Thats a question that could (and probably will) open up a whole can of worms for a lot of people out there!
On the surface to an outsider we are a group of people who spend far too much of our lives immersed in alternate realities and/or events of the past and not enough time living in the real world...
She who must be obeyed hates that this is my hobby, ney; my raison d'etre! She resents the space that all of my gear takes up (and she hasn't even experienced the mountain of stuff I have in storage yet). She hates the time that it takes out of my day and resents that even when I'm not 'doing it' I'm spending my time thinking about it, slowly forcing her into a waking coma by caving in her eardrums banging on about 'it'.
In truth I think that most of my girlfriends from my past have had similar feelings.
...and I couldn't care less!
Contentious huh? Let me explain:
Roxi is probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me, providing more stability in a very stormy life than I have ever known. Every day that I get up I expect to find her kneeling down, sporting a wimpole, hands clasped together in prayer, desperate for relief! She actually does have the patience of a saint (I should probably qualify this point by highlighting the fact that based on the never ending conflicts that the Vatican state has found itself in with all manner of European powers through the ages, it seems to be very clear that Saintly patience is at best a cosmetic slap on to the deeper truths of power and greed!). I am lucky to have a partner who, even when hating what I do, more often than not leaves me in peace to attack my relentless list of self imposed deadlines without being stupid enough to get in the way of this flagellation.
When all is said and done however, history and wargaming are such an integral part of my character that if these two elements were stripped away I'm really not sure there would be much left behind that would be worth talking about (and its an obvious point that most human beings don't think that history and wargaming are worth talking about). I think I would probably end up being defined by my job, and whilst I love what I do for work (engineering on the railways) I am a staunch egotist when I state that there is more to this book than its cover! I would always rather talk about a tank than a train!
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| There seems to be an issue of allegiance here; the Confederacy or Cymru? You decide! |
When all is said and done however, history and wargaming are such an integral part of my character that if these two elements were stripped away I'm really not sure there would be much left behind that would be worth talking about (and its an obvious point that most human beings don't think that history and wargaming are worth talking about). I think I would probably end up being defined by my job, and whilst I love what I do for work (engineering on the railways) I am a staunch egotist when I state that there is more to this book than its cover! I would always rather talk about a tank than a train!
Just having an interest in models and/or history is not enough however. Just a passing interest does not, a wargames fanatic make! I would like to submit to you, the audience, that this particular cross that needs to be carried requires an addictive personality (Roxi keeps resolutely informing me that I have 'a problem' and that I need to go and seek specialist help!?!?!?) and a character predisposed to forming habits...
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| A Great looking Great War game going Great guns! |
Whatever the reasons I am now deeply obsessed with completing painting and modelling projects, spend my waking hours reading, watching, digesting anything related to pushing pointy objects into soft things that breath or else blowing things up!
One of the things that really reinforces this love of history, well for me anyway, is keeping tabs on what others in the gaming community are doing. I love seeing what other people are painting, and talking to them about it. I love getting asked questions about what I am doing and sharing how I do things. Its a remarkably satisfying thing to have this self affirming and mutually reinforcing community packed with individuals, male and female, young and old who you may never even meet, but through social networking have a modus vivendi whereby you always have a wide and deep resource of knowledge that you can tap at any hour of the day.
Nice!
But still it is not enough. If the limits of our experiences were based on what I have said then wargames would be crammed with accountants and clerks, pushing numbers around a piece of paper and congratulating themselves on a good algorithm well done! Fuck that!!!!
There are a lot of facets to a love of wargaming. The aesthetics, the statistical probabilities, the technical innovations of the eras and/or genres and of course the raw competition of pitting yourself against others, but these on their own I do not believe are enough to keep us all coming back and flaying ourselves on the altar of wannabe warfare.
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| No caption needed! Dougie Howser MD says it all! |
So just what is is that keeps us all coming back to this?
Story...
Narrative...
The Tales of what happened...
They say that the history of warfare is the history of man. Story is, I believe, the greatest gift that the human race ever gave to itself. We know people, or as well as we can do, because of stories that are passed on down.
For me personally, story is probably the single iron rod at the core of my personality. I am obsessed with it. How to structure one, how to tell one and how to receive one. What works and what doesn't. A 10 year career in the film industry before leaving in disgust at many of the people I had met had at its most fundamental base a love, ney an all consuming obsession, with the method by which good stories are told.
