"Why do you buy new rules?" Topic

I saw the new Napoleonic rule set on the front page and caught myself thinking I should give them a go.
Now this is inspite of being totally satisfied with the rules I now use.
Why do people change their rules?
Is it because of some niggling disatisfaction with the current ones?
An "impossible dream"; the quest for the perfect set?
A love oof the new and shiney?
To keep up with the Jones' ("Surely you don't still play 2nd Edition?")?
Spice things up?
Why?

Because I can.

Because someone writes them.

Because even though the AWI rules I have are perfectly adequate and give good games, they are not perfect. At least in my deluded imagination.

A love oof the new and shiney?

Incurable optimism, unsupported by experience.

hoping for that one game, the one that everyone can agree on in my circle without being a whiney bitch about it.

People here on TMP stir up my excitement. It's all your fault. Yes indeed.

I don't have a problem. I can quit any time I want.

Most new rules are just reading material for me. I know I'll never get around to painting up the armies, but I enjoy reading the rules and looking at the great minis, torturous as it is. Yeah, I'm looking at you and your Hannibal book, Mr. Curtis. *shakes fist and sighs*

I keep hoping that I can find a set of rules that will give me what I want. Song of Blades and Heroes and Savage Worlds Showdown both come close, but lack that critical component of being accepted by my gaming buddies.

Because somewhere out there is the perfect rules set. If I just keep buying them all, sooner or later, I will find the Grail.

I just enjoy reading them and checking out all the great pics of the minis. Even though I know I'll never have the time to paint the minis for it or ever have the chance to play a game.

Because I want a game that is simple and easy to learn and fast to play and complex so as to be challenging and keep my interest with infinite variety of scenarios and units. That's all.

New rules = the Holy Grail?
I'm inclined to agree. And internet forums do whet my appetite.

I could say that like reading rules because they provide different perspectives on both history and the science of writing rules.

I could say that, but the truth is that I simply like spending money on my hobby, the smell of new books, looking at pretty pictures, and imagining the games I would play.

Every set of rules are going to be just the one i,m looking for,and of coarse I will always get all the figures painted I need and all my gaming chaps will enjoy the whole thing..
Yep only deluding myself!!
Carry on anyway.

Because I'm hooked and always wonder what a new author has invented for his system. If scenarios are included, I'm a complete sucker!

Erik

Because I'm too lazy to write my own!

Because they might provide ideas I can incorporate into my own, or they might be playable in their own right (with suitable mods of course).

I am simply an inveterate rules collector. I have all the ones I've ever bought since I started wargaming in around 1974 (age nine). The majority I buy I never play of course, but I enjoy reading them. That's enough for me.

Because the research I've done about the rules indicates they might give me the kind of game I'm looking for.

For ideas, mainly.

But also because in some genres (notably ironclads) I have not found a set of rules that appeals to me yet.

Whereas for WWII, I like one set of very different rules so much it would take a bomb in my fireplace to get me to play something else.

Also, some of these genres I enjoy playing but I don't know as much about it and I don't have the time anymore, as much as I'd like to, to be able to sit down and research and write my own rules.
--
Tim

incurable optimism

For ideas for house rules, mainly.

But also because in some genres (notably ironclads) I have not found a set of rules that appeals to me yet.

Whereas for WWII, I like one set of very different rules so much it would take a bomb in my fireplace to get me to play something else.

Also, some of these genres I enjoy playing but I don't know as much about it and I don't have the time anymore, as much as I'd like to, to be able to sit down and research and write my own rules.
--
Tim

Deep down you suspect that you are not going to ever actually play the new rules, because you already have a cupboard full of "the next big thing" sets. Why do we do this?

No idea really.

You wouldn't go to the restaurant and order food, just on the off chance the vegetables might be okay and you may be able to do something with the sauce- yet we order rule books knowing that the chances are they will be read once or twice only.

Next time I order my meal I'll have a good look at it, shuffle it about with my fork and than leave the table…. complaining that the base size of the steak is different to what I eat and the proportion of carrots is all wrong for this size of plate and the peas are the wrong shade of green.

Graham

Two categories for me

Rules that I definately expect to play – FOG was a good recent example

Rules that I hope to play – usually bought for a couple of quid off the ebay or a bring & buy – like King or Faith

Because they are there.

"Because they are there."
Am I correct in saying George Mallory collected a huge number of rulesets and died trying to scale the pile?

Am I correct in saying George Mallory collected a huge number of rulesets and died trying to scale the pile?

Not quite. Massive stroke when he found his copy of WRG 7th, but had misplaced the latest postmarked telegram with the update to Rule X. Poor chap. So close to glory.