Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics
Continuing the theme of advice for new megagamers I’m going to talk about the logistics of playing in Megagame Makers style megagame (like Watch the Skies). This is player logistics though, not in game logistics (see the military player advice for that).
Logistics of Megagames
Megagames are juggernauts. Once they are rolling they don’t stop. So you need to be prepared for that. Also you need to be ready for everything you need to do during the day. There won’t be time to stop and prep mid-megagame. Even if there is, you’ll want to use that time to play and plan and talk to the other players.
Clothing
Some people like to dress up in character. This is good for adding flavour and helping you get into role. However it isn’t part of the megagame as designed. You can pretty much wear what you like (subject to the usual caveats around public decency).
What you do want are:
- Comfortable shoes, you’ll spend a lot of the day on your feet and/or walking about
- clothes with multiple pockets, so that you can stash separate lots of money/counters in them and also pens and notepaper
- layers so that you can adjust your temperature depending on the heat/cold
- a top you can stick a sticker or pin a badge to, megagames tend to have a name sticker and a role badge
Food and Drink
As said above a Megagame doesn’t stop for anything. So you need to make sure that you have brought in everything that you might want to eat or drink during the day. Depending on venue there is sometimes a café dedicated to supporting the megagamers. So bring plenty of change with you just in case.
Megagames give you more mental and physical exercise than you would expect. So bring extra snacks with you. If you can bring shareable sweets or similar with you then it is good for team morale. Especially when produced about 2pm! Player morale is vital jn megagames. I’ve seen otherwise strong teams fall apart because their player morale has collapsed.
Have a good breakfast before you arrive at the venue. Bring plenty of no-nalcoholic drink in with you. Have fresh fruit and a healthy lunch that you can nibble on through the morning. Bring out the sugary stuff after lunch. Megagames get critical around lunchtime, the play is building up for a finale and plans need to be unleashed no later than 1430 to have a chance of coming off.
Game related Logistics
You are comfortably dressed, and you have the right food and drink to keep you going. Before the game you read your briefing. So what else do you need for the game?
- pens and paper for making and sending notes to other players
- dry wipe markers for writing on laminated maps & counters (only if you have them)
- printed copy of your briefing, especially if there is a playsheet with a rules summary
- small post-its or similar to mark units on a map (small scissors too if you have them) or blutac and little pieces of card
