Cult Of Games XLBS: What Exactly Is A Narrative Wargame?
July 12, 2026 by crew
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Happy Sunday CoGs, OTTers and as always, Backstagers!
Happy Sunday!
For me, narrative is a mindset thing, and quite simple:
Competitive = Me vs You (the players)
Narrative = Them vs Them (the models)
That doesn’t relate directly to either the rules or the lore. In both you need ‘sufficient’ balance from a game design perspective. In most narrative games it would still be a bit pointless if the outcome was pre-determined (some niche scenarios aside). So there needs to be some form of balance, but perhaps not the level of balance a highly competitive game would require, lest the Monster-fuelled, red-faced oiks howl at you on the internet till Kingdom Come!
I also don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. I play 40k ‘narratively’ i.e. I try to play my army as though it is them who are making the decisions, and acting as they would in-character. I’m still using the written rules, and trying to win through – because the army would be trying to win. But I am still more interested in the story that emerges than the outcome. It doesn’t really matter that I win at that point, but that doesn’t mean I don’t try to let my army taste an in-world victory!
competitive often is ‘win at any cost’ too.
narrative = “let’s have fun” and making bad decisions on purpose because the outcome is more interesting.
Hello there, Engarde does have english civil war lists, its bang on the right time period for tiny games. I like the DrBryont mini mimicking the painting of him stumbling home as the line survivor.
Ive found solo games to be more narrative. Sector alix or parsecs are all about the adventure. As soon as you have an opponent some of the story naturally drops off as you try and smash each other.
John is technically correct. Generally I think it has more to do with how abstracted the rules are. Like 40ks famous L shape terrain, if a game is aimed at tournament play, the edges have to be smoothed out and simplified to make it as smooth and decisive an experience as possible with very clear winning conditions, turn structure and army list points etc. Almost any game can be played narratively but, if you can’t get the game done in relatively set amount of time with a clear winner it would be a horrible tournament game.
The main thing I see today in reactions from people, is that the perception and understanding between balanced, narrative and competitive (with what I mean tournament play) is off. Narrative doesn’t mean balanced nor does competitive mean not narrative.
I see people giving off on people for being tournament players and making meta lists, then coming with a narrative list based on the lore but it is also a meta list.
It is not because a game has lore, that you have narrative games. I would take infinity as an example. With the new operation boxes they bring an advancement in their lore but the games themselves are completely based to competitive play.
Let’s take rpg rules, I have seen rules that don’t give a narrative or lore only a means to handle checks and different ways to handle situations. Then people create whole worlds and stories and use the system to navigate through that world. How is it then not possible for people to see the same in wargames or skirmish games?
And I think it is as Gerry says, most people have to have it spoon fed to them.
e-sports have been infecting everything. Multiplayer Videogames used to be fun, but the e-sports mindset ruined that aspect.
And IMHO the same thing is happening to games like 40k/AoS as well.
I still believe Steamforged were correct in killing Guildball when they noticed how it had infected that game too.
Yes, rules should be balanced. However that does not mean that they should be mathematically precise and filled with rules lawyer speak from start to finish. I want to have fun learning to play the game. I do not want to read a contract written by lawyers and politicians as a hobby.
The simple fact that GW have started banning new models from games before anyone has even had a chance to use them is a sign that they are afraid of tournament crowd. It also shows that they finally understand that they suck at writing good rules …
I’d argue that what makes a game feel like it is tournament focused is the community around it.
When that devolves into rules lawyering and min/max-ing of lists then it is tournament focused whether the developers wanted it to be or not, because those neckbeards are very vocal.
Another way a game can feel tournament focused : the fixed army boxes sold by the company.
Historicals may have some excuse as they have to replicate what units were used, but other games should find ways to add variety within the factions themselves. This may have practical limitations, but IMHO where there’s a will there is a way.
I’d say that a ruleset is never narrative. What makes a wargame narrative is how you play it.
Are you just writing up a list to kick your opponents arse, and theyre doing the same? Thats not narrative.
Are you telling a story with your game? Are you playing Lt Winters, leading Easy company to attack a German gun position at Brecourt Manor? Or perhaps you’re playing Uriel Ventris, Captain of the Ultramarines 4th, defending one of Ultramar’s 500 worlds against Mortarion and his Death Guard? Then that’s narrative, although only just.
