ScrapYard Armory

For readers not familiar with the Chaos Campaign rules, see my original review here.

Those of you playing through your first Chaos Campaign may come to the realization that the support point costs for purchasing new units feels inadequate.  There are only two distinctions made for ‘Mechs and vehicles; those using Introductory rules and everything else.

Using this system, a ‘Mech with a single non-Introductory rules component would be double the cost of a ‘Mech without.  There just isn’t a lot of granularity in the system.

Examining the StarterBooks

Both available StarterBooks eliminated Support Points in favor of a straight Warchest Point system.  I whipped up a spreadsheet to examine the relationship between Warchest points, Support points, CBills, and Battle Value.

I assumed that each force was an ‘A’ rated unit with a Force Size Modifier of 3 (three lances in a company).  Given these inputs, here is a quick view of what my spreadsheet looked like.

Chaos Campaign Evaluation (XLS file, 100KB)

For each ‘Mech used in the StarterBooks, I took the average value between the Introductory Support Point cost and the Advanced Support Point cost.  Converting to Warchest points using my Force Size and Tech Rating assumptions yielded some interesting results.

I evaluated 57 unique ‘Mechs from the StarterBooks.  Of those, 23 had StarterBook Warchest point cost that EXACTLY matched the calculation I performed above.  A good number of them were eerily within 10%.  Scary!  Have I somehow stumbled on the thought process of the developers or is it merely a freak coincidence?

Two Ways to Calculate

Battle Value

If you would like your games balanced by combat effectiveness, convert Battle Value to Warchest points.

Treat the Battle Value of your desired ‘Mech as if it were Support Points.  Thus to convert to Warchest points, divide by your Force Size Modifier and Technology Rating Modifier.

Example:

Ellis wants a shiny new HBK-4G Hunchback for his Jihad campaign force.  Its Battle Value is 851.  Ellis’ force has a Force Size Modifier of 3 and a Tech Rating of B (Technology Rating Modifier of 1.5).  Divide 851 by 3 and again by 1.5.  That new Hunchback will cost Ellis 190 Warchest Points.

CBills

On the other hand, if you prefer a slightly different dynamic to your games, convert CBills to Warchest points.

The Chaos Campaign rules include an easy way to convert CBills to Support Points.  Converting CBills to Warchest points, you get a completely different feel to your campaign.  Expensive ‘Mechs are almost unobtainable while more economical units become much more valuable.  This provides a great deal of flavor in constructing your force.  I would expect less high tech gadgetry in favor of more economical and sustainable designs.

If you convert CBills straight up with the formula found in the Chaos Campaign PDF the Warchest Point costs end up much lower than the Battle Value equivalent.  To remedy this, I fiddled with a simple modifier to bring CBill costs in line with the Battle Value calculation.  Using a multiplier of 1.75 normalizes the CBill costs to Battle Value based on the 57 ‘Mechs I evaluated (about half are above their Battle Value cost  and half are under).  Your mileage may vary of course.  Some day down the line I may make a bigger sample using the Peter LaCasse faction list (more on that later).

To convert CBills to support points, divide the cost by 10,000 and then multiply by 1.75.  Then convert them again to Warchest points if desired.

Example:

Ellis wants to know how much that same Hunchback would cost if he were balancing his campaign by CBills.  The Hunchback is an economical design that does not contain much advanced technology.   It is a steal at 3,467,876 CBills.  Dividing by 10,000 and multiplying by 1.75 (the Cost Multiplier from above), the Hunchback would cost 607 Support Points.  Dividing by 3 and 1.5 gives a final Warchest point cost of 135.  What a difference!  Cheap ‘Mechs are definitely in style!

Repair Costs

I really enjoyed the tiered repair costs in the StarterBooks.  It is easy to use this kind of a system instead of the one repair fits all in the Chaos Campaign PDF.

I came up with these numbers after again evaluating costs in the StarterBooks.  I use repair costs as a percentage of the unit purchase price.  That way, they work no matter what method you use to balance your game.

Shake Things Up

How about an interesting twist?  Balance purchase price by Battle Value but repair costs by CBills.  Sure, you can have that fancy AWS-9M Awesome at a reasonable price but the costs to keep it in fighting trim may bankrupt your force.

Just one example of how you can spice up your campaign.

Conversion Made Easy

Think it’s too damn complicated to run all these numbers.  Never fear.  Turning to the Peter LaCasse faction list, we can add two new columns and with one fill down, you instantly have almost every unit with custom prices calculated, sortable by Faction, Unit Type, Era, and more.

The Peter LaCasse Faction List

Have Some Fun

The Chaos Campaign is a great compromise between AccountTech and too simple to swallow.  Agree with your fellow gamers just what the rules are going to be before you delve into your campaign.  But don’t be afraid to change mid stride if you feel something is out of whack.  I’d love to here from anyone out there who puts some of these ideas into practice.

Every campaign is special in its own way.  Make yours one to remember, just the way you want using the rules that make sense for you.