Reply To: "Golden Age of Wargaming"….perhaps not?

[oriskany 60771xp 2]

I have repeatedly and publicly (Sitrep Podcasts, etc.) maintained that we are most certainly not in a Golden Age of Gaming.  With very few exceptions, like Battlegroup, Valor & Victory, Force-on-Force, very few others, the overall trend toward short rules sets, accessibility, and “ease of play” has over-corrected to the point where too many games are downright simplistic.

Some, like my friend @cpauls1 , agree with me while maintaining we may be in a Golden Age of Miniatures.  Well, that’s 30% of the wargaming space at max (measured by titles and releases, not by market share … not in a market where a single land raider costs as much as entire rules set).  In any case, I can’t speak to that since I’m not really a miniatures guy.

But strictly in terms of rules, design, and tactical death, yeah … in many places (again, not all), we’re in a downslide to dystopian mediocrity.  The thing is, 5-page rule booklets are often more toublesome than well-designed 100-page rule books because all the brevity leads to ambiguity in the system.  Better to have a thick book that takes the time to explain the system in detail, with plenty of examples.  Also, the book needs to be properly organized to make reference easy.  That “organizational framework” also adds word-count and pages, which are often the first thing cut in shorter rules sets aimed at 10 pages or less.

And honestly, I don’t feel this issue applies just to historicals.  In sci-fi, game systems like Battletech and Renegade Legions and Traveler 2300 and FASA’s Starship Tactical Combat Simulator have been bulldozed by games like … well, I won’t say.

Panzer Leader, GDW Assault, the original 1989 Team Yankee, GMT Microarmor, Advanced Squadleader, buried by games like, well … I won’t say.

Even Fantasy, where TSR’s Battlesytem 2nd Edition has been replaced by games where engaged units “bounce back an inch” at the end of a turn and can pivot in place … Man, how many ancient and medieval commanders wish armies could actually do those kinds of things?

Please don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions.  And of course, there is the literal universe of games covered in places like Strategy & Tactics, Modern War, and World at War.  Panzer Grenadier system has over 110 expansions on Boardgame Geek.  The whole Tide of Iron series wasn’t bad, either, at least for a hybrid “3-D playing piece” / board model.

But these are peripheral, I’m afraid, compared to the majority of games that dominate the space.

Golden Age of Gaming?  Indeed, I remember 1970-1985 well.