Running out of Time!

For a while now I have been playing around with the idea of playing Lord of War against the clock. The game can already get very tense particularly towards the end of a game, but I really wanted to create a sense of chaos on the battlefield.

I have had a few games in the past against my son using a timer on my phone, but this weekend I finally got the chance to play with a chess timer.

The timer changes the game and the tactics become completely different. Decisions need to be made quickly especially if you start to fall behind on cards taken. Unlike normal games you do not play to a certain amount of cards claimed, instead you continue to play until the timer has run out for one of the players. You still get an extra turn when you kill a general and 4 command cards will still result in an instant win.(but this must be announced before the timer runs out). At the end of the game points are scored for units as normal (1 for each and extra 2 for general and 1 for other command cards) in addition to these points the player who ran out of time loses 5 points.

It can get a little chaotic, if a player presses the button then their turn is over - if they missed a card draw or a combat result it will simply have to wait until next time. If a player does something out of their turn they will lose a point (at the opponents discretion)

I will be arranging an event soon using these rules, and with the random armies that a draft creates it really feels like it fits with that form ... so watch this space.