Wargaming as a Hobby

Army mens of course! The Green vs the Tan. Tried real hard to come up with rules, but failed.

I got in real wargames with Third Reich and World in flames. Aaaah. Memory lane. The computer gaming with Harpoon, Steel Panther, Fleet commander.

Finally, I got into Decisive Action, TacOps and ATF.

Now, I prefer the open-ended scenario such as MBXs and other games like that.

Wargames is a definitely a more acceptable hobby to wives than blondes.  Safer for those of us that are married too..unless of course your wife happens to be blonde like mine!!

Good Hunting.

MR

Waaaay back when, I used to collect the 1/87th scale ROCO plastic tanks and Airfix soldiers, as they scaled with my HO train set.  That Burlington train engine was involved in some major WWII battles.  I tried my hand with those small tanks in battles across the rug in the recreation room, string for LOS, a table of penetration values to determine if my Tiger blew up that Sherman (well, it always did, heh heh) way over by the sofa, and puffs of cotton for tanks that brewed up.

Then I discovered my friend's brother had Stalingrad.  I was hooked.  All things Avalon Hill opened up for me.  I was amazed.  I could now actually play the engagements that I'd been reading about for so many years.  Still, it was mainly strategic.  I grabbed up Guadalcanal (my younger brother had to play the Japanese, and use hidden movement -man that really confused him), Jutland, U-Boat, and practically lived those games.  Still, it wasn't what I was looking for, but there was no going back.  I was in for the ride though.  This was one great hobby.

Then the tactical stuff was discovered.  Panzerblitz and Panzerleader were the only way.  You were getting down into the trenches....almost....but the history books were coming alive, and there were individual scenarios to cover the action in those amazing history books.  However, I still was looking for more specifics.

When Squad Leader appeared, I knew that was finally it.     A squad of men and an individual squad leader, along with individual tanks and crews that could bail out was my calling.  Advanced Squad Leader just made it more amazing.  I was now crawling through the rubble of Stalingrad with an 8-1 Feldwebel leading three 4-6-7 squads dragging MG34s, being fired upon by Soviet snipers.  Those dice were rolling fast and heavy. 

Yeah, those were the days.  Then this newfangled computer thingie came along, and with it computer war games.  It would be very difficult to go back to the cardboard counters now, with games like CMBB and CMAK.  The 3D immersion amazes me every time I zoom in behind a Mark IV slowly advancing into harms way over a hilltop, or run across a street, side by side, with a squad of GI's, just waiting for a MG42 to open up. 

These milestones have come together to visually project the battles and actions that I had read - and still read - in those amazing history books.  What a great hobby.  And yes, this hobby does keep you out of the bars and out of trouble.  My wife grudgingly agrees, everytime I "badly need" another book by Paul Carell or Doug Nash!

                               Heinrich505

Same here:

It is like working up the chain:

Level 1: Wargaming as battle, modeling combat between two opponents, it is "me" vs. *you*...

Level 2: Understanding to exploit the systems weaknesses for winning (not saying cheating! BIG difference!), just seeing the margins that are possible

Level 3: Wargaming as sport, i.e. ladders, succumbing to certain measurement methods, competition as in any other sport

Level 4: Science: Analytical approach to wargaming, what-if? scenariois, more collaboration with opponent than fighting, typical for this stage is replaying various scnearios with INTEL

Level 5: Art; Two opponents creating a piece of art through a wargame system by applying "graceful" plans and strats/tacs

Level 6: Team game (CPX) using the gaming system; through various stages from newby to commander learning to form a team effort, fairly independent from the gaming system, focus is on communication in wargaming

Level 7: Abstract Team Game (MBX) not using the gaming system as player (game plays as "movie" in your head, verbal input/output)

Level 8: Inventing wargames on the CPX/MBX level, umpiring

Level 9: Teaching/Training others?

Level 10:

I found that once you have reached a certain one of those levels it is hard to go back, the fun is in the level you play at and the other levels get less interesting...

Rattler

Before the two of you go off and form a mutual admiration society you might enlighten the rest of us as to what an CPX or MBX even is.

I have no idea what you are talking about. Which game system does it encompass, is it PBEM, TCP, etc....

Good Hunting.

MR

So then an MBX is an umpired game between 2 players and a CPX is an umpired game between 2 teams of players?

Used for TacOps?

I thought TacOps was only for modern combat. How did you use it in an WWII setting?

Good Hunting.

MR

I still have more than 300 wargames in the garage. A good many of those are magazine games but still, I have them.

I've been far more selective with computer games. They cost more and are usually more time consuming. But I have more opponents so I'm good.

I rarely catch them on sale for under $5 like I used to do the boardgames. And the boardgames aren't reliant on the current OS for me to even open them and look at them like computer games are.

Good Hunting.

MR

Probably meant to read "...is a kind of wargamining in its own...", my answer assuming so:

I realized, and: Sorry!

But, I think we have an issue of an ex mil and a non mil player/umpire setup, and also Rikki really spoiled me with his form of running both the Malaysian as well as the Global Thunder MBX...

As at those times I was still working as a photojournalist I had hours and hours of not doing anything except traveling, plenty of time to plan my next move for the MBX. As he related the sitreps and data in novel form, this made it very easy for me to capture and "save" the last state of the MBX in complex mil and beaurocratical relationships in a mental movie, which then in turn allowed me to evaluate the "script" etc. into the future... just by "changing chip" and going back, playing it out mentally.

It is a way to relieve the memory of effort, you just go back to the "picture/movie", and you can go on, no matter what time had elapsed, alll the associatively stored data, conversations, decisions, etc. come back.

For me a MBX involves a lot of role playing (as a Rgt commander - like in the SadrCity one - what would you do in RL if you were there? This is where I take it from, put yourself in the shoes, and that is what makes the fun for me). If you look closely that is what provoked me to the way I ordered stuff on the web site (I *love* the blog system you introduced, I think - and will say so in the AAR - this lifts abstract wargaming to a new level), all associatively: Structure, tags, categories.

I understand that might be difficult to handle for an umpire sometimes, too strictly mil thinking umpires might easily get annoyed, too strictly mil thinking players as well; it is a give and take situation to balance to keep it fun...

This said, I am very much looking forward to your umpire AAR, as I imagine Bernie has a very different take on things... 

Rattler