"Are there any celebrity wargamers ?" Topic

Not celebrities who wargame but wargamers who meet the z-list criteria to get asked to things like movie premiers just because they are wargamers ?

I'm guessing not, but maybe ….

I imagine there are a few computer game designers who are effectively z-list cleeb's (although, naturally, I can't name them !).

I'd heard that Robin Williams was an Ork playa for 40K. Maybe his kids were into it?

I think mike myers was into world war II modelling do not know if he wargamed

If there were any justice in the world, Joan Rivers would be asking Donald Featherstone "Who are you wearing?", while Meghan Fox was hanging on his arm.

Hah! I actually read more than the title, and read the premise too!

Wasn't there a baseball player who was into ASL? I think he is a partner in MMP.

Well I get to go to country music events since some of my clients get to go and they invite me ( those that i keep out of jail); if they are in a movie premier i go to that as well. But none of us go because we are wargamers other than we follow the old adage: if you see a good fight you get in it.

I think this subject came up a couple of years ago on TMP. I would not know how to search it, though.

Peter Cushing was one. See link

To the original question: none that I know of.

All of the examples given are of the other type: celebrities who are also gamers.

Robin Williams was a gamer when his kids were young.
Peter Cushing was an old school British wargamer.
The MLB player is Kurt Schilling. He isn't just a partner in MMP, he was supposedly the driving motivator and money that extracted ASL from Hasbro after they acquired all of the TSR stable (which included Avalon Hill). He was also not the only wargamer on his team at the time.
Will Wheaton is a broad spectrum gamer.
Nathan Fillion is quite comfortable at an RPG table, from one GenCon report, but I haven't heard if he's an active gamer.

Jason Mewes played Warhammer at one time. He purchased some terrain one year at DragonCon.

Vin Diesel plays D&D. I bet he owns minis.

Cory Wells of Three Dog Night plays a multitude of board games, especially air games – loves Air Force – but got turned off to miniatures because of the rudeness of a player in his first minis experience.

Gypsy, the guys who run MMP approached Kurt about purchasing AH or at least ASL when AH started going down the tubes. I think the deal might have already been agreed on between AH and Hasbro when he went to AH with it. ASL used to be about the only game I played – I was big into back then.

Robin Williams used to have a Chaos Dwarf army back in the 90s.

Glen Danzig could also be found at numerous conventions, but I think he was moer role-playing focused.

Wargamers turned Celebrities because of their Wargaming? Are we all gunna start wearing oversized sunglasses and hire personal assistants?

Oh man! I thought I was the only one that wore an ascot when painting my figures. Peter Cushing is copping my style.

20+ years ago there was an article in Sports Illustrated or Sporting News about a football player who wargamed historics. He was some big lineman and was quoted to the effect: "some people do historic simulations; some game with realistic miniatures. I play with toy soldiers. OK?!" Paraphrasing from memory but the unspoken challenge was clear.

i remember an nfl o lineman was written up in sports illustrated for his napoleonic collection
here is article link

link

EGG used to be a b-list Celeb

Not sure if he games with them, but he sure does collect them historical miniatures that is. Peter Jackson.
Also, I've read that Jack Black plays Warhammer.

heard Jack Nicholson does napoleonics as well

I'm just happy if a few players remember my past games at Historicon and come back for a second…

I flipped through a book on celebrity nerds in a bookstore once and it said that Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo (plus side projects…) plays model wargames. Not sure which ones. That makes him the only wargamer I know of to open for Neil Young….

Kissinger was a player for sure, and maybe Nixon have played the board game Diplomacy.

In an interview Dave Grohl said that Jack Black plays D&D.

British actor Derek Guyler (Sykes) was a gamer and original member of the Society of Ancients.

Maybe the Perry brothers, but then only to Jackson's films.

Edward Woodwood, star of Callan.

Both Oprah Winfrey and Shirley McLaine have large French Napoleonic armies as, apparently, both were Napoleon in previous lives.

Lady Gaga plays Flames of War and Justin Beiber apparently plays with dolls which is probably close enough.

Wargamers turned celebrity? the only one I can think of is
Paddy Griffiths, he even got his own TV series. Maybe Professor Phil Sabin and Adrian Goldsworthy would rank as Z listers.

There might be some people from the OR community, but I'm sure they wouldn't call themselves wargamers.

One my military acquaintances got an MBE after running various wargames aka 'exercises' for NATO in Germany. He's also been on TV, briefly (but haven't we all:)

Sidney Roundwood.

