Game Jargon Definition: “Scale”
Scale (noun) - /skāl/
Most commonly used in miniatures and war games, the term “scale” has to do with the size and quantity of game tokens or models as well as their geographic and temporal distance. When using physical game components (e.g., tokens or models) to represent military forces, it is important for players to come to a consensus of what each game component represents. For example, does each 28mm plastic soldier model on the gaming table represent one individual soldier, a squad, or an entire battalion? This example refers to scaling based on a game component to in-game ratio abstraction. But what about the scales of the physical game components themselves? Having 28mm plastic soldier units standing shoulder to shoulder on the gaming table next to 40mm plastic soldier units not only looks rather silly, but can also impact other aspects of scaling.
As the size of the force represented by the token gets larger, the map and time scales of the game change as well, so that a one-hex move by a military company will cover, say, 500 yards and take 15 minutes, whereas the same move by an army might cover 100 miles and take a week.
Another way to think of scale is the relationship between how the elements of force, time, and space are represented on the gaming table and how they are systematically integrated with one another. The “higher” the game scale the larger the force that each physical game component represents, the longer each time unit represents, and the greater the geographic distance each distance unit represents (hexes, inches, etc).
The theme and components of a given game will profoundly impact the scale. In a World War II skirmish game, one inch or hex on the gaming table could represent anywhere from a few feet to a few miles. But if that same game were set in outer space with ships, then inches or hex on the gaming table would almost certainly represent anywhere from thousands or millions of miles to several AUs, parsecs, or even light-years.
