As the years roll by and one gets older, particularly if you have been in the Services, it becomes apparent that there exists one quality and aspect of life that transcends almost all others.
Launch Party for the 50th Men-at-Arms title "Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars", held in London 24th September 1975. Left to right - Frank Hinchliffe, Peter Beaton of Tradition, Peter Gilder of Hinchliffe Models and Tony Bovill, Managing Director of Osprey.
Without it, life is a dull and colourless existence; with it, horizons are broadened, doors are opened and our onward march possesses a warm and euphoric atmosphere. Comradeship and fellowship are the qualities under review and the inspiration to philosophise. about them arose from the slowly-acquired knowledge of many years that these twin bounties represent the best aspects of wargaming, not the figures, terrain, models and rules.
It takes two to tango and, although I have had a great deal of pleasure out of practising and writing about Solo Wargaming, nothing can really touch the pleasure of facing old and valued friends and opponents across a wargames table, testing your tactical knowledge against theirs and both gracefully accepting defeat and victory in the knowledge that it does not really matter and that there will always be another day. I have more than my fair share of friends and, considering my forthright nature and inability to suffer fools gladly, remarkably few enemies! People are what Life is all about and if in this present-day world large numbers of the better people are being disadvantageously manipulated by much smaller numbers of the worst people then it occurs because basically we are friendly trusting souls.
Many of those people involved in wargaming have been kind enough to state that I have personally aided the hobby in its growth but I do not believe that however much I might have given can ever balance what I have received in the way of good times with good fellows. Blessed over the years with a long run of amiable, non-argumentative wargaming opponents, my table-top battles have been benevolent rather than bitter, fun rather than ferocious - and those who might criticise any lack of intensity or flexible devotion to detail should realise that this is how we like it because from it flourishes friendship and fellowship.
Outside my perhaps narrow practical wargaming world, there are innumerable events and occurrences where old friends and acquaintances abound. In a world where Christmas seems to come twice a year, only a regrettably strong sense of discipline keeps me tied to a desk and away from socialising. Nevertheless, at the Osprey launch party depicted above, I found I knew about 75 per cent of the guests and the subsequent conversation rather than the gin produced that air of ebullience which coloured my progress for the remainder of that day! Feeling very guilty, I am sneaking off in ten days time to spend a weekend as the guest of Hinchliffe Models Limited at NORTHERN MILITAIRE '75 in Manchester when a couple of days will be devoted to nostalgia and kindred topics with old friends.
One of the big events of the wargamer's year is the MODEL ENGINEER EXHIBITION regularly held in London early in the New Year. There is no point in repeating information, contained elsewhere in this magazine, concerning venue, dates, etc. Suffice to say this is a fine venture at which the wargarner can view all the latest items on trade stands, take part in (or watch) wargames and, more than 4 anything else, he can meet other wargamers and friends from all over U.K. Make a rendezvous at Seymour Hall with the fellow-hobbyist with whom you have been corresponding but have never met!
Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 165
To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1975 by Donald Featherstone.
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