D&D is not a Wargame
"D&D is a wargame!" You hear it all the time.
Usually from guys who tell you that D&D combat, as such, is boring in and of itself because it's not detailed enough. They will tell you that abstract ways of resolving big battles in your actual ongoing D&D campaign is very boring indeed; despite you having a half dozen or more men on the edge of their seat about the results of said battle abstraction.
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| The Siege of Fort Fenrir (Trollopulous campaign) |
They'll theorycraft online all day showing you how they do this or that wargame in solitaire play to test how good it is. They'll use the word "Kriegspiel" or "Chainmail" at you over and over like a bludgeon, hoping you'll submit to their self-evident mental superiority.
They will scour the charts in 1e or 0e "Dungeons and Dragons" and show you how this or that dice rule is the same as this or that dice roll mechanic in this or that Wargame from the 70s you've never heard of.
But one wonders if, instead of doing all of the above, their time might be better spent finding at least one other person interested in wargaming with them?
D&D is not a wargame because it's about play, not theory.
Wargaming Can Be Part of D&D
D&D is a Braunstein. Jeffro proved this in 2024 with me coming in to spike the football a few times on the Dunder Moose podcast. In doing so I made a challenge for all listeners to run a Braunstein which, to my shock, many actually took up!
It made me realize that theories need real play testing. And gaming needs players. The wargamers seem to understand the former and not really comprehend the latter. But I can help them! With Real D&D!
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| "Drakon Vs The Void" (Dubzaron campaign) |
The good BROSR DM will take the concepts he like, if the players don't address them or choose to run away and focus on Getting The Ruby on the other side of the map, and can make up a session Braunstein.
Check out my many posts on the subject to see how easy and fun this can be. Or, if you're illiterate, you can watch this show I did about my Shuckstein!
Braunsteins are generally about the intrigue and reasoning and alliances or broken alliances etc behind an event or, sometimes, a war. Wargamers like to say their "campaigns" do all this. But they don't. Because no one cares and they can't find players.
But for a WARGAME BATTLE? You just need two players!
This may be too much to ask your average wargamer to gather but for me? It's a snap!
BROXT BATTLEGROUND
2025 is the year of BROXT. BROXT are the newer members of the BROSR who still have alot to learn about running real D&D. I am teaching them as their Booker and friend.
I started BROXT with having them create a full Braunstein scenario in the space of a tweet. It was awesome.
Then, in January, I had them read a short story from "Appendix N" and write a short essay about how the story could or did apply to D&D. They killed it.
The BROXT have proven able to handle any challenge. So, I figured they could tackle the greatest challenge in gaming: make a wargame battle fun!
They have been provided four wargame scenarios which 8 BROXT members will play out in a wargame battle in February. The scenario will NOT involve marching or gathering troops or intrigue (like a Braunstein) it is the moment when two armies come together and FIGHT.
I will post about the results over time but you should also follow #BROXT on twitter if you're not a chump. We're doing in 2025 the amazing things that #BROSR was doing in 2020-2023 but without all the egos (sans mine).
Real Campaign Results and Why BROXT Might Just Save Wargaming
No one cares about wargaming. But they do care about their ongoing D&D campaigns. So, the scenarios I chose are from REAL ONGOING BROSR D&D CAMPAIGNS. The results will be applied BACK to the REAL ONGOING BROSR D&D CAMPAIGN.
The results of the battle will determine big things that really matter to the DM and Players of those games because:
-the players home base might be destroyed
-a major NPC might become a werewolf for good
-the most powerful Lawful ruler might get lost in the void
-space pirates might defeat holy dervishes then come for the PCS!
I worked with the DMs of the campaigns of Dubzaron (that's me), Trollopulous (DM Dorrinal), Mighty Urf (DM RDubs [what a rip off name]), and Sojenka (DM Purple Druid) to assure that these Battles matter. You can find the list of battles and their setups here.
You might say (and some BROXT members have said) "but BDubs, can't you just run some abstract numbers real quick to determine the results of the battle. Wouldn't that be enough information to apply to a campaign and you and your players would have your answer?"
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| "The Wolves of Versquel" (Mighty Urf campaign) |
Yes!
But I feel bad for the wargamers.
I've theorized about this being the way to get them in the game for years now with no luck. My only success story of having a wargamer add something to my Dubzaron campaign was when Mr Wargaming agreed to run a cosmic battle on his yurturb channel whose results applied to Dubzaron and all the BROSR campaigns at that time. It may be the greatest moment in D&D gaming so it's only right we try and replicate it with BROXT BATTLEGROUND.
The other wargamers? Not so much. They have reliably informed me that abstract resolution is very boring and wargame resolution would be more fun. Perhaps if I have complete newb and non-wargamers like the lads in the BROXT do this, the grognard wargamers will be shamed into offering their expert wargaming services to ongoing campaigns like this in the future?
Who knows! But as a very personable and amiable D&D micro-celeb and booker, I must try!
Stay tuned to see if this is a great success or a grand failure. D&D may not be a wargame but we can finally determine, once and for all, if wargamers can be part of a D&D campaign.
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| A Wargame Battle worth playing! |
