"winning & losing" Topic

In wargames' terms I lose more than I win.
In my last game, after a longish losing streak, I uncharacteristically crushed my opponent. This gave me satisfaction to a degree that I've been pondering on winning & losing in wargaming since.

It seems to me many people claim winning or losing isn't that significant for them in gaming. I'd have said that too….until that recent win.
Believe me, I did not strut or posture or behave churlishly & we, as always, shook hands & congratulated each other. Nor do I think that this result proves me another Napoleon (I'm much too tall & slender, for one thing).
But it was nice to win.

It further strikes me that if winning & losing REALLY don't matter, why are they part of nearly every game?
I certainly understand it's only a game but as a group, I think wargamers should acknowledge the aim is to win. It's by no means the only aim & (outside a tournament) not even the most important one. But it's there.
The elephant in the room.

Dear Ohcoin

The winning part for me is accomplished when I receive the RSVP's from the people coming to the game. If I get ANY! I've won because I'm going to spend a delightful day with my friends. Usually we get about 8 over.

In the group that comes over for the game, pretty much NO ONE is interested in winning. Oh to be sure, we try, and if we win, it is nice, but it's nowhere near as pleasurable as sitting around in the living room with my 6 x 12 table drinking beer, wine, whatever, and having munchies and talking about this or that before, during and after the game, cracking jokes, telling about recent projects, tell tall tales, gossiping about HMGS or whatever and talking about what we'd like to do.

Oh yes, somewhere in there the game gets played, but it's all fun. Yes we try to win, but when we do we don't trumpet it, and many of us don't like to win too big- these are our friends. We tend to let each other off easy when we've got them dead to rights. Also, there's an unwritten law in our group. Anyone who does a beat-down on the Newbie or is a poor sport will not be invited back.

I used to be a gamer who was competitive, about 40 years ago. It got old real quick and I never had much fun really.

They are there as part of every game for mere

Besides, after each game we have a sit down dinner, and people will have been well primed with alcohol all day and through the meal and there will be lots of sharp instruments about. I don't want to have the game wind up on the six O-Clock news.

Otto