Thursday 30 December 2021

2021 and all that.

 One and a half days to go until we can kiss goodbye to another rubbish year from the Covid perspective, I could of course wax lyrical about everything which bugs me about living through this hell but I will not, suffice to say I am a different kind of sick with it all.

My wargaming year got off to a good start when I ran a WWI Naval campaign and one from the American Civil War with the help of commanders who emailed orders and deployments so that I at last got a chance to get the troops back on the battlefield after a prolonged period of R&R for them. I also took to remote gaming with Phil Robinson, Matt Smith and Rob Broom which turned out to be easy to accomplish and gave me some 'face time' with real people and led to some very good games.

With the opening of the club and the end of restrictions I managed some excellent nights covering quite a few different periods, as well as joining in with several of Rob Martin and Dan Johnson's games I pushed my own agenda and brought Bolt Action, Chain of Command, Johnny Reb II, War and Conquest and last but not least Honours of War to the club. I hope to continue this trend in 2022.

On the practical front I added several more SYW battalions to the small collection and took my WWII interests to the Eastern Front with a lot of Russians. I took the latter further than I had wanted to but couldn't stop, I expanded the Germans and Russians to cover 1941 - 1945, then with the gift of a French 1940 army I also added 1940 Germans. I also built a lot of terrain, industrial units, Eastern Front buildings and pushed the boat out on one large project, the port of St. Nazaire.

 



 I also decided not to fold away my large wargame table in the Post Office, so have become a bit of a talking point in the area as the guy who has 'models' in his shop, I do take umbrage to being asked about my trains, as if I am that weird. I have been the subject of a story in a local magazine, the 'Warlord of Warton' and I have several delivery men who pop in if in the area to see what is set up. What I have not garnered during the year is one person to dip their toe into the wargaming pool. Unless you count Duncan of halftrack and armoured car fame, he has joined the club and actually bought figures, but Duncan only needed a small push being half way there already.

The club has done well this year with new blood, two others including Duncan have joined and stayed, all are an asset and cover both fantasy and historical with a willingness to join in whatever is available

It has also been a good year for my cartography having now drawn over 400 maps for over 40 publications to date, I was disappointed the large atlas was not ready for publication as it carries my name along with the author's, when will it be ready, who knows.

I had decided a few months ago to put a halt to my collecting, unlike many wargamers I do not tend to buy things on a whim and once bought said piece or pieces always get painted and based before I move on to other stuff. I decided I had enough and would simply concentrate on improving what I had. This did not last long and I started looking at Byzantines for a new War and Conquest army, I even went so far as making up an army list and seeking suitable figures (800-1000AD), before doing a complete 180 and instead putting my mind to the Italian Wars. The period has always been on my radar and having been involved with Helion's Italian Wars series and seeing the eye candy on the Facebook page for the wars I decided I could not resist. As usual two feet in, I have ordered two volumes from Helion, downloaded the Furioso rules and been looking at figures. 


 So, upcoming in 2022 (at the moment) is six new SYW battalions to give me three brigades a side, I already have the figures for two of them. I then have a few things to complete, some scatter terrain and the new kits I got for Christmas along with some research before actually buying the first figures for the new project. I am also looking at the possibility of writing up a mini campaign for Chain of Command involving the crossing of the Meuse by 7th Panzer in 1940, I downloaded Hans Von Luck's memoirs to help but he barely mentions the episode, luckily the PDF only cost £2.49. So I am all set for the third year AC (After Covid).

That should have been that, however I was pointed towards an article in Wargames Illustrated entitled 'Rude Health' where the author says "The UK hobby remains doggedly white, male, and over 45. Not healthy for reasons too myriad to mention." I cannot disagree how he describes the hobby, but so what, that has been my experience for over 55 years and I do not feel the need to change it, to chase an impossible utopia of social engineering whose adherents are disappearing daily up their own backsides. Another example "many genres of the hobby are based around small forces of Europeans killing, exploiting, or otherwise subjugating people of colour." I find this a very narrow and unhelpful view of a period of wargaming, In my own periods the Germans subjugated most of Europe, the Union subjugated the Confederacy while my Saxons subjugated the Romano-British and my Romans again subjugated large parts of Europe etc. no guilt trip here. If a half Cherokee, quarter Scots and Irish, one-legged self identifying giraffe in a wheelchair turns up wanting a game I will even provide them with an army, end of.

Almost forgot, Happy New Year everyone, fingers crossed.

14 comments:

  1. A good gaming year for you there George, in spite of all this covid bother. Really enjoyed the online gaming, even if my brave lads were getting a right pasting. We ought to finish that campaign!

    As for that article… I am heartily sick of all these virtue signalling idiots saying that we’re all bad because we don’t do enough for inclusivity. I’m sure they do it purely to say “look at me, what a good person I am”. What they don’t say is how they intend to achieve their saintly goals, or how others could either, save for bland words about doing better.
    I am totally happy to game with anyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, (dis)ability, whatever. I am also totally happy to encourage anyone showing even a slight interest in any aspect of our hobby, and again that’s regardless of gender, ethnicity, etc. Apart from one or two oddballs I’ve met over the years, I’m certain that the vast majority of other gamers and traders have very similar supportive, inclusive and encouraging views. It’s a great community, let’s keep it that way for everyone from any walk of life.

    Cheers
    Matt

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    1. Thanks Matt. Anytime you want to stop 3 Pz let me know.

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  2. You have had a good year despite the virus and the customers! Looking forward to seeing much more from you in the same vein and hopefully even a chat at Partizan, if...

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    1. Thanks David, I have Partizan pencilled in if only to chat with yourself and Phil.

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  3. Hi George -
    The measure of the 'health of the hobby' - should one wish to measure such a thing - must be the enthusiasm of its practitioners. As a club member, I have to say I contribute very little to it or its membership apart from pottering out the (very reasonable!) subscriptions. Why? Because what I do and what the other members do are poles apart. I gave up long ago playing these commercial sets like WRG, DBM and suchlike: I simply wasn't enjoying the games - even when I was winning. Stereotyped and, after an unrelieved diet of this kind of pap, boring.

    So I do my own thing, and if it means 90+% of my war gaming is solo, too bad. Whatever anyone else is doing, I'm having fun, telling stories to myself (and anyone interested in reading my blog). Whilst I am enjoying my hobby, it is, for mine, in rugged good health.
    Cheers,
    Ion

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    1. Good for you Ion, and long may it continue and bring you pleasure.

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  4. My experience of 3 large shows last Autumn definitely confirmed the "white, male and over 45" bit but the hobby seems to flourishing. As that particular demographic is grossly underrepresented amongst those into steel bands or martyrdom, I think things probably balance out. Happy New Year, George. Keep us entertained in 2022.

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    1. Well said Jeremy, I liked that. Happy New Year.

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  5. I'll look forward to your Itallian Wars project - always a riot of colour.

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    1. A chance to indulge my fondness for flags Markus.

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  6. You had a great year George, even with all this Covid crao!

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  7. 2021, going, going nearly gone. Shan't say I shall miss it really, not as bad hobby wise has it could have been I suppose. Onwards, upwards and KBO.

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    1. I did surprisingly well this year looking back. KBO Phil.

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