[GZG] Question: What's in a name - WYSIWYG or not?

Hi all,

I posed this question on TMP the other day, and thought it was worth 
repeating here:

If a mini (say, a vehicle or starship) is described as belonging to a 
specific power or faction in a specific game system, is that going to 
make you any less likely to use it with a different force or in a 
different game system than if that same mini was described in very 
generic terms?
If I named something as a "UNSC Marines MkVII "Piranha" Light Grav 
Tank", would you ONLY think of it in those terms, or would you still 
think "hey, cool tank, that'll do for my Peoples' Republic of New 
California Revolutionary GuardŠ"?
And, if you DID use it for your own army, would any of your little 
gaming buddies grumble that "that's a <xxx> tank for <xxx> army/game, 
you can't use it for your PRNCŠ."

What prompted this thought was the fact that while our Stargrunt 
infantry figures have always been named for particular powers within 
the game background, the vehicle ranges have always been kept fairly 
generic rather than being specifically tied to a faction, and we've 
always encouraged people to use them for whatever forces they like; 
but I'd be very interested in any opinions either way on thisŠ.

Related to this, do folks like to see vehicle types NAMED, even if 
they are not specifically tied to a force or faction? Do you think of 
the V15-01 as a Cougar, or just as a tracked MBT...?

Reactions to the thread on TMP so far seem to suggest that most folks 
are happy with using stuff for whatever they wish, with only a couple 
of people going with the other view; It'll be interesting to see what 
the GZG ListMind thinks!

Jon (GZG)

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