Richard C: " I think wargamers will accept more abstraction than you might expect! <Example of the WRG Ancient Rules>"
Ashley M: Most wargamers only tolerate abstraction because they can't simulate things more closely.
Richard's example, the WRG Ancients rules, have to have a high level of abstraction because each figure on the table represents God knows how many men and the duration of a game turn is of the order of minutes. They're meant to represent battles with thousands of combatants lasting all day. Skirmish gamers deal with a one-to-one man to figure ratio, have a game turn usually of the order of a couple of seconds and are meant to represent small actions up of 10s of combatants.
RPGs rules were generally extensions to skirmish game rules when they came out. A lot of Wargamers liked identifying with the combatants and boiiiinnnnng, RPGs were born. Now, this isn't to say that traditional Wargamers won't enjoy HW: They probably will, but not for the combat system as most would have a laugh at the level of abstraction in HW for small unit actions.
One final thought... I'm a dyed in the world wargamer. I like lots of realism in combat. RQ never had enough for me, but it was better than most. However, I love playing "The Masquerade," a LARPG. But, I play it for different reasons and get different things out of it. Just because someone is a wargamer doesn't mean they can't enjoy other forms of games as well.
Ash
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