Brush War Warlords

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Brush War is a multi-sided campaign focusing on conventional and unconventional warfare which features leaders that have perks, and units that are acquired through an income of points.

Brush War.png

Iterations

Brush War 2022-1

Background

Brush War models a fictional war, in a fictional place, between four warlords. The emphasis on the campaign is leadership (via the Warlord's abilities), small unit tactics, and resource management with forces purchased from an income of Points gained by capturing and holding objectives. Additionally, the warlords are supporting characters that represent the commander of each side, and gains experience and effectiveness through battle.

Rules

Each battle lasts 60 minutes, and once the battle is finished then Points are earned from a Basic Income, plus a number of Points provided by the objectives that are held. These Points are then used to purchase new units and items for your inventory which are used in the next battle.

If you started the battle with an objective under your control, you do not need to keep units in it, but for an objective to change ownership - you must not only capture it based on Region Ownership conditions, but you must also have a unit in the objective at the end of the battle. If you capture an objective and gained Points from it, but do not have a unit in it at the end of a battle, then you do not gain the objective but you do gain the points (think of this like you rolled through an objective and looted it). In this case, the objective returns to neutral ownership.

Objective (Winning the Campaign)

Once a faction and its allies have a combined 750 Points or more in objective value at the end of a battle, all other non-allied Warlords are captured and executed and the campaign is won -- control has been established in the region.

When this happens, the winning faction has achieved a MAJOR VICTORY and all their confederated (vassal) factions achieve a MINOR VICTORY, and all other factions suffer a DEFEAT.

Initial Setup

All factions choose a starting force made up of around 750 Points of equipment. The campaign supports up to six factions.

Each faction has a randomly determined periphery located starting region, containing around 50 Points worth of objectives. Only that faction may deploy within that starting location, and all factions are allowed to deploy in the central common area between the starting regions.

Income, Unit Purchases, and Upkeep

After a battle, units and items are purchased with Points, using the Unit Cost Calculator. Think of the units being purchased as mercenary forces (Points being an abstraction of money and other resources).

Income (Points)

The amount of Points you receive is based on income, which is total of Basic Income + Objective Income.

Each objective has a numeric value that specifies how many Points they are worth. After each battle, the side that holds that objective will gain that many Points in Objective Income.

Additionally, each faction has a Basic Income of 100 Points. So, no matter if you hold any objectives or not, you will receive at least 100 Points after each battle.

NOTE: This means that the more sides that are willing to Confederate with their conquerors, has an intentional inherent advantage, since each Confederated side will receive at least 100 Points of minimum income, no matter what (see Confederated).

Purchases and Restrictions

Between battles each faction will purchase new units with their available total Points. The Warlord player (the CO) for that faction uses the Unit Cost Calculator to make all purchase decisions and will send the list to the Campaign Coordinator.

IMPORTANT: Make sure that each purchase is valid before sending the list to the Campaign Coordinator; all invalid purchases are ignored (the Points are not lost, they are saved for the total to use after the next battle).

The restrictions on unit purchases are:

  • You may NOT purchase any unit or item more than 100 Points until a Warlord Skill upgrade allows you to do so.
  • You may NOT field more than 5 of any specific vehicle type, unless a Warlord Skill upgrade allows more.
  • You may NOT purchase mortars, howitzers or rocket artillery until a Warlord Skill upgrade allows you to do so.
  • You may NOT purchase UAVs until a Warlord Skill upgrade allows you to do so, and once you can do so, only 1 to 3 UAVs may be fielded at any given time.
  • You may NOT purchase any non-militia truck infantry vehicles until a Warlord Skill upgrade allows you to do so (you may only purchase PC, IFV or technical truck (militia) infantry vehicles at start).
  • You may NOT purchase Medic vehicles until a Warlord Skill upgrade allows you to do so.
  • You may NOT purchase obstacles or fortifications until a Warlord Skill upgrade allows you to do so.

