It is fairly safe to say that by far the majority of "consumer" wargames of some form of random generator whether that be dice, cards or some other device. There aren't many that come to mind that don't use any artificial random generator. A few that come to mind are AH's Diplomacy, Yaquinto's Battle and of course Chess and Go.

For the most part having this is a requirement. The games are attempting to simulate at some level a very complex interaction and to achieve any plausible result without making the game a matter of chart flipping a random element must be added. As you become more abstract, ie. chess or provide a greater level of interaction between players, ie Diplomacy can you begin to replace the artificial random element with either the human element and or game mastery.

One of my current miniature favorites is the WWII company level game called Command Decision in which each player takes the role typically of battalion CO. The fourth edition rules are currently in the works. This game has been evolving for the past 20 years and with each rework the gameplay is streamlined. To the casual observer it would seem that the ramdom element is reduced, but in fact the dice rolling is reduced. This can have the effect of making each roll even more critical.

That is often the critical decision a designer must make...balancing the gameplay between a game which hinges on a single die roll at one extreme and at the other a dice war which leaves the players with carpal tunnel syndrom.

Realism is another difficult beast to tackle as well. Anyone remember Berg's Campaign for North Africa. The rules were rather paltry as many wargames go less than 50 pages, but the logistics made the game unplayable. This was a huge game in physical size, the map was over 24 square feet with 1000's of counters. The designer recommended that each side be played by five players (this can be another discussion, games played with same-side multiplayers add to the game play) not only to control all the units but also to do the bookkeeping.

It is this, the bookkeeping which everyone remembers about the game and what makes it virtually unplayable. One had to keep track of fuel, individual aircraft and pilots and water consumption to name a few items. It is the last, water, which is often quoted, because if you played the Italians the game had provisions for a higher water consuption for cookiing pasta. :D

Caius what is that miniatures game? The basing frontage looks as though it may be CD.