"Battlegroup game duration" Topic

Hey all,

I'm going to put on my first public Battlegroup game in a few months. I'll meticulously playtest it before putting it on. Unfortunately, I need to have an idea of how long it will take now before I have time to run through it a few times, so I need your help to understand how long games typically take.

The game will be played on a 8' x 6' board. My game has one larger side (company sized, ~850 pts, ~50 BR, 4 players) attacking a much smaller well entrenched side (platoon+ sized, ~550 pts, ~25 BR, 1-2 players).

Assume these players are wargamers but most have not played battlegroup before. Assume also that I run through the game a number of times so that I'm very familiar with the relevant rules, explaining them, and possible situations that I need to deal with. Don't include setup or explanation time prior to the game itself.

How long would you say such a scenario would take to complete? Rough guesses simply in terms of hours are fine. I understand that there are many variables, but some information is better than none.

Fixed- I've played Battlegroup about 5 times with small forces. I find the rules slow going. Took at least three hours to complete our games, with only two players.

The authors insist that they can get through pretty big games quickly. The only way to see who's right is for you to play a few games with only on player per side.

Our club tried these rules numerous times. Players typically commanded a platoon, with maybe an attached support weapon etc. We play at a moderate clip and I would plan on 6-8 hours for a scenario as you describe. We also found them quite slow.

In my experience ANY GAME can be played very quickly if all the players know the rules inside and out. I have played Johnny Reb III games where we got 10 or 12 turns in in a 3-4 hour slot.

Well depends how well versed the game organiser is with the rules.

But no rule system plays fast, until you've played it a few times…

I can run a 750 point late war game for two new players in around three hours, maybe less, maybe more depending how much chatting goes on and the terrain density.

You may want to track down some of the guys who run BG at shows as demo games. There is a few.

People should note that Mr. Brand is co author of the rules, and his post confirms what I said.

I think he's grossly over optimistic.

You can think that if you want. I can only base it on our games. But… I gave the exact same time frame you did… around three hours. So you are as optimistic as me. :)

May want to ask on the FB group as alot of actual players there. They may have differing answers as they play the game alot and we tend to have alot of new players dropping in. Though familiarity makes things easier. So my optimism comes from actually having played the game… alot… ;)

Most starting gamers start out at around 300 to 400 points (period depending) to get to grips with the rules. All rules take time to learn… more you play easier and faster it is. But deciding to play a massive club game with no one who knows the rules, will take time.

But I'd recommend again, asking regulars players on Facebook how they find it, we have over 4000 in our group on there so suspect it would give some more practical answers. Will give you a better response I suspect.

I've hosted BG games over the last 4 years. Given the size of your force and assumed inexperience of players, I'd lean towards 4 hours. The game concepts are not complex just a but different. And the more players, the longer it seems to take for soem reason.

I have also been playing BG for a good number of years and have found that up to 400 points can be played in about 2-3 hours, and up to 750 in 4-5. I've put on many, many games at HMGS conventions and they run smoothly, with new players pretty much running the game themselves after two turns or so. They are fast, intuitive rules which any regular gamer will suss out in no time.

Our games were tiny.

We play around 700-800 for an all day game, around 400 for a Friday night game. Normally 4 of us. We know the rules well, except for the bits we get wrong, hunt for, debate, argue, laugh about etc.

Tanks are quick and easy, and cost a lot of points. Artillery takes a bit longer.

in my experience the slowest bit is the players' decision making. If they have 15 "units" and roll for 8 orders, they can spend a LOT of time trying to max the choices of which to action. So much so that I am considering a timer :-)

But if you have decisive players who want to get stuck in, then it is no slower than any other game I have experience of.

We enjoy them. Much