New Release: Streets of Regalis now on sale!

My newest work, Streets of Regalis (campaign setting for In Harm's Way Tactics) is now on sale! As part of the Winter Offensive on WarGameVault, it's also 25% off list price!

http://www.wargamevault.com/product/168195/Imperium-Chronicles--In-Harms-Way-Tactics-Streets-of-Regalis

Ports of Call: Stat Cards

Ports of Call will include stat cards for each ship. In the example below (wip), notice that each freighter gets a set of starting stats plus extra boxes (slots) that can be filled if the player buys improvements. Note also that the number of enhancement (empty) slots is limited based on the class. (Btw, the gab there is because I removed the Offense/Defense stats since I'm not decided on those yet).

Ports of Call Main Map w/ Trade Symbols

I've updated the WIP map for Ports of Call to include some of the trade symbols and security levels. For the former, I'm mostly following the trade maps key featured in the Imperium Chronicles RPG (Ch 9). These will modify the supply, demand, and prices of the commodities that players can buy and sell in the game.

Ports of Call: Main Map WIP

Here's the current WIP for the Ports of Call map. I haven't completed the trade codes for each planet (and some other goodies) but each one (81 in total) has a unique name and image, so that's something!

New Title: Ports of Call

My next game is going to be called Ports of Call, and it'll revolve around trading and piracy in the Imperium. As players, you can choose to be a legitimate freighter capt or attack other shipping and become a pirate.

Here's a mockup of a stat card for one class of freighter. Notice that each stat is shown as boxes, some of which are already colored in. The empty boxes can be colored in via upgrading your ship.

I'll have more information about the game soon...

Streets of Regalis: Content Summary

Streets of Regalis is currently being proofread before going into playtesting. In the meantime, I wanted to give a rundown of the contents. It's a lot!

• 13 New factions including 48 enemy minions & 4 bosses
• 33 New weapons
• 19 Locations consisting of 45 total maps
• Counters and stat cards
• Over 90 pages of content!

Streets of Regalis: Stat Cards

The Streets of Regalis will include stat cards for each of the various enemies that characters may face. Each card shows the enemy's stats, picture, and any abilities they may possess. These cards are designed to serve as reference for the GM during combat.

Streets of Regalis: New Draconian Models

Along with Streets of Regalis, I'm introducing a new model design for the Draconian race. I've mentioned this before, but I wanted to show a comparison of the old model versus the new one.

All Prices Slashed by 25% on Official Imperium Chronicles Store

ALL prices on the official Imperium Chronicles store have been slashed by 25% compared to DriveThruRPG and other sites. This includes all wargames, RPGs, and paper miniatures.

http://store.imperiumonline.com/

Back to Streets of Regalis

Now that The Talion Front is done, I'm turning my attention back to Streets of Regalis, the campaign setting for In Harm's Way Tactics. Due to burnout, I stopped working on SoR 4 months ago, but now I've gotten a second wind and hope to finish it up within the next 6-8 weeks.

[New Release] Theater of Operations: The Talion Front

I'm proud to announce The Talion Front, the first expansion for the Fleets at War: Theater of Operations strategic sci-fi wargame.

Features

• New, large full-color strategic map (19"x18" divided into 6 sections)
• New Faction: The Talion Republic
• New Enemies ("Marauders"): the Pirate Clans (vs. the Imperium) and the K'thonian Void (vs. the Magna/Talions)
• New Gameplay including the Grand Campaign (combining the original game with the expansion) and the Talion Rebellion (vs. the Magna)
• 490 new counters (full-strength & damaged sides)
• 15 new units including battle carriers, patrol boats (gun, missile, & torpedo), and torpedo bombers, among others

Compatibility
Theater of Operations is required to play The Talion Front.

Talion Front: Grand Campaign Map Arrangement

I'm now home for a while so I've been working on the finishing touches of the Talion Front. To that end, here is one of the images showing both the maps from TF and the original Theater of Operations (for the Grand Campaign).

The Talion Front: STL Ships

We've been play testing The Talion Front for over a couple of weeks so far. One of the major additions to the game are ships and space installations that lack FTL drives. Besides fighter craft, these include patrol boats and torpedo bombers. Due to their lack of FTL, they cannot move between zones unless carried by other craft. Fighters and TBs are stowed aboard carriers, but patrol boats require another new ship called the Boat Tender. These can carry up to four boats between zones.

The Talion Front: Naval Officers

The Talion Front will also include optional rules for using naval officers (x1 Admiral, x2 Vice Admirals, and x3 Captains). When included in a task force, they give the player command points that can be used to increase one stat by +1 for that round. In other words, a ship's attack could get a +1, etc. Also, the rank of the officer will determine how many capital ships (larger than a DD) a task force can have.

The Talion Front: Cover WIP

Here's a preliminary cover for the Talion Front. I'm not 100% happy with the cover so I'd welcome any feedback...

The Talion Front: New Ships and Space Installations

Here are some of the new ships and space installations included with The Talion Front expansion:

Boat Tender (AB): These are support ships designed to move vessels (such as patrol boats) between star systems.

Corvette (K): These are fast, lightly-armed vessels, usually smaller than a frigate. They are used for short patrols and planetary defense.

Drone Carrier (CVD):  Smaller than a conventional carrier, the CVD carries remote-controlled drones instead of piloted fighter craft.

Escort Destroyer (DDE):  A specialized ship type designed to protect other vessels from attack.

Gunboat (PG):  A patrol boat armed with projectile weapons instead of missiles.

Missile Boat (PM): A patrol boat armed with missiles.

Patrol Frigate (PF): The same size as a standard frigate, the patrol frigate lacks faster-than-light engines. They patrol exclusively within a single star system instead of traveling between systems

Remote Drones (DR & DRH):  These are small craft similar to fighters except controlled by a larger ship.  They come in regular and heavy versions.

Strike Destroyer (DS): These are destroyers designed for quick, hit-and-run attacks.

Super Carrier (CVB): These are larger versions of the conventional carrier designed to carry a greater complement of fighter craft.

Torpedo Boat (PT):  A patrol boat armed with slow, but powerful torpedoes.

Torpedo Bomber (TB):  A craft similar to fighters except designed to carry a single torpedo.  Due to their larger size, a flight of torpedo bombers includes only three craft instead of the usual four.

Space Installations
Installations are large, stationary structures designed to protect star systems from attack. Attacking forces must destroy, not only defending vessels, but also any space installations in a system before they can take control.

Space Station:  A space station is a large, stationary structure usually orbiting a planet or moon.  It lacks propulsion and depends on its defensive capabilities instead of agility when attacked.  Unlike starbases, a space station is run by civilians instead of the military.

Starbase:  This is a large, military structure used as a command-and-control hub for naval ships in the area.  It is heavily armed and armored and normally has a complement of vessels assigned for additional defense.  A starbase is considered a high-value target to enemy forces.

Talion Front Scenarios

During work on the Talion Front expansion for my Theater of Operations wargame, I've come up with at least four ways to play:

Grand Campaign
By combining the strategic maps of both Theater of Operations and the Talion Front, players double the total area of warfare, capturing the full extent of the Third Imperium-Magna War.

Talion Front
The Talion Front expansion can be played on its own instead of including the Theater of Operations base game.

Imperial Reprisals
For a much shorter game, players can choose to focus only on the Imperial attacks on the Talion Republic that occurred after the conclusion of the Third Imperium-Magna War. These reprisals against the Tals were a result of their support for the Magna during the war.

Talion Revolt
As a "what if" scenario, players can also pit the Talion Republic against the Magna Supremacy. In this type of game, the Tals have revolved against their masters and the Magna must invade their former allies to subdue the rebellion.

