CIC's 14th Birthday

capi3101

Admiral
Evening, all.

In case you missed the news on the front page, the CIC's 12th birthday is in just under a month, and in honor of that occasion I'm considering putting together another WCRPG mission or possibly a series of missions.

After reviewing the polls that have been up on the site since '98, I'm thinking about doing something set in the early war years (prior to WC1). Enyo jumps to mind, but using Action Stations as a guide I might be able to do something with the McAullife Ambush. I'd be welcome to any ideas any of y'all might have on the topic. Were I to do McAullife, I'd have a bit of work cut out for me...

(Man, I got to say: there's a lot of pessimists 'round these parts. "Poor" has won the yearly poll of "what kind of year will this be for WC" since '01, which as far as I can tell has been every time that particular question's been asked...).
 
Well, being pessimistic means you don't get too excited about stuff that in the end turns out to be nothing, and that makes the disappointment less severe. Space sims (at least the way most of us seem to love them) are economically dead. There is no market and every A+ quality space sim since the year 2000 or so was a economical disaster for the company releasing it.
Look at fan projects: Saga or Standoff don't cost a dime and even if you assume that all downloads of both projects combined were actually really people playing the game (which for EA means: would buy a similar official WC game with a 20-30% chance IIRC) those numbers are hardly high enough to justify the start of a AAA project. Not even that of a B product.
If the Wing Commander universe ever returns in an official game it will likely be in an FPS or an RPG, because that's where you can make money nowadays. You have to sell millions of copies. The existing fan base is not nearly big enough. And since nobody except those few old Wing Commander and FreeSpace fans actually likes flying around in space from nav point to nav point, shooting stuff I think there won't be any big space sim anytime soon.
A Privateer style game can be sold much better because it offers more variety in gameplay and long-time motivation. The X series shows that it can work. Maybe.
There also won't be another Wing Commander movie I think. People hated the first one. Even lots of the games' fans.
So yeah, I don't see any reason for being optimistic either.

Anyway, back to your question:
I think I would actually prefer Enyo. IMO McAulliffe is so well described in the book that it hardly leaves any room for you or the game master to rearrange stuff or bring in some additional ideas. The problem with McAulliffe is also that you don't know any stats for the ships involved. At Enyo you have Raptors but you can also use Scimitars, maybe even Hornets (I don't remember when the Hornet entered service). You could use a Yorktown carrier because we know that class was around in that year already. (Were those things ever new? :D )
 
may it be possible to expect the uknown enemy graphical enhancement pack for the 12th birthday? :)

I checked the birthday updates from two years ago. Sorry, there was no UE graphics update then.

(P.S. It's the 14th, not 12th birthday next month. ;) )
 
I think I also have an idea for an awesome story or mission I could release on that day. Maybe it will involve Kilrathi. Maybe also olfactory descriptions. :D Hmmm....
 
(P.S. It's the 14th, not 12th birthday next month. ;) )

D'OH!!!!!!! :eek::mad:

Well, being pessimistic means you don't get too excited about stuff that in the end turns out to be nothing, and that makes the disappointment less severe.

True; I've been applying that strategy in general since high school. Awfully depressing philosophy, though. But that's a matter for a different thread. Or a psychology session. Something.

Anyway, back to your question:
I think I would actually prefer Enyo.

Leaning this way my own self.

IMO McAulliffe is so well described in the book that it hardly leaves any room for you or the game master to rearrange stuff or bring in some additional ideas.

I dunno...they were able to do something similar in Standoff......

The problem with McAulliffe is also that you don't know any stats for the ships involved. At Enyo you have Raptors but you can also use Scimitars, maybe even Hornets (I don't remember when the Hornet entered service).

Not sure there is an existing service date for the Hornet. There doesn't appear to be any in Action Stations; the McAullife Ambush was a mere five years prior to Enyo, so they've either just entered service or are on the drawing board (they get replaced by the Epee in 2661, but it's not unprecedented for a fighter to have a short service life; technically the F-22 Raptor has only been in service for seven years and its already seen the end of its production run). It might be interesting to design one of the older fighters to put in its place, perhaps the Wildcat or Hurricane. Or maybe an early version Arrow; putting together a variant would be a snap.

You could use a Yorktown carrier because we know that class was around in that year already. (Were those things ever new? :D )

They were new sometime around 2584...and they were still being churned out probably up to the start of the war at least (any older and Eisen would've had to have sailed on Victory's maiden cruise as a toddler, which might make doing his assigned duties as communications officer a tad difficult).

I probably would have to go with a Yorktown- or Ranger-class carrier (probably with Durango-class destroyers for escorts, possibly Exeters). The Bengals weren't green lit for another three years after Enyo.

Actually, the Concordia-class would also be available, if I'm not mistaken.

