The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [35]
Player
Because of the costs involved in setting up a game and accurately representing troops through miniatures, wargamers tend to be older and thus have more purchasing power. Also due to cost, miniatures gamers tend to specialize, focusing on a particular era of play or army type.
Unlike other forms of board gaming, miniature wargaming is a very participatory experience. This is probably due to the amount of space necessary to run a large-scale wargame; gaming stores and hobby shops have more space than homes. Because of the scale of wargames, multiple players can participate, either in assisting with the game or playing lesser roles (such as lieutenants) within the game itself.
There is an aesthetic joy in watching a miniature wargame in action. With the right terrain and miniatures, a wargame is a tactile experience that cannot be easily duplicated by any other medium.
Character Roles
The primary persona that players take on is that of a commanding general.
General
Wargames put players in the role of generals or gods, above the action, controlling armies from a distance (Barton 2008:8). Military miniatures games “have participants acting as the commanders of forces, large or small, about to become engaged in or already locked in battle” (Gygax 1987:18).
I played a few Battlesystem skirmishes with mixed results. Regulations for a unit in which a hero participates and is “destroyed” under the Battlesystem rules used a table that, on an unlucky roll, led to the hero being lost on the battlefield. The second edition of Warhammer Fantasy goes so far as to allow the miraculous survival of these important characters, but with significant wound penalties (Halliwell 1984:62). In essence, the value of a hero being unique and important is reduced to a single ignominious die roll. One roll on that table convinced me that Battlesystem was not something I wanted to use very often. Fortunately, the dwarven commander in question survived the encounter.
Finally, wargames do not actively involve the player on a one-to-one basis. Although players identify with a side or a unit of troops, they are not viscerally connected to individuals on the battlefield. The ability to connect to a character is a critical factor in distinguishing role-playing games from wargames (Barton 2008:8).
Status
Unlike tabletop role-playing games, characters do not acquire power by gaining levels or acquiring new abilities. Instead, the player gains power by building larger armies (Barton 2008:8). Chainmail gave players the option of choosing the two opposing forces by drawing from a historical account, assigning a point value, or creating a campaign situation where larger armies move on a map until they come into conflict. Ultimately, the balance between the forces was best determined by experience (Gygax and Perren 1971:6).
Part of the appeal of wargaming is the “reset” of each scenario. Players use points to start on even footing, but once the game begins it’s up to each player to gain a tactical advantage. Continuity of play between games is not as important as the play itself. There is still a form of status amongst wargamers, but it is not necessarily tied to the individual units within the game. This shifts the onus of status from in-game achievements to the artifacts of gaming: the rarity of figures in play, the artistic abilities of the painter or sculptor, and the purchasing power of the player’s collection card or miniature collection.
Conclusion
Much has been said about the reintroduction of miniatures into Dungeons & Dragons, an ironic accusation considering that role-playing games started with miniature wargames. As Fine stated (1983:108) early role-playing games frequently encountered challenges in determining the physical location of characters in relation to one another and their opponents. An important foundation of a shared