The age old debate within our hobby, historical or fantasy/sci-fi. It seems like Fantasy has almost completely won that debate, with historical miniature wargaming being largely overlooked. With huge companies like Games Workshop creating wildly successful games, you have to wonder what the disconnect with historicals is. Today we will not be examining why Fantasy and Science Fiction games are more popular than their historical counterparts, but what is different about them on a fundamental level. Please note that this is all just my opinion, don’t take it too seriously.
The Rules
“fantasy”, and “historical” wargame rules are not a stark divide, as they are hard to define terms. Some historical games lean into fantasy style rules, while some fantasy rules lean into the historical style of game design. Many experienced rules connoisseurs will be able to pick up on the difference whenever they read a set of rules. Believe it or not, historical rules tend to be more mechanically experimental, while fantasy rules tend to stick to the tried and true, like IGOUGO, rolling to hit and then kill, limited command and control or morale rules.
The other main difference is that historical games have a particular real-life conflict they are trying to recreate, and this leads to some railroading in the game design process. On the other hand, fantasy gaming has more freedom theoretically, but this often leads to “balanced” games, that are really more geared towards competition.
The Culture
Going back to the above section, fantasy games tend to be more focused on the competitive side of gaming, and it’s culture and players reflect that. In my experience, the feel of the fantasy gaming groups is centered on winning. On the opposite side of the spectrum, historical gamers can get off-topic in side conversations quickly.
Both sides of their hobby have their problems, but generally if you are looking for a more laid back style of gaming, historicals is probably you best bet.
Intellectual Property
The thing about a period of history is, you can’t copyright it. This creates a much vaster range of games for every conflict. This contrast with fantasy gaming, which relies on licensing for many major franchises. For example, only Atomic Mass Games has the right to produce Star Wars miniatures and games, but as hard as they would try Warlord Games cannot have a monopoly on World War 2 gaming.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this brief look at some of the differences of the two sides of the same coin!
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Until next time- Joshua, The Napoleon of the West
