The Agony and the Pointlessness

 Received my copy of WSS 80 yesterday- Punic wars being the featured topic. Not a bad issue at all. I used to  do the Punic Wars back in the 80s. I had largish 25mm armies for both Rome and Carthage. A right mixture of figures- QT. Britannia, Lamming, Garrison, Minifigs- all the Usual suspects of those far off times. I moved them on sometime in the 90s. I actually can't remember where or when  but overall there was the best part of 800 figures. We(by we I mean myself and Dave Hulland and sometimes Dave Reay and Ron Emery) refought Trebbia and Ticino and doubtless some others so I was intrested to see  the modern take on something I have not touched for 20 odd years
 So what did we get- A DBA game of the battle of Bagradas - hmmmm  can't speak to the rules but the article was a good one despite its lapse into  Jargon for the actual armies. Try as I might I really don't get the appeal of DBA as a system and apparently no -one can explain this- If I can explain why I don't like it- armies too small that don't look right on the table.  No unit structure that follows the period. Gobblegook jargon, to name but 3 reasons(there are more)  why can no-one explain why they do like it. One thing I've discovered  many wargamers really have massive  trouble with why ... the answers are almost always flippant or childish
 However moving swiftly on There was a nice review of the "To the Strongest" - a rule set I've heard eulogised by a couple of chaps previously . Now this is a card driven system- which is a nice idea but I'm not keen on gridded movement- which it also is but I suppose it wouldn't be difficult to junk that and use rulers instead. I'm quite attracted by the cards idea as I'm really coming to HATE dice.
 So given the above its no surprise I found Richard Clarkes piece on D6 a bit wearing. What is this obsession wargamers have with bloody dice!- I have it myself devil a doubt, hate the bloody things- yet despite that his basic logic was impeccable- which made the article even more wearing .... still have to use the damned dice then ...
The Painting article was really  nice- I've used similar- non metallic metallics for years off and on - directional light was the sort of stuff I learned in Art classes- but it was nice refresher- and there are materials now that I didn't have back then  I'll have a bash at this- again - especially on flats..
  I groaned mightily at "The Irregular" this issue- and not just the bit about Mulletts and Ra-Ra skirts what  caused the groaning was the  burbling on about "innovative Games mechanisms" and "push your luck engines"(don't think he drives a Morris Marina !!!) that tedious bloody gamespeak rears its head again  oh ****!! more damnable gamesey jargon . Mind you I do  think the point about reducing artificial .barriers was well made.
 A nice Ancient Naval article- not my thing but very well done and well written - Nice to see a bit of Naval stuff. 
 Next we are told to play some kind of Ancient game with 48 figure armies(and its not DBA!!)- Pass
 Waterloo - the assault on La Haye Saint on a four foot table-  pass 
A nice article on the Punic war in Sicily - most of which I'd forgotten or never knew.
 Three other articles - all more or less about skirmish games- in different period but skirmish games all the same.
 so overall not a bad mag at all - things to read in it which was nice .... 
Finally there was Rick Priestly's column- more agonising about the Future of the Hobby - but not quite- I even agreed with most of it- certainly the principles and only differed in the details- I doubt you'll ever convince me that "Games Workshop" is " proper" wargaming or that actual games actually matter but there is no doubt that on the whole GW has been beneficial at laying the groundwork for many historical gamers over the last 30 or so years and that equally assuming kids can only deal with simple games is bloody patronising indeed see my earlier post
My "In the Light of preceding Blog posts t posts" article  earlier in this blog   says some of  the same and like Rick come to no conclusions because there aren't any and who cares anyway . Why agonise again and again .Nobody will give a toss when you are dead 

OOH Look at the pretty pictures ...some shiny some not ....

Despite the pressure of work and especially government papercrap I'm still managing to get a little painting and writing done. Not bad when we've shipped out over 70 parcels this past  week to assorted customers as far apart as Australia and Finland.
Now as it happens I still have a taste for painting figures and vehicles - far more than for the actual playing of games- though an intresting game can still engage my attention. as witness the recent French Revolution action in the previous post.
 However back to the plot. I've managed to finish the first Scorpion CVRT  for the slowly progressing modern  "green British" (that is as disctinct from my "desert British" ) This project isn't going as fast as I'd like simply because I'm getting sidetracked by other stuff- not least "Shinyloo" and a couple of articles I'm writing.

