OddBattles

First, is it miniatures wargaming or miniature wargaming or just miniatures? Something else?

We still haven’t thought up a name for our game, system, or miniatures. We are actually more arguing about what it is we are naming. This post is an attempt to clarify what it is we are trying to accomplish. Do we want to allow a theme or miniature type dictate the game or do we want a game system that can be used with anything? I lean towards the latter, but it may be too ambitious at this point. He is being more miniatures driven and is having a hard time understanding what it means to think in terms of a set of rules as opposed to the pieces of plastic themselves. I’m sure we’ll somewhere in the middle.

I don’t guess it matters. My son and I have been working on a rule system for our game we one day wish to formalize. But today he asked me what to name “his game.” After thinking about it, and in truth I had been thinking about it, I still go back to my other thought that a game system ought to not revolve around a particular set of miniatures, but instead around a game rule set. Although it may be the small figures that give miniatures wargaming its name, ultimately, I believe (naively perhaps), it is the game system that gives the game its existence.

This is the point I try to make in my previous post: Think in rule sets instead of simply miniatures. I’m not trying to discount the miniatures. How could I? That wouldn’t make much sense. But if you have a set of miniatures for wargaming, you love the theme, the background of real or fantasy history, but despise the game itself, you have a set of models instead of miniature wargaming miniatures.

It is here all games converge, whether it is a boardgame, RPG, or Miniature Wargame. There is a special convergence, however, with RPG systems, and I think it’s worth noting. Simplistically, in an RPG you have a theme and a gaming system. You might have paperwork to keep up with your characters and you usually have a fairly complex set of variables and modifiers by which to play your game. In a miniatures wargame, and here my lack experience will show itself, the rules don’t tend to be as complex. You don’t typically get down to the minutiae that an RPG does. And while miniatures always, I think, has miniatures, it could be played without them, and an RPG, while not requiring a miniature, can often time use them. There are many RPG miniatures on the market to enhance what could be a purely mental endeavor and there are lots of rule sets begging to be used with a set of miniatures. Without over analyzing I’m sure that both sides are saying, yet, but here… and that is just what I am talking about. They are so similar you can argue that way.

Though he just wants a name, I’m more interested in his understanding why we are naming what we are naming. I won’t be too hard or analytical, don’t worry. I don’t want him to be so lost he looses interest. We’ll keep it fun.

It’s the thought process behind the naming and game design that I hope can be appreciated in this initial stage. This is only the beginning.

Well, since we have a few painted men, we have to decide what to do with them and for me that’s where things get hard to figure out.  Miniature wargaming is not like picking a prepackaged boardgame.  There are some games in a box to get you started and that might be a good way for you to start.  For example, Games Workshop has a Lord of the Rings starter set with the fellowship versus orc and a cave troll (I think.)  But what I figured out is that you can buy any set of rules and use any sort of miniature to use those rules.

You could pick Star Wars Miniature Battles, now about 17 years old, and buy small Star Wars figures and be set.  The scale wouldn’t be exactly right, but it would work.  My point is that you can pick any set of rules and use rocks if you want.  The miniatures are nice and neat to look at but they are not necessary, strictly speaking.  So if you don’t understand and have a ton of money, what I’d like to suggest is that you look around at an older set of rule and use what you have, whether it is army men, Star Wars figures, or anything else.

What we did was find cheap but recommended rule sets and that is what I want to pass on to you.  Start thinking in rule set as a game and not Monopoly or Catan.  Miniature Wargames are more like RPGs than board games.  Our first two sets we bought were The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game by Games Workshopand and older set by the now defunct West End Games,which you will often see as WEG, called Star Wars Miniatures Battles.

There are also free sources online for free rulesets for miniature wargaming:

www.juniorgeneral.org

www.miniaturewargaming.com

www.freewargamesrules.co.uk

http://grognard.com/recom.html#miniatures

I know I haven’t done a great deal of explaining on what to do with these rules, but that will become evident as we move forward.  You’ll also find that some rules and systems are better than others.  One of the things I hate worst in many of the rules is that they all assume you know what’s going on.  They have no way to initiate the new player into the hobby quickly and in an understandable way.  If a miniatures wargame book of rules doesn’t have an example of play, I get upset and discouraged quickly. 

That blurred, glazed eyed look will go away in time because as you progress you will know what’s going on in the miniatures hobby.  For that reason, though I mention Star Wars Miniatures Battles above, it doesn’t yet have an example that I could find.  But the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle game does.  You can pick them both up cheap without having to buy $45 worth of miniatures too.  You can buy the book, see what they require to play, and build up as you can.

Another thing I look for is a good forum for that distinct product, if I’m really interested.  Also don’t worry if you are going to buy a “dead game.”  You probably are.  You didn’t expect to play them for eternity did you?  And some companies such as Games Workshop are known for engineering their product in such a way that you continuously have to buy new figures to be competitive.  Just find something that you are interested in and sooner or later you will find a miniature wargame rule set to use.  You might want to see if there is a club in your area too, if you plan on playing lots of other people.  You may even want to form your own group or club.

I’m going to be collecting more rules as I go along. One day we’ll start our own set of rules, but not yet…

You can sometimes find older wargame rules cheaply on ebay.

Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game: