Of course, one of the seminal works about warfare came from
Carl Von Clausewitz in his book “On War”.
This was written based on Von Clausewitz’ own experiences during the Napoleonic
Wars and has been critical reading for those who think about Military matters
ever since. I have read it and have a
copy of it on my shelf along with Jomini, Mahan, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli and many
others.
There are many great quotes in the book that you have probably
heard before. One of my favorites is
about Friction, and it goes something like this…..
“Everything is very simple in war, but the simplest thing is difficult. These difficulties accumulate and produce a friction, which no man can imagine exactly who has not seen war”
The idea is that Military things are hard to
accomplish. However, as you conduct
operations in the field there is a “friction” that builds up and makes
everything more complicated than it would normally be. The trick for a successful commander is to be
able to navigate that Friction and manage it.
Friction can be a wide variety of things and is a catch-all term for
conditions that make conducting military actions increasingly difficult, from
fatigue, to weather, to morale, to casualties, to logistics, to enemy action, and
beyond. It is a nice catch-all
term.
As a player, I have a preference for games that somehow allow me as the commander to have to "deal" with this growing friction. As a designer, capturing this increasing sense of building
Friction is something that is fascinating, difficult, and important to me. However, as Clausewitz points out that it can be hard to imagine.
So, let's talk about adding "Friction" in a wargame that is fun to experience and not annoying.
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| Kill Team |
This Feels Good
There are a number of ways that games make players feel friction in game. The most successful ones I have played tend to focus on the Morale Phase of the game, where Friction impacts Command and Control of your forces more than any other aspect of the game. This often takes the form of Fatigue, Pins, and Suppression. With such rules, the basic activities that the units partake in become more difficult or harder to accomplish. Tasks which required no risk of failure, start to have the risk of failure.
A great example is the game Bolt Action. In the opening turn or two, generally speaking units are not subject to enemy fire (with exceptions) and therefore can move freely around the board with fewer limitations. However, as they close on objectives and with the enemy forces, the volume of fire and therefore danger increases. This takes the form of "pin markers" that the unit accrues. These Pin Markers impact how a unit can move, shoot, or fight. If it has too many Pins it will have to use special orders to shed these Pins, or even no longer be able to be activated. The Player has to decide how to deal with the growing number of Pins on their units and use limited resources and time to mitigate them.
Pin Markers like these are a great visualizations for how Friction works in many games systems, where the focus is on its impact to Command and Control. The units can still do what they normally do, but it is harder.
 |
| Castles in the Sky |
This Burns
Then there is the type of friction that does not feel so good. The kind that is more of a hinderance to the game. I am not going to name names here, but there is a thin line between the good kind of Friction and the not so good kind. At first glance, they can look very similar. However, mechanics that require a lot of mental load on players or force reference into the rulebook is bad Friction.
The big difference is when the Friction elements do not fit smoothly into the gameplay loop, and require the player to "do more" rather than simply limit their decision making. Often this "doing more" takes the form of operating the game play with more tracking, more tokens, cross-reference the rules, etc. Things like tracking every time a unit does X it causes Y Fatigue and therefore, every time a unit takes any action some sort of Friction occurs.
Another common feature is different types of Friction that players track for different effects. I.e. Friction from combat causes Morale issues, but Friction from moving causes Exhaustion, and Friction from using resources causes Logistics ratings to change, etc. Good friction mechanics try to put all those factors into one abstracted mechanic.
Often, Friction mechanics should all take effect in one of the 4Ms, for easier tracking and resolution. Having different Friction mechanics in the different phases only works IF they can be abstracted into one simple token or measure of total Friction. I.e. the unit gains a Pin from moving through difficult terrain, enemy shooting, units breaking nearby, charging, etc. These are all friction that can happen in different parts of the game BUT they still fall under one simple Friction mechanic.
All of the above cause players too much mental load and will lead to more time in the rulebook than the action on the table.
 |
| Fury of the Northman |
Effects of Friction
Ideally, Friction should force decision making. The core of gameplay should be to have meaningful decisions. Friction is a great method to impose consequences on player decisions and force players to manage variable performance of their units. Friction should ideally be an escalating set of conditions to be overcome by the commander of the force. So, how do you do this in your wargames?