Curassiers and Carabiniers. These are the ones that needed a lot of TLCand a new coat of shinyness !

15mm Scorpion- part of the Command Decision CDMOD range. This model will join the small but growing band of 1980 British for BAOR.

 As for "Shinyloo"  there has bee a small upsurge helped not a little by a bundle of  rather knackerd Hinchliffe/Foremost  cavalry recently picked up on ebay. They had at one time been beutifully painted but had seen hard service and needed a good bit of TLC. Rebasing and weapon replacement as well as a general wash and brush up . They fit in well with the Staddens I've already finished but then they should as Gilder allegedly used Stadden and Willie figures as dollies- as well as Les Higgins Jason for the Hincliffe ECW range.

Stadden Royal  Horse Artillery with an old Hincliffe gun

 The Hincliffe /Foremost range fit into my self-imposed rules for "Shinyloo"- just having been in production since the mid-seventies. I've a dozen Hincliffe French dragoons from the same era - part of the same lot- who need a bit less TLC before they are added to the Emperor Shinypartes army !
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On a separate note I've been pondering upon "games" and "Wargaming" and about how - potentially - they are now very  different- not in essence but in detail and of course the devil is in the detail.
 There are several "games" Saga, Lion Rampant , Frostgrave, Muskets and Tomahwks Dead Mans Hand  etc. etc . which all seem very similar to me , purporting to be part of "wargaming" . Doubtless there are plenty more especially in the Sci-fant arena.They appear limited in scope with  less than 50 figures a side masquerading in that most ridiculous of terms a "skirmish army" (yes gentle reader I've had that said to me more than a few times    
 "I want a skirmish army ")
 Hmm define skirmish and army ... thinks I  but these days  trying to teach any games player anything  is usually a bad idea. Like GW drones they get locked into the "gamin' innit" mindset and the reality and even the English Language goes out of the window. Now don't misunderstand I don't CARE but it does amuse me that- in our hobby as in life an idiots opinion however uniformed is  now apparently as valuble as that of a chap who knows whereof he speaks. Indeed  one might opine that the place is stiff with politicians.
 This kind of stuff panders to the instant gratification gang of course. Usually the gratifcation of the "game designer Dudes"  who peddle this limited type of stuff. The bit I really don't get- honestly I'm not taking the piss here is what the purchasers and players get out of this in the longer term. I can see that you might want a quick and simple kids game once in a while. But why would you play- say Frostgrave more than a few times. Saga is  a bit more open ended but the limits of 20 or 30 figure- if that- forces are sure to be reached pretty quickly. In a sense its just the same as DBA The limits of a 12 element force- no matter how many different ones there are will be reached pretty quickly. So where is the point after that ?. Slaving yourself to any given "games system" for the "gaming experience"  is such a narrow view of our open -ended and in theory virtually limitless hobby that I really wonder why you would bother.
 As an example  for me DBA palled after about half a dozen dice rolling contests- sorry games-  on the silly 2 feet by 2 feet "board" (notice board not table)  so just how are this new rush of  clone-a-skirmish games any different?
 Now I don't have a down on skirmish wargaming per-se- a skirmish or small action is part of any military operation  so some of the time you are going to want to transfer them to the table but such actions are not the whole gamut 
 There will be people out there who tell you "its all I can afford" or "Its all I have time for" - well if DBA was the only choice I'd get another hobby - watching paint dry would be of more interest.
 As for affording it well I've been skint so I have a little sympathy but I simply  decided what I wanted to do then worked out how money or not- back in the day it was Airfix  or nowt lad ! 
 I suppose it all comes down to the fact that I'm not PRIMARILY a games player- can't see the point of most of 'em- perhaps someone can enlighten me .... 

