"They Know That Their Terrain Could Serve DUAL Purpose?" Topic

Check out all this space, and all the buildings this guy has already put together!

YouTube link

I know he says he looks like a snapshot of the 1990's, but I occasionally see places exactly like that today (2018), in person and in the news.

QUESTIONS:
1) Do these train aficionados know how much MORE fun they could really have if they simply learned to make their terrain serve double duty, meaning also for wargaming purposes?
2) Do most of them even know what wargaming is?
3) What do you think their reaction would be if a spacecraft or a few dropships landed between the buildings, opened up and out poured dozens of Alien troops? And then, what if from the opposite side of the room modern troops showed up in trucks, helicopters, etc., to meet the enemy force? Would the train aficionados have a sensory overload as a result?

Dan
PS. I think it might be time to bring some of these guys over to the dark side. :)

I have a foot in both camps. No self respecting model railway man would haul about his terrain pieces to play games on.

I am in the process of building a 32" x 60" layout and incorporating a substantial amount of military modeling & terrain (mostly pink foam) techniques. HO gauge track, but the model building is 1:35 scale. a run-down estate railroad plunked in the late 1940s.

I kinda started in trains and then came here. Well, my interest started with trains and layouts, but wargames are more interesting to me.

I wish the railroad guys made their terrain cheaper.

Railroad terrain is amazing but a lot of it is not very durable

Another crossover refugee here. Train layouts look amazing but wargaming seemed to be more of a hands on and interactive hobby. I was able to repurpose a bunch of my HO scale stuff for 20mm WWII so it was an pretty easy decision. I miss the high standards of the terrain builds sometimes but mostly enjoy the free form ways of wargaming.

The big difference between the hobbies seems to me to be that wargaming involves frequent and expected set up, take down, and transportation, whereas trains are expected to be set up in one place permanently.

RR terrain is so much more fragile, and times, much more detailed (ie full interiors). The scenery is also not meant to be moved and touched. Realism at the expense of durability. I have both feet firmly planted on both sides. Trains in HO and gaming in 28mm and 15mm. Nothing to share.

Lordy how he rambles.

But it's a very interesting concept to lay things out on temporary tables before committing to permanent benchwork.

Model railroading, static plastic models, R/C aircraft (or boats), model rockets, wargaming, etc. They're not mutually exclusive. Interests, tools, and skills can be shared, even if you can't put a Dairy Queen at Waterloo.

(ETA: And dollhouses. Usually too big a scale for gaming, but another way to scratch the miniatures itch.)

This might also be of interest to some of you model railroad fans:

TMP link

Dan

I have half a dozen friends who wargame with my group that also regularly win model terrain layout contests in the "master" category. So, yes, some of them know and do.

And dollhouses. Usually too big a scale for gaming, but another way to scratch the miniatures itch.

Quarter scale dollhouses (1:48) are reasonably compatible with 28-32mm wargame figures. They're a skoosh too big, but that compensates for the figures being on bases.