@limburger I deff agree that narrative comes from the players and not a scale in that way. By scale I more meant the scale of the game being played and what narratives are doable at that scale. I’d say my younger brother is very much a mid to high level namer (that’s a technical term I have just invented). I’m more of a high level namer giving characters names and sometimes the odd vehicle depending on the system.

Your point of forcing narrative is also a good one. I used to be more of a ‘mechanical’ gamer (though a casual one) and would get a bit annoyed when my brothers would start going on about narrative while we were playing because, at the time, I wasn’t interested in how many people Bloggins got with his expert sniper shot that he’s been training for for 20 years. Then again, my P. Weasley story from earlier came about because I just thought it was a fun part of the game I was playing. Sometimes it’s the system that brings out the narrative, but the players are always the driving factor of narrative (and I find a few beers help that along).

@deamonwolf I agree that GW is a little odd with their narrative side of things. It’s still there, and they keep building on it (the new Crusade system in 9th 40k is a favourite of my older brother and his Missus) but in terms of games there is a bit more of a focus on ‘mechanical’ gaming which I’m not a fan of. That being said, I get around it by playing with friends and family that enjoy the narrative so we tend to keep away from the non-narrative creep in terms of actual games. Small scale skirmish games like Kill Team, Necromunda, or things like Stargrave would almost feel empty without their narrative elements, though.

@oriskany Linked games or even just games connected to a place, are always a great way to build narrative. Just that moment of being able to say “well MY chaps captured Townsville!” just becomes so easy to become connected to, and I think that’s really the allure of even a loose narrative; you’re not just moving scale miniatures around a table at that point, you’re moving YOUR tiny fighting men around a place that means something.