Wargame Basic Training: Volume 1

“What do wargames offer?”

As I might have mentioned before this blog grew out of my own journey into boardgaming and in particular historical wargames. From my own experience, I know that there might be many other people who might be new to the hobby, or veteran board gamers who see wargames and are curious about them. No matter the place someone new might be coming from one thing is for sure, wargames can look intimidating! You have long two-column rulebooks organized like a legal document of sub-headings, stacks of counters, and a bunch of jargon that you don’t see in a ton of other games. All of those things can be intimidating to someone looking to dip their toes into this wonderful hobby.

With that in mind, I figured I’d start a series of articles aimed at being a primer for those getting into the hobby as a way to start “learning the language” of wargames and perhaps make them more approachable for a first-timer. I intend to use this series to dive a bit into things such as terms, systems, scales, and possibly recommendations. However, for this first article I wanted to hit something even higher level: “What draws you to historical gaming?”

Before I start however I want to level-set. I am NOT going to get into the often long and boring debate on “what is a wargame?” For the purpose of these articles, I’m going to use a VERY broad definition of games that interact seriously with history and intend to teach/make a statement along with being entertaining. 

This is something that I think resonates a bit differently with everyone just like board gaming in general. I figured I’d put a few things out there to what clicked for me as it might be things that you the reader also enjoy. So in no particular order let me walk through what I think makes these games click differently.

Matching Narrative to Mechanics

Even outside of wargaming, this is something big for me. I came into the hobby from video games where over time I began to really gravitate towards RPGs and less towards shooter/action games primarily. I find that gaming with a story helps engross me in the mechanics of playing. This isn’t to say I don’t like puzzle games like Tetris. Those can be fun if I just want to have some fun and not think, but if I really want to game for a couple hours, I want something that has an arc that pushes the game.

The first board game that got me serious about this hobby was a copy of Star Wars Outer Rim I got for Christmas as a present. I remember reading the rules and looking at the components and the lightbulb moment that a board game could have things like leveling up characters, managing gear, and picking missions/play styles much like an RPG.

You might be asking, “Okay Russ, but lots of board games have narrative hooks, not just wargames.” For that, you would be correct. In fact, the next game I got into was Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. It doubles down on narrative and RPG feel. Again I found this to suck me into the game and drive up the tension. So what makes wargames different? Let me continue my story:

It wasn’t too long after Gloomhaven that I found Pavlov’s House, a solo game with easy rules that allow it to be played co-op. It had a strong narrative of valiant soldiers surviving against impossible odds, something almost like a Hollywood movie. So what makes this different?

It really happened!  That adds just a little more tension for me. Knowing that these are REAL events, that I’m now making decisions that people before me had to make, that the winning and losing had REAL consequences. Again for me, that is something that takes that narrative from something of fiction and really drives home the urgency and importance of the decisions.

A Gateway to Interaction with History

Along with just a narrative hook to the mechanics, I also really found that wargames have really been a good bridge to get me looking into and researching history I might not have known much about. Sometimes even challenging my own preconceived notions of historical events (see the Homo Ludens Podcast series “We Intend to Move on Your Works”).  

I’d never suggest that a game can replace the kind of learning you’ll get from reading a book on a subject or maybe even a well-done documentary. A game can however spark that interest in a subject, give you a bit of background to the players, the choices, the environment, and if done right a thirst to go out and learn more.

A great example of this for me started with Red Flag Over Paris by Fred Serval. The Paris Commune was something I had never heard about before learning and playing the game. From there it led me to the Franco-Prussian War that preceded the Paris Commune. That got me to look at the game At Any Cost Metz 1870 about the battles around Metz early in the war.   

I finally got a chance to play the game at last year’s Buckeye Game Fest with my good friend Bill and I just started consuming everything I could on the conflict. Three books and a few more games later I feel like I know more about the end of the French Second Empire and German unification than I EVER would have known otherwise.

Great Games that Double as Solitaire Experiences

ince the pandemic, it’s no surprise to anyone that both solitaire-dedicated games and games with solo-specific rules and AI opponents have been at an all-time high. Before getting into the hobby I would have never thought of solo board gaming. However, once I started to think, how are solo games different from crossword puzzles or playing the game Solitaire with a deck of cards?

You definitely don’t need wargames to play solitaire, but one thing I’ll say is that for the most part, a lot of classic wargames are very easy to play solitaire by just playing both sides. Many of the games don’t use cards and are easy to just put down one side and pick up the other, look at the board, and make the best move you can possibly make.

This is something that has been common in the wargaming space since the beginning and comes from its simulationist roots. Many of the early games were focused on battlefield operations and gave you a large map that you can see units slowly moving across so taking each turn as a snapshot it is easy to swap sides and ask the question “What should I do now?” In many ways, this feeds into my two previous points of watching the narrative unfold, as well as showing some of the same decisions that historic leaders had to make.