The easiest answer is.... it depends! What period and effects you are trying to model will determine what the mechanic will look like. However, that kind of wishy-washy, but accurate answer is not why you come to this blog!
I think there are a few ways to manage:
1. Modifiers - The easiest way to make friction become a "universal modifier" for all checks a unit has to make as the Friction mounts. Most games use a Target Number approach to resolving situations via mechanics. Therefore, as Friction mounts Modifiers increase the Target Numbers of these tests.
2. Status Effects- The units themselves move into different game states such as wavering, disrupted etc. Each state imposes challenges or restrictions on the units.
For example, in Wars of the Republic units go into a Wavering status that means they lose the benefit of any formation. This can shift the tide greatly in a melee!
3. Change of Activation- Friction causes the initiative to change between players or forces, or limits the number of activations. This restricts the freedom of action of the commander and forces choice about who needs to do what when.
For example, in Blood Bowl play is changed from one team to the next.
4. Change of Phase or End Game- The growing Friction causes the game to move closer to ending, such as a Doom Clock or moves from one action phase to the next. I.e. the Friction causes the game to shift from the movement phase into the melee phase, etc. This shift has to happen at a time when it forces commanders to priotize actions or change their previous action sequencing.
5. Unit Under Glass- A Unit can that hits certain friction points can no longer participate in the normal turn activation process. It is unavailable. Commonly in games this is seen by putting them in a "routing" state where they are moving to the board edge.
 |
| Men of Bronze |
Regaining Control
Of course, one of the key factors of adding Friction to a game is that you also need a way to mitigate it. Once Friction starts accruing, their has to be a cost for a Commander to mitigate it and overcome it. If you think of the examples above, how do you get a unit back into fighting shape? How do you let them participate back in the battle fully? What is the trade-off that a commander needs to make here in order for the unit to get back into the fight?
Friction build-up is only half the equation of successfully implementing Friction into your wargame. The other half is giving Commanders a way to work around it.... at a cost. That is where the meaningful choices comes into play. If you manage it here, how does it impact the rest of the battle?
Here is some ways I have seen it done:
1. Resources - The most common way I have seen is via resource management. I.e. you have a limited number of tokens and you can use them to mitigate the impact of Friction, but there is only so many to go around. If you spend them on X they are not available for Y.
See Fury of the Northman as a prime example of how this works. Fury points can be used to mitigate many conditions and improve performance but they are limited to a limited number that have a number of uses. Commanders have to choose how they use them in order to off-set Friction.
2. Commanders - Using a physical model and distance to and from that model to help mitigate the effects of Friction. Of Course, if you commander is at location Y he can not help units at location Z.
Many Horse and Musket games use this approach. Commander's Radius such as in Honours of War is a classic and common example.
3. Board Edges - Once a Unit has hit the table edge or other distance from the battle, they can be influenced by their officers to return to the battle as normal. However, by that time they are some distance from the action and will take time to move back into position.
This one was common in early versions of Warhammer games, where units that hit the board edge could make a final rally check to avoid fleeing the field and return to the fight.
4. Pauses - Units must forego other actions and instead take time to steady themselves and remove the impacts of Friction. Of course, by standing still they can not fully participate in the game until they have regrouped. It is a choice when to pause and when to push.
This is the process used in Clash of Spears to reduce fatigue and other friction.
5. Action Funnels - The actions that can be taken are reduced to a minimal amount until Friction is removed.
The Men Who Would Be Kings has this as a component of the rules.
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| Heirs to Empire: Wars of the Diadochi |
Final Thoughts
Friction and how you use it is an exciting and compelling part of Wargame Design. It can be used to added a variety of tactical and strategic choice to a game. How you implement it depends on what you are trying to create, but Friction is an important element to any wargame design no matter where you are on the Designer's Triangle. Do not overlook its importance as a tool as often it means the difference between a solid game and a great game.
Until next time!
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