Friday, October 14, 2011

Drums and Shakos for 9 players...

...or "How to Break a Rules Set".
Here's the dilemma: I have a large group that comes over every Thursday. I have a nice 6 x 8 table. So most of my games need to almost be convention style, and playable under 3 hours, cause some of the guys drive a little ways.
This limits, sometimes, the games we play to mostly large scale skirmish. I really like the the "Song of Blades and Heroes" game mechanics, but they're really made for one on one games.
So, I guess it was inevitable that this game Song of DRums and Shakos wasn't going to work.
We had 9 commands. Four British, defending a fortified farmhouse against 5 French units. The game looked great, and actually played well if we had 6 hours.
I'd like to try the whole thing again with something simple like GASLIGHT.
British defend the Farm
Highlanders hold the right flank
French begin to cross the bridge


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6 comments:

  1. AndyOctober 14, 2011 at 3:13 PM

    I haven't played SDS, but I have the normal SBH. It's pretty darn simple. How much simpler is GASLIGHT?

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  2. BaronVonJOctober 17, 2011 at 7:37 AM

    GASLIGHT is made for Victorian Sci Fi, but you cab play w/o those elements. Its pretty darn simple.

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  3. Patrick W. RollensOctober 17, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    Yeah, we've found that the "Song of" game tend to break down when you put 6+ players around the same table. It's best as a 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 format, I think.

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  4. BaronVonJOctober 17, 2011 at 11:14 AM

    Finding games for 6-8 is tough.

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  5. AndrewOctober 22, 2011 at 4:52 PM

    Have you tried Savage Worlds? The turn sequencing can handle larger groups and, once familiarised, the system runs pretty smooth.

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  6. BaronVonJOctober 24, 2011 at 6:44 AM

    Read SW several times. Never got interested. Maybe all the die types? Dunno.
    -J

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