Revolting peasantry and English Gentlemen

So  Saturday morning dawns- well noons actually  and a small number of TWATS gather at our usual pub. Dave the Sheep  is in the chair and has brought his French revolutionary stuff- a tasty collection . We are in Brittany for the Chouan revolt and a rather lonely British battalions tasked with making off with some portable loot before the various rabble get hold of it.
 So myself as the British colonel - with a command of as many as 44 figures in 2 units has to face off against unknown hoards of french republican rabble.  So  Froggys sir Fahsands of 'em was the order of the day .....
 Now I did have a little help Mechanical Shaun had command of the Chouan hordes and there did seem to be an awful lot of them too . The  republican were commanded by Floating Jeff and Theatrical Steve (no I'm not implying that Steve is some kind of OTT prima Donna - he WORKS in the Theatre!).
 The First republican Demi- Brigade was given a proper smacking by the intitial Chouan ambush- a blast of "improvised canister" at les than 50 yards can ruin your whole morning- especially when followed up by a screaming charge of scythe and pitchfork weilding loonies (not unlike Saturday night in some pubs in Hexham when the sheeps****s come down from the hills- eh Dave ! ) So the first French Brigade  retired pell- mell in severe disorder hotly pursued by said loonies

 a mere2 of the 9 french battalion that the single british battalion had to face.

Meanwhile in another part of the field  for the British
 The day started poorly and quickly got worse . The second French Brigade advanced swiftly  totally undeterred by the British light troops- (25 dice 1 hit. the French with similar dice scoring 7 hits Floating Jeff permanent and uncanny dice rolling strikes yet again).
 The waggon starts to move gets onto the road and the wheel falls off - so several moves we don't have are spent nailing it back on ... Once we have done that the bloody road is filled with froggy peasants coming to join the punch-up so we can't use the bloody road ... laugh I thought I'd never start ...  I HATE dice rolling.

another French Battalion- I think there were 9 all told.

 However the Chouans finally get their gun loaded again and put another load of canister up the Republicans couple this with a well timed volley from the Brits and the republicans stagger a bit - their Demi- brigade refuses to charge my line- Now is my time.. Oh Bugger! that means dice rolling and the inevitable failure... it is so depressing to be right... However the Light troops form line and charge the French Flank while the line battalion looks on .  This is just enough- the French are routed and the other battalions are too far away to effect events so thankfully I can break contact, this especially as a belated squadron of light Dragoons runs up to cover the withdrawal. Phew! got away with it ...

Stalwart English Gentlemen.

Approaching the crunch!

. Technical notes.  

Regulars  were mostly Old Glory 28mm  with some generals from Trent Miniatures. Chouans were a right mixture some OG  AWI militia. Some Reiver Casting Monmouth rebels and some I didn't recognise. Rules used were "General De Brigade"- which with the odd amendment handle this kind of stuff rather well. the table wasn't too large- about 7 feet by five- max possibly a little smaller. The buildings were scratchbuilt by your gentle author about a quarter of a century ago.
 Recently I've been having bother with boredom and parts of this hobby and its  receptive and samey gamey crap. This game went some way to restoring my faith- even getting the right Hump with Floating Jeff and his Amazing Dancing Dice(any number you want to order !! or so it seemed )  stopped the boredom  so was good in the end.
 As always our thanks to Jean and Eric as "mine hosts" and Jean's amazing Beef Butties !!

More ECW units

 Despite a fiarly busy workload at the moment I'm still getting a little painting done. Though to be strictly accuate some of it is "re-conditioning" and tarting up some of the slightly the worse for wear stuff I've aquired over the last year..

Roundhead Cavalry. The lead troop are old Essex figures on Old Glory Horses

 The chaps in the blue sashes are for Fairfax's Northern Association forces. The tow other troops in the background will need to have their Sash Colours changed to eith white or yellow as they are meant for Wallers Southern Association

The Old Glory Horses are not those you get now.These went OOP about 10 years ago but I kept some !

 The Essex troopers fit rather well on the OG   horses- though these are  the older ones which I happened to have some left ,rather than the current production.
 The swaybacked funny legged Essex horses went in the melting pot. Being somewhat venerable all of thse chaps recieved a nice shiny coat. New basing all round,
 Now all I need is time to get these out on the table- I've enough cavalry to re-fight Winceby at about 1-5 I think  Hmmmmm.

