"How many players in your games are ideal?" Topic

So,in your games at home or in your club, what is your ideal number of players? Is it different in con games?

I usually play against one opponent, but in con games I run games with about 6-8 players.

"How many players in your games are ideal?"

None of my players are ideal. They all have their failings …

Good point, Major B. I should've written, " What is the ideal number of players in a game?" I do have an ideal player in my usual games with my good friend, but that is probably not typical.

MajorB you beat me to it.

I often find that it depends on the rule set. If you want to have a lot of players you need something simple like Fubar; Pigwars or Bolt Action ( a unit or two a player). Also modifying the rules and having a Timer would help with the big games.

Then there is the player hour rule of 16 hours for HMGS to allow you free admission for GMing. the math says a four player game would have to be 4 hours since most games go 2.5 to 3 hours before losing the interest of players due to fatigue. I'd say that 6 players for a 3 hour game is the target. The gamed I listed above would all work for a 8 player 2 hour slot too.

Mini games, depending on size…usually four-six…

RPG's usually max out a 6 – 7…

Worst I ever did was run a Waterdeep adventure of 17 players….

Most of my games are designed to handle 6-8 players.

To answer you intended auestion "What is the ideal number of players in a game?"

As many as there are roles for.

The scenario is designed to meet the needs of the game location, whether it be in someone's home, a shop, convention, etc. So 1-12 depending on the where.

I've found that 2 to 4 players on each side best.

4 at shows and at home/club
It is good to have a partner to share the gameplay and decisions. 2 a side still gives enough units to command.
More than 4 might end up with insignificant comand or a slow "revolve."

martin

More than 4 might end up with insignificant comand or a slow "revolve."

That very much depends on the rules in use.

Small games two.
Big games 4-6. If many more, unless with military discipline, things dissolve in chats and waiting games. Law of lower returns?

I like umpires when you can get one so 5-7 total – one of whom handles all the rules so everyone else can concentrate on their command.

Group games tend towards 10 players with two teams of five. Starts becoming unmanageable, unless strong team captains involved, if over 10 players. Local gaming in the warren ranges from 4-8 due to table size restriction (10x6).

Typical group scenarios are 28mm Napoleonics, 20mm FOW or occasion 28mm Ancients.

Largest convention crowd game organized by this rabbit… 22 for FOW team vs. Team Russo-German battle, plus several supporting players in "rear ranks".

4-6 players for most games.
Can do 8 if everyone is prepped with simple knowledge of game and rules.
Clif

I like 4-6 players. Most of the time (in my experience) any more then that allows for to many side conversations and player focus drift.

4-6
few games accommodate 3 or more than 6. con ga,es are different beasts.

4-10 deepening on scenario/rules/type of game.

Any number of ideal players.

Preferably not more than half the total should be markedly less than ideal.

In terms of numbers, up to 8 players who are not familiar with the rules.

Up to 12 players as long as any above 8 are familiar with the rules and can help any novices at the table.

It depends on the game and rules.

It depends on the game but i like at least 4 players besides myself. Some games i need 6 players.

I am fortunate to have a very good group of players, but we all have family obligations and I have been doing night school this year, so only 1 game was I able to play this year.

Next year I should be able to balance school work and gaming al lot better.

We always have 10 to 12 players show up and we only game in 40mm, Our AWI game has 1,800 figures so far.

We usually have one gamemaster/ump and 6 players (3 per side)

My optimum number is 4

One point, 1 on 1 games are seldom workable after the early politeness wears off. At the minimum always have a 3rd for umpiring.

Best hope for avoiding shouting matches, even fisticuffs! Learned that "in the trenches".

I usually play 1 on 1 at home or the FLGS but the rare convention games I run tend to break down into two categories:

1. each side is a cohesive force – max of three players a side, one them the overall commander. So, "you take the right, you take the left, I'll take the center. Let's divide up the troops."

2. each side is composed of discrete sub-units, each large enough to warrant its own commander – one overall commander (who may also command a sub-unit) and one commander per sub-unit. This may well lead to the numbers of players per side being unequal, but shouldn't run higher that ten total. Depending on the rules, a discrete sub-unit could be a corps, a company, a single ship or aircraft, etc.

LT

My "ideal" number is usually 8. I find I need at least 6 to get sufficient C3 chaos, but the more players I add, the slower the game gets, so 8 players is usually the best compromise.

Because of the nature of the gaming community here I have to make my games scalable from 4-8 players, and I often provide contingencies for a max of 10-12. As a result, I tend to prefer "what if" scenarios that don't have a fixed OOB, so I can make the scenario challenging and interesting whether it's small or large. Instead of fixing the size of the game, I fix the size of the ideal player command and scale the game by adding/subtracting commands. In less complex games, 6-12 units per player is about right; in more complex games, 4-8 units per player. On the rare occasions I have a player who is thoroughly familiar with the rules, I can comfortably double or triple the number of troops for that player.

Of course there are exceptions. In dogfight games, I prefer players to control only 2 fighters (a leader/wingman pair), or on some occasions a whole flight of 3-4 planes.

- Ix

I like 4 or 5, usually get 2 or 3.

I prefer about 3 per side.

2-4 total. Prefer smaller affairs.

Show games will vary a lot. Generally we aim for half a dozen at a time, but I've done some (very quick) 1:1 games and some much bigger ones, the largest game I ran at event had 50 players.

Club night, it depends who turns up from our group, four or five is a nice number.

It depends on the scenario. Each player's decisions should be able to have a significant impact on the outcome of the game.

Any more than 4 players and from past experience it degenerates into seperate games on the same table with each player simply taking on the guy opposite in a local bun fight with no cohesion and control by one overall C in C. The different battles all run at their own paces so before you know it people are a move ahead or behind, and so an umpire is de rigeuer if things are to be kept moving on and no falling behind. Personally I prefer just the one opponent, or two versus one even, pairs are ok, but any more than that can be unwieldy without someone with a strong personality overseeing everything.

6-8 on average.

Depends on the rules and scenario.

6 max. Center and commanders for each flank per side.

Tournament play is 2.

Talking strictly number: 4 to 6 -- more than that, I start tuning people out.

Personality wise: I prefer polite company with a positive personality, no rules lawyers and no constant whiners -- definitely no cheaters.