"Sign of a genuine wargamer?" Topic

I'd been fretting about finishing off a project after realising that with 'figure creep' said project had expanded by several units, and that I was about two packs short of what I needed to knock the thing on the head.

To wait for two packs to get sent over here to Japan was going to be a bit of a pain in the backside, so I went for a desperate rummage in the storage area to see if there was anything – command figures, musicians, etc – I could find that might be of use.

Lo and behold, there are some figures that will just about do the job. They aren't perfect fits, but when they are mixed in with 600 or so other little lead men I don't think anyone will notice.

So, it's happened: I've been able to find figures to finish a project from the spares box. Does this now mean that, after ten years, I am finally a genuine wargamer?

If not, what other signs are there to look for?

Cheers,
Aaron

"Finish a project"? Clearly you are not even close to a real war gamer. A real gamer never finishes a project. He just starts two more.

Ouch, you got me Rich!

The proxies are nothing but a temporary expedient. You know that.

All you are doing is making a dent on the "someday I might get at these" pile. That's not a bad thing.

Playing so many different rules sets for the same period that they all kind of run together when you put on a game.
Knowing ridiculous military triva like the difference between a PzIVf2,g and h.
Telling war stories that are about a game.
Daydreaming about winning the lottery and travelling to game conventions all over the world or building an addition on the house for an amazing game room.
I could think of many more but I'll give someone else a chance.

We were playing one time and a gentleman walks in with a nice looking lady, I nudged my friend Skip and we appreciated her aesthetic but the guy we were playing ignored and grumbled that we were slowing the game.

About to take a bypass to something and saying" lets do a flaking move"
Or
Achieving that result: your best half saying as she watches a horde of sheep running " look a a sheep charge" .
Or
If it rains say" lets retire to cover" etc.

But as said if you really think you finished a project! No no it should be self denial.

A collection that is already distributed around at least five rooms of the house, with no space left in cupboards, under beds, loft or garage for any more. And recent credit card bills which prove that didn't stop you.

Same unit in three different scales.

When you drive by a stand of trees, and all you think is "Would those be +1 or+2 cover modifiers?"

You notice a woman's dress and your first thought is "That's a neat camoflage pattern."

Dear List

A genuine war gamer is

1. A person who is unapologetic about his hobby. He does not feel the need to justify it with a lot of hogwash about education, research, "attempting to understand how war was fought," "studying and preserving the past." and all that. He simply says "It's playing with toy soldiers in an adult way." Really hard core genuine war gamers add " Youze got a problem wid dat mac?!"

2. A person who thinks about gaming and games constantly and won't let the wife put anything in the garbage till he inspects it for it's usefulness to the game, or modeling or something that might make cool alien terrain. This includes taking bits of organic garbage like old moldy spaghetti and spoiled potatoes, dipping them in acrylic and using them as alien life forms in his sci-fi-game.

3. A person who unabashedly appropriates the spare room, attic, garage and basement for his hobby and lets wife and kids shift for themselves.

4. A person who spells what he is as "War Gamer" not "wargamer."

5. A person who actually BUYS and READS the rules he uses rather than shows up at a game and expects the GM to lead him by the nose through the game, tell him what he can do, what he can't tell him when when to roll the die. The genuine war gamer is the guy who has read the rules and is expert in them and he's NOT putting on the game. The guy who doesn't need the GM.

6. The genuine War Gamer is the guy the other gamers in the group need to put on the games because they're too lazy to.

Sigh – looks as if I have a ways to go yet!

The truly hardcore (or obsessed) evaluates everything from the perspective of gaming potential.

A movie that is critically panned gets a thumbs up, if it presents a fun gaming scenario, even if the acting is terrible, the plot derivative and the effects offensively bad.

A true gamer is one that has a ton of figures that he will never get painted, lines of figures that he has only be able to get on a table to play once and yet can't wait to buy more!

You defined success in your own terms. Genuine enough for me.

Aaron, you are a genuine War Gamer, because you asked this question. You paint figures, you play with figures and you know enough to look in the lead pile for figures you need.
Especially the ones you bought and forgot you have.

I rarely start a new project but am constantly adding to the old ones.

Real wargamers do not talk about gaming but then not game. In our area the fake wargamers are called "mythical gamers". Mythical gamers often paint miniatures, but then they seldom if ever use them. You are a genuine gamer, sir, because your projects get used to game with, end stop….

Thanks for the comments, all. A good mix of the serious and the not-so-serious :)

Cheers,
Aaron

@ Great War Ace

Intersting idea. I've wondered how many "gamers" here at TMP seldom, if ever, game.

Lots of good answers above, but I've got a slightly different one…

Right now I'm in Bora Bora, Tahiti, which seems to be about as close to the living, breathing definition of a "Tropical Paradise" as exists anywhere on earth… and now that my wife's asleep… I'm using my computer to check TMP.

lol!