I would say what really makes a game narrative is if you play a campaign where the results of each game you play affects the next game you play, whilst you’re levelling up your characters, all the while, you’re telling and expanding a story.
remember:
all games are miniature agnostic
therefore:
all games are narrative
all games can be played in a tournament
yes … even Chess.
Hello Sunday
18:00 stop horsing around the sticky puns
27:30 Ölenfenth Ödition
32:00 Can you play any game you own the way you and your friends want to? Yes. But that automatically limits you to that group. Rules in writing are the glue that bonds gamers on a larger scale to a game. Everybody is on the same page, literally. The second you start using house rules that goes ot the window. You can play a game for years and enjoy it but the minute you want to play someone who goes strictly with the written rules all goes sideways. If rules are written in a certain way and you have even the slightest interest in playing at tournaments you need to stick to the rules in writing. And I guess that’s what bring people to the part that makes them say “these rules are for tournament players”. Maybe there should be more “sections” to rules. Something like: core mechanics (binding for all kinds of play), casual list building, tournament list building with certain hard restrictions and narrative game play with stuff like campaigns in mind.
41:30 REMAIN INDOORS!
42:00 double brass knuckles taco holder?
Off to the showers
I’ve always fancied doing undead vikings attacking modern day York
@avernos, sadly it looks as if I like you didn’t pick up on the band lyrics but also went to the theme tune of the generation game….. Didn’t he do well!
Bicorn Drift, the preview to the franchise we didnt know we needed!
For the Kingdom is Ours is one I own and intend to play sometime!
As a replacement for Pikemen’s Lament, its a mix of Bolt action pull a dice mechanic, Black Powder test for orders with a unit only able to do no more than 3 orders per turn, A Sharpe Practice tiffin cardesq mechanic of in with the blue/red dice per army, is a ‘tiffin’ stopplay purple die, start the next turn.
Its got very good army background details and how you build an army, so in that regard is a good rule set to get to help structure your first army to a guide.
Its got other friction rules, so its a bit, it depends what you want, for instance certain orders can only be given by commanders, so zone of control, there’s only x order dice, which often means some of your army sits around waiting for orders. A lot is made of formations as well. Surprisingly given the amount of friction there is no army morale so you can fight to the last base of a unit if you wish.
It is split in basic and advanced rules, so there’s a lot in there which you’ll probably house rule dropping a rule, to make it an actual Fast Play and more fitting your gaming group.
I was attracted by the Element basing rather than individual figure removal, and the moving away from IGOUGO, with some frictiion, to use with my Epic Pike & Shotte, one day!
Blkout is an amazing game. It’s made by Enemy Spotted Studios. They have a new starter set releasing Monday, July 13th. It’s a veteran run company and a portion of sales in July is donated to veteran suicide prevention.
As for narrative vs tournament, the difference is how much pre-game discussion you and your opponent need to have. If everything is defined before you play, it’s competitive. If you need to discuss terrain, forces, rules and victory conditions, it’s narrative.
Campaigns where past games affect future games are also narrative.
Woohoo another Golden Button, thanks so much. As to the position and numbers on the base I didn’t even think about putting them on the rear. But I started playing BB when we used to paint the numbers under the bases 🤣
Thanks for the Golden Button! MCP has been a nice opportunity to work with brighter colors than I normally do.
Regarding narrative vs tournament games: as John says, any game with a setting and lore is by default narrative, and any game with rules can be a tournament game. Tournaments tend to be about who can use their knowledge of the rules to best advantage in order to win, while narrative play is usually about using the rules, terrain and models as a framework to tell a story — my wife calls it “moving figures around in your world.”
However, I do often see “it’s a narrative game” used as an excuse for poorly developed rules sets. Even if the goal is to see a story unfold on the table, the rules (no matter how simple or complicted they are) still need to be consistent and balanced so the game is fun for everyone playing.
I think there’s a perception that narrative games are harder and more time consuming to setup and play. A competitive game just needs a pointed army list, which can be very quick these days with apps etc. You then pick a “balanced” scenario, and start playing. For a narrative game each player needs to come up with a backstory for their force. Then you need a backstory for the battle. Then you need to create a narrative scenario. Some people find that off-putting.