"Wargaming in South Africa" Topic

Just curious. I've got a super South African sister-in-law, and the country has been mentioned a lot recently in my geology classes, so what's the wargaming scene like over there?
It appears we have quite a number of inactive members here on TMP; only a couple active.
It's a country I would love to visit sooner or later.
Many clubs? Any good stores?

i have a few s african customers so i would guess there are not that many compared to the uk

When I was still there, there were a couple of clubs, mainly in Johannesburg and Cape Town, although there were a few informal groups in the Durban area and Pretoria.
Stores? Not like in Europe or the States, and the goodies there are all highly-priced and imported.

It has (had?) a big presence in Ancients tournament-style wargaming. The South African Wargames Union was a founder member of the IWF and has hosted several major events.

I visited for the Durban event, and the hospitality was second to none … a country not to be missed.

Phil

I'm a South African wargamer living in Pretoria. Wargaming here is mostly 40k and Fantasy these days, with Flames of War making a good showing. I gather that MindsportsSA, the old South African Wargames Union's insistence on DBMM has grated on Ancients players a bit. I'm seeing very little ancients being played these days. There are a couple of informal groups in Pretoria, although one recently broke up when the member with the venue decided to go farm the in Free State! I belong to a small one playing mostly Warhammer, but slowly getting into Basic Impetvs. As for goodies, pretty much have to import everything myself. There is a local store stocking Warhammer 40K, some Fantasy, Warmachine, and Hordes, and they can special order certain Historical stuff.

I'm in South Africa and as mentioned a few clubs in Cape Town and Gauteng. A few shops scattered around the country were we purchase the odd item but mostly import. Rapid Fire, Operation Squad, Bolt Action and FOW which has a big following. I'm in Bloemfontein in the Free State and here are a few gamers mostly Warhammer. Having a difficult time getting WW2 started.

Very interesting. Thanks for the responses guys.
My sister-in-law didn't know of the hobby before, and merely smiles and nods tolerantly at my brother and I!

There was some megalomaniac down there in the late 80s/early 90s trying to become Emperor of an International Wargaming Imperium, or something like that. Caused quite a bit of furore and hilarity in the letters pages of wargames magazines at the time.

I'm also in SA, and being a wargamer here takes a lot of patience; I always read on TMP's consumer affairs board about online orders being delivered in a matter of days to locations in the US and UK; my record for time elapsed between order and delivery is 3 weeeks. Sadly, we do not have local miniature manufacturers, and so no cons to speak of.

Your sister-in-laws reaction to the hobby is probably typical of most South Africans, as here I think it is even more of a niche hobby than in the States or Europe.

My record sits at 6 weeks for three packets from Rapier Miniatures. Our postal service sucks. Last year I had three packages disappear, all model train stuff. As for cons, I know of and attend two a year. UPCon at the University of Pretoria, and ICon, at the Jabulani Centre in Sandringham, Johannesburg. Mostly Warhammer and Warmachine/Hordes. I think there is another called DragonCon or something like that in Cape Town.

R Mark Davies: I remember that. Knew the guy. He's still around. To give you an idea, MindSportsSA claim to have jurisdiction aver all wargaming, roleplaying and computergaming in SA.

Oh yes, and admitting to being a wargamer tends to get you the kind of look I suspect you'd get if you admitted to being a child-abuser from some segments of the populace.

Selous Scout I know what you mean postage wise! Emperor Claudius not to mention the reaction when speaking to an Afrikaans person.

And the cost for SA players is a major drama when the Rand is trading at 10 to the Aussie. My partner is South African, and we travel there regularly. By our (Australian) standards, the average salaries there are very low (although – the same could be said of the UK) – You are talking a pretty big chunk of disposable income to buy rules and overseas minis.

Comte I just noticed that you are a respondent. I must be blind. Remember our Warhammer Ancients game at the now defunct Insanity Comics?

Just over R9 to the US$ and about 14 to the Pound.

GReg to be honest most of the gamers I know are Afrikaans, but yes, especially with the more Verkrampte segment, or the more idiological or green segments

Interesting. Is there still a cultural divide between 'English' and Afrikaans? What is the Verkrampte segment?

Sorry to hear of the horrible prices. If any of you guys what to do 15mm AWI, I'll do a 'sister-in-law discount' of our stuff to SA! (Can't help with the post though!!)

There is still a bit. I married an afrikaans girl. Verkrampte roughly means ultra-conservative. Not politics as much as playing with toy soldiers is bad and you should be in church praying for your soul.

To be honest I've never heard of anyone doing AWI in any form in SA.

I live in Johannesburg and think I once the meglomaniac in question – he told me that he and other members of his club gain 'Springbok colours' (ie. they have a national cap) in wargaming. He wasn't joking either – a couple of them were strolling about in official green and yellow jackets with 'Wargames – South Africa' on them, the sort normally worn by real international sportsmen like cricketers / gymnasts / swimmers etc.
I have no idea which countries they compete against and really didn't feel like asking.

To add to the above – yes: it's tiny, tiny, tiny niche hobby out here.

My wife is also Afrikaans but likes to pretend she's English. I think our Diamond Jubilee garden party last year was the biggest in the Southern hemisphere.

Seems like South Africa was a major wargaming presence on the internet at first, but now hardly a whisper.

I wonder if opening a board for South African Wargaming would help raise the visibility? Would any South Africans be willing to participate?

Personally I would love to see an SA board, but sadly I doubt it would be used. We can be a pretty apathetic bunch on the best of days. So Saffers on the list, am I spouting garbage? Please prove me wrong.

I think an SA Wargaming board certainly couldn't do any harm; my vote is Yes.

I would certainly be interested and follow it, but really not sure how many of us there are down here.

I think there's a reasonably active club in Cape Town, but that's 1000 miles from me.

BullDog69; where in JHB are you and what do you play? I very rarely get a game in, as my mates aren't really into wargaming, so would enjoy meeting up with another avid gamer – as you say, there are not a lot of us down here, and those that there are seem to be mostly GW gamers.

Selous Scout (love the name – are you an old Rhodie?)

I'm based in Bedfordview but travel extensively up into Africa.

Send me a private message and lets meet for a beer or ten.

Bit of a late response to this topic, but thought I should fly the flag for Cape Town, South Africa.

Most gaming here is fantasy/sci-fi – there are 3 or 4 stores that sell mainly GW miniatures.

There is a small but active club playing a wide range of historicals. The majority of the club play 20mm WW2 using Rapid Fire rules, but many other eras, rules and scales are played on and off.

Amongst the members there is a fair-sized AWI collection in 28mm, and some smaller FIW forces that sometimes get roped into the AWI games. No 15mm that I know of.

Pix and brief reports of some recent club games can be seen here: smallwarssouth.blogspot.com