4 Play PBEM Possible?

[Jack_Dionne]

Is it possible to play a 4 player PBEM game if all 4 players lived in the same town?

I was thinking that one side could meet at some bodies house and do the purchases together and decide on a password and then email to the to the other side and do there’s together.

Has anyone tried it?

[Wdll]

Well, I guess in that way it is possible.
Bare in mind, for any strategy game, the amount of players over 2, multiplies the possibility of the game never finishing by a factor of 556.

[Cross]

We are currently playing a PBEM battle with ten players (5 on each team), located in half a dozen different countries.

You should probably create two teams, and have a team leader for each team.
The team leaders do the setup, assign passwords and play the first turn.

The game has to be set up in Basic Security, so it can be played by anyone on any PC, as long as they have the password.

Team leaders can - of course – consult team members about force choices.

With large teams I’d recommend the leaders take a unilateral ‘top down’ approach to planning and strategy, with the rest of the team attempting to implement the plan; but with a only 2 or 3 on a team a more democratic approach may work.

In our battle the team members do not take it in turns. In fact the idea is that anyone (but only one person) on the team can download the turn and play it. So it’s on a ‘first come first served basis’, making the game more fast moving. And if a team member goes AWOL the battle will continue and finish without him.

To make this work, we post completed turns to a dedicated forum thread, so you get notified of a new post, and the first opposing team member available can download and play the next turn. But we have a rule that you can’t play two turns in a row.

If you only have 2 on a team, you may choose to take it in turns, or not…

We also have a rule that only the team member playing the turn can download it. Other team members are not allowed to download the turn, even if only to watch the replay. This is to keep team members – after watching the replay - from the temptation of then playing through the turn and uncovering enemy locations etc.

After playing a turn you write a brief (or lengthy) situation report. This sitrep is them emailed to your entire team; which is how they are kept in the loop. This communication is a vital part of the battle.

Hope this helps.
Cross

[Cross]

The other way to do it, that Wdll may have been refering to, is to have two teams of two ( or three, but the lesser the better) and each team splits their forces into two.

Then player one on team 'A' moves his companies, then SAVES but does NOT END TURN. Sends the file to player two on team 'A' who moves his companies, then ENDS the turn, and sends the files to player one on team 'B'.

Player one on team 'B' watches replay, moves his companies then SAVES but does NOT END TURN, then sends the files to player two team 'B'. And on it goes...you get it...

Again, must be set up in basic security.

This type of multi-player game can take a lot longer than a regular PBEM game, because the game may takes a couple of days to play one turn and the game is only as fast as it's weakest link.

But the team game in my first post can be a lot quicker than a regular PBEM game, because any one of several players can download and play the next turn. If you have players in several time zones, you may wake up and find several turns have been played while you were asleep.


cheers,
Cross

[Wdll]

Yes, Cross, that was what I had in mind.

[gila]

Great idea Cross,wish i understood then what i know now (know you already have one tournment in play)

Sorts ths slow players from the on the ball players.

Is there a rule if one player does not play his side in day or two the other can?

If so..Next time count me in

[Cross]

Hi Gila,

Thanks. And yes i'll let you know when we start planning a new team battle.

Not sure I understand your question, but teams do not really take it in turns. So whoever is able to play the turn plays it.

However, our team loosely followed a rotation to make sure everyone got a chance to play on a regular basis. When someone wasn't available, another team member played the turn.

When you don't play for a few turns you are kept in the loop by situation reports written by your team. Therefore communication is an important part of this type of battle.

We just finished the battle yesterday. It was SPWW2, not SPMBT.

Here's a sample sitrep I wrote after playing a turn. It was sent to the other members of my 'British' team:


Replay

A German halftrack moved up to the North Hall, Capt Wellington KO’d it with a close assault.
Two German halftracks attacked H platoon (B coy) on Hill 75.

B Coy

Q troop tanks KO’d one of the Halftracks that attacked H platoon.

The crew abandoned the SPAAA as Gene predicted. H platoon reduced the crew to one man, who fled.

H platoon got into a scrap with two 3 man PzGren sections who must be diehard NAZIs.

A Coy

I started moving the ATk Gun and HMG (that we had covering wheat field 15) towards the unprotected northernmost VHex.

Corp Watts’ Cromwell KO’d two PzGren sections east of the Hall.

A British halftrack KO’d a PzGren section and a MMG.

D platoon move to the north side of the church, chasing a PzGren section out of the church. Another PzGren section is still pinned in the church.

Some of E platoon move north to cover the south side of the church.

I moved Major Hornchurch’s HQ troop and the last surviving ‘O’ troop tank, to assist D and E platoons.

Leaving P troop tanks and three halftracks supporting Capt Wellington, the remains of C platoon, and the three sections of G platoon around the hall.

I only see 3 PzGren sections NE of the hall. Two are badly damaged. Watch out for their panzerschrecks!!!

C Coy

Sgt Steventon’s damaged armoured car KO a PzGren section for his 5th kill, then captured the final Vhex in the south.

M platoon moved east to cover that Vhex.

K platoon moved north to cover the flank and the V hex there.

I moved L platoon into reserve. I don’t see the need to move them up to Herlesville at this point.

There are still 3 V-hexes we could capture in the north.

Artillery

The 6in troop are out of ammo.

The 5.5in troop have about 2 dozen rounds between them.

One of the Spits is ‘out of contact’.

No German artillery

Looking good!

---


cheers,
Cross

[Lt. Ketch]

I've been observing from the other side of Cross' game and while I haven't had a chance to play, I am very intregied by the whole process. It takes cordination and can magnify the fog of war because you have to depend on what others tell you about what has happened when you weren't playing. I like to think of it as runners carrying messages. You only get what they can remember and what they write down. Very interesting and engaging.

My time has been very busy, so I've only played about 3 hours in the last month, but the next time a battle like this starts, I'm going to try to take a greater part.

[Jack_Dionne]

Thank you all for posting.