Mentor & Grasshopper game

[theAdmin]

I am thinking about setting up a 5 team, 2 races per team Mentor-Grasshopper game. The game will be set up to closely follow the proposed Five teams of two nostalgia game as outlined by BANE.

Back in the mid 90's when Sharenet was hosted by Black
and Red troll, they ran a 5 teams of 2 battery of games.

The setup and race pairings were as follows:

At 12 o'clock:
Fed/Colonials

At 2 o'clock:
Bird/Rebels

At 5 o'clock:
Crystal/Empire

At 7 o'clock:
Lizard/Borg:

At 10 o'clock:
Fascist/Robot:

Goal of the game was 60-100 invasion points.

The game will be set up with a standard custom map with homeworlds in a circle and team races side-by-side. Scoring will be with ITA, the scoring specifics are still being worked out. Scoring will be by team, not by individual player.

If you are interested in participating as either a Mentor or Grasshopper post here or contact me via email.

I already have 2 mentors and 2 Grasshoppers that would like to participate. 1 mentor is from Germany and would like to help out another player that speaks German.

Preformed teams may also participate. If you know a beginner that would benefit from mentoring and you are offering to do it contact the player or contact me with the suggestion and I will see if I can set it up.

[BANE]

Admin,

If you're going to use the Invasion Scenario scoring to determine
victory, then may I suggest that this be somewhere between 10
and 20 points?

Since you're working on a Mentor Game concept, then I would
think that a shorter game would be more advantageous for all.
60-100 invasion points can potentially be a very long game.

Another suggestion would be having a relatively high turn rate.
Minimum of say 3x/week.

[theAdmin]

Now that I understand the original thread was actually two games, not one, I will clarify the parameters I am thinking. These are all up for discussion but I will propose a strawman here:

I do like the team/race alignment as stated above. I will use ITA as the scoring vehicle. Since this is a novice-training game I was thinking about not using addons.

Short-verses long game: I think this depends on what the learning objectives are. If it is a group of people that have never played then short would be good. If it is a group of people that have played but never really got the hang of everything then a longer game would be better. Exploration to about turn 15, meet your neighbors 12-20 (This is where the strategy starts), ship limit gets hit around 40-60. At this point some players have already had to rethink their strategy and then need to apply it. Some games are over at 70-80, some others at 100-120.

I'm open for high turn rate but that would be open for discussion among the players.

[theAdmin]

I have started the pairing process.

I am contacting the Mentors and Grasshoppers individualy to insure the pairing is to everyone's satifaction. If you are a mentor/Grasshopper and know someone you already want to work with let me know.

If you are interested in joining and do not have a mentor/grasshopper please contact the Admin directly so I can get you paired.

[Chew]

Greetinx!

I have looked at the pairings and guess that they are quite balanced, however the Liz/Borg Combo seems kinda overpowered: not decloakable cloakers, loads of colonists for ground battles, cubes with 150% damage, hissing ships over assimilated planets, ...
I'd suggest to exchange Liz with Fascist or Bird. What u think?

Otherwise I'd like to reserve this combo for my team... 

Greets,
Chew

[BANE]

Admin, et al,

FYI:  Chunnel is off in such a setup.
There is just no way to balance that racial attribute.

As for whether or not the liz can be decloaked.
They'll be between Fascist glory devices and Crystal webs.

2/6 is a strong team tho.
If 4/9 & 7/8 don't contain/attack them, they do so at their peril.

[theAdmin]

I'm still looking for one more team. I'll post on the public boards if I cannot find one within theStarbase. Contact me soon!

[theAdmin]

I've got 4 teams assigned and looking for a fifth. My goal is to start the game on Sept 10 in order to avoid the Labor Day week vacation issues.

[theAdmin]

Game to be configured this evening and the first turn will follow immediately after so expect it tonight.

I'm on the verge of getting that last team recruited so I'm still trying to get their specifics before starting. Everyone will know tonight what teams and races they have.

[Captain Jack]

Wish I had the time to get in this. I got to many going now. I need a lot more training. 

[theAdmin]

Wish I had the time to get in this. I got to many going now. I need a lot more training. 

By the time you finish all your games I expect you to be a Mentor as well as being able to teach people time management skills for juggling jobs and games!

[Shardin]

I just hope all the Grasshoppers listen to there Mentors.
In a game like this, you should listen and not try to show how much you "THINK" you know, while showing how much you DON'T know instead.