What do you want to see on game mats?

**OmegaLazarus** · 04-10-2013, 14:05

Originally Posted by Beowulf03809

I guess I've always been bugged by what seems to me to be the inappropriate application of the term 'strategic'. In my view strategic is the 'big picture' and is reflected better in games that deal with a very abstract view of units (squadrons, companies, task forces, etc.). Battles between forces at this level is likewise abstracted. Tactical deals with the actual battles. This can be at small formation scale (FoW for example is individual vehicles but platoon scale infantry) down to individual models. Strategic games represent weeks, months or even years of time. Tactical games simulate usually just a few hours. Although I enjoy playing them, I always balk when I hear "Real Time Strategy" game...Real Time Tactical is more like it.

/soapbox off

Preach it, brother! One of my big beefs that has come about with the widespread acceptance of 28mm (and heroic) as the main minis scale is that you lose the ability to play a full strategic area (even the smallest strategic scale such as a large battle as in 'battle of cambrai' or 'battle of the bulge.' Many games rightfully acknowledge the systems as 'skirmish' level, but they still do this one thing that irks me... range. Why bother going to the trouble of producing men to scale with scale weapons, scale terrain, scale vehicles etc. then having them shoot 50 scale ft with a machine gun. You pretty much have to go to 2mm scale to get to use realistic ranges if you are including any vehicle mounted guns. Even at Napoleonic land war ranges, you need 10mm or less if you want to show more than a couple of units or if you want full use of artillery.

The point is, if you are not using scale range, then the men are no longer actual men (as they are billed), they are elaborate abstract markers that take up waaaaayy to much space for their actual size.

Man your post really set me off. I think I need to relax.

I should point out that Ares does a pretty good job of this with WoW, which is one of the things I like, but that the problem really only shows up in these games where you are supposedly representing each individual soldier (and they have individual weapons) and represent their particular health, damage, whatever in a separate way (usually with dice).