D&D 5E The 5E Wargame, Wargamer, and You

Jack7 · Jan 20, 2012

I was introduced to original D&D through wargaming, when I was a kid. That is to say I was a big wargamer first, before being introduced to D&D and first became introduced to D&D through a wargamer buddy of mine.

It was only after I first bought and began playing AD&D though that I began to fully realize the role-playing aspects and potential of the game.

Nevertheless I came to the game first as a wargamer. (In some ways, in addition to thinking of D&D as a role-play game, I've always also considered it a small group, tactical wargame. That is, I see it as easily being able to be both.)

Now that being said what would you like to see addressed in 5E in regards to wargaming.

I understand that the game will be modular, and IO am thankful for that, and that many things can be added on (or subtracted), and many things can even be added on form outside the game.

But as for you, what would you like to see included in the game in regards to Wargaming, whether you war on the small or the big scale?

the Jester · Jan 20, 2012

I want a system for fighting mass battles, a system for handling entire military campaigns and a system for domain management, all things that D&D has lacked in most editions.

And I want them all bad.

Plane Sailing · Jan 20, 2012

Doesn't that have the prospect of being limiting, Jester?

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Halivar · Jan 20, 2012

Me, too, Jack7! What did you play? I used to play Napoleon's Battles, Armati, DBM, Fire & Fury, and a bunch of others. The first thing I missed when I started playing D&D instead was the epic feel of pushing a couple thousand* fig's across the board in a giant conflagration of blood and steel.

*Well, mostly just hundreds... unless we did Ligny or Waterloo.

Jacob Marley · Jan 20, 2012

the Jester said:
I want a system for fighting mass battles, a system for handling entire military campaigns and a system for domain management, all things that D&D has lacked in most editions.

And I want them all bad.

"You must spread experience, yada, yada, yada." This.

the Jester · Jan 20, 2012

Damn you and your plays on words! :fist:

(Can someone rep PS for me? I gotta spread it around first.)

Dragonblade · Jan 20, 2012

Jack7 said:
I was introduced to original D&D through wargaming, when I was a kid. That is to say I was a big wargamer first, before being introduced to D&D and first became introduced to D&D through a wargamer buddy of mine.

It was only after I first bought and began playing AD&D though that I began to fully realize the role-playing aspects and potential of the game.

Nevertheless I came to the game first as a wargamer. (In some ways, in addition to thinking of D&D as a role-play game, I've always also considered it a small group, tactical wargame. That is, I see it as easily being able to be both.)

Now that being said what would you like to see addressed in 5E in regards to wargaming.

I understand that the game will be modular, and IO am thankful for that, and that many things can be added on (or subtracted), and many things can even be added on form outside the game.

But as for you, what would you like to see included in the game in regards to Wargaming, whether you war on the small or the big scale?

I think making the 4e combat rules into the 5e optional "miniature" rules would go a long way towards making me happy as a WotC customer. Being to able to still use my 4e material in a 5e game would be awesome.

Conversely one of my few criticisms with 4e is the lack of a good gridless option. Having 5e provide a simple miniature-less core game that hearkens back to earlier edition play, but that can be overlayed with the tactical combat engine of 4e in any given encounter would be my dream system.

Plane Sailing · Jan 20, 2012

I was a war gamer first, in the early 70's. I mostly played a combination of ancients using WRG rules, WW2 tank battles (using rules I don't recall - I think it was "tank battles in miniature") and some early sci-fi and fantasy tabletop wargames rules - certainly not mainstream ones!

Having said that, I don't particularly want wargames in my RPGs - mass combat and relatively abstract army rules yes, but not the equivalent of tabletop wargames. That's me, anyway.

Nb for tabletop games at the moment my favourite rules allow you to play on a 2ft x 2ft table - dead simple but tonnes of skill for the general. DBA is the name of them

Cheers

Halivar · Jan 20, 2012

Plane Sailing said:
I mostly played a combination of ancients using WRG rules

Plane Sailing said:
Having said that, I don't particularly want wargames in my RPGs

Having played WRG 7th, I can safely say I have no interest in calculating the morale effect of flaming pigs on irregular warbands.

Plane Sailing said:
Nb for tabletop games at the moment my favourite rules allow you to play on a 2ft x 2ft table - dead simple but tonnes of skill for the general. DBA is the name of them

I think DBA/DBM is about the level of simulation I'd like in a D&D mass combat system. I think something along the lines of Armati might be more accessible, though (same table size, even fewer rules).

DonTadow · Jan 20, 2012

the Jester said:
I want a system for fighting mass battles, a system for handling entire military campaigns and a system for domain management, all things that D&D has lacked in most editions.

And I want them all bad.

Adding on to this, a system that incorporates the PCs as adventures and have that effect all of this. I don't want an entirly different game, but a subsystem of dnd.