From Sam Mustafa
I just got MWAN #115, and of course read it all in bed, at one stretch. My wife was out of town this weekend, leaving me to paint and wargame, and so your timing was impeccable. I was thinking about your musings regarding the different "types" of gamers, and which aspect of the hobby was most important to each of us. I imagine we all have portions of each personality type - it's like a three-way continuum. These days, I think I'm about 50% "collector", 30% "painter," and 20% "player." I love the hobby, but actually playing a game can sometimes leave me kind of flat. I've lost my killer instinct, and no longer care very much about winning. I've always loved hosting and refereeing games, and I think I'm pretty good at it, and that gives me more pleasure: I love to design my own rules and then get people to try them out. Always a teacher, I guess. This change in my priorities, I've noticed, has led me to a change in the types of figures I collect. When I was about 60% "player," I used to game almost exclusively in 15mm for land battles and 1:6000 for naval battles. Lots and lots of little figures. Nowadays I look at those faceless little drones and think: What's the point? If I'm going to put all this time and effort into my hobby, I want it to look good. So now I do 25mm and 1:2400, instead. One of the interesting things about our hobby is the relatively long period between fancy and fruition. I might go to a convention, play a SYW game, fall in love with the period and the idea of doing it myself, and rush off to buy some figures. But from the moment my checkbook opens to the moment I can actually put on my own game, is a very long stretch indeed. I wonder how many gamers never "make it?" My self-discipline is improving with age. You might recall that I wrote a short piece for MWAN exactly a year ago, in which I was getting ready to start a new Napoleonics project from scratch, and that I had decided on 25mm. Well, this weekend I finished the Guard, which I'd saved for last, leaving me only a couple odds and ends to paint - perhaps 40 more figures - and I'll be done with the French for this project. Just the French. The Austrians will take another 6-9 months (I'm doing the 1809 period.) That means, from fancy to fruition for me will be nearly TWO YEARS. Two solid years before I can put on my own game using these figures. I've been painting nothing but French Napoleonics for a year, with the exception of a handful of World War One dreadnoughts in 1/2400 scale. By the way - to you, or anybody else reading this... Is there anybody besides GHQ who still makes WW1 and WW2 ships in 1:2400 scale? It's such a beautiful scale for these ships, but GHQ is limited, and I can't find anybody else.
From John Stafford
You asked about our interests and "standing" in the hobby. Well, I guess I would fall somewhere into a blend of gamer and collector. I play the full gamut of games from role-playing, to card games (bridge, hearts, poker, Magic the Gathering, etc), to boardgames, computer games (Age of Empires, Alpha Centauri, and Empire Earth are current favorites) to miniatures. These areas of interest seem to fluctuate as to how much time I devote to each depending on where I've moved, the gamers I've met, and my own particular interests at the time. I can get motivated for a particular period or game by reading a novel, a history book, seeing a movie, or reading MWAN. I don't really know what prompted my current interest in the Crusades, but it has been fun collecting books, reading them, ordering and then painting figures, and now figuring out how I'm going to play with them. Looks like I'll take them to Cold Wars and Enfilade this year--maybe set up some kind of game, but maybe just play 1-on 1 games with friends. I will play any game at least once, and I prefer games with skill over chance, and overall I prefer historical over fantasy/sci-fi as evidenced by my fairly extensive miniature collections in ACW, ancients, and colonials and boarclgames covering all of history but with a WWII emphasis. Especially in the miniatures realm, I am not a very talented painter but I do try to learn the techniques and I am pretty rabid about getting a clean paint job, though perhaps uninspired. I do enjoy looking at others well-painted figures, and I certainly have tons of unpainted lead, but playing the battles and organizing the campaigns is what really boils my blood. I also enjoy the creation of terrain, and "modeling" some of my figures and their bases. I learned to appreciate this from Paul Koch and his diorama ACW stands. I find it particularly pleasing to make eyecatching terrain to fight my battles on, and I feel I have more success with this than painting. So, gamer, collector, modeler all rolled into one. That is also why I enjoy MWAN so much, because it addresses each of these needs, though I wish there were more ancients articles. maybe I should write one eh?
