I read Sam Mustafa's article "The games we play and how people see them!" and as with all of Sam's articles I found it both interesting and thought provoking. Hal's editorial only had me thinking further and I felt it worthwhile jotting down my own thoughts on the subject. There may be some people reading this who are saying, "So what what others think of my hobby, what I do is my business." This may be true to an extent but I feel that the majority of people, as Hal pointed out, wish to be seen in a positive light and no doubt most of us would like to describe our hobby with pride. Feeling a tinge of embarrassment at admitting that you "play with toy soldiers", is different to being thought of as a war lover, glorying in the misery of others. Sam's article got me thinking at how I portray my hobby and what my answers will be the next time someone asks me about wargaming. Like Hal and Sam I have had similar conversations with friends and colleagues and have always felt I've come off second best. It seems a shame that a hobby that has so much going for it should shy away from this frank an open discussion with non-gamers. It is perhaps worth considering first what wargaming is, it has many facets as the perusal of any copy of MWAN will testify, but Donald Featherstone in his book "Wargames" describes it as "battles and manoeuvres with mode/soldiers". You only have to look back in history to see that military leaders have used models to plan battles and campaigns. Frederick the Great, Napoleon and the Prussian General Staff all used models and no doubt many other leaders back to Alexander and beyond did the same. This brings us to the image that the title "wargaming" conjures up, with the very joining of the words "war" and "gaming" together it is little wonder that a negative impression can be created. However, the literal title may not be the only cause of the problem, as people's perception of what wargaming is all about will influence their opinions. Sam's examples of differing perspectives of Colonial and WWII games usefully illustrate this point, no doubt an African and a European will view Colonial wars in Africa in quite different lights, what appears to one as a historical exercise and a wargame, may represent the suffering of an entire people to someone else. This would also be true of all conflicts, but particularly those where the wounds and feelings are still heartfelt. As Sam's friend Ursula said, Napoleon was okay but Eastern Front WWII wasn't. As wargamers we should be aware of these sensitivities and not dismiss them out of hand, rather than desensitising war my interest in military history and wargaming has if anything highlighted the futility and wastefulness. It has also led me to look at both sides of a conflict, for example without gaming the Zulu War I wouldn't have discovered an interest in the history and culture of the Zulu people. Rather than being negative wargaming has actually had a more positive and enlightening impact. Perhaps we should therefore welcome the questions of others as an opportunity to explain our hobby in a rational and logical way. Whilst I have always described my personal interest in the hobby as a love of military history, collecting and painting figures and shared Sam's confession of being a guy who likes "playing with toy soldiers", perhaps I should echo Donald Featherstone in suggesting that "there is an more meritorious service that wargames can render mankind, other than giving many hours of pleasure" and quote H.G. Wells author of "Small Wars". "The best possible cure for wars is to put this prancing monarch and that silly scaremonger, those excitable patriots and that adventurer, into one vast Temple of war, with plenty of little trees and houses to knock down and cities and fortresses and unlimited model soldiers - tons, cellars full of them - and let them lead their own lives there away from ours. Indeed you only have to play at Little Wars three or four times to realize what a blundering thing Great War must be. Great War is, at present, I am convinced, not only the most expensive game in the Universe, but it is a game out of all proportion." In the current climate maybe our leaders would be well served to reflect upon the words of H.G. Wells. Back to MWAN # 122 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com