Abstraction & Representation in Miniature Tabletop Wargames

That's a really long title for talking about:
index cards and
chits
blocks
cubes
standees
and miniatures
25mm square wood chips 600 pieces! a.co/d/bFEPeyZ
Chainmail using index cards behind the scenes deathtrap-games.blogspot.com/...
Tiny Terrain
www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Design Journal and home of the Campaign Carnival
wargameculture.substack.com/

[@IB4theAIB]

Red is for the good guys, God Save the King!

[@cybermodo]

40+ years ago as a kid I almost had no idea about wargaming systems, but me and my cousin developed our own, quite elaborate and fun. And we used BOTTLECAPS representing our soldiers - say, 4 pieces were squad or even platoon, 12 were platoon or company and so on (depending on chosen wargame scale). Caps were different (beer and mineral water had different application on the surface, for example), but "special units" were wrapped in popular candy paper and so on. And we played all day, but using garden and all possible position outside the house - piece of grass, land or mud and water after rain - gave us great imagined sceneries for our scenarios.

[@WargameCulture]

That's awesome, it sounds like it was a lot of fun!

[@thekuan7002]

This is giving me ideas on how to play with my nieces and nephews.

[@revd.phillipwallace-pugh9955]

Simply back to it's Kriegspiele origins.

[@hangarflying]

Great ideas for various ideas to get games on the table. This is especially true when wanting to practice a set of rules before taking the deep dive. Granted, I’m in the middle of my own 15mm 7YW project, but an imaginations project is also slowly coming together.

[@rolovalespino]

The 2mm matchsticks bases and the mouse pads are Amazing ideas. Following.

[@lordhamster9452]

Thank you plenty! This was a nice and informative video. Which reminded me of something important. The fact that not every miniature has to be perfectly painted. I am currently working on a Flames army for a Verdun themed battle. And Flams of war requires quite a lot of models. And I am constantly obsessing about having all the pouches and tidbits right. Yet perhaps, one Jerry missing a face (misprint) Or one Baget lacking his pouchesmight might not be a dealbreaker when he’s hanging back in a stack of 40 other models. Also: those red coated confederates could perhaps be an irregular regiment (they are the rebs after all) who don’t have the standard uniforms. And uses whatever fits instead.

[@Cole-T]

" So we can get to the battling and not be stuck doing the hobbying" YES! Blocks and D6s only baby!

[@Blutgang]

I was also on the side working on a block system as well. And mixing scales for different level of play, yes.

[@OW...]

Nice one. I tried wooden blocks maybe 20 years ago, trying to get our little group to a play a large Kreigspiel type game. I thought it was great, but the rest of the guys didn't see it, they just saw the blocks...

[@WargameCulture]

Some of these gaming ideas, like some of the more controversial role playing game ideas, require a bit of a mental shift.

[@danielbont2331]

Sounds like they suffered from a lack of imagination and abstract thinking.

[@timbuktu8069]

Personally I just use cardboard counters that I make from the backs of legal pads. I cut them to size and draw on my own symbols in colored sharpies. In the past I used figures from a game called Feudal. Perfect for medieval battles. At one point I made a Hair roller army. I got the idea from a gaming magazine. A hair roller is a series of strips of plastic with nubs coming off the top. The nubs give the impression of individual troops but in general, it is similar to your matchstick idea. They make a fine 2mm army. This is a great idea for those of us that want to try different wargame periods without investing a lot of time and money.

[@WargameCulture]

I have seen the hair roller army idea as well as one made from plastic canvas

[@ABoyNamedJoe]

Feudal. I have that game!

[@rolovalespino]

Nice video. I've made a collection myself out of paper minis. 28, 10, 6 and even 2 mm. Fantasy, Ancients, Napoleonics land and sea, WW1 land air and sea, WW2 land, Cold War land and sea, and Star Wars' Hoth scenario. Paper buildings, cloth and towels as terrain, etc. It's crazy what paper can do. I encourage everyone to play with anything, wood cubes, sticks, cards...

[@petermillen6924]

Thanks for this interesting stuff. Within the symbolic range there are also map pins/ pushpins on cork or foam, or magnetic counters over metal. For symbolic war games I use card stock “boxes”, with symbols printed on them as in old battlefield maps, weighted with an internal Penny for satisfying heft.

[@WargameCulture]

That is a great idea I'd love to see a picture of that

[@Blutgang]

My group we got epic Pike and Shotte, still various painting done and yet to play. A few of us have the ACW set too.

[@chestersleezer8821]

Well the only way is to put actual miniatures on the tabletop and yes that can get expensive and it takes time to get them painted. I know since I have been busy painting this spring and summer and so far I have painted around 630 painted so far the goal is 1000 and that still would just be a minor dip in the number of miniatures that I need to get painted. Oh I understand using blocks and other things but it is just not the same as putting hundreds of painted miniatures onto the table.

[@WargameCulture]

You are absolutely right, it's not the same. But it can get you going with a game, or learning a new ruleset faster. IMO the biggest asset of using blocks is that you can try a game and see if you like it before investing in 1000 minis!

[@gernwind9262]

Surely, the important part is the prep-work? After all, we're in this particular part of the gaming hobby to avoid ever having to get to the playing part, right?

[@HissyCat]

you can call this Panzer Tanks...lol

[@leonleese4919]

You could just roll dice double 6 means you win! End game. That way no minis no terrain and no table ..

[@WargameCulture]

LOL that's called War Machine

[@leonleese4919]

@@WargameCulture 😎

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

Better still: chuck away the dice. What you have left is chess.

[@leonleese4919]

@@sirrathersplendid4825 The more you abstract a game such as an abstract skirmish screen napoleonic warfare becomes little more than in Marlboroughs day. You then can’t remove a grenadier company, brigade them together to form an assault against a defended position . So you could start with ACW rules and you allow extended order you have it. A generic set of horse and musket rules from the Boer War to the 9 years war. You could dumb it down further and use cardboard counters to represent brigades or divisions. Oops. Sorry I meant abstract.

[@sirrathersplendid4825]

To me, going back to blocks is like removing a dimension from the game: instead of 3D it becomes 2D. In fact not just one dimension, since researching the uniform (and usually history) of a unit and then painting it injects the figures with a mystical life and history that a simple block cannot convey, and since time is the fourth dimension we are talking about a reduction from 4D to 2D.

[@WargameCulture]

You are correct, and I'm not suggesting the entire experience of the hobby be reduced to blocks. I love the painting and crafting aspect! At the same time you may want or need to play a Wargame you don't have the minis for, such as a Mass Combat for your RPG Session. It allows you to get playing right away. Many ACW games, for example, use literally thousands of minis, which can take years to paint!