Come on. Night play is great. For me its an extra adrenaline rush. Even if you walk the length of the field unnoticed and never even fire, it still gets my juices flowin'. And when my juices get flowin'... well, thats just nasty so I'll let it go at that.

Granted, as everyone has pointed out, if no one is on the field playing... call it. But as long as there is at least minimal activity, let the folks who want to play, do so.

sounds like we see eye to eye on most things (again).

I was in favor of a 1am stand down, then quite a few moaned and we changed it to "Refs Call" with the determinining factor being at least 20 per side on the field.

During the day we are running missions on the half hour with each worth 100 points (generally speaking). Im in favor of no demo, or using it as part of a mission only. No one has spoken in favor of medics - which brings the question of why do medics continue in scenario play..? We are obviously yanking them and puttnig in the 5 man minimum insertion rule.

Im planning on a few props - very simple in design, and not many - to be turned in at 6pm, evening stand down and 11:00am sunday.

maybe like 10 total, each worth 20 points. worth enough to be fun, few enough not to create a logistical hastle. I want the missions to be the priority.
and some of the missions have some heavy "prop-like" aspects.

now for my question for you: If a team is down in points, they can pull out the reserve and really work the night to catch up. Would you keep evening missions on the half hour or spread them out a bit more - or start with on the half hour and space them out to "on the hour" as the evening wears on?

Thumper I think this should be "number of players" determined. Barbarosa was way to much for 6 - 15 people playing at night. There should be good enough communications to make the game adaptable at night (slow things down) to support the number of troops.

I can definitely see 1 mission an hour making the night game a bit more fun.

My two...

Here are my two or three bits worth. I think I can speak to the night play having played the roll of general many times during the night.

Props - Make them obvious props. There is nothing more irritating than dragging around a fridge door thinking it may be a prop.

Night end? - I would say continue play until there are less than 20 players per side, or if one side has a distinct size advantage. i.e. 3 to 1 or so. The base refs should also be able to determine if the players are still having fun. I know many times it gets cold and bitter making night play less than enjoyable. That doesn't mean some players won't enjoy these conditions.

Night Missions - I would go for the first two or three hours with missions on the half hour. After that I would switch to one hour missions. Typically I have noticed that the number of players dwindle around 11 or so meaning the players left on the field will have to pick up the slack and run more missions.

I just had a thought, scary huh, but something I have never seen before at a scenario that may be interesting is having an award for night play. Something along the line of MVP, but only for night play. It could be called "Night Ranger" or something along those lines. (If you didn't catch the reference you are too young) I think it would encourage some players to go at night that otherwise are on the fence. I can think of many times a base defender at night would have been the "Night MVP."

One other thing I have noticed at many scenarios is the base ref issue. I really liked how the Free Finale was run concerning missions. All missions were in sealed envelopes and the game master called the missions in by code. i.e. D1, R6, etc. They didn't go in order and only the game master knew where the mission was going and at what time.
Lastly, one other problem I have noted in the past is ref radios. Often the base ref has a radio that is loud enough for the general to hear. When the refs are told to send refs to certain positions the generals are basically being given a heads up where the missions are going next and can send troops early.

Im with you, point for point.

The numbers of available players will decline steadily as the night goes on. Players will simply get tired and walk off the field, sometimes in the middle of a mission. I've even seen generals crash without telling their team or appointing a stand-in general.

It's even harder at night to judge the relative strengths of the teams. Keeping them balanced will be harder. Perhaps we can think of a way to have a "Soft Stand Down" at around 11:00pm. Encourage players to play at least until 11:00. Perhaps announce that missions will continue after 11:00 but points awarded after 11:00 will be cut in half.



My suggestion would be to keep up the pace of missions but make them simpler and easier to fulfill with smaller numbers of players. Save the simplest missions for later at night.

Michael Curtis
Ref of the Old Code
NAPRA #256

And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Good ideas here. I'd go along with all of this.

I hadn't read this post yet when I made my previous post. I especially agree with DeepFreeze that 11:00 is when things really start to slow down.

Only problem with the Night Ranger award is judging the winner. Hard to see what's going on at night to know who to give the award to. We need to come up with a way to judge the winner.


This can be a problem even in rec play. I'd suggest refs all have headsets for their radios - especially base refs.
(FYI: I have a headset for my radio)

Michael Curtis
Ref of the Old Code
NAPRA #256

And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

I won't even be at this game but...if I was: I haven't ever really seen any thing good happen past 2 am and I love the night. I usually nap 6pm to about 9, get on my invisible pedestrian gear, ear bud, silencer, and night vision if allowed. After getting killed by friendly fire more than enemy I go solo and run a mission or two alone. Play usually seems ok until 1 or 2 and then the refs get cold, park someplace and the remaining players on the field (other than me of course) begin to take.......liberties.
Think of the pace of the game. 6hrs. hard on until dinner and then night play. People are tired. Young players have gotten nite shot enough and begin to socialize at camp. Hot rods and hard-asses will stay until closing but the dimishing returns begin to soak in after midnight or so as the chill begins to deepen and the uncertainity of when enough nite is enough begins to drain the field. The thrill turns to chill.
I think a 4 hr night run is plenty. More people would stay out if the limit is known and obtainable. Spice up the 10-12 period with a couple of kick butt missions for each side that matter. At the stroke bring everyone off for beverages,tales and sleep. Then hit the 4 hr run Sunday hard. My favorite games ran this schedule. my least favorite were the ones where I was on the field until 3am and then played dawn of the dead Sunday and Monday. Course, I'm old and grey (like Grendel) so zombie play comes natural. Did I mention safety?

Interglacials are short and then we enter the nasty brutishness of the glacial periods.

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I'm definitely up for the evening play and plan on sticking it out until they drag me off the field (kicking and screaming). I think it would present a new challenge. How about keeping the game going if there are more than 25-30 on the field and shots are still being fired?