A Splendid gift from a Gentleman.

 So there I was up to my armpits in  sweaty work. Casting Aircraft and  trying as normal to do  eleventy -nine things at once to assuage the impatience of a vocal few...(Have you ever noticed Gentle readers how it is that the chaps who spend the least make the most row about it? ) Nevertheless I was pretty busy which is the point, when the postman handed me this anonymous cardboard box.
 "Curiouser and Curiouser" said Andy !
After a good five minutes hacking away at the wrapping I discovered Treasure !

3 light drakes or possibly minions.

 For Lo! and even Behold !  the box contained 5 rather splendid ECW artillery  pieces with crews and a limber and powder cart .
"What Ho!" thinks I "Where did these come from"
Further investigation revealed a letter from a gentleman called Jason. Now as it happens I could put a face to the name as we has spoken at some length at Partizan.  at the beginning of June. I'd known this chap at shows for some years as a customer and "face"  but until the last Partizan had not known a name.. Now over the years we had chatted of this and that- with more than a little emphasis on the Pike and Shot period of which Jason had an abiding interestand that we both had a mutual friend in Robbie Roddiss . Now this time I happened to mention my interest in the ECW and the ex-Gilder stuff I'd bought from  DC-  apropos on absolutely nothing- and a couple of weeks later this box turns up out of the blue.

The 2 heavy guns. .

The enclosed letter informed me that these were no use to Jason and were mine with his compliments ...
" Well Thank you Kind Sir " thinks I .
They had it appears been part of Duncan Macfarlanes collection and some at least painted by Phil Robinson. the letter merely signed Jason  However reading Robbie Roddiss blog this morning  he mentioned this Gentlemans full name- Jason Williams.
 So Mr Jason William many thanks for your splendid gift.
 A couple of the pieces can be seen in the Asquith /Gilder Naseby book of.1979 so in a sense they were coming home to join their old comrades.
  Now isn't that  lovely.

Newest Russian Goodness !

 Drabant are continuing to release superb 28mm Miniatures to add to the justly famous 40mm . Nick Bokarev has sent me photos of the 2 latest packs which I have on order

Mounted Russians

Saxon shiedwall- of course the pack will include shields  so they won't look as if they are merelywaving at you!

Those moving horses look truly superb. I should have these in stock in time for Claymore- maybe earlier .....

In the light of preceeding blog posts .....

Having read Robbie Roddis  most recent post on his Independant Wargames group blog and - needless to say - stuck my oar in I recalled that  late last year I had started writing an article for hopeful publication in  Miniature Wargames but was ovetaken by other events and left it unfinished.
 However it is germain to the current discussion on History in Wargames so I publish it here as far as I got at the time- rough hewn as it is ....

More Meat on a Butcher’s Apron ...

Or

What is Wargaming without the History?

A Discussion

By

Andy Copestake.

Currently as I write this our hobby- which for the sake of simplicity we will call Wargaming supports 3 glossy magazines and  quite a few small business- mine included and – if we include the so called “Games Workshop Hobby”  - one large business which dwarfs the rest of us  put together rather more than somewhat.

 As a recreational hobby (as distinct from its use in the Military) Wargaming is around 150 or so years old perhaps a little less. The Manchester Tactical Society for example, were playing Von Ressiwitz’s  Kriegspiel in the latter half of the 19^th century – well before Mr Wells published “Little Wars”  in 1913 There were other early Wargamers  such as Robert Louis Stevenson and, however different each individual game, all were largely  military in conception – and- mostly  if not entirely  contemporary to the times in which they were played. In all of these I have not – so far -found a single Elf!

 For clarity Gentle Readers I should make it clear that I’m only really considering Wargames using model- or toy soldiers or miniatures if you prefer. This is because I like the pretty toys – it gives you something to look at during the endless dice rolling.

