Women at the Wargame

Is this how you see it?

    Last Saturday night, we were engaged in our usual post game Mexican restaurant dinner wrapup. We were just finishing up a discussion on the pros and cons of the old Empire rules when an interesting topic came up. Jacob, often called Sensei, because he can usually answer various rules trivia on the spot, asked a question that was a bit more philosophical than the usual topics we discuss.  “What do think it would take to get more women into gaming?” Of course there are plenty of women already out there gaming, usually in the domains of roleplaying, boardgames or card games. But Jacob was being very specific, how do we get them into wargaming?
    The result of his question was contemplative silence.
    David finally suggested that maybe we should play more fantasy games, since fantasy is a genre of fiction that appeals to women as equally as it appeals to men. Richard suggested that we should run more demos. He pointed out that board games groups and the Magic group are constantly hosting demos. The result, more women have been slowly trickling into those groups over the years. Thomas suggested that we should recruit more young guys into our group, and maybe those  guys will bring their girlfriends or sisters with them. Given the disproportionate amount of socially-challenged young men at the store, that suggestion brought a lot of chuckles. When it came around to my turn I was all so at a loss, but then I remembered that Hunnic army.
     Years ago, a few of us got together for an  Ancients battle. Now this game was a bit out of the ordinary, in that Doug was bringing a relative to play. Nothing strange there right? Heck Doug's son Scott playes with us all the time. Except this relative was his niece, Samantha, who had just started on her grad degree in history. A girl, you say, well that is a bit out of the norm. Ah but it gets better, it seems that Sam was very much into Late Roman history and had done several papers on the Huns. In fact she was so 'into' the Huns that she had actually 'borrowed' Doug's Foundry Huns to paint up. So imagine our surprise when Sam showed up with no less than 43 beautifully painted horsemen; turns out Sam had dabbled as an art major.
    Over the years Doug had of course chatted about his hobby at the dinner table and to any relative that would listen. His son, Scott, had taken the bait, hook line and sinker. Though for a while we were worried that his only interest would be 40K, but eventually he came around to historicals. Sam it seems had been paying attention as well, and while in town over the summer break she wanted to give it a go. More specifically she wanted to see how the Huns fared on the field of battle. So a game of Warhammer Ancients was set up, yep, Doug has never moved on from WAB.
    We did a very small-scale, maybe 400 figs,  Battle of Chalons, the Hunnic invasion of Gaul. Jennifer played the Huns, and Scott played her allies. I played Aetius and the Romans, while Doug played my Visigoth allies. It was the Old Guys vs the Kids. The WAB rules are fairly simple to grasp so we figured that Sam would pick them up pretty quick. Turns out that she had not only read through the rules but had spent a bit of time online at the WAB forums and watching some game matches on Youtube.  Everyone at the table, Jennifer included, seemed to be having a good time, even while she was witnessing the true power of Late Roman might.
    There was, however, one nagging element that seemed to spring up over and over again, like a irritating fly that refuses to go away. The fact is that a pretty girl at a game store often stands out like Snow White among the dwarves. Heck any girl at a game store usually stands out. So soon  'flies' both old and young started  popping up unannounced, sidling up to the table, so that they could admire the game and 'ahem'  Sam. But what was worse was that they all wanted to  give her “helpful” advice.  “You should really hit his flank right now.”“Don't worry about his flank; hit him straight down the middle.” "You realize that your Huns have the Parthian Shot ability'   “You should pull back and force the Romans to come to you.” All these armchair generals ready to score Sam a victory, out of the goodness of their hormonal hearts, I am sure. One older gamer came over and proceeded to tell Jennifer, not the rest of us, about the “actual” Battle of Chalons. The fact that Jennifer told the man that she had written a paper on the battle did not deter Mr. Windbag a bit from waxing historical.
    Now this started to become quite annoying after a while. Commenting on the paint job and the terrain is fine. Giving advice to the players in the middle of a game is not.  I've never liked it  and I could tell it was getting under Sam's skin. Why so much 'advice'? Was it because she's a girl playing a man's game? In fact Scott and Sam were giving me and Doug quite a beating. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate horse archers? They are a major pain in the rear axis, especiallly when handled by someone with a bit of patience that can avoid the scrum. And Sam was handling them with a fine hand indeed.
    The game finally ended in a draw, mostly because the Hun's allies had gotten themselves in a very bad position. Thanks for saving my butt, Doug!
    After the game, I asked Sam if she had enjoyed herself, and she hesitated to answer. For any guys who do not understand, when a woman is quiet, it generally means she is unhappy. I apologized for the experience she had and asked her if she would like to try another game next week, but this time at Doug's place. Again, she hesitated before she eventually conceded that, “this gaming thing just is not me, I guess.” I did not know her well enough to try and talk her into a future game, so I said nothing, though internally, I called shenanigans. The fact is, when Sam was not being bombarded by men who wanted to tell her what to do with her army, she was having a lot of fun running rings around my Romans.
    That night before she said goodbye, I told her if she ever wanted to play another Ancients game, my Romans would be ready. She thanked me but assured me that she probably would not. She said, “It's too bad. The Huns were my dream army, and I had a lot of fun painting them up. I'm sure Uncle Doug will find something to do with them.” I tried to encourage her to keep them, just in case, because they made Doug's paintjobs look C class in comparison and he's also never been any good with Horse Archers. She smiled at that a little, and said she would “think about it.”
    I never saw that young lady and her beautifully-painted Huns again.
    Gentlemen, if you want a lady to get into the hobby, the first thing you must do is treat her like a serious gamer. Don't assume that she is an idiot that needs her hand held throughout the game. Don't assume that she is ignorant about history. Don't assume that the army on her side of the table must belong to a man.
    A woman might be at the game table because she is gaming a historical setting that she has heavily researched. A woman might be at the game table because she has been dying to try out a rule set.  Believe it or not, she might be at the game table because she actually know what she is doing there.

