Wargaming 101

So, having been an avid gamer for 30 years, I have, I guess, played a lot. I've played at least a type of game in virtually every genre I know of and have settled on a few that I really enjoy. Most of what I do now is based in one genre: miniatures wargaming, so I thought I'd give a brief overview of what this is and how you play.

To start off, let's go back to say when you were nine years old...at that age, action figures are cool. When I was nine, it was all about the Star Wars action figures...getting Boba Fett, the Millenium Falcon, and making battle happen like they were in the movie. But very few of these actually shot anything and determining who "died" was always a sore spot during the play time. "I got you first" made these types of play really unpleasant and pretty soon you were looking for something more fun to do.

But what if you had rules and a way to make the safe, non-projectile shooting figures "die"? Hmmm...if it was balanced and fair, now that could have been fun. And if you figured out how how far they could move and how well a veteran bounty hunter could shoot, well that could be really cool! Welcome to the basics of wargaming. A long time ago, people made toy soldiers as things to play with much like modern action figures. Often they were made of wood and painted and people collected them and then had fun imaginary battles with them. They had no moving parts, no spring-loaded darts, or removable/exchangeable clothes. They did have a system that was understood by those who abided by the spoken rules. Problem is, many people want to win at the expense of playing by the rules. So, they get written down and some sort of process that is random but accepted by all parties becomes the means to determine success and failure of teh inanimate objects on the board. This is the essence of miniatures wargaming.

So, like the craftsmen of old, I put together, paint, and convert models made of plastic and pewter. I then take the accepted rules for a particular game, find an opponent, and then test my tactical skills against him/her. How you ask? I assemble groups of similar models (swordsmen, mounted knights, etc) into units and move those units around a board that has terrain (objects made to look like hills, trees, buildings, etc) according to the rules and then roll lots of dice to "shoot" and "fight" my opponent's forces. The mechanics are slightly different for each game, but the general principles are always the same. The players' tactical choices determine the actual match-ups between the units and the dice determine whose models get removed from play and whose stay. Loads of fun and a good mental challenge.

So why do I do this? I get a collection of models that I have semi-designed and painted myself that I get to play games with. It is the complete hobby for me...Art, collection, and game. Many people think it's childish, but it takes a great degree of skill to paint 25mm (or smaller) models and a good strategic mind to win games no matter what the dice do to you. I call both of those valuable and enjoyable pastimes.

Those are the basics of wargaming...I know there will be mroe later, but this is a good reference point if you have never been exposed to it. I'll elaborate more on many of the topics in this piece later, but for now...adieu.