RE: FT Scenarios (was: Re: [GZG] Re: Points systems)

[Adrian <adrian@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> >> Are people really going to want to play games where they are outpointed
> >> 5:1?

Yes!


> >
> > It's called "economy of force".
> >
> > Your mission suddenly becomes "positively ID enough enemy ships to
> > convince your fleet headquarters you havn't come down with galloping
> > cowardice, then withdraw your force.  If you're feeling froggy, or
> > your enemy has deployed badly, go ahead and shoot up a couple of his
> > smaller ships before you go."
>
> I actually like games like this where the goal isn't always just blow
> everything up. It makes you think more.

Absolutely!

I've run a lot of Stargrunt scenarios with just this same kind of 
un-balance, and as long as the scenario is reasonable, it can be great fun.

By "reasonable" I mean that both sides have to have achievable mission 
conditions, whatever those might be.  John's example is a good one for that 
20% vs. 100% sort of thing.

I think that the prevalence of games with points systems and army lists 
tend to get people to think that a good game has to be "balanced" in terms 
of equal forces on the table.  After playing a lot of SG where there 
(happily!) is no points system, I'm of the opinion that balance can be 
simply giving both sides a reasonable chance of achieving *their* victory 
conditions - but the actual on-table forces can be wildy *unbalanced*.  The 
balance comes in the scenario design.

For example, one of the sample scenarios in the back of the SG rulebook is 
a "sniper-vs-platoon" thing, in which one side has 1 or 2 models and the 
other has a full platoon.  I've played it, and it was a lot of fun.

Probably my most memorable SG scenario was a game in which I played a 
reinforced infantry platoon versus a mechanized company and was outnumbered 
about 6:1 or maybe 8:1 in terms of on-table force.  Had a great time.   The 
same principles can apply to FT scenarios, and Jon T's suggestions about 
the scenario cards is a great idea.  That, or simply creative scenario 
design ahead of time.

All of this, however, presupposes the points John A. and Laserlight and 
others have been making - each participant needs to know what his or her 
mission parameters are to have the game make any sense.

-Adrian

Adrian Johnson
adrian@xxxxxxxxxxxx
www.stargrunt.ca 


_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l