UshCha | 29 Sep 2018 1:53 p.m. PST |
So who plays multi evening games and how? It is not uncommon for us to play a game for a couple of evenings (or more in some cases) even though its at the local club and we have to set up and take down at the end of an evenings game. Why because the normal games lack depth and a much more interesting and challenging story can developed over a number of evenings. As an example our latest (if it works) will cover some level of close in reconnaissance as well as an assault on a prepared position (after they find it, or before if the defender can force them too. |
Tony S | 29 Sep 2018 2:30 p.m. PST |
Ah, when I was young and single, we used to play massively long games. All Friday evening to set up, then all weekend to play. Now I am middle aged (and I'm being generous with that description) and married with kids and work responsibilities, I find myself gravitating towards rules that take a couple of hours to play. And i'm also becoming partial to games that require smaller tables – like the 3x5 for most Peter Pig rules, or 2x2 or so for DBA , Neil Thomas or most Nordic Weasel titles. I really like the fact that the dead pile, the rules, dice and charts can stay off the playing space. I did enjoy the big games, but sometimes – and this was often a fault of the rules – it was like watching paint dry. Even worse, sometimes you knew you were going to lose, but you were forced to spend many hours watching a painfully slow defeat. At this junction I will point out that I now hold the club record for fastest defeat – 17 minutes playing Thomas' One Hour Wargames. That said, it sounds more like a small campaign that you are playing UshCha. Which does sound quite fascinating. That, even in my declining years, is something I could see myself doing. |
Thresher01 | 29 Sep 2018 2:30 p.m. PST |
If you can do that at someone's home, and leave the game(s) set up, that would be best. With digital photos, you can easily recreate the battles, from stage to stage, if you have to take things down in the interim. I agree, linked battles, or more in depth games are far more interesting, since people are less likely to use the "go for broke" and "damn the torpedoes" strategies in them. |
21eRegt | 29 Sep 2018 2:44 p.m. PST |
With one brief exception I've always had a game table permanently set up. So any time the game warranted or was planned to go multi-sessions, great. I've always found that long games encourage historic tactics because there isn't pressure to "win it in one" (swoop). We don't as often these days but that is partly because of the fashionable games for the short-attention-span crowd. |
UshCha | 29 Sep 2018 3:05 p.m. PST |
Thresher01, when I finally bought a tablet one of the key requirements was it must be big enough to take and show pictures of the battlefield and to make sense of A4 pdf documents. This meant 3 minutes to record a game not 30 min sketching it out and recording troop states. And the rules are on the tablet, but we still use a QR sheet. |
Frederick | 29 Sep 2018 3:55 p.m. PST |
I have a games table in the basement and for our ACW campaign we do sometimes have big battles that run for days Not often, but sometimes |
redbanner4145 | 29 Sep 2018 4:26 p.m. PST |
Most of our games last more than one session. |
Extra Crispy | 29 Sep 2018 4:42 p.m. PST |
We have a club house, so most of our games run 2-3 weeks. On some of our beautiful big tables we'll play two games back to back – just chane the scenario but use the sam table (with tweaks). We ran a 2 night "Siege of Jerusalem" game. We have now switched sides and are playing again! |
Thresher01 | 30 Sep 2018 1:44 a.m. PST |
Makes sense. One of the few, actually useful features of the digital age. |
IronDuke596 | 30 Sep 2018 5:15 a.m. PST |
Yes, most of our games also last more than one session and some larger more complex games several sessions for all the reasons mentioned. I and few others of our group are fortunate to have a large room where the games can be left undisturbed between sessions. And we like it that way. |
Martin Rapier | 30 Sep 2018 3:02 p.m. PST |
I prefer to run a series of linked games over a number of evenings as a mini campaign. They will often cover the unfolding events of a particular engagement or operation. |
Thomas O | 01 Oct 2018 8:05 a.m. PST |
We are playing Gettysburg using "Alter of Freedom" rules right now. Right now we are at the Day 2, 12:00pm (non) turn. We play in the evening and are averaging about 2 turns an evening. Biggest thing we have ever attempted, but having a dedicated table and room to game in makes it do able. |