Hello fellow Mice,
after reading more other Burning Wheel games i came to an epiphany.
If you play a whole year as described in the seasons chapter (x weather twists before end of season) than things are much easyier for your patrol. If they fail to archive something in the players turn than they can do that next session the GM turn because most times this will be something related to that session. One of the patrol get’s captured and the others don’t have enough tests to free her? Next missions goal : "Free the captured Guardmouse and something else. Since you are telling one cohesive story over the year there is not really a reason to do anything else.
If you play 3 sessions, spring, summer, fall - than it is much harder for the patrol.
If Guardmouse X is captured in spring than there is no reason for them to wait until summer to free her, it’s impossible. You HAVE to do it in this playerturn or it’s over.
If they fail to reach the goal of the mission in the Players Turn than they FAIL the mission, there is no “trying next turn” for them.
Is this correct? Does the episodic nature of this kind of campaign harder on the mice?
In this case you really have to think about what to do with the turn and how to get multiple tests or otherwise they can’t reach their mission and personal goals, maybe not even one of them.
If you want to make Mouse Guard a game of hard choices you want to play one session per season, correct?
My main problem then is, that you don’t create a cohesive campaign because there is a lot of time between sessions where “nothing” happens in the game. The mice still are doing something but it isn’t important enough to warant to be played. You have a really episodic game and can’t really make story arcs. How would you do it?