3 Player Games?

[ajay29]

Not sure if this is the place for it, but are there any ideas/rules for 3 player games? or even just best strats/schemes to facilitate it?

We’ve got an awkwardly numbered gaming group, and rather than leave one person out I’m trying to figure out a way to incorporate everyone.

[Maniacal_cackle]

9 minutes ago, ajay29 said:

Not sure if this is the place for it, but are there any ideas/rules for 3 player games? or even just best strats/schemes to facilitate it?

We’ve got an awkwardly numbered gaming group, and rather than leave one person out I’m trying to figure out a way to incorporate everyone.

You can play double rush with one player controlling two crews, that might work well?

Double rush is in some of the GGs, it is two crews of one master + 10 stones each.

[Cognitive_Thoughtworks]

A three player game world be fun!

[ajay29]

So in case anyone is interested we cobbled some rules together to make it as easy as possible - 

Points - 25 each (master and totems still free). No models more than 9 points (I just feel in smaller point games things like Mad Dog or Riders will be unmanageable)

 

Deployment - modified Corner deployment (12” corners, spaces between 3 deployment zones moved to create equidistant areas)

 

Strategy - Turf War (works regardless of positioning, may be a slight advantage to one/two teams with closest markers but that’ll sort itself out)

 

Schemes - Assassinate, Detonate Charges, Claim Jump, Let them Bleed, Outflank (modified, instead of using centreline [as there won’t be a fair center line with 3 deployments] use middle of table edge and opposite middle of table edge...)

 

Had to choose those strat/schemes as all others were too dependant on “enemy table half” and obviously that won’t exist in a 3 way game.

 

Other rules

Pass tokens - generated relative to the player with the most models e.g. player A has 4 models, B has 5 and C has 7. B will have 2 pass tokens, A will have 3 (I think this is the fairest way).

Summoning - same as above, if player A summons then both other players get pass tokens.

 

Had to sort stuff out mid game (like judging you couldn’t score assassinate unless you did the attack that reduced the master to under half hp/killed them) but it worked really well! Was a lot of fun!

[Vessien]

Sounds like fun! I am glad to hear about casual games going on after the errata madness 😃

[Adran]

I haven't tried 3 player games in the new edition, but one thing that we used to do was make the center line a y shape and set the deployment zones based on them. Its not perfect but it does allow most of the current game types easily adapted to 3 player. (I would suggest making the deployment zones stay 8" from the center lines. 

You can also add scheme restrictions, such that you can't target one opponent more than once for schemes (So if you choose vendetta and Assasinate, one targets 1 player and the other would have to target the other player). This can help when you aren't all even in skill as you can't then just pick on the weakest player for easy points. 

If you do find that 1 person keeps getting targeted (such as both players decide to try and assasinate the same leader) you can consider making the change that only the person that kills the leader gets that point, rather than both because it has been removed. 

 

[ezramantis]

When we've played 3 player games in the past we divide a circular board up into 3 sections, as adrian suggested. (Its been awhile and i don't have the board handy so i cant remember if fhe diameter was 3' or slighty larger. I wanna say 40"?)

We find the center point, draw a line, and divide in 60 degree increments. Every 3rd increment is a centerline and the ones between point to the center of the deployment zones.

For deployment we make "half circles" centered on where the deployment zone marks intersect the board edge. Each deployment zone is equidistant from the center of the board. I think we've used a radius of 4-6" for these.

The strat and scheme pool needs to be selected to avoid weirdness. We pick a strat that doesn't rely on just 1 opponent, and then 2 schemes that everyone plays. 1 scheme scores against the player to your left, the other against the player to your right. This ensures you are playing against both of your opponents.

The center line for you is the two lines to the left and right of your deployment zone. The enemy table half is the 1/3 that has the targeted opponent's deployment zone.

As far as not having "hidden schemes" it's never been a problem. With 2 opponents on the board there's always been enough going on strategically that not having to guess what people are doing has freed up brain space to consider the complexity added by a 3rd player (how many of my mooks defend vs left vs defend right vs score left/right/strat).

[ezramantis]

It'd be swell to get an official 3 player setup from wyrd. I think it would be a great help to budding malifaux groups to keep them from losing momentum. Or even just groups that find themselves with an odd number of players occasionally.

[ezramantis]

Also, if you don't have a circular board, the important thing is that the deployment zones are equidistant from the center of the board. So on a square space just measure to find the center on the deployment zones. We've done this and just placed a marker there so it's clear to everyone where the deployment zone is

[Adran]

11 minutes ago, ezramantis said:

It'd be swell to get an official 3 player setup from wyrd. I think it would be a great help to budding malifaux groups to keep them from losing momentum. Or even just groups that find themselves with an odd number of players occasionally.

Your group might be different, but even in the past two editions where they made 3 player scenarios, we generally played our own version so that we were playing as close to normal malifaux as possible, just with an extra player. Partially because the scenarios often had altered hiring conditions, or because we weren't always interested in learning the new rules required to play a new scenario. 

As I say, we play on a square board with what will be in effect 1 person in a slightly modified Wedge, and the other two in a modified Standard deployment, so that there is an equal gap from each depoyment zone to your "centre line". 

 

[ezramantis]

We had the same considerations. That's why we have the setup i outlined. Closer to regular rules. And that's what i would kind of hope for in an official 3 player "mode"