What's the definition of Wargaming?

[Lasher Dragon]

Lasher Dragon, can I ask why you are trying to pigeon hole your style of play?

I'm planning on becoming a community supporter and I want to be sure I advertise my gaming preferences in my "title" when I get to change that.



j/k - about the advertising anyway.... or maybe not, that would be kinda funny...

Seriously though, I see a lot of talk of "wargaming" and other RPG styles, and I was curious as to what category I would fall into were someone to attempt to do so. Also, I notice a huge range of RPG styles from the people on this board. I used to think that my group took things a little too seriously (a good number of us are unabashed rules-lawyers - hell I think one of my buddies nearly has the PH & the DMG memorized LOL) however I have seen things on this board which make me believe perhaps we are actually quite a bit less serious than most, maybe even sillier than a lot.

The whole "I don't allow cross-gender roleplaying" thing really made me think that some people take it waaaaaaay more serious than we do.

All of us love to play, we've all had characters we've played for years and years. Right now we play every wednesday and every other saturday. All of us would laugh in the face of a DM that made a rule like that.

 

[CarlZog]

Ignoring all the hobby baggage, the terms "wargaming" and "role-playing" definitely have some overlap. The more interesting question is where they diverge.

Wargaming is act of simulating warfare as a means of studying the effects of warfare methods without actually going to war. These methods can range from deterrence to grand strategy to individual unit tactics.

In the act of conducting a wargame, you are assuming a role -- whether it's the general or an infantryman. By virtue of inventing a scenario in which to test the specific methods you're interested in, you've created a "plot" or a "story".

The tools used don't really define it either. Professional military wargames can take the form of a field exercise with real units, or in a conference room with no other tools than some scrap paper. It depends on the scenario and the specific goals of the game.

As a recreational endeavor, wargames traditionally involved representing units on a scale map and mathmatically modeling their actions and interaction.

Even if each person involved in the game is representing a single person (character, creature) in the scenario, you may still be involved in a wargame.

"Role-playing" as a tool and activity is less concerned about testing specific outcomes and more concerned about the experience of assuming the role of another person (character, or creature). Shrinks use it so the clients can experience being in "someone else's shoes"; theatre uses it so audience members can experience some narrative or story.

I would suggest that the dividing line between role-playing and wargaming comes when the reasons for the game begin to change. If you're less interested in modeling the results of some specific conflict and judging the outcomes; and more interested in jsut creating a narrative around the activities of the unit(s) you're representing, then you have begun to slip from wargaming to role-playing.

Carl,
on whose bookshelf SPI's Nato Division Commander sits next TSR's Forgotten Realms Set.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

OK well we play only with minis and a battleboard and every combat scenario is basically pure tactics (at least as far as the rogues and the spellcasters are concerned - the fighter/barbarian types have it easy, their objective is to get in there and kill, as fast as possible). We are always trying to set up flank and we enjoy using minis & a battleboard to get the most out of our hard-earned feats, be they spring attack, great cleave, large & in charge, mobility, whatever. I guess we aren't wargamers because there is always a plot, there is always some goal we are shooting for, be it the death of some bastage that's trying to take over the world or just protecting a town from the ravages of the local goblinoid population - there is always a story.

I had kinda hoped I fit into one of the generic categories.

Guess I and the 20 or so people I game with are just anomalies.

Oh well, it's still the best fun I've ever had outside of traveling the world.

You're not an anomalie. You play d&d (and RPGs in general) the way alot of people do. My group sounds more in depth roleplaying wise than yours (from your descriptions) but combat is still a more or less tactical exercise that also advances the plot (or gets us closer to our goal.)

 

[Henry]

Wargaming: painting your female mini's underwear.
Roleplaying: wearing your female PC's underwear.

Hong, I thought that was the difference between sexy and kinky?

Oh, wait, I thought you said girlfriend's underwear...

Carry on.

 

[Ranger REG]

Wargaming: painting your female mini's underwear.
Roleplaying: wearing your female PC's underwear.

Come ON, people.

Sorry. Dressing up is not a mandatory requirement. That is reserved for LARPies.