Slate.com Talks Soldiers Playing with Toy Soldiers
September 14, 2012 by brennon
An interesting article appeared on Slate.com this week which shows that nerds really are everywhere. It detailed how American soldiers in in Iraq and Afghanistan are enjoying a fair bit of Warhammer 40,000 when they're not out on patrol...
"“It’s a lot more fun to play games with servicemen because they have an ingrained sense of rules; they don’t complain about them,” says Neil Gilstrap"
According to the article over 40% of Games Workshops consumers in America are active or veteran servicemen, and it certainly seems to scratch a particular itch with these soldiers.
“I’m not fast at [painting],” Army Sgt. Steffan McBee, who’s currently deployed in Afghanistan, said in an email, “But it’s calming”—and more intellectually stimulating than what he could be doing. “Everyone knows guys need stress relief. And as I tell my wife, [Warhammer] keeps me off the streets and out of the bars.”
It certainly shows off the game of Sci-Fi battles in a favourable light. It would be interesting to see if other military organizations around the world contain a few nerds too!
You can read more about the soldiers experiences HERE.
Let me know your thoughts and comments below as always!
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It must give the marines a laugh to see arty so close to the FEBA in 40K.
40K is in NO WAY any kind of simulation of real warfare.
So has nothing to do with what they do for a living.
No pre measuring for one thing!
Mind you, you don’t need it with all the well trained homing pigeons they have in warheads these days.
Huge green tinted disc appears overhead…
INCOMIIIIING!!!
Actually. laser rangefinders are ubiquitous in modern armies.
I prefer the idea of pigeons
Hey, that would be a military coo! 😛
I’m also a vet. No, Warhammer has nothing to do with warfare…and little to do with wargaming. I like some of the plastic models, and use them as command groups in other systems. Soldiers on the whole play a lot of wargames, probably more than the general public. We used to use micro-armour to teach tactics, but later moved on to commercial computer simulations.
One had thought real soldiers would have chosen a better system to play with 😛 ah well
I dunno, in Iraq it was Shokk and Ork.
Actually, fluffy and mindless games are a great diversion in-theater. Painting is calming.
im medically retired from the US Army, and I play 40k. And I started when an army friend introduced me. so go figure. But its the hobby and the tactics that make it a fun way to let off some stress, and a game to keep your mind active. And you dont need to have electricity and tv’s to play. You can bring an army with you everywhere with ease. Here is to all our soldiers in harms way. cheers