Re: Big Games

Not to mention the popular Pirates games at each of the last two
conventions.  Eight players each year with an average of 2 each year
having
played Stargrunt or FMA.  Both scenarios finished at or before the 4
hour
time limit.  The only problem the first year was that the zombies were
too
darned slow!

I used about 6 figures per player.  I would suggest keeping things
simple,
though.   One thing I've learned about both convention and role-playing
games is to keep things simple -- the players will add more than enough
complexity.  The game can still be complex -- last years convention game
I
give each side its own victory condition and had 4 players on a side.  I
then gave each of the players their own objective in addition to the
team
objective.  This made for a lot of interaction while still allowing the
game
to flow smoothly.  (Kudos to my playtesters for helping me out with that
one!)

Nicholas Caldwell
clcaldwell@kreative.net

----- Original Message -----
From: <Beth.Fulton@csiro.au>
To: <gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2002 7:52 PM
Subject: RE: Big Games

> G'day,
>
> Allan wrote:
> >> FMA, like SG2, is a fairly slow game. Ten figures per side
> >> is about the maximum you can expect to use and still have a game
> >> complete in two to three hours unless you strip things out.
> >> I did a playtest with 6 figures per side...
> >> It took about 90 minutes to playtest.
>
> Jon replied:
> > Really?  I thought that my relative unfamiliarity (and my
> > players' total unfamiliarity)
> > with the rules was what was slowing things down.
>
> Personally I think it can depend on the players and how many of the
rules
> you choose to include. For example, in the games we've played with 3
squads
> on the board (so about 24 figs) we've seen everything from 15 minutes
to 3
> hours... it came down to the amount of gasbagging (or note taking) how
many
> "option" rules were in play, and what you were being required to do
(and
so
> how careful you're being)
>
> > FMA for the slightly more serious games, and use SF for the
> > sillier ones,
>
> I don't know in our list of FMA games we've included we've spanned
"more
> sensible" scenarios like
> - 2 small military forces contact
> - extraction
> - strike on an outpost
> - New Stalingrad
> - amphibious landing
> - boarding party
> - local insurgents remove foreign armoury
>
> but we've also played things like
> - keep the flag
> - black powder muskets vs AARs
> - "greys" are coming to get you
> - the skeletal horde has the princess in the tower and we must save
her
> (heroes with swords and magicians)
> - pub brawl
> - crap loads of bugs are overrunning our position
> - big ugly monsters scrap to the death (ever wanted to know what
happens
> when a xenomorph runs into a trooper bug or a dragon?)
> - cave clearing... oops was that a bug?
> - pirate wars (swinging from the rigging)
> - formula-one tanks
> - dino hunts
> - "action sequence" (think about all the corny movie things like
chases
down
> hills, crocs in ponds underneath slippery logs you've got to teeter
across,
> the gapping chasm which you must cross by rope etc and then say "last
team
> standing wins")
> - drug baron raid
> - gang wars
> - we may well be illegally fishing/mining/etc etc... what you gonna do
about
> it?
> - 007 and the playgirl bunnies...
>
> and a bunch of other ones the kids have come up with from time to time
(e.g.
> animal wars... what would you do if you were a giraffe and a lion was
> looking at you sideways?)
>
> Cheers
>
> Beth