Editing Wargame (section)

===Scale===
Every wargame must have a sense of ''scale'', so that it may realistically simulate how topography, distance, and time affect warfare. Scale is usually expressed as a ratio, e.g. a scale of 1:1000 indicates that 1&nbsp;cm on the game map represents 10&nbsp;m (1,000&nbsp;cm). In miniature wargaming, scale is more often expressed as the height of a model of a human measured from the base of its feet up to the eyes or top of the head (e.g. 28mm).

Military wargames typically aim to model time and space as realistically as is feasible, so everything in the simulation conforms to a single scale. Recreational wargame designers, by contrast, tend to use abstract scaling techniques to make their wargames easier to learn and play. Tabletop [[miniature wargame]]s, for instance, cannot realistically model the range of modern firearms, because miniature wargaming models are typically built to a scale between 1:64 and 1:120.{{efn|Approximate. Miniature wargames typically express their scales in terms of the height of a human figurine in millimeters. 1:64 roughly corresponds to 28mm, and 1:120 to 15mm.}} At those scales, riflemen should be able to shoot each other from several meters away,{{efn|An M1 Garand has an effective range of 457m, which corresponds to 3.8m at a scale of 1:120.}} which is longer than most game tables. If model soldiers could shoot each other from opposite ends of the table, without the need to maneuver, the game would be very monotonous. For example, the miniature wargame ''[[Bolt Action (wargame)|Bolt Action]]'' solves this problem by reducing a rifle's range to 24 inches, a sub-machine gun's range to 12 inches, and a pistol's range to 6 inches. Even if these ranges are not realistic, their proportions make intuitive sense (a rifle's range is longer than a sub-machine gun, due to the differing ammunitions) and thus preserve some verisimilitude, all the while compressing the battle to fit the confines of the table. Additionally, the ranges are multiples of 6, which makes them easier to remember.<ref>{{harvp|Priestley|Lambshead|2016|p=29-31}}</ref>