 The more modern recreational Wargame as we would recognise it dates from the mid 20^th century and is largely, though not solely, a post WW2 phenomenon. Elves and the like don’t make their appearance until the 1970s and the Wargaming that takes place is still mostly military and frequently historical- in that the players are gaming some aspect of the military past- is in Ancient Rome or WW2- or indeed anything in between. Fantasy and Sci – Fi games are children of the 1970s and it is in this decade that GW begins it rise.

            Now as it happens I’ve never considered myself to be in the same hobby as GW- even if I use a few of their modelling products the “hobby” they have created with its games of teenage angst and dystopian nastiness is simply not for me so for the sake of this discussion let’s dismiss it from our minds forthwith.

            So what is my hobby and indeed the hobby of many (perhaps most) of the readers of this journal – it’s possibly easier to say what it isn’t. It isn’t GW, isn’t Fantasy Gaming isn’t “Table top gaming” (apparently one of the more modern euphemisms) in theory isn’t always any of those- but may be all of those and more SOME of the time.. That some of us “cross- dress” as it were and paddle our feet in other ponds is incontrovertible and nothing wrong with that . – I’ve been known to play the odd Sci-fi game and still have a small Sci-fi collection,  but it’s not the main part of my hobby as frankly I find it just too lightweight for anything other than a bit of a laugh once in a while. So for many of us our Wargames have at least something of a Historical bent.

  However, let us be clear here Wargaming is NOT history.   For many Wargamers , no matter how interesting they find history in itself, it is merely a tool, a resource, something to be accessed when needed and discarded when not. This of course goes for much of the assorted Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres as well.

 Think about it. Tolkien, Howard, Gemmel, Martin  et al  all lean heavily  upon History to produce their work- some more than others- Martin ‘s “Game of Thrones”  in all its endless turgidity is merely a  Wars of the Roses with funny names and a few dragons.

  So for the majority of the readership a fair chunk of their hobby time is taken up with “Historical Wargaming”  in one of its many and varied forms . So a question or two, to start the ball rolling .

Why , if the foregoing has any truth, does there appear to be a considerable “down “ on history appearing within the pages of  our magazines and in at least some of the current ”Games”  and why do a number of our brethren seem to have an aversion to any kind of historical knowledge?” –. Now I can think of several somewhat sulphurous answers but, however expressive, they don’t really advance the discussion. And yes, this is a discussion – I want to look at all sides of the case- even- or perhaps especially -those with which I disagree.

History gets in the way of the game.

Games- whichever way you put it are ultimately about winning. There is no real getting away from that. All the strategies and game play – even rolling the dice is for one ultimate goal- to win. Therefore any knowledge that doesn’t help you to achieve that is not to the point. The pretty toys are merely counter decoration, just window dressing  as is the history.

 “I can get all the knowledge I need from the rules and Army lists for the game I wish to play.”

Or, as a customer once put it to me, with some heat.

 “I don’t need to read anything about WW2 I play Flames of War .”

 That a goodly proportion of players are only interested in the actual PLAY is once again unarguable and I’ve known chaps who collect Wargames rules the way I collect Military Memoirs and view the painting as a serious chore that gets in the way of the dice rolling. For these guys the GAME is everything (or why else use DBA?).  Many play in regular competitions  but I also mean the  competitive minded since not all of that ilk play in actual tournaments. Some of these motivations I do understand and have been involved with in the past- Old Glory sponsored Derby World Wargames for about 12 years-and I played a lot of competitive games in the 70s and early 80s so I understand the desire to measure oneself against others of similar mien. I know of chaps who got into Wargaming through knowledge of statistics and systems analysis so a love of History is by no means a prerequisite.

I have to say I find this argument really quite narrow but if that’s what blows your skirt up fine, I never thought that wargaming was the same sort of hobby as Monopoly or Scrabble but to some it obviously is ....

History stifles the imagination.

