------------- BRIKWARS 2001 ------------- Copyright (c)1995-2002 Mike Rayhawk -------------------------------------------------------- Note: Due to the limitations of this format, the text version of the BrikWars Manual is necessarily less complete than versions in more advanced formats. Specifically, hyperlinks, illustrations, sidebar commentaries, and some clarifying and explanatory comments have been omitted. For proper formatting, you must view this document in a monotype font such as Courier. -------------------------------------------------------- BOOK FOUR: CAMPAIGN Chapter Ten: Campaigining -------------------------------- 10.1 Gathering Opponents 10.2 Game Types 10.2.1 House Games 10.2.2 Club Games 10.2.3 Hosted Games 10.2.4 Convention Games 10.2.5 Internet Games 10.3 Gaming Style 10.3.1 Gaming Experience 10.3.2 Age vs. Youth 10.3.3 Minifigs vs. War Machines 10.3.4 Many vs. Few Optional Rule: Squad Warfare 10.3.5 Messy vs. Neat 10.3.6 Scenarios and Goals 10.3.7 Speed 10.3.8 Referees 10.3.9 Campaigns and Diplomacy ----- BOOK FOUR: CAMPAIGN ----- ---------------------------- CHAPTER TEN: Campaigning ---------------------------- Because BrikWars is so open-ended in scope, placing very little limit on the types of battles and circumstances that might arise within the game, this rulebook could easily be extended another hundred pages or more with guidelines and examples for additional situations both dangerous and amusing. However, the book is already too large by far for all but the morbidly obsessed. Its length makes it impractical for quick reference, unweildy when printed out, and daunting to first-time readers. Therefore we reserve the large bulk of additional material for later supplements and instead turn to a brief discussion of the real-world ins and outs of organizing a game. 10.1 Gathering Opponents -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies." - Oscar Wilde Coming to grips with the ponderous bulk of the BrikWars rulebook and assembling a presentable army can be time-consuming tasks, but the stumbling block that ultimately defeats many aspiring BrikWars players is the quest for willing opponents. Younger players are especially handicapped in this regard. Besides being crippled by curfews and dependent on their parents for transportation, they are barred from some of the more established adult BrikWars groups due to the drinking and debauchery that runs rampant between players in the later stages of the game. If you have never played BrikWars before, there are two good ways to start. The first is to set up a small game with one or two close friends. It's best if you are at ease with the people you choose for opponents, since during your first game it's inevitable that big mistakes will be made and everyone is bound to end up looking stupid at some point. If you are already a member of a gaming group or a club of PBB enthusiasts, you should have no difficulty finding a gullible chump or two that can be suckered into a 'quick' game. It's no problem if your friends can't muster PBB collections of their own, as you can easily share yours; the important thing is getting them to show up in the first place. Hesitation on their part can often be overcome by vague promises of punch and pie, pizza and beer, or any refreshment combination involving doughnuts. The second good way for first-time players to break into the game is to hook up with an existing BrikWars group, whose experienced players are often happy to act as guides to newcomers. Unfortunately, well-established groups are geographically scattered, and 'often happy' does not mean 'always happy.' (It's sad that there have been so many individuals who need to be reminded of this, but please remember that these are private groups and, no matter how enthusiastic you are about BrikWars or PBBs in general, you should not automatically assume that they will admit you, nor should you think that they are in any way obligated to do so.) If neither of the two recommended options prove feasible, the third and inferior course is to try and arrange a game with complete strangers. Internet newsgroups are invaluable in this regard, and many players have been able to find opponents by making public posts in their local academic or professional newsgroup, or in newsgroups specially geared towards tabletop wargamers or PBB enthusiasts. The newsgroups of the Lego Users' Group Network (http://news.lugnet.com) are particularly excellent in this regard (and in many other regards besides). There is always an element of danger involved when meeting with strangers, so be careful what personal information you give out in any public or private exchange. Remember that not only your life but quite possibly a good chunk of your PBB collection may be at risk; mutilations and murders are small tragedies compared with the potential theft of so many valuable bricks. 