Haha Names have been changed to protect the innocent, sorry Jen

The Hazards of Running a Gamestor

Just the other day I was at my local gamestore with plenty of time on my hands.Too often I am up there for a game and don't really get the time to look at everything. So I was quietly going through all the merchandise and was up to the new Osprey Rules. (whoever thought Osprey would get into the rules business?) It was then that some of the 'regulars' were starting to show up. Ah yes, the 'regulars', I remember them well from my days of running a counter back East. Back when the local gamestore owner was away helping out his daughter, the club and I took turns running the store for a month.

The 'regulars' or 'irregulars' as I like to call them are those guys that seem to be a part of every hobby. Usually you only have to spend a few hours with them at a time, but those poor store owners have to deal with them on a constant basis. Here are the ones that stand out for me.

'Lexicon Leo'- the man is a walking dictionary on his niche hobby. It can be a specific period of history, a work of fantasy or more often the fluff of his favorite game. He always seems to have some strange job that allows him to spend endless hours on forums and books devoted to his game. Leo is the guy that can tell you what the badge or color scheme is for any unit in the game. Just ask and then prepare for the flood to come because the answer is never short.

'Roy the Rulesman'- got a guy that buys every edition, supplement or codex that comes out and immediately analyzes them overnight. Well that's Roy,  also often doubles as your cheesiest player when it comes to any game. We often find him in some heated arguement with the DM or his immediate opponent.

'Bullhorn Bob'- good ole Bob, close your eyes and you will hear him, no matter where he is in the store. Bob tends to be loud and lacks a filter; he often forgets that there are other patrons.

'Glory Days Gary'- ah Gary, dear Gary, if only he could leave the glory days behind, but no, everyone must hear about that one day where he rolled 6 dice and they all came up '6's, which of course allowed him to sink the Bismark, or the day he rolled the flank of the Russian army and Borodino. I always wonder how many times our counter clerk has heard that story.

"Niche Nick"- always plays some oddball period or OOP game, no problem for us but always seems to be asking the owner to order a single pack from some obscure company. Nick, "well why can't you get it ?" Owner, "because they need a minimum of a $200 order, and I do not think that I can sell $195 of cannibal fairies. Why don't you just order direct?" "But there's a $10 postage charge and I only need 1 pack" comes the whine.

"Hold it till the Apocalypse Arch"-take a look at the hold bin, half of it will be devoted to Arch. Promises to buy it soon but always ends up buying something else on payday. Really cannot blame Arch for this, he's a little to suceptable to Jack and all his schemes.

"Zip the Lip Lem"- you watch your opponent carefully to see if he remembers to moves his unit up to the objective, just when it looks like he's forgotten, Lem walks up and "hey don't forget to take that objective this turn or Archie will win by default'. Aaargh! Yes, Lem is always giving advice to those playing games that he's not involved in. I have even seen him do it while a tournament was in play, and that was not a pretty sight. Don't mess with those WRG players, but Lem simply cannot help himself.

I could go on of course but I think you guys get the idea. Your local storeowner goes through a lot just to provide us with a place to buy and play with those toys that are dear to us. So keep supporting them with your cash and occassionally draw a  Leo or Gary away from the counter.

To Be a Good Chief, You Must First Be An Indian

Let me tell you the story of two gamers currently in crisis: Tom and Derek. Tom and Derek have both reached the point in their lives where they have lost their love for gaming. They still want to game, occasionally, the problem is, no one wants to game with them. Furthermore, they assume that the fault lies in the gaming community, not them, despite the fact that other guys have to turn players away from their tables when they run scenarios. 

Tom is an old friend from the club I joined when I was still a fresh-faced lad. Tom is fifteen years older than me, which means he is old enough to be declared a monument. Tom has always been a peculiar sort of gamer. I recently told you about my friend Jack, who is the womanizer of rule systems. Tom is Jack's opposite. He has two games in his repertoire: Age of Sails naval and Franco-Prussian. That is it. He is the encyclopedia of these periods, and if I ever have a question regarding Napoleon III's army, I ask Tom.

