"Have You Ever Gamed with a WWII Veteran?" Topic

Have you ever played a miniature wargame with someone who was a veteran of WWII?

WS&IM with my old man is about as close as I've come …

Yes, one was a German Eastern Front vet. and the other was a US 3rd Army vet.

Yes. A night time scenario and his first question was "where is the moon in the sky exactly?" "Why" says I, having never considered such a thing important. "Shadows" he said "you must always stay in the shadows." Quite an insight that was!

Yes

Yes
Also Korean, Vietnam and Desert Storm. Knew a WWI vet but never gamed with him.

I never had the pleasure.

My relatives that served in the war passed on before I became involved in the hobby.

No.

I suspect all 5 of Mum's brothers (RAF, Black Watch, Commando, RASC & RTC) would have thought wargaming a footling hobby.

I can just hear Uncle Jimmy saying,"Yer aff yer heid!"

Yes, with my dad

No. I did play Charlie Company with a Vietnam veteran at a convention once. He said the referee had set up very realistic scenarios, which I thought was pretty high praise.

I played Avalon Hill's Assault on Crete with my grandfather once. He was there with the Royal Navy and his ship was sunk in harbour and he was delighted when he saw his ship represented on a counter.

Yes. Up to last year (when Shuggie died) more than weekly. Perhaps it could be said I still do as Agnes manned a AA gun at Rosyth and she gives me an occasional game with her Grandchildren.

x42

Not miniatures, but Avalon Hill boardgames, yes. And I would lose.

Rick

You might find this little story interesting.

Due to a WWII incident, my father used to give himself victory conditions (in a WWII tactical game) which had nothing to do with the Rules as Written.

link

Chick

Yes, he was a character too. Gamed with a number of Vietnam and first Gulf War vets too.

off hand, I cant think of anyone but Donald F. My Dad did Buy my first wargame for a Christmas present, but never gamed with him. He preferred Canasta.

You might want to draw a distinction between veterans and combat veterans.

One or two,I would guess. Korea,Vietnam,Gulf War too.

Yes.

Also with a veteran of WWI, my father.

What's your point?

Yes, we used to have a mech infantry vet in our group until he moved to Texas to be closer to his children as he aged.

Best story he told was once on a night road march when he was striken with diarrhea and spent the entire march hanging out the back of his halftrack with his pants pulled down, relieving himself. When they got to the assembly area in the early morning hours a lieutenant was storming around the lager trying to find the soldier who "deposited" all over his jeep during the road march. It seems that his driver was following too close. Neither our friend or his squad mates said a thing.

Jim

Yes, and Korean War also

No. One of our guys was in the 4th ID in Vietnam. He often says he's glad he's not in the army I lead.

Not WW2, but a lieutenant in the 1st infantry Vietnam.

Howard Whitehouse was leading a seminar about jungle warfare. A Viet Nam vet asked how he was going to write a rule about smelling the enemy. That stumped all of us.

That's a negative, but I did game with a gnarly old Vietnam vet one time. He was an interesting character and I've gamed with people who were in the recent sandbox adventures.

My old man was a WW2 vetran and enjoyed a game of "soldiers" with me when I was younger.

What's your point?

Remembering our WWII veterans.

I often wondered if any veteran would feel somewhat offended by the knowledge that I enjoyed a hobby that gamed some of the things that made up some of their nightmares. Maybe there are or were? There seems more evidence to suggest that many of them enjoyed the hobby.

I have never played a game of any kind with a vet of WWII but I've had very lengthy conversations (casual as well as about the war) with dozens of them but I never even would have dreamed of bringing up the subject of gaming the war with them. My Grandfather fought in WWI but did not wish to speak of his experience. And that's an understatement. He did so only when he became very intoxicated (which was very seldom) and he would then proceed to describe the most horrifying circumstances of how he lost his friends. This probably made me extra sensitive about how or what I should say when speaking to veterans.

I always feel in awe of the men and women that fought to win the freedom that myself and my loved ones now enjoy.

Weren't at least of the "classic" wargame authors a WW2 veteran?

Yes: my dad, ex-Fleet Air Arm '43-45, sadly no longer here. Introduced me to modelling, toy soldiers and the Goons.

Played Richthofen's War a lot with my dad. He was a WWII vet.

No, but my dad (still living WW2 vet) has enjoyed watching me and cheering me on

That's amazing to me. Must be a great feeling to have him enjoy your hobby

Yes.

yes.

Yes, but the oddest one was a guy who was not playing..
At the 2000 Kursk mega-game the organiser managed to track down an ex Totenkopf flak gunner who fought in the battle, and after the war had settled in rural Devon. He gave a bit of a talk…the whole thing was a bit weird.

The closest would be Larry Brom who designed TSATF. He was a Marine veteran but I cannot remember if it was Korea or WW2. Al Younghaus who owned Modelers Mart, was in the Navy and flew in PBYs. At a Historicon, Donald Featherstone stopped and chatted at my booth. He thumbed through an Osprey on North Africa and pointed out a photo of his tank in a ditch. Lol. So anyone who gamed with these gentlemen did.