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Fiction > Aurora
Starting a multi-faction solitaire game, with a random twist
Desdinova:
So, I haven't played Aurora in a while, and I want to do something I’ve never done before: a multi-faction game, sort of inspired by Steve's Colonial Wars. I’ll be playing each faction, but to make it interesting, I’ll be developing some house rules governing each faction’s behavior. The basic idea is that it’s a multi-faction conventional start. Starting year: 2020 with no NPRs.
To introduce a degree of randomness, I'm letting dice dictate my foreign policy. But just to note, I reserve the right to change any of this at any time to make a more interesting game.
House rules:
Each faction maintains a relationship with the other faction, that changes dynamically throughout the game. The relationship levels are:
Allied
Friendly
Open
Neutral
Distrustful
Belligerent
Hostile
Every year, I roll 3d6 for each nation, which determines the shift in relationships. I won't start rolling until into the Trans-Newtonian age, when each nation starts claiming space.
3-4: Diplomatic crisis (immediate relationship drop, 2 levels)
5-7: Relationships sour (immediate relationship drop, 1 level)
14-16: Warming relations (immediate relationship rise, 1 level)
17-18: Diplomatic breakthrough (immediate relationship rise, 2 levels)
This roll is modified thusly:
Allied: + 2 (allied nations tend to remain allied, barring extraordinary circumstances)
Friendly: +1
Distrustful: -1
Belligerent: -2
There is no relationship penalty for nations that are already hostile, so that international tension tends to ebb and flow.
Nations are not allied but have one or more common allies: +2
Nations are not allied but have one or more common friends: +1
Nations are not allied but have one or more common rivals (belligerent): +1
Nations are not allied but have one or more common enemies (hostile): +2
Nation is belligerent to one or more allies: -1
Nation is hostile to one or more allies: -2
Nation is not an ally and has competing territorial interests (settlement on same non-Sol body): -2
Nation is occupying previously-conquered territory: -2
Nation is waging a war of aggression against a nation regarded as neutral or better: -2
When a nation becomes allies with another, relationships with any nation belligerent or hostile to that ally immediately drop a level. Likewise, relationships with an ally’s allies increase by 1 level.
War:
Relationships falling to hostile don’t mean an immediate outbreak of war. Rather, every month, I roll 3d6 to determine if there is an outbreak of hostilities, and their severity.
3: Surprise attack! Rapidly growing tensions have allowed a random side to seize the initiative.
4: Outbreak of hostilities – negotiations break down, but both sides have time to mobilize beforehand.
5: Skirmish – I’ll play out a ‘limited’ engagement scenario.
6-7: Sabre-rattling increasing tensions: cumulative -1 to next rolls.
8-13: No change in tensions.
14-18: Negotiations ongoing: cumulative +1 to next rolls.
If negotations reach a +5 modifer, tensions can no longer escalate, and relations are elevated to belligerent.
Earth and Mutually-Assured Destruction rule: an attack on Earth is considered an attack on all nations of Earth. This includes any orbital bombardment or attack that causes environmental damage, but not skirmishes between ground troops.
Peace:
Each month of active war, I’ll roll 3d6 to determine the state of peace negotations.
3-6: negotiations falter (-1 to next roll)
13-16: negotiations proceed (+1 to next roll)
17-18: A general peace is reached
The roll is modified by +1 for each major fleet engagement, due to war exhaustion.
Surrender:
If either side lacks the means to continue fighting, I may allow that side to surrender unconditionally.
Battles:
Because I’m playing both sides, I want to introduce an element of randomness. Generally, I’ll play each side as competently as possible, but when possible or interesting, I’ll use the following table for each opposing commander:
Mentality (1d6):
1: Deceptive. The commander will try to use maneuver and guile to their advantage.
2: Aggressive. The commander will attempt to close with and destroy the enemy at all costs.
3: Timid. The commander’s goal is to preserve their own force, even at the cost of a decisive victory.
4+: Neutral.
I plan to develop this further as I go.
Research focus and naval strategies:
I’m determing each nation’s ship/technology focus randomly.
Each nation has a primary and secondary weapon focus:
1: Missiles
2: Lasers
3: Mesons or microwaves
4: Particle Beams
5: Railguns or gauss
6: Carronades
And a major ship design focus:
1-2: Survivability
3-4: Firepower
5-6: Speed
Finally, each nation has a special technology focus to pay special attention to:
1: Primary weapon
2: Stealth
3: Sensors/ECM
4: Shields
5: Propulsion
6: Fighters/Carriers
Desdinova:
The Factions:
United States (USA)
Representative Democracy
Population: 330 million
Weapon focus: Lasers (primary), railguns/gauss (secondary).
