VBAM is a generic set of campaign rules that can interface with any existing tactical war game rules or operate as a stand- alone campaign environment. VBAM is pretty easy to run, though not as detailed as my own campaign rules. I have grown fond of the system and started using it more and more over the last year. So much, that I decided to created a website about it.

Race Conversions

One thing I really find appealing about the current VBAM rule set is how easy it can be to convert your favorite sci-fi race and make them playable. For the first time it is conceivable to fight out a Star Wars verse Star Trek war. However, it does require that someone sit down and scour the technical aspects of the ships and militaries and create stats. As I look about on the VBAM forums I find very little really has really been completely converted.

To satisfy my inner geek, I have taken it upon myself to convert a minimum of 52 space faring races seen in television shows, movies and comics. (I suspect the actual number I will convert is probably double that, but we need to set a reasonable goal). Each conversion will include a racial sheet, briefly summarizing the specific race's unique characteristics and history. In addition a campaign playable selection of ships will be created to allow players to use them in a campaign.

September 3rd, 2006
This week I continue with the Star Trek Theme and bring my loyal readers the Gorn! Overall I am pretty happy with how they turned out. Just a few more conversions and I can run a neat Star Trek campaign to beta test a project I am working on.

Gorn Hegemony

August 26th, 2006
Looks like I am back on track with the weekly releases! In keeping with the theme, this week I have created the Bynar Collective, as much as they could be done within the current ruleset. I may revamp them in a few weeks while I think about them, but for now I sort of like what I have come up with for them.

Bynar Collective

August 18th, 2006
Hopefully this new addition marks the return of weekly updated content. I think I have a good handle on real life at the moment and with the kids in school, things should be easier.

In keeping with the theme, this week I have chosen to do the Children of Tama from from the Star Trek: Next Generation episode titled "Darmok". They were a difficult race to convert if just for the fact I have little information to go on. Ultimately I decided they were highly spiritual and excellent ship builders.

Children of Tama

July 30th, 2006
Unfortunantely life has begun interfering with my VBAM conversion schedule so I am not sure if I can keep to releasing races each week. One of the main time sinks is a VBAM book that I am working on. Naturally, the book is a little more important than the free content on my website. More details on that later.

I have completed my Klingon Empire conversions, though I am not as happy with them as I was the Federation conversions. In the end I filled in most holes in thier construction so that they are a playable race. Most of my VBAM conversions are based on Tyrel’s B5 Wars conversions. In the end I had to tweak some of the stats to make them more playable. Much like the Federation, I did increase the costs of ships equipped with shields and Cloaking devices. I choose to make the Klingons a miltary Meritocracy as opposed to an Aristocractic society since it was possble for both Worf and Martok to become leader of the Empire.

Klingon Empire v1.0

July 7th, 2006
I have completed my United Federation of Planets conversions. Now a VBAM player can play the Federation in any of five time periods. A few people may cry foul that I did not post a different race from last week, but I make the rules here. It was neat to see how the Federation develops over the course of 2 centuries.

Most of my VBAM conversions are based on Tyrel’s B5 Wars conversions. In the end I had to tweak some of the stats to make them more playable. Not surprisingly “Voyager” and “Enterprise” completely threw the system off, forcing me to rethink the formula some. In the end I did increase the costs of ships equipped with shields and upped all the cruisers DV. I did not tackle the Federation ability to operate for extended periods of time without supply as that would require a major revamping of the supply rules to make work correctly.

There is another new ability included in this release. It is called Multi-Attack Vector and works just like Transformation except it does not lower the DV of the unit that uses it.

United Federation of Planets v1.1

June 23rd, 2006
This week I release the second and final part of the HALO conversions! I had to guess on what the homeworld of the Covenant would be called, as High Charity is the name of thier mobile capitol. I had considerd making High Charity a mobile homeworld, but the rules for that would be scary. Once the HALO movie or HALO 3 is released, I will revist the conversions.

The Covenant

June 16th, 2006
This week I decided to release the first of the HALO conversions! There is less information than I like available on the ships and weapons deployed by the UNSC, so a lot of the conversions is conjecture. Once the HALO movie is released I will revist the conversions. Next week, expect to see the Covenant.

United Nations Space Command v1.1

June 9th, 2006
This week I decided to do a fun race and finish up the Kingdom of Mongo from Flash Gordon! I absolutely loved the movie and felt this would be an excellent addition to any VBAM campaign.

Kingdom of Mongo

June 2nd, 2006
The first two races I offer to the general public are converted from Battlestar Galactica. I decided to blend the flavor of the original television series with that of the re-imagined series and of the unfinished theatrical movie. Though, the Twelve Colonies is based more on the re-imagined series mostly because the idea of a 1,000 year war is fairly stupid. As the current series continues, and the prequel “Caprica”, I imagine that the force lists will get updated.

Additional VBAM Unit ABilities

Cylon Alliance

Twelve Colonies of Man v1.1