Craig Tenhoff
United States
Simi Valley
California
-
Chaos Campaign is a Nine Page Rule book that is available free from Catalyst Games. It is designed for use with the Total Warfare Rulebook. However, many of the optional rules reference the Tactical Operations and Strategic Operations rulebooks, so those books are recommended additions.
Now on to the review!
THE GOOD
Chaos Campaign is a flexible campaign system that allows scenarios to be adjusted to fit the size of the forces involved. This is a great benifit, since many previous campaigns and scenarios published for Battletech were designed for a specific sized force, and required extra Game Master time to adjust the scenario if the players force was larger or smaller than the designated size. This flexible system eliminates that, allowing any type of force (Roleplaying, Battletech, or Aerotech) to use the same scenario.
Chaos Campaign uses the 'Warchest Point System' as a simplified accounting system. Warchest Points are used to pay for a 'track' (the nomenclature Chaos Campaign use for scenarios), accounting for the costs (monentary, reputation, etc) to participate. Warchest Points are awarded (or lost) based on how many of the objectives are accomplished. In addition, Warchest Points can be converted to 'Support Points', which are used to buy replacement equipment, crews, repair, resupply, and improve skills. See THE BAD for one flaw I see in this system.
Each 'track' is one or more linked scenarios which represent a particular battle. Each 'track' includes the following:
Situation: A brief description of the battle.
Game Setup: Type of Terrain Maps that are allowed and any other special terrain information. Attacking Force and Defending Force. Depending on the track, it may restrict the types of forces and the quality of the force. Some tracks specify that certain formations must be used. This formations have special abilities that can be used during the battle.
Warchest: This is the cost to the players to execute this mission. In addition, this section lists 'handicaps' that the players can select. These handicaps usual affect the battlefield in someway (weather, special terrain, improved enemy forces, etc). If a handicap is selected and the players succeed in the mission, they receive extra Warchest Points as a reward.
Objectives: The objective(s) of the mission are listed, along with the Warchest Points received as a reward.
Aftermath: A brief summary of what the results of that battle were in the official Battletech timeline (for tracks that recreate pivotal battles).
A blank campaign record sheet rounds out the book.
THE BAD
The fact that the Chaos Campaign is so flexible is one of its flaws. A Game Master can't just pick up a scenario and use it. He has to build a force that fits within the constraints given within the scenario and the equipment that the players are using. For a Game Master who doesn't have a lot of time this is a serious drawback. However, as long as the Game Master is aware of this, the benifits outlined in THE GOOD section, out weigh this fault.
The one area that I notice as a slight flaw is that the Supply Point System is very generic, and doesn't take into account the relative value of units, but instead relies on tonnage. Mechs and Vehicles are broken down into two categories: Introductory (Basic Weapons) and Standard (Full Range of weapons). The unit's weight is the multiplied by a multiplier (Basic Mech 10, Standard 20, Basic Vehicle 5, Standard 10) to determine it's supply point cost. This means that two mechs that are the same tonnage, but have radically different values (either in C-bills or Battle Value Ratings) cost the same under this system! Experienced Battletech Players know that an Inner Sphere Locust, even with advanced weapons, is NOT the same value as a Clan Dasher! A Game Master using this system should be aware of this flaw, and put some controls on what the players can and cannot purchase. (In the game I'm currently in, we're using the availability rules from Field Manual: Mercenaries and the Battletech Roleplaying Game to control which units are available).
THE UGLY
A major flaw is that there are no tracks included in the product, not even an example for a Game Master to build on. If one owns any of the other products that use the track system (Jihad Series, Starter Books, Jihad Turning Point ebook, etc), a game master has examples to build upon, but otherwise has no references.
But for a free PDF, how could that be ugly?
CONCLUSION
Chaso Campaign was produced to the professional level one expects from Catalyst Games. It is a good structure for running a campaign, as long as one is aware of it's flaws. Game masters seeking a perfect solution wont find one here. They will find a simple system that is easily scalable, and it's a great way to link battles together.
Given its cost (FREE!), I'd recommend downloading it and giving it a try. I've found Battletech games play MUCH different when one is concerned with perserving one's units to fight another day.
-
Brian Compter
United States
Foxboro
Massachusetts
-
Nice review. I love the Chaos Campaign system. I'm currently running through the Wolf and Blake campaign and also have done the original campaign in Dawn of the Jihad.
Anyone looking for a few free tracks can check out the community created wartracks at the official CBT forums.
http://www.classicbattletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,1851...
-
Tim Pskowski
United States
Silver Spring
Maryland
-
Thanks for the review! I'm just getting back into Battletech and this system looks great. I like the $5-8 campaigns they are releasing for it.
-
|
|
