Solar Empires

I've finally settled on a name for the Sci-fi setting we have been playing our "Station 42 War" and "Maxed Out" games in.  I'm going with "Solar Empires".  I had previously called the setting "3031" and "Moon Miners and Terraformers".  I didn't like the first choice because it seemed silly to name a setting for a single date and I didn't like the second one because it was a mouth full and sounded dated.  I Google searched "Solar Empires" to check for conflicts and found that there was a video game named "Sins of a Solar Empire" but no game or anything titled just "Solar Empires"  Although this is merely a personal setting for my home games I would like to have an original title if possible in case I decide to develop it in the future.

I feel this name reflects the various different factions well.  Governments, corporations, and criminal enterprises can often be called "Empires" and since my setting is based on the Solar System it seemed like the best choice.  

I have some basic setting notes that we have actually been using for a couple of years now that I have not published because I was never satisfied with the setting name.  I have now created a new page for those notes on this blog here:   http://ironworkersminiatures.blogspot.com/p/solarempires-nathan-miller-2013.html
I plan to add some artwork to the page as soon as we create some.  As it stands it is just a big block of text and I want to make it more interesting to read.

Maxed Out Episode 4 "Hopless Causes"

 

Late May 3031

There have been a number of strange things going on around Station 42 in the last few months. A number of hydroponics farms near the station have been attacked by well armed mercenaries. The government of Titania seems to be backing their claims that their farms have been purchased by an unnamed buyer who has every right to evict them. Many of the farmers and other locals have banded together to form a militia to fight these mercenaries. The “Militia” is being lead by Carson Boon. A well known local militia leader and trouble maker.

General Drake the leader of the Planetary Guard has resigned his commission and a number of Planetary Guard members have gone missing with their equipment including a few tanks. It is believed that at least a company of men have gone missing. General Drake was reported to have said that he “Can not let this kind of thing stand” as he departed the capitol building in Titania City.

In other news Mr. Biggs of the Venture Star Prospecting company was kidnapped a few weeks ago along with his Secretary and one of his scientist. Rosie from Station 42 salvaged the mercenary hover tank that was destroyed during an recent battle between the mercenaries and the militia near the Ghost Compound. Vinnie, one of the Blood Born pirate leaders, was also recently captured by Rocky Tomson and Jennie Tam and turned in for a bounty.

After capturing Vinnie Jennie Tam and Rocky Tomson hadn't had much work. They were doing alright for themselves but they were starting to run short on funds. The “Hell Knight” mercenaries had put out a bounty on Carson Boon for $4,000 and Rocky was tempted to start looking for him despite his recent status as a local hero. Boon was certainly not her favorite person and he didn't care for her much either. Still he was fighting the mercenaries who had been attacking the locals so now wouldn't be a good time to go after him.

As they were having lunch in the “Close Encounter” Rocky received a com from a man who identified himself as Lt. Jefferies formally of the Planetary Guard who had a job for them.

Meeting Lt. Jefferies

 

Rocky and Jennie decided to check the offer out so they traveled out to the meet coordinates. The meet was at some ruins outside of the Station. Lt. Jefferies was there with nine other men who were clearly members of the Titania Planetary Guard.

Lt. Jefferies explained that his men had arms and equipment but very little ammo. They needed some crates of ammo that had been given to Carson Boon at Bunker #1138 that had been lost when the mercenaries took that bunker over from the militia. The mercenaries had destroyed most of the Militia's supplies but the ammo was labeled “Property of the Government of Titania” so they mercenaries hadn't destroyed it. The renegade planetary guardsmen needed that ammo before they could mount an offensive to take back the bunker.

Jefferies had a file of false information about Carson Boon that they were to turn over to the mercenaries to gain their trust. He also wanted Jennie and Rocky to find out what kind of forces the mercenaries had at the bunker and what they were up to. The pay would be $2,000. Jennie and Rocky accepted the offer

Jennie decided to “muck up” the engines on the Maxed Out a bit so that they might have an excuse to stick around they bunker while she “repair” their ship.

Bunker #1138 under the control of the "Hell Knights" mercenaries.

 

As the Maxed Out approached Bunker #1138 a warning beacon on their instrument panel lit up warning them that a battery of anti aircraft missiles had locked onto their ship. “Maxed Out you are entering a restricted air space. What is your business for being here?” came a voice over their com system. Jennie explained that they had information on Carson Boon. They were allowed to land but were advised not to make any unusual maneuvers or power their weapons on their approach.

As they landed they noticed the anti aircraft missiles as well as another “Sky Sweeper” class attack craft similar to the “Maxed Out”.

