Post by Eric Farrington on Nov 13, 2023 14:47:09 GMT
Those of you who have been reading my blog, interact with me online, or heard some of my interviews know one of my key maxims as a Wargame Designer. Innovation is Over-rated. Therefore, you maybe a bit surprised to see an entry with this title.
I often think of my own development as a wargame designer as Path A. I started with Dungeons and Dragons in the mid-80's. Saw and advert for Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader and got into that. Played that for a long time. Did time playing the Specialist Games. Then, eventually moved over to historical and other games at some point. I have heard this exact same story from so many gamers and wargame designers. Hence, why I call it Path A as it is so common.
Due to this Path A, there is a common Indie Wargamer joke that we all started out trying to build a better Warhammer. The first "published" rules I ever had were for a variant set of rules called "Jungle Fight" that was published in Firebase #7 a fanzine I found on the Old Warseer forum. I am pretty sure you can still track them down. Indeed, much of my early work was "Modding" Specialist Games to fit my campaigns and wants.
I have sad news for everyone though. No one actually wants a new Warhammer, well; at least not from you.
Well. I then go onto to talking about Hooks, Chrome, and how to make your game unique enough BUT not too unique where no will play it. If this sounds interesting to you, feel free to read all about it on the Blood and Spectacles blog here:
bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2023/11/wargame-design-we-dont-need-another.html