In theory, the more you know about a particular historical period, the more enthusiastic you will will be about building a force or running a game for that period. Most gamers understand that when playing a historical wargame, you are not simulating, turn by turn, an actual 1:1 scale battle. What would be the point when everyone at the table already knows the outcome? An ideal historical wargame gives you the flavor of the period, an accurate depiction of the strength and weaknesses of each ship or unit on the table, but it also introduces an element of luck, granting you the possibility (however slight), of pulling off a few feats outside the constraints of historical reality. 

The ideal wargame should also be accomplished in no more than five hours. Why? Because I want a damn conclusion! I've always hated setting up a big battle and only playing 2-3 hours of game time, speculating on who might have won and then picking up and going home. We won't even go into the attention span of some of the newer gamers.

But Tom believes that a good rule set should have a highly detailed chart for each ship or unit in the game; otherwise, the rule set is simplistic and ahistorical. He does not just want a game that gives you a feel for the period; he wants a game that explores all the minutiae of warfare, as true to a recreation of all the elements of battle as possible. While this may be commendable in theory, it does not make for interesting game play, especially if your opponent is not decisive, has a hard time catching onto new rule sets or only has 4 hours to play. We're not in collage any more Tom! We have lives! Ahem sorry. 

Did I also mention that he writes his own rules for both periods, and they are the only rules he will play in his periods. Asking him to play a faster set of rules that is quicker to learn and does not require a lot of charts is asking him to compromise. He does not compromise. Tom pops by the game store every once in while with his minis to see if anyone is willing to play a pick-up game. He is always surprised and disappointed when he gets very few takers. I see him less and less each year. His health is not declining, just his love for the hobby.

Another gamer in crisis is my friend Derek. Derek is younger than me, and, unlike Tom, his gaming interests are varied. He will play historical, sci-fi, fantasy, and board games. His true love though is role-playing. D&D was his gateway into gaming, so he will always carry a torch for the game. 

Derek has no problems being the DM. In fact, he enjoys the storytelling aspect of role-playing. To Derek's credit, he provides miniatures for his games, giving the theater of the mind a little dimension. He comes prepared with pre-generated character sheets for those who don't want to go through the rigmarole of rolling up new characters. He even brings a little mood music from fantasy films and video games to play softly in the background. It takes work, commitment, and enthusiasm to be a DM, and I applaud Derek's willingness to do it. 

In my experience, you will always find people willing to play an rpg, but very few people willing to run one. So with this rule being pretty tried and true, then why is Derek finding it hard to get a group together to play in his campaigns? The answer is quiet simple, he is not a good DM. Unlike army-scale miniature wargaming, role-playing is all about a player building a connection with his or her character(s). It's a journey, and since it is more contained in scope than say, using the King of War rule set to recreate the Siege of Gondor, its appeal lies in building your character up, through a series of adventures, into a seasoned warrior, spell caster, rogue, or healer. In essence, you watch him go from boy to man. 

At its best, role-playing is the most immersive form of gaming out there, and a good DM has you anticipating your next adventure. A bad DM will leave you with the feeling that his role-playing sessions are a waste of time. You leave the table with no enthusiasm for the few characters that survive the mission, and you could really care less what the next adventure brings. This is how you will feel after a game hosted by Derek. Trust me on this.

Derek's main sin as a DM, a little too eager to kill off the players and their faithful henchmen. He tries to lure you into sudden death and tries to encourage you to make stupid decisions, you can see the gleam in his eye. And when you don't fall for his tricks, preferring to take the smart route by running away and/or hiding, well he almost pouts. Now, I and some of the Old Guard are use to Derek and know how to walk the knife's edge. Heck, I use to not even name my characters till they reached 3^rd level. Of course we use to play Traveller were your character could die as you rolled him up. But now Derek is having trouble recruiting some of the younger gamers, who raised on these online games don't really understand the concept of a player dying. They are use to putting a lot of endless hours into their roles/stats and really don't 'appreciate' being killed off. I won't go into what I think of that but needless to say Derek's style does not sit well with them at all. I suggested starting the kids at 5-6^th level and easing up on them a bit for the first session. (shocking, coming form me) But Derek insists on 1^st level otherwise what is the point he says. 'Getting new players' I suggest. 'Never' grumbles Derek.

Despite the socially-awkward stereotypes about gaming, this is ultimately a communal, social hobby. When you are running a game for others, your responsibility as GM or DM is to make sure that your players are learning the rules, getting a flavor for your setting, and ultimately having fun.

In essence, Tom and Derek have spent too much time being chiefs, and not enough time being Indians. As consummate chiefs, they have neither the inclination nor the humility to listen to their players' input, lest their own grand vision for a game be compromised. And yet, their tribe is dwindling in numbers, and they can''t figure out why.

It does not matter if you spent all week preparing a scenario if no one shows up to play it. So if you are suffering from the same malaise as Tom and Derek and find that no one is showing up to your games, ask yourself this question, “Did your players have fun the last time you ran a game?” If your answer is “I don't know. I did not think to ask,” you are doing it wrong.