Halo:Fleet Battles and the 4-faction Rule

[Ruckdog]

So, for those that listen to the D6 Generation podcast, you may have heard of the "4-Faction Rule" for miniature wargaming. For those that haven't heard of it, here is a quick summary:

Four Faction Rule: In order for a minature game to reach "critical mass" and catch on in a big way, it needs to have at least 4 factions. The reason for this is that four factions are the minimum number that are required in order to have enough variety to hook gamers who play the game at regular (ie, at least once a week) intervals.

Now, obviously there have been exeptions to this rule; X-Wing being the most obvious one. However, it has been my experience that this rule generally holds true. Given that, how will Halo: Fleet Battles overcome this? Will it be an exception, like X-Wing, or will it need to have other factions like the Flood added to keep it interesting in the long haul?

[Landlubber]

I think they'll have to introduce more factions at some point. One of the things that worries me about this game (under all of my excitement) is that it is a smaller universe, compared to Firestorm Armada--where creativity is the only limiting factor. X-Wing is in the same boat as far as factions go; I don't know if there are other factions they could use, now that Scum and Villainy is out. But this might be offset by the fact that X-Wing games are so short.

But I digress.

I can see them introducing the Flood as a faction at some point. But those are going to be mostly captured UNSC and Covenant ships. And that would be stretching the fabric of the Halo story anyway...I don't know that there were ever any fleet engagements between Flood and Covenant or UNSC ships. But, much like with Star Wars and ST Attack Wing, the possibility is there that it COULD have happened.

The only other truly separate faction I can think of would be human separatists. The SPARTAN program was originally designed to deal with rebel human colonies, but I don't know if those rebels had access to ships.

Unless they break down the Covenant into its constituent parts. Remember, the Covenant is a conglomeration of several species that are united under the same whacked out religion. I guess it is possible for there to be pure Sangheili (otherwise known as the Elites) fleets, or pure Jiralhanae (otherwise known as the Brutes) fleets. But I don't know what those ships would look like.

[Ruckdog]

Interesting thoughts! I didn't know about the separatists part of the Halo fluff. It also might be need to field "pure" fleets of the various races that make up the Covenant. Those could all help act to counterbalance the fact there are only 2 main factions.

I wonder, though, if Spartan will be given enough leeway to create a whole new faction for the setting? It might be interesting if they did!