I think I also have an idea for an awesome story or mission I could release on that day. Maybe it will involve Kilrathi. Maybe also olfactory descriptions. :D Hmmm....

Uh....ignoring this now......
 
I think I'm going to do the Enyo Engagement; probably will just call the finished product "Enyo" (which will probably be enough for any diehard WC1 fan). So let's talk about it a little...

First thing's first: we've got two slightly different versions of the events, one from Claw Marks and one from Star*Soldier; the one from Star*Soldier suggests that the Kilrathi also took over McAullife during the engagement. I know that Claw Marks was written well before the Prophecy Akwende Projection came out, so from its perspective the occupation of McAullife space was not a requirement for the Enyo Engagement. Makes sense with the Star*Soldier version of events. I might be able to pull a mission or two in the McAullife system on the "winning track", I suppose.

Thinking no more than five missions with this thing total (by which I mean a few more, depending on I go branching things).

A big question I should ask here is this: what do y'all suppose Jo Khumalo's callsign is at the onset of the engagement? I mean, we all know he leaves as Knight - a callsign he earns during this fight...

I'm going to put some more thought into what I'm doing this afternoon if I get a chance; meantime y'all feel free to discuss and/or offer up ideas.
 
I checked the birthday updates from two years ago. Sorry, there was no UE graphics update then.

(P.S. It's the 14th, not 12th birthday next month. ;) )

Anyway, would be cool to have the graphical update, so that UE closes up with enhanced starfieldpatch of wcp/So
 
First thing's first: we've got two slightly different versions of the events, one from Claw Marks and one from Star*Soldier; the one from Star*Soldier suggests that the Kilrathi also took over McAullife during the engagement. I know that Claw Marks was written well before the Prophecy Akwende Projection came out, so from its perspective the occupation of McAullife space was not a requirement for the Enyo Engagement. Makes sense with the Star*Soldier version of events. I might be able to pull a mission or two in the McAullife system on the "winning track", I suppose.

Hah, that's pretty interesting, but you're actually overthinking the change. The Star*Soldier version is to cover for the fact that later Origin manuals (Victory Streak and Voices of War) accidentally list McAUliffe for the 2639 action instead of Enyo :)

I probably would have to go with a Yorktown- or Ranger-class carrier (probably with Durango-class destroyers for escorts, possibly Exeters). The Bengals weren't green lit for another three years after Enyo.

Actually, the Concordia-class would also be available, if I'm not mistaken.

Yes, the Concordia-class was new as of Action Stations (when there were only two of them, with at least one being destroyed during that story.)

The history for the Bengal gets confused by the movie stuff; but you can have an older version going back to 2619 (I have it on good authority that we're going to clean up this mess soon...)
 
Hah, that's pretty interesting, but you're actually overthinking the change. The Star*Soldier version is to cover for the fact that later Origin manuals (Victory Streak and Voices of War) accidentally list McAUliffe for the 2639 action instead of Enyo :)

I remember that. Not sure how best to handle it, though; I assume the action is called the "Enyo Engagement" because the bulk of the fighting would've taken place in the Enyo system.
I suppose I could just ignore the later McAullife references. It'd simplify things.

Yes, the Concordia-class was new as of Action Stations (when there were only two of them, with at least one being destroyed during that story.)

What was the name of the other one? The only other Concordias I know about are Princeton and Lexington.

These events are five years after McAullife, so I imagine there are a few more Concordias in action by that point. I'm still leaning toward a Yorktown or Ranger, though.
 
What was the name of the other one? The only other Concordias I know about are Princeton and Lexington.

These events are five years after McAullife, so I imagine there are a few more Concordias in action by that point. I'm still leaning toward a Yorktown or Ranger, though.

The other one (in Action Stations) never gets a name. It might be one of the ships we see during the novel and... it might not. I don't think we know the names of any other Concordias (for whatever reason, fans used to assume that /every carrier we have a name for but don't see/ is a Concordia-class... glad that's over.) But yes, there should be more by 2639, six were in various stages of construction at the start of the war.
 
Just got done picking out the ships I'm going to use. I promise that there's only going to be one ship we see somewhere else...;)
 
Been looking over the sequence of events of Enyo again and I have a preliminary mission tree. Tell me what y'all think:

1. Intercept/Escort - An InSys fighter group has survived the initial Kilrathi occupation of the system and is attempting to reach the home carrier; it has a run in with hostile forces and the players must bring it back in safely. IF WIN, The players get the assistance of a battleship group for the rest of the mission. IF LOSE, the carrier's group is on its own (equates to more enemy forces in the second mission).

2. - Convoy escort - The players must escort a convoy group carrying modified Porcupine mines and their droppers needed to modify the carrier's Raptors.
3A on win, 3B on lose.

