Strategy games are an interesting thing. While we have many beloved strategy video games, the genre emerged from tabletop wargaming in the past before becoming what it is now. We have seen the reverse happen with some strategy video games getting adapted as tabletop experiences, and this has led to me wondering something. What if Nintendo decided to do this with some of their franchises? This may sound strange at first, but they have two series that would be a great fit for this in the form of Fire Emblem and the Advance Wars series. Either of these two could be adapted to a tabletop gaming experience and have a healthy player base.
Tabletop wargaming is still very popular and games are constantly coming out that let people simulate classic battles throughout history. Some games are more fantasy and science fiction based however, such as those from the the Warhammer franchise, Nintendo’s IP would fit well in that niche. Fire Emblem has been adapted numerous times in various forms, such as a TCG and a mobile game, so this form of adaptation would not be as shocking as some may think. Furthermore, companies like Modiphus have adapted the Fallout and Elder Scrolls series to tabletop miniatures and those were not strategy games to begin with.
Fire Emblem has a distinct turn based strategy style and a distinct weapons and combat system that could be adapted well to a custom rule set. The game could be a new setting with new characters, and miniatures based on classic characters to allow for multiple factions to play as, and a number of armies to lead. The weapons triangle could be adapted as well, to aid the custom ruleset and support system could be included as well in some form. Fire Emblem Three Houses also saw more army commanding than just relying on the main heroes, so having standard troops on a field would not be as foreign to the series as one would expect. If anything, this would be a massive expansion of the ideas in the video games brought to a tabletop to be played by people against each other.
The other Nintendo series this would work with, would be Fire Emblem’s sister series the aforementioned Advance Wars series. The game, while more sci-fi oriented, does have a lot in common with more traditional wargaming, and adapting the various rules, such as terrain defense and the multiple types of military units that each have their own specialty and advantage, would not be a hard sell. The main characters would of course be COs represented with distinct figures, but the game would lend itself to both skirmish battles and long protracted sieges thanks to the different units you would have at your disposal. There are a number of factions already in the games, and a number of continuities to adapt or borrow from. Furthermore, the series already has multiplayer as a major component, which makes it easy to adapt to a tabletop game played by groups. Nintendo has not done much with this series in the last several years, but this may be a way to arouse interest in the franchise.
Wargaming is a type of gaming with a devoted set of players and these players would no doubt like games based on these Nintendo series. It is my hope Nintendo considers this idea.