If a VO table-top wargame existed, would you play it? What notable characters from VO would you want to see?

Been toying with the idea of putting together some "VO verse rules" for an existing game for gits and shiggles and just want to throw the idea out there...

Not all VO's notable historical figures existed at the same time, so you'd have to pick a period for the setting. I think the most interesting time for something like this would be during Akan's rise to power among the domed cities, during the ground / air war between the Serco and Itani on Terra II, the Ark's construction, etc.

No I wouldn't. Table top games bore me, and I think what makes VO great is the real-time action of it.

Hehehe, I meant "notable characters" as in players that most other players know, like Espi, Rin, CD, ARF etc. The setting would be "Vendetta Online" rather than "Vendetta Backstory".

It would be space combat, rather than ground based, ideally with scenario's that reflect in game circumstances/events/etc like a station conquer mission, or a CtC/trade convoy to destroy/protect etc.

Maybe some cool stuff from the mogul IA roleplay thing. And I am a little biased suggesting this next one of course but, SCAR vs VPR/IA in helios.

OK, I threw together some rough "comparison" stats, Firepower, Defense (maneuverability) and Armour/Hull. These should range from around 1-5 for firepower and defense, and 2-6 for Hull. A + after a value would indicate a step between values. These would be represented as situational bonuses. For instance, the Vult is harder to hit head on, and so would gain a defense bonus vs an attacker in its "front arc". A Rag might get a firepower buff when it does certain maneuvers (missile stacking on a cappie/queen).

List format: Ship make:Firepower/Defense/Hull

Cent:1/4/3
Vult:2/4+/3
Maud:3/3/3
Valk:3/4/4
Hog:3/3/4
Hornet:4/2/4
Rev:4/2/4
Atlas:3/3/3
Prom:4/3/5
Taur:4/2/6
Rag:5+/1/6

Thoughts? Note, these stats are comparative only. I just want to put rough values on these for now.

Eh, I find this sort of stuff kinda fun.

Some alpha aces for you:

Eldrad, Itani- "Precognitive Reflexes"- when Eldrad is about to take damage, roll a D6. If 6, Eldrad takes no damage and instead gets a free strike on the attacker.

Roguelazer, Itani- "Commander in Chief"- all adjacent Itani pilots gain 1 to their firepower on attack and defense. Roguelazer takes 1 damage for every adjacent Itani ace killed in action.

Phoenix, Itani- "Relentless Predator"- any ship engaged by Phoenix is unable to move until either Phoenix or the target are destroyed. Phoenix, likewise, must destroy the target before moving away.

Genka, Serco- "Maniac Mastermind"- Genka switches to a random ship for every combat phase, determined by a D12, including the exclusive EC-88 on a roll of 12 (6/6/6)

Lin, Serco- "Stateswoman"- After Lin attacks, roll a D6. On a 6, the enemy takes no damage but returns to base.

And of course...

UncleDave, Serco- "Prom Jock"- Gains 1/1/1 stats in head-on conflict while in a Prometheus. -1 to attack when in any other ship.

I don't know anything about wargaming, but if you want a Rin, he would need a buff when initiating a fight at low health. He would also need a nerf for fights that drag on too long; he is impatient and gets more reckless over time. Rins are also very susceptible to flares.

Cheers guys, this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I've not yet decided whether pilots will be have a specific ship (I think they should) or be "upgrades" to otherwise "generic" ships.

I am also working with ways to reflect different ship marks/loadouts.

If ye'r makin' an adult version of da game, i could be in :p
C'NB

Ecka Estenk, UIT

- Passive Ability: "Cantankerous Miner" - Causes demoralization to surrounding hostiles.
- Active Ability: "Ecka Taur" - Gains 1/1/1 while piloting Centaur ship variants.
- Token Ability: "Uisge Beatha" - Gains +2 to defense and -1 to firepower for each Whiskey token activated per turn, lasts for 3 turns.

- "An' th' best laid plans aft gang agley."

LMAO

Superpower: "Tequila Effects" - Causes -5 to hit for every pilot ingame who is not LeberMac. Can only be remedied by killing LeberMac.

