You hear a lot of people complaining about games. One of the most common thing you hear is that
certain units or models in a game are “Over Powered” or they are “Unbalanced”. But does balance really matter in Wargames? Well,
the real answer to this question is obviously t depends on the game and how you
want to play. A bit of a cop out, I
know, but I do think there is a deeper answer though.
Games Workshop recently released Shadow War: Armageddon, a
narrative skirmish game set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe based on their
classic Necromunda game. It’s been a
surprise hit for the company – the initial boxed game selling out in minutes –
and the online community for the game has been thriving. The most common complaint I’ve seen online though
is certain factions are “unbalanced” but I feel that these people may have
missed the point of the game. I don’t
think Shadow War was ever intended to be used for a tournaments and heavy
competitive play. I think it’s a great
game for creating exciting stories on the tabletop, yeah your Imperial Guard
(or whatever they are called nowadays) might get butchered but it was bloody
fun playing it out right?
I think the same can be said for a lot of games but not all
of course. There are games that are
designed for competitive play. Games like Kings of War and Warmachine rely on balance
to make the game work. Nothing can ever
be perfectly balanced of course (unless both players use the exact same models
and army lists but where’s the fun in that) but I think wargamers make too much
of a big deal of balance.
Just look at what happened when Warhammer: Age Of Sigmar was released. When the Warhammer reboot came out neck beards around the world were outraged by the idea that none of the units had point values. The game encouraged people to use what models they had in their collection and create a cool narrative. It was fun and reminded me when I started playing wargames and would just put any old thing on the table and would have hours of fun...the LAST thing we thought about was balance! I remember seeing on a forum online someone complaining that “people could just take an army of giants!!” My first thought was “that sounds AMAZING!”
Some people embraced
it and loved the idea but it seemed most gamers couldn’t get on board. I understand this though because army list
building and the like is one of the most fun parts of wargaming for many
people. It was certainly a statement of
intent for Games Workshop though.
Warhammer Fantasy Battles was always a game that had an active competitive
scene and releasing the new version without points was certainly a kick up the
arse for some. After a year GW put out
the Generals Handbook which had rules for “Matched Play” which used Points
Values and balancing mechanics. Some
people saw it as a back tack from GW but I would be very surprised if that wasn’t
planned that way.
I think GW have stuck the nail on the head with how they
present Age of Sigmar – and the forthcoming 8th edition of Warhammer
40,000 – with the “Three Ways To Play” thing.
Open Play being the version where you can use whatever you like to play
games, Narrative Play which is more scenario based and Matched Play which is
the more balanced version. It shows
people that when you buy a new game it should be used as a frame work to do
what you like with, there is no right way to play a game, as long as you are having
fun then you are playing it right! It’s very refreshing for a company like
Games Workshop to embrace such a thing.
It does seems that balance is more of a recent obsession that
has snuck into other types of games as well.
I remember seeing people complaining about balance issues in Dungeons
& Dragons. Since when did we want balanced
roleplaying games? For me a good RPG should be all about story. There should be monsters in a dungeon that my
first level character can’t out fight! If I can out fight everything where is
the danger and drama? The fear of death should be the crux of any good dungeon
dwelling adventure!! A good old school RPG should feel dangerous and scary.
As I said at the start of the post there is not really yes
no answer to the question of does balance matter? It all depends on the game and how you like
to play. I do think everyone should just
have a go at playing their wargames with an eye on the style of an Old School
RPG. Just make up a story, bend the rules to fit that story, choose some cool miniatures and throw some
dice, you know, like we used to as kids.