More thoughts on points value limits

While you’re assembling your collection — or when you simply want a very quick game or two — then you might play to a limit as low as, say, 500 points. Just use a handful of small detachments rather than a single giant one, so you’re still playing an interesting game of manoeuvre.

You might aspire to play a giant game with a limit of perhaps 8,000 points — but that demands a large number of miniatures and other game accessories, which you might not have access to yet. It’s a fun goal to work towards though. And in the meantime, it’s best to get familiar with the rules through smaller games, so that you become fluent — otherwise, you’ll find your grand battle much less satisfying than you’d hoped.

This should be obvious, but it’s good to remind ourselves: You don’t have to use the same maximum points value limit for both players, and other conditions don’t have to be 'equal' either.

This isn’t Chess, and you and your opponent shouldn’t let the notion of 'balance' limit your imaginations. If you specifically want to play tournament-style games where all of the conditions create a nominally even chance of winning for both sides, then go for it — but don’t let this symmetrical approach dominate your thinking as 'the only way to play'. There’s a rich world of other ways to play tabletop wargames.

Real battles rarely involve evenly-matched forces, and it can be very interesting to play games in which one player has a much higher points value limit than the other. This is especially fun if you develop a narrative for the battle and play 'for the story' —  that is, don’t just focus on the mere fact of winning or losing a game, but rather do the best you can with what you’ve got, and translate the successes and failures into desperate last stands and other thrilling highlights of the story.

That said, it is generally best to pair a difference in maximum points value limits for each player with other differences in the scenario that you intend to play — differences in setup or objectives, which should go some way to compensate for the difference in the points limit. Don’t focus on 'balance' — just aim to make the scenario and the narrative engaging enough to keep both players invested in the outcome.

Many of the scenarios at Scenarios are asymmetrical in some way. The Fog of War is a particularly rich source of asymmetrical missions that you can play as-is or adapt into bigger, standalone scenarios.

If you use a high proportion of War Engine units then your games will tend to play faster for a given points total, as you don’t have as many units to move and make decisions about.

A traditional wargames table affords an area in the range of 4 to 6 foot (~120 to 180 cm) deep by 6 to 8 foot (~180 to 240 cm) wide, or even bigger (for those lucky enough to have the space). As a general rule of thumb, your maximum points value limit should be in the range of 10 to 20 points per centimetre of table width.

This is only a guide: In practice, the main factor will be the degree to which overcrowding is a problem — and this depends on the nature of the scenario and the particular forces that are involved. At the extremes, 'horde' armies (typical of Orks and Tyranids) always need more room than 'elite' armies (typical of armies comprised primarily of Space Marines or Eldar).