Is it all getting a bit complicated?

[Chris Pringle]

An Oxford man should really be insisting that wargaming be put on hold for twenty years until all rule-sets can be rendered into acceptable medieval Latin.

Well, it depends which philosophical school one adheres to. Yes, there are the Platonic Idealists seeking perfection and never actually getting anything done. There are also the Stoics putting up with [insert name of ruleset you most detest] despite its obvious glaring deficiencies and painful tedium. I am more of a Pragmatist/Realist/Hedonist - hence games that get completed in an evening, bear some resemblance to a historical action, and are fun.  

Chris

[Chris Pringle]

No, he shouldn't !

Latin is a language,
as dead as dead can be,
at first it killed the Romans,
and now it's killing me.

Cheers - Phil (In his youth.....circa 15 AD.)

It's not dead at all. An Oxford wargames club night rarely passes without some pertinent Latin phrase being deployed such as "Aleae iactae sunt", "Veni-vidi-vici", or "Nil illegitimum carborundum".

Vale
Chris

[Leman]

Winky wanky wonky!

[paulr]

... "Aleae iactae sunt"...

Is that what happens if it rolls low repeatedly

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

"Nil illegitimum carborundum".

Does that come with garlic bread?

[Last Hussar]

I tend to reach for the Middle German, for as Billy Connolly put it, people know Exactly what you mean, even if they don't speak English.

Modern rules are much better. Remember the long list of modifiers to be applied to a roll for everything? I wrote a skirmish game like that- unplayable. Far more pragmatic is the "black box" approach: I don't need to know odds of hitting, penetrating, damagind, etc.  I just need to know one number that will kill the tank I'm firing at.

[Orcs]

Remember the long list of modifiers to be applied to a roll for everything?

I think WRG Rennaisance rules by George Gush took this to the limit in the melee rules.

[Orcs]

I have been gaming since about 1975.  Money and the limited kit forced you to compromise on what you gamed with.

Now its almost a case if "if you want to game it, its there".  I think this is good for the gamers and saves lots of fiddling about converting stuff.  I am not a modeller I am a wargamer. I do not want to spend hours converting a unit.  I don't mind a paintbrush  conversion or using a reasonable proxie, but thats as far as I want to go. so the current situation suits me fine.


Some of the modern sets of rule are brilliant, giving a feel of the period and teh ability to finish a game in an evening or a big game in a day.   Others have lost the feel of the period.

Yes I have too much kit and while trying to rationalise will still get more,but it is an investment against the day I may not be able to afford stuff.

So in short Its a great time to be a wargamer.

My only concern is:-  Can all these varied ranges be commercially viable when the wargames comunity only has a finite amount of cash ?

[paulr]

Well said that man

[Norm]

My only concern is:-  Can all these varied ranges be commercially viable when the wargames comunity only has a finite amount of cash ?

The continued ability for the 15mm WWII market to grow seems to suggest that saturation point is further into the future than any of us would have once thought.