The Imperium Chronicles Collection (short stories)

I put together a collection of short stories I wrote about the Imperium Chronicles and published them over on DriveThruFiction. For $0.99 you get PDF, ePub, and MOBI (Kindle) versions. I'm working on a print version next...

The Imperium Chronicles Collection (at DriveThruFiction)

Talion Front: Marauders

The Talion Front will also include two independent factions, the K'thonians (green) and Pirate Clans (black) that will randomly attack the Magna/Talions and Imperium respectively. They will potentially act as spoilers to throw a wrench into the plans of the players who will have to deal with these marauders.

Theater of Operations: Talion Front sample counters

Here are some sample counters for the Talion forces. These include the patrol frigate, gunboat, torpedo boat, fighter flight, heavy fighter flight, and torpedo bombers. Note, the stats on the counters may change.

Talion Front Strategic Map (WIP)

This is a lower rez version of my current WIP for the Talion Front strategic map. The blue is the Imperium, red the Magna Supremacy, and the orange are the Talions (allied to the Magna). Note, this map can be played with the strategic map from Theater of Operations (same size).

Theater of Operations: The Talion Front

Since getting back to town, I've been working on a expansion for Theater of Operations. Called The Talion Front, it'll include new ships and a new large strategic map showing the Magna Client States and the areas patrolled by the Imperial Frontier fleet. The new ships will include patrol boats (gun, missile, and torpedo), torpedo bombers, patrol frigates, corvettes, and a super carrier. A lot of these ships lack FTL drives so they will fulfill planet defense duties instead of belonging to task forces.

Fleets at War: Theater of Operations now available!

Fleets at War: Theater of Operations is now available! As an added bonus, you can buy the game at 15% due to the DriveThruRPG sci-fi month promotion!

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149755/Imperium-Chronicles--Fleets-at-War-Theater-of-Operations

Fleets at War: Theater of Operations (F@W:ToO) is a strategic wargame set in the Imperium Chronicles universe. The game represents the large scale organization and resource management of the Imperium and the Magna Supremacy during armed conflict, most recently the Third Imperium-Magna War.

Theater of Operations is designed with ease of play in mind, including rules that are simple to learn and execute.

One player takes the role of the Imperium while the other player controls the Magna Supremacy. Each side starts the game with a fleet of ships that can be placed anywhere on their side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). As the game progresses, each side gets points based on the number of zones on the map they possess. These points are then used to build new ships. The winner is the side that defeats the other player, usually by destroying all of his ships and/or capturing his zones.

When playing Theater of Operations, players can choose to use Fleets at War! rules during tactical combat. In fact, they can also use Fighter Wing rules when carrying out fighter combat. However, neither is necessary to play Theater of Operations.

Features

• Large full-color strategic map (19"x18" divided into 6 sections)
• 800+ ship counters (full-strength & damaged sides)
• Straight-forward rules for fast gameplay

Playtesters for Theater of Operations

I'm now looking for play testers for Theater of Operations. Playtesters will get the full game (PDF) once it is published and listed in the credits. If you're interested, please email me at william_h_mitchell at imperiumonline.com

Here is a basic description of the game:

Fleets at War: Theater of Operations (F@W: ToO) is a strategic wargame set in the Imperium Chronicles universe. The game represents the large scale organization and resource management of the Imperium and the Magna Supremacy during armed conflict, most recently the Third Imperium-Magna War.

Theater of Operations is designed with ease of play in mind, including rules that are simple to learn and execute.

One player takes the role of the Imperium while the other controls the Magna Supremacy. Each faction starts the game with a fleet of ships that can be placed anywhere on their side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). As the game progresses, the factions get resource points (used to build new ships) based on the number of zones they control.

Combat between factions takes place on a tactical hex map, using counters representing each ship. These counters include the largest vessels in the game (juggernauts) down to the smallest (fighter flights).

