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I get wargaming magazines such as Miniature wargames and Wargames illustrated and visually, a thought struck me. Are historicals having more fun than the sci/fi fantasy corner of wargaming? From what I can see historical seems to be going through a boom period, big battlefields with big armies. And what does the sci/fi fantasy offer in return? As far as I can see we are limited to on the whole skirmish type battles. A lot of the rules we have seem to cater for a handful of figures which is fine as the main reasoning would be to keep costs down. However! Historical has wholeheartedly accepted plastic as the way forward and allows players to have armies they'd never dreamed of before. Are we stuck in a rut with skirmish rules? I'd like to think that sci/fi/fantasy will catch up with the historical lot.
I've always thought one of the reasons our gaming genres have never been taken seriously was the fact that because it is skirmish orientated there is no deep thought required to play. So what do you think? Are we in a rut? Next time you get a chance have a look at a historical gaming magazine and ask yourself " That is one hell of a battlefield, hundreds of troops. Why can't sci/fi/fantasy be like this?"

They can; Apocalypse.


Good luck getting a big enough table though.

Firstly, I agree with the point about apocalypse.

Secondly, its because warhammer 40k and fantasy, especially 40k are much more individual warrior orientated. Each miniature can have its own personality and look entirely different than any other, if you so wish it and have the time and patience to make it so. Historical games with tons of small troops lack the personal detail that Warhammer has imo.

Its just a different type of feeling.

Obviously I know about apocalypse, that's not what I was I was talking about. In general the rules market particularly with sci/fi do not seem to be (as far as I am aware) producing rules as such for mass battles. Every rule set seems set up for skirmish as well as the almost obligatory handful of figures, i.e 'gang wars'. There does not appear to be an independent ruleset that encourages you to bring out a lot of models for a battle. And I know about Stargrunt! But that was released a good few years ago where are the new ones?