Table size

[maxxon]

Not really related to the table size, but...

I ran a small campaign last year with 4-5 parties per game, with the standard (was it 200 points?) sized parties. Roughly 10 figures per player anyways.

We found that the game slows down really badly with multiple players. Consider tweaking the activation mechanic if you want to increase the player and/or figure count.

[Conquistador]

Not really related to the table size, but...

I ran a small campaign last year with 4-5 parties per game, with the standard (was it 200 points?) sized parties. Roughly 10 figures per player anyways.

We found that the game slows down really badly with multiple players. Consider tweaking the activation mechanic if you want to increase the player and/or figure count.

So, it is not, (vanilla standard,) a good (American, multiple player, introduce the game to people,) convention game?

Gracias,

Glenn

[Dewbakuk]

I have only played on slightly larger tables...4x6 and 4x5. That's just what local have in their gaming rooms.

I have noticed that the Medic talent does not work very often on tables of this size. I have considered a house rule relative to table size to allow Medic to save allies at a penalty in the second turn after falling.

Just set up further onto the board.

So, it is not, (vanilla standard,) a good (American, multiple player, introduce the game to people,) convention game?

Gracias,

Glenn

Not really. Without some changes it bogs down quickly with multiple players. That said, I find it an incredibly easy game to teach people and have in the past run two 3x3 games simultaneously (kind of). Get one game started and in a couple of turns and then start a second, by this point the first game hardly needs any input, just to answer an occasional question.

[Conquistador]

<snip>
Not really. Without some changes it bogs down quickly with multiple players. That said, I find it an incredibly easy game to teach people and have in the past run two 3x3 games simultaneously (kind of). Get one game started and in a couple of turns and then start a second, by this point the first game hardly needs any input, just to answer an occasional question.

Thanks!

I will introduce people in ones and twos in my basement or at a local club.

Gracias,

Glenn

[Conquistador]

I have only played on slightly larger tables...4x6 and 4x5. That's just what local have in their gaming rooms.

I have noticed that the Medic talent does not work very often on tables of this size. I have considered a house rule relative to table size to allow Medic to save allies at a penalty in the second turn after falling.

Is that because the Medic can't get to the victim fast enough?  Too far away?

Related question - do you find people target Medics in the game?  I read that once in an AAR and thought it seemed to be counter to the Gentleman's Game concept.

Gracias,

Glenn

[maxxon]

That said, I find it an incredibly easy game to teach people

I found that movement is the trickiest part, especially in a large multi-player environment.

Not because movement is particularly difficult but because you have to remember the exact movement for each figure as it affects later stages (mostly shooting). Did they run? Did they move over or under 3"? You need to remember that for each of your own figures and ask that of anyone you contemplate shooting at.

The other problematic point are the "once in game" abilities, especially if rank'n'file troopers have them. Remembering who has used his and who has not becomes a chore and usually players tend to err in their own favor...

[religon]

Regarding slightly larger boards...

Is that because the Medic can't get to the victim fast enough?  Too far away?

Yes. While I have yet to use them, Arc Weapons will perform differently on a large, open board compared to a small board with dense terrain.

Dewbakuk's suggestions to apply the Warhammer trick of setting up forces closer to one another on a larger board would take away from the games I've played. Why play on a large board with nice scenery if you are only going to play in the middle of it? One advantage of the larger board is that you can spread your objectives out more and reduce the congested close combats, what Dewbakuk calls clumping. One just needs to tweak rules and scenarios to the board size he has at hand.

[Dewbakuk]

Why play on a large board with nice scenery if you are only going to play in the middle of it?

Because it was stated that was the only board that they could play on. I have no objection to larger boards if you want to play on them, it can make for some very mobile games. We were talking about multiplayer games though and in my experience the game tends to keep moving away from one of the players on a large board.

Why is setting up further onto the board a "Warhammer trick"?

[Craig]

Not because movement is particularly difficult but because you have to remember the exact movement for each figure as it affects later stages (mostly shooting). Did they run? Did they move over or under 3"? You need to remember that for each of your own figures and ask that of anyone you contemplate shooting at.
The other problematic point are the "once in game" abilities, especially if rank'n'file troopers have them. Remembering who has used his and who has not becomes a chore and usually players tend to err in their own favor...

We have noted that many players use counters for this. My good friend Mark developed a comprehensive set of counters that you can download from the Blog:
http://inhermajestysname.wordpress.com/additional-material/
Scroll down to item 16.

[maxxon]

We have noted that many players use counters for this.

I hate counters. (I realize this is my personal bias). I love the hit resolution, because it doesn't require counters or record-keeping... but then I need counters for something as mundane as moving?

[Craig]

I hate counters. (I realize this is my personal bias). I love the hit resolution, because it doesn't require counters or record-keeping... but then I need counters for something as mundane as moving?

I should point out that I don't use them as I find I can actually remember moving my figures

[Dewbakuk]

I should point out that I don't use them as I find I can actually remember moving my figures

So can I, although Karl (one of the players) does have trouble, bless him.

[Mr. Peabody]

We definitely need movement markers, 'cause our old, slow minds have been hampered by decades of abuse and loud punk-rock music. 

Small, but useful, beads in green, yellow and red give us a 'traffic light' system to track movement modifiers. Easy to place and to pick up again but small enough to facilitate associating each bead with an individual figure.

We use them with a variety of rule-sets...

[Scorpio]

I think it's worth mentioning that on  a 3'x3' table, a figure with a hunting rifle in the middle of a side  can fire at most locations on the table, while a light field gun is in range of everything but the opposite corner.

Hence the importance of copious amounts of terrain, naturally.

[LCpl McDoom]

3x3 table size is great to teach/learn with at the start. If we have longer/wider tables available, we 'battlebox' it - i.e., one company faces off another within their patch and fight to a conclusion between them, while other opposing forces do the same at the other 'end of the pitch'. Only when a contest is properly resolved can the victor then affect/interfere in the other contest, and frankly, normally they aren't in a fit state to do so.

As for the counters, I'm a bit of a fussy bar-steward when it comes to markers on the tabletop, especially if I've gone to the extent of laying out decent looking terrain. And these rules work really well if you lay down a lot of terrain!

So on that basis, don't clutter the tabletop - make up a Company reference sheet on A4 landscape, with some pix of the figures grabbed by your mobile phone or camera and pasted in, with text about their abilities and such, and then place the markers on that figure's portrait/space on the reference sheet. That's my preference