I’ve had this put to me a few times over the years by 2 distinct sets of people. Fantasy/ Sci- Fi gamers and the fictional countries aficionados   which last are fantasy gamers with an historical sheen ( or perhaps historical gamers with fantasy sheen!). The urge to produce, map, populate, and create imaginary lands is an old one. Thomas More did it. Jonathan Swift did it. Numerous other writers have done so. The Fictional Country as a plot device is very common. So why not wargame with fictional countries?. Why not indeed. I’ve done it myself numerous times. However almost without exception these various fictional lands lean heavily upon actual  history. Robert Howards Hyboria. George Martin’s Westeros  and even Tolkien’s Middle Earth  all “borrow” heavily from known history , so it should come as no surprise that the Wargames world abounds with more or less fictional countries  all leaning heavily upon history . Those 2 classics of Wargames literature- Brigadier  Peter Young’s “Charge! “ and Charles Grants “The War Game”  both  have fictitious armies of the 18^th century at their core. This idea has been so frequently copied that it has almost acquired a life of its own . There are now probably more fictitious pseudo- Germanic nations in the Wargaming world than there were in the much fragmented Holy Roman Empire of the actual 18^th century! All of these are derivative of an actual history but in wargaming terms often arise from a desire to copy the  perceived “greats” of the hobby – who of course knew their history- Grant and  especially Young publishing  notable history books in their own right. So here I’d argue that History fires the imagination rather than limiting it.  The more you know the wider the possibilities.

I want everything all in one package  -open the box and play .

Now this is a relatively new argument I’ve only heard in recent years and seems to stem largely from the more commercial minded of the Games Design lobby.  Get all you need from us  Figures ,Rules, , (Braincells !! ) limiting access to the background and therefore by implication to history the “Games Designer Dudes”  have perhaps acquired an importance which the quality of their game does not always deserve simply by claiming to make you wargaming more instant and “user friendly” .  There are a good selection of quick games available Two Hour Wargames One Hour Wargames  often with limited numbers of units and limited troop types. Add to that the increasing numbers of boxed games using overpriced miniatures  of the “official” variety and you are getting even more limited(but relatively easy) access . Surely you wouldn’t want to be in the position where such games were your only choice.  Like having only pizza or burgers available and calling such low rent  eateries “Restaurants” it is a travesty on the actuality and once again a massive limitation on the possibilities.

 One of the major things that differentiates “Miniatures Wargaming” from almost any other type of gaming hobby is its open ended nature. There are as many different styles and types of gaming experience within this single hobby as there are all the other types of games put together.How many different types of WW2 rules are there?  Ancients? Napoleonic?. By comparison there is only 1 set of accepted rules for Monopoly or Srabble or- perhaps closer to home Risk or Diplomacy.

History and Knowledge is Elitist

Now this one was put to me, most recently, but not for the first time ,on TMP as a result of one of  my earlier articles in this magazine. According to the anonymous correspondent an ability to read “dusty old Books” is elitist, having a library likewise. Apparently – according to this fellow - the young don’t want to read or study or indeed know anything. They want to begin playing immediately. What an arrogant and patronising –“all kids are thick” type of statement. Now frankly this is just the most complete twaddle, yet behind its blusters and nonsense, there is perhaps a point which feeds into the current agonising over “The Future of the Hobby” . There seems to be a body of opinion that says that because there is a shortage of children in the hobby then we are doomed. . Therefore the  only way to avoid being doomed is to dumb down so all games are “child friendly” and  so, therefore again , nothing that smacks of knowledge or indeed anything  that this currently  PC argument perceives as “boring”   has any place within our ranks.  So by irresistible logic  eventually all wargaming will become games that are essentially for children – despite the fact that there are few children in the hobby.  One wonders if this has been thought through!

