Reply To: The Intersection of Simulation and Beer & Pretzels

[Jeff Glasco]

I agree with Not Connard Sage when he said, “It was very liberating getting away from all those ‘realistic’ 1980s rulesets.” How true that is. I started historical miniature wargaming in 1982, and it was all about ‘realistic’ rules back then. Only in the last few years have I been “liberated”, and I have backslid a few times and thought that I have to play those 1980s rules because they allow this tiny detail to be shown in the game, but now I’m free of that, and it has made wargaming a lot more enjoyable. One day it just dawned on me, rules really only need to represent the big reasons why battles turned out the way they did, the little stuff can get lost in the wash. I also don’t have to micro-manage every thing (actually I hated doing that with the older rules). So I do think a simpler set of rules can still get the big factors right and be a good simulation (if we can ever really simulate combat with toy soldiers).

Jeff