Hex based miniature games?

[Two Inches of Felt]

Hello, 

I am working on publishing a free ww2 platoon/company level wargame that I designed.

I designed it for my own group to play on a hex grid and all of my terrain is compatible with the hex grid.  I'm curious if I should bother releasing a hex grid version of the rules. If 95% of people prefer rulers, I should probably just make 1 version without hexes.

I don't really have a feel for the general opinion on hexes but I believe I'm in the minority for using them.

Thanks!

[Dubar]

While I prefer hex-based for air warfare, I want more freedom for moving ground troops using a measuring device like a ruler or tape measure.

[Two Inches of Felt]

That's reasonable.

I like hexes for games with armor because it makes turning and armor facing more straightforward.

[SJWi]

I used to be a very traditional "use a ruler" gamer, and then I found Simon Miller's "To The Strongest" grid-based ancients rules. I'm now quite a convert to grid or, to some extent, even better hex-based games. They make things move a lo faster and remove a lot of the "gamesmanship" in manoeuvering for advantage. However it does then assume you spent on a mat or terrain!

[fred]

Like SJWi I like the gridded Simon Miller games, particularly For King and Parliament for ECW.  I also like Rommel, which is high level WWII rules on a grid.

We did play around with adding a grid to our Sci-fi rules - one of the bits that was awkward was longer range weapons - as whilst counting 1 or 2 grid boxes is super quick compared to using a ruler. Counting 4-6 especially on a diagonal was really quite tricky. May be a bit easier with hexes as you have less of the diagonal problem. In the end we want with blobs of troops and using tape measures.

I don’t have a hexed mat - and whilst a square grid can be improvised fairly easily I’m not sure that is practical for hexes. One of the more common hex systems out there is probably the Hexon terrain by Kallistra - one of my gaming group has a lot of this - but I don’t think we have ever used the hexes as the measurement system for a game.

[Storm Wolf]

I started with classic BattleTech many, many moons ago, so of course I like hexes

However no hex terrain these days 

Glen

[ithoriel]

I have a black and a blue hex gridded mat for spaceships and sailing ships respectively, a square 50mm gridded cloth mat for Strength and Honour and a selection of 25mm gridded cardboard/ paper mats for my 20mm sci-fi stuff (RPG and 5 Parsecs).

Not averse to squares or hexes if the games are good.

No option in the poll for my answer which would be "I prefer tabletop games without grids but will put up with grids in a good cause" 

[Freddy]

I saw a very cool method of drawing hexgrid map using a row of plastic cups and marking only the corners so that the mat is not completely "ruined". Otherwise I am not a big fan of hex or grid maps save 2d dungeon tiles.

But how hard would be to convert the rules into a ,,normal" map? You need a 2 page rules appendix, not more. Distances are given if you know the size of the hex (you do not even need to know, just use abstract distance units in the rules) The two tricky parts are
-Facing, but most rectangle-base games solve it without grids too.
-Hex ,,blocking": you can easily introduce a ,,control zone" distance.

[Norm]

I play a ton of boardgames and so am fully signed up to the hex. I wrote two sets of rules for hexes. I owned hex terrain. In the past 2 years, I prefer the open table and have converted the rules to that and sold off my terrain.

So I have a foot in both worlds, hexes for boardgames, which Really enjoy, but I prefer my figures to be doing something else.

[Two Inches of Felt]

A lot of good thoughts so far. It seems like the common thread is that hex grids and corresponding terrain are just too inconvenient.

As much as I love them, I tend to agree. Which is why I should probably start of with inch based rules and then just have an addendum for converting to hexes if needed.

[Cat]

I greatly prefer playing Ogre with miniatures on hex mats.  The minis are much easier to identify across the board than counters, and playing with rulers is too fiddly and slows the game down. 
 
But it's not an overall preference, let's just say I like them.

The neoprene game mats by Steve Jackson Games are sweet:
https://warehouse23.com/collections/ogre?filter.p.m.products.type=Playmats

[MaleGriffin]

I have the old Geo-hex terrain and a whole lot of hex based boardgames, but I thought the hexes detracted from the visual appeal of a miniatures game. YMMV

[Dubar]

The Hex terrain I have came from here:

https://cigarboxbattlestore.bigcartel.com/

I use it for all my gaming: Western, WW1, WW2, and Pulp.

Shown are a couple of WW1 biplanes from Reduced Aircraft Factory, a few 28mm WW2 French Resistance Fighters, and a couple of 1/35 WW2 British Infantrymen.  The 4" side-to-side hexes work fine for all my scales.

The battle map isn't what I would call cheap, at $80, but it's very nice PLUS I can always use it as a blanket!!!

Even though it has hexes printed on it, I use a tape measure when gaming with 28mm and 1/35 figures.  I use the hexes when gaming with the WW1 aircraft.  Maybe I'll try using hexes with WW2 and see how it goes.

[Elbows]

I think hexes are great for a lot of things.  Not sure I'd need them in a platoon/company sized game.  Also, while I like hexes, I don't like small hexes (read: Battletech style where everything is mech-width hexes, etc.).

If your game featured something like 4" hexes, etc...terrain is no longer an issue.  Normal terrain can slot into the hex simply.  If you're looking for people with a huge selection of pre-made hex terrain...I suspect you're limiting your market to 10% or less.

[gweirda]

...while I like hexes, I don't like small hexes (read: Battletech style where everything is mech-width hexes, etc.).
If your game featured something like 4" hexes...

Going that route, "drawing hexgrid map using a row of plastic cups and marking only the corners" is a fairly simple process anyone can do on a cheap blanket/flannel sheet that would allow them to create a surface for a hex game. The hex-corner "crowsfeet" can be made quite unobtrusive without hindering their utility.
Like the above example by Dubar I use big hexes for air gaming, but I think plopping some terrain features down on the surface (and/or hills underneath) would create a usable surface?