From Jerry Lannigan
Issue # 115 (Jan/Feb'02) arrived yesterday and, as usual, takes its place as the best periodical in wargaming. It's arrival was particularly fortuitous as I am currently out of work for a few days with a slightly slipped disc in my lower back. I read your editorial section quite carefully as it often is my favorite section in the magazine. You mentioned a number of things that were interesting and certainly worthy of a response. In a minor matter, the books on the ECW by Nicolas Carter are not available through Amazon.Com. Could it be that they were available in the UK? Let me pursue this with my local library and interlibrary loan office to see if they are, indeed, available here. Failing that, I might just ask Dennis Shorthouse to locate them through his contacts in the UK Dennis is a class act and his company, On Military Matters, is a very professional outfit which has become a fixture at the HMGS East shows. Recently he sent me the most recent installment in the Sharpe series, Sharpe's Prey, which takes place in 1807 at the battle of Copenhagen. Your question about the nature of what "floats our boat" in terms of the hobby is right on target. The interests which propel me in my hobbycloing have changed from gaming once a week, at least, to thinking about a period and considering what I might want to do to build good looking armies for that period. This has happened because of a variety of factors not least of which is the simple question of time. I supervise twenty-five social studies and English teachers at my junior high during the day, teach two university courses at night, and attend graduate classes on the weekend. Nevertheless, I am known to sneak off to the painting table to attend to even just a little painting and figure basing for even as short a period of time as a half hour. I often will "wool gather" thinking about which period might be worthy of collecting. Since the last time I wrote, I have finished a major project collecting 20mm SYW figures that were formerly carried by Hap Jordan and are now being produced by Chris von Fahnestock at Outland Games. Using Age of Reason rules by Tod Kershner as the template, it was a delight to be able to raise two forty unit armies for the Prussians and Austrians. When the Russians are released a new project will, of course, suggest itself. As a side discussion, I do have to disagree, respectfully, with your opinions about 20mm vs 28mm figures. The cost is about 1/3rd of that of Foundry or Front Rank figures and less than half of that of Old Glory. While 28mm does have a more impressive look on the battlefield than their 15mm compatriots, the 20mm figures have a stately look of their own - and they can be painted in less than half the time of their bigger brothers. The funny thing is that for the AWI, I have gone to a home grown set of rules with big battalions and big figures. That was an old project and many of the figures were bought in the "good old days" when figures were a lot less expensive and, of course, incomes were a lot less than current. The next big investment of time and effort will be to finish the Norman army to supplement my Vikings and Saxons. There are three manufacturers of note Gripping Beast, Foundry and Old Glory which have some interest at this time. The ad for Navigator Miniatures is tempting and it might be worth a look into that company to vary the look of the miniatures. The collections of Vikings, Saxons and Saracens for the period allow the possibility of continuing an old campaign which was started many years ago and had a definite Hollywood look to it. There was the Hinchliffe band of Robin Hood's men harassing the Sheriff (Yes, it's a little ahistorical but it was great fun!), castle sieges, Viking and Saracen coastal raids and Saxon uprisings. In fact the old movie, The Black Knight with Alan Ladd was a great inspiration. The first purchases probably will be made at Cold Wars in two months - meanwhile there's more planning to do! And in the meanwhile, there's time to finish painting the 700 Ral Partha Zulus for the game at Cold Wars scheduled for 10:00 AM on Friday morning. We'll be using Victona~5 Battles to play out a scenario called "The Unpleasantness on the Road To Ulundi." This scenario hypothesizes that the Zulu command decided to direct their attention on the spread out column commanded by Lord Chelmsford rather than the camp at Isandlwhana. The Brits are finished but, unfortunately, I sold the Zulu collection about ten years ago. 408 Zulus are done already and another 150 are based and primed or partly painted - it should be a piece of cake to compete the army. BTW, the scenario is designed to take into consideration a variable number of players on a long table. As new players arrive additional British troops will arrive in column or additional Zulus will become available in the hills and dongas on either side of the track to Ulundi. It makes doing a final army morale number difficult at the outset for both sides but that also cuts into the gamesmanship sometimes seen at the gaming table. It also allows walk ups to the table as folks arrive at the con. So, from the collectors corner, I wish you good health. Hopefully your Thanksgiving break allowed you to catch up with some of the 25mm SYW Prussians you mentioned in the editorial. Thanks again for all the effort
From Richard Borczak
