New and Perplexed

It is a more historical game for gentlemen.
😉

No points needed among friends. If you loose a game against a stronger army you can get fun from doing well.

It is an illusion that points make different armies into forces of same strength.

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A complete index takes more than a single page. And there is ever something someone miss.

So Warlord just offers the contents at the beginning of most books. I had never a problem to find what I need.
Well, good memory……..

Yea, points are an awkward thing. In most game systems, “list building” is a critically important skill, and players with an in depth knowledge of what units are cost effective, and what units work well together, can get a stronger army on the table for the same points as an opponent. Depending on the game, list building can be more important than battlefield tactics as a deciding outcome of the game. Although this is one of the reasons I actually have largely moved away from the Warhammer 40K community.

I still think points are useful, and they do an effective job of setting parameters for game size, and generally facilitating a pick up game. I can go to a Bolt Action event, meet an entirely new community, and everybody understands what a 1K point game looks like. Points are best if they are more balanced of course, but even in Bolt Action list building is important.

Also, fan made point systems are usually pretty balanced, as fans have a tendency to want the game to be as balanced as possible. Although be warned that fan based systems often lack extensive resources for play testing points values, and different systems carry different weights depending on what the locals are doing. As long as everybody agrees on an overlying system, it can definitely help.

Anyway, for more historical games, I think part of the draw is in recreating battles, or trying alternate scenarios. Setting up terrain and armies in line with Scipio and Hannibal’s confrontation and playing out the Battle of Zama. Or using those force organizations and trying different tactics to see if you can change the outcome of the battle. Sure, you won’t have the thousands and thousands of models on each side, but under the assumption that each individual model actually represents far more, recreating Hannibal’s formation in miniature form wouldn’t be that difficult. Games that rely on lined infantry formations are much easier to extrapolate that each block/model actually represents hundreds or thousands of individual soldiers.