Galactic Overlord 19 - Peace had its chance

[:) Smiley]

Everyone's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals.
- Colman McCarthy, peace activist

a month is a long time for the galaxy to remain quiet, but when aptly named Lazerus, the genius behind the throne of Lord Vetko, decided it was time to kick back and enjoy the good life, trouble began brewing.

It wasn't long before Vetko's Imperium began to crumble. What began as a minor complaint of male chauvinism in the military ended up turning into a full fledged scandal. Before long, Lazerus was fleeing the country and mass-emailing people to help him transfer money out of his Mingapulcian bank account.

meanwhile, eleven leaders, many of them old faces of the factions of the universe, had emerged, and were ready to begin a new contest for the right to lord over the galaxy.

Orders due Sunday at noon Pacific time. Remember, no attacking on turn 0

[:) Smiley]

rules!

(changes in red)

Galactic Overlord
A Forum Game from
Jamski Productions


Overview

Galactic Overlord is a game of space strategy and warfare for any number of players. It is turn based and builds on the success of the well-known Paper-Stone-Scissors^tm system. Each player is the ruler of a faction determined to bring the whole galaxy under their domination using every means at their disposal until they are the sole survivor and the almighty Galactic Overlord!


Setting up the Game

Each player starts the game with one Base. A Base is a planet, hollowed out asteroid, huge space station or any other large structure capable of supporting life and industry. Each player also starts the game with 32 Build Points, or BPs. As long as the player has at least one base still in operation he receives an additional 5 BPs each turn per home base, and 2 BPs each turn per captured base. The player's BPs can be used to build Ships or more Bases according to the following table:


Spending BPs

Self-built base 1 costs 8 BP.
Self-built bases 2 through 6 cost 16BP each.
Self-built bases 7 through 12 cost 24BP each.
Self-built bases 13 through 18 cost 32BP each and so on.

Frigate......1 BP     
Cruiser......2 BPs
Battleship...3 BPs
Dreadnaught..4 BPs
Titan........5 BPs

The more expensive the Ship, the more Bases are required to build one:

Frigate......1 home Base     
Cruiser......2 home Bases
Battleship...3 home Bases
Dreadnaught..4 home Bases
Titan........5 home Bases

***NOTE - Only self-built bases count towards maximum hull sizes***

Ships are 1 BP apiece and can be armed as you wish with Lasers, Fighters or Torpedoes with each weapon taking up one unit of space from the Ship's total. A ship may only carry one kind of weapon.

Each Ship has 3 hit points

BP's may be stockpiled for use later during the game.


Turn zero
You may give any orders except Attack! during turn zero, the prebuild turn. In essence, you can build ships or bases, as well as either a shield or a spy.


Playing the Game - Orders

Each player sends his orders to the GM who processes them all together once they are received.

Default orders of battle not accepted.

Normal Orders (you may make any number of these orders in conjunction with the orders in the next section)

• Build Ships/Bases : You may spend your BPs or stockpile them for later. Ships built that turn may be used for attack and defence, Bases built may be captured that turn.
  Damaged Ships are repaired for free (Now you see why big ships are good).
  ***NOTE - You need to already have bases built for them to count for hull size allowance. That means if you have 2 bases at the start of the turn, then you can only build crusiers even if you build another base during that turn.***
• Use Spies : If you have a Spy you may stop one of your opponents orders that turn being executed. The Spy is lost. Spy affects Attack!, Allied Defence and Rebuild Generator. You cannot build a spy and use a spy in the same turn. If two players spy on each other, the spies cancel each other and their orders proceed as if no spies were used.

Special Orders (you can choose only one of these per turn)

• Attack! : This starts a fight between your fleet and that of an opponent. You must choose which ships to send, and which to leave at home in case you yourself are attacked that turn. See Combat for more.
• Allied Defend. : See heading below for more details.
• Raise Shields! : This protects your Bases and Ships from all attacks that turn, and also stops any spies. Any opposing fleet that attacks you will take hits equal to 10% of total tonnage or 18 HP, whichever is greater (distributed as per combat damage) while you remain snug and secure. The generator is exhausted by this use and must be rebuilt.
• Build Shield Generator : Rebuilds a shield generator. Up to three shields can be stockpiled for later use.
• Train Spy : Trains and inserts a new Spy for your cause. Up to three spies can be stockpiled for later use. You cannot train a spy and use a spy in the same turn.

