Long-beards talking; Game systems

Greetz one and all,

We are back for a second installment of “long-beards talking”, the place where I just go and talk about a lot of hobby side track and stuff on my mind rather then just this new model I’ve painted.  I always have a lot of things I could discuss, but it’s difficult to keep it all in order and not just rant all over the place.  In essence I am not a writer, so if you want a good article go read standard bearer ;o)

I’d like to talk about systems this month, there are a lot of them out there all with there own pro’s and con’s.  It’s not my intention to say which system is best for which kind of game, but there are indeed differences and some games are better for, lets say tournament then others.

I like to play games for the story behind it, not just for the win or for the rolling of dice.  Back when I was doing a lot of rpg’s I never cared for the system as GM, my players didn’t even need to bring dice along for the ride.  As a wargamer dice are a necessity, and can bring excitement to the game.  Do you remember when your last warrior was standing there all alone with just that one roll that could make the difference …  But as it brings tension so does it bring randomness, in some games the dice makes the possibility for a mere civilian to kill the greatest of gods.  In other words the dice could make it all unbalanced.

A good friend of mine once said ‘If you want a balanced game; go play checkers”  (oh hello koen) And I believe he is right in this, how cool for the story if indeed the local pastry chef in his last act of courage kills off Godzilla instead of the navy seals who are busy setting up there trap 150 m further along the lines,  James Bond getting kicked by one of the goons for once, …  That’s what makes it all a game in my opinion.  I’ve had games where I couldn’t care less if my opponent just failed that Leadership test, these warriors where holding out against my Iron Breakers for so long, lets just keep them there for the sake of the story. 

I do understand that my sense of a fun story isn’t necessarily the same as my opponent, it most likely is not (or at least not at the start) So we do need rules to focus our gaming endeavors, and luckily there are all sorts of systems to get bind competitive games, and systems to bind the story munchkins.  

I don’t like to learn new rules just to try something new; I just tweak my current system to it fits the needs.  I’ll go look for exciting scenario’s to play in WHFB or introduce some cool stuff in my 40k battles.  Go have a look online there are the most wacky ideas floating around, give them a try most of them are a lot of fun to play.

Cheerz

Griffit