I've been thinking. When the game reaches a more feature-complete state, and we get the option to run a private server, we'll be able to hold FLEETEX (Fleet Exercises) and FTX (Field Training Exercises) encapsulated in an overarching wargame scenario.
Here's a description for you to visualize with: We have two teams in the wargame. Red versus Blue. Each team will have specific objectives to achieve, and they can be accomplished however the officers in charge deem necessary. It would be basically an exercise that would allow us to test our capabilities from the top all the way to the line member level.
There is a certain exception to keep in mind: Most people participating in the exercise will not know the full details of what they're doing, what they're accomplishing. The only thing they will know is their assignments.
If I'm going to plan a Wargame, I would not tell Average Line Member Joe MacJagoff what scenario his group will be doing. No, I'd be telling his boss, his group's boss, what their objective will be. After that, the ball's in their court.
Essentially, I would craft the wargame scenario's configuration, overall goals, potential group objectives, and hand them out to the officers, and then watch how it unfolds.
For example, let's say we have 300 people participating in Fleet Exercise BATTLESTAR-X. It's, as the name suggests, inspired by the Battlestar Galactica series. We'd have a Pegasus Escort Carrier, a.k.a the Pegasus. And then there's the Battlecruiser, which we'll call the Galactica. They're both starting in the same solar system.
Their goal would be to survive and successfully evade the "Cylons" aboard the Bengal Carrier, Basestar. The Basestar's goal would be the total annihilation of the Battlestar fleet.
Assets would be as follows:
Battlestars
Unlimited (if possible) number of F7A/C Hornets
Unlimited (if possible) number of Gladius
Limited number of Gladiators
Limited number of Sabres
Limited number of Vanguards
Extremely limited number of F8 Lightnings
One Retaliator
Basestars
Unlimited (if possible) number of Vanduul Scythes
Limited number of Glaives
Limited number of Blades
Limited number of Stingers
The catch? There's going to be some Cylon infiltrators among the Battlestar crew. It's going to be up to them to find out who the infiltrators are, and pacify/neutralize them before they execute any strategy to evade the Basestar. Additionally, players who have been eliminated from play will be restored to their respective factions after each round of hostile combat - so any infiltrators that have been caught and eliminated would be returned to the Basestar ship, and become part of the regular crew. Any losses on Battlestars' part would be replenished in a similar fashion.
Additionally, equipment and ship repairs would be artificially limited by resource caps on the Battlestar group's part, unless they come across a resource cache according to the scenario's design - I would tell them if they met such a condition, as the "Dungeon Master" of the wargame.
And finally, there would be scoring. The number of players shot down/eliminated from each round of combat would count towards the opposing team's goal. The winning team at the end of the wargame, as well as the group that outperforms for each side, would be awarded commendations for outperforming expectations during the wargame (and maybe some nice prizes, like a salvaged F7A Hornet or similar hard-to-get hardware in the PU).
We'd be doing a split of personnel between all three ships. So 175 for the Battlestar group (higher numbers due to the Battlecruiser), and 125 for the Basestar group.
In terms of hardware balancing, as indicated by the asset list above, my goal isn't to have both fleets kill each others' capital ships, but to think more on the strategic and tactical level - I want to push our people's capabilities, see where they break, where they hold. If that results in the Basestar being destroyed, that'd be amazing. Additionally, I deliberately excluded any marine-capable ships from the asset list because if the Battlestar group successfully seized the Basestar ship with less than optimal assets, that would also be amazing - but my intent, again, isn't for the acquisition or destruction of Basestar's ship - the goal of this wargame scenario is evasion and survival.
That's the concept of a Star Citizen/TEST Squadron Wargame in a nutshell. It's an opportunity for TEST's members to put themselves through the wringer and find where they have faults, and correct them before it becomes a problem in the Persistent Universe. That is what a Wargame is for - it's for improving our ability to function by identifying weak spots in our structure, our leadership, our line members, everything.
