Chicago Skirmish Wargames

A Home Brew Sci-Fi Universe

Rather than play our sci-fi tabletop wargames in a vacuum, we've decided to come up with an original, evolving sci-fi milieu. This gazetteer will host the latest iteration of our Galactic Frontier setting.

Geography

• Fornacis system
  • Fornacis III and IV - Colonized by Terrans. Resupply missions are infrequent due to pirate activity along the main trade route.
  • Fornacis V - Colonized by Terrans. A troubled colony on a dusty, windswept desert world. In the wastes outside the settlement, a band of feral tech-scavengers prey on the civilian population. Elsewhere planetside, Neo-Soviet recon elements have clashed with a brigade of mercenaries from Markham's Thunderbolts.
    • Battle report: Lost and Found
    • Battle report: Ambush on Saltpan Road
  • Fumarole - A dead world with a thin, barely breathable atmosphere. This planet is home to Forward Hangar JX-7, a Terran heavy infantry base. It is a regular stopover point for Terran fleets traveling deeper into the galactic rim. The hardscrabble colony city of New Tupelov is located near the planet's equator.
    • Battle report: The Slums of New Tupelov
    • Battle report:Operation Snakepit
• Elysium system
  • Elysium Prime - Colonized by Terrans. Vast urban areas that give way to craggy peaks and windy evergreen forests clinging to steep slopes. Geirrod City sprawls across several hundred square miles and includes the planet's main spaceport. Elysium Prime is also home to the Noonien Astrophysics Laboratory, a Terran science facility.
    • Battle report: Operation Scrub Down 
    • Battle report: Block by Block in Geirrod City
    • Battle report: Skirmish at Evac Zone Fulcrum
  • Wayland - A large moon orbiting a gas giant, Wayland is home to an orbital shipyard. The moon itself is an arid wasteland littered with rubble and remnants of crashed (or deliberately ditched) starships from the shipyard.
  • Talumbach’s World - Mostly temperate, with a a large forested continent in the southern hemisphere. Talumbach’s World is mostly unexplored.
    • Swatting Bugs on Talumbach's World
  • Voyvoda Asteroid Field - A huge asteroid field occupying the fifth orbit of the Elysium system. The Voyvoda Mining Guild maintains extensive operations within the thousands of asteroids that comprise the belt.
• Oxiddon system
  • Oxiddon Alpha - This planet is typical of the "Bridge World" concept that characterized humanity's earliest colonization efforts in the Galactic Frontier centuries ago. Immense urban arcologies, many built around the hulls of grounded spaceships, rise from the desolate landscape. These dense, ancient cities reach several dozen miles in height and are connected to neighboring cities by super-strong carbon-fiber bridges many hundreds of miles in length, used mainly for transportation and communication.
    • Battle report: Snatch & Grab in Hondon

• Stokes Smelter - This deep-space ore processing plant is operated by the Multani megacorporation and receives raw materials from both Fornacis V and the Voyvoda asteroid field.
• Admiral’s Boneyard (space) - In the depths of space between the Elysium and Fornacis systems sits the Admiral’s Boneyard, a wasteland of wrecked, drifting starship hulks. This battlefield resulted from an early clash as each faction fought to assert itself in the sector. It is now a well-known landmark.

 

Factions

• Ventaurans
  • The Ventaurans are an advanced spacefaring people known for their conquest of large portions of the Nakati System. They maintain an iron grip on Nakati Prime and the other central planets where Ventauran culture is preserved and few aliens (or humans) are allowed.
  • The recent history of the Ventauran Empire

• Khiff
  • A warlike tribal race that nonetheless is quite culturally unified. Found throughout the galaxy, the Khiff have -- for as long as anyone can remember -- been a race of mercenaries.
  • Khiff from planets inside the Ventauran protectorate serve out mercenary contracts throughout the galaxy, but are primarily employed by Ventaurans on the galactic frontier.
  • On the frontier, the Khiff are primarily a land-based force that sees work putting down rebellions and driving off pirates and other aggressive alien races.

• Maersk-Tesla Corporation
  • A massive conglomerate with significant holdings in shipping, receiving, resource extraction and territorial enforcement.
  • Military campaigns include mercenary troops as well as an impressive array of corporate-backed elite operatives.
  • The Maersk-Tesla Corporation: Two Centuries of Progress & Profit

• Neo-Soviet Empire
  • Not much is known about these militaristic legionnaires and their fearsome battlefield creations.

• Colonel Markham’s Thunderbolts
  • After an impressive series of campaigns in the galactic core, Colonel Wade Markham led his Thunderbolts to the untamed frontier for an extended contract with the Voyvoda Mining Guild.
  • The Thunderbolts have engaged in hostilities with virtually all of the known factions in the galactic frontier, including the Ventaurans, Khiff, Terrans and Neo-Soviets.

• Terran Heavy Infantry
  • The tip of the spear for the humans of Old Earth, the Terran Heavy Infantry arrived on the frontier 10 years ago and has expanded its influence in the intervening years.
  • The faction boasts a fleet of starships and a capable land-based force of Terran marines and light infantry.