Alliances

Allied Attack

• You may want to organise joint attacks on an opponent with an ally. In this case you must agree on an Order of Battle between the allies. If two different opponents attack at the same time without informing the GM of their alliance, then the defender must fight them consecutively, fighting first against the one who posted their orders last.
• It is possible that when a player is attacked by two non-allied fleets at the same time that he loses both battles. In this case both attackers gain a base. Allied fleets that attack together must decide who is to get the captured base/s.
• The GM applies hits to allied fleets in the same way as to a normal fleet. This means that if one ally has smaller ships than his partner, he will take the bulk of the casualties. War is hell.
• If not otherwise specified, multiple bases captured by an alliance will be divided up evenly between the fleets that actually arrived. Odd bases will be assigned to the members of an alliance that sent their orders first.

Allied Defense

• As his orders a player may instruct the GM that instead of attacking or shielding he wishes to perform an Allied Defense. This works exactly like an allied attack, except the target is a friendly base/s.
• All fleets must have the same defensive OoB, or the allied defense will not occur!
• If player A sends orders to make an allied defense with Player B, it is possible both that Player B returns the favor and sends orders to make an allied defense with Player A, or that they trust Player A to defend their bases and attack a third Player.
• If a player orders an allied defense, but is themselves attacked at home that turn, their fleet will cancel the allied defense order and defend at home. Defending home bases has priority over rushing to assist a rival.
• Because of the above rule, it is always assumed that allied defense uses the whole fleet.
• Should the defense fail, the player that was attacked loses his bases as normal, but the assisting player(s) is safe.

Transferring Ships & Bases:

Is not allowed, period!


Baseless players:

• It is possible for a player to send out a fleet and have it run into a shield or lose the battle, while his home bases are simultaneously captured. Such fleet then remains baseless.
• A player with no bases at the beginning of a round must capture at least one base that round or be eliminated.
• Overlords with no bases lose their stockpiled shields and all of their stockpiled build points. Spies are retained.
• It is possible to use a spy on an player with no bases.

The GM

The GM will report each turn on the activities of each player. He will keep their orders secret, but will reveal their bases, the size and breakdown of their navy and their current BPs.


Winning the Game

Conquest Victory
You win the game by capturing all the bases and destroying all the fleets of your opponents to become the Galactic Overlord^tm!!!

Domination Victory
If a player has more than 2/3 of the bases in the galaxy, or more than 75% of the shipping tonnage they may claim a domination victory. If this is accepted by the other players then the game ends. No player is forced to accept domination, and has a right to fight to the last.

Note: Co-operative victories are not permitted.
Note: Previously eliminated players cannot be readmitted to the game.


Playing the Game - Combat
Combat Version 1.4

Combat is a simple, and yet complex, Paper-Stone-Scissors^tm system :

Lasers    - beat - Fighters
Fighters  - beat - Torpedoes
Torpedoes - beat - Lasers

If your weapon beats the other fleet's weapon, your raw attack strength against them is doubled, cumulative with all other modifiers.

Every player must also specify an "Order of Battle" every turn, whether attacking, or expecting to be attacked. The OOB is divided into two groups of three weapons each. You can have a maximum of 2 of each type in any order.

EXAMPLE 1: Lasers-Fighters-Torpedoes-Laser-Torpedoes-Fighters (LFTLTF)
EXAMPLE 2: Lasers-Torpedoes-Laser-Torpedoes-Fighters-Fighters (LTLTFF)

If the Attacker does not submit an OOB, then his attack orders are ignored. If the defender does not submit an OOB, but the Attacker does, the defending fleet is destroyed.


You may NOT set different OOBs for different enemies. Only one OOB for offense and one OOB for defense will be accepted.


