Fast Play thoughts

Saw this interesting post on The Fast Play Myth the Wargaming for Grown-Ups blog.

I've been thinking about this because I'm always on the look out for a fast play mini game - WWII mainly. When I say fast play I mean 2-3 hours (4 at the most) because this is the kind of time I have right now in my life.

And, after my November Con (Blitzkrieg Commander) game one of the players of my game said, "These 'fast-play rules' really arent' that fast." And I know what he meant. It wasn't just that they were all new to the game, a lot had to do with people getting multiple command rolls. Therefore other players would have to wait for the fortunate player to make decisions on what to do. Also, the fact that there 3 players each side also slowed it down.

Most of my games so far have been solo and this generally takes more time because I'm thinking about both sides moves and having to do the thinking that normally another opponent will have thought through while I was making my own moves.

I suppose I would still consider BKCII fast play compared to CD:TOB (the other game that plays at a similar scale) only because there are fewer things to look up and memorize. However, I've been told that 2 knowledgeable players can work through an average CD:TOB scenario in less than 4 hours.

So, I agree with his theory. And I think a lot of what I should do is learn the rules and game play better for the games I've chosen.