The Butterfly Effect
We are truly living in a renaissance of gaming, where dozens of new games grab our attention yearly, each demanding our attention, loyalty and cash. While this is truly wonderful, it is also horrifying, in a way, at the same time.
There is one big issue with wargaming - what do you want to play? Not only do you have to decide the period or theme, then there’s the choice of rules set, size or scale, and then manufacturer(s). Finally there’s the need to find opponents who also share your passion - a good reason to paint two armies. These and other issues were touched on in Warwick Kinrade’s excellent article in WSS 84 The Four Pillars of Wargaming. I won’t repeat Warwick’s wisdom, go buy a copy! 🙂
As a magazine editor, I get to see quite a few of, well, everything! And I am lucky enough to play many games through - I like to be involved in all the games reviews and Let’s Plays, just so I know we are getting our facts right! This also leaves me in the knowledge there are a lot of games I’d like to game if I had the time and resources. I also know, however, I simply cannot no matter how much I’d like to.
Wargamers by their very nature tend to suffer from being butterflies. My position is far worse. Every issue we cover a new theme and show off what tasty ranges are available for it. While I’ll undoubtedly get no sympathy at all for this, the samples we receive for our reviews aren’t enough to form even a unit or two, never mind an army.
There are so many wargaming topics I’d love to dip my toes into: Mongols, Italian Condottieri, Anglo Afghan wars… There are many, many more. Warwick, in the article I mentioned earlier, suggests a solution though: I need to be more diciplined. Be less of a butterfly, tackle a project, see it through and finish it… But where’s the fun in that?