Unfortunately Jennie had mucked up the engines a bit too well and they damaged one of their landing struts when they touched down too hard. Now they really did have a need for repairs.

The well guarded bunker.

 

Jennie and Rocky entered the well guarded bunker and met with Sargent Jones who seemed to be in command. Jones was impressed with the file on Carson Boon but said that they were have to wait around for a while so his men could check out the information. Jones also told them he would pay them $500 for the information if it was worth anything. He also offered them work providing air support for the mercenaries if they could get their ship fixed up.

Rocky chats with the mercenaries.

 

While Jennie worked on the ship Rocky decided to chat with some Mercenaries resting near some tents. One of the mercenaries was quite chatty and told Rocky a number of interesting things about their operation. His friends were upset with him but didn't seem too concerned.

Jennie meets Freddy the pilot of the other Sky Sweeper.

 

Jennie was working on the ship when a man approached her. He wasn't dressed like the mercenaries and he introduced himself as “Freddy” the pilot of the other Sky Sweeper. Jennie had heard of Freddy. She had seen him a few times at the “Close Encounter” back at Station 42. Freddy told her how the mercenaries hadn't expected any resistance so they hadn't really brought a lot of air support on this operation. They were paying him well to enforce their no fly zone around the bunker and the farms.

Jennie's map of the bunker.

 

Jennie and Rocky were at the bunker for several hours. Jennie managed to repair the landing strut but she wasn't sure how long it would hold without a better repair. In that time she managed to draw up a map of the bunker and camp as well as put together a report with the information they had gathered.

The two could not however figure out a way to steal the ammo crates. They decided to head back to Lt. Jefferies and give him the report.

Sargent Jones came out to talk to them before they left. He said their information had turned out to be helpful. They had even captured a few suspects. Jones payed them and again offered them a job after they got the ship patched up.

Lt. Jefferies was pleased with the report. He told Jennie and Rocky that the people the mercenaries had captured were plants who would be spying on the mercs and feeding the resistance information. He also suggested that they take up the mercenaries offer to fly patrols as a way to get back in and steel the ammo.

Jennie and Rocky came up with a plan. They went back to Station 42 and has Rosie help them repair their ship. They also purchased 200 ft. of cable and a wench from her which the attached to the bottom of their ship. While they were there they saw the hover tank Rosie had salvaged from the Ghost Compound. When they asked her what she was going to do with it she responded that she would most likely sell it back to the mercenaries. She didn't care about a bunch of “dirt farmers who didn't pay their bills”.

Back at the bunker.

 

The Maxed Out returned to the bunker. Jennie and Rocky again met with Sargent Jones to sign a contract with the mercenaries to provide air support. Jones told them that it would take a while to process their contract but that he would soon have an assignment. He told them to make themselves comfortable at the base.

Having "lunch" at the ammo crates.

 

Jennie and Rocky decided to take the opportunity to go check out the crates of ammo. The crates looked heavy and they knew it would take some time to hook them up. They decided to “take lunch” using the crates as a table. Jennie went back to the ship and carefully reached under to pull the cable out from the wench. As they were having lunch they hooked up the cable to the crates. A couple of the mercenaries noticed what they were doing but didn't say anything because there were now “part of the team”. When they finished lunch they went back to the ship and waited.

Sargent Jones came out a bit later with their first patrol assignment. Jennie and Rocky made their pre-flight prep.

The heist!

As the Maxed Out lifted off they slowly wound the cable back in with the wench. When the cable became taught the crates of ammo began to lift off the ground. Sargent Jones screamed at them over the com to land their ship or they would be shot down. The take off was rough with the extra weight of the ammo crates but Rocky didn't have much trouble with it. Again the warning beacon for a weapons lock flashed on the panel. An anti aircraft missile barely missed the ship.  Jennie returned fire and damaged the battery.  Another warning beacon lit up. The mercenary mech shot at them with it's AC5 Autocannon. The mech did not miss. Two rounds hit the ship. One tore through a wing and another damaged engine number one. Several other small arms shots came up as few of them deflected off the armoured hull of the craft. Rocky “punched it” and they made their escape!

They met Lt. Jefferies at the ruins again and dropped off the ammo. The guardsmen loaded the ammo into their truck. Jefferies paid Jennie and Rocky and directed them to a location where they could get their ship repaired. The heist had been a success but they would have to lie low for a while especially since the mercenaries had almost immediately taken out a bounty on them.

   

Notes: What happened to Episode 3? Good question. We played that session before our last move and lost our notes. I have pics of the action but I can't remember the details. I may post the pics and what we do have soon but I wanted to get this episode up since it leads into the next battle in our Station 42 War campaign.