Losses and Upkeep

After each battle:

  • All units lost during a battle are permanently removed from that faction's inventory.
  • All damaged vehicles are repaired.
  • All infantry are replaced, as long as the parent vehicle survived.
  • Before adding Points gained, the total amount of saved Points a faction had is reduced by 25% due to corruption (to discourage excessive Point hording), which may be negated by some Warlord Skill upgrades.

Points Gifting to Non-Confederated Warlords (Diplomacy, Tribute etc.)

Warlords may give Points to another non-confederated faction at any time, as a form of diplomacy. Points are the only thing that can be given, other than promises, which are non-binding (make promises and gift Points at your own risk).

Unlike transferring Points to a confederated (vassal) faction which happens immediately, gifting Points to another non-confederated Warlord takes one turn to complete. To gift Points to a non-confederated Warlord, let the Campaign Coordinator know. This is then treated as a purchase, with the points subtracted from this turn before battle (when purchases are normally made), and added to the other faction as income at the end of the next battle.

Diplomacy (Agreements)

In addition to gifting Points, non-confederated Warlords may make non-binding agreements. Agreements can be in the form of promises to not enter certain areas (establishing neutral zones for example), or a truce to not move a certain type of unit into a regions (such as drones, tanks or infantry).

At no point can factions change their disposition with another faction (within Steel Beasts) to Neutral or Allied. The only time a faction changes its disposition with another faction is when it becomes confederated.

Warlords

The Warlord is the faction's leader. The leader does not participate in battle and so cannot be killed normally, however the Warlord is located in an HQ that can be overrun which may cause a reduction in Skills or death.

The Warlord Unit

The Warlord appears in battle and is represented as an M577 command vehicle.

In the first battle, this command vehicle is mobile, and can go wherever it wants, and can even be used to take an objective, but it should generally avoid combat. In all battles after the first, the Warlord vehicle is "deployed" (is in a fixed position) and cannot move, but it can be deployed within objectives that begin under your control.

Wounded (Vehicle lost)

If the Warlord vehicle is destroyed during a battle, then the Warlord is wounded and suffers a -3 Skill Point reduction from Skills of choice (the Warlord's owner chooses which Skills to subtract 3 Skill Points from). If a Warlord does not have 3 Skill Points available, remove as many Skill Points are available.

When reducing Skill Points, any Skill Points accumulated in the current battle as Points are counted as Points that can be reduced (this means that if you gained 2 Skill Points during a battle that you are wounded, then you lose two 2 you gained, and 1 from your current amount. It also means that if your Warlord with 0 Skill Points is wounded in the first battle then you would gain no Skill Points for that battle).

Note that it is possible, but rare, that you could lose an objective that the Warlord is located in but by the end of the battle your Warlord is not destroyed. If this happens, there are no penalties to the Warlord - he must deploy to a different objective next turn, if any are available.

A Warlord is never killed. You continue to use the same Warlord until your faction is defeated (by either choosing to become confederated or not confederated after losing your last objective).

Confederated (Vassals and Overlords)

If you lose your last objective you may choose to be confederated (vassalized). Either way, your Warlord is no longer a Warlord.

If you choose to be confederated, you will be PERMANENTLY allied to the side that captured your last objective (if several sides captured your last remaining objectives in the same battle, then you may choose). Your Warlord becomes a lieutenant in your Overlord's army; your Warlord HQ must be deployed to an objective belonging to your Overlord faction in every battle, and you will continue to benefit from your Warlord's applicable Skills (the Skill Levels not marked with an "*"), and you will no longer gain an automatic Skill Point per battle. Instead, you only gain a single Skill Point in a battle if your Overlord faction gains an objective but does not lose an objective in a battle. Also, from that point onward, if the side you are allied to (the Overlord faction) wins the campaign then your result can be considered a MINOR VICTORY.

Once confederated, a confederated faction cannot be completely destroyed. They share the fate of their Overlord faction. If the Overlord faction gets confederated, then all their confederated factions get eliminated and all those players would be able to participate in battle of any remaining faction going forward.
In this way, the intentional meta game challenge is to have your faction survive until the end of the campaign - are you a survivor?