However to be a tad serious for a moment , there is no doubt that these days  there is an entry level problem in this hobby,  but it depends what you consider entry level. For myself Neil Thomas fine books – intended as entry level or not -go a good way to actually being just that but are not in any way childish .  They are the modern versions of the entry level that Featherstone and Wise provided for me in 1970.The basic premise is simple, games are limited in scope but there is space to progress further.  Surely that is the point of entry level. It is a place to begin, from there you progress as you discover more about the hobby and the bits you want to indulge in, which periods or genres, scales or sizes. I’ve learned and evolved as a Wargamer since 1970  which surely is part of the point in a hobby as open ended and diverse as this.  The urge to limit and “simplify” what is “allowed” seems to be driven by 2 sets of factors – the obvious one being the commercial- after all if you own the best selling and most popular rules then you are on to a nice little earner especially if they pander to today’s lust for instant answers with as little intellectual  effort as possible. Yet having said that I wonder how true it is at grass roots level . Of the wargamers I know personally NONE are devoid of interest in or knowledge of their chosen periods. Some are of course more games orientated than others but it is  perhaps pertinent  that well over half of these gentlemen never buy any of the glossies and have often over the years told me that there is nothing in them to read – other than the adverts.

Arthur Harman’s piece “Staying Alive- a reply” he opines that many of today’s young  gamers simply wargame differently – with a computer using for example – Call of Duty or similar AI driven games. If we accept the premise of the “games are all that matters” and also of “out of the box and play is the way” then this is hardly surprising.  After all were I the games first type then it is hardly likely that I’d spend significant amounts of time money and effort amassing model armies and scenery and all the other paraphernalia that goes with Historical  Miniatures Wargaming .It is because we do NOT accept these things and because we like the miniatures and the History and the social side of the hobby that we do not lock ourselves in our rooms to stare at a screen  in lieu of the  wargaming we do like. There is – or should be more to this wargaming lark than merely the game. It is because Historical Miniatures Wargaming   is so multi-layered- if fully indulged in- that it should encompass several disciplines  historical research, modelling , miniatures painting, collecting ,  discussion and debate and  the actual games and that none are really fully functional without the others.  So one might think that gaming alone is far too thin a subject  to be the sole content of such a magazine as this.

 Indeed I might go further than Mr Harman- not that I disagree in any way- (except the bit about Cardigans- don’t own one, don’t want one !!!) I’d also add that the social ineptness exhibited by a minority of our brethren is exaggerated by the computer. I now eschew most of the wargaming forums simply because the constant low level nastiness of some posters became tedious. None of these pipsqueaks would dare say to your face any of the things they say online – they lack the courage and the honesty yet because they can hide behind some idiotic non-de-plume they think almost anything goes. Almost anything except reasonable adult debate of course. For me that has been the most costly casualty of the “Games only” revolution , reasonable discussion often seems to have been replaced by “but it says on page 42 of Wundarules vol 3...(£29.99)”. Now this kind of statement is completely appropriate in the competition arena but for the rest of us ?  The gap between our games and the historical prototype is now in some areas so wide that each can no longer see the other.

I‘m actually coming around to the view that our greatest problem within our hobby is the closed mind exhibited by some of the loudest voices.  Especially of those who are single game orientated or perhaps that should be single method orientated or perhaps even the “single axe to grind”. Look at the number of wargaming  publications  out there  that cost a small fortune. A set of rules in a pretty book for £20-30.00 additional supplements for 10-20 quid each which of course you often “HAVE” to purchase. It is now very easy to drop £50 or more on a set of rules and its attendant supplements before you have bought a single soldier for the “game” .    Conversely I can go to a decent book dealer at a show and buy a bin load of books for my £50 - and some toys as well  with the change  if I’m lucky , not to mention what a few well chosen web-searches will turn up  but of course this is  not the currently fashionable option the fear of learning stuff is too great for some !

 In the past you’d scour the magazines for relevant articles which would increase your period knowledge and quite possibly save you a few quid . This is far less likely in the current climate as there are far fewer “taster” articles than there used to be  -or perhaps “entry level” is an equally valid term for  the sort of articles I mean . Those that gave you an “in” to a new period or perhaps taught you something  new about a period you thought you knew or maybe gave you a different way to game one of your favourites. Such still occur but now rarely. You are just as likely to find a game driven infomercial for some set of rules you’ve never heard of.

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 Now I never did write the conclusion- assuming I had one but I di want to at least try and see the other side- even though I think it's twaddle.
 The whole point ,as always, is to make chaps think about what they and we do  so its it IS deliberately contentious..... that is the point ! 

 I'd appreciate other opinions- from both side of the fence- but not too shrill!! please.