"Wargaming & Dedication" Topic

Which branch of wargaming requires the most dedication to pursue?

Nanometer Scale Napoleonics

Well, all of them. You will always "need" one more regiment, and you will never find the perect rules.

Define "dedication".

Depends on what you mean by "branch"? Like different periods/genres: fantasy vs Napoleonic vs Ancients? Or different aspects of the hobby: painting vs modelling/converting vs game design?

I'd say for the 1st Napoleonics because have to survive the Nappy board.

For the 2nd, historical painting guides since someone will always tell you that you're wrong.

Historical miniature wargaming. Requires research, craft skills and major investment of labor before you ever get a skirmish on the table. Computer gaming – boot up and you're good to go. Boardgaming – open the box, read the rules and you're on your way. Even fantasy miniatures can be assembled and painted from a codex and your own sense of aesthetics. But historical miniatures…oh dear.

I don't understand the question….

Considering fantasy, ancients, napoleonics, WWII, sci-fi, etc. – is there one period/genre which takes more effort to get into?

I think Napoleonics would be the most intensive because of the number and size of the units and the need to make them perfect or you'll be hounded out of the hobby…

No.

For pickiness of uniformology, yes Napoleonics. Paint one epaulette wrong and someone will will say something about it.
You've got to get your facts right.

Generally ancients you can get away with it, as really no one knows for sure. Sci-Fi, no problem. WW2 you can find lots of info and it's pretty easy painting anyway. The history can get you though. There's also been a number of arguments about different kinds of armor plate and penetration therof.

…the need to make them perfect or you'll be hounded out of the hobby…

Paint one epaulette wrong and someone will will say something about it.
You've got to get your facts right.

Oh, please.
I have NEVER seen this.
This is one of the great urban myths of The Hobby.

"Generally ancients you can get away with it, as really no one knows for sure."

Ha.

Ha ha.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Lots of Napoleonic veterans still about then, I reckon.

"This is one of the great urban myths of The Hobby."

Word.

Allen

I would, offthe top of my head vote for Napoleonics, but In thinking about it, WWII requires as much work as do most other Historical genre. So I would appreciate a narrowing of the parameters a mite.

Honestly, I think it's less any particular genre or subgenre, and more the individual approach.

Example: In preparation for returning to regular figurepainting after an extended (several years) absence, I've been perusing a few websites (Dr. Faust's Painting Clinic among them), and then hit upon an even better masochistic idea:

I began studying Bill Horan's "Military Modeling Masterclass" again, particularly his section of figure painting.

He paints 100mm figures in it, using Humbrol enamels and the odd artist's oil paint. Lots of careful layering, wet blending, and the like.

All of which, I'm determined to try to recreate. On 28-30mm figures. Using Reaper Master Series acrylics.

The girlfriend insists this borders on insanity, especially after not having picked up a brush in years, and given my predilection towards slavish devotion to achieving exactly what I set out to do, and inability to cut myself any slack.

I, however, just think of it as "dedication."

Now, Sancho, if you'd kindly bring my charger around, I think I shall do away with that bothersome dragon amidst those tulips…

- Mon-quixote

Running a wargames club for children :)

I remember Bob Hilton got criticised for giving a member of the Reichenau Regiment a pot helmet , but that was WSS and not Napoleonics. He did write a whole article about the ' Wargames Fashion Police ' for WI IIRC.

Boardgaming – open the box, read the rules and you're on your way.

Maybe one of the Eurogames , but not something like Advanced Squad Leader…

Any game where you have to paint lots of figures for big regiments I would think , just the sheer effort of it.

WW2 is easy to get into due to the availability of sources , the nearness in time to our era and things like movies and computer games : I do think its interesting that no-one has attempted to tackle the Napoleonic period in a ' Flames of War ' type way however.

The one I have not yet finished painting up…..

Definitely Napoleonics. Its the only period that had its own shelf for Ospreys and Funken books. WWII was a snap by comparision.

A FOW version of Napoleonics would make the period more accessible to the average gamer , the campaign books would be expensive for sure but if they were comprehensive enough then they would be all you needed.

I don't think it's a matter of the period, rather the project. Doing a skirmish project for any period probably requires less dedication than a 'tactical'-level game. Likewise, you're probably going to spend a lot longer painting if you're using a bigger, more detailed scale.

I think Napoleonics only seems to take more dedication, because of the massiveness of it. In reality, you can chip away at a small corner of it quite happily and not have to have all possible permutations of nation, regiment, uniform, and year taking up your shelf space.

No, you put in as much as you want to get out.

I would have to say it falls outside of minaitures gaming. Setting up and playing a Europa Game, or something like "The Longest Day" takes weeks and weeks to play…

Running a Club for over 30 years

Nappys or ACW games.

TMP!

cheers
Mark

Naps probably top the list but I view that as a good thing!

"This is one of the great urban myths of The Hobby."

Indeed! Actually, the only time that somebody told me I had my minis painted 'wrong' was playing Warhammer 40,000 (I had painted my own chapter of SMs, but play it using Dark Angels rules… while my opponent was perfectly happy with it, one of the bystanders was very upset by my 'heretic' approach!)

Come ON, if you do the miniatures properly, classic Greeks and various medievals with their fancy, intricate shield designs will drive any painter half insane. A decent number of such shield designs will make you go blind. Nothing but nothing compares to the individual panoply of the ancmed warrior….

" I do think its interesting that no-one has attempted to tackle the Napoleonic period in a ' Flames of War ' type way however."

It's not so strange. After all, only the time investment in collecting and painting a Napoleonic army is in orders of magnitud above collecting and painting a WWII company. Even the more difficult to paint WWII miniatures -SS in camo- are easy and fast to finish, when compared with the simplest uniforms of the Napoleonic period.

Dedication,
Dedication,
Dedication_!
that's all you need!

And you should have heard Roy Castle play the trumpet solo at the end. Jazztastic!

Gaming with out-of-print rules and army sets.

its the person, not the army

I agree the answer is "no". It can be difficult to get into anything, it depends on what you're looking for and how avaliable it is.

Fantasy is generally pretty easy, but what if you're building an army of K'illdians? They stopped making those, so that makes it pretty hard.

Napoleonics, beyond a shadow of a doubt. I have always said that you can spot a Napoleonics game from a great distance because nothing fills a board with figures like Naps.

In recent years, the rigging fanatics have made sailing ships really difficult to get into. Takes FOREVER to rig one ship, in what I call "the dreaded assembly" phase.

Yep, rigging nazzis have sucked the fun out of naval wargaming like a horde of two-legged black holes.