Is there a supplement like "Traveller: War" ?

[rust]

Working on my new guerilla war campaign, I am running into a couple of minor
problems with the lack of rules for things like grand strategy, command and
control, logistics and supplies and similar background themes of a war.

Some of it can probably be adapted from the rather abstract systems in Mer-
cenary and perhaps Pocket Empires, and there are some quite good ideas for
the political side of an independence movement in Babylon 5's Free Mars, but
I would dislike to invent the wheel a second time with a lot of houserules for
warfare.

So, perhaps there is an adventure (apart from Uragyad'n of the Seven Pillars,
which I have) or a supplement that deals with these subjects, and which I
could use to save some time and effort in the preparation of the campaign ?

Thank you for any information.

[It would be most welcome, I am a bit under deadline pressure after a data
loss destroyed almost 4 GB of settings and campaign material, including the
campaign I intended to continue ... ]

 

[Trent]

EABA has a mass combat resolution system that seems workable.

As to the strategic side, I'd go two ways:

1. The players really can't affect the outcome: No matter what the outcome is ordained and all the players can do is try to survive and maybe scrape up a little profit from it.

2. The players decide the outcome: This approach was used in the first "star frontiers" campaign in which the hostile alien sathar invaded Volturnus, the planet the players were stuck on. The sather had an initial 100% chance of winning.

The players were assigned varius special missions, like destroying some weapon emplacements, killing some vital sathar assets, eliminating some enemy supply vehicles, etc. Every time the players succeeded in a task, their side got a % chance to win.

I think that if the players did every mission they had a 90% chance of victory at the end.

 

[rust]

EABA has a mass combat resolution system that seems workable.

Thank you, I will take a look at it.

As for the strategic side, I think I will use the second option. I want to give
the characters a real chance to influence the outcome of the rebellion, but
also the responsibility for a couple of tough decisions (e.g. what to do with
prisoners or loyalist civilians, whether to use terrorist methods like assassina-
tions and bombings, etc.).

 

[sabredog]

Striker has good detailed info on command control, and logistics for a guerilla war scaled conflict since it really works best and is designed for small unit actions. It's all easily integrated into Traveller adventures and the command control portion is especially useful if the players are going to take active parts in the battle since they can use their various skills to determine initiative, who can move, how many units to control and rallying when the firing starts.

 

[rust]

Striker has good detailed info ...

Thank you very much, I will try to get a copy.

 

[Supplement Four]

JTAS had an issue called WAR! when the Fifth Frontier War broke out. That one, and the issues before and after it, had several articles on several aspects of war.

The Ine Givar Rebels, on Efate, may be useful to you, too.

 

[Gadrin]

Probably RL books on war from famous generals and such and adapt
it to Traveller.

Try your public Library.

Hammer's Slammers and such offer interesting takes on high-tech
warfare.

>

 

[rust]

Thank you very much, Supplement Four and Gadrin.

 

[Hemdian]

Well, there's stuff in the Spinward Marches Campaign (broad strokes description of the 5FW), Striker (CT/MT), and Striker 2 (TNE). There's a couple of GT supplements ("First In" and "Star Mercs").

Then you can borrow stuff from Twilight 2000 (check out the RDF Sourcebook), and Recon (if you want a Vietnam War vibe).

It would be most welcome, I am a bit under deadline pressure after a data loss destroyed almost 4 GB of settings and campaign material, including the campaign I intended to continue ...

Ouch! Been there. Actually had a merc mission generator for Efate that I'd worked on for months get corrupted and lost. I really must remember to start doing backups one of these days.

 

[rust]

Thank you very much, Hemdian.

Oh, and in my case it was the backup that failed ... :nonono:

 

[DonM]

If you want to stick with Traveller rules, the mass combat system in Mercenary can be used for a lot of things.

 

[sabredog]

Thank you very much, I will try to get a copy.

It's included on the Classic Traveller CD-ROM, and in the Traveller Games book from Far Futures' website.

 

[rust]

If you want to stick with Traveller rules, the mass combat system in Mercenary can be used for a lot of things.

Yes, I think it is very good for those combats where the characters are not
directly involved (and most of the war will doubtless happen without their
presence on the battlefields), but I find it not very helpful when it comes
to planning, organizing and commanding a guerilla campaign (everything
from communications to logistics).

 

[tbeard1999]

You might want to check out this thread in which I explore how Mao's thesis about how insurgencies develop can be adapted by Traveller referees and how it provides a useful framework for portraying an insurgency in a Traveller campaign.

Key points:

"The classic formulation of how an insurgency should develop can be found in Mao’s theory of guerilla warfare in On Guerilla Warfare. While his divisions are somewhat artificial, the pattern is useful for a Traveller referee because it breaks an insurgency into discrete stages:

In Phase 1, the insurgents attack government elements such as police, ministries and the like. This may include vulnerable wealthy citizens who tend to support the government. The insurgents gain the population’s support by demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the government and distributing propaganda. Also, the insurgent tactics begin goading the government into repressive countermeasures that will alienate the people. Typical strategies will involve provoking government troops, then exploiting the media to show only the government’s apparently unprovoked violence.

