Updated March 29th, 2005
There has been a lot of interest generated recently in my newest revision of the campaign rules. There has been some very cool developments in the new rules set. I have been hard at work on them for a potential summer 2005 release. There will be a full preview of the new rules set in Issue 14 of The Great Machine.

Updated July 7th, 2004
It amazes me how much can change in just a few short months. I had a nasty hard drive crash that destroyed all the new version files which included the SCSes I had been working on. With the help of several people I was able to recover the original version 5 of the rules that was also lost.

I have found that with the crash and time off from the rules that I have taken on a new perspective. I was not happy with the first play test of the system. There was some production problems that I did not like, but those have been corrected. I also participated in a VBAM campaign and have looked at every other system on the market.

For months now I have been working on the new updated version and toying with ideas and concepts that would also allow me to publish the rules at a later date. As it stands now the rules will be out sometime this year, quite possibly next month if all goes well in the next few weeks.

Updated Feb 8th, 2004
I would like to be able to state a date when the Campaign guide will be released to the general public but I am not sure exactly when that will be at the moment. I do not want to release it until I feel it has been properly play tested and any glaring bugs have been worked out through play testing. As of now the guide may not be out until end of March 2004.

Play testing is going to be done in 3 rounds. The first round is simply a test of the economic, construction and research systems to make sure that they work as they are supposed to. That will take place this week and is nothing more than several excel sheets running through 50 years of campaign time.

The second round of play testing should occur soon after on a Saturday. That round will be performed by my gaming group in a glorified board game one afternoon. The principal goal is to ensure the group dynamics function as they should. It will also play test several of the empire’s special abilities, the assault rules and quick resolution systems to make sure they work correctly.

The final round of play test is an actual campaign, or at least part of a campaign. This play test may take a few weeks and allow me to ensure that the turn sheets work properly and that process time is low.

Version 6 is going to be larger than the last version. I am expecting it to be 100-125 pages once it has been completed. (That is not counting the extras that will be bundled with it). Right now I feel it is only a third complete and already it is half the size of the last version. So what is different with this and last edition?

*Campaign Set up has been clearly defined. No more guessing at what I ment by the set up. There will be several example maps (and a blank map) ready to be used.

*Resources are no longer random! This greatly speeds up play and keeps the GM and players sane.

*Economics have been streamlined and are easy to utilze. Rules have been defined for most types of trade routes.

*Colonization is now a realistic concern. No more instant colonies! Empires grow at a psuedo-realistic rate.

*Production has been changes so that all units have a set cost that will be on each empire's control sheet. Fighters are now made in batches as well.

*Espionage rules have been updated to include 15 specfic missions with defined outcomes. No longer with the GM have to decide what the agent learns... it is clearly listed with the mission discription.

*Sabotage rules had their effect reduced to a more reasonable level. In my original campaign the Abbai homeworld was crippled by Centauri sabotage performed by 2 agents.

This week I will be focusing on starbase and outpost construction rules, Ground force production and the remainder of the R&D rules. Yep, it will be a busy, busy week!

Updated Nov 24th, 2003
I have been hard at work getting the updated rules ready for release and it looks like they should be published to the website by the end of the year. I gave a very small preview in campaign issue of BABCOM and now offer another preview of what people can expect.

The campaign rules will be released in two different versions. The first one will be a zip file with the basic rules, a few example maps, tracking sheets, generic SCS units and helpful Excel spread sheets. The second version will be released 6 to 9 months later and be a more professional version with photos and cool looking layout. It will also contain the latest errata and be the final version of the rules for B5 Wars. 

Following the release of the rules there will be another book of "Historical Campaigns" which is both a SCS supplement and reference for different time periods. The book will contain race specific campaign SCSes such as supply ships, bases, shipyards and colony ships. In addition there will be several historical campaign maps and setups. Expected release date is May 2004.

Version 6 is a virtual revamp of the overall system. The campaign rules do keep their complexity but have been streamlined for ease of play. For example, the random production rolls have been removed in favor of a more static system. This not only makes large empires more manageable but greatly decreases the workload on the GM.

Planets themselves now have specific stats that determine how valuable the world would be. There is a stat to represent food production, mineral richness and population. Population is tracked in a elegant fashion that is both realistic and simple to use. When a system is colonized it will slowly grow over time. Planet types have been greatly reduced but the mining and agricultural worlds from version 5 have been replaced with dedicated colony option.

Fleet construction has been improved in such a way that it will allow a player to realistically field an appropriate force for the size of their empire. The downside is towards the middle of the campaign it will be possible to have  extremely large space battles. There will be guidelines for how to break down such engagements into playable battles and there will be additional guides for how to easily determine a victor. 

Planetary assault rules are also in the process of being rewritten. In addition the entire government and diplomacy system are being reworked to limit how much an empire can do and at the same time provide more options than before. Rules for a broader range of research is being added to the campaign guide. Lastly every race that was published by AOG will have specific rules written for them to make them unique to play in a campaign setting. 

I am pretty excited about the upcoming release.

HISTORY
I wrote a set of campaign rules for B5 Wars and these were submitted to AOG. Bruce stated that they were the most complete he had seen. (Come to think of it, a lot of people have told me the same thing.) Unfortunately, AOG decided that they wanted a system more compatible with the Turning Point game system so my rules were unused.  I was disappointed but looked forward to seeing the finish product. As the Campaign Guide stands now, AOG will not be publishing it. The company ran by Robert Glass might. It was also rumored that the author would make it available on the B5 Repository but I have yet to see that happen.

The rules have gone from many, many changes in the several years they were in development. I remember when they were just 10 pages long. Now they are over 100 pages with the GM specific material.

DOWNLOADS
The PDF document includes everything that I originally submitted to AOG.

Campaign Rules (Version 5) PDF

UPDATES
Progress has begun on writing the version 6 update. Version 6 could quickly becoming a major rewrite on how the system works. Right now I am focusing on fixing the fleet size rules. I am also adding the population rules, colonization rules and new updated diplomacy rules. I had wanted to do a 3 part release and if at all possible I will. Right now, that does not look quite possible.