In the next month or so I'm going to start running the Dresden Files RPG soon with a group that has most of its experience in D&D 3.5 and 4e. We're all new to FATE, and I tried to explain the stress track to one player today. I think he understood the mechanics of how to use the stress track, but it made no sense to him as a method of measuring 'health,' which is the only schema he's got.
Best as I can tell, it seems like the idea of knocking off the third box without crossing out the first two also doesn't jive with his vision of how durability-depletion tracking should work.
How do I explain the logic (in terms of mechanical balance AND simulation, preferably) of stress tracks to a group that's used to hit points? I can show them how it works by rote, but how might I help it make intuitive sense to them?