Saturdays work the best for me, and probably for someone who has to drive some distance, such as Ottawa. So far these Sundays are OK too.
I've run a few of these games at Origins and at the HMGS-East Cons. The biggest games we had was with 8-10 people. When you do a "con" game with the potential with a lot of players, with different experience levels then you want to simplify this game.
With this in mind, for a LARGE game, allow me some suggestions:
1) Do away with the altitude rules. With 8-10 players, the game can easily bog down. The altitude rules will add a lot of complexity, without adding any fun, and will slow the game down. Assume all the planes are in the similar altitude for the scenarios.
2) Play the damage cards upright. It won't detract from the game. It will avoid situations, like Jimmy the newbie, still flying his triplane after taking 40 damage points!
3) Have 2 duplicates of the A damage deck and the B damage deck. Have duplicate copies of the markers (fire, etc.) Have all these belong to a single player, so you don't have to sit there and extract your copy of A deck card 17 from the pile, after the game.
4) Do not use the Aces or Aim special rules. It may be complicated enough herding all those players without worrying about these rules.
5) If possible use 2 (or 3) of the
WoW game mats. This represents the "kill zone". Planes that flew outside of the areas contained by the mats cannot shoot or be shot at. They must attempt to return to the "zone" as soon as possible.
6) Try to involve everyone. If someone is shot down, have then restart at the tables edge at the next turn. They must attempt to fly into the "zone" as quick as possible. This may have to be modified by the scenario.
7) Bombers must drop all their bombs when bombing. They must play a stall card, prior to the bombing run.
8) If possible have a Gamesmaster in charge of the game. He can keep the game flowing and make sure everyone has played their turn.
9) If possible, have some interaction between the ground and the planes. It's fun to have
AA guns, with trenches, cars and tanks to strafe. The ground forces can be played by the Gamesmaster if available. Of course this would be scenario dependent.
Anyways these are just my opinions, based on previous experience. You don't have to follow any of them. But they could be something to consider. Again, the appropriateness of these considerations are dependent on how many people you get to come out.
Ralph
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