"How Do You Explain Wargaming?" Topic

Many of us have probably had to explain our hobby to people who have never encountered it before.

I run demonstration games at train and hobby shows and a fair bit of the day is spent explaining miniature wargaming to members of the general public who have never even heard of it. The same thing happens with friends, family, and work colleagues.

How do you usually describe the hobby to non-gamers?

Do you present it as a game, a historical simulation, a form of modelling or something else entirely?

And do people generally "get it", or do they still look slightly puzzled afterwards?

I think you got it right: It's a game of historical simulations using models.

"I like to paint 1" tall toy soldiers, and play battles with them."
That alone disarms any negative comeback.
I use the words "toy" and "play". 🤷
To be honest, I have NEVER had a negative reaction. And if I did get a negative response, that would be their problem. Not mine.

YouTube link
I am not nearly as handsome as Henry Cavil, but I'm just as confident. By the way, Spider-Man and the lovely Zendaya seem interested. He sees no need to downplay it. Why should I?

Cavill *does* look embarrassed when explaining himself – and Graham Norton is obviously taking the proverbial.

I would assume the lovely, talented & intelligent Zendaya might just be interested in other aspects of Cavill than Warhammer.

I'm actually not after finding out if people are defensive about wargaming or not – though, as always, your answer John, was worth reading. I did ask the question because I'm curious to see what explanations people give. Wargamers might reveal how they actually think about the hobby when answering that question.

I have always made an immediate reference to chess -- giving the person at least some context – and lending some legitimacy to our hobby-- pointing out that it is simply a much more complicated game of chess combined with deeper historical ties, study, and modeling.
Russ Dunaway

I go on to describe it as a hobby that I enjoy. I also describe it in a way that does not need to be defended. It is what it is.
My sister is a Jane Austen fan, and mentors a Jane Austen club at her church. She also has gone to national Jane Austen conventions.
I have pointed out a Master and Commander book that was obviously inspired by Jane Austen. Ditto some Flashman books taking place in that society.
I also told her about a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies game I played at a convention, taking the part of Richard Sharpe.
We both understand each other. At least, I hope she does. 😄

It's obvious that Graham knew in advance what to say. His guests obviously love being in his show. The way he grilled Henry about the Witcher is indicative.

What I'm saying is that I don't feel the need to defend or explain anything. I have a meme called "Fantasy Football: Dungeons and Dragons for jocks."
THEY are the ones who need to apologize and defend themselves!

We need to stop being defensive about what we enjoy.

I more get questions on how it works once I mention I play war games. A bit easier in black powder era I think. Its move by rules, shooting and melee, at least simpler.

+1 John the OFM

Well, when we were in heaven, queueing up for deployment for Earth, we went through a number of processing lines where our height, weight, gender and continent of birth were all randomized out.

One of the lines we went through determined our life vices. The predilection that would capture our imagination. They spun the wheel and the result spun up.

Drugs, horndog/slag, golf, bass fishing, crime, etc. One of the more unusual selections was "miniature crafting." A supplemental spin resolved us into ships in a bottle, model railroad or miniature soldier/wargamer. Our tickets were stamped and we were send down to await our first viewing of Zulu, after which our fates were sealed.

I used to work for the military before I retired. One day while I was at a base with a bunch of people working on a project, we were all in a car headed for lunch and they were talking about their hobbies. They were all into hunting. I guess they noticed that I wasn't contributing anything to the conversation and one of them asked if I had any hobbies. When I told them…dead silence.

Good one HMS Exeter.

+1 John the OFM

Often I'll say that like many boys I played with toy soldiers as a kid. I just kept on playing but now there's rules controlling movement and combat. I also paint the toy soldiers. Most people understand it well enough.

I usually explain painting toy soldiers as historically accurate as possible, basing them and gathering them to make units, making terrain like model railroaders do, but portable. Playing games using rules that can get a little complicated. I usually trot out Charles Grant's (?) quote, "chess with a thousand pieces." I can't recall anyone ever having a negative reaction.

I like games and I like creating the bits around them that the enhance the game. Now that D&D has become if not mainstream than mainstream adjacent and Warhammer/40K seemingly also on that track, it really is far more common. Add in PC/X-Box/Playstation being genuinely ubiquitous and I don't feel embarrassed socially.

I usually lead with "I'm a miniature wargamer."
(?)
"I play with toy soldiers."
If it goes further than that, I go for historical military events and how they might have turned out differently, given different decisions. But it rarely gets that far.

Surprises, though. The kid taking my order at Arby's asked me if I ever did von Riesswitz' kriegspiel. He and a friend were printing out pieces on the library 3D printer.

One thing I've noticed at shows is that children and adults often react very differently to my explanations.

Kids usually grasp it instantly — "Oh, it's a battle game with toy soldiers." Then they want to know who is winning. And can they throw some dice.

Adults are sometimes more puzzled and want to understand the purpose of it: whether it's a historical simulation, a strategy game, or something like model railways with a game attached. They nearly always marvel at the commitment to painting (for adults – time is a vital commodity).

Has anyone else noticed that difference when explaining the hobby?

BTW RP's Kriegspiel story (above) is absolute gold.

We need to stop being defensive about what we enjoy.

I'm never defensive, I'm evasive. The first rule of wargaming is that I don't talk about wargaming.

Of course I get cornered once in a while, so I do offer terse explanations something like, "we're a bunch of history nerds who like to play games with toy soldiers which we take very seriously <shaking jowls>". Smirk follows, sometimes laughter. I don't usually have to explain more.

