We are getting set to hold our big A&A weekend again. When we all get together we end up playing with 8 players.
We ended up dividing into:
1. Germany
2. Italy
3. Japan
4. Russia
5. UK London/France
6. UK Pacific
7. ANZAC/China
8. USA
What do other people do?
Anyone else play with groups of that size?
Do some of you think we are playing with too many?
Not yet played G40 face to face, but based on other variants I would say more players = more social but less action.
It depends whether you prefer the social or the action.
The game works best with 4-5 experienced players.
1/ Germany Italy
2/ Japan
3/ Both UKs, and france
3/4 and or Russia give it to either ally or your fifth guy
5/ US China ANZAC
Who cares; France
(US and Anzac) and (Germany and Italy) need to work as a lockstep team to ensure victory. If you split either of these sets, it makes coordination and victory much more difficult.
ANZAC
Italy
UK Pac
China
France
None of these make ideal choices for new players; they go late in the turn, they have limited income, and the income they do have needs to be carefully coordinated with the ‘parent’ power’s strategy in mind. There is not much to do with the bottom two, so not really worth being their own player.
If you do have 8 players, then you have to ask whether having 2 tables (playing same or different games) or splitting the game into its two halves and playing just in the same room, not on the same map would be easier. If you do this, there is a lower chance of boredom and the total play time is less, but the disadvantage is that you don’t have the awesome “battle royale” that all the players get to engage in. You could, if you are still learning, assign the 4 newest players to be “adjunct” leaders to the main powers (listed at top), and either player could make decisions/roll dice/move pieces/respond to questions. However, the main player would still want to call the buys and attacks, most likely.
More than 7 in difficult for various reasons, 8 players is a great opportunity to have two 4 player games IMO.
I’m with YG here; get two games going. Hell, if you have the time have the winners play each other for the championship of the universe.
Four people is really the perfect number. I prefer it to five for one simple reason: the Allies HAVE to be on the exact same page to win the game and it’s much easier to get two people to agree on a plan than it is three people.
When our group gets together, we usually have 6 players:
#1 = Germany
#2 = Russia/China
#3 = Japan
#4 = United States/France
#5 = United Kingdom/India/ANZAC
#6 = Italy
5 Players:
#1 = Germany/Italy
#2 = Russia/China
#3 = Japan
#4 = United States/France
#5 = United Kingdom/India/ANZAC
4 Players:
#1 = Germany/Italy
#2 = Russia/China/United States
#3 = Japan
#4 = United Kingdom/India/ANZAC/France
3 Players:
#1 = Germany/Italy/Japan
#2 = Russia/China/United States
#3 = United Kingdom/India/ANZAC/France
2 Players:
#1 = Germany/Italy/Japan
#2 = Russia/China/United States/United Kingdom/India/ANZAC/France
1 Player:
#1 = Germany/Italy/Japan/Russia/China/United States/United Kingdom/India/ANZAC/France
Okay, that last one was just a goof. It’s late and I’m getting silly now. Later all.
