Sovereign Wars Forum

Check out the Sovereign Wars Forum here. Right now its a free forum but its one of the best I could find and if it takes off I will be upgrading to get rid of the ads and add additional features.

With the forum picking up speed I will be moving some of the minor post into the forum the goal of which is to get some discussions rolling and offer visitors a chance to gets some input on the game as well as the game world. 

Bottom line major news will still hit the main blog page, but make sure to check out the forum for additional news,previews and discussions.

Coming up Next on This Week in Sovereign Wars: Ship Sub-Systems

Until Next Week

joel@sovereignwars.com

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Also sign up for in the Forum for additional new,updates and discussion.

forum.sovereignwars.com

Development Update Day #660

Development has been humming along smoothing these last few months. We are at a point where we have concept art for all of the initial Bardox ships and the others are coming. Cards and Rule book designs are also being worked out. Right now we are on track to have a complete Bardox fleet on the table for the demo games at Gencon no small feet for a game being run on pretty much no budget. We will also have card prototypes there most like all of the cards being used will be close to the final printed product. Who knows I may even have a copy of the book ready for display..lets not get to far ahead of ourselves.

With that said I have mentioned Gencon 2012 a couple of times on the blog kinda dropping hints here and there well the schedule is still coming together but the goal is to run events Thursday,Friday and Saturday nights two games a night six players a session. Basically we will be running a big three vs three game. One thing I love about running events at Gencon is that you get so many eyes on the game and so many questions it helps to flush out any issues that are still in the game. 

In addition to the above games I am working on a lighter scenario of the game using fighter ships I am calling Sovereign Football, more details on that the scenario is fleshed out.

I think that wraps up day #660 of development hopefully many more to come.

Coming up Next on This Week in Sovereign Wars: Ship Sub-Systems

Until Next Week

joel@sovereignwars.com

Don't Forget to Sign up for the Closed Beta. More information on the sidebar

Miniature Update: Bardox Comand Cruiser off to the printer

Things in the model department are starting to pick up speed. The Bardox Command Cruiser has been sent to the printers and I should have it back in a couple of weeks. This is the first of our larger scale models to be finished so hopefully is comes out well, I am trying a lot of new techniques in this model to number one make the model look better and make the printing process a little easier. Below are a few images of the 3D model along with the Bardox Fighter.

A Little background on the Command Cruiser, First it is not intended to be a gunship by any sort its a command and control ship filling in the gap as a fleet command ship in smaller games and as a order relay ship in larger games. The Command Cruiser also is jump capable with a hanger bay allowing it to carry a unit of frigates or fighters into combat.

Yes all the spikey bits should be visible on the final printed model at least that's the goal.

This model will come out to roughly 9 cm or about 3.5 inches roughly and will come as a multiple part model.

Here is a size comparison between the Fighter and the Command Cruiser, remember we have decided to make the fighter and frigate class models larger in order to get a better quality model and allow use to use fighters as units in the game.

Here is the original concept art created by our talented concept artist.

Additional work can be found at morugankodi.deviantart.com

Be sure to check out the Production Gallery in the sidebar for additional images.

As always all models were created using Blender 2.5

Miniatures Coming Soon to Shapeways.com

Keep and Eye out for This Week in Sovereign Wars it will be making a comeback as we get closer to  Gencon 2012

Until Next Time

joel@sovereignwars.com

Don't Forget to Sign up for the Closed Beta. More information on the sidebar

And you thought we were dead...

Seems like its been a few months since an update was posted to this page, well fear not anyone who is following us or even the slightest bit interested in the game we are not dead matter of fact things have been moving along fairly well. Over the past few months both concept work and new models have been coming together as well as the rules, I am also busy planning Gencon 2012 where I hope to be able to show at least one completed fleet as well as preview the Rana which will be the third alien species to go into the book. The book is coming along as well with a lot of work being concentrated on the narrative that will run through out the book. Enough with the talk I imagine you all want to see some new images. Below are some photos of the prototype model of the Bardox Fighter that I previewed a few posts ago. I would call this a "draft" quality and to say I have learned a lot about the the printing process in making this model is a understatement. Its also kinda of a trip to have a fully realized 3d version of something that was just data on a screen only months ago. Anyway stay posted I will be posting more updated with more concept art as we get farther along in the design process.

Miniature Update: Bardox....Its about time?

Its been 522 days in development...I will say that again Sovereign Wars has been in development for 522 days and that is not counting the year of trying to figure out how to get it started. I am happy to finally be able to give an update on the actual models for Sovereign Wars. First of all special thanks goes out to our talented concept artist that has created some awesome concepts that are exactly what I have been looking for a long time. The drawings have all been spot and I can only see them getting better as the design process goes on.