This stage will be characterized by small scale operations—terrorist attacks, raids and atrocities on outlying citizens who support the government (like large ranches in the Outback, if appropriate)—and belated government countermeasures, including attacks on suspected insurgents, attacks on suspected insurgent supporters and the beginnings of a “hearts and minds” campaigns.

Phase 2 begins when the insurgents have developed a considerable cadre of forces and after the government’s hold on the people weakens. In Phase 2, insurgents escalate attacks against the government’s most critical institutions. This includes military forces and critical institutions like courts, public utilities, etc. The goal at this stage is to completely undermine public support for the government and the military. In this stage, some institutions may be completely compromised (universities and media seem particularly vulnerable to being compromised).

As part of this phase, the insurgents will attempt to neutralize “hearts and minds” campaigns (which begin in earnest in Phase 2). This usually involves intimidation and violence against the population, since the insurgents are almost never able to match the government in humanitarian programs.

Referees portraying insurgent operations in Phases 1 and 2 should remember Mao's famous dictum: "The enemy advances, we retreat; the enemy camps, we harass; the enemy tires, we attack; the enemy retreats, we pursue."

Phase 3 begins when the government can no longer control large areas of the country (and when the insurgents have built up a respectable conventional force). At this point, conventional forces attempt to seize cities, overthrow the government, and take control of the country. The Tet Offensive is a good example of an unsuccessful Phase 3.

Note that circumstances may require shifting between phases in either direction. Also, the phases may not be uniform throughout the country. If the insurgents are defeated in Phase 3, for instance, they may shift to Phase 2 (or even Phase 1 if the defeat was severe enough).

Actual conflicts can be fitted to this template. Vietnam showed this pattern—1-2-3-2-defeat of government. Phase 3 occurred in the Tet Offensive, which was a disastrous military defeat for the Viet Cong. Had the US press not so effectively intervened for the Viet Cong, the Viet Cong would have probably dropped down to Phase 1. The defeat of South Vietnam was a conventional military defeat by an external power, so it falls outside classical Maoist theory in my opinion.

The earlier French experience in Vietnam pretty much went Phase1-2-3 (Dien Bien Phu).

Iraq seems to have shown this pattern—Phase 1-2-1-insurgent defeat.

As an aside, it is important to note that Mao's classical formulation of guerilla war didn't really deal with external military support for the insurgents (other than as a source of supply). This is a major reason that I believe the Vietnam War falls outside classical theory--the North Vietnamese were an external allied force (although they adopted insurgent tactics once they were in-country).

In any case, a Traveller referee can identify which phase the insurgency is in and design adventures accordingly. He can also develop a story arc in which the insurgency develops from phase 1 to phase 3. (As an aside, insurgencies tend to take a long time to make this progression; campaigns will need to compress the time frame or have time pass faster than in typical campaigns)."

The thread discusses the effect of advanced technology and wars that fall outside Mao's classic definitions (like the Vietnam War and the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan), along with some irrelevant political squabbling. However I think that Mao's formulation is a very useful framework for a Traveller referee running an insurgency.

 

[rust]

Thank you very much, a very interesting thread indeed, with many useful
ideas.

I also think that Mao's guerilla strategy provides a good structure for a gue-
rilla war campaign, and the outline of the campaign I am planning follows it
closely, although I intend to throw in a bit of "Mexico" and "Cuba" as a "ro-
mantic touch" to prevent the campaign from becoming too dark and grim du-
ring its early phase, when the future guerilleros are hardly more than wanted
criminals running from the government forces.

As for the technology, since it is a non-OTU setting and the technology is re-
stricted to about TL 9 / 10, I think I can keep the situation balanced in a way
to prevent an easy technology-based victory of the government forces.
The means to do this, apart from the environment (dense forest, mountains),
are a couple of native sympathizers in the colonial administration who can
provide small amounts of high tech to the rebels and who can warn the re-
bels of at least some raids and sweeps.
Those sympathizers will of course be caught sooner or later, but they can en-
able the insurgency to survive the most dangerous early phase.

Some foreign help will be necessary for the rebels, so one of the early adven-
tures (after the "Long March" to the mountains and the reorganization of the
movement) will give the characters a chance to sneak back to the capital to
hijack a starship.
The idea behind this is to sell the ship on another planet (the setting has so-
me worlds where this should be possible), and to use the money to buy wea-
pons and equipment, hire some mercenaries as instructors, and a smuggler to
transport all that back to the Sombra colony.

If the characters manage to succeed with this rather ambitious plan, the re-
bels can begin to add a military wing to the previously purely political move-
ment, and to begin Phase 2, the actual low intensity guerilla war against the
government forces, both in the outback and in the urban areas.
This will also be the time when the government will begin to realize - some-
what late - that they are not just dealing with a few intellectuals and politi-
cos who managed to escape arrest for their treasonous ideas, but that this
really is turning into an insurgency.
It will depend on the characters whether the rebels are prepared for the mas-
sive military response the government will start to crush the rebellion before
it can grow into a threat, or whether the insurgency will be destroyed at the
beginning of Phase 2.

Well, at least these are my current ideas, but I am still working on the cam-
paign's "skeleton".