tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post599080805232335691..comments2024-03-28T03:10:23.679-07:00Comments on Polemarch: Playing with Toy SoldiersThe Polemarchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-45535833349825837302011-04-28T02:42:42.038-07:002011-04-28T02:42:42.038-07:00Hm; yes, I was once cornered by a person with coun...Hm; yes, I was once cornered by a person with counselling skills and forced to admit my hobby.<br /><br />They made comments like 'connection to history', 'pageant' as well as 'glory' and 'excitement'. So I suppose there is some sort of connection, there.<br /><br />Mind you, at the time I think I was playing 'Tercio', so 'excitement' might be a little wide of the mark. Now, where did I put that table of panic factors?The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-74884222120993104892011-04-27T01:20:20.435-07:002011-04-27T01:20:20.435-07:00The stories we tell define us as human beings. :-)...The stories we tell define us as human beings. :-)<br /><br />I like your comment about it being a tool that can enhance our sense of place. One thing I enjoy is playing games of battles that my relatives were present at. It gives me an enhanced sense of connection to them.Ruaridhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003128932063213463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-10160939136150949072011-04-27T01:13:50.374-07:002011-04-27T01:13:50.374-07:00Of course, wargaming is probably all of these, and...Of course, wargaming is probably all of these, and more. The only thing I'm fairly certain that hobby wargaming isn't is practice for the "real thing", war or other forms of violence itself.<br /><br />Another line of thought, similar to your last one, is that wargaming connects us to a line of history, of 'pageant' if you will, which enables us to make sense of our place in the world. <br /><br />And then we are back, more or less, to telling stories...The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-92076921356831276742011-04-25T12:48:24.228-07:002011-04-25T12:48:24.228-07:00Yes, I think it was me that mentioned it before. I...Yes, I think it was me that mentioned it before. It seems to me that there are several responses that one could give to this sort of disparagement and I think that you have addressed the main issues well.<br /><br />One can point out that wargaming can teach strategic and critical thinking, enhance numeracy and literacy, enhance research skills, improve hand-eye co-ordination and generally encompasses a range of skills that are not found in any other single hobby. This range of skills can all be applied in various ways to the more 'productive' side of life. As an aside, the Old English and Old Norse languages talk about battle as play (c.f. PDE swordplay). Play was training for the real thing and was also conceptually the same as the real thing to those people.<br /><br />One might also adopt a more aggressive tone and question the right of the denigrator to judge the wargamer. I have occasionally felt like this, especially when faced with an ardent football fan of my acquaintance. After all, it seems to me that there is little that is creative about the petty tribalism of following a football team. Still, why bother with this? Why lower oneself to the level of the critic?<br /><br />Another option is one that I have used to good effect, especially when accompanied by the sincerity of my bleaker moments. This is to point out that it is all just a displacement activity, a means of ignoring the ultimate inevitability of our own demise and the pointlessness of our existence. It certainly shuts people up! :-) Probably stems from reading too much Sartre and Camus at a young age though.Ruaridhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003128932063213463noreply@blogger.com