These can be further refined by different tactics.

Tactics 1 - Range:
You may instruct your captains to try to engage at different ranges.

• Close In - Lasers from both fleets count an extra x2. If both fleets Close In then this stacks to a x4. This negates Back Off.
• Back Off - Lasers from both fleets count an extra x0.5 penalty. This is negated by Close In. If both players Back Off this stacks to x0.25.

Default is no special orders.


Tactics 2 - Formation:
You may instruct your captains to engage using different formations.

• Bunch Together - Your ships huddle together to protect each other from Fighters, but are more vulnerable to the large explosions of Torpedoes. Attacks with Fighters against Bunched Together fleets are at x0.5, while Torpedoes get x2.
• Spread Out - Your ships spread out, making the fleet hard to target with Torpedoes, while leaving individual ships vulnerable to Fighters. Attacks with Fighters against Spread Out fleets are at x2, while Torpedoes get x0.5

Default is no special orders. These orders can be used even when sending out a single ship.


Tactics 3 – Miscellaneous:

• The attacking player may decide to attack to the death. In that case, proceed as normal, but repeat the combat until one side or the other is completely destroyed.
  Default is fight to the death.
• If the attacker wants to fight his battle regardless of the opponents he is facing, he must include an appropriate phrase in his orders (such as fight whoever is there).

New for Combat v 1.4
Maneuver (M) - your ships do not fire and take normal damage. On the next round their firepower is doubled. You can only maneuver once, and it may not be in the 3rd or 6th slot of your OoB.


Example of full OOBs:

Attack: MFFLLT back off, bunch
Defence: LFTFML close in, default

• Add hitpoints for fleets involved in the battle (3xBP cost of fleets)
• Add total Fighters/Lasers/Torps in each fleet.
• Sort fleets according to their empire's Order of Battle. If the Attacker does not submit an OOB, then his attack orders are ignored. If the defender does not submit an OOB, but the Attacker does, the defending fleet is destroyed (Players that do not send in orders on time do not have OOBs).
• Adjust raw fighter/laser/torp numbers.
• The fleet with the "winning" tactic in a given round has their raw total attack strength doubled.
• Spreading or bunching your fleet affect the opposition's raw total attack strength. Double or halve this accordingly.
• The higher adjusted total wins. Apply Hits equal to the difference between the totals.
• Every three rounds, tally up the hits taken by both sides, and apply them as losses, then continue on to the next three rounds, if applicable.
• Remove destroyed ships according to the following rule. All ships of one type first, before moving to the next type, in the same order as the order of battle. Start removing frigates first, titans last. Damaged ships don’t break formation.
• Combat continues until one fleet receives more hits than it has hitpoints, or 6 rounds of combat have taken place unless the attack ordered a fight to the death, in which case combat ends with the destruction of one fleet.
• A destroyed fleet loses.
• If both fleets survive, the fleet that takes the most Hits is the loser.
• If the attacker won, he captures one base.
• If the attacker destroyed the entire enemy fleet, he captures all his opponents bases.

Additional rules concerning damaged ships
All ships that have taken damage are repaired for free at the end of battle.

Weapon values vs unusual orders:

Lasers x2 vs Unopposed
Torpedoes x2 vs Unopposed
Fighters x2 vs Unopposed
Lasers x1 vs Manouvre
Torpedoes x1 vs Manouvre
Fighters x1 vs Manouvre

*Unopposed refers to and OOB with a missing fleet type either by not having any to start with or by losing them in earlier rounds of combat.