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| How to tell a good story digitally... |
Storytelling is some of my earliest memories with my mother reading me books such as Gullivers Travels and the Three Musketeers. The Hobbit was the first book I ever read on my own when I was four and starting to write and illustrate my own stories from a year earlier.
I even piss Roxi off by refusing to turn off bad films as I feel a story that has been laboured over, no matter how bad, deserves the opportunity to finish once started.
I love EVERYTHING story related...
... and it is at this point I would like to introduce you all to House of Hengist Comics, and their secondary site Achtung Panzer!
Their titular head Mark Landymore put this group together a couple of years ago with the express purpose of telling the story of the Second World War through war gaming but by focussing on the narrative dimension of gaming as opposed to concentrating on 'equal points' etc etc. Largely inspired by the 40-something generation cornerstone; Commando Comics this pulp history has provided a VERY fertile garden of possible stories all surrounding the events of the Second World War.
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| Now THATS what Im talking about!!!! |
I came across these guys when I was drowning in Polish as they had just started their magnum opus with each battle they fought highlighting a different part of the Polish campaign.
Their methodology has evolved since then with news reports being given, introductory videos to the next battle and what actually happened in history.
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| A photo from one of Hengist's games with a motley rabble bulldozing their way through a checkpoint! |
Its a committed process demanding of its players BUT I believe that THIS is the way forwards for wargaming if we want to keep attracting new blood to wargames market.
Every one of their videos I watch drooling about what they are doing wishing that I could be a part of it.
The videos may not be professional level quality with a lot of rough edges, but these 'flaws' only add to their charm.
You should all head over to their channel and start following the story of the Second World War. It will inspire you to achieve and create.
House of Hengist Battle Reports
You are, remember, only human!
P.S Pack a bayonet for personal use!
Can of worms there by God! Never that much of a Commando Comics fan myself- preferred the others ofthat time- still have about 10 or a dozen Victor Annuals. I'm not that much of a "games player" myself but like you prefer the story angle- see my blog and the games we do- points systems are complete anathema. Without the History and the Storytelling all this would just be pretty snakes and ladders.
ReplyDeleteNow I could here say things about womens attitude to hobbies in general- which seems true for women who Don't have hobbies themselves- or blokes who don't either for that matter. Many women hate blokes hobbies- whatever they are because whilst a chap is playing golf or restoring his 1967 MG or wargaming SHE is not at that moment the centre of his world. My Dad was a golfer for a good few years and it caused more than a few rows when I was a kid so eventually he packed it in .
Now I'm fortunate here as my Wife Carole is a Gardener and sometime Vintage jewellry collector and the only time she gets even slightly peeved is when another bookshelf overflows- which they do ... once or twice....
As for addictive personality well have you ever seen a bunch of birds in a shoe shop.... man I've also been known to walk out of restaurants that have a hen party in - screechy or what ! Carole hate hen parties even more than I do and personally I can't stand stag does- morons staggering about being prats.
So no I'm not sure there is always an addictive personality that turns you into a wargamer.
Anyhow how is a liking for history addictive?
Snakes and Ladders! ROFL!!!! I couldnt agree more Andy! Its a shame about your Dad giving up his golf, never a good thing when somebody imposes their will over somebody and they are forced to give up something they love. Its an utter lack of respect for differences.
DeleteI too have had the misfortune of shoe shopping. See if you can relate to this one: I had an Azerbaijani GF in the Middle East and she and her sister spent 3 1/2 hours in a single shoe shop that was no more than 3m x 4m... I swear it was the worst Ive ever known woman shoppers to be!
I suppose that not everybody needs to have an addictive personality as a wargamer but I think there does need to be a level of that to maintain an interest in actually finishing painting entire armies, no?
...and Andy; of course a liking for history is addictive... if you get the bug you just cant get enough :D
.... well history can be addictive a bit maybe .... As for finishing armies I'm not sure from my perspective simply because I don't tend to completely finish with a project unless I decide to sell the armies. I might leave it on the back burner for a while and go and do something else- so currently the 40mm WOTR collection is on the back burner but I will go back to it when I finish the current group of 30mm Napoleonics. The ECW is on the back burner likewise but I do need more Parliamentarian Horse and Royalist foot so it will get back there.
