I want to run a gritty military campaign for my first game, but I've barely even played RPGs before and have a really shitty imagination. What are some ideas I can use to make a game interesting for more seasoned players?Rules will be modified Only War if it matters.
>>47543046
Don't just devolve into combat, try to prep in a way that causes conflict, try to have fleshed out NPCs, and try to have 4 different plans based on what players might do. The plans should be flexible rather than specific.
>>47543046
First rule of war is Murphy's Law.
>If anything can go wrong -- it will.
Here are a few other goodies to help you keep these guys on their toes.
http://www.military-info.com/freebies/murphy.htm
>>47543046
This book served as the basis for one of my OW games, and it was a huge hit:
http://www.amazon.com/One-Soldiers-War-Arkady-Babchenko/dp/0802144039
You want to talk about a fucked up, gritty military campaign? Being a soldier in the shitty Russian army during the Chechen War was IT
>Abusive, uncaring, unintelligent officers
>Lack of food to the point of selling your own bases's weapons and ammo to the enemy for bread
>Retarded bureaucracy getting men killed. "I'm Colonel Idiot from the Imperialis Logos. You are your squad need to go into dangerous territory to recover a destroyed Chimera so we can write it off as destroyed." (actual experience from the author)
>>47543046
get the scenario books from Twilight 2000 - done need to use the rules, just the ideas from them
>>47543311
>http://www.military-info.com/freebies/murphy.htm
I was actually inspired by the Chechen Wars to try and get his running.
I also only recently found out about the Chechen Wars thanks to my exceptionally shitty burger education, and have been trying to learn more about them. I'll check this out for sure, thanks.
>>47543367
Wrong quote but you get the idea.
>>47543046
You wanna make your players feel gritty and shitty?
Variant one. Get fugged by your own side's incompetence/malicious intent. Your CO hates you. Why? You fucked his wife,ran over his dog, the troops like you better than him, whatever. He is clearly trying to get you killed. Read pic related.
Remind them they are just little cogs in a big big uncaring machine. You've been fighting off durka durkas/gooks/commies/krauts for the last 3 days without sleep, but all is fine because relief is on the way. Oh shit son, you are wrong. That relief convoy got diverted to reinforce some point on the front some general thinks is important.
>>47543384
You are expendable.
>But we are the mighty Airborne/VDV/Royal Marines/Foreign Legion
Thats right son! Thats why we chose you to make that combat jump over this enemy held town. First to fight/Rangers lead the way/Nikto krome nas/HOOAH ! Get in there and kick ass. Btw we consider 65% casualties a brilliant success.
>>47543457
Nothings worse for morale than a prolonged insurgency. The enemy can be anywhere,anytime.
Ambushes,traps,green on blue attacks,suicide bombers. Kids, women, old men, anybody can pop you with a rusty hunting rifle in a back alley while you and your buddies are crawling drunk back to base.
Next day you go and do a little punitive expedition. Wanna do it Soviet style? Call down 8 Mi-24s on that mudhut village where your convoy was ambushed last week. Or if its Chechnya, well your Razvedkas will be murdering random people in the night and making sure nobody finds out by packing the bodies in plastit-4 and blowing them to fine mist.
>>47543457
simple story, clever twist
Are you keeping it 40k or just using the system?
>>47544304
Just using the system.
You could always do an urban guerilla game. A fool hardy officer decides on an assault of a fortified enemy position. Squad gets separated from main force/enemy prepared for assault/ unexpected armor happens. While the survivors and the officer manage to escape, the PC's are stuck in a war torn urban environment with what few survivors remain and must try to fight a guerilla campaign against enemy forces in an attempt to rejoin allied forces. Add in scrounging, jury rigging, and civilian resistance cells where applicable
Lets think about why was the 1st Chechen war so shitty.
You are some country bumpkin conscript with 6 months of training.
Your superiors are retarded/dont give a fuck/sell your gear on the black market.
You fight your own just about as much as you are fighting the enemy.
You are fighting a dedicated enemy on his own ground, in shitty conditions.
So far its basically Vietnam but with mountain muslims instead of jungle asians.
The big difference is, what do you have to look forward to if you eventually survive your deployment. You get to go home to 90s Russia, which is basically hell but with more tracksuits. Nobody gives enough of a fuck about what you did to to even call you a babykiller or something. Veteran care consists of "Da comrade, you are fine, have this aspirin".
Your military cripple pension is enough to buy 5 loaves of bread and half a cabbage. You should have died back there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6pRPTA946I
And you should watch this. Its good for inspiration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08El1n6B7SA