I've been a tad distracted by RL and Space Engineers, but this is still on the go. Feel free to keep the ideas and suggestions coming :)

First, I do not like your rating system. firepower (attack) could be simple. number of small ports + number of largo ports times 2. a cent would have an attack rating of 1, a rag 7.
defense would be some formula of the ship's armor multiplied by it's thrust to mass ratio. most fighters have low armor, but high thrust to mass, so fighters would have good defense. A cent would have a higher defense rating than a rag. consider a basic cent vs a basic rag, the rating should be something like cent @ 1/6 vs rag @ 7/3. the rag has a lot of armor, but does not dodge as well.

you left out mobility.

a cent should have a mobility of 6, verses the rag @ 5.

A cent with the higher mobility rating can choose to attack the rag, but the rag can not choose to attack the cent, because the cent can just run away.

I am just throwing out rough numbers. The numbers should be adjusted to reflect expected outcomes.

A vult3 @ 2/7/6 vs a rag @ 7/3/5, the rag should be expected to win, except that knowing this, the vult3, with higher mobility, may choose to evade.

A team of two vults3 vs a vult3 and a rag, the two vult team can choose to attack, but in doing so, are forced to attack both the vult3 and rag.

combat could be an exchange of fire. The initiator applying attack values against defense values, but then the defender then getting a turn of applying their attack values against the the attacker's defense values.

Here I am treating the defense value as hit points.
A cent @ 1/5/6 attacking a vult @ 2/6/5, the cent does one point of damage to the vult's 6 defense, and then the vult does 2 damage to the cent's 5 defense, with the exchange repeated until some one is destroyed, or disengages. The cent would lose, if it stayed, but it might only stay for two rounds of combat, running away with stats of 1/5(1)/6, leaving the vult @ 2/6(4)/5. Both ships will need to go repair, or risk being attacked while in a weakened condition. Two cents @ 1/5/6 each with total stats of 2/10/6 attack a single vult @ 2/6/5 resulting in three rounds of exchange with the vult being destroyed, one of the cents being destroyed, and the surviving cent @1/5(4)/6. Not a bad trade. But the two cents could have arraigned it differently. two cents attack for two rounds, with the cent taking damage disengaging @ 1/5(1)/6, leaving his fresh buddy alone in the third and forth round @ 1/5/6 to finish off the now weakened vult @ 2/6(2)/6, with both cents flying away at 1/5(1)/6, significantly damaged, but repairable.

This is simply calculated odds, without dice. other systems can be used, but I think mobility should count for something. Depending on what level of complexity you are looking for, you force units to travel to find repairs, and/or have repairs consume resources. You may have unit gain experience, perhaps each unit gains 1 point of experience per kill, with each ten points randomly adding a point to attack, defense, or mobility, and a %10 chance of gaining a "special unit" status.

Special unit status may mean that it gains a named unit status, or some other attribute at random. For example:

Named units:

Ecka: 0/+2/0, allied units gain 0/0/+1
Mecha: +1/+1/0, enemy units suffer 0/0/-1
bidibaba: +2/-2/-2, units (allied and enemy) suffer +2/-2/-2, +50% chance of friendly fire damage (all units, all sides), +10% per round of combat of issuing on a roid (all units, all sides), -50% experience (all units, all sides), all effects reduced by %50 when applied to hive bots and named characters.

etc...

Tinbot, I'm using this system for a very good reason. It is tried, tested, and it works. Any given ships mobility is represented separately, via the types of "maneuver" it can make on the tabletop, rather than being represented by these stats. The greater a ships mobility, the more maneuver options it has. While a Cent could indeed outrun a Rag, running away is not what combat games are about, and should the Cent leave the play area, it would count as destroyed, unless the scenario dictated otherwise. The Cent could, however, use its greater mobility to avoid the Rag, and/or out-maneuver it to get on its six.

Also, keep in mind, that while maths and ratios etc work very well when you have a CPU doing the calculations for you, a tabletop game can get slowed down way to much when the players have to do the maths themselves. Anything more complex than simple addition/subtraction is to be avoided. Hell, with the low values used, anything more than +/- 1 should be avoided.

Dealing with repairs/consumption of resources/experience gain etc is beyond the scope of this system. It might make a good "campaign expansion", but the system itself is designed for "one-off" fights, and/or tournament play, where every ship starts each fight at full health.

Just looking at this makes my head hurt. Did any of you D&D dweebs get laid in high school? College, maybe?

Actually, these here are the WH40K dweebs; D&D is roleplaying, not wargaming.