by dommer2029
Why:My gaming group meets on weekday evenings, when time is limited, and has more deep thinkers than quick triggers, so we need a variant that actually lets us finish.
Also, we're not fans of games that devolve into petty diplomacy, so we need a variant that avoids that.
Finally, since this is the first time we have picked up the game in a long time, variant rules that reduce the decision-making in places we lack the expertise to make intelligent choices are helpful in speeding the game without losing depth.
What:
Setup: After randomly determining the 4 nuked areas, draw 10 more areas and place 3 armies of the fifth color on each of them. These neutral armies play the same role as neutral armies according to the 2-player rules.
Pair the players into two 2-person teams.
Instead of having players choose their starting territories, use the Land Territories deck to give each player 7 random starting territories. Each player takes their remaining starting forces (18 MODs, 2 commanders, 1 station, according to the 5-player rules) and places them according to the normal setup rules.
Turn order: Randomly determine which team goes first on the first turn. Give that team the 1 and 4 player order markers, and the other team the 2 and 3 player order markers. Each team decides which player gets which marker before the turn begins.
At the beginning of year two, the teams trade markers, and again decide which player on each team gets which marker.
At the beginning of year three, players bid for turn order according to the standard rules.
The game ends at the end of year three, with players on each team summing their scores.
Special team rules: None. You can talk to your parter and show him/her your cards, but you can't give energy or cards or units, you can't coexist on a single territory, you can't get a continent bonus for sharing a continent between you, if you want to take your partner's territory you have to roll for combat, etc.
Did it work? Yeah, pretty well. It still took us three hours from setup to takedown, so a 5-year game would have been impossible. And it was clear that one team was ahead about halfway through year 2, so we didn't feel that losing the last two turns altered the outcome. With petty diplomacy removed, the game has more of a snowball effect favoring the leader, so it may be that a 3-year game for team games will be right even once we are more experienced.