to be any hangups there? Are people going to take it personally when that 12 year old boy is gunned down? He had an AK, yeah but he's 12 .... people dont need to agree, but as gamers you'll need to accept PC's actions. Just set any hard and fast rules early, there may be none (great) there may be some. Doesnt need to affect the game, but if the Ref is aware he can make sure it doesnt come into play.


Who is GM?


What rules set? v1.0, 2.0, 2.2, Harnmaster .... what if any homebrew is allowed?


Decide on a setting/place. You need location and perhaps current state of affairs (lull in the fighting, your behind enemy lines or its a brief pause - the next minute you are expected to take that hill!). Can you assume canon from modules? If your in Krakow, is it the same Krakow as Free City ... & if it is, then you need to agree if the rest of the module information holds or can it be varied?


how will game decisions work? Highest ranking PC? 2 minute egg timer, last one to speak makes the decision (a fast game is a good game)? Consensus (oh brother!) or some other way? How will your group work it? Can you change your mind and backtrack before your last decision has any game effect?


How serious are you going to be? How realistic? Are you weighing each item in your backpak or just saying "yep, thats all you can carry"?


Is the GM giving you a pregenerated PC or are you going to rely on honesty for players to roll them up?


Decide on PC types, ranks, equipment allowed, vehicles/transport. Are you creating players today or are you each going to do that after the first meeting? Regardless, you will need guidlines from your GM. If your not creating players on the day, the players still might need to give some rough thought to PC's so that your not all the same type or at least someone has that bunker buster (I thought you had it .... no, your the HW spec ... yeah but you had the rocket in your kit... um ... didnt you?)


Is it one PC per player?


Are you creating characters at this first meeting?


Shit i dont know, i just hope you dont all walk away saying "yep, great bunch of blokes. Whose Ref again? I thought we were in Krakow (no, we said Warsaw)? You cant have that missile? What is that space ship doing here! Um, boys, can we arrange another meeting to iron out these details. I hope you can walk away, each knowing what work you have to do, so the next meeting is straight into the game (& beer).


There are alot of questions here, some will be Q&A'd very quickly (before you meet even), others will need some discussion and a decision. I think to be successful you will need to walk away having made a decision on everyting otherwise there will be delays and re-work.


At the very start of this get together, agree on when you are finishing up. Your all leaving at 3pm, well you have 3 hours to have this list (plus other items) addressed. If it gets to 2pm and you are not halfway through yet you will run into time problems.


Theres nothing really new here, there will be argumetns and discussions. Just make sure though you get through what you need to by close of play. And if your really not happy about something, and this is worst case, walk away. Dont feel like you turned up to the first session and am now committed even though you are no longer committed to continuing.

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Targan 12-02-2005, 12:24 AM Thanks Kcdusk, thats exactly what I was hoping for. Are you sure you can't catch a flight from wherever you are and moderate the meeting? You'll be there in spirit, in any case! You are right when you say all those planning to be involved in this nascent campaign will need to get along. I don't think we will have many problems determining the setting/rules set/who refs/what style of play questions once we get together. It sounds like most of those points have already been covered anyway. I am sure we will post a synopsis of our meeting in the aftermath (assuming anyone survives to tell the tale!). Just kidding on that last point.

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kcdusk 12-02-2005, 01:44 AM ha, thats ok, Just my 2 cents worth. You have a great opportunity in Perth next weekend to meet and get a FtFgame under way. Many of us here at this very active site are interested and jelous all at the same time. This thread already has over 1000 views! Think of how many hits a thread of your game progression will be? Everyone is watching.


No pressure though :-)

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Badbru 12-02-2005, 11:37 AM Oh yes, no pressure there.


Thinks to self...

mmmn didn't think I'd need to bring a weapon to the meeting:chainsaw:

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Targan 12-02-2005, 11:43 AM One weapon will certainly be required for each of us - our keenly honed intellects. And maybe as a holdout piece a Pacer with a full casette and one in the pipe. Stay frosty!