Ironically I have the hardest time explaining historical miniatures to the GW crowd, who I do want to talk to about wargaming. The hobby to most of them is lists and points and tournaments and sewper kewl sci fi/fantasy stuff; IRL history is boring. If I'm having conversations, it's usually about shared experiences like painting and shading techniques, paint brands, brush types, color palettes, terrain construction, glues and tools and materials, fun projects with clay or plastic or sheet metal or something, etc. Or, in the case of Battletech and Star Fleet Battles gamers, methods for more efficient rostering learned from years of naval gaming…

- Ix

"I play with toy soldiers and models."

"Why?"

"Because they're a bit more obedient, more interesting and much better fun than real ones."

Often true, Dal, but infinite variety. I'm still waiting for some anthropologist to do a compare and contrast with intel and artillery types.

"I simulate the colonial oppression of BIPOC for my recreation and enjoyment."

There's a difference between explaining it and "justifying" it.

I explain it as a tabletop battle game with miniatures. Imagine a railroad layout without the railroad parts. Now add soldiers. That has worked from me, a Gen X, to the Boomers. The kids should know damn well what it is by now, and probably do.

To John's point, I never feel the need to justify it – a different question entirely.

I'm curious as to what an archaeologist would say when he excavates my basement 2000 years in the future.
Grave goods?
Are they gods that he worshipped?
Will they serve him in the afterlife?

"Oh, by the way, I think fantasy football is dumb. You don't even get points if your player actually WINS THE GAME! Oh, the tall metal hat?. Why, he's a Hessian grenadier….."

FRIENDLY: "I paint miniature armies and play battles with them. It's fun. If you're interested, we can play a game sometime— I have all the miniatures."

INFORMATIVE: "It's a hobby where people collect, assemble and paint armies of miniature soldiers and military devices, and play tactical battles with them, often in very realistically modeled miniature battlefields. Some people focus on historical armies and conflicts, others prefer fantasy, science fiction or alternate history. Myself, I like ‘em all. It's a hobby that calls for creativity and imagination, but also for complex analytical thinking."

SNARKY: "‘War' and ‘game'. Which of these two terms is confusing you?"

I have never actually pulled out the latter, but I sometimes think it.

I just say "It keeps me from spending my money on drugs and strippers," that shuts 'em up pretty quick.

I tell people that my friends and I re-create historical battles using miniature soldiers. I go on to explain it's like playing chess, but with 1000 pieces per side. I can literally see the lightbulb go on over their heads once I explain that.

That's not a lightbulb. That's them thinking we're all nuts.

Sorry to keep being belligerent about this topic. (Not really…😄)
But WHY is there a "need" to explain wargaming?
Do gardeners see a need?
Do fantasy football players?
How about degenerate gamblers with online betting?
Reality television watchers?
Hikers?
"Elite" supplement takers?
Tattoo enthusiasts?

Am I making any sense here? No?
Why does anyone see a need to monitor TMP?

Do I need to explain why I have to get the proper flags for SYW Austrian Hungarian musketeers? Why I worry about whether Hungarian grenadiers should get flags, or not?

Is it on a level with rejecting a Carbonara recipe if it contains peas or cream?

Do you not know what a hike is? or a garden? or a tattoo?

It's telling that you are the only person who interpreted "explain" as justify. And continue to do so even after the OP maker clarified that was not what was meant.

Explain, per the OP and the clairification, meant describe what the hobby entails. Wargaming is not nearly as mainstream as the other things you identified. It needs explanation because people don't know what it is.

Then again, there are people in the hobby who don't know what the basic terms with widely accepted and published defintions, like "simulation", mean. A lot needs explaining. I bet there's even people who think a corporation forces them to play…

"But WHY is there a "need" to explain wargaming?"

It's pretty simple, John. I'm standing in front of a table, loaded with miniature figures at the local Train show. Attractive young mother stops, looks & politely asks, "What is this?"

I should ignore her?

So in response to your penultimate sentence of your "belligerent" post; no, you're not making any sense.

My "belligerent" post was assuming a "What the heck is this crap?" type of person.
For nice people, an "I paint toy soldiers and have battles with them."
I see no need to explain why Pickett's Charge failed to a casual passerby.

John, I think we're talking about two different situations.

If someone walks up with a "What is this nonsense?" attitude, then yes — a one-line answer is more than enough.

But at shows most people aren't like that. They're curious. They stop, look closely, and ask questions. Once someone asks a second question, they've basically invited an explanation.

You don't have to lecture them about why Pickett's Charge failed — but a quick explanation that it's a historical battle game, the figures are organised into real units, and we try to represent the period accurately usually goes down very well.

And occasionally the details — flags, uniforms, unit types — are exactly the thing that sparks their interest.

In other words: the short answer gets them past the table; the slightly longer answer sometimes turns them into hobbyists.Or, at least, someone who appreciates what you're doing.

I think the same applies to relations, friends, colleagues who ask that initial question.

I often describe my hobby, which has become a much bigger part of my life since I retired, as playing games with toy soldiers. I usually tell folks I've been doing it for a really long time, and that's usually enough. If they are people I see often and I slip that in, sometimes there is a question about, what do you do, but often an explanation isn't necessary.

Miniature gaming is what I do, and I feel no need to apologize for it. I work at an antique store one day a week, and lots of people have interesting collections and hobbies. Trust me, miniature gaming seems pretty normal to me.

I don't think it needs an explanation.