2300 AD (2E): Rules for the "Great Game"

[Gray Lensman]

The background for 2300 AD was a continuation of the Nuclear war in "Twilight: 2000". They (whoever "they" were) played out 5 (?) year turns to bring things up to the present day. Or so they say.

My ? is this: Does anyone know if the rules for this "Great Game" ever published anywhere?

 

[McPerth]

Look at this pages:

http://www.waynesbooks.com/TheGame.html here you'll find the map

http://stalexone.tripod.com/gg2/2300game.htm here you'll find the rules

I don't know if anyone that played it is in the board or if anyone cna tell you more about it.

 

[mike wightman]

The rules etc for the great game are also included on the FFE 2300cd

 

[aramis]

Marc Miller was part of it, and he's a (rare) participant on the board...

Mostly, it was GDW staff and their gaming groups.

Frank, Tim, Loren. I suspect Bill and Andrew Keith. (Bill doesn't come round much since Andrew's passing.)

 

[Whipsnade]

I'll point out that "The Game" wasn't the uber-detailed 4X simulation we'd like to believe it was. While there were various wrinkles like tantalum locations and language groupings, "The Game" much more in common with du Vernois' "free Kreigspiel" than Civilization V or even Twilight Imperium.

"The Game" was played by experienced, indeed professional, wargamers who didn't need every jot and tittle covered in the rules, who employed common sense instead of searching for loopholes, and who were content with an umpire adjudicating most orders and results.

 

[Gray Lensman]

Look at this pages:

http://www.waynesbooks.com/TheGame.html here you'll find the map

http://stalexone.tripod.com/gg2/2300game.htm here you'll find the rules

I don't know if anyone that played it is in the board or if anyone cna tell you more about it.

Many thanks, I figured someone would have links handy, my google-fu has been running weak lately

... snip ... who employed common sense instead of searching for loopholes, and who were content with an umpire adjudicating most orders and results.

Basically what I will be doing with it.

My thanks for all your responses, happy days to all

 

[whartung]

I'll point out that "The Game" wasn't the uber-detailed 4X simulation we'd like to believe it was. While there were various wrinkles like tantalum locations and language groupings, "The Game" much more in common with du Vernois' "free Kreigspiel" than Civilization V or even Twilight Imperium.

"The Game" was played by experienced, indeed professional, wargamers who didn't need every jot and tittle covered in the rules, who employed common sense instead of searching for loopholes, and who were content with an umpire adjudicating most orders and results.

I figured the game was more like diplomacy with a lightly thought out economic model mostly filled with "do what makes sense" than anything gritty.

 

[Kilgs]

"The Game" was played by experienced, indeed professional, wargamers who didn't need every jot and tittle covered in the rules, who employed common sense instead of searching for loopholes, and who were content with an umpire adjudicating most orders and results.

I would definitely agree with this assessment. The rules are under-whelming until you realize that they were friends and old-hands at wargames. Plus someone was guiding the results.


I have a copy of a Great Game v.2 that is extremely detailed. I don't think it ever got off the ground but there was a whole webpage devoted to it. It's super-crunchy. I also have an excellent hex map of the Earth from it.

I am also (on hiatus) running a Victory By Any Means "Great Game" homebrew setting (ala 2300) on a solo basis. I found some tinkering with VBAM 1E rules works really well once you're in space. No real Earth-based mechanics exist so I confined my setting to the actions within a stargate-accessed system.

But VBAM has rules for non-player entities, diplomacy, espionage, resources. I think it cuts a fine line between the loose guidance and ultra-crunch.

I recommend a look at the 1st edition rules. The base rules are good but you really need the two supplements to add all of the various widgets. The 2nd Edition roll-out has been glacial so I've stayed away from it.

[I started posting some stuff from my game in the other 2300 forum. But stopped posting a long time ago so it's only up to Year 10 or so. I've gotten it up to Year 43 now but haven't posted any of it. Search for "ProjectSN."

 

[McPerth]

I would definitely agree with this assessment. The rules are under-whelming until you realize that they were friends and old-hands at wargames. Plus someone was guiding the results.


I have a copy of a Great Game v.2 that is extremely detailed. I don't think it ever got off the ground but there was a whole webpage devoted to it. It's super-crunchy. I also have an excellent hex map of the Earth from it.

I am also (on hiatus) running a Victory By Any Means "Great Game" homebrew setting (ala 2300) on a solo basis. I found some tinkering with VBAM 1E rules works really well once you're in space. No real Earth-based mechanics exist so I confined my setting to the actions within a stargate-accessed system.

But VBAM has rules for non-player entities, diplomacy, espionage, resources. I think it cuts a fine line between the loose guidance and ultra-crunch.

I recommend a look at the 1st edition rules. The base rules are good but you really need the two supplements to add all of the various widgets. The 2nd Edition roll-out has been glacial so I've stayed away from it.

[I started posting some stuff from my game in the other 2300 forum. But stopped posting a long time ago so it's only up to Year 10 or so. I've gotten it up to Year 43 now but haven't posted any of it. Search for "ProjectSN."

For what I know, there have been several attmepts to recreate it. Some of them overly complex, other ones not so, but none with such loose rules as the original (but neither were probably all players grame devlopers that know closely each other).

Currently, I'm involved in the one presented in this thread (IDK if it's the one you talk about) that It's been going on and off for several years now...

 

[Kilgs]

Yep I think that's the one. Lots of math but great detail.