Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is a tabletop roleplaying game based on what is probably the world's most famous tabletop miniature wargame.
It says right there on the tin that what occurs occurs within the imaginations of the players and the GM:
The actions and events take place in the imaginations of the players and Gamesmaster.
After the book's Introduction makes quite clear that anything beyond the book and dice is optional the optional use of miniatures—or models—used to represent and resolve combat gets a single mention in the Introduction. A paragraph about how it can be helpful if the GM 'draws out a map' or 'places a scale plan' on the table and models can then be used.
One paragraph in a 364-page tome.
A roleplaying game based on a miniature wargame assumes theater of the mind is the norm but D&D has always assumed the use of grids and miniatures? Any such assumption is overstated.
I own a copy of the 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide. Very little space is given in that book to talking about their use. Three paragraphs over pages 10-11 talk about how they can make life easier for the DM as he or she can then see the marching order or the placement of individuals in combat. The same points are reiterated again on page 11 in a further two paragraphs. A paragraph on page 52 mentions the use of hex paper or a hex map to determine flight turns during aerial combat. Page 69 speaks of their use to show how many opponents one combatant can face at a time. It is only on pages 52 and 69 where we even see any visual depiction of such use. (The Players Handbook has fewer mentions: A sentence about how they can be a 'great aid' to show which characters are where but how this can be simply drawn on a piece of paper. And another in which the distinction is simply made between turns for their use and melee rounds without to determine rate of fire.)
That is it.
It does not come even close to giving the impression that the use of grids and miniatures is to be the norm. Not even in the COMBAT section of the rules.
Gygax personally encourages their use. He says they add 'color and life' to a game. Some are of the opinion they do the opposite. Believe they break the immersion that can take place when we imagine actions and events as they might actually look were they actually happening.
Like so many things about the game—or about any game—it comes down to personal preference. But I suspect those who dislike theater of the mind are making use of their imaginations to some degree because a mere miniature will never adequately represent visually what a character looks like or how it moves or its every motion or emotion and how these look.
The use of minitures with a grid is explicitly covered in the “conducting combat” section, where it discusses using a hex grid to calculate movement. In fact, if specifically advocates for the use of minitures and a grid, saying it is the “more accurate” way to play. (AD&D Page 52).
That 'conducting combat' section on page 52 is in a section on flying and any mention in that section of using a grid is specifically about determining flight turns during aerial combat. *
The only mention of 'accuracy' in that section isn't even comparing playing with miniatures to playing without them—it is comparing the use of hex paper or a hex map to determine flight turns to what it calls a 'simpler' method that can be drawn up on a regular sheet of paper. You have misrepresented what it actually says in the book.
It does not say using miniatures and a grid is a 'more accurate' way 'to play.' It says using hex paper or a hex map will help you determine flight turns when someone or something is in flight more accurately. Than it will to simply draw it up on a regular sheet of paper.
Flight turns.
If you want to use miniatures go ahead. But there is no need to claim things are said in a book when anyone with that book in his or her possession can verify whether or not what you claim is true.
* A section that is not even in the COMBAT section of the book however misleading its name might be.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is a tabletop roleplaying game based on what is probably the world's most famous tabletop miniature wargame.
It says right there on the tin that what occurs occurs within the imaginations of the players and the GM:
The actions and events take place in the imaginations of the players and Gamesmaster.
After the book's Introduction makes quite clear that anything beyond the book and dice is optional the optional use of miniatures—or models—used to represent and resolve combat gets a single mention in the Introduction. A paragraph about how it can be helpful if the GM 'draws out a map' or 'places a scale plan' on the table and models can then be used.
One paragraph in a 364-page tome.
A roleplaying game based on a miniature wargame assumes theater of the mind is the norm but D&D has always assumed the use of grids and miniatures? Any such assumption is overstated.
I own a copy of the 1979 Dungeon Masters Guide. Very little space is given in that book to talking about their use. Three paragraphs over pages 10-11 talk about how they can make life easier for the DM as he or she can then see the marching order or the placement of individuals in combat. The same points are reiterated again on page 11 in a further two paragraphs. A paragraph on page 52 mentions the use of hex paper or a hex map to determine flight turns during aerial combat. Page 69 speaks of their use to show how many opponents one combatant can face at a time. It is only on pages 52 and 69 where we even see any visual depiction of such use. (The Players Handbook has fewer mentions: A sentence about how they can be a 'great aid' to show which characters are where but how this can be simply drawn on a piece of paper. And another in which the distinction is simply made between turns for their use and melee rounds without to determine rate of fire.)
That is it.
It does not come even close to giving the impression that the use of grids and miniatures is to be the norm. Not even in the COMBAT section of the rules.
Gygax personally encourages their use. He says they add 'color and life' to a game. Some are of the opinion they do the opposite. Believe they break the immersion that can take place when we imagine actions and events as they might actually look were they actually happening.
Like so many things about the game—or about any game—it comes down to personal preference. But I suspect those who dislike theater of the mind are making use of their imaginations to some degree because a mere miniature will never adequately represent visually what a character looks like or how it moves or its every motion or emotion and how these look.
That 'conducting combat' section on page 52 is in a section on flying and any mention in that section of using a grid is specifically about determining flight turns during aerial combat. *
The only mention of 'accuracy' in that section isn't even comparing playing with miniatures to playing without them—it is comparing the use of hex paper or a hex map to determine flight turns to what it calls a 'simpler' method that can be drawn up on a regular sheet of paper. You have misrepresented what it actually says in the book.
It does not say using miniatures and a grid is a 'more accurate' way 'to play.' It says using hex paper or a hex map will help you determine flight turns when someone or something is in flight more accurately. Than it will to simply draw it up on a regular sheet of paper.
Flight turns.
If you want to use miniatures go ahead. But there is no need to claim things are said in a book when anyone with that book in his or her possession can verify whether or not what you claim is true.
* A section that is not even in the COMBAT section of the book however misleading its name might be.