"Golden Age of Wargaming"….perhaps not?

[admiralandy 1649xp 0]

@phaidknott thank you for such an excellent response and to you other gentleman.

I think then as you say it is a matter of perspective and context in which one views the question. After all if one is considering the perspective of ones own gaming experience then it is a very personal response. In the wider context of gaming to start from the ’70s is to dismiss about 150 years worth of wagaming before that.

I can only wonder what shock, horror and outrage players of Kriesgpiel felt when this Wells chap abondoned using the carefully detailed wooden blocks and recognised battle sites and actually started using only a few dozen figures. Figures actually childrens toys by Gawd sah! Whilst pottering around in his backyard can you believe.

My point is that over the last hundred years wargaming scales have been very changeable, and often linked to the rules the figures are to be used for.

Are we in a Wargaming Golden Age I say yes quite firmly, but, are we in a Wargaming Golden Age that every wargamer likes, regretably no, though I would hope there is enough room for both, vive la difference and all that. Given that wargaming was seen as a rich mans hobby until about 50/60 years ago when 1/72 airfix etc came on the scene leading to a supported metal based models of similar scale that where still affordable to an averge Joe with an interest in the subject.

Also I’m not sure what definition you refer to as Veteran? Is that based on age or length of gaming I was born 1970 and had an interest in wargaming since watching Callan when I was 14 and actually got playing it from when about 17. I was already on the slippery slope mind having been playing D&D from a year or two before. I would also add that as Flames of War is apparently the largest selling ‘historical’ game being 1/100 I think, you may find quite a number new to the hobby as equally unimpressed with 28mm heroic or otherwise scales as some ‘Veterans’ do.

I have played Naval Games 1/2400, Hex and Counter, Risk, 15mm, 6mm, but became very enamoured of the 40K game, and prefer 28mm as many other veteran gamers do, and indeed as many don’t. I fully intend to be playing more than 1 scale in the future, which is my personal take.

I genuinely feel scale and the assocated range of games is a different question to one of considering if we are in a golden age.

[ghent99 3589xp 1]

I agree with so many thoughts on this issue, the creep up to 28mm seems to be an issue as the battles where historical and huge in size while small in scale.  Wow that got confusing quickly 🙂

Personally I didnt really know much about war gaming as i grew up in a small town and there weren’t any other people interested.  Board games were hard to come by but my parents being educators got hold of many things that weren’t available locally.  To this rpgs were the outlet for people even out in the hinterlands.

 

So while I agree with much of the thoughts on war gaming and i kinda agree with some of the thoughts on the commercialization of the industry i do see some faults in the arguments.  First and I apologize for not posting handles and quotes is that back in the good ole days it was all substance and no flash.  This argument is used to discuss the over commercialization while i would argue it is from increased capabilities.  Software on its own has changed all of this as many of the abilities are far beyond a typewriter.  The next seems that people are upset about things going out of print and only new editions are available.  Games like advanced squad leader still have a following after years of gameplay and cons can still be attended.  As for out of print, well that happens even for classics in the book world or movies etc.

 

So to sum up these limited and poorly put together thoughts, if this isn’t the golden age then it is the silver age.  More is available even while the classics can still be found in the wild and not just museums, the culture of games as a hobby is more socially acceptable than ever.  The video game has gone from pong to the Xbox one in 40 years, the rpg has gone from a small pamphlet to a multibook set with a whole bunch of variations and that happened at the same time.  Wargaming is now not just historical but in the last 40 years there is now Marines in Space and so much more.  Many of the old businesses are gone but others have come along over time to replace them.

I hope this isnt the Golden Age because I cant wait to see what is next.  Think about it even @warzan is playing historical games and enjoying them.  That may be a bad example as it could be a sign of the apocalypse.

[admiralandy 1649xp 1]

@ghent99 I would say that gaming with 25 – 30mm figures is probably more a middle scale as the format many of us are talking about was started by good old H G with figures closer to 54mm I imagine, and indeed 54mm gaming seems to be gaining some traction.

If looking at wargaming from a purists sense, the more direct descendant from Kriegspeil imo would be Hex and Counter and there are still players of Kriegspiel around.

 

I think you captured an excellent point that however weighted in one direction or another we do currently have games from 6mm to 54mm with both classic and new games still being played amongst gamers side by side in the larger hobby if not ones actual local club.

 

Although I hadn’t considered @warzan getting into historical and an interest in Vikings has been a clue all along, Ragnarok is upon us. Hence forth I shall have some d6 carried with me at all times, so when the apocalypse falls upon us I shall be one of the worthy to enter gaming Valhalla 🙂

 

[ghent99 3589xp 0]

Thanks @admiralandy i think you made more sense of my ramblings than they deserved.

[osbad 4279xp 1]

I would challenge a couple of those assertions:

1. Definition. One could come up with a definition of “wargame” that excludes skirmish games with simple rules, but I can’t imagine many agreeing with it.

2. Objectivity. GW’s turnover alone is treble what it was last century.   That is one incomplete measure.  Another incomplete but objective measure is attendance numbers at Salute, or Adepticon, or wherever.  It is not subjective to say that wargames sales and interest are many times greater than in prior decades.

 

The issue really as I see it is that some sectors of the wargames market may (or may not) be suffering from competition with other sectors, but there is no actual data on the number of “big” games being played, so cannot say whether this is objective or subjective, in the week of the biggest ever refight of Waterloo I hesitate to be certain.  I can’t help but feel that this is all  just a complaint about fashion and trends.

The reality as I perceive it is that the market is different now and what was the “only game in town” in the 70’s appears less popular against “sexier” alternatives that weren’t available back in the day.

I understand the feeling.  I loved White Dwarf magazine back in the early (pre-issue 100 days when it *was* roleplaying in the UK)  and often hear of it refered to as a golden age.   But WD is now prettier, bigger and more popular than it was in the 70’s and early 80’s.  I mourn the loss but recognise that times have changed and am happy that thanks to the internet I have access to more like-minded people than I ever did back when the personal ads page in WD was the inly way to find same.

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