War College: The Demo Rules (my version)

In this post I went over the set of rules Vincent proposed using for the purposes of demonstrating Mobile Frame Zero: Rapid Attack.  I do things a little differently so I figured I'd give people a look at the way I run demo games.

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One objective in the middle of the battlefield. Everybody gets two frames, both Soldiers.  The reason why I run all soldiers for the demos is the Frames may look different but they all do the same thing and that's easier to keep track of.  Also, you only work at one range band until things get damaged.  I set the frames up myself on the battlefield, one team at each of the major compass points, starting behind a wall of some sort.  It's important that everybody has a frame a Ruler length away from the objective, but nobody has one closer.  I also set smaller walls (1 Hit each) at the secondary compass points at half a Ruler length from the objective.

Because everybody's sides are equal, everything on the board is worth 5 points to everybody, so I just say that: "in the full game, things are worth different points to different players, but here, everything's worth 5 points.  You each have 2 frames so you each have 10 points. If you lose a frame, you lose 5 points.  If you grab the objective, you gain 5 points." Set the doomsday clock to 7.  Expect to play at least three turns.  "When the doomsday clock hits zero, whomever has the most points wins." Since everybody's sides are equal, nobody has initiative.  "In the full game, initiative depends on how many points you have, and maybe we'll see that next turn, but since everybody's equal, we'll just start on the dealer's left and go around." If you're quick with the rules, this is a 15- or 20-minute demo for 2 - 3 players, maybe a 30-minute demo for 4.  I think it's sort of easier to explain the rules as you go. I've always found you want to get the dice in their hands and GO. "Here's the Ruler, this is how Range and Movement works. This is a Frame; this part attacks, this part defends, this part makes it move, this part Spots (explain that when it comes up in the turn). Here's your dice, roll them all together and pick out the highest ones."  And so on, and so forth.

Here's a picture of Vincent demoing with my set-up.

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When I run demos it's more about teaching people how the dice work and decision making within the framework of the game itself.  I'm not trying to teach all of the rules for MFZ.