10 questions

[Sean Clark]

As I procrastinate with my packing, I looked back through some old posts on here. I first posted this 8 years ago. A couple of my answers have changed.

1.   If you had to game one period for the rest of your days, what would it be?

WW2. So much variety. My original answer was ACW.

2.   What is your favourite war film?

Probably Danger Close. Come See, which I saw recently on YouTube, is stunning but grim.

3.   What is your favourite historical book?

Battle Cry of Freedom - James McPherson

4.   If you weren't a wargamer, what would you be?

A rock star surrounded by beautiful women and driving fast cars.

5.   How many figures do you own (painted/unpainted)?

Too many! Probably around close to 10,000 painted and several hundred unpainted. I must count the painted figures one day.

6.   What was your first 'proper' wargame?

At the Stoke club, the ACW battle at Reams Station. I commanded a wagon and a few skirmishers in a multi player game that lasted several weeks using 'Victoriana' a set of computer moderated rules. I loved it!
7.   Do have a claim to fame related to wargaming?

My face appears in a couple of rulebooks from the RFCM stable 😳🤣


8.   What one thing you not like about this hobby?

Snobs who look down their nose at other peoples efforts in the hobby. We are a broad church and should be all inclusive. Play what you want, how you want!

9.   What is your favourite battlefield that you have visited?

The Somme.

10.   What is your favourite aspect of this hobby?

The friendships I have made. No question

[Moggy]

such a lot of questions....well I'll have a go

1.  Probably ancients. Was my route into wargaming and it is so varied.

2.  Too many to choose from and it varies all the time. Bridge too far, Zulu/Zulu Dawn, The Longest Day. The list is endless.

3.  I had a series of 20 Books on the history of the ACW. I don't recall the publisher or book series name. Lost them clearing out on divorce.

4.  A musician. Always loved music but never learnt to play an instrument. Don't have to be rich or famous just have the imagination and dexterity to play and write well.

5.  No idea. Quite possibly as many as Sean. Have no intention of counting them, it would remind me of how much I have spent on the hobby.

6.  First one using published rules....  Ancients 6th edition I think.  Prior to this quite a few board wargames by Avalon Hill and STI. Of those the oldest ones I can remember owning and playing solo would be Wooden Ships and Iron Men, Jutland, Onward to Richmond, France 1940. Yet again an endless list.  Yet another set of stuff lost to me on divorce.

7.  I was the British Forces Germany Wargaming champion 2 years in a row playing Warhammer Fantasy. Then they made me Gamesman (chief umpire) so I couldn't compete the third time. Played in a couple of ancient international competitions as part of the lead up to Osprey World championships back in the 80s. This was the year they introduced 7th edition which I just couldn't make the transition to like a lot of people. Thinking back I think that was one of the last times I played 15mm ancients in my first incarnation as a gamer.

8.  Rule tweakers who manipulate the rules to produce abnormal results.
    The time is takes me now to paint an army - the mind is willing but the hands and eyes just do not want to co-operate for the
    period of time involved anymore.

9.  Visited many battlefields on the continent but most memorable place would have to be Bergan/Belsen concentration camp. Will never forget quietly walking through the place between the mounds marked only with the simple words 5000 Juden, 4000 juden, etc. Unfortunately I spent time in places such as Bosnia whilst in a green suit that bring home to me just how bad they can be before they get sanitized and the history cleansed up so as to not "upset" specific nations.  Sorry for this one.

10.  The friendships as Sean says. Cant be beaten

Derek

[Sean Clark]

Were they the ACW books in the Time Life series? Hardback with silver cover?

[Moggy]

Actually I think they may have been. Got one through the post each month.

