Over on G+, Chris Mata posted about a wargame he'd picked up that I found very interesting.
But it's not one I'm going to pick up and play.
10-15 years ago, I might have. 25 years ago, almost certainly.
Why?
One thing trainers like to tell people is that you are the average of your five closest friends. In other words, you act like your close friends act, and do the kind of things the people you spend your time with do.*
The five people I spend most of my time with aren't wargamers. Even the five gamers I spend most of my time with aren't wargamers. One might like wargames, if we had any time to hang out together outside of roleplaying. The others would play them a little, I'm sure, but it's not a hard-core central activity. Given even just enough people to run an RPG session (that is, me and 1-2 others) we go for RPGs, instead.
Back 10-15 years ago, I lived 10 minutes from a friend who loves games of all kinds, including wargames. Back in my high school and college years, I both had more time to wargame and several friends who were either into them or willing to play occasionally. But then I moved to Japan and when I moved back he'd moved to the West Coast.
Now? We're mostly a roleplaying crowd.
I bought Ogre: Designer's Edition and busted it out twice. Once when my friend came to visit thanks to his company sending him out to the East Coast for an on-site. The other when we had only a few people for RPGing and the players wanted a full house before taking on the next logical step in the dungeon.
I finally got a copy of Panzer Blitz, and it's still sitting in the box. I may solo play it next time I have a few days to have a game set up and left as-is. But it's nostalgia not real need that drove that purchase.
What it comes down to is the people I hang around with, in my gaming group and out of it, aren't wargamers. I suppose I could make time to find new wargaming friends and play with them, but it's not like I haven't filled my schedule up with other things I have to do, want to do, and like to do. Often, all three apply to one. I miss wargaming but not enough to plunk down money on games I won't have time to play and no one to play them with.
And if magically I had that extra gaming time, I'd probably spend it playing DF, or Gamma Terra, or whatever, with my friends.
I still maintain an interest, which is why you see mini wargaming focused blogs in my blog roll, or why I still like model tanks and hold onto games like War to the Death. I find a good chunk of time to play Third World War every few years or so.
But I'm the average of the five closest gamers I know, and they're mostly roleplaying gamers. So as cool as some wargames are, I prefer to experience them vicariously instead of cluttering my shelf and spending out of my gaming budget to get them.
* People love to argue this about themselves, but generally find it eerily true about everyone else. Odd, that. Or they nitpick the number, as if that's the critical element.
I've got a friend who still has a bunch of war games, but when gaming happens, it's typically RPGs or other board/card games (Munchkin, Dominion, Castle Panic, etc.). I don't have set-up time or space for traditional hex-and-counter wargames or large miniatures battles, and I go for simpler games that play faster, since I often play with my just-barely-preteen son. I think I'm the one bringing down the average here.
ReplyDeleteIn the last couple years I've been wargaming far more than roleplaying. Like you, it's more or less because of the friends I've been hanging out with.That, and the roleplayers I do know are really into Pathfinder--and I'm not.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to give 5e a try, but as a player and not as a GM, but this goes back to the roleplayers I know being Pathfinder players.
C'est la vie.
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ReplyDeleteYep. Wargaming is actually my "do it solo during my down time of the day" hobby. To be frank, my hobby isn't so much wargaming as it is getting-ready-to-wargame. Reading the rules, shopping for troops, painting, terrain, all that stuff I can do on my own time without anyone around. Playing the games isn't something you can squeeze into spare moments - you have schedule, plan, block out time...that's a real commitment.
DeleteBut before you can even do that, you've got to find people to wargame with, and that's an even bigger commitment. Especially given that wargames are in many ways worse than D&D when it comes to finding opponents. Especially especially if you aren't into the 40,000-lb gorilla or interested in investing in the latest one year wonder making the hobby shop rounds. (Locally we're talking Warmahordes, Infinity, and who knows what else). Most of those games flash in and out in less time than it takes me to collect and paint a single starter force*.
And you know, I'm okay with that. I get my interpersonal gaming fix with my D&D pals and my wargame fix on my own time. Both bring me satisfaction in different ways, and both will always have a place in my heart.
*I'm not one of those heathens who plays with unpainted figures.
I think you're spot on, Peter. Time constraints limit my game time to once or twice a month getting together with other gamers in person. Since only two of us are/were serious wargamers and only one other player was a lite gamer, this precludes the board games. I'll break out the Microgames to teach some of my students "old school" fun, but that's about twice a year. I'm happy to be able to run D&D 1e and summertime All Flesh Must Be Eaten.
ReplyDeleteI think you're spot on, Peter. Time constraints limit my game time to once or twice a month getting together with other gamers in person. Since only two of us are/were serious wargamers and only one other player was a lite gamer, this precludes the board games. I'll break out the Microgames to teach some of my students "old school" fun, but that's about twice a year. I'm happy to be able to run D&D 1e and summertime All Flesh Must Be Eaten.
ReplyDeleteI guess I've never been a fan of war gaming. I know my two closest gamer friends like them, but I got so tired of stacking chits and restacking them because my one friend has no dexterity an would wipe out the entire forces in western Europe in a single sweep.
ReplyDelete