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ReHerakhte 12-02-2005, 06:35 PM I wonder if the shop owners will mind if I start digging trenches?

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Targan 12-03-2005, 06:35 AM We could do the Tunnel Rat thing, then they would never know...

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hawke 12-05-2005, 09:00 AM Hey Guys


Nice to see there are a few Perth people around. I started this thread but then have been extremely slack in posting any replies. I have really got to stop reading the forums at 1am and then having no time to post any replies. lol


Im hoping I can get in on Saturday as well and meet everyone. Hope there is still room for one more.


Cheers

Scottl

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Targan 12-05-2005, 10:42 AM Jeez, you started the thread, 'course there's room! See you at tic tacs.

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kcdusk 12-07-2005, 04:18 AM T Minus 3 days people ... < chewing of nails >

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Targan 12-07-2005, 04:22 AM Fo' shizza ma nizza. Word up to yo' bad self.

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Targan 12-08-2005, 05:51 AM T-minus two days and counting until Tic Tacs orbital renedezvous at the Perth La Grange Point. T2K freaks, you are go for lunch.

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Targan 12-09-2005, 01:34 AM T-minus 19.5 hours and counting. T2Kers, Mission Control... pre-flight checks... Happy face? Check. Gaming anecdote memory archive? Check. Air of superiority towards non-T2K gamers? Check. T2Kers, you are good to go... God Speed, gentlemen.

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TiggerCCW UK 12-09-2005, 01:39 AM Good luck folks!!

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kcdusk 12-09-2005, 01:56 AM I cannot believe how much attention this meeting is getting, globally.


I hope you all know the secret handshake to be allowed at the table ...

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graebardeII 12-09-2005, 09:51 AM I cannot believe how much attention this meeting is getting, globally.


I hope you all know the secret handshake to be allowed at the table ...


Global attention from a global fan base on a global forum? I have no idea why?

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ChalkLine 12-09-2005, 09:09 PM I'm sitting at the other end of Australia, VERY JEALOUS!

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jtr 12-10-2005, 05:57 AM Curiouser and curiouser!


ReHerakhte, Badbru and I were at Tactics at the appointed hour. ReHerakhte and I were even early!


Targan, where were you? I was looking forward to hearing your sales pitch! I'm crushed! :mischievo


Oh well.


The three of us have arranged to play at my place on Monday evening and I hope we'll be playing regularly from then on. Rules will be 2.2 with mods as mutually agreed by players. I'll be GMing. Campaign begins in Krakow.


We're still looking for a couple more players so if any of you are in Perth and are interested playing either drop me a private message or if you know any of our emails or phone numbers drop one of us a line.


You are all more than welcome.


Cheers


John

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kcdusk 12-11-2005, 02:28 AM You call that an AAR (After Action Report)?


Nah, thats great guys. Hope to read more post monday, even if its just to hear how set up etc is going.


I hope this doesnt mean the shelling in Jaegur will come to a halt JTR?

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ReHerakhte 12-11-2005, 02:53 AM Well, we spent over two hours in the place, making various comments about gaming and rules-sets that we liked/disliked and generally discussing Twilight while always keeping an eye out for people's reactions to what we were saying. Sad to say, nobody really seemed interested in us but the place had more people in it than usual due to a tournament for Magic: The Gathering being held on that particular Saturday.


So there's just the three of us so far and we would all prefer a larger group but we are just going with what we have at the moment! Now if you (kcdusk) didn't live so far away or if ChalkLine wasn't so selfish as to live on the other side of the country, we could have easily had a decent sized group


Cheers,

Kevin

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kcdusk 12-11-2005, 02:59 AM < thinking to self: C'mon!!! How important is your job and family, really? What have they done for you lately? How many chances like this come along in a life time? Do it man, DO IT! Pack it all in and move to Perth (they have great surf also) >

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kcdusk 12-11-2005, 03:25 AM Doh! And where was Hawke, he started this campaign?

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ChalkLine 12-11-2005, 05:03 AM You know, I shouldn't have been so slack and made an effort to get there, it's only seven hours by air!

