OPTIONAL RULE TO QUICKEN PACE

[cjbennett22]

I just recently picked up a copy of the original Spacehulk to refurbish and play.  When learning to play I had an idea pop in my head.  This is just a personal suggestion and with only the hope that it would get added as an optional rule.

In spacehulk you control a 5 man squad of space marine terminators and you only get a certain amount of time for your turn based on how many sergeants you have on the board, usually just one.  You get a base time without a sergeant but you get additional time for each one that is also on the board.  This is to simulate the fast pace and mental stress of combat.

In sticking to the command phase that Rick Priestly intended for Warmaster, is it weird to think of the same rule?  lets say for example, you get 5 minutes for your command phase after initiative phase to command your troops plus 2 minutes for each hero/spellcaster also on the field, so less time to make decisions as you lose your characters throughout the game.  In respect to making the game play faster.

The only fall back comes when you need to move your models and that could take precious time away.  Terrain models can take away from this as well.  Issuing orders stops immediately once the allotted time expires.  Then you can move your heroes.

Thank you for reading.

[Clawlessdragon]

I liked the mechanics of space hulk. the pressure to make decisions really added to the game. But it would become infair in warmaster, say chaos against undead.... one has few elite units, the other 10s of unit's to move in the same short time.
In the tournaments  run by Paul and Barry (warmaster podcast) they work on a timed system, using chess clocks. One and a quarter hours allocated to each side. So you can take as long as you need each turn, but it counts against your total time.
It has the same effect you are describing, as your clock runs down, the pressure mounts, mistakes are made, Units skipped as focus is centered on those that will win the game. It certainly speeds up the game and stops time wasters.

[honestmistake]

Surely that still hurts the swarm armies more than the smaller 'Elites' armies? Also a bit unfair as Massive, Multi-Unit conflicts can take ages to work out... especially if an unscruppulous opponent drags their feet during your turn

[Clawlessdragon]

Surely that still hurts the swarm armies more than the smaller 'Elites' armies? Also a bit unfair as Massive, Multi-Unit conflicts can take ages to work out... especially if an unscruppulous opponent drags their feet during your turn

you are not wrong there - it will still hurt the swarm armies as they have more pieces to move. But it also favours the swarm army as the opponent can not cut through to the break point in the allocated time.
Yes conflicts can take a huge chunk of time, but you are more likely to have the unscrupulous person drag their feet on their own turn (in a normal game) than in your turn when all they need to do is roll their defence dice. Its not perfect. you can set a time of say two and a half hours... and add up the points at the end of that time if no side is broken... both have their pro's and cons.  But I do like this "space hulk" idea, it has legs - a timed section for the command phase.. untimed for the combat phase?

[forbes]

I've played a fair bit of Kings of War using timers - it really makes you speed up the bits of your game that are needlessly slow, such as getting dice ready, rolling and selecting dice to roll again, etc. It does always make you make decisions a bit quicker - but you still tend to spend a minute reviewing the game before committing to your go. KoW has the advantage of being entirely IGOUGO, the active player does everything in their turn, the passive one does nothing.

But I wouldn't want to play this way all the time - but having played this way it is good to have picked up some of the things that speed up all games. But you also have to be aware of how different people want to play - some want a much more relaxed game with time to chat and just let things bumble along.

I think for a game like WM, I wouldn't want to play with timed combat rounds, some combats can take a long time to resolve due to many rounds (WMR will help with this). But I would be happy to play timed for the command and movement phase. Horde armies may have more stands to move, but elite armies tend to get off more orders, and everyone gets to fail orders, do nothing and save time!!

[Aquahog]

Surely that still hurts the swarm armies more than the smaller 'Elites' armies? Also a bit unfair as Massive, Multi-Unit conflicts can take ages to work out... especially if an unscruppulous opponent drags their feet during your turn

If this becomes a problem switch it over to their clock everytime they need to make a save, an attack, a decision on pursuit etc. That should solve it.

[cjbennett22]

right, I was just thinking about the command phase.  When issuing orders to their troops I can imagine some players taking way more time than they need to to measure and re-measure and measure again and then finally re-think everything.

Combat is by far the biggest time killer but nothing could be done about that I guess, we all know how much can change over which stand dies and which stand makes way for retreats.

Maybe this wouldn't save that much time, but also, maybe extend the timed period through the shooting phase.  When time expires you can just claim that your archers missed their chance.