Narrative wargaming

I spent last night playing a couple of games that used narrative dice mechanics. I had high hopes for it. In the end it fell flat. I've used it in the past for playing RPGs and it resulted in the most exciting gameplay I've ever experienced. For some reason, and I'm still not entirely sure what that reason is, it just didn't work on any level for a tactical wargame. 

It's something to ponder though.