"Sitting Around" Topic

In miniature wargaming, what is the primary cause of the game slowing down or players being bored?

Guy running the game is unfamiliar with the rules.
Players arguing with the GM or each other about the rules.

Someone strikes up a conversation with the GM. I see this most from non players at conventions who want to catch up with the GM.

We have a couple of guys who once they feel they can't win, will take as much time as possible, slowing the game immensely. Their thought being if the game ends and objectives are not met, then they did not lose. Many conversations have been had, but they still drag their feet.

Long periods of time when the players are not involved in the action. I've seen complex close combats for example taking forever to resolve on one end of the table while the rest of the players sit around waiting for the next turn to begin.

Pre-measuring. With the wrong players this can be a nightmare.

Agree with Glengarry5: two players involved in something and the next turn doesn't start until they resolve it. The bigger the game, the more the chance of this. There are two closely related. One is a card-draw activation system in a big multi-player game. The other is too focused an objective. We win by taking a hill six feet out of my sector while remaining above half strength, so the best contribution I can make is not to engage in combat.

A lot of things which work well with a few players and a medium-size table just don't scale up well at a convention.

Playing the same game at the club for 10 weeks :-) that's a local issue, that happens when the host puts on the game.

So what is the secret at a convention to put on a large game with multiple players and multiple hundreds of troops. I've seen these put on and people seemed happy. Tell me how to do it.

Bognor, not sure what you mean. We have been playing the same rules et for 10 years but with a wide variety of scenarios. Is that what you mean as boring? If so you may want to change your club, if the period is not of interest. Playing a different period every week would just be tedious and boring, you would never get to grips with the historical niceties of any of the periods.
The solution to procrastination in any game is for the GM to impose strict timings, failure to adhere should mean they are required to step down from the game.

The one I've seen is the player who completely ignores the board until the start of their turn, then begins strategizing. I've seen this be as bad as the one player taking longer for their turn than the other five people, though, admittedly, they all had a long time to think out their moves and possible responses to others' moves before they started.

On the other side of things, I've run big board, multi-player con games where after a couple rounds the players on their own segment the game and synch their own moves. F'r'ex, if a player is on the opposite corner of the board and not likely to engage two or three other players who are engaged with each other (the battle is segmented), one will ask "You're not going to engage over here, are you?" and then start taking their turns. Interestingly, if the player asked says yes, then the other players seem more engaged and interested, since something they didn't expect is about to happen.

UshCha,

I think he means the same scenario.

We seem to be mixing convention games with local games. Two different animals.

In local games I can speed up play by asking "Where are we?" Then someone will say something like, turn 5, we just finished firing. Everyone knows the rules. My job is to keep the process moving along.

The biggest waster of time are prolonged rules disagreements. Not an argument per say. We just forgot. We all rifle through the rules to find a rule for something that only happens once in a blue moon.

Convention games can have all sorts of things happen that wastes time. The GM is busy talking to someone instead of doing his job. I have a friend who has a habit of not saying just, no you can't. He will spend the next 10 minutes trying to look up the specific rule to show him. Just say no and move on!

Players wondering off. Players that don't have their head in the game. Cell Phones! If I thought I could get away with it I would make everyone turn off their cellphones and keep them in their pocket or wherever.

Card driven games are difficult because there is a lot of dead time. I try to get them to talk strategy among themselves.