D&D and BW: Tactics leads to Fiction leads to Tactics
So here is a thesis: Burning Wheel is exactly the opposite of D&D in terms of how the grand-scale fiction interacts with the mechanics.
In BW, you play in a very character-oriented way pushing your BITs to drive the development of the fiction, only stopping to "zoom down" to the crunchy mechanical blow-by-blow play level of DoWs, Fight!, R&C, etc when you think that this particular conlfict should be really important to the fiction.
However, in D&D you're always pushing toward crunchy tactical slugfests, and then you basically follow through a line of those until you build-up a compelling grand-scale fiction tied to the characters' heroics.
So, let me ask you: Which one better emphasizes crunchy tactical play segements? The game where they're you're building blocks, or the game where they're your illustrated figures?
In BW, you play in a very character-oriented way pushing your BITs to drive the development of the fiction, only stopping to "zoom down" to the crunchy mechanical blow-by-blow play level of DoWs, Fight!, R&C, etc when you think that this particular conlfict should be really important to the fiction.
However, in D&D you're always pushing toward crunchy tactical slugfests, and then you basically follow through a line of those until you build-up a compelling grand-scale fiction tied to the characters' heroics.
So, let me ask you: Which one better emphasizes crunchy tactical play segements? The game where they're you're building blocks, or the game where they're your illustrated figures?