10.2 Game Types -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before players can begin assembling armies and psyching themselves for the impending carnage, it's important to establish what type of game is going to be played, either through conversation between players or by the executive order of the event's host. A discussion pinning down the genre, setting, technology, army types, and size of the battle is just the thing to get everyone's gears moving. Many of the decisions will be already determined by the PBB collections available to the players, and especially the venue in which the game is set. 10.2.1 House Games ------------------------- Players who are lucky enough to live in a household with like-minded individuals (families, dorm-mates, co-op co-hippies, etc.) will have the easiest time setting up battles with the least required planning. The schedule, especially, becomes much less critical; there's no need to set strict deadlines for arrival, setup, cleanup, or departure. Everyone's already in the house by default, and as long as a corner or room can be set aside for awhile, a battle can be extended over several nights if necessary. Any arguments about the units other players are building can take place while they are in the midst of building them, giving plenty of time for revision as needed. An occasional drawback of house games is that players must often draw from a communal collection of bricks, and if resources start to dwindle then competition for raw material can become fierce. The best solution to this problem is to increase the size of the brick collection to around the combined weight of the players involved. While that is clearly the most practical method, there are three alternate options. First, a quick way can be found to divide the remaining bricks into an appropriate number of piles, each player then choosing one; diplomacy and exchanges must be set up in order to obtain pieces from foreign piles. Second, similar to the system described in the Limited Point Budgeting Optional Rule (1.3: The Trooper), players may take turns picking minifigs, tools, and other basic pieces from the bricks that remain. The third and best method is to settle all arguments by a judicious application of pro-wrestling moves. Players that engage in a series of house games will find themselves playing the same opponents over and over again; this can be both a weakness and a strength. Diplomacy, which is not a major factor in most BrikWars games, will become more and more important as a history develops between players. Over a continuing progression of games, the personalities and relationships of their armies will develop and solidify, and memorable heroes, characters, and unit styles will recur and evolve. Treacheries and debts of gratitude between Civilizations, oaths kept and forsworn between rivals, every act of nobility and every dirty trick will linger in the memories of minifigs for several battles to come, and may even develop into a kind of virtual world history. On the other hand, diplomatic relations between a limited number of players can quickly stagnate and it is best to bring in new blood as often as possible, either by inviting friends to the house to join games or by going with housemates to games hosted elsewhere. This can have hidden dangers - because BrikWars tends to encourage the development of house styles and house rules, the playing styles of different groups can be so dissimilar as to seem almost like different games entirely, and smaller differences that are overlooked at first can later suddenly flare up as points of bitter contention. When visiting in a foreign group, or hosting a visitor in your own group, be flexible and prepared to deal with friction in unforeseen areas. 10.2.2 Club Games ------------------------- Players who aren't lucky enough to be able to set up games among members of their own house can get many of the same advantages by setting up regular games in a club setting. BrikWars games can be held as occasional events in existing clubs of wargamers or plastic-brick enthusiasts, or new BrikWars-specific clubs can be instituted. Club gamers quickly become familiar with each others' gaming styles, so after the initial breaking-in period everyone becomes comfortable with the club's interpretation of the rules and arguments are typically minor. Club games have much of the continuity enjoyed by house games, with the additional advantage that it is much easier to induct new members and vary the personalities at play. Players are usually in close enough contact (through phone calls, e-mail, newsgroup postings, or meeting by chance in PBB stores) that any unconventional ideas can be thoroughly discussed before the date of battle. New clubs are usually small enough that meetings can be hosted by individual members, but as the club grows they may need to investigate renting larger spaces. Meeting halls, churches, and colleges will often rent large rooms at reasonable prices. Many bars and restaurants also have rooms set aside for parties and private functions, and will furthermore be happy to supply participants with beer and refreshments. Finally, very outgoing clubs can stage battles in public areas or even host events at conventions in order to show off their bricklaying prowess and attract new members. 10.2.3 Hosted Games ------------------------- Players without clubs can try their luck at inviting the participation of complete strangers, usually by posting to relevant newgroups or on a public community bulletin board. (Flyers targeted at a specific community such as a college or a church are less likely to attract axe-murderers and other malcontents than flyers posted in places like laundromats or on telephone poles.) A hosted game is easily used as a transparent ruse to stimulate the later formation of a BrikWars club. There may be a good deal of pre-game discussion between a few of the players, but many attendees can't be relied on even to RSVP. The host will therefore have to make specific decisions about the basic game rules, and then make sure the information is available to everyone who intends to participate, including guests who may arrive unexpectedly and at the last minute. This information should be included in the game announcement, or the game announcement should include a note letting interested parties know where they can find this information, usually via a web site, phone number, or e-mail address. Information that needs to be