Derek

[John Watson]

1. Hard to choose, but probably WW2.
2. A Bridge Too Far, followed by Waterloo.
3. A Bridge Too Far. Cornelius Ryan created the mould for this type of book. Others have followed (Stephen Ambrose, James Holland, Mark Urban etc).
4. A gigolo (stop laughing).
5. Thousands painted and thousands unpainted. I have never tried to count them.
6. In my mid teens at school with a chap called Simon Chapman, who went on to be a doctor in the Army after graduating from Sandhurst. We gamed WW2 to his own detailed rules in 1/72 scale on a classroom floor. I wish I had a copy of his rules.
7. I've been chairman of the Lance and Longbow Society for the last 32 years.
8. Competitive wargaming. By that I mean organised competitions like the World Championships.
9. Most battlefields do nothing for me. However my favourites are Tewkesbury and Utah Beach.
10. Friends.
John

[Martin Smith]

Just as an aside, while I think of my answers, the Great Wargaming Survey by the Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy people is on at the moment. Well worth chipping in 👍🏼.

https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/en-gb/blogs/great-wargaming-survey-blog-wss-magazine/the-great-wargaming-survey-2024

[martin goddard]

Thanks Martin

Very useful I hope.


martin

[Martin Smith]

In reply to Sean's questions:-
1. Which one period? Ancient/medieval, with a big spread of armies and settings.

2. Favourite war film?  Probably Zulu.

3. Favourite historical book? The Bernard Cornwell Last Kingdom/Uhtred series, if we include fiction...or the WRG Armies and Enemies books if not (Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, or maybe Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome).

4. If you weren't a wargamer, what would you be? Probably a) unhappy and / or b) an historian...or both.

5. How many figures? Around 3-5,000 in 15mm...plus multiple 6mm and 2mm (heretic!! 😁).

6. First 'proper' wargame? Games of ancients and WW2 using Terry Wise's Introduction to Battlegames rules, vs school mates, then 4th Ed. WRG ancients at a club in Basingstoke.

7. Do you have a 'claim to fame' related to wargaming? Nothing major 🙂: A few published articles, and a short chapter on tactics in a book about DBA, + a few DBA/Hott tournament wins.

8. What one thing do you not like about this hobby? A small minority of gamers* - Entrenched, 'I know best' and dismissive attitude from a few who see themselves as somehow above us all, trying to force their opinion on the rest (rare but incredibly annoying).

9. Favourite battlefield visited? Isandhlwana- atmospheric, unspoilt, sweeping open views, very easy to imagine events.

10. Favourite aspect of the hobby?  Interaction with the greater majority of gamers*, with their creative skills and inventive minds providing example and inspiration.

*the humans are a big factor.

[Dex13]

Interesting questions. Possibly less interesting answers.

1.   The Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The scope is significant.

2.   Kellys Heroes.

3.   Highland Warrior: Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars by David Stevenson.

4.   A book collector. Although I might be one anyway...

5.   I don't even know where to start in the counting. At least several thousand 15mm. 

6.   As a schoolkid I was invited to a game by one of the prefects on the school bus. 1/300th Napoleonic Heroics and Ros. There were thousands of figures laid out on a very big bedroom floor; carpet tile terrain. I remember being given an Austrian cavalry corps to command.

7.   I've published in Arquebusier, the Journal of the Pike and Shot Society.

8.   Rules lawyers.

9.   Slieve-an-Aura, 1583 (not the year I visited).

10.   Good open minded people.

[Leman (Andy)]

1.Post-Roman Britain using the TFL's Dux Britanniarum campaigns would easily keep me going for the rest of my innings.

2.Favourite war film is 1968 Charge of the Light Brigade with some great British acting talent.

3.Favourite historical war story is Bernard Cornwell's Winter King trilogy.

4.If I hadn't discovered wargaming I would just have done more hillwalking/long distance walking/camping and cycling.

5.Too many unpainted figures to count in six different scales. Some will like;y end up unpainted on ebay for buttons.

6.First proper wargame was with a school/youth club friend in his garage. ACW using painted Airfix figures on a huge sand table.

7.A couple of aknowledgements in bibliographies for adapting scenarios I'd had published in amateur magazines. Figures photo used as header for a while by a Facebook group.

8.People whose main concern is a micro-management of rules useage. Usually they are the ones with little or no interest in history and obnoxious personalities to boot.

9.I have two really favourite battlefields which are relatively unchanged and thus easy to navigate and get a real feel for what happened. They are Flodden 1513 and Mars la Tour 1870.

10.The aspect of the hobby I most enjoy is developing a campaign narrative over a number of games. This requires imagination, a bit of historical knowledge of the period and a willingness to get involve. Fortunately for my present circumstances, this works best (for me) with solo play.The best thing about belonging to a club was going to the pub afterwards.