How can you put together a multi-player wargame in such a fashion that it doesn't devolve into everyone ganging up on one guy? How do you make sure that the conflict and tension exists between all the players?
[tootle tootle] I think we've managed to do this with A Distant Plain, which has 4 players.
Three players always seems to devolve into two against one, and five or more players are hard to assemble at one time, so four seems to be the sweet spot.
You prevent it from becoming a three against one by having enough asymmetry of means, method and motive between the factions that players are acutely aware (or should be) that if they spend too much time and effort ganging up on one of their number, one of the others is going to sail to victory behind the others' backs.
A Distant Plain also features a nominal matchup of two insurgents vs. two counter-insurgents, but the two COIN players (Coalition and Government) are in a bad marriage - the two insurgents are free to co-operate with each other, or not, but the two COIN factions must be at least a bit co-dependent.
[tootle tootle]
ReplyDeleteI think we've managed to do this with A Distant Plain, which has 4 players.
Three players always seems to devolve into two against one, and five or more players are hard to assemble at one time, so four seems to be the sweet spot.
You prevent it from becoming a three against one by having enough asymmetry of means, method and motive between the factions that players are acutely aware (or should be) that if they spend too much time and effort ganging up on one of their number, one of the others is going to sail to victory behind the others' backs.
A Distant Plain also features a nominal matchup of two insurgents vs. two counter-insurgents, but the two COIN players (Coalition and Government) are in a bad marriage - the two insurgents are free to co-operate with each other, or not, but the two COIN factions must be at least a bit co-dependent.
[/tootle tootle]