Last Friday whist playing Vietnam, a old friend of mine sat down to watch a turn or two.
He then turned to me and said "is the a wargame or a boardgame?"
He was referring to the fact the game is played on squares.
What would your response have been?
"Yes"
I would ask nicely.
"does that make a difference to you?"
If it does make a difference to him/her, then I might thank them and carry on with the game.
Conversely you could waste 12 minutes discussing the difference(s).
In conclusion, you could ask him/her what the ratio of volumes are of a 3cm cube and a 9cm cube.
83% of gamers/people are not able to change their perspective. Try to figure out initially if he is a 17% member. If not, just be polite and carry on with more important matters?
martin :)
I forget to add Sean. The game should be played in 28mm?
martin :)
Quote from: martin goddard on September 10, 2024, 10:31:52 AMI forget to add Sean. The game should be played in 28mm?
martin :)
Well, that goes without saying ;D ;D
The answer 'yes' did cross my mind, but it may have confused the issue.
The more pertinent question is 'does it matter?' It's the same old critiscism, but I remained strong and once the gamae had finished everyone said they had enjoyed it. I dont think they cared whether it was a board game or a wargame.
Actually, they knew they had played a wargame. So in the end what does it matter?
Indeed Sean. It does not matter, but gives a commentator a chance to talk.
martin :)
Can you see a board? If yes, it's a board game. If no, then it's not. Either way, does it matter?
John
Also what is the definition of a board? A cardboard printed map with squares? Or could it be a Geek Villain mat with dots to denote squares and traditional wargaming scenery laid upon it?
Personally I think it's a moot point. A wargame, a boardgame a wargame boardgame, a tabletop miniatures game played on a board, a miniatures tabletop game played on a table. Who cares? Roll dice, move your men and try a pointless frontal assault. It's bound to work this time 😀
One of the many odd things about the hobby is that for a lot of people the defining feature of a miniature wargame is not miniatures at all, it's tape measures.
Quote from: usagitsuki on September 10, 2024, 07:01:23 PMOne of the many odd things about the hobby is that for a lot of people the defining feature of a miniature wargame is not miniatures at all, it's tape measures.
This made me smile 😃
Quote from: Sean Clark on September 10, 2024, 11:33:44 PMQuote from: usagitsuki on September 10, 2024, 07:01:23 PMOne of the many odd things about the hobby is that for a lot of people the defining feature of a miniature wargame is not miniatures at all, it's tape measures.
This made me smile 😃
Tape measure wars or "mine's longer than yours..." ☺
Neil
This does raise an interesting point though that IMO some games are aided for the overall experience by terrain and figures while for others it can be a distraction.
A good example is Sam Mustafa's Blucher game. It's actually as good, well created game and I have played it various times. For me it works really well with the cards produced for the game and a flat surface - with felt terrain, so played on a sort of map.
But figures and terrain actually makes the game harder to play and do not add at all to the game. It makes it harder to play (unless you have custom bases foir the game) as you can mark all effects on the cards with erasable pens etc and so it makes it easy. The scakle oif the game is so high level it feel right tio move around tokens for large units etc. and you don't see the individual elements as you are the army commander.
The opposite example is the Zombicide games. Although officially a board game, painted miniatures make that gaming experience much better. Seeing the large groups on baddies targeting your fig is great part of the game. Thats a much better experience when playing than having unpainted mini's or even card tokens in the same game would ever do.
So IMO sometimes it more the style of game which works better with card/paper vs. figs and terrain.