Weeks Away

This is a blog that I'm keeping to retain and share the adventures and lessons learned from a BattleTech: A Time of War campaign I'm running in a few weeks. I'm writing because I recognize that first, there are precious few running accounts of games from the Game Master's side of the table (I looked for them before I started running this game), and second, I find that writing these sorts of actions both cause me to realize things that I might not have if I didn't try to explain the ideas to somebody else (no matter how hypothetical that person might be.) I may also use a run-on sentence now and again. You'll have to forgive me -- I went to engineering school.

In a few weeks I'll be launching Ten Years on Terra, my first game in the A Time of War (MechWarrior 4e) rules set. I have five players now, and I'm looking to pick up a sixth from my local group of gamers. The premise of the story line (that the players know at this point) is that the bulk of the party is playing elements of the ComStar 394th, landing on Terra during Case White in March of 3068. Of course, Case White goes sideways, and they are one of the few groups to make planetfall. The current plan calls for two sessions of "Exercises" in the final days of 3067 and early 3068, Case White to happen in the third session, possibly one more session of ground combat with the surviving elements of the 394th as they get gr0und up by the WoB 9th and 10th, and then the ComStar party elements and whatever resources they have left being rescued by the other party members, who are on-planet resistance. After that, the game settles into about one game session per year (i.e., the 3069 session, the 3070 session, etc.) gradually transitioning the party from a "hiding" to a "resisting" to finally becoming a forward party of the 3078 landings, paving the road for Devlin and Victor. The final few sessions will be supporting the Coalition landings, and wrapping up any plot lines that fell out. The entire campaign is expected to run 15-20 three-hour sessions.

That's the plan, anyways...