Cult Of Games XLBS: Do We REALLY Need Any More Historical Wargaming Rules?
October 18, 2026 by crew
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Happy Sunday Backstagers, OTTers and how’s it going CoGs?
don’t forget to do the Gerry shuffle(tm) 😉
Part 2 was indeed interesting! As I was watching, I thought about 2 key builds on the discussion from where I was last week. Firstly perhaps “re-play” would have been a better phrase than “re-enact”. Gerry’s description of historical battles is indeed how I think of them, so reenact probably isn’t the right word.
But then we need to think about enjoyment. And we didn’t bring enjoyment into the discussion, just definitions.
I can agree that a historical battle is what Gerry described, but is that something I would enjoy? Never say never but I am much more drawn to fiction. So I’m still in the same place. I’d rather play a fictitious battle in a historical setting.
I’m glad that Wild West came up in the next part of the discussion, because it is a historical setting, and the one I am drawn to most. I’ve even bought a load of terrain miniatures and I plan to get to it eventually. But I didn’t think about Wild West when I was thinking about last week’s question.. That said, the first thing I was planning to do is create a fictional town, with fictional characters, to set my games in. Challenging myself, would I be interested in replaying actual Wild West battles? I’m still struggling as to whether I would enjoy that as much, but I can perhaps see a world in which I would one day…maybe. Maybe replay the OK Corral, see who survives, and then only allow the survivors in gangs for future games? Fact into fiction.. Might be fun..
For me I think it boils down to the fact that my hobby is an antidote to a stressful job, i use it as escapism, and fiction fits the bill for me better than reality. I am not disinterested in history, but in my spare time I’d much rather pick up a fiction book than a history book. So perhaps that is why I am not drawn to the deeper ends of the historical spectrum.
Maybe it’ll change when I eventually retire!
When the number of systems you have is N
Then the ideal number of systems for critical mass will always be N+1
Unless you hate games … at which point it will be N – 1
😉
Almost Monday!
00:00 My weekend starts when ever I want. And the wife allows it.
15:30 Let me check the notes…. *rustles paper* Because you had an existential crisis and said to yourself and the Hicks clones “I have enough minis, I don’t need more” which lead to a short episode in the pub followed by “WHAT AM I TALKING” but at that point the minis where sold out. @brennon @avernos
16:30 Bro’s war. Only need 3 minis for a crusade.
22:00 Skellibobs are the easiest!
36:00 Just noticed @johnlyons hoodie. Someone enjoyed some motorcycle action XD
44:00 B*st*rds!
1:03:40 for example
1:06:00 If it’s not official, how can I buy it? Also: if it’s not official how do I make people that are not in my closest circle of friends play it? Homebrew stuff is nice but only really works “at home”. So with friends that come over to play. Random people you might play in a club or a shop will go “never heard of that, don’t know that, let’s keep it official”.
1:09:15 “Ignore the majority and go with what you love” says the one who admitted to be a victim of “new shiny syndrome” 😉
1:14:15 “Are we an anime now father? Should I get some big plot knockers?”
1:20:55 YE GODS THEM PRINTLINES!11!!!
1:23:00 Send ticks? How rude!
Almost end of October. Build your Halloween stuff now so it’s ready for Halloween.
Happy Sunday…….Totally agree with Jerry, find the rules build your army, just stick to it and get on with your life.
What was in the box? Was it Halflings or did Kevin Spacey find your address @avernos?
Hi XLBSers and COGz 👍
Ooh not Hudson then ?🤔
Medieval pizza hut 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 😛 😜
Could they be in a different unopened box in your Indy warehouse Gerry 🤔🤷🙆
No knight’s off Nee then
Hay their was a few times in time commander’s that didn’t follow the battle results
Do you think GW change the rules to make the game’s better for the player’s or to sell figures that aren’t selling well ?!? 🤔🤷🤦
“Defender of Craggy Island”
Deadline: 2359
Submitted: 2358
And yes, the mud under the grass was still very wet. Lol
I thought Defender was a car…
Sort off it’s over inflated rover 🤔🤷
You probably have a bigger army than Saladin Gerry 🤔🙆
Fantastic work on your project figures folk’s 👍👌👏👏👏👏
Brilliant show guy’s 👍👌👏👏
@avernos Footsore have there former miniatures of the month for sale I think this was Thelwis character from kingdom of Heaven Knight Hospitaller – Order of Saint John – Footsore Miniatures & Games Limited
Glad to see I could contribute to the conversation, I think the week my comments was taken from I did a double post and I’ve certainly noted about the game we play is influenced by table size, scale and how much terrain we have.
RE: Midgard, 28mm infantry units are 8 men, same number of units in an army as Lion Rampant so i’ve looked at it as comparable, but it does scale to larger sized battles like 10mm battle of five armies they’ve done.
Interesting topic and it is fascinating to see that most gamers who shy away from historical wargames do so based on, in essence, a big misconception about how these historical games play out on the tabletop. This is purely based on my observations (I have not conducted a survey or anything of that sort) but, to me, I think this misconception that somehow we play historical games to “replay” the historical outcome again might be based on two factors:
FIRST: Lack of experience in actually giving it a proper try to play historical wargames. In other words, that misconception is so strong and deep that it effectively creates a massive entry barrier in and of itself. The stronger that misconception grows, the fewer players actually play historical wargames to be able to then dispel that myth, thus creating a snowballing effect.
SECOND: When most of us, as historical wargamers, put out historical scenarios at conventions and various shows, I have noticed a trend that may also be contributing to this snowballing misconception. Here is how: most non-historical wargamers sometimes only ever interact with historical wargames at shows by passing by, checking the tables out, and seeing them covered on Youtube etc. The way the exhibitors of such games talk about such scenarios is usually through the lens of the historical accounts or the situation that the scenario in question represents. To the uninitiated, this, in turn, might sound like you are effectively “replaying” those historical events rather than this simply being the “background set up” and that what happens from that point onwards is completely up to the players and is usually very different to what had happened historically (at least the way I create and run my games). But if one does not try and solely relies on that “intro pitch” can easily fall into that myth again of “ah, there you go again, they are playing out the Waterloo or representing Fall Gelb where France (oddly enough in both cases!) is doomed to fall”. Neglecting all the while, that there are way more reasons and possibilities (in both cases, for example!) that the opposite is more likely to occur than not. And just how it does and what the repercussions are (especially if playing campaign games) often vastly differ from what had happened historically. And this is indeed the beauty of historical wargames!