The first model that is going off to the printers for prototyping will be the Bardox Fighter. The Bardox are a warrior race of gorilla like beings. Their entire culture revolves around fighting and war which leaves little room for science, so their ships and technology advance very slowly and they primarily thrive on stealing and reverse engineering the technology of others. The Bardox also have some of the fiercest troops when it comes to ground combat and more specifically boarding actions. Tactics wise the Bardox prefer a much more "Physical" approach to space combat with most of their ships designed around nose equipped for ramming other enemy ships or simply boarding them and removing the enemy crew.

I will have more information on the Bardox early next week along but for now here is a first look at the Bardox Fighter. I am still making adjustments to the model but this is really close to the model that will be going off for prototyping.

The images above represent what the final production model will look like in one of the Bardox paint schemes. The model itself is build to use the stand displayed but could easily be fitted and any of the currently available stands.

This is a raw look at that details of the forward left side of the model. Notice the dual cannons on the left side giving the model an asymmetric feel.

Here is the original concept art created by our talented concept artist.

Additional work can be found at morugankodi.deviantart.com

Be sure to check out the Production Gallery in the sidebar for additional images.

As always all models were created using Blender 2.5

Miniatures Coming Soon to Shapeways.com

Coming up Next on This Week in Sovereign Wars: Ship Sub-Systems

Until Next Week

joel@sovereignwars.com

Don't Forget to Sign up for the Closed Beta. More information on the sidebar

This Week in Sovereign Wars:Order Management

Each week on www.sovereignwars.com we will be covering a new rules related topic. It may be as simple as order management or as complex as custom ship construction no matter every week we will be giving players insight to the game of Sovereign Wars.


This Week: Order Management
One of the design goals of Sovereign Wars was to create a space combat game that involved a degree of resource management used in such a way that it was simple but yet provided many options for the players. In Sovereign Wars orders are what allow a ship or group of ships to move,shoot, react as well as perform other special actions. Each ship begins a turn with a set number of orders these orders are placed next to the unit, either by using dice or tokens. This simple action allows both players to see all the orders that are are available to each side allowing them to plan their actions. As the turn progresses each unit uses its orders to act and react  eventually a ship uses up all of it orders in other games the unit would be finished until the end of the turn in Sovereign Wars that is not the case. This is where a player's Command ship or ships come into play. Command ships have a greater number or orders which allows them to be able to as an action allocate those order to other ships that are within its command range. The only limit to this action is that no ship or group of ships may have more orders than their orders value at a given time. The other rule that make this work is that we allow players to activate any ship or unit on the table as long as it has orders, Sovereign Wars also does not limit the number of time an action can be performed. Here is an example.

Jon is playing his Bardox fleet against Tim's Desnki. During his turn Jon activates a group of fighters and moves them two combat moves which uses both of the units orders. Tim then activates and sends his own fighter group after Jon's using one order to move and then one order to fire the groups weapons Tim's fighters destroy only one of Jon's fighters. It's now Jon's activation and he activates his Command Cruiser he immediately performs two transfer actions and sends two orders to the fighter group. This leaves the Command Cruiser with three orders left, Jon can use these orders to perform any other actions including transferring orders to other units. He chooses to end the Command Cruiser's activation allowing the Command Cruiser to be reactivated later or to reactive to any incoming fire. Its now Tim's activation and he chooses to send a Cruiser over to help out his fighters. Tim uses one order to move the cruiser closer and then another to fire at Jon's fighters. Since the fighters have orders now Jon decides to react by returning fire using one of the fighter group's orders.

As you can see Sovereign Wars order system provides for a very dynamic game that is constantly changing providing another subtle layer to your typical space combat game.

Designer's Tip: The order management system in Sovereign Wars can take a bit to wrap your head around specially when most players are use to a more rigid system of activating a unit once in a turn. The biggest tip I can give is to find a way to keep track on your orders on the table that works for you. I prefer to use glass beads that are easy to use fairly inexpensive to get and they standout among a table full of miniatures. Keeping track of orders and making sure you use your orders wisely are one of the major keys to victory. I would also recommend that you protect your Command Ships with everything you have because once they are gone a severe gap in orders can occur that is hard to recover from.

Coming up Next on This Week in Sovereign Wars: Ship Sub-Systems

Until Next Week

joel@sovereignwars.com

Don't Forget to Sign up for the Closed Beta. More information on the sidebar

Sovereign Wars Closed Beta Update

Its been a few weeks since I have posted but things have been going well. I have posted the latest major revision to the beta rules to the development site which I hope will be the final version of the rules before I start putting the book together. We are to the point where we are concentrating on the building out of the individual factions.

In other news, I have spoken to a couple of concept artists that have shown interesting and they are beginning to work on preliminary ideas for the various ships and characters of the Sovereign Wars universe. I hope to have some artwork or models to show soon.

Now is as good a time as any to join the beta. We are still looking for participants in the beta there are plenty of spots open so if any one reading this is interested please check out the side bare for information on getting into the beta.

This Week in Sovereign Wars will continue next week with an article on Order Management.