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  • #149824
    Avatar photoAngel Barracks
    Moderator

    Do your games escalate?

    I was listening to some Warhammer books on Audible and the 1st one I really liked, sort of low key adventure stuff.
    The next was a bit more intense, and then the next was a bit more, and the next, and so on, currently the one I am on is so over the top I have given up.
    It seems a trope / theme in fantasy that a good story must involve saving the world.

    It is I think the main draw that Conan has on me, the stories are not about saving the world, they are all about him getting by as best he can.
    Sometimes this means robbing a wizards tower, other times captaining a ship, serving as a bodyguard or as an army general.
    But always about him aiming on having a full stomach and a bed to sleep in, low key stuff.

    This got me thinking about my WFB games, they will be a combination of small scale skirmish and traditional battle.
    But already I am planning the next unit, getting that super cool war wagon.
    However there are some units I wont get as Samantha does not have the troops to defeat it, so that power unit will remain unbought/made.
    Keep it simple and don’t go all full on power models bent on world domination.
    But then I am planning big sieges..

    I am worried I will end up playing with all the things and it becoming an attempt to chase the dragon.

    #149825
    Avatar photodeephorse
    Participant

    Just set your inner megalomaniac free Mike.  My gaming is mostly WWII and I have more Maus models than were made in real life, plus an E100, two E75s, some other stuff that only existed as ink on paper, and a bunch of Katzchen.  You’ll feel better for it.

    Play is what makes life bearable - Michael Rosen

    #149826
    Avatar photoSteven Francis
    Participant

    The best games tend to be smaller and more narrative for me but that can include escalation. Many years ago we played 2nd edition 40k with a mini campaign, starting with two squads and a low level character and then adding a few hundred points each game. Worked well but then we never got much above 1500 points.

    It is always a risk of anything that the next one has to be “more”…Star Wars springs to mind with that. But it often feels fresh to role it back to the smaller scales after that epic battle.

    #149829
    Avatar photoirishserb
    Participant

    I would say that there are different things to be experienced through games of different scope, but any assumption that the grand battle or grand cause always provides the best game is incorrect.  Also, I think what you suggest is often true for genres and periods other than fantasy.

    As I consider the various periods that I play, the most memorable games are more often than not, very small, simple games, despite my general delight with big tables and big battles.

    #149834
    Avatar photoGeof Downton
    Participant

    I think that the most enjoyable games are those which are simple, and tell a good story. If the aim is to obtain the ruby which forms the eye of the Idol of the Abominable Lord Cov Id XIX, that’s straight forward and fun. It matters not if the ruby prevents the release of a pestilence over the entire world, or if it pays for beer, a bed and a bawdy lass…

    One who puts on his armour should not boast like one who takes it off.
    Ahab, King of Israel; 1 Kings 20:11

    #149836
    Avatar photoDarkest Star Games
    Participant

    I’m with you Mike, I like the same things about Conan, and have never been a fan of the “save the world” trope.  I think a lot of RPGs having “levels” and incredible improvements in abilities makes them treated almost like management ranks at corporations: the more you have the more you have to do with it.  Do you really have to worry about your next meal when you can shift to multiple planes/dimensions each day and pass through solid stone walls at will…?  It’s one reason why I like tabletop Vietnam campaigns so much, your troops are just trying to make it through their 1-year tour of duty, and any rank they gain isn’t likely to be too upwardly mobile (I mean, you’d go from being a member of a 10 man squad to leading it).  It makes it easy to keep the game personal.  Ya, the squad might get pulled into larger battles, but in the end it’s still all about that one squad regardless of what happens to other units.

    I guess what I am saying is: go crazy with all of the other stuff you want to add if for nothing more than the sake of fun, but keep the games personally focused.  If that makes sense.    Not necessarily simple, just personal.  I think that’s where you succeed with Burning Sands.

    "I saw this in a cartoon once, but I'm pretty sure I can do it..."

    #149844
    Avatar photoMike Headden
    Participant

    My gaming is inspired by the line attributed to Samuel Goldwyn,”Start with an earthquake, then work up to a climax!”  🙂

    My WW2 Germans were originally going to be a battalion of infantry with a tank company and some artillery as support.

    If I ever get it all painted I’ll be able to field a Panzergrenadier Division!

    My Napoleonic French and Russian forces were going to be 8 infantry battalions, a foot and a horse battery and a unit each of light and heavy cavalry. I have enough figures to field Davout’s 1st Corp and Bagration’s 2nd West Field Army at Borodino.

    On the plus side, should WW3 happen I have enough lead to significantly reduce the amount of radiation hitting me 🙂

    There are 100 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who can work from incomplete data

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