Reading. It's Important!

One of the hardest parts about living in the modern world is fully comprehending the younger generation's addiction to technology. Sure, I grew up in the era of the television. Like any kid of the Baby Boom generation, I had my favorite tv programs that I enjoyed tuning into it each week. Did it ruin my night if I missed my favorite programs? Hell no! Why? Because I had other competing interests. Boys of my generation would have rather been outside shooting bb guns with their friends, or, on a rainy day, reading comics or eventually Robert E. Howard novels, than spending the whole day in front of an electronic device.

I am thoroughly convinced that my generation will be the last generation that has hobbies that do not require batteries or a power outlet. The difference between my generation and the generations that came after us, is that Baby Boomers know how to put technology in its rightful place (as a necessity or, otherwise, in moderation). We do not allow gadgets to consume all of our time. I am also convinced that Baby Boomers will be the last generation that savors a quiet corner and a good book.

Why am I waxing philosophical about technology and the importance of reading? Last weekend, I was talking to a young man who was ready to dip his feet into historical gaming. The young man in question, Chad, got introduced into the hobby at 16. He mostly plays 40K and fantasy games. I told him about Blucher, a basic but fun Napoleonic rule set that I thought might be a good intro into historical gaming, both for the visual appeal and for the ease of learning the system.

I started my adventure into wargaming right about Chad's age, 19, with an older gaming group that primarily played Napoleonics and Ancients. Empire and WRG . So I thought it would be kinda cool to start Chad's journey into the same period that I came to love at his age. Chad bought a copy of the rules, last one on the shelf, and I told him that I would provide the terrain and the minis. I would come up with a scenario, and we would throw down the next Saturday at 11am (plenty of time for two games in a day, if he was so inclined).

Next Saturday comes. I get to the store early to set up the table. I had rebased and touched up some Napoleonic figs that had not met a game table in over ten years. I dusted off a few buildings, and freshened up the grass on my battlemat. Setting up the table and pulling out those old minis felt really good. It made me realize what I missed most about the hobby. I was excited about the period and rules , and I had hoped that Chad was meeting the game with the same level of enthusiasm as I was.

Chad arrives with the rule book in one hand and his phone in the other. I give him his forces and quickly explain what every unit is. He half-listens, while checking his phone. I tell him that I will move first, because I know the rules. Thought it might give him some newbie jitters to go first.

I quickly move my forces, feeling like an elated kid again, already itching to base more troops up for the game when I get home. His turn. First question from Chad, "How far can my infantry move?" His eyes on his phone as he asks. I quickly answer his question, and watch as he tentatively moves his Russian horde forward. Next question, "How far can my men shoot?" He's smiling down at his phone when he asks. My answer this time, "What do the rules say?" He shrugs his shoulders. I say, "Well, look." He reluctantly puts down his phone and slowly flips through book. Guess he never heard of a table of contents, and I waited anxiously as he carelessly flipped through pages in an obviously half-hearted attempt to find the answer to his question. I gave up, got his attention, and went down the line of his troops, explaining the shooting range for each of his troop types. Two turns later, things are moving along, somewhat, when Chad suddenly asks me, "Are hills considered rough ground?" Finally, I had had enough. My reply, "Chad, did you bother reading the rules?"

His answer was discouraging but sadly not uncommon. "I was kind of busy." This, this was it. I put down my rule book and my ruler and let him have it. I said, "So let me get this straight, I rebased every miniature on this table, touched up their paint jobs, and touched up all of the terrain, as well as reread the rules, and you could not be bothered to do one thing: read the rules."

Chad started to stutter. He is a nice kid at heart; he's just lazy. He said, as if this were the EPIC excuse of the year, "I worked 18 hours this week." He bags groceries at the Kroger. "18 hours!" I said, clearly exasperated. "I worked 55, Chad, and I still managed to get this game table-ready by the weekend." I then asked, for future edification, if he intended to read the rules. His answer, gentlemen, "Well, reading is not really my thing." Yeah! Your thing is your god damn phone! "So you expected me to read the rules for you then?", I ask. Wide-eyed silence is golden. We never finished the game.

Call me a crybaby or a snowflake, but I just started picking everything up off the table and putting things back in their respective boxes and cases. Chad's looking across the table at me like I have just gone crazy. He finally asks, "Did I do something wrong?" I kept picking up my troops, putting them back in the box. I finally took a deep breath and answered. I explained that I had put a lot of time and effort into preparing for the game and relearning the rules. I told him that I have no problem helping him learn the rules, but that when I host a game for someone, the least I expect them to do, is read the rules in advance. Is that too much to ask? It did not used to be. I would have been ashamed to show up to the club at Chad's age without having read the rules in advance. It's called participation. Participating in game is not just about pushing someone's minis around. It is about actively engaging in the hobby, ie, painting miniatures, researching the period (for historicals), building terrain, and reading the damn rules.

If this new generation of gamers can not be bothered to, at the very least, read the rules, then gentlemen, this hobby is surely and truly dead, once my generation of gamers dies. Why? Because we will be the last generation who feel it is our DUTY to be a contributing member of the gaming community. You see it's all about prioritization. I use my free time productively, because gaming is more important than my phone, and reading rules, at least for my generation, is a pleasure, not a chore. But how do you teach prioritization to a generation that can not even be bothered to open a book and look up the word?