"What wargaming conventional wisdom do you not follow?" Topic

Are you ever taken aback by the text of the first post in a thread that makes assumptions that surprise you?
the OP is ASSUMING that his way is the only way, and all you can say is "Not exactly".
Niot a real earth shaking topic, but just mildly amusing.

1) All ancients gaming is in 15mm. Invariably when someone asks about basing, he is referring to DBM 40mm bases. The scale is NEVER mentioned in the thread title, and all assumptions are that he is talking about 15mm.

2) All priming is black priming. Not for me. I only prime black for knights or tanks. Everything else is white.

2) All priming is black priming. Not for me. I only prime black for knights or tanks. Everything else is white.

An article in the latest issue of "Battlegames" strongly recommens priming in white.

Famously there was an entire ISSUE of Slingshot full of the usual articles like 'How to win with Mauryan Indians' and 'Towards an appreciation of Qin Chariot Tactics' in which the name of the game the various authors were talking about was never actually stated – so my 3)"everyone reading Slingshot is a DBM player."

Pat

4) All gamers have played Warhammer or DB*.
So rules reviews and other posts talking about rules mechanics can simply reference that they "are familiar to gamers". I have never played Warhammer. Probably never will. And I don't play DB* either.

I do not believe:
Ancients, ACW and Nappy gaming can be fun.
15mm games can be fun.
Not for me, thanks.
Please, don't get me wrong. I have TRIED to like all of the above, but just could not get into it.

There is a "Conventional Wisdom" in wargaming? Since when? The only thing I've come across is that there are NO conventions in wargaming – at least none which survive contact with other wargamers!

A common practice on wargaming forums, as on other topic forums, is posting specific questions without necessary supporting context. See the OFM's post for examples.

I don't find this a "wargaming conventional wisdom", rather the opposite, so I try not to follow it.

Note this means many of my posts lack brevity. Ah well.

I water down my Gesso.

That we all speak the same brand of English.

I play miniatures games with counters on paper maps, I guess that breaks the most holy of holies…

Naw, Dynaman. On BoardGameGeeks, that's the wargaming conventional wisdom.

Napoleonic posters start fights on TMP, 18th century posters don't.

Some of the biggest fights in TMP lore were about who invented the bricole or what Gribeauval accomplished. These are 18th century topics. We can't help it if folks start their flame wars on the wrong boards.

Rick

Arms Length Rule (as it applies to figure painting quality)

Conventional Wargame wisdom?

Depends … There's a difference bewteen that wisdom on TMP (which is a world all of its own) and that wisdom amongst historical wargamers …

TMP frequently assumed wisdom which I don't agree with …

5. Wargaming includes non-military games.

6. Wargames can't reflect historical events authentically.

7. 28mm is a preferable scale offering the right amount of detail.

8. Wargaming is actually 'miniature wargaming' and the clue is in the title.

9. In modern/WW2 games combining soldiers on bases with tanks and vehicles not on bases looks effective.

10. Matt varnish is preferable to Gloss varnish.

Anyway … there's a few more for you.

No offense is intended (I have learned to live with the fact that some folk assume much of the above to be true even though they are just prejudices and opinions …)

11. Don't drink paint.

11a. Separate your wash water from your beverage of choice, preferably by placing opposite from your wash water.

Coffee/tea/beer and paint washings don't taste well.

Eric

Slightly off topic, but do you ever visit a club or convention where the unwritten assumption is that the game is there to be admired, and the day spent talking about former gamers, games, shops, rules and forthcoming projects? Any queries or hints about actually completing the game are met with polite confusion?

3:1 to attack

Soft plastics are innately inferior to metals

Yes, Timbo … that should be on the list

> 11. Don't drink paint.

I hope you DO follow this bit of wisdom…

Sparker – What *else* would one do at a game day? Play a game, of what lunacy do you speak?

Talking about "equivalent force" in terms of points systems. (Closely related to the idea of "on the average, the probability …".)

I am not against point systems. However, if you believe that strategy, tactics, conditions, constraints, randomness, terrain, and objectives don't influence the combat effectiveness of a force more than a linear metric of force capabilities, you are either: (1) deulded (about this), or (2) playing an extremely boring, predictable game.

Again, I am not against point systems. I like them. I use them. I put them in INLGames products. (Sometimes) I am just grousing about the bit of "conventional wisdom" that I see saying "well, if we have equal point forces, the game will be a 'fair fight' independent of anything else.".

And don't get me started about what Sun-Tzu says about the stupidity of looking for a 'fair fight'. :)

Command and Control mechanics should account for the proximity of command figures to the unit being commanded.

Command umbrellas are just a wargaming contrivance to delude players into thinking they are exercising command.

Minis can look like dog-chewed leprous mutants as long as the uniforms/armour are historically accurate.

Triads are a good way to paint.

There's a guy on Warseer with a sig-quote by some intelligent, erudite and stunningly handsome guy.

link

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Warren B.
minisculpture.co.uk

I treat the notion of "play balance" with all the contempt it so richy deserves.