FWC ImagiNations: The First Upheaval in Eastern Europe

[Mr. Average]

While preparing my 3mm Scale Terrain, and painting down my huge stockpile of O8 sci fi figures, I’ve been cooking up a clever plan to properly introduce the Future War Commander system to a friend of mine who’s agreed to play.  The setting is just beyond near-future, in the early stages of a world war called the First Upheaval.  It is in reality the Fourth World War, the Third having been fought a decade or two earlier and resulting in a lot of political and economic shifts but relatively little lasting physical damage.  The flashpoint for the conflict, as has happened in the past (present?) is Eastern Ukraine, an area known as the Donbas-Bryansk Theater during the previous war.

On the one side, the Ukrainian Federation is a physically larger but politically weaker incarnation of modern-day Ukraine, but one with a more competent military, composed of a cadre of veterans of the Donbas-Bryansk front of the previous war.  On the other side, the Zaporoskiye People’s Democratic Republic, an oligarchic rebel-state, formerly the Zaproskiye Krai of the Ukrainian Federation.  With strong encouragement from the Russian Confederation, the ZPDR has begun an insurrection against the UF Federal Government, unilaterally declaring independence, and getting recognition from the Confederation a little faster than might have been prudent.  The early stages of the conflict see a partial mutiny within the UF armed forces, leading to early battles that are practically symmetrical.  As time goes on, a buildup of support from the Russian Confederation on one side and a post-NATO alliance called ENSPUN on the other, leads to an increasingly complex conflict, as units arrive from Poland, Lithuania, Canada, Britain, Russia, China, and so on.

I have several goals here.  First, by making the game symmetrical, with nearly identical forces in the first few battles, I hope to slowly ramp up the complexity of the game and teach my opponent the nuances of the Future War Commander system.  Second, by slowly introducing new forces, I hope to be able to keep it interesting and diverse, and maybe catch the attention of other potential players.  And third, by making it sci fi but also near future, I hope to span the gap between modern and science fiction, appealing to me and my sci fi obsession while also being welcoming of my opponent, who is by and large a modern gamer.

As I don’t have a game blog at the moment, I thought I’d start a thread here to see how it goes on.  Comments and suggestions are naturally more than welcome.

[kyoteblue]

I’ll look forwards to reading it.

[Altius]

Me too. Be sure to post some photos as you go.

Where there is fire, we will carry gasoline

[Rod Robertson]

Mr. Average:

Sounds like a really interesting back-story. What does ENSPUN stand for?  What kind of kit will the opposing forces be using? How futuristic will the kit be? Would there be substantial kit from today? What scale will the games you simulate be at? Skirmish? Tactical? Operational? Strategic?

This sounds really interesting. I look forward to reading about more of your future war.

Cheers and good gaming.

Rod Robertson.

[Mr. Average]

Thanks for the interest!  I’m writing up scenario cards with full game background for the benefit of my opponent, and for my own modest edification, and will probably post them tomorrow.

The early kit is basically hyper-modern Russian material, T-90s with upgrades and the T228, which is a vehicle from O8’s sci fi line.  Basic infantry and modern/near-future IFVs make the bulk of the forces.  Both sides (UF and ZPDR) use American and Russian tube artillery and SPGs, though more advanced nations like Russia and ENSPUN have higher technology, like Walkers (Russia) hovercraft and advanced airpower (UK, Canada, Mitteleuropa) and orbital support weapons (ASA, the successor to the USA).

ENSPUN, by the way, is a portmanteau of English-Speaking Union and encompasses the Associated States of America, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Nigeria – the latter of which is an African continental sub-superpower by the time of the setting).  It has little to do with English, though, I just cribbed it from an Anthony Burgess novel and thought it sounded military.  There are also other regional alliances in Europe that will get involved in various ways: USWE, the United States of Western Europe, which is France, Spain, Portugal, Benelux), the SEU (Southern European Union, mainly Italy, Greece, the Balkans and Turkey), the Eastern Coalition (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Hungary and the Baltic States) and Mitteleuropa (Germany, Austria, Denmark and Scandinavia).  The Russian Confederation is an abridged version of modern Russia, in a loose regional alliance with its immediate neighbors, and a sometime relationship with China, though that’s been strained, since China stayed neutral in the last war, effectively hobbling the Russian war effort.

I’m trying to work out a scale of escalation for what I hope will be an ongoing campaign, to ratchet up intervention by various groups on various sides as time goes on and different battles are fought.

[Mr. Average]

A preliminary map of the campaign theater:

Pink is Mitteleuropa, Gold is the Eastern Coalition, Light Blue is the Southern European Union, Dark Blue (Kaliningrad) is occupied by ENSPUN, and Big Red there is the Russian Confederation.  It still needs some tweaking, naturally, but the idea is there.

Oh, and the two little units in Eastern Ukraine are the Earthlight Division (in Crimea) and the Krakow Winged Hussars (in Donestk).  They’re both mercenary units (they prefer the term “Dispute Resolution Organization”) on retainer with the Ukrainian Federal Army.  There are plenty of other such units in the works, including units from China, Japan, Switzerland, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

[kyoteblue]

Col. Sokolove approves.

[Author]

Posts