There wasn't a whole lot of fighting in this session. Mostly a bunch of information gathering and role playing. That's okay some times. Of course we used the Savage Worlds role playing rules for this game as we have for the other “Maxed Out” episodes. Using the different systems is really working out well especially since we aren't trying to over lap them much. Each game provides another chapter to what is going on around Station 42 which is just the way we planned it.

Moving house at the end of March!

We are moving house at the end of the month to a new location that is much closer to our work and babysitter and just about everything else.  Right now we live about 6 miles outside the town where we work is a pretty nice community but gas prices are going up here and it's getting difficult for us to afford to stay.  The rent at the new place is only a bit more and we will have about twice as much house including some really cool options for gaming space. 

We plan to finish up a couple more projects tomorrow and play a game or two of AE Bounty while we pack but that will be the last game and set of projects that we plan on doing until we move so I will have perhaps a post or two more between now and the end of the month.  I also have one more "Maxed Out" game report to write which I hope to get done soon. 

We are all really excited about the new location and our new game space!

"Maxed Out" Episode 2:

New Vladivistock on Ceres, M.S.S.R. After their first attempt to work their way to Ceres aboard the heavy freighter "Ugly Betty" Jennie and Rocky decided to take a commercial transport to New Vladivistock to avoid trouble. They planned to find an used ship dealer there named Tommy "8 Toes" who they had purchased a "Skysweeper" attack craft from that they planned to use for their bounty hunting career. They were to meet their contact Johnny Walker at a pub called the "Red October".
New Vladivistock on Ceres is the most open city in the Martian Soviet Socialist Republic and is the most important trade city in the Republic. It is much easier to do business in the city for foreigners but it is still a tightly controlled city.
Upon their arrival Rocky and Jennie head to the "Red October" but their contact is no where to be seen. They wait for a couple of hours but he still does not show up or answer his com. After doing some investigating they find out where Johnny lives. Rocky also discoverers there is a small bounty out for him. On their way to Johnny's apartment they are stalked by a man in a long coat but aren't able to discover who he is.
After trying to contact Johnny a few more times Rocky and Jennie decide to break into his apartment. As they are investigating his apartment a number of his friends come in and hold them at gun point. Johnny eventually shows up and after some negotiation decided to help them get ahold of Tommy. He helps them acquire guns and forged papers to get them outside the city to where Tommy's business is.

After a little trouble getting out of the city they arrive at Tommy's place of business.

Jennie and Rocky investigate the office with Johnny and Trisha his girlfriend. They find the office door forced open and the office ransacked. Even Tommy's dog 'Scraps' is missing.

As they are investigating Tommy's office three vehicles pull up and a number of armed thugs get out.

A shootout takes place around the office area. Trisha is badly wounded and Johnny takes here back to the city for medical help. Rocky and Jenny question one of the wounded thugs that attacked them and find out that Tommy was taken by a local crime boss named "Bad Boris" for failing to pay his protection money. Boris had sent some of his goons back to Tommy's office to find the access codes to the ships on Tommy's lot. After searching the office and a ship that Tommy was working on they find a data terminal on the ship that is powered on. After a couple attempts to hack it they try using "Scraps" as the password and gain access to the information. On the terminal are the access codes to the ships on Tommy's lot. After fixing up the ship they had purchased using parts from some of the other Skysweepers on the lot they call up Victor "Bluetooth" Jones the illegal arms dealer Johnny had sent them to so they could purchase guns to find out if he had any ammunition for the 40mm cannons on their ship. After about an hour Victor showed up with about 100 rounds for the ships guns. Not a lot but it would have to do.

Rocky and Jennie loaded up the ship and took off to the location they had got from the thug they captured. When they got their the found an old Martian style military bunker that had a communications array on top. Rocky opened a channel and demanded that they release Tommy or she would level their bunker.

The gangsters called her bluff so she swung around behind the bunker and destroyed one of their vehicles with a burst of 40mm cannon fire.

Undeterred the gangsters fired back with assault rifles and a light machine guns. Their ship took a hit and Rocky lost control. Fortunately Jennie managed to help her re-gain control before they crashed.

All the fire they received had come from the top level of the bunker so Rocky hovered their craft just high enough to target that level. Jennie then used the cannon to start shooting the gangsters inside.

Their ship took a few more hits but nothing substantial. Rocky kept hovering the craft around the bunker as Jennie fired the cannon.

Eventually Boris and his gangsters decided that they weren't going to win the fight especially after loosing their light machine gunner.

They released Tommy and Scraps. Tommy was very happy to be released and he helped Rocky and Jennie do further repairs to their ship which they decided to name "Maxed Out".

