Running a Successful Apocalypse Game, Part 1

Time to get something off my chest... I'm an administrator. By that I mean that I enjoy setting up events, planning things, making lists and following processes. I can almost hear one of my friends yelling "NERD!" as I type this. With that in mind I have run many Apocalypse games and am going to share my knowledge on the subject and some of the lessons I've learned while trying to make them successful events.

I've run both pre-planned games and pickup games with more experience doing the pre-planned variety. Members of my local club and I have played games ranging from 4,000 to 20,000 points per side. More planning done before the day of the game leads to a higher quality game experience for everyone involved. Today's post will cover how to plan for a succesful game when you know who will be playing and can form teams beforehand.

My club, B.C. Adeptus, uses forum software to communicate with each other during the planning stages. We start by picking a theme for the game. This could be simple like Imperials versus Tyranids with the Apocalypse mission. It can also be pretty complex with a well thought out storyline, different objectives for each players, etc. Then we pick teams and build lists. We've tried planning with private forum areas that segregate the two teams and we've done open planning where everybody can see everything. There are pros and cons to each style.

I prefer open forums when all the players know each other and are willing to be transparent. It makes it much easier to keep the opposing armies roughly balanced in power (which is a topic for another day).

Here's a timeline of what we do:
4-6 weeks prior: Setup the scenario, pick teams, agree on house rules.
2-4 weeks prior: Begin planning army lists and tactics. Make sure there will be plenty of terrain and tables.
1 week prior: Establish start and end times for the game. Confirm that everyone will be able to show up. Address other details, lunch plans, etc.
Game day: Everyone shows up and the game starts! No need to spend five hours doing prep work.

This is what works for us and we've had a blast playing in this style. I plan to cover how to manage pickup games of Apocalypse in a future post. In the meantime, what experiences have you had with Apocalypse?