He's also been on TV, briefly (but haven't we all:)

I picked myself out in the queue on the TV news coverage for Gamesday (or was it Dragonmeet ?) at the Royal Horticultural Hall circa1982. :-)

From the couple of answers to the actual query, I think The Perrys' are probably the closest. And good call on Gygax too, when your game becomes a cartoon (and a film) then you are a celeb.

If I were in the same group as Vin Diesel, I think I'd let him win…

Looks like less than half the posters actually bothered to read the question. About par for the course for this place, I guess.

James F Dunnigan has turned his wargaming knowledge into minor celebrity. I used to see him pop up as one of the talking heads in the news, and on a couple of the military channel's programs.

Nobody is famous for being a wargamer. There are a couple of video game designers that have almost reached celebrity status but even then only amongst the video game industry. People like Lord British (Richard Garriot), Sid Meier, Peter Molyneux, John Romero, Chris Sawyer or Will Wright.

I imagine few of them get invited to movie premiers. Their fame is just too nichey.

True story… I once got invited to a "Hollywood Party" while attending E3 (the big videogame trade show). The party was in Hollywood – right off the strip but the celebrities who were there were the guy who played Conan's dad in the first Conan movie and Yoshitaka Amano (the guy who illustrated Vampire Hunter D) and he couldn't speak any English. Oh and Kevin Mitnick showed up later.

It turned out that Conan's dad (William Smith) was a pretty interesting guy. He had a lot of funny stories and he occasionally would read his poetry… and then he got me to read some of it. Embarrassing.

A good time was had by all.

I forgot about Jim Dunnigan. Still, at this point he's more of a famous historian/author than wargamer.

Rick Priestley was in the Harry Potter films.

And in the books.

Wait, that was Ron Weasley. Never mind.

LOL !

And talking of the Perry's reminded me – they were in ROTK weren't they ?

And checking (on wiki) I find not just them but :

Perry's had a "cameo appearance in The Return of the King film as Rohirrim at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, alongside Games Workshop designers Alessio Cavatore and Brian Nelson."

Hitting the mother load of celebrity now !

As long as wargaming gossip doesn't make headlines in the tabloids, there are no wargaming celebs.

here is some gossip

TMP link

James F Dunnigan has turned his wargaming knowledge into minor celebrity. I used to see him pop up as one of the talking heads in the news, and on a couple of the military channel's programs

Yes, and advising Al Quaeda to check the batteries in their SAMs the next time they try to shoot down an El Al jet. "Better luck next time!"

I have seen David Isby in that context too, but not making nearly as big an ass of himself as Dunnigan does.

About 10 years ago, I saw Billy Crystal and Robbin Williams do a 40k game at a shop in San Fran for a fundraiser.
Williams was Orks, and Crystal was (if I remember correctly…) was eldar.

It was pretty fun game to watch. Lots of one liners…

I still can't think of any wargamer who has achieved celebrity status due to gaming. The only thing that might come close is the use of gaming in the Callan movie – which was Peter Guilder's stuff, if I remember rightly. Did that ever catapult him into the world of celebrity? Doubt it, somehow.

Not exactly wargaming, but Gary Gygax became a celeb simply for D&D.

Jack Scruby was on an old 60 Minutes or 20/20 spot. Showed him painting up 54mm reinforcements for a game of Napoleonics. I thought to myself, this is real old school, you need more troops, paint em up!

Richard Pryor played some games with someone that sculpted his own stuff out of clay. They guy was embarassed about his hobby of many years. So much so, that he had the figures on an island lake and left them there. Anyway, Pryor was one of the few people that he showed his collection to and let him play. I lost the link to this on one of my crashed hard drives. Anyone else remember seeing the website? The guy used to name his officers after his friends and they would be promoted or demoted based on how they did in combat….

That would be Peter Shulman's War, one of the most amazing (and oddly moving) wargaming stories you will ever encounter— a real testament to the human spirit:

peterswar.com

The former Aryeh Nusbacher; now Lynette Nusbacher.

Sandhurst lecturer, 'Time Commanders' host, TV pundit and Wargames Directory (1) member.

The usual suspects but oddly enough no-one mentions the most unlikely who talks about playing wargames with Brittains soldiers in his autobiography….

The Dalia Lama

but that was in his childhood.

One of the kids from the Weird Science movie used to shop at Viking Hobby in Sac.

James Dunnigan is a historian? News to me.

Harry "Achtung Schweinhund" Pearson!

Frequent byline in national press, and occaisional 'talking head' appearance on tv.

Me…I'm tired of pretending that I'm not special.

I'd consider the guys and gal from Boltthrower celebs in the Metal scene. The band name explains it all……