Welcome Aboard

Welcome to my blog reflecting on all things war-gaming.

If you are here, it means that, like me, you have felt the draw of games that require more background and analytical ability than Monopoly or Parcheesi, but satisfy our imaginations more fully than the abstractions of chess. War games have their basis in the long history of human conflict, and although their representations of warfare are necessarily simplified, they can still provide insight into the nature of a conflict, the technology used to fight it, and of the consequences of tactics and strategy.  As Adm. Sir John Woodward, RN once observed, “Wargaming allows you to try out tactics and not worry about having to swim for it.”  (Since Adm. Woodward successfully led the British fleet against Argentinian aggression in the Falklands back in ’82, I can only assume he spoke from experience.)

As a thoughtful and imaginative adolescent in the late '70s-early '80s, I bonded with similar spirits and we spent many weekends negotiating the imaginary worlds of tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Traveler, and Car Wars.  When I got to high school, I began exploring board-and-counter war games like those produced by Avalon Hill.  Unfortunately, my RPG friends were not as enthusiastic about the much slower world of historical war-gaming as I was, and I had to go it alone---not an easy thing with games like PanzerBlitz and Air Assault on Crete. When I first got to college, my mind and abilities became focused elsewhere and I dropped most gaming for a long while.

 

Now, however, I am a career educator and have been married for almost two decades; life is both settled and good, and along with some other interests I have rekindled my attachment to wargames.  I experience wargames like many men experience golf or fishing; yes, they require patience, thought, planning, and work, but there is a tranquility to be found in the center of it all that leaves you feeling mentally refreshed and reflective.

 

Getting back into wargaming after an absence of thirty-five years is proving to be an interesting experience.  Much in the hobby remains eternal, and I once again enjoy the pleasure of rolling polyhedrals to determine the fate of fleets and armies.  I have also discovered that much has changed in the intervening years, and is changing still---new generations bringing new ideas, wants, and historical insights, some of which are teaching this old dog a few new tricks.  This blog will be my “wargamer travel journal” as I rediscover the old and navigate the new. 

So, welcome aboard.  I am glad of the opportunity to share it with you.