made available by the host includes: - the time and date of the game, including times for setup, game commencement, cleanup, and at what time lingerers will be unceremoniously booted out and the doors locked behind them. - the location of and directions to the gaming venue, whether that be the host's home or some public or rented space. - any special rules or restrictions on the type or behavior of the players invited. This is most often seen in the form of age requirements where alcohol will be consumed, but requirements can also be handed down by the venue in use - for example, many public spaces prohibit smoking or firearms, and may be subject to noise limits or behavior and dress codes. - the style of battle being staged, especially concerning the setting, TL and CP limits, and any other special limitations, requirements, and custom rules in effect. This can be supported with a narrative or backstory explaining the cultural and political motivations from which the conflict arose. - which services and resources will be provided by the host, which will be provided by the guests, and which may or may not be provided but any generosity from the guests would be appreciated. Examples include transportation, venue fees, refreshments, meals, spare troops for guests without PBBs of their own, BrikWars expertise and printed rulebooks, dice, and even chairs and tables. It's common to ask guests to bring buildings and other items of PBB scenery to help build up a convincing backdrop for the game. 10.2.4 Convention Games ------------------------- "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, while planning is indispensable." - Dwight D. Eisenhower Hosting a BrikWars game at a convention takes all the difficulties of a regular hosted game and increases them by an order of magnitude. A convention game must be set up to accomodate the casual passer-by, and this is no small task. Guests cannot be expected to have PBB armies with them, have any familiarity with BrikWars rules and concepts, hold to any preset schedule, or even to behave with the most rudimentary levels of decency, maturity, or honesty. The group hosting the game (and it really should be a group rather than a single individual, however overachieving he may be) must be prepared to provide for every lack, and to deal flexibly with the unexpected problems that are certain to crop up because no amount of preparation can fully anticipate or defend against the stupidity and malice of the general public. The easiest games to hold at conventions are brief and carefully crafted scenarios, in which the battlefield, goals, and all armies have been designed, balanced, and provided by the hosts. If the convention is of plastic-brick enthusiasts, and the hosts have a few experienced players to spare, they can try to quickly calculate scores and stats for whatever creations the guests may bring to the table. If the hosts are lucky enough to know that guests will be familiar with the BrikWars rules, at least to the point that they can score their own armies, they can arrange a more open game setting in which custom armies will be allowed. If the games are set up in such a way that there will be winners (this is not always the case, especially in free-form games in which players may come or leave as they will), then the hosts may wish to bring small prizes to award to the victors or to players who play especially well. There are a number of roles that the hosts need to fill in order to take the burden of work off the shoulders of unwitting conventioneers, who for have paid good money to attend and have little or no patience for having to do any thinking of their own. At the bare minimum, each game should have one experienced person acting as a referee and overall GM (Game Master or General Manager, depending on your preference). The GM clears up any confusion over the rules, keeps the players informed of their units' options and abilities, and makes quick decrees in unusual situations not covered in the rulebook. The GM's primary job is to make sure everything runs smoothly and that the players enjoy themselves, and other members of the hosting team place themselves at the GM's disposal in order to quickly deal with small or large crises as they arise. A second optional role is that of the RA or Rules Assistant. This position is filled by an experienced individual who is familiar with the ins and outs of the ruleboook and has a copy with him either in printed form or on a laptop. A GM who wishes to remain true to the rulebook can call on the RA at any time for quick reference on obscure rules. However, depending on the priorities of the hosting group, it may be better to eliminate the RA's position, and when the GM is unsure of any rule he can just make a quick best guess and thereby avoid any pause in gameplay. PAs or Production Assistants are subject to the whim of the GM and can be used for any menial or degrading task. PAs can be sent to bark game announcements, gather refreshments, set up and take down tables and games, restrain rowdy and belligerent guests, and put out small fires. Experienced PAs can be asked to help coach insecure guest players or to take the places of players who are forced to leave unexpectedly. Even if the convention venue provides its own security, it is critical that at least one or two burly and sharp-eyed PAs are keeping an eye on the bricks and making sure they don't accidentally make their way into guests' pockets. 