Online Group Wargame?

[bayonetbrant]

The COIN games all have four factions. Let's do 4 teams! As long as we can get 8-12 ppl, (2-3 per team) it should work.

that's a lot of people...  not sure we can sustain that many.

Has anyone done this type of thing previously? We could see how that worked out to avoid any pitfalls

I've seen it done at ACG, CSW, and some other places online.


I think maybe we need to start with something smaller / simpler first, and see how it goes.  The COIN games might be a bit ambitious for a first run through this.
Manoeuvre might be a challenge only b/c of the decision to play cards in the middle of the battle.

Let me think on it a bit and see what I can come up with.  I don't want to go too crazy for a first attempt at this.  Plus, it needs to be something I own if I'm the guy running it ;)

[GJK]

Twilight Struggle would be a good one I would think.  Teams would see their hand of cards and make a group decision on whether to play the card for the event or for the Op points and then in what country/countries should they commit to adding influence or conducting a coup.  The rules are online and I or some others that I know play the game here could very quickly get people up to speed on it.  We could use ACTS to keep track of the card deck as well.

Commands and Colors, Memoir '44 would be other suggestions.  Memoir is a very lite "wargame" and CC:A is easy but lots of decisions because every unit type functions differently from the others.  ACTS could be used for that card deck as well.

We could just do an ASL HASL....ok, a bit over-ambitious perhaps...  :)

Some of your games looked good to me too Brant, I like some of those modern titles (Orange Crush, etc). I see that the rules are available for those on your website.

My vote goes to Twilight Struggle though; some geo-political group gaming sounds intriguing to me.  Team US or Team Soviet Union would have to come to an agreement on their course of action for each round of each turn. 

[Double Deuce]

I've done both ASL and SASL as well as WSIM at ACG and some other sites. A lot of work, and much fodder for the rules lawyers. Actually the games went pretty smooth till the last one at ACG where I was getting constant PM's asking me to explain my interpretation of the rules and how I was wrong and needed to replay the turn and so on.

My suggestion is start small with a fairly simple game and then go from there.

I was always keen on doing an aviation game like AirForce/Dauntless but that's a pretty complicated system. If there was a VASSAL Mod for Wings of Glory/War that would probably be ideal.

[Barthheart]

Brant, how about Tank on Tank? Simple game, straight forward turns, games aren't that long, get to blow shit up!.
Great tactical fun.

[GJK]

To me, it seems that if it's a game that has lots of units (a dozen or more would be "lots" in this context) and/or it has interactive turns (defensive fire, opportunity fire, etc) then it would be a long, slow process and I could easily see people dropping out or losing interest.

With Twilight Struggle (sorry, my example) - the Team would decide on the card to play for the round, whether they play it for the points or the event, and if for the points, where they allocate those resources.

An example would be as simple as:

Team Soviet Union plays the card "The Cuban Missile Crisis" for the OPS, placing 3 influence points in Cuba.

(that after deliberations in the private area to discuss the next game play).  All know the cards available as dealt from the ACTS card dealer.)

Brant (or I volunteer) would then update the VASSAL board that is used to capture a screenshot of the current situation and then post it to the main forum for the game.

[undercovergeek]

I like the sound of twilight struggle - always wanted to play that - I'm easy on the game though, its the premise that sounds great to me

[BanzaiCat]

Capitalist swine shall be buried under the avalanche of the dialectic warmongering that the imperialism swines create for themselves!

Errm...sorry, flexing my speech muscles for a possible TS game. :D

[Barthheart]

TS would be a good game too.

[bayonetbrant]

Here's the problem with TS - I don't own it.  Someone else would have to take over running the game at that point.  I can set up the forums for everyone, but can't shepherd the game along.

The more I think about this, tho, the more I wonder if something without cards would be good for a first run, just while we figure out how this whole process might work.

I do like the idea of Tank on Tank just to get started.  The action points would work well in the blind game, too, since neither side would know exactly how many actions they would have as they plot their turns.

[BanzaiCat]

The more I think about this, tho, the more I wonder if something without cards would be good for a first run, just while we figure out how this whole process might work.

While I'd love TS, I agree with this. Keep it simple for the first run or two, then progress further if we're comfortable with it.

[undercovergeek]

+1, whatever's easiest until the wrinkles are ironed out

It's also a good opportunity for Brant to get a boardgame AAR on the front page

[GJK]

I can organize a TS group game.  It wouldn't be difficult at all.  The team captains would set up a game in ACTS and would be responsible for sharing with their team what their current hand is.  The main board would be kept up to date using VASSAL and I would just screenshot it after each round is completed.  TS would work very easily actually.

The rules for the game are available on GMT's website as well.  There are no charts or CRT's. 

I (or whomever) as gamemaster could facilitate any die rolls with an online randomizer and then share the results.  There's not much rolling in TS - just for coup attempts so that would be a plus.

[undercovergeek]

A ts splinter group has formed already!

Lol I'd love to play ts it looks awesome.... maybe a poll Brant?

[GJK]

A ts splinter group has formed already!

Lol I'd love to play ts it looks awesome.... maybe a poll Brant?

You capitalist pigs and your polls!!!  The results should be decided militarily!

[bayonetbrant]

The results should be decided militarily!

you want to pick a fight with the guy who controls the DNS server for the entire site  :o

;D