The Fundamentals of Tabletop Miniatures Game Design: A Designer’s Handbook

This book presents a much-needed framework for the critical examination of miniatures games and their design. It provides the reader with both a conceptual model for understanding how these games work as well as a toolbox of mechanical approaches to achieving a range of design outcomes and assessing the fit of any given approach within a specific design. Though dating back to the 1820s, tabletop miniatures games have been little explored critically and lack a conceptual vocabulary for their discussion. Active practitioners in the miniature games design community, Glenn Ford and Mike Hutchinson explore what defines these games, proposing the term ‘non-discrete miniatures games’ to encapsulate the essence of these open and immersive hobby gaming experiences. Discarding the term ‘wargame’, they argue against limiting conceptions of these games to direct armed conflict, and champion their diverse narrative potential. The book provides a fresh conceptual framework for miniatures games, abstracting the concepts of positioning and moving markers non-discretely across scale-modelled environments into inclusive and generalised terminology, untethering them from their roots as military simulations and providing the foundations for a fresh consideration of miniatures games design. Written for game designers, and with a foreword by Gav Thorpe, The Fundamentals of Tabletop Miniatures Game Design is a handbook for those that wish to design better miniatures games. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Author Biographies Introduction SECTION 1: Miniatures as Medium Chapter 1: What Are Tabletop Miniatures Games? Chapter 2: A Brief History of Miniatures Games Chapter 3: The Spatial Relationship Chapter 4: When Should Something Be a Miniatures Game? Chapter 5: The Hobby Games Loop Chapter 6: Players of Tabletop Miniatures Games Chapter 7: Sources of Fun Chapter 8: The Victory Imperative Chapter 9: Fantasy and Narrative Chapter 10: Dramatic Focus SECTION 2: The Raw Materials Chapter 11: Miniatures and Measures Chapter 12: Scale and Scope Chapter 13: Uncertainty Chapter 14: Dice Mechanics Chapter 15: Card Mechanics Chapter 16: Genre, Theme and Setting Chapter 17: Resources SECTION 3: Miniatures Rules Systems Chapter 18: Setup and Deployment Chapter 19: Activation and Initiative Chapter 20: Movement Chapter 21: Close Resolution Chapter 22: Line of Sight and Ranged Actions Chapter 23: Terrain Chapter 24: Control Removal Chapter 25: Damage Chapter 26: Victory Conditions Chapter 27: Special Abilities Chapter 28: Scenarios Chapter 29: Campaigns Chapter 30: Forces and List Building Chapter 31: Conclusion Appendix 1: Tabletop Miniatures Game Prototyping Toolkit Index