From Al Maurer For some years I've read about well-intentioned (??) activists trying to ban lead soldiers, both here and in the EEC. Although many manufacturers have gone to pewter (pronounced "pee-you-ter"), in fact the venerable lead soldier may be overcome not by starry-eyed do-gooders but by Microsoft. Yup. Turning lead into silicon (chips, that is). Have you seen or tried the demo of Age of Empires II: Age of Kings? Here is a game that does probably everything we wanted out of a wargame: little figures in pretty authentic uniforms, pretty easy to move around the battlefield, fairly realistic combat. Unlike tin soldiers, when you spend your $40 your army is already "painted" and ready to go. No problems with terrain and no messy beer cans or paper to ruin the effect. You don't even need to find an opponent, cause the computer is the opponent unless you really want a human opponent, in which case you play over the web. Computer war games have been around for a while, but this one is really good. Unless you really LIKE painting tin soldiers that you may never find an opponent to play against (OK: I admit it, I enjoy the collecting as much as the playing) why not just pick up a computer game? What GenX-er has the patience to paint tin soldiers anyway? This could be a more serious threat to our hobby than a whole legion of flaming anti-lead zealots! Just a thought that might provoke some debate... Merry Christmas! AL PS: Know who makes Crimean War figures in 15mm? And some decent mid-19th century rules (not Colonial)? I am re-inspired by an old series in your newsletter... Al: 1. First of all, Happy Holidays to you and yours. 2. I presume you are looking for mid-19th century European Theater rules, not ACW. For that your best bet is to contact the Courier's Crimean War Editor as he would be the most knowledgable source. That is our own David Raybin whose email & snail mail is listed in the November directory update. Other than Fire & Fury for ACW, and Ironclads for naval, I don't have any knowledge of other sets. 3. I have always held that a) man is a social animal and b) wargaming is as much a social activity as anything. Unless someone is totally devoid of the social graces (and some gamers apparently are) there will always be the desire/willingness to engage in face to face recreational gaming. Thus I do not see computer games supplanting or replacing miniatures. Look at chess, where computers have been programed as an opponent for years but the game has not gone away. Quite the contrary, it appears to be stronger than ever. I think the same of our hobby. Not only can the hobby satisfy the need for human interaction, but the needs of competition, artistic expression and intellectual challenge as well. So, I guess I'm more optomistic than you as to the future of the hobby. It will always be small for as you indicate, the mass of gen-Xers will not have the patience but some will and they will be the core to carry on. In Reply from Al Maurer: I wholeheartedly agree with you (and Aristotle). In part, I was playing devil's advocate in my email and in part reacting to what I've been reading about the "Internet generation" being a different kind of person altogether. I kind of think the hype is overblown, but with alternatives like AOE available, it behooves (when was the last time you heard that word in a sentence?) us as wargamers to remember that wargames are really only games and to emphasize the social and recreational aspects of the hobby--rather than on arguments about historical accuracy and so forth. My hat's off to HMGS generally and Mid-South in particular, because I think you've got it right. I do miss my wargames club in England, where we met at a local pub. Thanks for the lead to David Raybin; I'll follow up on that. Cheers, AL Back to Dispatch Jan 2000 Table of Contents Back to Dispatch List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by HMGS Mid-South This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com