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jtr 12-11-2005, 08:29 AM G'day,


I'm about 19.5 hours away from hosting my first sit-down T2K campaign in 15 years.


Wow!


So naturally I'm trying to make the house fit for human habitation. Man, that's a HUGE job.


I've found the table. It hasn't moved since I moved in. But, over the years I've put books on it, magazines, papers, figures, more books, more magazines, some boxes. So anyway I've had to find new homes for all sorts of things. And in all this house-cleaning I've found a copy of Twilight Encounters which I bought about 10 years ago but never got around to using because I haven't played a sit-down game for 15 years. So I had a look through it. Game mats. Cut-outs. I had one thought. Figures. I need figures.


Anyone know of any good 25/28mm figures for a Twilight?


Cheers


John

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Badbru 12-12-2005, 12:33 PM Hi guys.


I figure there might be a few people out there in cyberland desiring an update so here goes.


After four hours of discussion, debate, arguement, pauses to look up obscure references, anecdotes, and other side trips into general obscurity we were finally finished designing our characters and were ready to start.


Right around knock off time.


Yeeep, that sounds like a typical Face to Face doesn't it, hehe.


So in terms of the nights gaming events there are no stories of daring do to tell I'm afraid though the good news is that as of next week the party size will increase by one, as another player will be joining us. That'll make three players with space for atleast one more for any Perth locals still interested.


Here's my character for those interested, and those interested in commenting please feel free...


Sgt Yevgheny Pledov recently of the Soviet 38th Tank Division, Divisional Reconaisance Battalion, Combat Vehicle Crewman, BRDM-2 Gunner.


Three Terms, Age 29, Rads 29, Initiative 4.


Str 6 Agl 5 Con 7 Edu 6 Int 5 Cha 5


STR

Mechanic 2/8, M/C-Armed 1/7, M/C-Unarmed 1/7


Agl

Grenade/Rocket Launcher 1/6, Thrown weapon 1/6, Rifle 6/11, Stealth 2/7,

Tracked Veh Driver 1/6 Wheeled Veh Driver 2/7.


Con

Mountaineering 1/8, Horsemanship 2/9.


Edu

Civil Engineer 2/8, Metalurgy 1/7, Medical T/A 1/7,Chemistry 1/7,

Computer 1/7.


Int

Farming 2/7, Navigation 1/6, Tracking 2/7, Observation 2/7,

Scrounging 1/6, Survival 1/6.


Cha

Lang Russian 6/11, Instruction 1/6, Leadership 1/6, Persuasion 1/6.


AKS-74 + 100 rnds 5.45B spread amongst 5 magazines

Makarov + 16 rnds 9mmM in two magazines


Uniform, change of underwear, CVC helmet, Steel helmet, I.D Tags + papers

1xField Dressing-wound, CVC Vest style webbing + Infantry style Magazine pouch, Gas mask + carry bag, water bottle x 1, entrenching tool x 1, folding spoon/fork + mess tin kit, NBC undergarment + oversuit + gloves + Shm-k voice mask (Vehicle intercom/radio mask?), wool balaclava, wool fingerless gloves, civilian jumper, shelter cape, worn blanket, 50ft ball of twine and a home-made fuel ciggerette lighter.


BRDM-2 and vehicles tools externally stowed gear etc traded for Krakow citizenship papers for four, and $125each worth of Ration chit coupons.



As you can see he's no munchkin, though there are a few instances where he is better than an "experienced" npc and yet he has thus far survived the 3rd world war! Our GM seems to have an ingrained aversion to anything that explodes, atleast as far as PC's having them goes and if this holds for opfor npc's poor Yevgheny may yet survive the first actual game session.


Until then, dasvadanya comrades!

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jtr 12-14-2005, 09:15 AM G'day,


I have started a Yahoo Group for the gaming group so we can chat, exchange ideas, files and information in between game sessions.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/T2K_Krakow/


Interested members of the T2K community, not necessarily resident in Perth, are welcome to lurk.


Cheers


John

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