tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post6355237035519389494..comments2024-03-28T03:10:23.679-07:00Comments on Polemarch: Positive PhilosophyThe Polemarchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-35401250802067125302011-02-09T06:38:13.673-08:002011-02-09T06:38:13.673-08:00I think you've managed to hit several nails on...I think you've managed to hit several nails on the head in that. Wargames are a complex social phenomenon and there is a lot more to it than pushing lead. On the other hand, without the pushing of lead there is no hobby.<br /><br />As for historical reconstruction, I think that it is possible, but we can't claim too much for it, or we land up in circular argumentation.<br /> <br />Armies do use wargames, it is true, and some of them are quite scary. It would be interesting to ponder whether, for example, the late 19th century Kiegspeil wargames in Germany influenced war planning and indirectly perhaps, caused world war one, or made it worse by over-optimistic results. I believe the Japanese did something similar with a Midway style wargame at the opening of WW2.<br /><br />I suspect that the original battle environment is too complex to really reproduce, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try, or have fun doing it.The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-79811355454138344902011-02-09T01:27:36.871-08:002011-02-09T01:27:36.871-08:00Yes, there are issues with the idea of historical ...Yes, there are issues with the idea of historical reconstruction, but that is the sort of game I am more interested in for the most part. Armies use wargames as training tools, which suggests to me that there is some validity to this approach too. The key really is that I want to be able to use historical tactics and achieve a historically viable outcome. Games like DBR left me cold because they rewarded ahistorical deployment and tactical usage.<br /><br />Playing with toy soldiers may well be part of it, but I would suggest that it is hardly the whole of it. As mentioned before, wargaming is a military training tool. It has also been suggested that it is a tool that helps soldiers come to terms with their experiences in the field. A wargame is a social event generally and setting a game up is a creative project that engages both mental and physical abilities. Calling it "playing with toy soldiers" belies and belittles the full extent of the planning, preparation and event that is a wargame. Hmm, that sounds a bit ranty. Sorry. I don't mean to rant (although I frequently do).<br /><br />This actually reminds me of the time my father told me to grow up and stop playing with toy soldiers (I was about 40 at the time). It made me think about how my hobby and his hobbies were related. He is an artist and paints pictures. I paint wargames figures. He builds model ships, you know, those big expensive wooden ones. I build terrain for my games. He likes to socialise at parties. I socialise over the gaming table. The list goes on, yet he saw his hobbies as adult and mine as childish. I believe that you cannot dissociate the pushing lead from everything else that goes into the game, because to do so is to fail to see the big picture. Yes, I play with toy soldiers, but my hobby is more than just playing with toy soldiers.Ruaridhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003128932063213463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-18389663982860034352011-02-08T07:50:46.531-08:002011-02-08T07:50:46.531-08:00Wargames as historical reconstruction? Well, possi...Wargames as historical reconstruction? Well, possible, but we probably run into problems of circularity which bedevil most history, so far as I can see. That said, I do like the 'Lost Battle' approach. It might give us some more insight, after all. Phil Sabin's view of Marathon is that, as an outcome from the model, the important issue is the number of Persian infantry. Their cavalry is largely irrelevant.<br /><br />On the other hand, playing with toy soldiers is a reasonable description of what we do, but if that is accepted, its distance from real wars has to be accepted too. And I, for one, am still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up...<br /><br />Cheers.The Polemarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10958736917525649927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185876513552272723.post-9812267898692825552011-02-05T09:08:05.533-08:002011-02-05T09:08:05.533-08:00Another consideration is that wargaming can promot...Another consideration is that wargaming can promote understanding of why events unfolded as they did in the field. A well-constructed historical simulation game can be a useful research tool too.<br /><br />In my experience, people either see wargamins as a refusal to leave childhood ("playing with toy soldiers") or as an indication of a desire and willingness to see and participate in real wars. In the former case, the accusers often have their own "childish" hobbies (e.g. the petty tribalism of following a football team) but they will not see it that way. In the latter case, it is a misconception that is borne of ignorance, but it is an ignorance that does not wish to become informed.Ruaridhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13003128932063213463noreply@blogger.com