Contents:
• Marker Counters
• Resource Sheets (x2)
• Ruler Guide (Optional)
• Ship Counters (Full-strength & Damaged)
• Strategic Map (in six parts)
• Tactical Map (hex sheet)
• Task Force Sheets (x2)

For more information, click here

Theater of Operations: Cover

Here's the potential cover for Fleets at War: Theater of Operations. No explosions this time...sorry!

Theater of Operations: Strategic Map WIP

After over three months of work on Streets of Regalis, I'm taking a little break due to burnout and working instead on Fleets at War: Theater of Operations. I've been creating some art assets including the main strategic map (see attached). This is a low resolution version; the actual map is 19.5" x 18.25" (divided into 6 sections).

Instead of hexes, I've broken the map up into zones, each with a primary planet. It's still a work in progress...

My new book is available

This is not game related, but my new comedy book, A Little of Me Goes a Long Way, is now available. It features a collection of my tweets, from the profound to the profane, including such topics as: cats, pants, finger puppets, more pants, poor hygiene, self loathing, and finally, pants.

Examples:

• "A little of me goes a long way," I told my wife during our honeymoon.
• After I wash up in a public restroom, I always open the door with my mouth so I don't get germs on my hands.
• I can motivate myself to put on pants or go outside, but not BOTH!
• You take my breath away, or that might be the tuberculosis...
• Golden Corral: Because you're just not fat enough.
• I'm giving everybody lottery tickets for Xmas because I don't like people very much.
• I have a big heart, a big morbidly obese heart...
• Saw a homeless guy surrounded by books sleeping in the park this morning. Just goes to show what an English degree will get you.
• I wish we could stop fixating on race when there's so many other reasons to hate each other.

Streets of Regalis: The Numbers

I wanted to give some numbers for Streets of Regalis, the campaign expansion for In Harm's Way Tactics. The campaign will include 13 new factions with a total of 52 new enemies (with complete stats and counters). There will also be 19 separate locations in the city with a total of 45 skirmish maps. The whole expansion should be around 90 pages.

New Imperium Chronicles Community on Google+

For those who use Google+, I've created an Imperium Chronicles Community there as a forum for anyone who wants to talk about my games (or related topics). Please come by and join (and also validate my existence)...

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/111068317773221558285

Birthday Sale (46% Off Everything!)

To celebrate my 46th birthday (March 14th), I'm having a store-wide promotion! Use the code 46BDAYPROMO and get 46% off any and all products in the store. You can even use it on bundles which are already at least 25% off!

How to use code: On the checkout page, above the credit card images, look for "Have a discount code?" and click the link. Enter 46BDAYPROMO, hit Apply, and you'll get 46% off every product in your basket. Code is good until the end of March 15th.

http://store.imperiumonline.com/

Streets of Regalis: Counter Sheet Example

So, it's hard to exaggerate how much stuff I need to create for Streets of Regalis. On the other hand, I can work on various parts when I'm having trouble. For example, I've been suffering from writer's block so today I worked on counters instead of writing. This is what I did so far today:

Streets of Regalis: Black Hand Brotherhood

The Black Hand Brotherhood, another faction featured in Streets of Regalis, is a group of assassins for hire. They use poison-tipped weapons to quickly and silently kill their intended targets.

Patreon Updates

I've updated my Patreon page by adding exclusive content for patrons  only. So far these include high resolution images (5x7) of enemies featured in Streets of Regalis. I also lowered the minimum pledge to get these exclusives ($2 bucks cheap!)

https://www.patreon.com/imperiumchronicles

Streets of Regalis: Counter Examples

Since I've done most of the enemy renders, I've started using them to make the counters for Streets of Regalis. In this sample, there's counters from the Cyberpunk, Void Spawn, Psi Lords, and Draconian factions.

Streets of Regalis: Ghuls

Another race from the Imperium Chronicles RPG (although not playable) were the Ghuls. These were cannibals who lived below graveyards. I've decided to include them with Streets of Regalis. Here's one of them, a Ghul Lurker.