What do you think? And if you have any wargame scenario ideas, you're welcome to throw them up in this thread. :)
Here's a description for you to visualize with: We have two teams in the wargame. Red versus Blue. Each team will have specific objectives to achieve, and they can be accomplished however the officers in charge deem necessary. It would be basically an exercise that would allow us to test our capabilities from the top all the way to the line member level.
There is a certain exception to keep in mind: Most people participating in the exercise will not know the full details of what they're doing, what they're accomplishing. The only thing they will know is their assignments.
If I'm going to plan a Wargame, I would not tell Average Line Member Joe MacJagoff what scenario his group will be doing. No, I'd be telling his boss, his group's boss, what their objective will be. After that, the ball's in their court.
Essentially, I would craft the wargame scenario's configuration, overall goals, potential group objectives, and hand them out to the officers, and then watch how it unfolds.
For example, let's say we have 300 people participating in Fleet Exercise BATTLESTAR-X. It's, as the name suggests, inspired by the Battlestar Galactica series. We'd have a Pegasus Escort Carrier, a.k.a the Pegasus. And then there's the Battlecruiser, which we'll call the Galactica. They're both starting in the same solar system.
Their goal would be to survive and successfully evade the "Cylons" aboard the Bengal Carrier, Basestar. The Basestar's goal would be the total annihilation of the Battlestar fleet.
Assets would be as follows:
Battlestars
Unlimited (if possible) number of F7A/C Hornets
Unlimited (if possible) number of Gladius
Limited number of Gladiators
Limited number of Sabres
Limited number of Vanguards
Extremely limited number of F8 Lightnings
One Retaliator
Basestars
Unlimited (if possible) number of Vanduul Scythes
Limited number of Glaives
Limited number of Blades
Limited number of Stingers
The catch? There's going to be some Cylon infiltrators among the Battlestar crew. It's going to be up to them to find out who the infiltrators are, and pacify/neutralize them before they execute any strategy to evade the Basestar. Additionally, players who have been eliminated from play will be restored to their respective factions after each round of hostile combat - so any infiltrators that have been caught and eliminated would be returned to the Basestar ship, and become part of the regular crew. Any losses on Battlestars' part would be replenished in a similar fashion.
Additionally, equipment and ship repairs would be artificially limited by resource caps on the Battlestar group's part, unless they come across a resource cache according to the scenario's design - I would tell them if they met such a condition, as the "Dungeon Master" of the wargame.
And finally, there would be scoring. The number of players shot down/eliminated from each round of combat would count towards the opposing team's goal. The winning team at the end of the wargame, as well as the group that outperforms for each side, would be awarded commendations for outperforming expectations during the wargame (and maybe some nice prizes, like a salvaged F7A Hornet or similar hard-to-get hardware in the PU).
We'd be doing a split of personnel between all three ships. So 175 for the Battlestar group (higher numbers due to the Battlecruiser), and 125 for the Basestar group.
In terms of hardware balancing, as indicated by the asset list above, my goal isn't to have both fleets kill each others' capital ships, but to think more on the strategic and tactical level - I want to push our people's capabilities, see where they break, where they hold. If that results in the Basestar being destroyed, that'd be amazing. Additionally, I deliberately excluded any marine-capable ships from the asset list because if the Battlestar group successfully seized the Basestar ship with less than optimal assets, that would also be amazing - but my intent, again, isn't for the acquisition or destruction of Basestar's ship - the goal of this wargame scenario is evasion and survival.
That's the concept of a Star Citizen/TEST Squadron Wargame in a nutshell. It's an opportunity for TEST's members to put themselves through the wringer and find where they have faults, and correct them before it becomes a problem in the Persistent Universe. That is what a Wargame is for - it's for improving our ability to function by identifying weak spots in our structure, our leadership, our line members, everything.
What do you think? And if you have any wargame scenario ideas, you're welcome to throw them up in this thread. :)
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