Where am I in the Hobby? I am 75 years old and will qualify as your oldest member. I started in 1941 when I thought that I invented "wargaming." After Pearl Harbor, I built up balsa wood battleships, cruisers and destroyers. Gave them some values and played on a squared off map of the Pacific Ocean, showing the U. S., Hawaii and Japan and Australia. Some friends, and even my father, would battle on the "ocean" using dice. I was happy to learn, about 1964, that there was a Jack Scruby and thousands of wargamers as well as manufacturers who made castings. I was hooked and started buying. I traveled a lot from the Chicago area all over the country and stopped in every hobby shop in cities where I visited. It was fun and I bought a lot. I met Gregg Scott from GHQ in the 70's and loved his 1/285 scale. Every piece he casts is an example of jewelry, similar to loan Rivers collection that my wife collects. I have collected all of GHQ and C in C over the yearsf most of it unpainted as yet. I have been in all scales, all periods, all areas, but actual playing, very little. I used to attend most conventions in the Great Lakes area, and then in the Dallas area, where we lived for 16 years. Here in Arizona, there is very little activity and no conventions. I have a library of 700 books on military subjects, photos, histories covering all of Biblical, ancient through WWII and current actions. Most of them read or looked through, but I am still buying more. Same with figures, still ordering 10 mm in figures and vehicles, 6 mm and 15 mm. Painting at times, but most often visualizing battles, building some dioramas on GHQ hexes or the GEO-Hex. Buying and collecting rules for all periods is probably my main addiction, enjoying those by Frank Chadwick, Arty Conliffe, the DBA's and Johnny Reb's and Warhammer Epic's, usually playing out parts of battles, setting up situations and working them out. I can continue along these lines, but I think it parallels your hobby interest. Keep it up, it is fun entertaining and most of all it is still a learning experience. At 55 you have a long way to go. I am retired and thought that I would have all the time to pursue this wargaming interest. But, once retired, there are so many other things to do that include your partner for life, that sometimes you cannot find time for playing wargames. It all works out, though. Thanks for letting me voice some thoughts.
From Peter Michels
So happy to see you have increased your use of computer networking, i.e. email, use of Bartertown, etc. I am writing this in response to your editorial about the types of folks that populate our hobby. I have thought about this subject many times while watching my friends and associates game, observing the differences, etc. When I was younger, I was filled the immature feelings of frustration for those war gamers not like me. For example, the opponent looking at the figures instead of rolling his dice, or the next opponent who seemed to think he was a better rules writer from his constant suggestions on how "his" rules would be different. Now, after 35 years or so of war gaming, I have come to recognize the different types and appreciate them for what they add to the hobby. Although, I have to admit, the "I can't stand losing" rules lawyers still get on my nerve (there are different types of people that some folks refer to as rules lawyers... not all of them are bad, in my opinion). After reviewing your categories, I have to place myself into 2 categories. I am first and foremost a "lover of toy soldiers" (LOTS). Second, I am a "painter", at least in some ways of how you describe the categories. I tend to collect (almost would have called myself a "collector" until I re-read your descriptions) lots of toy soldiers. I have huge collections of unpainted lead (standard fare for us LOTS types.) In addition, I have collected and continue to collect large amounts of plastic HO figures (1/72nd, 20mm). I must have 3 or 4 thousand French Line Napoleonics. Every time a new line came out, I would by enough to field the entire collection all over again. An additional, reinforcing trait for being a LOTS is that I collect armies for the same period in different scales, mostly because I think the 2nd or 3rd scales have cool figures. For instance, I have 54mm, 25mm, and 20mm AWL I have 25mm, 15mm and 6mm Napoleonics. I have 1/6 scale, 54mm, 20mm and 1/285 scale WWII miniatures. It's the same, to a lesser extent, for my SYW and ECW collections. In closing, I have tried to explain war gaming to some of the nonaware co-workers and friends over the years and have compared it to the model railroad hobby. I mention that there are multiple scales (i.e. HO, 0, N, etc.) and that there are different aspects that war gamers enjoy, many times evolving through the interests. As railroaders may choose history, layout, electronics, terrain, operations, modeling, socialization, etc., so may we as gamers choose military history, terraining, painting, sculpting, rules authorship, "the game", collecting, socialization, etc. as our primary interests, with these interests changing, or not, over the years that we enjoy the hobby. Hope all is well with you and yours. I will be visiting my family off and on over the next few months on personal business and will be trying to get over to Little Wars. I may try to make the hop over to some of the Midwest conventions in KS or IA while I'm there, if nothing else than to take a break. All the best, Pete -- Peter Michels 3306 Yuba Ave. San Jose, CA 95117
Editor's Note. Thanks to everyone who responded; hope to hear from more of you next time! HA L MWAN
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