09-05-2012, 01:22 AM
Jasper,
I like exploring history by designing games and playing well-designed games.
Most tabletop wargames involving refighting a battle or a war on a small map-board, with units representing the forces on each side, and rules reflecting the constraints: unit capabilities, strength, and morale in tactical games, as well as logistics and sometimes politics in strategic ones. A lot of the same basic approaches work well for other types of conflict and/or competition, but they don't work as well for cooperation.
If you aren't familiar with the genre and can find Phillip Sabin's book on *Lost Battles,* that's a good example of the ways game design can explore and explain history. That said, Sabin leaves many open questions. He uses his own educated guess as to how much more effective veterans could be than levies, but it is still worth finding better estimates.
If you are familiar with the genre, I'm trying to design something, for Simple Great Battles of History, something similar to GBOA and SPQR but with simplified command rules, among other things. I'd also like to design a simpler game similar to PRESTAGS and a strategic game covering the entire conflict.
Sometimes game design can point out open questions and sometimes it can point out where certain models of history have problems that aren't immediately obvious.
I like exploring history by designing games and playing well-designed games.
Most tabletop wargames involving refighting a battle or a war on a small map-board, with units representing the forces on each side, and rules reflecting the constraints: unit capabilities, strength, and morale in tactical games, as well as logistics and sometimes politics in strategic ones. A lot of the same basic approaches work well for other types of conflict and/or competition, but they don't work as well for cooperation.
If you aren't familiar with the genre and can find Phillip Sabin's book on *Lost Battles,* that's a good example of the ways game design can explore and explain history. That said, Sabin leaves many open questions. He uses his own educated guess as to how much more effective veterans could be than levies, but it is still worth finding better estimates.
If you are familiar with the genre, I'm trying to design something, for Simple Great Battles of History, something similar to GBOA and SPQR but with simplified command rules, among other things. I'd also like to design a simpler game similar to PRESTAGS and a strategic game covering the entire conflict.
Sometimes game design can point out open questions and sometimes it can point out where certain models of history have problems that aren't immediately obvious.