Team vs individual play

[psychotropic]

In a recent thread regarding on the weighting of the axis vs allies i noticed a conversation broke out regarding team play vs indiviual play. I thought an important aspect of this conversation was missed and I wanted to share my experience and see if others have noticed anything similar. I can generally beat either of the two guys I usually play with individually. With the axis not quite as often as with the allies, but as we all know the game is weighted in the allies favor anyway. The interesting thing is that they usually win when I play them together. The only thing I can attribute this two is the "Two heads are better than one" scenario. The simple fact that they are discussing their game plans (out loud or in secret) allows the plans to develope in a way that a single person thinking about his plan doesn't have access to. There is also less likelyhood of mistakes as the partner is always there to say "don't forget about...".

[canvasback]

Once, I played a two player game. My opponent wanted the Axis straight up, so I took the Allies. We didn't play with any National Advantages. We both ended up having problems, mainly because little details would get missed. It's a real burden on your brain to have to play two nations or three. If you can focus on running one nation, you won't forget about those little details that will come back and bite you. As far as the planning goes, the roll of the die during the combat phase can shatter long term planning, and it seems like with only one person on a side, they may not have been able to come up with as many contingencies as a team might. That's my take anyway.

[Yoper]

While those are all valid points for team play, I prefer to play solo. I am responsible for the mistakes and I get all the glory!

Craig

[axis_roll]

Team AR rules....

I've only played partners with one other player.... together we are very near to perfection.

[smo63]

Psyco...

I guess it depends on the situation in which you are playing under. I know Yoper loves to play solo, but most guys that I know that play at Origins and GEN CON, when playing in a FTF tournament, would be strongly against any ruling that would make the tournament a single player tournament. Is a matter of fact, I recent polled that exact question and to much dismay, many where against the idea. Some thought it might be nice to try, but for the most part, they liked having a partner to catch mistakes and the like...plus just having a partner is kindof cool.

Yes, the big downfall is when you don't have a partner and you need to find one and it is someone that when rolling dice, shoots them with his fingers, then, I would say, you are in trouble...

As for me, in a friendly game, who cares...in a FTF tournament game, it just depends on my partner but I would rather have one...

GS:)

[Verite663]

I really like 1 vs 1 games, it always produces great games as both sides teams are all synchronized to the perfection and there's also a lot more errors on both sides thus giving really different outcomes.
But I really dislike being alone versus 2 or more opponents even if sometimes, they disagree on certain decisions and then their spirits can be broken which can help me beat them.
Never played with or against a stranger though, might be totally different.

[RuHurt]

I prefer playing by myself, partly for the same reasons Yoper mentioned, but mostly because I don't know any good A&A players I could team up with, and in that situation I work best alone :D.

[oculona]

I prefer Team games with competent players. I enjoy the camaraderie of plotting and planning. Solo games are fun, but they don’t hold the same over all enjoyment as teams and tend to lead me towards A&A burnout quicker.

I win the vast majority of my solo games, but I would prefer to play with a team and lose if that is our outcome. I guess what I am saying is that hanging out with friends is more important than a win.

Egads the rambling...guess I should wait till I wake up more to post :b

[squirecam]

Psyco...

I guess it depends on the situation in which you are playing under. I know Yoper loves to play solo, but most guys that I know that play at Origins and GEN CON, when playing in a FTF tournament, would be strongly against any ruling that would make the tournament a single player tournament. Is a matter of fact, I recent polled that exact question and to much dismay, many where against the idea. Some thought it might be nice to try, but for the most part, they liked having a partner to catch mistakes and the like...plus just having a partner is kindof cool.

Yes, the big downfall is when you don't have a partner and you need to find one and it is someone that when rolling dice, shoots them with his fingers, then, I would say, you are in trouble...

As for me, in a friendly game, who cares...in a FTF tournament game, it just depends on my partner but I would rather have one...

GS:)

It helps if you both have a similar strategy. When the countries dont work as one, they lose more often than not. A "pickup" partner tends to hamper success IMHO.

Squirecam

[AxisRoll]

Yes TeamAR Rocks. But if your not on the same page it works against you.

[A&ADude]

i like playing with a team, at least its not all my fault when i lose

[DocD]

True dat Dude....Vollick has saved my hide in our game!
And of course if we lose, it's all his fault! :D