"What is the most difficult period to game?" Topic

I was thinking about different periods and what would appeal to me when i thought about Ancient Greece. A period I love and was my main obsession as a child. Thing is I have never gamed it. I thought about it and the battles seem to be quite difficult to game properly. Dare I say a big rugby scrum with light troops around the edges.
What do you think is the most difficult to game especially in regards to rules.

FM

Ancient Greece hard to game?

Seems to me that ancients has been done more than any other period.
Only as difficult as you want it to be.

Mid-late WW1. I know there are rules out there for this, and, to be honest, I've never tried any. However, and this is personal to me of course, I'm not sure what I'd get out of a game with lines of figures walking across barbed wire strewn open ground faced with dug in machine guns and artillery.

Perhaps it's also the fact that I was doing some family history searching and found my Dad's grandfather was killed in 1917, his brother at Loos in 1914 and two of their brothers in law in 1916 and 1917.
Sorry for the ramble, thought I needed to explain my reason.
Mark C

Depends on what you mean by difficult, or rather, where the difficulty lays. If we're talking about modelling a period with rules, then Ancient Greece with essentially almost identical phalanxs' seems very easy, especially if you leave out the oriental scum (Persians). On the other hand if you're talking about difficulty in ginning up the romantic involvement to make the enthusiasm for the period then World War One where the casualties are a million ment o more the front a mile is another downer.

I'd say modern/sci-fi

We see all kinds of stuff-cyber, drones, satellites and how can you hide on a modern battlefield? Add in asymmetric warfare then the whole thing seems very complex.

Add to this that (in my opinion) you have to have random/or otherwise activation to make the battlefield "fluid" and I'd say modern stuff is very difficult to "simulate".

'course you could just game it.

Colonial? It's hard to get an historically accurate balance between European & native forces.

The one you've got no toys for…?

I'll get me coat.

The pre-Cambrian Period?

Carrier warfare

I would propose modern jet combat – high tech, 3D

Any air combat, it's always a balance of making it play fast enough to be interesting but keeping an historically plausible outcome. The issue seems to be that most rules try to put you in the pilots seat but then allow you an ages and then some to make decisions that in real life would have been split second reactions.

Here's a brain bender for you: I think that the most difficult period to wargame is World War II! Why? Simple, really: WWII is the most documented war in human history. this has given rise to that ornerous beast known as the 'rivet-counter' who stares down his nose at any figures or set of rules that do not live up to their expectations of 'how it really was': I remember seeing something on this very site about a new group of german figures that was released, only to have someone post a furious comment stating that the spare ammo pouch on the officer's belt was on the LEFT side of the belt buckle when EVERYONE knows that they SHOULD be on the RIGHT! he then went on to state that he not only wouldn't be buying any figures from this range, he wouldn't be buying any figures from this company period until this 'grievous error' was corrected…and people wonder why I stick with fantasy.

Anytime after ten PM becomes the most difficult for me.

Oh. Then, any period that I haven't written my own rules for. It's why I have written my own rules: other rules are almost opaque….

The game I just lost or if I lose the next one it will be that one

Some funny comments and the odd sad knowing nod as well. However to answer the posters question here are my comments.

First off Anicent Greece should be one of the easiest to collect and war game. Plenty of great figures recently in plastic and in metal plus the wonderful Foundry stuff and there are many other manufactures of note. It is classic war game stuff as yes it is much like a giant scrum of hoplites but there was more to the battles if you do a bit of research. There are also a number of rules that do the period well and for every taste.

The difficult ones to me are:

Napoleonic War games because of, well…, Napoleonic war gamers. Plus the uniforms and all the various lace is just off putting to me as a painter and I am a good miniature painter. I did paint a bunch of 15 mm Napoleonic figures for a friend and it covered most of the main British units at Waterloo, I did everything from the 95th Rifles to the Blackwatch. He was very pleased but I was flogged if I every wanted to try to do any more figures for this period in any size.

Late era jet warfare, I just do not see the point, much better as a video game.

Modern naval would also be hard I think given all the variables.

I have to disagree with the Kroptkin on moderns ground combat. Force on Force, Ambush Alley and the other iterations of that game system do an excellent job of capturing small arms and vehicle support combat with varying off table support such as air and artillery assets. And getting the feel of asymmetrical war is what Ambush Alley cut its teeth on. YMMV

Iron Mike brings up a growing concern regarding WW II. First it is by far one of my favorite periods to wargame. Part of that is that my father was a WW II vet and I grew up with such wonderful shows as 12 o'Clock High, and Combat! on TV in the early sixties. I also build just about every American and German tank model I could get my hands on as well as airplanes. But yes I have been taken aback by some of the un-reasonable reactions by some posters on TMP regarding nit picky issues. In fact I compared them to the Napoleonic curmudgeons that pretty much cool any desire on my part to want to collect or game the period.

I've always wanted to do ECW, but, tactically, it just leaves me cold. I cannot see how the games would be challenging, interesting, or just 'grab me' which is a shame, as I like the look of the armies.

John

Modern Jet Combat – missiles and radar controlled weapons – much better for video games.

I wrote a Battle of Britain game – I think it works well. A turn is 3 x 3sec bounds. The orders are turn (left/right), climb/dive, slide (left/right) I've started using cards to give orders – that means its quick to give the orders (though some book keeping – you need to know the speed change consequences for turn end).

Move distance is set by speed (which changes at the end of the 3 bound turn). Turn is set maximum angle. You don't get masses of options. A normal move is 5cm per speed point. (height change is 2cm horizontally).

So if orders are climb and left, and your speed this bound is 3, then you go 2cm forward- change height band(eg from 4 to 5), then turn using the template for your aircraft, then for the third you go 5cm forward. No choices on distances. If using the cards you write the speed change onto the order sheet (in this case -3; 2 for the climb, one for the turn)

After all movement is done you can declare firing (no part move firing – "the target was too fleeting")

End of turn (of 3 bounds) calc speed change, apply any throttle (positive speed), then check how your new speed splits between the 3 bounds.

Its quick and easy, but I hope, not too artificial.