Quote: (fredmans @ 03 Aug. 2009, 11:02 )
Most miniatures' games are designed to put two equal forces on each side of the table, whereas for instance strategic board games are designed to represent actual forces, and stalling the inevitable defeat can be considered a victory.
/Fredmans
I think you might be confusing the game with a scenario.
The game is designed so you can compare relative values of different armies and use those statistics to play a scenario. Most scenarios use even points values for a 'fair game' as you call it but there is nothing wrong with playing a different scenario with unbalanced points values but with different victory conditions.
One thing to remember is that the strategic games you mention have to take reality and put numbers to them. Is the strength of a panzer unit really 8 when compared to other units? Who really knows but the game designers develop the game rules so that the rules are fair, the structure in which you play the game is fair and reasonable and then they overlay that with the scenario you are going to play.
So in the end they might say that a panzer unit is strength 8 and a Sherman tank unit is Strength 6 which they think is fair due to their real world perceptions but the scenario might give the Axis player 10 panzer units and the Allied player 8 units which in itself is unfair, but that is what the deployment was for that real life battle. To counter this unbalence the game designers change what is considered a draw, a win and a loss.
The victory conditions might be
Allies destroy <2 panzer units - Loss
Allies destroy 3-4 panzer units - Draw
Allies destroy 5+ panzer units - Win
So the scenario victory conditions aim to achieve a 'fair game' based on the real life battle/objectives/challenges etc even though the forces deployed on either side might be very lop sided
That is a pretty simplistic view of a scenario but I think it gets the point across
