Here I am gamemastering a wargame scenario in the vein of Fire Zone. The tabletop - with its miniature terrain and troops - is out of frame. The players here are using a diagram of the map to secretly plan, reporting to me on their opening positions and moves. We are playing the game "blind" - meaning that neither side places their figures on the table until they have been spotted by the enemy. We use the paper map until then.

(From left to right: Kevin Davies, myself, George Duff, and Jon Kirchmeir.)

Tabletop wargames - if the rules are well-designed, the scenario well-gamemastered, and the players enthused - are strategically authentic, and give a very intense playing experience. They have been used by military officers for decades - almost 200 years now - to train and test strategy.

(We were using the Charlie Company rules in this play session - similar to Fire Zone, though much more limited in scope and detail. I have no images of the actual Fire Zone playtests. Nevertheless, the spirit of play captured in the shots in this section of the XFunc website basically convey the essence of Fire Zone as a game.)