GameTalk - Symbology?

How far from the 'norm' should graphics guys stray when designing wargame counters and maps?  A what point can symbols break the standard NATO/Silhouette paradigm?  How much can/should you move numbers around the counters?  How much can you deviate from normal colors on maps?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Counterfactuals

What makes a good counterfactual game and how does one design the historical backstory such that it maintains plausibility and still creates a compelling game?


By: Brant

GameTalk - Multi-player II

How do you structure the ORBATs for a team game, where multiple players are playing in cooperation, but not necessarily with full knowledge of each others' orders, forces, plans, etc?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Multi-player

How can you put together a multi-player wargame in such a fashion that it doesn't devolve into everyone ganging up on one guy?  How do you make sure that the conflict and tension exists between all the players?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Who Wasn't Even There

If a unit wasn't present at a battle, but was in range and might have participated in different circumstances, do they go in the game?

By: Brant

Gametalk - Realism

With regards to wargaming, define "realism".


By: Brant

GameTalk - Low-Tech Sci-Fi

How far "backwards" should sci-fi games represent the low-tech?  A caveman with a spear can kill a power-armor grunt with the right hit, but do you need to account for them in the game?  If so, how?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Maps?

Satellite maps, artistic designs, or sparse utilitarianism?


By: Brant

GameTalk - Combat Resolution

Buckets of dice?  Or CRTs?  Which one would you use when?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Ground Crews

How do you account for aircraft ground crews in wargames?
Where do you site them on the battlefield and how is that represented in the game?
What sorts of inherent defenses can/should they have, and how much interchangeability should they have as you increase the types / quantities of aircraft?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Engineers

How can you best portray what engineers are truly capable of on the battlefield in a wargame?  What do engineers do well that hasn't been accurately captured on the tabletop?  What do they do poorly that's yet to manifest as an actual penalty in a game?

By: Brant

GameTalk - "Alternate COAs"

How much latitude should you grant players to step outside the bounds of history when playing an historical battle?  Should you allow Napoleon to change his organization at Waterloo?  Should you allow the Germans to defend Normandy more vigorously, or retreat from Stalingrad?  Should you allow Lee to avoid Gettysburg altogether?

At what point are you beyond the "history" of an historical game?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Area / Square / Hex / Point-to-Point

What are the inherent strengths or weaknesses of the different types of map movement paradigms?

By: Brant

GameTalk - UAVs

Can you make a commercially successful game out of being a UAV pilot? How would you do it?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Melee Combat

Fix bayonets! CHARGE!

How should melee combat work in a modern wargame?

Yes, it does still happen - read this citation for proof.

By: Brant

GameTalk - Staffs

At the operational level and above, your subordinate units have HQs that include a significant number of staff officers. How do/should those staff actions get modeled at subordinate levels? What should we expect to see from them? How do you introduce an appropriate amount of variability in their capabilities without bolting on chrome for its own sake?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Weather (or not)

At what level of game do weather changes matter? If you're playing a tactical firefight game, are you really expecting a meaningful weather change during the engagement? What about seasonal cycles during an operational level conflict? How much weather is too much fiddliness in the rules?

By: Brant

GameTalk - The Political Dimension

How do you incorporate the effects that political engagements have on games at the operational level and below?

By: Brant

GameTalk - HADR

(re-running this b/c of lack of responses last time)

Gaming HADR - Humanitarian Assistance / Disaster Relief - is a very real problem for the professional wargaming world.
What the important considerations in building a wargame focusing on HADR?
What are the success criteria for the players?

How, if at all, can you commercialize one of these designs in a way that someone like GrogHeads would make a review of it into their cover story?

By: Brant

GameTalk - Minis vs Cardboard

What's the primary fascination with miniatures, and what can they do better than cardboard on the tabletop?

By: Brant