10.2.5 Internet Games ------------------------- There have been occasional discussions over the years of running a BrikWars-by-email game; none of these discussions ever resulted in an actual game being played, although some have come close. Any such game would require incredible patience from the players and a sizable time-commitment from everyone involved. Armies by necessity would be either extremely small or extremely simple; the host overseeing the game would have to spend a good deal of time with a digital camera and graphics editing program to keep players updated about the state of the game. So far the opportunities offered by this medium have yet to outweigh the increased demands of time and effort made on the players, and so for the time being BrikWars PBEM remains an impractical fantasy. 10.3 Gaming Style -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It takes some time and probably several games before the playing styles of groups and individuals really start to crystallize. Gaming style has less to do with whether a group prefers combatmeks over magik spells, and more with which aspects of gameplay they value and the type of overall experience they look for. Some of these considerations are discussed briefly here. 10.3.1 Gaming Experience ------------------------- BrikWars differs in a number of ways from other superficially similar games, and players new to BrikWars come equipped with expectations and ideas about the way the game should be that in many cases simply don't apply. Most of their misconceptions burn off in the first round or two of the battle. Here are a few common examples: Myth #1. If there is a rule, players should follow it. ------------------------- Players who try to follow all the rules, especially new players, will find that a single turn can drag out to a length of several hours or more. Now matter how much we try to emphasize keeping things simple at first, new players will always try to bite off more rules than they can chew, and that is part of the natural BrikWars learning curve. When players become more experienced and familiar with the system, they can start using larger and larger portions of the rulebook and still keep the game moving along at a steady clip. Myth #2. Turns last five to ten minutes. ------------------------- For new players with small armies (100-200 CP), single turns will typically exceed an hour in length. Speed improves over time; more experienced players can handle a regular-sized army (300-500 CP) in twenty to thirty minutes if they stay focused. Myth #3. A battle lasts several dozen rounds. ------------------------- Thankfully, although individual turns take such a long time, it does not take very many rounds to decide a battle's outcome. Unless players are unusually timid and conservative, the eventual victor of a BrikWars battle should be clear after four or five rounds, although it may take another four or five to make victory official. Myth #4. Games are played until a winner is decided. ------------------------- Maybe half of all BrikWars games are played to the bitter end, whether due to time constraints or because it has become clear who the eventual victor will be. BrikWars players either learn to take their enjoyment from the experiential and visceral pleasures of the beginning- and mid-games, or design their battles as goal-oriented scenarios in which the conclusion will be quickly decided. Myth #5. Powerful armies and units are the best armies and units. ------------------------- Armies that are powerful, well-balanced, and perfectly specialized for the task at hand are the best, if the game being played is one in which victory is the chief priority. In BrikWars, having fun is the chief priority. To this end, an army that is handicapped, off- balance, and blessed with unique and inappropriate specialties will be superior to an army crafted for victory. By their very nature they engender unconventional action, heroic bravery, desperate risks, unlikely successes, and hilarious failures. 10.3.2 Age vs. Youth ------------------------- Many aspects of gaming style show a close correlation with a player's age, and for this reason younger players can badly disrupt the groove of an adult gaming group. The youngest players tend to focus on the game itself, taking undue pride in the size and power of their forces, seemingly unaware that their army's size is based on their parents' income, their units' strengths are just digits on paper, and that there is no reason to be impressed by the fact that they gathered more minifigs rather than fewer and they chose to write larger digits rather than smaller. Other young players, having been told they are 'mature for their age' and not realizing that the phrase has never been anything more than a euphamism for 'socially unpleasant,' hope to impress everyone with their finely-developed characters and ability to sensitively role-play their commanders on the field of battle. Values like 'sensitivity' and 'taking things seriously' are so antithetical to the BrikWars ethic that they require no further discussion. Both of these types of players can have great success and enjoyment as long as they can find others of like mind with whom to play; they do not integrate well with normal players unless their peculiar disabilites can be mitigated or cured somehow. In any case, being young, they are better off going out and finding some real fun rather than trying to simulate it with plastic bricks. Adult players have a much lower tolerance for standing around trying to impress one another with trivialities (although this tolerance can rise sharply the moment an available member of the opposite gender enters the room). BrikWars at its best is a social lubricant, an excuse for friends and like-minded individuals to get together and compare construction techniques, discuss the state of the plastic-brick market, engage in some light-hearted and friendly competition, and to eat, drink, and be merry for a few short hours before returning to the interminable grinding monotony of the dreary days they waste on jobs and families. 