Well, I'm running my first multiplayer game tomorrow.
There should be between three to five players per side.The game should
last around two and a half hours. (Our normal gaming time is 7-10 p.m.)
Most players will be learning the rules as we start.
Do people who have had experience with this think I should assign every player
approximately:
A) One Cruiser and two Destroyers each
B) One Battleship and two Crusers each
C) One Battleship or Dreadnought each
D) Something else (smaller commands, larger commands)?
Thanks,
> Well, I'm running my first multiplayer game tomorrow.
I think maybe perhaps your estimated length of time might be a bit low.
I ran a multi-player game at a convention (Marcon) in Ohio last year,
had 3-4 people per side, about half learning the rules as they went. I
allotted 3 hours to play, and we ended up going over 4 before being forced to
end the game due to the table space being needed for another game. At that
point the scenario was pretty much over, but could have gone another couple
turns.
> Do people who have had experience with this think I should assign
Why not try a cruiser and destroyer for each person? Or, give the
experienced people 2-3 destroyers/frigates, inexperienced people
a heavy cruiser. Big-@$$ ships like dreadnoughts and battleships
will 'live' longer and cause for a longer game. And if you're
shooting for 2-1/2 hours...
Mk
> Well, I'm running my first multiplayer game tomorrow.
True, and it SOMETIMES can run over the limit, but it's just "polite" to aim
for this length, with our group. Hence this is the main consideration.
> Do people who have had experience with this think I should assign
Yup. This is just the sort of advice I'm looking for. I'm going to be using my
Star Trek Micromachines, but using regular Full Thrust rules. (Federation gets
the better beam weapons, the Klingons some beam weapons, and some of the more
esoteric weapons) and since I've converted many of the miniatures, I could get
away with calling them Destroyers up to Heavy Cruisers, or Light Cruisers up
to Battleships.
John wrote,
> Do people who have had experience with this think I should assign
As with everything, it depends on the scenario and personal tastes. The only
comment I'd make is that if your capitals have only 2 or 3 thrust it's nice
to also have a couple escorts to play with -- that way if you wind up
facing the wrong way with your heavy you have something else to play with
during the
6 turns it takes you to get turned around. :-)
John,
I'd set up squadrons of either one capital (DNish), two crusiers, or
three-four escorts/light cruisers, then give each player one squadron.
This lets everyone see how the various sizes of ships behave (fast escorts vs.
wallowing boats) and gives everyone enough staying power to be in the game for
a while.....
Brian
> John Kovalic wrote:
We have discussed this several times...I think we need an FAQ on this out on
the Web page. What do you think Mark?
Since your time is short, keep your fleets small, like your examples. Try with
maybe 1000pts or less per fleet and I would suggest using a variety of ship
types per fleet, but each fleet having a similar composition.
When we run games for new players, we use about 1500pts per fleet with each
fleet containing 1 capital, 1-2 cruisers, and 2-3 escorts. This way
players
can learn how each ship type behaves in combat. Also, we are using 4+
hour game times.
Additional stuff: * Practice your rules explanation beforehand. This will help
with your delivery and keep the game moving. * Try making some cheat sheets
listing basic weapon types and their stats to help players with finding
relevant data. * Bring extra pencils (sharp ones!). * Bring lots of D6s. * If
this is at a place of business, make sure you follow and enforce all rules for
the establishment. * Bring a sense of humor. Some players seem to forget this
is a game. * More... (but work summons me back...)
> Do people who have had experience with this think I should assign
I just played a 3 player game (2 sides).
Each side had: 2 Battleships (St. Louis class) 4 Light Cruisers (St. Light
Cruiser class) 4 Frigates (Mobile class)
It took approx. 3 hours. Very fun. (We also included a planet to fly
around/avoid). If you see the design of the ships they are very basic.
A/B/C Beams, PDAFs, Fighters, 0/1/2 level shields. It was a good
introductory game (1 new player, 1 player with 3 games experience, and 1
player [me] who knew the rules well).
> A) One Cruiser and two Destroyers each
I'd go with this one myself. It has various advantages, these being.... The
player has 3 ships, so little chance of being wiped out at the start of the
game. The player can see the difference between the slower cruiser and the
more nimble destroyer. The game should fit into your timescale. 2 players with
badly chewed ships can join together to help each other.
> Thanks,
regards gent
---
Slums may well be breeding-grounds of crime,
but middle-class suburbs are incubators of apathy and delirium.
****************************************
> At 09:17 AM 1/28/97 -0500, you wrote:
At
> that point the scenario was pretty much over, but could have gone
That happened in the FT game I was playing at GenCon last year. One thing that
helped, though, was that the game started along the long edges of the board.
This gave us two advantages: we were within long beam range on turn 1, and we
had a lot of "width" for maneuvering. I would strongly suggest this for a demo
game. Since no one is well versed in the game, they won't be ready to do fancy
approach maneuvers anyway. Just get them into the battle as soon as possible.