Re: GenCon Review with a GZG Emphasis (part 3 of 4)

On Tue, 11 Aug 1998 22:38:07 -0400 (EDT), MFaircl201@aol.com wrote:

>I'm new to full thrust although I've played DS2 and SG2 a bit. I'd be
>interested in seeing the make up of some of the tournament fleets if
>possible..

Dean is posting those. The neat thing about them is that while Dean did
a good
job of keeping them relatively well balanced, he didn't HAVE to keep
them TOO
well balanced. Since the players picked their own fleets, part of the
skill of
the tournament was recognizing a good fleet from the record sheets.

> also would like to hear more about the linked SG2 game..i've ran a
>couple of linked scenario's (WWII) and would like to compare notes.

You'd want to talk to someone who played the first and third scenarios.
In the
second scenario, our mission was to either photograph or destroy three
bunkers. The scenario as written was unwinnable, so the ref changed the
criteria part way through. In the end we took out two bunkers, which was
a
draw. Those two bunkers were destroyed in the third scenario, based on
what
our group did. 

This kind of scenario is tricky. It's one thing to have a balanced
scenario
from the get-go, but it's much harder when the results of an earlier
scenario
set up the current scenario. What happens if one side in the first game
does
pitifully bad? They could mess up so horribly that the follow-on
scenarios are
impossible to win. 

Of course, one way around this is to cheat. After all, the idea is to
have a
good game. If the results from an earlier game are out of whack, give
one side
a few more reinforcements, an extra minefield, or a tank or two. The
fact is,
no one needs to know! You do have to make sure that the game plays quite
a bit
different based on the results of a previous game. The players have to
have
the fell (illusion?) that the earlier game makes a difference. 

If someone can post the SG2 scenarios from GenCon that would be cool.

Allan Goodall	       agoodall@sympatico.ca

"We come into the world and take our chances
 Fate is just the weight of circumstances
 That's the way that Lady Luck dances
 Roll the bones." - N. Peart