"The Spirituality of Wargaming " Topic

"Now, there is a title to send most readers, of whatever religious persuasion, running for the nearest hill, or, possible, loading up their intercontinental ballistic armoury of arguments for God / atheism /whatever-ism you might choose, and aiming it in the general direction of chez Polemarch. Please don't. A blog post is hardly a cause for a flame war and, anyway, if that is what you are thinking of doing, this blog post will be a sad disappointment to you.

The estimable Mrs P has been reading a book about the spirituality of wine. Yes, really, she has and, I am told, it is very good, written by a real vintner. It is now on my book pile, but I thought I would pre-empt my reading of it by pondering what sort of spirituality goes along with wargaming. You might consider that the answer to that is ‘none', but I think I might, by the end of the post, respectfully demur.

Right, well, obviously, wargaming is about toy soldiers being pushed around on tables. Actually, that is only one sort of wargaming. Role playing games may also have miniatures, but they do not have to. Similarly, computer games have figures, but they are not material. And that is surely the first point about spirituality and wargaming. A wargame happens much more in the mind than on the table…"
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Amicalement
Armand

That's kind of a lot of words to say "wargames are cool because they make me imagine a story" :)

Weasel, I think the magnitude of immersion or passion that he is trying to describe evokes a greater depth of experience, than what your summary might convey.

Just my interpretation of his post.

He has not made the big leap.

There is a spirituality of war games. However while it is FELT by many it is more in the nature of "urdummheit" (knowing unknowing)from the world of psychology. Most gamers cannot get past simple nostalgia, or the vetting and feeding of the delusion that we are unrecognized military genius' -- nascent Napoleons-- a diamond in the rough. Like a twelve year old who fantasizes he has super powers or is "the once and future king" it is a psychological defense against the bullies at school who terrorize him and who in adult life will be worried and fearful of their boss, poverty, the government or "them." (Yes I mean the giant ants in the Los Angeles storm drain systems.

Their response either in martial self delusion, escapism, or a desire to not be so vulnerable is only though a tease, a mere dragging of the hem of the blanket over their faces. What the real nature of the "spirituality" of war games is, is not at all connected to toy soldiers or rules or pushing lead. It is that we share one attribute with the divinity that no other creatures have. That is the ability and desire to create. To imagine a better place, a more perfect place, a place that exists perhaps only in our minds eye.

And V''ger wishes to touch the creator.

You can only attain this spirituality when, in war games, you are passionately and devotedly into Imagi-Nations. There the whole realm of possibilities opens itself. You are able to make Promethian efforts because you are no longer chained to your rock by history and Osprey Books.

Some will do this purely for the gloating satisfaction of Lucifer who rails at God that "I tis better to rule in Hell than serve in Heavan." Those are the type of people who use Imagi-nations to cheat- to make "killer armies," to vet and flatter their baser natures, to be Napoleons and Hitlers in their own mind. Others reject that and make worlds where their creatures -- their "create-ures" have nicer lives and it is a more pleasant place than we do and have.

For me-- oh yes, there is war-- but as with all toy soldiers there are no little lead widows and orphans and it is all very much a large bit of mummery (and all wargames is mummery.) Thus I delight in the pecadillios of picaresque adventures of Princess Trixie of Saxe Burlap uhd Schleswig Beerstein, or the jolly insanity of The Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Gorgonzola, Faustus the Grump, and Shah Na-Na- the Nattering Nabob of Negativism, ruler of Ikea. A comic opera world of bumbling generals, lascivious countesses, babies switched at birth, dramatic inversions, a world gone topsy turvey, a grand burlesque of real life, but always one guided by the admonitions of "The Mikado."

"I'm sorry for you all, but it's an unjust world, and virtue is triumphant only in theatrical performances."

And lo, in the comic opera world we are in the middle of the grandest of grand theatrical performances.

And here I thought I played with miniatures because they are so darned pretty. Clearly I need to overthink the hobby.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I'm with John the Greater.

Irish – Yeah, I'm not trying to be glib or poop on someone's joy, I'm just not "getting it" I guess.

but that's okay :)

I used to play chess. I don't play it anymore. I used to do for fun and relaxation then one day I started reading books about offense, defense, the middle game, and I studied the games of the world's masters. I began reading books about how the brain processed and metabolized the board, pieces, and the attributes of the pieces. I even read about the mind's abstract "views" of snapshots of the board during play, also including the lines of "force" projections and force "emphasis." Just shortly after I gained an expert rating I quit. I was nineteen and I have played one maybe two games since then. The games physically and emotionally drained me. They also occupied my mind and I was able to focus my entire mind on the game to the exclusion of all else about me. Sort of a transcendental state, without the benefit of the calm afterwards. I do the same thing (Zen Driving) when I drive. It allows me to focus and concentrate on one task to the exclusion of all else. Both activities pushed any and all stress/worries from my mind. Essentially the "purpose" of transcendental meditation. Of course the problem was that afterwards the stressors of both activities lingered. When I started playing war-games, board and miniatures, I noted that my focus and concentration could lead to the same cleansing of stress/worries. But without any stress/worry related to the outcome. Win, lose, or draw, outcome was unimportant. Spirituality is supposed to bring some comfort to a person and help with the daily stressors/worries. Painting and pushing little military miniatures across a table top does this for me. In this regard it is a spiritual activity for me. I am relaxed, renewed, and regenerated for another go at life. The plus for me is that I have always been a fanboy of history and science. War-gaming is a pleasant confluence of several avocations.

Dear DJ

Now that is interesting. I too got to expert in Chess but then dropped it. (this was before I was 20, some 48 years ago) I play maybe one or two games a year now, always get beat. Don't care.

Since I got into war games I have had the same feelings and surcease of stress and worry. I never was a competitive player. I never cared to win. Oh there was now and then when I would do the old pattern from chess, and other things but I grew to hate it and I grew to hate those games. I remember driving home from some of them extraordinarly excited, maybe even enraged, but I soon realized that it was the way I was approaching the game, like chess, and not from the idea of an experience.

That's when I also got into international war games, big multi national campaign games, and more important the "open ended" game where not everything was connected to a victory condition. I realized then how unlike a game is history and human development. There is always a tomorrow, there is always an after, and that failure in one game did not mean permanent failure or loss. That, in fact, real life and history is linear, but with no end to the line.

Most of all that change was a large part of the course of history and that games like chess and many war games DO NOT change. But if things DO change in life, even over short periods, then the assumptions and courses (victory conditions?) change over time as well.