Asking for a courageous little help...

[Olothontor]

I've got good news, and I've got some bad news. The bad news won't make sense unless I tell you the good news, otherwise I would tell bad news first.

Good news: I've found a new Brikwars player! Maddie is a bit tentative, but interested.

Bad news: The first game is always the game that makes the decision whether th new person will stay with the game or not. This is where Mike and y'all come in.

I would like some help putting together a 100cp game for her, so that she can try out a game. Please, nothing complicated. Keep everything simple for now, we don't want to scare her off. I've learned with D&D that throwing people straight into it can be VERY intimidating, and will cause you to give up unless you're really determined. She hasn't seen anything of the rulebook besides the Quickwars section, I figured that'd be a good way to start off. But other than that... I'm lost. I've taken basic precautions; now I'm depending on y'all. Please?

[EvilTobbacconist]

This is what I usally do:
1. No CP, just use a handful of minifigs each, give 'em weapons and set them on eachother.
2. No Heroes, stupenduos feats are asking too much for a new player. If you Heroes, add them after a few games
3. No Extra Bits, squads, creations and all other specalities should wait till the player has had a bit more playtime.
That should help you with the intro to the game.

[blackwing77]

Who?

[Almighty Benny]

I speak from experience, and these are some proven tips to keep Maddie interested.

- Forget CP entirely. It's very confusing for someone who has never played before, and it's not at all necessary. If you absolutely have to use it, just build a whole bunch of armies at the beginning and let her choose which one she wants, but never actually mention CP before or during gameplay.

- A lot of players don't fully understand the chaos of Brikwars. They would rather hang on to their precious, shiny, heroes as long as possible. When you kill Maddie's hero on the second turn of the game, she's going to be extremely put off. To counter this, I would suggest using resurrection rules (see below). That way when her favorite units die, she gets them back right away.

- Only a handful of game types lend themselves to resurrection rules, though. I suggest something simple like capture the flag. It's very straightforward and easy to explain.

- Keep the die rolls to a minimum. I know that some people (I'm looking at you, 4) like to roll all kinds of crazy dice to calculate the trajectory and damage of every bullet, but for new players you should use nothing but d6s. Try to get turns over with as quickly as possible so she's not waiting around for half an hour between turns. This is boring even to experienced Brikwars opponents, and is murder to newcomers. In fact, for her first few battles, use Quickwars rules only and introduce new ideas once she's really getting the hang of it.

- Throw the game! Don't make it too obvious that you're letting her win, but if you go around performing insane, hilarious, and incredibly dangerous maneuvers that are getting your troops killed left and right, she's more likely to pick up on the concept of a Brikwar a lot faster than if you treat everything like a game of Axis & Allies. Anorakism is not tolerated.

- Don't use technical mumbo-jumbo. Saying advanced words like "enhancement modifiers", "critical rolls", or "collateral damage" will just confuse and intimidate new players. Rather than saying something crazy like "my CC Halberd is 2H so it does 1d6+2 more than your 1H rapier", try "my axe is bigger than your sword so it does more damage". Just avoid acronyms like "UR", "CC", or "2d10+2" altogether.

- No secrets! New players that don't know all the ins and outs of Brikwars will always suspect you of making up rules as you go. If you throw down a bunch of die and kill their favorite ninja, it won't go over so well. Be sure to answer all of their questions, but also be sure that you tell them everything they need to know before a battle. Explain every possible advantage and disadvantage their units have before it becomes a problem. Example. Maddie wants all her knights to have swords because they're pretty, so you assign all your units giant flaming battle axes with laser scopes. You didn't tell her that your weapons do about 3 times the damage of hers, and so she starts getting annoyed later on when you're rolling all these extra die for yourself. This is the sort of thing you will be trying to avoid at all costs.

As I said, these are all tested and proven tips to successfully introduce new players to the game and help them understand that this isn't your ordinary wargame. Hopefully you will have lots of fun with your new opponent, good luck!

[Red Clay]

This is what I usally do:
1. No CP, just use a handful of minifigs each, give 'em weapons and set them on eachother.
2. No Heroes, stupenduos feats are asking too much for a new player. If you Heroes, add them after a few games
3. No Extra Bits, squads, creations and all other specalities should wait till the player has had a bit more playtime.
That should help you with the intro to the game.

I did exactly that with my friends their first time and now this weekend King of bricks and my two other friends will be playing a more complex game of brikwars. They also seem to like the blood element of the game so add in Blood lots of blood. Soon enough you will have created a Brik Wars monster out of you friend trust me .,

[IVhorseman]

okay, i saw something on this once a while ago on classic castle i think.

Your most important thing to remember is to keep it SIMPLE. don't use CP at ALL for example. just slap no more than 6 minifigs on one end of a field and 6 on the other, with some nice decorations in between. i'd say give em all the same weapons too.

another thing to make sure you do is keep a CLEAR goal in mind. nothing complicated, but be sure it's very obvious what to do.

For heroes, i'd actually say go for it. they're fun, and add variety for a new player. it's also something that the player can get emotionally attached to. You may even allow a vehicle or two, but only something incredibly simple like a jeep, and even then i'd go for a communal jeep in the center as opposed to each team starting with one.

I remember when i introduced my friends John and Galen to brikwars, i had one building in the center of the field, one jeep parked outside of it, and a rocket launcher on the roof of the building. i also had teams of 4 minifigs. it worked out pretty well, too.

[Olothontor]

Who?

Why am I not amazed that you didn't even help anything? And yes, she goes to our school. I'm fairly certain you walk right by her spot in the mornings, too.

Thanks, guys, this has really helped. We'll see how this turns out on Saturday, then!

[piltogg]

just have one minnifig each in a realy complicated enviroment with crazy goals, traps and secret doors this also is a good roleplaying oppurtunity whitch takes away alot of the pressure to win but also helps to learn rules.
make shure only to play for 45 mins or new players will lose intrest

[blackwing77]

Why am I not amazed that you didn't even help anything? And yes, she goes to our school. I'm fairly certain you walk right by her spot in the mornings, too.

Thanks, guys, this has really helped. We'll see how this turns out on Saturday, then!

Well, you know me but fine. As a newbie to the game this is some advice.
1. No CP, I hate math chances are so does she.
2. Use a hero but some clich'e that everyone knows, like a Jedi. Nothing confusing.
3. Big guns look cool till you need to spend CP to get skill 1d6+20 just to fire the blasted thing.
4.Blood

[King of Brix]

Actually, that is kinda complicated. Leave it with the small battle. It's an awesome game, so she's bound to like it. Also, CP is useless at all times. Forgo it entirely.

[IVhorseman]

hey, i only use complicated die rolls in more advanced games! as in, ones where you've actually got machinegun wielding titans that move 2d10-6 inches per turn with all sorts of die rules. complicatedesque (honestly, nothing i employ is TOO complex other than fire) rolls are very situation specific, and if you're plannning complex strategies that use them, you're man enough to calculate the stuff.

[Almighty Benny]

Also, CP is useless at all times. Forgo it entirely.

Hazzah!

[King of Brix]

Yeah. Whats the point of playing a game of brikwars if one army isn't horrendously outnumbered?

[james+burgundy]

KEEP IT SIMPLE. But not so simple that you just kill every one else. have a point to the game like take the blue bunny for the lap and bring it to reactor 1.

[Moronstudios]

Let her win, it will make it more likely for her to want to play.