One of my favorite wargames I’ve recently been playing is Vol. IV of Men of Iron: Arquebus. This game is designed for two players and involves tactical combat during the Italian Wars of the renaissance. While the game is meant for two, I find that the system is excellent as a solitaire experience as the chaos it brings makes planning difficult. On top of that the narratives that come out are totally engrossing!

Small and Close Knit Community

Because this side of board gaming has taken a back seat in the last decade or so to the rest of hobby board gaming, those of us wargamers tend to stick together. It is VERY easy to have conversations on Twitter, Discord, and at small wargaming conventions (yes those are a thing) with content creators and designers alike. Very quickly upon getting into this hobby, I was welcomed by many folks who made me feel like I was welcomed and no question was too stupid or that they didn’t have time to interact with me.

Both designers and content creators alike are very accessible on social media. On top of that, there are several conventions either fully or with portions dedicated to playing wargames and meeting folks to play larger games: Places like the War Room at Buckeye Game Fest, Circle DC, SDHISTCON, GMT Weekend at the Warehouse just to name a few.

Growing Inclusion in the Hobby

Historically wargames have roots more in topics such as Napoleonic battles, World War II, and American Civil War. Most of these games focus on military campaigns, maneuvers, and the like and have a lot of similar rules-heavy conventions for moving units, combat, supply, etc. However, lately, I have seen evidence of growing in the hobby not only by designers who aren’t old white dudes but from designers approaching other topics in history and utilizing other mechanics.

Games like “Votes for Women” that pay homage to Twilight Struggle, focus on a War of Ideas in the shape of the campaigning and movement of women’s suffrage movement in the United States between 1848 and 1920. The game is very much an area control game and uses card mechanics found in some wargames but in an easy-to-approach system. To see this game by new designer Tory Brown be such a great hit gives me hope for the future of wargaming.

Like All Things, It Won’t Be for Everyone

Even with all of the above reasons I love the hobby, I understand that some barriers just won’t be items some people can cross. Some that easily come to mind:

• War and Death: Let’s face it at its core war in itself involves the killing of people. For many folks, this is a barrier too wide to cross knowing it is rooted in reality vs. boardgames that might have fantasy or sci-fi themes. To me, I like to use the game to think about these conflicts, and the toll and then do some reflection, sometimes with my opponent after the game and sometimes in the days and weeks after the game is played.

• Two-Player Heavy Games:   Most wargames are 1-2 player games. A lot of this might be historical reasons when there are two major sides in a conflict throughout history. Some of this is likely mechanical, balancing combat-heavy multiplayer games can be challenging. Either way, if you get heavy into wargaming, understand that it is a two-player affair in many cases. There definitely are several multiple-player options, but it’s a good chance if you see a wargame on the shelf it will be designed for two players. If you are a person that has a regular gaming group of folks this could be a barrier, unless you are comfortable breaking the group into smaller groups of two-player games.

• Long Playtimes:   While this certainly is getting better, a large number of wargames can take 4+ hours to complete with some reaching into 12+ territory for full campaigns. Taken above this can be a large barrier if your regular gaming happens on weeknights. A lot of wargamers will leave games set up for days and play them over several sessions, however, if you don’t have the space this could be a challenge for sure. Again be ready for some of the classics to be long-day affairs

• Rules and Teaching Complexities: Rule games historically have very dense rulebooks. They are often written as more rules references with lots of detail on procedures, exceptions, and definitions, however, they are written in a very matter-of-fact way. Most are two columns with minimal illustrated examples and thus they contain all the information needed to play a game, but without a lot of context you see in modern rulebooks. Often though games will have extended examples of play that walk through a turn or two that can be good guides to follow along with. This however has scared more than one person away and be aware it is something you will need to be okay with if you get into the hobby.
• Artwork and Graphic Design Quality:  This is an area I think is starting to improve greatly, however with smaller publishers making wargames, there hasn’t been as much of a push to make wargames look as visually appealing as boardgames you see designed today for the rest of the hobby. Again I have hope as I see talented artists like Nils Johansson and the absolutely stunning pieces he creates. But again don’t be surprised when looking at the BGG top wargame lists that some of those at the top don’t catch your eye like games on “The Hotness” on BGG.

Wrapping It All Up

This is a topic I could continue to ramble on for quite a long time as it is a hobby I have become increasingly passionate about. That said, I hope if you are still reading and you are on the fence about wargames and are curious that I have at least given you a bit to think about. For me, the connection to the real world and a launch pad to learn about our past is something that absolutely makes for such an enriching experience. With a small but passionate community of folks in the hobby, I’ve felt incredibly welcomed and like I’ve found my people!

Hopefully, this is something that you might continue to indulge me with. As my next topic, I’ll dive into some of the various ways wargames are often framed to the view they are taking. This is usually described as the “scale” of the game. Why should you know that and what does that mean? Stay tuned for Volume 2 to find out. Until then happy gaming!