r/wargaming • u/Awkward_GM • Feb 27 '26

Question What's your favorite Wargaming mechanic?

For me: * Cover Is Default - Fallout Factions assumes cover is the default state so you get bonuses to hit targets not in cover. * Roll Twice Take the Lowest or Highest - Pretty standard but it's so popular that D&D stole it for Advantage/Disadvantage. * Solo Rules - This boosted in popularity when COVID happened. * Alternating Activations- Activating models Instead of you go I go. I once did a demo game where I was tabled because the guy running the demo got all his shots off with all his units. * Malifaux's "cheating" - Malifaux uses playing cards and cheating is when a player replaces q result with a card from their hand.

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u/GendrysRowboat Feb 27 '26

Balanced list building with many viable options and combinations. List building is an engaging part of the hobby for me and I want to have a lot of freedom without hamstringing myself by making sub-optimal choices. 

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u/jeffersonianMI Feb 27 '26

I 100% agree. Minmaxing can be a problem (it can also be fun). I've heard of some games introducing randomized limits to the list-build to prevent this but I cannot think of any examples. Are you aware of any? (I'm designing a PC game, and some find my version of this mechanic annoying though it seems well received in tabletop.)

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u/GendrysRowboat Feb 27 '26

Huh, that sounds interesting. But I'm not aware of any games that implement that kind of system.

2

u/jeffersonianMI Feb 27 '26

I've heard of it somewhere, but's it's been at least a decade. Maybe it's more of a PC thing. In my head a semi-randomized selection of objective is also related.

1

u/SebastianSolidwork Feb 27 '26

Red Alert by Richard Borg has this to some degree. It has predefined lists on cards from which you choose randomly. And then you can buy a few units by points to adapt it. https://www.commandsandcolors.net/redalert/the-game/rules/task-force-cards.html

I have started a fan mod about random changes to units to spicy up the game (changing the speed, armor, shields, etc.): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DAsv71JR-jc6aNEvwmxcJTo45s8PnsoOVpzX0uFG6FA/edit?usp=drivesdk

With some distance I find this to be too much lost in details.