What do you do when you have three players? We tried having one player play two games at once and the other two players suffered because they had extra time to second guess themselves. So it didn't go well. The next option we may explore is two vs one where the two both get 100 points and the one players gets 200 points.

Take turns, usually. Cut games short when it's semi-obvious who will win.

Stick to 2 v 1, 100pts a side, on the two player side I'd recommend a configuration where an unexpecteded early loss doesn't exclude a player ie. a four ship list or tough large ship plus two small. Swap teams/factions etc each round, it's fun to try and co-ordinate with a wingman.

All versus all. It´s funny. There is a mission in the IG-2000 expansión, you can take it as an example .

Royal Rumble!!!!!

Thunderdome style. One of the players has to hold the other on his shoulders, he's the 'blaster'. The person on top directing everything is the 'master'.

This sounds like it would create one super person, but in reality master blaster is as uncoordinated as the single person. They'll just trip over one another, the person on the bottom has to concentrate more on holding the brains of the operation than helping with any planning.

We usually go for a 2 v 1 approach, 200 points per side. (Although we do still put the list building restrictions of two 100 point lists on the person who is fielding 200 points solo.)

Thunderdome style. One of the players has to hold the other on his shoulders, he's the 'blaster'. The person on top directing everything is the 'master'.

This sounds like it would create one super person, but in reality master blaster is as uncoordinated as the single person. They'll just trip over one another, the person on the bottom has to concentrate more on holding the brains of the operation than helping with any planning.

Agreed. Then the two players should be able to show each other their dials and coordinate their efforts...as long as it is not with earshot of the one player.

We usually go for a 2 v 1 approach, 200 points per side. (Although we do still put the list building restrictions of two 100 point lists on the person who is fielding 200 points solo.)

That makes a lot of sense.

3' equilateral play area.

Winner takes all.

Furball ! 1 ship each capped at 30 something points.

Not sure how this is a problem. Ships move and attack based on pilot skill, and everything else is simultaneous. So having a third player shouldn't be a problem. Temporary alliances is an issue, but that's the case with pretty much all group games.

We tried having one player play two games at once and the other two players suffered because they had extra time to second guess themselves.

Sounds like the players are the problem, not the setup. If you're "suffering" from having extra time to plan, that's the player's fault.

3 players seems to be the most common way I play, and we usually just do a 2-on-1 game. The main issue is that the single player usually has a significant advantage because he/she doesn't have to discuss his/her plans with teammates.

One of our solutions is to play Heroes of the Aturi Cluster. It's not exactly the same game, but it's at least as much fun, and is much more amenable to an odd number of players.

I also drew a hexagon on my homemade playmat, in addition to the normal deployment zones. Although I haven't tried it yet, the idea is that it's possible to do 3-player games where everyone's deployment zone is equidistant. I would also like to try it for a 6-player furball match sometime.

Cutthroat games with reduced points. Can do a Rock Paper Scissors games where you can only attack one player and get attacked by the other. Get creative

My friends and I play two ships each, 100 points, free for all ...

Yeah, sometimes one person might get ganged up, but its still fun

Send one player out for snacks. Problem solved.

a special 3-player format:

Each player makes their own squadron (100 points usually, can be changed as you like).

Each player is assigned a different target player. A targets B, B targets C, and C targets A

You may only attack your target player's ships. The first player to eliminate their target wins. You can still block and otherwise disrupt your non-target player but you cannot attack them.

So my group plays a Bounty Hunter game when there are only 3 of us.

Standard 100 pt reb and imp builds. They must contain 3 ships and 1 must be a named pilot no ships > 50pts.

Reb and Imp must destroy the other squad then escape (with at least 1 ship) off the board to win.

S&V, gets interesting. They get 1 ship 50 pt max. Must be a named pilot and all cards are facedown, so know one knows who is hunting.

Pre-match: All named pilots are assigned a counter to indicate who they are and the BH picks one at random and hides it so only they know who they are hunting (They can not announce this). Additionally, they set up asteroids and choose one (we use ship numbers for this hidden under their facedown BH), this is where they are 'hiding'.

During match: At the end of any combat phase the BH can 'reveal' using any 1 template on their dial from the asteroid (cannot bump, same rules as boost or barrel roll apply), they cannot shoot this turn.

To win: The BH must GET THE KILL SHOT on their acquired bounty then escape the board to win.

Optional: "The Greedo Rule" BH player ALWAYS shoot last.

Its a fun little variant. Makes for some fun mini truces as you have to deal with the greatest threat to win the game. BH have a bit of an advantage (in our plays) but we round robin it and it makes for more fun when there are 3 of us and we rotate 2-man matches.

Send one player out for snacks. Problem solved.

Beerrun

We used to do 2v1 with magic it never ended well no one likes being ganged up on.

All versus all. It´s funny. There is a mission in the IG-2000 expansión, you can take it as an example .

That 1v1v1 mission is a lot of fun. It provides the objective needed to keep everyone truly unaligned with their fellow players.

a special 3-player format:

Each player makes their own squadron (100 points usually, can be changed as you like).

Each player is assigned a different target player. A targets B, B targets C, and C targets A

You may only attack your target player's ships. The first player to eliminate their target wins. You can still block and otherwise disrupt your non-target player but you cannot attack them.

Played quite few games similar to this. A targets B who targets C who targets A. Whoever dies first gives a victory to whoever targets them. The other person comes second. There are no restrictions on attacking. If A wants to shoot C to take him down a peg or two or even destroy him to avoid coming last then so be it.

I forget exactly how we did the startup but it involved initiative bids. The player with an advantage at startup (placing last) had to assign some stress tokens. The player placing first assigned no stress tokens. I think the 2nd player had a smaller number than the last player.

I think the first two players had to come on from opposite sides of the board. Leaving the 3rd player the choice of the remaining 2. You then didn't get 1 player starting next to their target whilst being away from their hunter.

Furball ! 1 ship each capped at 30 something points.

These are fun quick games.

There are a ton of things you can do. There are a number of good scenarios on Mission Control. Babaganoosh made a good one that was 3 person. Imperials with good force (but not enough) defending. Rebels need to steal cargo, but have to hire Scum. Scum is on same side...until at some point they will try to steal it. It's a really cool concept and interesting to see when the Scum will turn on the Rebels.

Lots of different ways you can play a game like that.

Came close to this a our club, not many players on the friday night one, we considered a Imp v S&V v Rebel 3 way furball. Probably will get around to it .