The concept of role-playing in historical miniatures gaming is a relatively new one "borrowed", I assume, from D&D/fantasy. The purposes, as I see them, are to "personalize" a player's command; increase realism to one degree or another; and to "spice up" a game to increase enjoyment. There can exist a great deal of difference between commanding a corps of infantry in a "straight" non-role-playing game and commanding the same corps in a role-playing game where one might be instructed that he is in line for his commander's position should a decisive victory not be achieved.
Rich Black does a fine job with role-playing with his Normans, Saxons, and Vikings games, always a perennial favorite at our local games and at conventions. Rich will divide each force into individual commands of perhaps twenty to fifty figures and give each individual player "personal" goals to achieve in the game. Several of Rich's scenarios were particularly enjoyable and come to mind at this time. In a ten player game, one side, the Lord of the local area, was holed up in a village awaiting a feast to be attended by me and my force. I was informed that I was to attend the feast, overthrow the Lord, and replace him with someone more effective, namely myself! As I was marching toward the village, I encountered a large force of Normans who were given the task of investigating possible unrest in the area. I cautiously moved from column to line and the Norman commander interpreted this as an aggressive action, as he did not know what type of "unrest" existed, and we went at it until we parleyed and I half-way convinced him we had no quarrel with him. At the same time, a fourth force wandered through the woods toward the village and although the Lord was convinced he would be attacked by them, they were only interested in accumulating some sheep on the outskirts of town. The sheep-hunters were set upon by another force, a "wild-card" group who was only instructed that he was a "rash" leader who was out to "prove" himself and make a name.
Meanwhile, back at the village, two long-boats of Vikings, on their way back to their port following a disastrous sea voyage, land to avail themselves of some fresh beef and head right for the unguarded cattle. During the entire game the Lord is frantically moving his small force from one front to another certain that every player he sees on the table is out to get him. What actually happened was that no one came into contact with him but there was lots of action.
In yet another game, I was a Viking leader returning to my long boats with two ether Viking war parties. I was carrying the "loot" from a recent raid and the other two groups were watching my flanks. We encountered a Saxon village and a large Norman mounted force. I did my best to encourage the other two Viking groups to engage the Saxons and Normans, my intention being to move quickly up the road to a narrow point in the road where I could form a rear guard to hold off the two Viking groups while I escaped with the treasure all to myself!
These games usually result in a considerable amount of distrust amongst the players, especially if they have played the period before. Such games conducted at conventions are more interesting as the players suspect nothing and are "ripe" for the picking.
Another variant is that utilized in my Isandhlwana game in which British officers are told they "must" adhere to pre-game conditions, react only to what they actually "know", and follow their orders to the best of their ability as they are in the British army afterall to advance their careers. This results in allowing an historical battle to be recreated as the average commander as wargamer commanding the British at Isandhlwana is going to move his troops back into square on turn one, even though there was historically no cause for alarm. Such pre-game conditions and role-playing prevent this from happening. In addition, Col. Pulleine, the commander of the camp at Isandhlwana, and Col. Durnford, who is actually superior to Pulleine when he arrives to reinforce the camp, are both unsure as to who should take charge due to role-playing instructions. This brings about some degree of confusion which is the objective for this scenario.
The use of role-playing in historical miniatures games is appropriate for actions involving only a few dozen figures, as illustrated in the Normans, Saxons, and Vikings games, to games involving thousands of figures, such as Isandhlwana. Role-playing can "force" a player to act historically when to act historically, knowing as a gamer, the situation, is impossible under normal gaming conditions. It can be used in varying degrees, dependent upon the umpire's needs, and most players take to it readily although most players, when first exposed to it, require some reminding to stay within their role. The first time I attempted any role-playing was in a huge 15mm ACW wargame which was also the first exposure to role-playing in a historical game for the players and everyone forgot about playing their roles.
The system seems to work better if players are briefed before the game and given specific written instructions as to the nature of their "role". An umpire who sees someone departing from their assigned role can always confer with that player and determine if the action should be allowed or disallowed. Give roleplaying a try in your wargaming. MWAN would be interested in hearing about your results.
Back to MWAN # 20 Table of Contents
Back to MWAN List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Magazine List
© Copyright 1986 Hal Thinglum
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com