New Draconian Model

The Draconians were one of the original playable races in the Imperium Chronicles RPG. I've been wanting to upgrade the model I've been using for the Dracs so today I did just that (and added them to the enemies for Streets of Regalis).

Also, I gave them a flamethrower...

Streets of Regalis: Cyberpunk Gang

I've been taking a break from doing maps and instead working on final renders for the different enemies. One faction is called the Cyberpunk Gang which is a group of criminals augmented by nano and cyber technologies. They use electricity and energy to attack.

Streets of Regalis: Enemy Counts

The original In Harm's Way Tactics (and expansion) both had three factions each with around 10 bad guys each. Streets of Regalis will have more factions, but less baddies per group. However, the total number will be at least 40 enemies (compared to 30 for the core rules). As an example, here's a member of the Black Hand Brotherhood, an assassins guild.

Streest of Regalis: More Skirmish Maps

Here are three more skirmish maps for Streets of Regalis. The top one goes with a mission against Ghuls, a cannibalistic race. The middle is a smuggler hideout (in a warehouse), and the last one is the lawn of a nobleman's estate.

Streets of Regalis: Cover WIP

Here's the cover for Streets of Regalis as it currently stands. It features a woman from the Red Lotus crime syndicate on the left and a Griefer gang member on the right. Note: this is low rez so the red in the title looks a little crappy...

Streets of Regalis: Skirmish Maps

My current plan for Streets of Regalis is to include 21 separate locations, each with from one to three skirmish maps. That adds up to 45 different maps! Although these won't be full-sized maps, each still needs to be unique and interesting. I'm trying to do a few a day, but it's pretty time consuming to be sure...

Streets of Regalis: The Gnomi

Streets of Regalis (SoR) will introduce a new race called the Gnomi. This is a diminutive species (under 4') with large eyes and pointed ears, and well known for tinkering with all kinds of machines and devices. They are also well known for stealing all kinds of machines and devices. Humans call them a number of derogatory names such as tinks, tinkers, and (individually) sparky.

Streets of Regalis: Erudites

My version of the Erudites, included in Streets of Regalis, is a blue-skinned race obsessed with perfecting their species until they transcend the physical realm entirely. Like the Magna, the Erudites believe they are superior to all other races. However, they are not interested in conquering others, or even proving their supremacy, since both are linked to the material world which they are endeavoring to leave.

As part of their quest for perfection, the Erudites use selective breeding to create their version of a master race. This has resulted in each one looking nearly identical, so much so that other races find it almost impossible to tell them apart. In fact, Erudites themselves differentiate each other via telepathy instead of physical appearance.

Erudites are psionic, like the Dahl, but focus their abilities on controlling others through illusion and direct mental command. Other races are rightfully distrustful of the Erudites, viewing them as deceptive and manipulative.

Streets of Regalis: Void Spawn Demon and Imp

The Void Spawn come from another dimension where pain is considered pleasurable. To that end, they torture others believing that they are benefiting those they're hurting.

Here are two members for that faction: a Void Spawn Demon and Imp. The lmp is smallish, around 4 feet tall (and yes I realize he doesn't have any naughty bits...).

Streets of Regalis: Faction Examples

Streets of Regalis will include several new factions. Below I've included two examples: on the left is a member of the Cyberpunks gang. They've augmented their bodies with technology. The other example is from the Null Cult. They're basically a death cult that worships beings called the Void Spawn that exist in a hell dimension. (Note, these images are still works in progress.)

In Harm's Way Tactics: Streets of Regalis

I've decided to work on a campaign for In Harm's Way Tactics since campaign-play was one aspect not directly included in the core rules. Called Streets of Regalis, the supplement will involve skirmishes at locations in the capital of the Imperium. This will allow players to raise their characters from Tier 1 to 5.

Streets of Regalis will feature maps of the three main districts of the city: Ashetown, Middleton, and West End. On these maps, skirmish locations are denoted by a building icon (like the one here) along with the name of the location and the tier (difficulty).