Design focus: Firepower
Technology focus: Shields
The United States is just coming out of an isolationist period during the last administration that led to the dissolution of NATO and a souring of international relations across the globe, although it maintains its “special relationship” and military alliance with Great Britain.
United Kingdom/Commonwealth of Nations (UK)
Population: 150 million (60 million, plus Canada and Australia)
Weapon Focus: Missiles/Lasers
Design Focus: Survivability
Tech focus: Sensors/ECM
Following Brexit and the dissolution of NATO, Great Britain has been driven closer to her Commonwealth partners Canada and Australia, as well as the United States.
European Union
Representative Democracy
Population: 450 million
Weapon Focus: Mesons, Carronades
Design Focus: Speed
Tech Focus: Fighters/Carriers
With the NATO having been disbanded, the European Union has had to stand on its own against a new wave of Russian territorial aggression. Tensions are running high.
Russian Federation
Oligarchy
Population: 150 million
Weapon Focus: Particle Beams/Mesons
Design Focus: Firepower
Tech Focus: Fighters/Carriers
Russia has continued the pattern of belligerence it’s set for the last several years, and has few friends in the international community, although relations are warming again with China, India and the Arab world.
Arab League
Federal Theocracy
Population: 450 million
Weapon Focus: Railguns/Lasers
Design Focus: Survivability
Tech Focus: Propulsion
With the USA’s influence shrinking, the Arab League has fallen under the influence of the new, reformist Saudi King. Relationships with India have soured of late due to Saudi military ties with Pakistan.
India
Religious Democracy
Population: 1.3 Billion
Weapon Focus: Railguns/Particle Beams
Design Focus: Firepower
Tech Focus: Fighters/Carriers
India is in a position to emerge as a global superpower, if it can avoid a war with China.
China
Communism
Population: 1.4 Billion
Weapon Focus: Lasers/Missiles
Design Focus: Firepower
Tech Focus: Stealth
China’s trade relationship with the United States has soured considerably in the last several years, and recent sabre-rattling over the disputed waters of the South China Sea have greatly increased tension with both India and Japan.
Japan
Respresentative Democracy
Population: 130 million
Weapon Focus: Mesons/Railguns
Design Focus: Firepower
Tech Focus: Shields
While Japan’s economic miracle has long since worn off, it remains a highly developed, technological powerhouse. It remains allied with the United States; tensions with China have been steadily rising.
Initial Diplomatic Standing
I'll commense making diplomacy rolls in 2030.
Tree:
Have you tweaked starting industries too? Or does, for example, India have eight times as much as Japan, and Russia three fourths as much as the UK/Commonwealth?
Your system looks good though, wonder how it'll hold up in actual play.
Desdinova:
--- Quote from: Tree on October 13, 2018, 01:46:04 AM ---Have you tweaked starting industries too? Or does, for example, India have eight times as much as Japan, and Russia three fourths as much as the UK/Commonwealth?
Your system looks good though, wonder how it'll hold up in actual play.
--- End quote ---
I didn't tweak a whole lot. I'm playing everyone a little differently: countries that started with a huge industrial base like India and China can afford to splurge on 'luxuries' like extra shipyards and facilities, while smaller countries like Russia and the UK are putting everything into closing the gap by building factories. Right now, everyone's more or less at parity in terms of industrial capacity, except China, which is a beast, and Russia, which is lagging behind everyone else. India is about twice average in terms of industrial output, and China is 3x even that. I enable tech sharing between allies, so the US/UK/Japan are starting to pull ahead of China technologically. I'll probably buff Russia by allying them with the Arab League and especially China, if the EU joins the US/UK/Japan alliance once I start rolling in 2030.
Also, because everyone started with so few research facilities, having appropriate scientists made a huge difference in how fast each is progressing.
Desdinova:
Prelude
The brief period of international peace and stability that followed the end of the 20th century Cold War died in the early years of the next century. These first two decades were tumultuous, as many parts of the globe became embroiled in low-level conflicts, followed by a global economic collapse in the late 2000’s known to historians as the “great recession”. This upheaval led to a reactonary fervor that disrupted decades-old systems; in the Euro-American sphere, this manifested as an anti-globalist conservative isolationism that led to the United States rescinding its free trade agreements, the United Kingdom withdrawing from the European Union, and the disbandment of the NATO military alliance. Meanwhile, Russia turned to authoritarianism and aggressive territorial expansion. China, devastated by the breakdown of free trade, became more aggressive as well, with regional tensions skyrocketing over disputed islands in the South China sea. This political upheaval would last on Earth well into the 2030s.
Everything changed, however, with the discovery of what would become known as Trans-Newtonian elements. The exotic matter properties of these substances revolutionized physics and material science; discovery is now credited to Chinese scientist Xiao Yi Zhu, who released his first findings in April 2022, although the report was initially classified as a state secret due to the military implications of the technology.
