3 or more players

[LardO'Blood]

When playing a game with more then 2 players, how do the turns work?

With teams I think the teams do their turns at the same time?

With free-for-all just go in a circle? If so, how do you determine the table edges? Please enlighten me!

[ArmouredWing]

When playing a game with more then 2 players, how do the turns work?

With teams I think the teams do their turns at the same time?

With free-for-all just go in a circle? If so, how do you determine the table edges? Please enlighten me!

I'm not sure that there is an official rule for 3way games, there is an example of one in the BRB which, if memory serves me right, works something like each person rolls off to start the game, each person deploys and then the winner goes first but each turn the player that went last goes first in a rotating fashion. It's an interesting way of doing it and being someone that regularly plays 4 way battles it really makes a great change.

 

Alternatively my gaming group often play random 1st turns where evry player rolls off each turn to see who get the upper hand. Often not very fair but does provide a rollercoaster ride where you'll think you're on a winning streak only for fate to knock you down.

[Frosty the Pyro]

The rules dont actualy suport having more than two sides. Moreoover it may throw of balance a bit as things will now participate in 3 combats per one shooting phase. Though technicly anything you do (besides divideing into two teams) will have some impact on balance. I would try something akin the battle tech system though thats just me. Everyone takes their movement phase, then everyone takes their shooting phase, then everyone takes their assault phase. you could even aply shooting simultainously for all players (aka you can either declare whos shooting who for all players and then roll, or do it in order and only aply the causualties when everyone is done), and split assault phase into assault move (for everyone) and then combat (and have two combat phases to keep the 2:1 combat to shooting current system has). Fiddle with it as you will, but anything you do is going to be houserules.

[Gurth]

When playing a game with more then 2 players, how do the turns work?

By the book, they don't. That is, the 40K rules are written with games with exactly two players in mind, and don't really accommodate any more than that.

 

With teams I think the teams do their turns at the same time?

The easiest way, indeed, is to read "team" just about anywhere it says "player" in the rulebook. So at the beginning of the game, both teams roll off to decide which team sets up first, team A takes their turn one collectively, then team B takes their turn one, and so on.

 

With free-for-all just go in a circle? If so, how do you determine the table edges? Please enlighten me!

If you want three players, I'd recommend giving two players an L-shaped deployment zone in adjacent corners of the table (both corners of one of the long edges would work best) and the third player a deployment zone along a table edge so that everyone has about the same actual area or actual length of table edge to deploy in.

 

With four players, either give everyone a corner or play on a square table in which everyone has a table edge. A game that uses table quarters for setup probably works well with four players, too.

 

Things like close combats would get very complicated, but if you have a unit contact with two (or more) enemy players in a free-for-all battle, I think it's probably best resolved as separate one-on-one combats. So if player A's unit contacts players B's and C's units, you first fight A vs. B and then A vs. C. I'd recommend taking Morale tests at the end based on the total number of casualties each unit sustained and caused to the enemies it was actually fighting.

[ArmouredWing]

I'd point everyone back to the BRB where there is a scenario for a 3 way battle, sure the core rules may not comprehensively support a 3 way game but it can be done, albeit by using what effectively could be termed as GW 'house rules'.

 

As for 3 way CC's the best way would be to firstly determine if any of the attacking players squad is in BtB contact with either opposing players units or both and then go down the route of having attacks assigned much in the same way that you would resolve attacks against a squad that includes an IC...

 

...but again, is this the correct place to be talking about something that doesn't specifically have 'official rules' prescribed to it? Is there some better or more suitable suggestions available in the 'House Rules' forum?

[Arikel]

The rules in the brb for the 3 person scenario are fairly effective for running an battle with an odd number of teams, players.

 

Rule 1: Roll to see who goes first. The person who goes first then goes last in the next turn, in rotating sequence. (this was mentioned above i think)

 

Rule 2: You cannot join an existing close combat if the combat involves units from both of your opponents. You can however shoot any opposing unit, even if they are in close combat, unless the close combat they are in iinvolves one of your own units.

 

Keeps assaults simple that way.

 

The nasty part of a three way scenario is deployment zones. In the 3 way I played i had the misfortune to deploy last and only had space to deploy 2 or 3 units because the second player deployed his forces in such a way as to deny me almost any place to put units.