Anyone trying out new rules?

[Essex Boy]

The rules don't matter. You lot will take the pizz out of me regardless. Except Tim H, who's a gentleman.

[Essex Boy]

The rules don't matter. You lot will take the pizz out of me regardless. Except Tim H, who's a gentleman.

[Zenbadger]

Far more important than any set of wargames rules, are the people you play Toy Soldiers with, get that right and the rules, whatever they may be, (apart from boring) assume their correct position in the grand scheme of things...

I think there are several categories of rules to suit several categories of opponents. I have a friend who is another "go with the flow" type of guy and we can play arcane rulesets with appendices to the appendix of situational modifiers for accuracy of shot on a moderately windy day in late July. I have another friend who would end up in bloody chunks in the skip around the back of Maccy Ds if we ever attempted to play that kind of game but we can play less complex rules and have a very convivial time. And then there are games such as 40K and Team Yankee which I can happily play with complete strangers. There is a definite art to selecting the correct game to suit the company, just like wine or cheese, one size does not fit all.

[Jeremy]

I game to get away from it all and always strive to play a scenario, regardless of period. As long as the rules provide a modicum of historical accuracy, we’re always happy to tweak and fine tune. I’m out to have fun, and generally have a couple of drinks when I’m playing, my job is stressful enough, why do I want o bring that to the wargames table?

[battleeditor]

No.

I've spent years trying to work out what I want from a set of wargames rules and distilling that into a rules system of my own. I really can't be arsed to spend money on any more, regardless of their potential merit (and I'm sure that there are many extremely good rulesets out there that I'm missing out on) and if pushed, I'd prefer to go back to an old ruleset that has proved reasonably robust in the past.

Learning new rulesets just gets in the way of the fun and makes my head hurt. I don't want to have to think about learning new rules any more, when what I have already produces the kind of game I want. (I think this may be one of the reasons that I find it difficult to warm to most boardgames, which have to be learned from scratch every time.) Fortunately, I play very few games so it's not much of an issue.

The blunt fact is, time is precious, and I have so many other things in life I'm trying to achieve that wargaming needs to be a simple, pleasurable activity – I need my dwindling reserves of brainpower for other stuff.

[World2dave]

The rules don't matter. You lot will take the pizz out of me regardless.

Even when you ineptly post the same thing twice?

[Jeremy]

Aren’t all rules for a period and scale of play, essentially the same, just with minor tweaks?

I always find similarities and that outcomes, etc for one hold true to another

[Tim Hall]

Aren’t all rules for a period and scale of play, essentially the same, just with minor tweaks?

I always find similarities and that outcomes, etc for one hold true to another

Ultimately Jeremy "YES",certainly that has become my standpoint as I got older. It helps not being a "gamer" as well, at least where I am concerned. But your point is the essence of the issue. When you boil them all down, there is only a limited number of ways of coming to the conclusion that one needs to throw a 5 or a 6 to kill that soldier in cover at medium range. So why not just cut out all the fluff and pseudo science (usually there in a vague attempt to masquerade as "accurate historical simulation") and say just that. Better still use dice like the Command and Colours type with graphic symbols and let pure chance make the calculation. Anybody who clings to the notion that a game of toy soldiers is an accurate representation of a historical battlefield situation is deluding themselves and others. In my callow youth I got really angry when Paddy Griffith suggested that to get a reasonably historically accurate "war game" one does away with toy soldiers etc, but now I understand what he meant, and he was right if that is what you want to achieve. Otherwise join the dark side with us and just enjoy playing with toy soldiers, it's just so much easier and cathartic to come out and admit that's what we do.

[Buff Orpington]

I agree with just about all the points raised, especially the myth of historically accurate simulation. All I need is a nod towards the accepted wisdom of what went on in the period covered.
Non historical gaming is a horse of a different feather though. I bought a bundle of figures and the associated rules for "Twelve Elements of War" on Ebay. The figures are really lovely resin pieces that I will take ages to complete. While the rule mechanics aren't revolutionary they have taken a bold step with the background. Nothing seems more set in stone than the perception among fantasy gamers that Elves dislike Dwarves, who hate goblins etc. In this set there is nothing to stop you having one of every race in the same band and that is how the starter sets are made up. I can think of one or two people who will be willing to give them s try so I'll see how it goes.

[Penda]

I enjoy playing games with my gaming chums, here in GHQ and elsewhere, but I've never been keen on learning rules. It seems to me that knowing the rules leads to playing the system and not the period; the latter I would suggest is what we want to do, the former can often get in the way. Although I've written several sets of rules for publication I found that in recent years I tended to conflate them in my mind, applying a mechanism from one set erroneously to another, it's down to age and priorities I'm sure. We christened this The 'Hail Powder & Shotte' syndrome! So, I decided as far as possible to stick to one set in our Horse & Musket games, Black Powder which suits our style of game. I can manage Rapid Fire 2 & Bolt Action for WWII and my own rules for the ECW. I leave the rest to Phil, he's younger you see.I've even started giving away rules I'll no longer need!