American scientist Tyree Loughery, working independently, made the first public demonstration of Trans-Newtonian technology in late 2023. Despite being initially dismissed as a crackpot, the scientific community was forced to take note as other researchers quietly reproduced his experiments, leading to Dr. Loughery being awarded the Nobel Prize for their discovery.
In July 2024, however, China shocked the world by launching the first manned spacecraft built using Trans-Newtonian principles. Although she used conventional chemical rocket engines for propulsion, her Trans-Newtonian inertialess drive enabled the vessel to reach speeds and distances unprecedented in any previous spacecraft.
--- Code: ---GEV-1 class Geological Survey Vessel 7 850 tons 80 Crew 250.2 BP TCS 157 TH 12 EM 0
76 km/s Armour 1-35 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/1 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 20 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Spare Berths 2
2.5 EP Commercial Conventional Engine (5) Power 2.5 Fuel Use 13.26% Signature 2.5 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50 000 Litres Range 8.6 billion km (1309 days at full power)
Geological Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
--- End code ---
Other nations of the world could only watch as Chinese astronauts accomplished dozens of new records, including the first manned landings on Mars, and first permanent lunar base.
India would launch its first Trans-Newtonian vessel in 2025, followed a month later by Japan. By October, China, making full use of its technological head-start and massive industrial capability, had established the first permanent civilian colony on the moon.
The United States launched their first TN spacecraft in February 2026, the Neil Armstrong. However, they still lacked the orbital infrastructure to build spacefaring cargo and colony ships capable of sustaining a colony, which was a serious blow to the national pride of the country that won the first “space race”.
In December 2028, however, Japan and the United States launched the nuclear thermal rocket-powered spacecraft, capable of speeds in excess of a thousand kilometers per second. This opened up the outer solar system to human exploration. Meanwhile, Chinese colonists had established an outpost on Mars.
In 2029, the United Kingdom, in cooperation with Commonwealth partners Canada and Australia, launched their first two TN vessels, Hydra and Medusa, becoming the fifth nation with operational TN spacecraft.
In late 2029, a Chinese-flagged civilian orbital shuttle, the Horizon, is hijacked – ostensibly by Uighur separatists, and crashed into a chemical fuel depot in the main Chinese spaceport on Mare Imbrium. Several hundred lives are lost. In response to the Horizon incident, the Chinese begin work on a force of armed space craft, in order to protect against piracy and terrorism. Although conventionally-armed spacecraft are legal under international law, this causes an uproar, as Chinese critics fear that this is a prelude to withdrawing from the Outer Space treaty and claiming the Moon or Mars as exclusive Chinese territory. The United States is the only other nation immediately capable of creating armed spacecraft, and by the end of the year, authorizes the creation of its own armed space force. There is great fear internationally that the two superpowers have spurred a new arms race in outer space.
By 2030, China has a thriving Lunar colony of 3.41 million, and 110,000 on Mars. India has a small colony of 200,000 on the moon, and is preparing to settle on Mars.
India has the largest space fleet, with two colony ships, four freighters, and eight survey vessels. They are currently tooling up to produce nuclear thermal transports.
China has the second largest space fleet, with 1 colony ship and six freighters servicing her colonies, and four survey ships. Like India, all are conventionally-powered, although the first nuclear thermal ships are under construction. Six laser-armed patrol frigates are fitting out in Earth orbit.
Japan has a fleet of six survey ships, all of which have been refit to nuclear thermal propulsion, and is about two years away from opening their first civilian shipyard.
The UK has two nuclear-powered survey ships, and is also about two years from opening its first civil shipyard.
The US has four nuclear-powered survey ships, and has a colony ship and transport under construction. Work is slated to begin on two railgun-armed patrol cruisers by the end of May.
The Arab League is cooperating to build its own orbital facilities, but is at least three years away from a nuclear-powered spacecraft.
The European Union has no vessels yet but is perhaps a month away from laying the keel of a fleet of nuclear-powered survey and transport ships.
Russia is perhaps perhaps four or five years from launching its first TN spacecraft.
2030 – first Diplomacy Update:
The long period of strain in United States-European relations following the upheaval of the late 2010s is beginning to mend (US/EU relations improve to friendly). Meanwhile, the UK issues a statement supporting Japanese fishing interests in the disputed South China sea, causing a rift in Sino-British relations (UK/China relations reduced to distrustful, UK/Japan relations improve to friendly). However, the European Union backs China over India in a similar trade dispute (EU-India relations reduced to distrustful, EU-China relations improve to open); with regional tensions rising, India and Japan begin making overtures towards a closer partnership (India-Japan relations improve to open).
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