DeleteAddictive me .... nah
Thanks old bean a very nice read and must confess to loving what we are doing to..part of the excitement is what we are learning through this project and how it inspires us each week to do more and improve what we are doing because a huge but humble aspiration is to keep the history alive, to try to stimulate and engage others to look at so much which is airbrushed out or unintentionally overlooked. Researching LUXENBOURG was a hell of a challenge but Norway..well that is where it began with ships and planes too..I hope people will stop buy and help us develop and improve on what we are doing because it’s a bloody long war and it’s early days yet lol
ReplyDeleteHere is a trailer for Norway guys
https://youtu.be/gy5-Z3yeaeY
Always happy to help Mark. Glad you enjoyed it mate :D Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThis was sent to me by Joe, who seems to have problems posting on Brushes and Bayonets. Its a good argument thats well written and is probably as poignant as the blog post itself.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you guys think of this:
“This post could have been written for me :)
As with many conflicts – the one with your girlfriend has many sides to it.
Somehow the tabletop hobby with all its manifestations is a lot less accepted than many other ones.
Most of the cliché male hobbies, like cars, soccer, motorbikes and so on use up at least as much time and money as the wargaming hobby – but are usually (grumpily) accepted. Most women even subliminal brag with the stud - or artistic hobbies of their spouses while complaining to their friends how little time he has for them.
Somehow the quiet meditative state of the painter seems to be much more infuriating to women than the drunken soccer fan who comes home late at night.
I believe some of it has to do with the fact that it is less socially accepted and that women have a hard time understanding how their men are able to do something completely brainless (like fishing or painting 15 mm Zulus) for hours at a time. It may help - to explain to her that this state in which the head is emptied from thoughts and aggressions helps to prevent the occasional ax murder and depression.
I myself have more problems with friends of my wife making fun of my hobby who at the same time oppose Ludo because the rules are too complex. Since Germans tend to be very direct - Let’s just say, some of them don’t visit anymore.
But there are other sides to this conflict. You and your girl are a team and as teammates you have to follow certain rules. She has to give you your needed space, but if your hobby starts to affect her life negatively you suck as a teammate and she should draw the necessary consequences.
This red line is blurry at best but there are some indicators. If you take up more than half of the living /storage space, piss away shared income, spend “every” week night painting, become an unhealthy fat fuck and so on – she is in the right and as a decent human being you should do something about that. This is not “losing a battle” but “stop fucking over your team”.
If you want a relationship you have to invest or you are little better than these people who abandon their dog prior to a holiday. If you inflict pain to your teammate because you are sure she won’t leave you, you suck. Easy as that.
Obsession.
Obsession doesn’t have to be bad, it might be a good thing. It might make you successful, it might make you a better person and maybe even an awesome dad. Again –as soon as it starts to hurt the people around you, stop. There really is no excuse.
I’ll try to end this rant on a positive note.
...and Part 2:
Delete(War-) gamers are the better dads! Tell that to your girl.
Fathers who stay in contact with their inner child have much more to give than the average working father who has little time for his kids. All these stories in their head find their way into bedtime stories (try not to traumatize them), activities and crafts. The birthdays are an awesome outlet for creativity and the children will forever remember them.
Children of gamers often gain several positive traits which will make them better people. They learn playing games very early in life, learn to sit still and listen, respect their opponent, learn difficult rules, read earlier, learn to paint and gain fine motor skills and a lot more.
If a woman can get her hands on one of these men – she gets an awesome dad for her children.
But this only applies if you allow your children to become a part of your hobby. If you have children you have to accept that there really isn’t a “private space” anymore.
If your children are little more than a disturbance to you, if you use them as a hobby for your wife and leave them to her and disappear into your room all the time – the result will be bad indeed and you probably shouldn’t procreate at all.
So, in the end it isn’t about what others - women, society – think of you, but who you really are. If you are a good teammate, a loving father (to be) and a good mate – you should stand up for your hobby and get rid of those who can’t accept you the way you are.
But if you are a selfish cunt you should get your shit together and don’t dare to use our: “I’m the way I am and the others have to accept that” excuse. That’s our excuse.
So: “Who or what are you?”
The end