[:) Smiley]

Cast of Characters

00A. Schmoonich While Big Bro Skynich took top honors at Space Academy, Schmoonich, ten years his junior, had to make do with gaming at home and going to Galactic Overlord Camp. His wealthy family provided him with a huge fort for him to live out his megalomaniacal fantasies. Little did they know that the kid's sharp brains and shady connections made at a strategy gaming forum turned the play fort into a tank-killing castle of doom. 01. Dr. Point Called a mad scientist or evil genius by the mass media, Dr. Point nontheless firmly believes that he is doing right in his bid for real ultimate power. Back in the days of Imperial control, authorities exiled him to an outpost near a black hole, figuring he'd get himself sucked in by another of his risky experiments. Instead, he made a breakthrough discover in high energy physics and tapped a new power source on which to build an army. 01A. Clone Point With his typical, and perhaps unethical, ingenuity, Dr Point created a clone, who would turn out to be a not just merely a copy but superior in all ways and ultimately rising to greater greatness than the original. 02. Polly Siffan Visionary administrator of the Imperial Bureau of Knowledge, Siffan founded thesprawling bureau out of three seperate agencies to create an Imperium within the Imperium. Nowadays, with no central oversight, the projects have gotten bolder, while new methods have been devised to acquire funding. 03A. Lizzy Kay Naturally, both the imperial government and its short-lived communist successor left many common folk disenfranchised and angry. Among them was Lizzy Kay, who began her activist career campaigning for youth rights before being swept up in the numerous antiwar movements throughout the Eighth and Ninth Galactic Wars. Taking to the spacelanes, the People forced Crystal Gonhu's resignation and promptly set about rebuilding a peaceful society. Prosperity soon attracted the attention of latter-day Halliburtons and other war profiteering corporations, however, drawing Lizzy into the conflict. 04. Basileus Naviwinat The last of the Emperors, Naviwinat's reign was brief and marked by rampant paranoia. Fearing a plot against him, Naviwinat dissolved the Senate. The ensuing chaos consumed the Galaxy. Fleeing the Capital, Naviwinat established a new base of power at his winter palace. 05. Zol Ventis Though political order has fallen in the Galaxy, other institutions survive, among them the series of Ventis Societies founded by Zol Ventis. These organizations continue to promote orderly development in sectors where membership is strong. At the height of his power, the Ventis Society held clandestine control over most of the galaxy and seemed poised to snatch the Overthrone. Although defeated, the Society never dies, it continues to lurk in the dark stars and dark matter of the universe. 06A. Barchild History is no stranger to actors turned politicians, though actors turned military leaders remain far and rare. Holomovie superstar Barchild nontheless managed to augment his on-screen popularity among all genders into a cultlike following of fans willing to live, die, and shoot lazors at Barchild's every whim. Despite numerous scandals involving liasions with a certain Mr. Vun and repeated assassination attempts by the Nid Society, Barchild's popularity remains well in the three digit range. 07. Captain Imperium His original name difficult to pronounce, the celebrated explorer and fighter pilot has long gone by the moniker of Captain Imperium, Defender of Everything. He claims to have singlehandedly discovered and charted dozens of exotic star systems, met their interesting inhabitants, and then killed them in preparation for human colonization. 08. General Ordin After serving with distinction on the Imperial Frontier, General Ordin was reassigned to Homeworld Security, putting him in a prime position to secure himself a slice of the galaxy when the breakup began. An expert in propaganda, Ordin also has the might and the know-how to back up his words with laser weapons. 09. Mr. Y Known only by his initial, the reclusive starship tycoon Mr. Y has only recently raised eyebrows as businesses suspected to be fronts for his corporate empire have bought up critical infrastructure and bought off local officials in certain strategic parts of the galaxy. As always, his true intentions are secret. 10. Danz Founder of the Danz Group, Danz expanded into the military market to protect his investments and keep the trade routes open. Shares in the Danz Empire, Inc. have skyrocketed following the conglomerate's acquisition of two additional planets last quarter. 11. Min Grah Tough as titanium, Min's career in law enforcement spans years of experience in Precinct 147, the roughest sector of the Galaxy. Under his brutal but benevolent leadership, some semblance of order has remained while other sectors have sunk into complete anarchy. With the motto "Justice is best served cold", those crossing Min's path often find themselves on a slow ship to the edge of space. 