A confederated faction...
  • Has a Warlord unit in battle, which must be deployed to one of your Overlord's objectives
  • Continues to use their Warlord's non "*" marked Skills
  • May only gain a total of +1 Skill Point in battle, only when your Overlord faction captures an objective and does not also lose an objective during that battle
  • Gains their minimum income and purchases units normally (under the normal restrictions)
  • Captures objectives for their Overlord faction (the Overlord faction gets control of it)
  • Can be given Points by their Overlord faction (an Overlord faction also request to have an automatic transfer of X number of Points each turn as well)
  • Deploys its units in the Overlord's deployment zone
  • Shares the fate of its Overlord faction; is eliminated if its Overlord faction becomes confederated or defeated (therefore, a faction can only be confederated once)
  • Is eliminated if none of its players show up for battle (causing their Warlord to be killed and all their units eliminated).
  • Can voluntarily withdraw from the campaign at any time (causing their Warlord to be killed and all their units eliminated).

If you choose NOT to be confederated, then your Warlord is killed and all your remaining forces are disbanded. You may choose to play on another side going forward, if they will accept your help, but the incentive to confederate is that you may win a MINOR VICTORY if you think the Overlord side has a good chance of winning, and you add income to that side. You would choose not to confederate if you no longer want the responsibility of being a CO and making decisions on purchasing units.

Overlord Points Sharing With Confederated Factions

Between battles, Overlords may give Points to their confederated vassals by letting the Campaign Coordinator know. This is handled as an immediate and permanent transfer of Points. A Overlord may desire to have an automatic transfer of a certain number of points to their confederated vassals after each battle (by letting the Campaign Coordinator know), or may choose instead to periodically reward them with Points based on performance.

Skills

Warlords have Skills which provide bonuses and perks. Some skills provide bonuses during a battle, while others apply outside of battle.

After each battle, each Warlord gains 1 Skill point and the players decide which Warlord Skill to increase. Also, after the first battle, whenever a faction takes an objective but does not lose any objectives they started the battle with, then their Warlord gains an additional Skill point. This means that a Warlord can gain a MAXIMUM of 2 Skill points per battle.

All Skill upgrades take effect immediately.

Each Warlord Skill has up to three levels, each one providing an increase in effectiveness. Also, unless it specifically states that the skill replaced the previous one, each skill level "stacks" by adding additional abilities on top of lower skill level's effects (FORAGING and LOOTING are two examples of skills that do not stack).

