"Is IGOUGO cool again?" Topic

Did IGOUGO turn sequences (defined by yours truly as "I get to move and fight with my guys, then you get to move and fight with your guys) come back into favour or is it more a factor that the biggest games (40K, Flames of War) use it?

Being able to move all your guys can make combined arms attacks easier but of course, it can also be boring for the other player to wait around.

A: Yeah, IGOUGO is awesome
B: No, IGOUGO is not awesome
C: Doesn't really matter to me
D: Our games are total chaos and nobody knows what is going on.

B

B

B

E. It has NEVER been un-cool.
Harrumph.

You are begging the question, Weasel.
And I am using the term correctly, I will have you know.

B

Not sure it ever really went out of favor with most people, or rules sets though.

I agree with E.!

B. Totally B.

E. As it has always been.

B

A

B

C

E

A. If you can deal with the abstraction of knowing where all your troops are, let alone the enemies, IGOUGO isn't really much of an extra abstraction.

E. One solution among many.

B

B

E

B

It is one solution to the problem, has been around forever and actually works quite well in a lot of cases.

It can be a little tedious if each turn takes a an hour.

B mainly. It has its place, especially in quicker play games (as Martin says, twiddling your thumbs for an hour doesn't constitute fun) but really is best left for games towards the quick-play and gamey end of the spectrum, with more in-depth systems usually benefitting from something more nuanced. I guess I'm happy with IGOUGO for a game that lasts an hour, but for an evening's entertainment I prefer less predictability.

E. With Winston. Calling out a single element of a game mechanic as the problem is like saying it was the last shot of tequila that gave me than hangover.

I've never gamed with a group where it was a preferred method. So, it was never cool, and remains uncool.

Additionally, I would argue, that it is so uncool, that it has driven etotheipi to drink.

B

It is a poor substitute for randomized activations.

E

C. Some games it "feels" right, others not at all. I much prefer simul movement with chits or something to keep people honest, but if the game is fun I'll play anything.

A

A and E.

E

Come on, really? That was a loaded and biased question.

B to the Nth power.

I don't mind. I'm not one of those who rail against IGOUGO; for me that's just games mechanics snobbery. It's a format of gaming and I'm neither a staunch defender or critic of it. In the end, whether a game is IGOUGO, card driven, dice driven, chit driven, initiative yielding or simultaneous is less important than whether the game is entertaining and enjoyable to play. I find it's easier to go very wrong with the design in alternative movement games than in IGOUGO and I do wish people would stop moaning about it as if it's some kind of gaming evil.

Additionally, I would argue, that it is so uncool, that it has driven etotheipi to drink.

Actually, I was led to drink by the coolest IGOUGO game ever! Go ahead and say that one isn't cool …

What Winston said. E.

Okay, I sit corrected. If Karen Allen plays it, it must be cool.

Kallman – I didn't intend it to be biased or loaded.

I play both 40K and Stargrunt, I don't have a personal preference either way.

E.

IGOUGO is a mechanic that supports multiple players per side. Many players on one side can all move their battalions or brigades or divisions at the same time, in 5 or 10 minutes (allowing for consultation and arguments), then play passes to the many players on the other side. This works well for big, colorful, fast-moving, simple games, with a big pool of players, such as one might plan for a game convention. Cf. the battle of Pea Ridge using Fire & Fury or Volley & Bayonet rules, or Fallen Timbers using Our Moccasins Trickled Blood.

Horses for courses, I believe our British friends say.

Ubercommando +1
It's almost politically correct to be against IGOUGO and almost heretical to be for it.
It's just a gaming mechanism.

It has always been uncool.

@ Weasel, no problem my friend. Sorry if I came off gruff. Unfortunately way too easy to do here on TMP or the internet in general.

As stated IGOUGO has certain advantages depending on what you are attempting to accomplish for a miniature war game. I think far too often there is a mind set among some that they are recreating history. While that is in part one aspect the truth is we are playing with toy soldiers with abstract and often arbitrary attributes attributed to them based upon our knowledge and own biases. The OFM notes in many a thread the "Rebel Yell" as being this mythical ability of Confederate minis in some ACW game systems.

For me it is about getting that balance of fun, playibility, and plausibility. And I should note I deliberately placed those three factors in the order of what I think is important in a miniature war game. This is a past time, a hobby, one that I enjoy immensely and I have found that there are a variety of gaming mechanics I enjoy. IGOUGO is just one of them.

Kallman – No worries mate. I was just surprised :-)

It's not that people are trying to recreate military history; they're trying to recreate what they think is military history. Everyone brings their prejudices and reading of history to a game and that's why there isn't a lot of agreement as to what is historically accurate in games mechanics. So a game has got to be entertaining and challenging because the history side is often a subjective reading of the information.

E. It has NEVER been un-cool. When was it un-cool?

E for me too, I have never understood the prejudice against it! So long as there is some reactivity, and the time each play phase lasts in game time, it provides a good and realistic feel game.

I rather dislike random activation games, they do not provide a recreation of reality to me.

When paired with opportunity fire, rolling for initiative, and/or cavalry on reaction, IGOUGO works great.

"Again"?

I must have missed the memo on this one…

When was it EVER cool?

B, B, a thousand times, B!!!

I'd actually dare say that if its a small game, you don't even need reactions but it does depend on the design and a lot of other factors.

B