Note: This was the 2nd episode in my home RPG campaign "Maxed Out". This is set in our 3031 setting. We used the "Savage Worlds" roleplaying system for this game but we also used other rule systems for games in this setting. This is also the setting for our "Station 42" project which will frequently be used in this campaign.

Station 42 Outskirts project.

Now that we have Station 42 in a playable state as far as the buildings are concerned we have started working on some of the points of interest that are near the station. I outlined the various points of interest in this post http://ironworkersminiatures.blogspot.com/2011/06/klancys-general-store-wip-and-station.html.
The buildings above are some I've been working on for the villages of Hardscrabble and Ramshackle. Most of these are basic houses but I have a com station (the finished one) and a light industrial building. I did the com station about a week ago but the other 10 buildings I knocked out a couple of days ago in one building session. I'm also going to build some more "ramshackle" buildings to fill out the villages. There will also be a large crater filled with water that will separate the two villages. This set will be designed to be played on a 4'x8' table. There will actually be more buildings than station 42 but they will be much smaller and more residential.

Here is a closeup of the com station. The buildings are made out of cork tile. You can find some great ideas and tips for building with cork at Matakishi's Tea House: http://www.matakishi.com/makingbuildings.htm

The roof is made from scraps of card from various cardboard food packages. The detail bits come from; model kits, bottle caps, toys, disposable razors and other things. I still need to make the doors for this building.

We've also been working on the pirate based. These are the main buildings. The Pirate base is suppose to be an old abandoned military bunker complex. We decided to base the complex on this bunker: http://ironworkersminiatures.blogspot.com/2011/06/quick-and-dirty-bunker.html we made a few months ago. We will be buildings an underground complex to go with the bunkers based on our "Simple Complex" project: http://ironworkersminiatures.blogspot.com/2009/06/simple-complex.html

We will probably simply expand on this project with some more specific rooms for the pirates who use the base.

Last up is a simple farm house. We hope to build 3-6 farms that can be set up in various configurations to represent the various hydroponic and livestock farms surrounding Station 42. My wife made this building and I think she did a great job getting both the futuristic and farm house feel.

Station 42: Phase 1 Complete!

Well we have the Station 42 project to the first phase of completion. The buildings are all done and we have about 7 ships and a number of vehicles ready for the table as well as a number of miniatures. We still have a lot to do not only on the Station itself but also on a number of the surrounding locations. We have already made good headway on the pirate base and we should have some updated for that soon. Here are some pics of the Station as it is:

"Maxed Out" Episode 1: Shipjacked

The heavy freighter "Ugly Betty" on route to Ceres was passing dangerously close to the Hilda region of the asteroid belt. The Hilda's were thick with pirates but Captain Matambo consoled himself with the fact they were not actually passing through the cluster and an old freighter like his wouldn't draw much attention. The "Ugly Betty" was a General Space Systems G47 "Durango" class Heavy Freighter. Part of the forward section of the ship had been converted to carry passengers and there were about 30 aboard at the moment. Jennie D. Tam and Roxann "Rocky" Tomson had signed on with the "Ugly Betty" on Titania but they weren't planning on becoming permanent members of the crew. The were working their way to Ceres and back to pick up a very used "Skysweeper" patrol craft they had purchased with their combined savings. The ship was in terrible shape but Jennie was a decent mechanic and was certain they could get it space worthy again. The two had big plans to used the ship for bounty hunting jobs. Rocky was a licensed bounty hunter in the; Confederacy, Empire, and M.S.S.R. Jennie was working aboard the "Ugly Betty" as an assistant to Chief Engineer Wilson and Rocky was part of the two person security team along with another new hire named Joe Smith.

Just as they were passing the Hilda region of the belt Chief Wilson asked Jennie to check out one of the air filtration units located in Cargo Hold 2. He was getting funny readings from it. He also suggested that she take a security officer with her so she called her friend Rocky to meet her to investigate.

When they got there they found Joe Smith looking over the unit. They though it was odd that he was wearing a full face respirator. He waved them over claiming that he as found some evidence of sabotage. They came over to investigate but Joe surprised them with a blast of knock out gas. Rocky hit the deck first as she took the full blast straight into her face. Jennie took a swing at Joe with her wrench but failed to connect. Joe shot Jennie with his tazer and she fell to the deck next to Rocky. Joe then hooked his tank of knock out gas to the air filtration unit. Within a few minutes the crew and passengers of the "Ugly Betty" had all been knocked out by the gas.