Skill Types and Effects

ARTILLERY
L1: May purchase mortars
L2: May purchase howitzers
L3: May purchase rocket artillery
COMMUNICATIONS
L1: May purchase UAVs, limit 1 in inventory
L2: UAV inventory limit increased to 2
L3: 2x airstrikes available in each battle
DEFENSE
L1: May purchase wire obstacles (deployable in the next battle)
L2: May purchase conventional or advanced non-buried mines (deployable in the next battle)
L3: May purchase conventional or advanced buried mines (deployable in the next battle)
DEMOLITION
L1: May purchase VBIED-250lb, limit 1 total VBIEDs in inventory
L2: May purchase VBIED-500lb, total VBIED limit increased to 3
L3: May purchase VBIED-1000lb, total VBIED limit increased to 5
ENGINEER
L1: May purchase bunkers and gun pits (deployable in the next battle)
L2: May purchase trenches (deployable in the next battle)
L3: May purchase AT ditches (deployable in the next battle), mine plows, can remove obstacles from your territory, and you receive 1x BREM-1 ARV into inventory (a one time addition)
NOTE: Obstacles that you want to remove (deleted) from your territory is communicated to the Campaign Coordinator via map images)
FORAGING
L1: Basic Income is now 125 Points
L2: Basic Income is now 150 Points (replaces L1)
L3: Basic Income is now 175 Points (replaces L2)
LOOTING
L1: Increase objective based income by +15%
L2: Increase objective based income by +25% (replaces L1)
L3: Increase objective based income by +35% (replaces L2)
MEDICAL
L1: The PSG unit is allowed; non-militia infantry now have a PSG (which contains the medic that matches parent infantry unit's quality)
L2: Medic vehicles can be purchased (Regular quality medic)
L3: Medic infantry belonging to medic vehicle units are now elite
RECONNAISSANCE
L1*: Your deployment zone around your objectives is increased from 500m to 750m
...additionally, if enemy does not also have this L1 or higher Skill, it overrides enemy deployment zones but does not enter enemy objectives
L2*: Your deployment zone around your objectives is increased from 750m to 1,000m
...additionally, if enemy does not also have this L2 or higher Skill, it overrides enemy deployment zones but does not enter enemy objectives
L3*: Before battle, you will be notified by each commander (in a PM) which objective each of their Warlord HQ is located in (penalize Points if false)
BLACK MARKET
L1: May purchase units or items up to 200 Points in value
L2: May purchase units or items up to 400 Points in value
L3: May purchase units or items up to any Point value
RECRUITING
L1*: Each battle, field 1x free (noncumulative) untrained infantry squad for each objective you hold
L2: May purchase non-militia infantry trucks (Ural, Unimog, Pinzgauer, etc.)
L3: Increase number of non-militia infantry truck vehicle limit by +3 (per vehicle type)
SUPPLY
L1: IFV infantry have GLs
L2: APC infantry have GLs
L3: Non-militia truck infantry have GLs and you now only suffer 15% corruption loss to saved income
TRAINER
L1: Militia infantry (technical truck troops) are upgraded to Conscript quality
L2: Non-militia infantry are upgraded to Regular quality
L3: Non-militia infantry are upgraded to elite quality
  • Skill levels marked with a "*" do not apply to confederated lieutenants

Warlord Unique Titles

If you desire it, a Warlord will gain up to TWO unique titles throughout the campaign, achieved the first time they accomplish a feat that is in the following list.

These gained titles will remain permanently with the Warlord and that same title cannot be acquired by any other Warlord for the remainder of the campaign.

Each Warlord should look at this list and determine which of these titles they met the criteria of, and whether or not they want it as one of their two unique titles (if you choose to gain your second title then you may no longer gain another title for the rest of the campaign).

"The Liberator" - Gained by the faction that takes a total of > 140 Points of objectives from one single faction in a single battle.
Grants +30 Points of additional basic income each turn.
"The Conqueror" - Gained by the faction that gained > 200 Points of objectives from all other factions in a single battle.
Grants +50 Points of additional basic income each turn.

"The Executioner" - Gained by the faction that destroys another faction's Warlord unit.
Grants 1x free elite bodyguard rifle team w/RPG-29, GLs, and UAV(I) in each battle.
"The Butcher" - Gained by the faction that lost > 100 personnel in a single battle.
Grants 3x free squads of untrained youth militia in each battle.
"The Cautious" - Gained by the faction that went the entire full length battle without suffering a single vehicle loss.
Grants a one time bonus of 150 Points.
"The Destroyer" - Gained by the faction that had 2x the number of total kills than total losses in a single battle (minimum 10 total kills).
Grants a one time bonus of +1 Warlord Skill Point.

"The Pillager" - Gained by the faction that confederated another Warlord faction.
Grants a one time bonus of +2 Warlord Skill Point.
"The Cruel" - Gained by the faction that defeated and killed another Warlord faction (they refused to confederate).
Grants a one time bonus of +3 Warlord Skill Points.

Warlord Rank (high score)

A Warlord will increase in rank (shown on their "card"). For every 3x Skill Levels, a Warlord will increase in rank by 1.

There are a total of 13 ranks, which can be considered a high score of sorts. Note that rank can decrease if the Warlord loses Skill levels due to the Warlord's HQ being lost.

At the end of a campaign, regardless of which side won, the side with the highest rank Warlord is a good indication of who best protected their Warlord.