3A - Minelaying - The players must either escort the Raptors to their target, or perform the actual minelaying work.
3B - Minelaying - The players must protect a group of transports as they lay down the mines.

4 - Strike - The players must ensure the destruction of the orbiting Kilrathi gunships with a minimal loss of life to the populace.

5A - Strike - The players get a chance to pounce on the Kilrathi forces as they retreat.
5B - Defense - The players must defend their carrier from a Kilrathi strike as it prepares to retreat.


For the Kilrathi, I'm thinking about just using the basic set of ships from WC1. I'll need to work up something for the "orbital gunships", unless I just want to go with one of the established classes (such as a Sivar-class dreadnought or two). I had thought about just modifying a Dorkir or Lumbari, but something tells me that won't be challenging enough for mission 4.
 
Been thinking about Joseph Khuamlo's original callsign. Wikipedia says "Most call signs play on or reference on the aviator's surname...Other inspirations for call signs may include personality traits, references to historical figures, or past exploits during the pilot's career...It is common for aviators to be given a fairly derogatory callsign, and the more they complain about it, the more likely it is to stick. Some stick with the aviator forever, while in other cases an aviator might have a series of call signs throughout his or her career."

My mind keeps going back to either "Blow" or "Schmo"; a play on his given name (if shortened to Joe) - and either would rhyme with his surname.
 
Today I'm thinking about the early years in the life of Geoffrey Tolwyn. Specifically, the 2639.036 entry in Star*Soldier (regarding Enyo) that says "The Confederation regroups under the leadership of then-Captain Geoffrey Tolwyn and brings in an attack force of Raptor-class heavy fighters." IIRC, Tolwyn was a newly frocked Ensign just prior to the McAullife Ambush, and as I've pointed out in this thread previously, Enyo is only five years after McAullife. Am I supposed to believe that a Naval officer made Captain in the span of five years? Or is there some evidence that suggests Tolwyn switched over to the Space Force after McAullife (making him a TCSF Captain - the equivalent of a TCN Lieutenant using the ranking system in Victory Streak). The latter makes more sense (especially since he would've only been about 26 years old at the time). Thoughts?

Means I might have to include him somewhere in all this mess. I was kind of hoping not to.
 
Just got done designing the Wildcat for Enyo. Had to take the afterburner off to get her in the fifty million credit ballpark - I figure I can stick a booster rocket on her like the one you see on the Wasp (except not nearly as powerful). Means I should be able to get a set of stats ready for the Ranger-class soon. Arrow's ready at this point too and I should be able to start designing missions soon (and I'm aware of the fact I need to hurry it up already).
 
IIRC, Tolwyn was a newly frocked Ensign just prior to the McAullife Ambush, and as I've pointed out in this thread previously, Enyo is only five years after McAullife. Am I supposed to believe that a Naval officer made Captain in the span of five years? Or is there some evidence that suggests Tolwyn switched over to the Space Force after McAullife (making him a TCSF Captain - the equivalent of a TCN Lieutenant using the ranking system in Victory Streak). The latter makes more sense (especially since he would've only been about 26 years old at the time). Thoughts?

The first few years of the war there are significant losses by both sides. Given Tolwyn's service before McAuliffe and then during the battle, I don't think it's too outside the realm of possibility for him to climb that fast.
 
What was the name of the other one? The only other Concordias I know about are Princeton and Lexington.

These events are five years after McAullife, so I imagine there are a few more Concordias in action by that point. I'm still leaning toward a Yorktown or Ranger, though.
In Action Stations, at the Battle of McAullife, we see the Concordia and the Ark Royal.
 
The first few years of the war there are significant losses by both sides. Given Tolwyn's service before McAuliffe and then during the battle, I don't think it's too outside the realm of possibility for him to climb that fast.

Are there any corresponding examples in history? Just thought I'd ask; I've been working under the whole Space Force assumption up to this point.
 
Well... The player character (Blair) in WC1 gets promoted three or four times in one year, so it seems to be possible :D
Ok, that aside (which is really more of a gameplay thing)

Some real historic examples:
- Enoch Powell (a British soldier and later politician) rose from Private to Brigadier between 1939 and 1945
- Howard Cosell (American sports journalist) entered service in 1941 and left the US-Army 1945 as Major
- Dwight D. Eisenhower had an interesting military life as well. He joined the Army in 1915 and was Major by 1918, and in WWII he rose from Colonel to General of the Army in three years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Dwight_D._Eisenhower#Dates_of_rank
- Erich Hartmann (German ace pilot) rose from Officer candidate to Major between 1940 and 1945

In war such things happen much more quickly than in peace time. One rank in one year was not uncommon in history. I read about a guy in Vietnam who made four ranks in three years IIRC.

And if you go back even more:
That guy somehow jumped from Private to Colonel... basically instantly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_bedford_forrest#War_record_and_promotions
 
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