"Would you play..." Topic

…in a game where you knew you were going to lose? What I'm thinking of is a weird war/ twilight zone-ish cooperative play skirmish game where, ultimately, there will be no player survivors. The players are essentially just fighting to be the last man standing. I suppose I could rule that the last survivor is somehow transported back to his normal "universe" so that SOMEONE will survive.

Specifically, the basic premise is that a WWII US infantry squad goes out on a routine patrol in the Big Hurt, unknowingly crosses through some time/space threshold, gets a little lost, and digs in for the night. An eerie, patchy, heavy fog develops, limiting visibility much more than the full moon would normally allow. I think we can all see where this one is headed…..but just in case not, it also happens to be the early morning hours of October 31…that's right, it's Halloween. What could possibly go wrong?? :-)

I will probably go with a combo of THW's Nuts! and All Things Zombie (Oops! I think I may have given away the main foe of our "doomed" squad) but may go with Dead Walk Again. Anyway, I have some concerns that the game may not be too well received by the potential players – who are chiefly historical miniatures players.

So, I have some questions on how you guys think I should proceed.

1. I feel that I should make it clear that it's a horror game and not a straight up WWII skirmish game. What do you think? Would your answer be different if it was a game for my friends or if, instead, it was a convention game?

2. Should I hide the true victory condition (being the last survivor) so that players don't get the idea to eliminate their squad mates in order to further their own chances or just flat out tell players they can't deliberately cause harm to their squad mates? I was thinking I could just say that the winner would be the one of "all" the survivors (there's still going to be just one!) to kill the most zombies. Also, I don't plan on telling players that there is no escape off the table other than being the last survivor. They'll find that out if/when they get to the table edge.

3. I realize that, other than trying to be the best zombie killer/last survivor, there isn't a lot of challenge to this game. What can I do to add to the interest? What decision points can I add to the game to make it better? There will be ammo limits, so scrounging for ammo or using captured weapons will be an option for them.

Thanks for your input!

Why not add a German squad as an umpire-controlled force who is not attacking the Americans but may join them if convinced two squads have a better chance of survival. They had already been shifted into the alternate reality and have encountered some "strange things." But…daylight is fading fast and the night may be full of terrors! Turn the German squad over to the players (spread the Germans out so each player gets at least one figure) Perhaps the Germans make the first offer of co-operation? Maybe the Americans will fire on the Germans first and ask questions later…especially when the zombies show up!

I would tell the players this is going to be an "unconventional game in the spirit of Halloween" and leave it at that.

I'd play in such a game. I'd want to know that it wasn't 'straight' ww2 beforehand though.
For victory conditions, at the end get the players to vote at the endf or various plaudit: most heroic; most cowardly; best fighter or whatever.

Would totally play, but my favorite RPG is Call of Cthulhu, where a spectacular TPK is considered great fun.

Like advocate, I'd prefer to know that it was a horror game, rather than a straight historical.

I'd play a game that I would lose. I'd like the conditions to be something where I could wreak as muck havoc and destruction as I could before I lost though.

This always reminds me of one of Aesop's fables…

2 men who loath each other are on a ship which is sinking, they are at either end of the boat.
One man goes to the captain and asks- 'Which end of the ship will sink first?'
The bemused captain asks what does it matter?

The man explains he wants to see his enemy drown first!

I play games where you lose all the time. Great fun!

You could give each player a character history that contains a secret about the game that only they know … their sister/aunt/grandmother had a premonition that only one member of the squad would live until All Saint's Day.

If you add an objective, like collect all the shards of the manuscript (pieces of a children's jigsaw puzzle) from the board, the players will focus on that, and killing/survival becomes part of the mechanism to get the manuscript. It also discourages people from shooting each other, as they need the help.

You could paint over the puzzle, and add the phrase "Only one shall pass" on the pieces. Then they get that revealed to them over time as they collect the pieces.

If you use the German squad idea above (or some other longer term residents of the twilight zone), they could reveal that the manuscript gets them home. This could be even better if they find the puzzle parts on the board, but leave them behind. ;)

Win/lose it is all about the fun game.

1. Announce it is a Halloween special--nobody should be surprised if zombies show up

2. Last survivor is an end point. How about victory conditions or objectives---control creepy gates, make it to the church, find special supplies

3.Special hidden victory point bonus--that aids in the last man standing---Have a draw pile or assign special victory bonus conditions that may eliminate individual players
example
Bonus victory points--kill number of "enemy" hand to hand with entrenching tool
Bonus victory points--destroy "creepy gates" with satchel charge

Played such games in the past, and would again.

+1 to sloppypainters idea

No problems here BUT I'd probably prefer if I knew in advance. Tht way, I can try to do a cool last stand or something.

Great thread and ideas especially the German and allies coalition against the horrors .would make a superb three player game which are sometimes tricky to muster.
Along the same lines I would recommend anyone liking this theme to try out incursion . A great not space hulk weird war 2 game.

This always reminds me of one of Aesop's fables…

2 men who loath each other are on a ship which is sinking, they are at either end of the boat.
One man goes to the captain and asks- 'Which end of the ship will sink first?'
The bemused captain asks what does it matter?

The man explains he wants to see his enemy drown first!

And that puts me in mind of the one about the Pole who found a magic lamp. On rubbing it and being offered three wishes, he requested that the Mongol hordes should rise once more in the East, and loot and pillage all the way to Poland before changing their mind and returning to Mongolia. For his second and third wishes, he just went "same again please"….

The genie duly obliged, but then asked the Pole why on earth he kept terrifying his countrymen by bringing the Mongol hordes to the brink of invading his own country. "The important thing was that they went through Russia six times…."

[As for answering the question, hell yes – Kobayashi Maru games are fun, and unlike Kirk, I don't feel the need to cheat them…. ;-) I'd agree that last man standing might not be the best victory condition though – I'd agree that a "highest points total wins" is probably a better idea, with points for kills, grabbing loot or equipment, that sort of thing.]

Hi have already played in such scenarios. Such as the Alamo, Custer, AmRev sieges, Eric.

As above, winning/losing is in journey and the victory conditions, not whether anyone survives.

Effectively the 'winner' is the last man standing, or the the ones who did the coolest/most heroic stuff.

For players sensitive about all dying, just make it clear at the start that no-one is walking away from this one.

Keep the WWII setting, no time warp…American or Russian Patrol, German aggressors fighting in Russia…no one knows its anything other then a WWII game (keep it a secret)until dead French and Russians start rising from the snowy earth falling victim during the Escape from Moscow. Zombied Napoleonic's and 1940's troops fighting…