"Things you've learnt from Tabletop wargaming." Topic

What skills that you have been able to use and apply to the real world. To get this topic going, "tunnel vision in interpreting rules".
It never ceases to amaze me, how a set of rules that have been used for more than a decade, throw up some interesting situations, depending on your circumstance. How you tend to remember parts that advantage you, and forget other parts. Happily playing away, shooting with both ranks, til someone points out that those troops only shoot with one rank, or just turning and evading, because they are light troops, "that applies to the other game?"
So I'm more tolerant when people say something at work, when I know when they are citing something that was decided last year, but has since been modified.

My son learned at age 5 how to do math figuring shooting and melee in Column Line and Square.

I started learning to program computers back in 1982 because I wanted to write computer-assist wargame rules. That experience led to a 30+ year career using computers.

I got my first experiences in project management, desktop publishing, technical writing, and computer graphics from putting together wargame rules.

Avoiding the use of ambiguous language.

I've learned to feign attentiveness, in order to be polite, while someone goes on and on about some piece of minutia in which only they are interested. Has come in handy at work.

That's a great skill, I open up the ipad and research travel designations, read TMP, or play a few turns on an online game.
Yes, as I've gotten older, I've et my aspergers go.

I have learned that it is always bad to be forced to take a morale test. This is actually a good "real life" thing to remember.

And not to roll 1s. Not so much.
But knowing that there is always a possibility…

"Random Event Cards" are training for how the world really works. Stuff comes crashing down on you that you would never expect. Learning how to deal with the unexpected is a great real world skill.

More specifically, My experience is similar to Dave. Tabletop gaming gave me practical experience in technical writing (and led to my first 'real world' writing opportunities) as well as project management and process analysis. All of which are quite useful in my current career.

Not to pay too much attention until you're really in deep poop. Then fight like hell.

The importance of the word 'may' instead of 'must'

whitphoto for the win!

Never get involved in a land war in Asia – but also this: "Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line"!

Or did I learn that from The Princess Bride?

Be suspicious when things are going your way, you're just about to roll a record amount of consecutive "ones".

Some people will do anything to win , even in a game of toy soldiers.

That luck is a fickle mistress. And that you have learn to compromise if you play games with other people. And finally get used to losing, it happens on the table and it happens in life.

Life is too short to play with "bad sports" and never put dice up your nose.

I have to go long with whitphoto and krieghund.

Whenever I used to go on a job interview the interviewers would ask me why I EVER got a degree in history. "WHATEVER use could that be in Business and Management." Calmly I told them that "History is the study of human institutions, how they originate, rise, strengthen, maintain themselves, weaken, sicken, decline and die. No human insittuion is any different be it a nation, people, culture, social club, church, political party, family, or business. Think feudalism is dead? Look around you-- it's doing quite well."
I can't tell you the management meetings I have been in where I used the quote from Livy…"We had reached that state where we could endure neither our vices nor their cures." This of course is NOT miniature gaming,but the background to miniature gaming- historical study.

It has helped in child rearing. I was listening to one parent complaining about their children who they were trying to buy into loving them. "Bismark said that no one is rich enough to adopt a policy of appeasement for long. Your kid's a little Hitler, the more you give the more he will take."

There is one problem. "I told you so." Is not very much comfort when your predictions come out and you are swept up in the collapse, and you get no thanks for it.

You never really know somebody. One long time (20year) member of our gaming group was a child porn afficianado who after his convictions killed himself prior to sentencing. None of us had any idea until his death.

Boring leadership, management and organisation stuff, but more from military history than wargaming per se.

Patton in particular had lots of interesting things to say about getting the best of large human organisations, although I''m not sure I would adopt every aspect of his leadership style:)

I can also set up a mean reverse slope defensive position with interlocked MG fire and mortars pre-registered on the assembly areas in dead ground. Not something I've had cause to use in real life yet, although being able to do terrain analysis from a map properly has been very useful on a number of occasions, particularly when lost in a blizzard up on the moors.

That everything is probabilities. You can exercise, eat "right" (whatever that means this season…) etc etc etc and still roll a 1 on your health saving throw and get cancer, have a heart attack or whatever.

Patience

If you dont crush your enemy utterly…. There will be a discussion.

It is actually possible to roll a 7 on a six-sided die. Don't believe me? Play a game against an 8 year old where he needs more than a 6 to make his save…twice.

Seriously: It's the gamers, not the game. With a good crew of friends Empire can be fun. Add just one hole to the bunch and you'll end up hating ANY game.

To actually look properly at the world around me.

Trees are not all brown, rivers are not (usually) blue and you generally can't see "the whites of their eyes". Of course, we can all see that but it often doesn't really register. Painting figures has made me look at things more closely; I don't know if my painting has improved but my observation skills certainly have.

The ability to score 10/10 in the history round of pub quizzes.

Nice one Ubercommando, though I doubt my local pub-quizzes will have the answer,

War of Jenkin's Ear or section not squad :)

What has tabletop gaming helped me with in life?

To see the benefit in the stuff that people throw away, it can be used again. That a hobby is a wonderful thing that can see you through times of woe. That a man needs a shed, even if it's under the stairs or a fully equipped mead hall.

To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women!

How to be a good loser and a gracious winner.

And way too many other things to list them all out.

What Longshot said.