From time to time I have a period of soul searching, particularly about my wargaming. Occasionally I hear comments from people about wargaming not being an acceptable hobby, relying as it does on the playing of 'battles' with 'model soldiers'. To some extent I can agree with this. It is possible to wargame almost any conflict from pre-history to current times.

Now war is an unacceptable resolution to man's problems, even, fortunately these days, the righteous war. However, playing with model soldiers does not make a warmonger. Many 'politically correct' pastimes are based on a simulation, to a greater or lesser extent, of warfare. Chess (both western and Chinese) is the first one that comes to mind, especially as it shows various troops on the playing surface. Others rely on the capturing of territory and the taking of the other side's pieces. The Japanese game of Go is a good example of this. Neither game makes the player any more or any less pro warfare as a solution to problems between nations. In that, wargaming is no different.

I therefore do not have a problem wargaming. However, I will admit that there are some examples of warfare that I will not play or model. Very modern conflicts, for one, I find disturbing. Disturbing to watch on TV (and living the lifestyle I do, I get to watch a lot of CNN) and disturbing in the effects they have on people. There are some conflicts in the past that I feel the same about. Vietnam is one such conflict.

I tend to concentrate on wargaming in the middle to distant past, in particular the Ancient, Renaissance, Napoleonic, American Civil Wars and Fantasy, with the addition of Naval Warfare from this century as well. At some point in the near future, I will likely get some World War II figures, but I think that will be the forward boundary of my wargaming. There have been times in the past when there has been a vocal opposition to wargaming. Those times have changed fortunately. Having said that, not all wargamers feel the same as I do. Some adopt a more laissez faire attitude, others restrict their gaming even more. For an example of another opinion, I would suggest that you check John Treadaway's thoughts on the matter.

In the meantime, I will enjoy playing with my toy soldiers. As I told my daughter, girls grow up to be women, boys grow up to be big boys! This big boy likes playing with his toys! http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/thomo_the_lost/index.html