12. Ivan von Kristof A professional criminal, von Kristof started out with rocketjacking in the Central Core and gradually moved his way up into laser running before settling on warlording. Although Imperial authorities eventually caught up with him on charges of failing to pay Social Security taxes, his top notch legal team spared him execution until the collapse of the Imperium led to his jailbreak. Back in command of his mafia, von Kristof now seeks command of all of underspace. 13. Kit Chuss Commies in space! Longtime enemy of the Imperium, Comrade Chuss's insurgency has been a perennial thorn in the Imperial side. Now with central power fading, though, the Galactic Communist Party (GECCP) has moved from guerilla warfare to establishing bases of power. Advocating a radical form of Tassadarist thought, Kit's plan calls for major red shift across the galaxy. 14. Ken Banobi Rising to power as a leader of the anti-genetic engineering movement, Reverend Banobi worked as a peaceful activist around the galaxy for many years prior to the Fall. Seeing the spreading disorder as a sign of the Third Coming, Ken has rallied his congregation into a brigade of holy warriors with a mission to create Heaven in the heavens. 15. Lord Vetko A brilliant tactician and supreme strategist, Lord Vetko would undoubtedly gone down in history as one of the Imperium's greatest military leaders, that is until he attempted to seize the throne in a daring coup. While he succeeded in assassinating the Emperor, he was overwhelmed by greater numbers in the ensuing power struggle, and was forced to retreat to the back end of the galaxy. Until now. 16. Colony I In the early days of the Imperium, the expense of moving people across the stars led to the automation of many mining and energy gathering colonies. Each of these massive systems were controlled by supercomputers of the Colony series. Colony I was written off after it ceased functioning during a solar flare. However, it appears that some of the circuits survived, and left unmonitored for centuries, developed an artificial sentience. 17. Senator Danq Long before chronic infighting led to full collapse, Senator Danq had been pushing for reform in the unweildy Imperial Government. Assuming de facto command of the Capital and a few remaining planets still obeying the central government, Danq faces a long uphill battle to rebuild galactic order. 18. Agath Agathari From the Collected Wisdom of Master Agath Agath: "To fight over space is to fight over a whole lot of nothing." After years of comtemplating how to ethically solve the problems of the universe, the Master has been forced from abstract philosophizing to implementation when his monastery was invaded by bandits. 19. Ciann Pollus In earlier days, Senator Pollus guided the Imperium through a period of peace and prosperity. Keeping the peace was stressful, however, and Ciann retired to his orbital resort in a distant part of the galaxy. Leadership was in his blood, though, and before long he found himself back in local politics, and had risen to Sector Governor by the time of the breakup of the Imperium. 20A. Professor Morrisa Formerly a chemist, Professor Morrisa turned to political science after funding cuts made her an expert in unorthodox methods of securing research funding. Her authoritative analysis of the Eighth Galactic War, General Theory of Bases, Production, and Build Points, hit the bestseller list and catapulted Morrisa into fame and fortune at the outbreak of the Ninth Galactic War. Using the new theory of renovating captured bases into new homes, Morissa transformed several abandoned outposts into a thriving stronghold. 21A. Tashi With the sour economy in the Imperium following the war, Tashi left his homeworld to become an expatriate teacher of Imperialish in recently galacticized societies on the Galactic Rim. With the rapid spread of the conflict, however, Tashi found himself amidst it again. This time, with the support of numerous students and others drawn to the chaotic but colorful society of the Imperium, Tashi returned home and prepared for war.

[Skanky Burns]

[joncha]

Huzzah!

[Spaced Cowboy]

Cool!

But graphic shows 3 home bases while ruleset shows one to start.

I don't have a problem with either one, but clarification be needed, oh wise GM.

[:) Smiley]

it's 1. will update graphics soon.

[:) Smiley]

5/10. all are valid.

i'll be out of town until sunday, so make sure you send valid orders as I won't have time to check and notify.

[Skanky Burns]

Hooray!

[Hercules]

Sent.

[GeneralTacticus]

Sent.

[Kassiopeia]

Sent.

[Lazerus]

@ the intro, im suprised there was even any useless women in my military

[snoopy369]

You shall pay for that remark.

[MORON]

*pokes periscope out of the surface*

recon mission complete

*sinks into the depth*

+1