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WaterAndWindSpirit · 08-22-2017, 07:49 AM

Hello everyone.

So, basically, I wanted to know how to handle the following situation.

Two rival conspiracies are at it, one hiding behind a large corporation and a mess of shell companies to hide financial trickery, with magitech TL9 toys (that must not fall into enemy hands or they could be reverse engineered and they would lose their edge) and elite troops at their disposal as well as a hidden HQ, and the other one hiding behind a supposedly altruistic movement with massive public and government support that resists any controversy.

The first side's power is relatively fixed over time, while the second grows every day.

The 1st conspiracy decides to make a bold play by making an all out all or nothing blitz, seizing Africa by taking advantage of it being politically unstable, and setting up factories to get real tank and artillery. After all, waiting would only lead to public support to grow for the other side, and they're already outnumbered several thousands to one. To prepare for this blitz, they spend every noncritical asset to acquire raw materials, including operatives selling everything they do not absolutely want to keep for after the war and taking on as much loans as they can get away with, since either way they won't be paying those back since they will be dead or in hiding or they would have won and then the banks would be acquired. Nukes against densely populated areas are not an acceptable option due to magical backlash. At best one kiloton nukes might be used to destroy salvaged ultratech that can't be liberated.

So basically, due to having no real economy anymore but loads of preparations, the 1st conspiracy gets a massive initial budget to throw on troops, but little way to recover it beyond salvage and raids, but the second gets a smaller budget that replenishes much more, meaning the 1st side win condition is to overwhelm the 2nd with an all or nothing blitz, while the second's side win condition is to outlast the blitz and exhaust the 1st side's resources.

The question is three sided.

How to make the legal and economic machinations to acquire resources prior to the all or nothing blitz believable, and how to balance the odds so that the battle for PCs on the 1st side will feel like a very uphill battle despite their massive personal abilities (we're talking characters who would have grown from around 75 points to 600+ over the course of preparations) and cool toys because the enemy. Won't. Stop. Coming. And they might run out of supplies before the war is even close to over. And how to give the PCs opportunities to shine and turn the tides?

Thanks.

08-22-2017, 07:49 AM	#1
WaterAndWindSpirit Join Date: Oct 2014	[Mass Combat] All or Nothing blitz Hello everyone. So, basically, I wanted to know how to handle the following situation. Two rival conspiracies are at it, one hiding behind a large corporation and a mess of shell companies to hide financial trickery, with magitech TL9 toys (that must not fall into enemy hands or they could be reverse engineered and they would lose their edge) and elite troops at their disposal as well as a hidden HQ, and the other one hiding behind a supposedly altruistic movement with massive public and government support that resists any controversy. The first side's power is relatively fixed over time, while the second grows every day. The 1st conspiracy decides to make a bold play by making an all out all or nothing blitz, seizing Africa by taking advantage of it being politically unstable, and setting up factories to get real tank and artillery. After all, waiting would only lead to public support to grow for the other side, and they're already outnumbered several thousands to one. To prepare for this blitz, they spend every noncritical asset to acquire raw materials, including operatives selling everything they do not absolutely want to keep for after the war and taking on as much loans as they can get away with, since either way they won't be paying those back since they will be dead or in hiding or they would have won and then the banks would be acquired. Nukes against densely populated areas are not an acceptable option due to magical backlash. At best one kiloton nukes might be used to destroy salvaged ultratech that can't be liberated. So basically, due to having no real economy anymore but loads of preparations, the 1st conspiracy gets a massive initial budget to throw on troops, but little way to recover it beyond salvage and raids, but the second gets a smaller budget that replenishes much more, meaning the 1st side win condition is to overwhelm the 2nd with an all or nothing blitz, while the second's side win condition is to outlast the blitz and exhaust the 1st side's resources. The question is three sided. How to make the legal and economic machinations to acquire resources prior to the all or nothing blitz believable, and how to balance the odds so that the battle for PCs on the 1st side will feel like a very uphill battle despite their massive personal abilities (we're talking characters who would have grown from around 75 points to 600+ over the course of preparations) and cool toys because the enemy. Won't. Stop. Coming. And they might run out of supplies before the war is even close to over. And how to give the PCs opportunities to shine and turn the tides? Thanks.