Barrack Room (OOC discusions).

[Spearmint]

Guys, I must be honest. I have struggled a bit with this, trying to create natural but challenging scenarios that are more than 'first person shooter ups'. I am embarrassed that my last action post was more than a month ago.

Scott 308, Bluehorse, Greywolf, Bindoner, Rex and Stirling accept my apologises.

Seems so much easier to roleplay within the fantasy D&D genres when you have such a range of bestiary and magical options. That said, I do have set scenarios to challenge players during a Tour of Duty, just trying to steer a little bit away from 'meet VC, shoot him, walk in jungle, meet VC, shoot ...' repetition.

I think I am going to go forward with an update to the present scene to round up the current patrol and I will ask for your feedback regarding things you might like to see (beyond "hey Kris! Update quicker!").

Thanks for your patience.

[Rex]

No problem, non-fantasy games are more difficult to run in my experience. Looking forward to continuing the game if possible.

[GreyWolfVT]

No worries on my part. Real life is a bit crazy for me right now and I have no problems waiting longer.

[The Bindoner]

Take your time, I'll wait. It seems everyone's busy, and all the games I'm involved in are running slow.

[Bluehorse]

Ditto to everyone else. I agree real life type games can be harder to run. Life is still ultra busy for me too, so no rush. All good!

[Scott308]

While the depth and quality of your posts have been impressive, I can see how it would definitely be more challenging to run this game without it becoming repetitive. If you have things to run and want to keep this going, I'm happy to play. If you decide the amount of work is more than you want to put in and decide to pull the plug, I will support that decision as well.

[Stirling]

I do understand what you are saying. As a player here and in your Barrowmaze and Pirates campaigns I can say you script very challenging but fun fantasy scenarios, and your narratives are often colourful and very descriptive.

The slog of jungle warfare might not be the prettiest to write about but I am happy to continue as Ezekiel and am sure we can include more roleplay aspects as we take more initiative ourselves. If course as new recruits we are ordered about so very much, "yes Sir, no Sir," in the jungle but perhaps smaller patrols and explorations will give room for players to express their skills more.

[Spearmint]

Guys, thank you for the personal messages and the encouragement to keep the game alive. I appreciate your interest in role playing grunts in the jungle of Nam.

I think Scott hit the personal nails on the head with a consideration of the amount of work to put in and the time I need to dedicate to this campaign to make an enjoyable, challenging, fun and immersive roleplaying game. Time which I have prioritised to another more fantasy setting campaign that I feel I can create as equally immersive but less mentally demanding for myself.

I think the crux for me is the question of whether I am creating that background in which you as a player can enjoy being a character, and can act, use skills, take initiative, solve problems beyond just unleashing a dozen bullets into the nearest gook.

In a very real sense, marines taking two bullets and reducing to half strength, as in the case of Rexlin would be flown out of combat to recuperate and perhaps never re-enter the theatre of war. Their personal Tour of Duty ending with a purple heart wound.

Anyway. I think as the game has halted through my fault I should just draw a line under it and to be fair with you guys, appreciate very much your time and dedication to the project.

Thank you for being players, for taking on a role and learning with me a new game system in the Recon Deluxe rules. I think it needs certain modifiers to make it playable by post, hopefully some house rules improved in that.

War gaming is an interest and I think perhaps in some settings we make better players than we do game referees. It might be true in this one. I will focus on my Barrowmaze game and the two characters I play on the forum.

I will fold my maps of Kontum and Dak To away, give the whole Vietnam RPG some thought and consider if I run a similar theme, what positive lessons I could improve upon.

Thank again for playing. My apologises to drag things out, but I feel at this time I am not able to provide the experience that you deserve.

Blessings.

Kris.

[Rex]

Thanks for a great game Kris!

[GreyWolfVT]

that part I was here for was enjoyable Kris. Thank you for the game sir!

[Bluehorse]

It was very enjoyable, no doubt. But id the fire isn't there and you need to move on, we get it. We have all been there.

[The Bindoner]

Thanks for the game Spearmint. It's a tough genre to run, especially for a GM who mainly runs fantasy games, and I thought you were doing well. I enjoyed what we did, would happily have played on, and if you ever feel like having another bash at a similar game I'll sign up for it.

[Scott308]

It was a good game and I am glad that you ran it (and that I played it). I have definitely been there as a player where my interest in a game is not enough to keep playing, just running a single character. I completely understand and support your decision to shut this one down. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to try something we likely had never heard of before. While I love D&D, it is nice to branch out periodically and stretch my wings with different genres or systems, so I appreciate those willing to go out on a limb and run something unusual.

[Stirling]

I would echo the thoughts of the other players. I enjoyed the game, the descriptions and scenes were very good. You could sense the ever present fear of patrolling the jungle. I thought the combats worked very well even if we did have to roll every bullet. But then it is a deadly game and the damage very realistic

Ok would be happy to archive Ezekiel and if you ever get the game or a new variant up and can commit to it, I would be happy to play.

Not sure the other players know, Bluehorse and Greywolf probably, but I understand you having to prioritize with the chemo and health issues which I know are very real life handicaps that limit both gaming time and creative energy to write lots of varied storylines.

Thanks again for the invitation to play. I can sense everyone supports the game and appreciates the preparation you did put in. I am sure that if time and inspiration came your way then you could generate much interest in a new or continued Tour of Duty.

Perhaps you could write up a wrap to this patrol so any future starts could begin again at the firebase.

Cheers.