10.3.3 Minifigs vs. War Machines ------------------------- BrikWars action is divided between two scales, and many players prefer one over the other, sometimes even one to the exclusion of the other. Troop-level players think in terms of crawling through rubble, gaining access to control panels, taking cover and lining up sniper shots, scaling walls, breaching gates, digging trenches, and so on. Platform-level players think in a larger scale - plowing through foot squads, pounding buildings to rubble, warhead launches, carpet bombings, and so forth. At the small scale, troopers are the key to surgically gaining control of critical platforms and locations; at the large scale, platforms are the key to strategically directing campaigns of mass destruction, and troopers are the bloodsacks whose burst carcasses are used to keep score. It will quickly become clear which players' modes of thought tend towards either extreme, and for them there are several supplements and optional rules which will bring out details and emphasize one mode while marginalizing and streamlining the other. A fan of minifig combat will prefer small theaters and dense environments - jungles, tunnels, building interiors, and rubble all allow minifigs to be used to their full potential. Vehicles and buildings should be designed with full interior layouts, and they should be filled with minifig-accessible features - computers to hack, control panels to access, cables and hoses to cut, air ducts to hide in, engines to sabotage, and so forth. Minifig combat can gain new levels of excitement using the Variable Damage (1.4: Basic Combat) and Ker-Triage! Optional Rules (8.2.7: Medix). Minifigs with Supernatural Powers (Supplement SP: Supernatural Powers) will be strategically critical. Time spent handling vehicles can be minimized by using the Quick and Dirty Vehicles Optional Rules (Chapter Six: Vehicles). A fan of platform combat will prefer wide-open spaces and varied environments - highways, lakes, rivers, deserts, and plains give buildings and vehicles room to breathe and allow the greatest freedom for Siege Weapon fire. Chapter Eight: Standard Combatants can be ignored almost entirely, with Troopers and Pilots being the only meaningful unit distinctions (although Mechanix and Technix may also have a part to play). Dimmy Kombat (1.4: Basic Combat) and Quick and Dirty Armament (2.1: Weapons and Equipment) are good ways to cut down on minifig-related overhead. The Robotic Vehicles and Nanofleet Battles Supplements are fine recommendations for any vehicle supremacist. 10.3.4 Many vs. Few ------------------------- "A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic." - Joseph Stalin BrikWars battles have ranged from tightly-knit scenarios involving fewer than a dozen troops, to epic campaigns involving several hundred minifigs. This variation in scale can dramatically change the dynamics of the game. In a very small battle, each minifig and unit is critical. Their stats, abilities, and personalities can be heavily customized, even to the point that the game borders on role-playing. The more detailed and complex Optional Rules can be brought into play, since players will have much more time and energy to devote to individual units. Unconventional tactics, even ones for which rules must be invented on the spot, become quite feasible. In a very large battle, in which great multitudes of units are involved, uniformity is critical if the game is to move forward at any pace. If a column of infantry is fielded, they must be identical troops with identical abilities and identical weapons; if a squadron of vehicles is purchased, they should be in all ways the same. Keep the number of individuals and unique units to a bare minimum - a general or Hero or two, nothing more. All Platforms should be given Heads-Up Displays and use the Statistic Ker-Pow! Table to calculate damage (5.3.2: Generalized Damage). Identical minifig troops should be arranged in large Squads (see the Optional Rule below), allowing large groups to move and attack as one unit. Any distinguishing effect short of death that would destroy the homogeneity of a minifig's Squad (Stun Damage, poison, wounds, etc.) should be ignored completely. Minifig abilities that are individual in nature, especially Stupendous Feats, should also be avoided. Large groups of individualistically-oriented minifigs should have their stats downgraded (e.g., an army of Ninjas could instead use the stats of Amazons). +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Optional Rule: Squad Warfare :) | | ---------------------------- | | Minifigs with identical stats and equipment can be handled with | | great efficiency if they are arranged in Squads. The formation, | | joining, subdivision, and dissolution of Squads require no formal | | declaration; a group of identical units are a Squad when they take | | action together and they are individuals when they act separately. | | | | Measurements taken when moving a Squad or calculating the Range of | | its attacks will require some estimation. A Squad's location is | | considered to be roughly the center of the group of minifigs from | | which it is comprised; it is from this point that an attacking | | Squad calculates Range, and to this point if the Squad is the | | victim of an attack. Because all stats and Skill Modifiers are | | the same for all members of a Squad, all their Attack Rolls can be | | made at the same time; of those attacks that succeed, all the | | Damage Rolls may then be made at the same time. The Damage Rolls | | are combined if the Squad is attacking a single target | | (3.3.3: Cumulative Damage / Combined Fire). If the Squad is | | attacking another Squad, count the number of Damage Rolls that | | exceed the Armor Value of a single member of the target squad, and | | that is the number of casualties inflicted. | | | | If any member of the squad suffers an effect that differentiates | | him from other members of the Squad (a stat penalty or boost, a | | condition such as Exhaustion or Poison, a broken weapon, etc.) | | then he can no longer be counted as part of the Squad and his | | rolls must be made separately. