The third week of our campaign concluded some days ago. I used the same three tables and scenarios. I did have the players rotate though. Each person faced a new opponent and warband. The players are still going up against the NPC warbands as none of them have moved into an opposing players territory yet. I'm not sure if it's due to fear or respect though.
What I have the players do is play two games on each meet. On one game Player A will control their warband against an NPC band controlled by Player B. They then switch with Player A running an NPC warband against Player B's warband. This accomplishes many goals. It gives everyone a chance to try out a new warband. This also keeps the campaign moving without having to 'waste' moves waiting for players to meet up. The NPC warbands are sort of a filler, a wandering monster if you will. Finally, it lets the player warbands grow and gain experience as they would otherwise get bored if they had nobody to confront each week.
Why didn't I change the scenarios from the previous week? Well, I want every player to go through the same missions when the campaign ends ultimately. Everyone will all go through the same gauntlet. They may not always get the same opponent though. That will be the randomness of it. This will change once the players start to confront each other. Then I will have the two players utilizing the same mission. Basically, I will do this three board/mission rotation three more times at least. As I have expanded the campaign list to fourteen, maybe fifteen total missions. It also allows for me to plan and prepare the board ahead of time. If I do not yet have the specific models or terrain yet, this give me a few weeks to get them ready. Best of all, my wife lets me keep the boards set without having to clean up each week!! She's awesome!!
For each post I will explain another game mechanic. Some of them I have used before, others for the first time. Most of what I am using I put together years ago and was modified some and posted on the Mordheimer website as the Campaign Aid. Finally, my players are heading into week five and eventually the blog will catch up with the campaign. More than likely this will happen next week. Feel free to comment or ask questions.
 |
| Lost in the Bog: There is a cemetery in the middle surrounded by boggy terrain. |
 |
| Lost in the Bog: Game play from week 3, the Wolves of Winter caught in a pincer move by Count Victor von Bargen |
The concept is very interesting with the NPC warbands, but also slows the progression down of their own personal warband as half their games could have been applied to an active warband of their own.
ReplyDeleteHrm, maybe instead let each playe run two at a time.
I understand what you are saying. As each player gets the opportunity to move once per week, if they move into an empty space, who would they play against? I do not want to have a turn where the player doesn't do anything. So I have any empty territory occupied by one of the NPC warbands. Once the map fills up, the NPC bands will be even more of a background item if even encountered. Even with players running multiple warbands, there may be a time where nobody is fighting, that is the ONE thing I want to avoid. I don't want a player to have nothing to do. So, while I may be purposely slowing the game down, I do have everyone doing something each week. That something maybe against another player or an NPC, but at least they do something.
ReplyDeleteI do thank you for the comment
As a player, I like playing the NPC warbands. It lets us explore other options, and it lets us really anticipate the big battles to come.
ReplyDelete