I Am Not A Wargamer

A few weeks ago, when the regular group(s) couldn’t get together, I got together with a couple of friends and we played a round of Tomorrow’s War which is a pretty neat little squad based near-future sci-fi wargame, generally played with 15mm minis. It has a neat action-reaction mechanic to handle initiative and such, and generally seems like a really well thought out game. I had a good time and I’d like to play it again some time.

So why is this entry titled “I am not a wargamer?” Because I realized that night that while I enjoy the occasional miniatures wargame and certainly appreciate a lot of elements of them (I enjoy 4th Edition D&D combat for example) it’s not really my thing. I had a good time, but it was clear my two friends were a bit more into it than I was. They had a lot more experience with wargaming than I did and so were able to grok the rules to the game a lot quicker than I was. There was a little bit of terminology that they both were clearly comfortable with that I had to kind of stop and think about to follow. This wasn’t a huge problem mind you, I was able to figure out the rules and I think I did pretty well in my game. I certainly didn’t feel like I was being excluded or anything, but there was a little while before we started playing, when were going over the rules and my eyes kind of glazed over. I didn’t get the impression this happened for my friends.

There are certain aspects to some wargame rule systems that just don’t really interest me all that much, but they clearly get other people going. Tomorrow’s War is not a super complicated game, but there are other more complicated games I’ve played bits of before (or even just attempted to read) that have intricate rules for things like movement that just don’t really interest me much. It just doesn’t feel like the sort of hobby I’ll ever get really into.

And all of that’s alright. Wargaming is something I enjoy well enough in small doses, and something I hope to do more of in the future, but I don’t think it’s ever going to become a major hobby of mine. I have bought a lot of mini’s to use in my rpg’s, and just because I think they’re neat, but I don’t imagine I’ll be one to spend too much time and money on a big complicated wargame. (Luckily I have other friends who will spend more time and money than me so I can just play with them when the urge strikes me).

Anyway, nothing earth shattering here but I just thought I’d talk about a realization I’ve recently had about my interests as a gamer.

Good gaming!
-The Duke of Brandonshire

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