It has been the author's experience that, unless the game is staged at 1:1, the time scale means only one thing: the number of turns in a battle; and the ground scale means only one thing: the distance a man can move relative to the distance a man can shoot. Therefore no scale is given except in practical application: move distance, missile ranges, and turns in a game.
--Gary Rudolph, Missúm!, a set of minis rules for Tékumel (quote found on The Miniatures Page)
I can't make up my mind whether this guy is crazy like a fox or just plain crazy.
PoP!
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I have drawn three pieces today, and this -- with no hint of irony or
self-deprecation -- is the best of them all.
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Posts
First comment, so hello.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with wargames has been that the scales are all messed up, especially in games with guns. Even with 15mm figures there's just no way to use the same scale for figures and ground distance. You would need to play in a gymnasium.
I think what the guy says makes sense. It's an abstraction, so just accept that and move on.
"If you're wondering how he eats and breathes and other science facts, Just repeat to yourself 'It's just a show, I should really just relax'"
John
PS I've only recently started reading your blog, and it's played a big part in reawakening my interest in RPGs for the first time in... oh, 15 years. Thanks.
I completely agree with this sentiment, actually. So I'm voting crazy like a fox to make myself feel better.
ReplyDeleteA common way to determine how far troops can move / how long a turn should be was to compare the distance actually moved in battle with the time the battle actually took.
ReplyDeleteThis has always provided unrealistic scales.
On the other hand, using "proving ground" values gives us super-troops who can move completely across the board in one turn. Clearly, some compromise is needed.
What you need to decide up front is whether you want an uber-tactical monster that plays slowly or a fast-paced game that sacrifices some of the verisimilitude to let you get on with things.
I prefer the latter myself.
Another vote for "crazy like a fox". The absolute value of a time unit in a wargame is pretty meaningless, especially for the old-style ones where the game ended in X turns no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI'll say crazy like a fox as well.
ReplyDeleteI was looking into writing up some rules for 6mm WWII minis using a true groundscale. I gave up. A decent rifle shot at 500 yards ends up being just about 6 feet in truescale. Once you add in tanks and 88mm Flak 36s, you're approaching gymnasium land. I don't want to have to make that much terrain!
Actually, I should have said "5 feet" above. Math is hard!
ReplyDeleteKorgoth-I had a similar idea, except with Heavy Gear. I wanted to buy enough Japanese model rail road buildings to build a small village, and lay everything out on a really big table. I even started collecting the buildings, buying one or two at a time until I realized how much money I was going to spend.
ReplyDeleteLike a fox. A smart, game-wise, and basically not at all crazy fox.
ReplyDeleteBut what about relating turn lengths to reaction times, reload times, and generally the time it takes for a given type of combat to have an effect?
ReplyDeleteI'm not suggesting the guy hasn't made a good game but I suspect he's fudged those into his sequence of play just as he did the factors he does mention.