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ 10.3.5 Messy vs. Neat ------------------------- BrikWars players can choose to insulate themselves from the horrifying effects of the violence they wreak upon the battlefield's hapless plastic inhabitants, but for sheer sadistic pleasure there's nothing like tearing machines and minifigs into tiny shreds and allowing a rain of blood and bits to fall from the sky. When tearing apart destroyed units and scenery, messy players may even wish to add extra material to simulate the splattermarks of blood, fuel, and other vital interior fluids. There are many pros and cons to the 'destructive' and 'non-destructive' attitudes towards individual models. Especially for minifigs and animals, tearing units into bits is morbid, sadistic, and disgusting - it's easy to see why players enjoy it so much. However, certain circumstances tend to quell their enjoyment. Most commonly, a player will refuse to participate in this celebration of carnage and suffering because he has become too attached to his model to bless it with the honor of rapid and catastrophic disassembly. Other players should try to treat him with pity and understanding, and continue the game as best they can. Another important handicap to model destruction occurs when several players bring models built each from their own collections of plastic bricks; if the scattered debris of several models becomes intermixed then it can become very difficult to determine afterwards which bricks belong to which player. If players can overcome these obstacles, they will find that a messy and destructive attitude has its own advantages. Broken models and smoking wreckage help to create that crucial battlefield atmosphere of destruction and despair, and their presence offers unique tactical opportunities. Loose chunks can be used for cover, as projectiles, or to create obstacles; ruins and wreckage can be shaped or collapsed to surprise enemies and shift the gross physical layout of the field. The jobs of Medix, Mechanix, and Engineers are much less exciting in an unmessy environment. There are many intermediate steps between absolute messiness and neatness; players can choose certain models to be destructible and declare others involiate. If there is a worry that pieces from different collections will be mixed up, players can find a way to distinguish their own bricks (by reserving certain colors to specific players, or by marking their bricks somehow). If red bits are to be scattered wherever blood pools seem appropriate, these should all be supplied from one player's collection to avoid confusion afterwards. 10.3.6 Scenarios and Goals ------------------------- "Eric [Joslin] is trying to devise a way to incorporate troop goals into the game - that is, have objectives (hidden disks? secret documents? women's lingerie?) hidden in the building, so that annihilating the enemy is grand and all, but you still have to protect some of your vulnerable troops so they can search for the items. And wear them, and model them for their comrades." - Shaun Sullivan, NELUG member By default, the goal of a BrikWars battle is to kill all opponents, with the largely-ignored secondary objective of leaving at least one friendly unit alive at the end. Players whose tactics are timid and indecisive may benefit from a declaration of more specific goals and victory conditions. Examples have included collecting valuable treasures, rescuing or assassinating important characters, escaping a location or preventing such an escape, killing the largest number of JawJaws and Dimmies in a nearby swarm, and even defacing the effigy of a prominent BrikWars author. There have even been games in which the objectives of one or more players have been kept secret from all other players until the battle was over. At the opposite end of the scale, a BrikWars battle might be no more goal-oriented than an internet deathmatch, with a simple environment and marked zones for units and squads to respawn as they die. 10.3.7 Speed ------------------------- "A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later." - George S. Patton As players become comfortable with the game they naturally begin to gravitate towards a certain game speed, keeping events moving at a fairly regular pace. When the game seems too slow, they start ignoring the more complex rules and looking to those Optional Rules that streamline play. When the tempo starts to pick up (especially in the later rounds when forces are dwindling and individual actions take on greater importance), they will turn again to some of those more detailed rules which were deemed too time-consuming earlier. But in general, when in doubt, fast is better than slow and there are many ways to improve game speed. A very simple way to improve efficiency is to find ways to let more than one player take action at the same time. If the game is divided between teams of players, let all players on a team take their turn