When Jennie and Rocky came to they found themselves locked in a large shipping container full of boxes of junk. Some time after that one end of the container opened up. Joe was standing there with three other armed men. The red warpaint and black and red clothing they were wearing indicated that they were member of the "Bloodborn" pirates. The "Bloodborn" were a band of pirates well known to Jennie and Rocky because they were also based on Titania not far from "Station 42" where the two had met. "Sorry Ladies looks like you will be headed back home to sweet Titania". Joe laughed then threw the pair a few packs of MREs just before shutting the door.

When they arrived back on Titania the pirates had landed their ship in a remote part of the Wastelands neither of them recognized. They were loaded onto a truck with 6 other hostages. The rest of the crew were no where to be seen. On board the truck was Karl Mason one of the Geologist who worked at the Venture Star Mining company office on Titania. He knew them both from the bar "Close Encounters" at "Station 42" where they all hung out. The rest of the hostages were unknown to them and kept to themselves.

They were transported several kilometers and unloaded at an abandoned bunker. There were several such bunkers all over Titania from the war between the Empire and the Confederacy. They were popular safe houses for pirates and smugglers. The bunker concealed a small underground facility where the hostages were locked into a small room. Jennie and Rocky began plotting their escape but most of the other hostages other than Karl were not too interested. They were certain they would be ransomed.

On the second day of their captivity Karl was removed from the room for several hours. When he was returned he told them that the pirates had asked him to appraise the value of some gems they had looted on their last couple of jobs. He also told them there were about a dozen pirates at this facility.

On the third day Jennie was taken by the pirates and ordered to repair several small mechanical and electrical parts scavenged for various ships. Rocky was also taken and ordered to clean up the pirates bunk room. Both of them were guarded by a pair of pirates.

While going through the parts Jennie found a small cooling unit that still has a great deal of pressurized coolant she rigged it so that she could spray the coolant out at the pirates if she got a chance.

Ass Rocky was cleaning the bunk room she noticed that the male pirate guarding her was hitting on his female partner. Rocky pretended to ignore them as she cleaned and began searching for something that she could use to help her escape. While cleaning she noticed one of the lockers was open slightly. She saw Jennies tool kit inside the locker. She remembered Jennie used to hide a .44 Derringer inside the kit for protection. She waited until the pirates were distracted with their conversation then she quickly grabbed the kit from inside the locker. Using one of the bunks as cover as she pretended to clean underneath it she searched for the pistol in the kit. Sure enough it was right where she expected it. She took the tiny pistol and carefully moved closer to the pirates. Knowing that the weapon would only be effective at a short range she slowly made her was up next to her guards. As she got up next to the male pirate he turned to her and said "Are you done already?" then she shot him in the face. The female pirate screamed and ducked as she was splattered with blood and brains. She opened fire with her SMG but fired wildly and missed Rocky who quickly dispatched her with the Derringer's final round.

Hearing the shots Jennie decided it was time to act. She unleashed the pressurized coolant and sprayed both pirates guards in the face. The guards went down clutching their frozen faces and screaming. Jennie then picked up one of their guns ad finished them off.

Confused as to what was going on the rest of the pirates in the facility ran out into the hall way. Jennie and Rocky were in rooms at opposite ends of the hall. They both peaked out from their doorways and opened fire on the pirates.

Caught in the crossfire the pirates were gunned down in short order. Jennie took a round to the shoulder during the fire fight but Rocky managed to come out unscathed. The two quickly disarmed the pirate bodies and went to free the other prisoner's.

Only Karl and one of the other prisoners agreed to help them. Jennie and Rocky gave them both a pirate SMG and they quickly moved to the ladder to the bunker upstairs.

The combat in the underground facility had ended so quickly that the pirates up in the bunker were not aware of the escaped prisoners.

Rocky and Jennie burst out of the hatch and engaged the pirates. Rocky got hit twice in the close counter engagement but the managed to gun down the other pirates.

Rocky then used one of the pirates communicators to call the Nova Securities office at Station 42. Nova Securities sent out a squad and a medic to assist them.

Jennie and Rocky received a hefty bounty for the pirates they had killed or captured and the other prisoners also rewarded them for their lives. They were both taken to the Hospital in Titania City to have their wounds tended to. They had managed to escape from the pirates but their ship was still on Ceres. This time however they would be able to afford much safer passage than as crew aboard a tramp freighter.

Note: This was my first episode of my new campaign "Maxed Out" which is set in my home brew science fiction setting "3031". The "Station 42" spaceport project I've been working on for the past couple of years will be featured in the game quite a bit. We used the Savage Worlds role playing game for this adventure but we also use the setting for other Sci-Fi games like AE Bounty. My wife and daughter were the PCs for this adveture. Further episodes of "Maxed Out" will follow their bounty hunting adventures across the solar system.