simultaneously. If the forces of two opponents are so far divided that they could not possibly reach or affect one another on that turn, let them take their turn together. If players wish to engage in negotiation or to discuss the rules, they should save the conversations for when their own turns are over if possible, letting an uninvolved player continue the game. Another factor in the speed of progression is the amount of time players take in deliberating their moves. As much of the deliberation as possible should be taken care of before their turn actually begins; this goes without saying. Time spent in deliberation during the turn should be appropriate to the importance of the actions being taken. Arranging the formations of your legions for general inspection should not require the same investment of thought and time as when those legions have been reduced to a few desperate men and they have to make a titanic effort to save the empire. A final element to consider is the relative belligerence of the players. While a valid method for long-term strategic-level action, defensive play is inappropriate in BrikWars, which is a tactical-level game and often subject to cruelly brief time constraints. Be proactive! Aggressive action can not only keep your opponents off-balance and force their actions, it will also accelerate the pace and allow the game to reach its conclusion in fewer turns. In some cases players will have no choice but to begin setting time limits on individual turns. This will force sluggish players whose to learn to prioritize. Time limits can easily become a source of bad feelings between players whether strictly or loosely enforced, so be cautious when considering their use. 10.3.8 Referees ------------------------- "The wicked leader is he whom the people despise. The good leader is he whom the people revere. The great leader is he of whom the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'" - Lao-Tzu In some games it can be valuable to have a referee. Besides acting as a guide and coach for inexperienced players, a referee can make fast rules decisions for the unconventional situations that crop up. More importantly, a referee has the ability to keep secrets from the players, and that opens up a whole new realm of tactical possibilities. Normal BrikWars games are arranged with all information available to all players; there are no secret abilities, hidden units, unknown effects, undiscovered terrain, or subterfuge of any kind. Players have full oversight over each other's calculations and conduct, and that frees them from ever having to suspect anyone of cheating. A dedicated referee must be willing to take all the responsibility of oversight onto himself, in order to create mysteries for all players and to allow them to keep secrets from one another. Many types of scenarios are only possible with a referee; only he will know the solutions to puzzles that must be solved, the locations of traps that can be sprung, the strengths of unknown monsters, and the value of hidden treasures. A referee can even take such a controlling role that the game becomes almost like a role-playing game, taking the part of characters in the scenario and giving each of them distinct personalities as they interact with the players' units, and important information which they may or may not choose to reveal. 10.3.9 Campaigns and Diplomacy ------------------------- "Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggy' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers In BrikWars games with only two players, diplomacy has hardly any function beyond the occasional arms-control agreement. With larger numbers of players, especially over the course of several games, diplomacy can become a pivotal factor. Some players prefer to play a straightforward game in which, once the alliances and enmities have been decided, they are inviolable for the duration of the game (though not necessarily between games). There is great pleasure to be taken in a good clean game, in which all players are true to their words; this is in keeping with the general open and honest spirit of BrikWars in general. On the other hand, some players find a much greater depth and richness in a game or series of games in which alliances can shift and treacheries can be sprung by surprise. Players should be sure to make clear which of these two types of games is being played, because a misunderstanding on this issue can ruin a game for unsuspecting players. As a series of games progresses, players' unique senses of taste and design will come through in the shape of their forces. As their individual styles stabilize, they start to imagine the Civilizations from which their armies spring, and the ideals, attitudes, and important characters of those Civilizations. Once this starts to happen, diplomacy within the game become less and less about direct relations between the players and more and more about imagined relations between the Civilizations and the characters on the field. A single player might have multiple Civilizations with different tactical strategies, and several characters in each; as a history of interaction with other Civilizations and characters builds, each will begin to develop its own personality and opinions, sometimes in wildly opposite directions. All this role-playing nonsense is purely left to the discretion and imaginations of the players involved, unimpeded by any rules or limitations. The End -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRIKWARS 2001 COPYRIGHT (c) MCMLXXXXV-MMII MIKE RAYHAWK Si Hoc Legere Scis Nimium Eruditionis Habes ----------------------------------------------------------------------