Usually we befriend other fellow gamers in gaming environments, local wargaming clubs, online social media groups or forums, conventions or stores that provide us with our hobbying needs. But what else do we do?
As a kid growing up gaming wasn’t something I would declare to just anyone. I liked sports like football (soccer) and field hockey as well as playing drums. Announcing you liked gaming normally led to being less included in the other activities, or being picked last in a PE session.
I found that if you left that bit out long enough to get to know everyone, you were also more deeply embedded in the social groups which made you harder to isolate or reject at that point. Plus, you’d find the people who didn’t care and saw you for who you were. Some of them would be in the same boat.
But I suppose it always went back to something my parents used to say to me as a kid.
You want three hobbies. A sport – something to do outside and active. A musical instrument. And a hobby you can do inside, when the weather isn’t so great or it’s dark, or just when you are not able to do the sport.
So as a result for me that became, football, drums and gaming. Many of my friends found it hard to define me as a straight up ‘geek’ as I was found to be a useful player on a football pitch, or that I could tap out a regular beat with some fancy fills on the drums.
However, in my mind, the three were not unrelated. I used to enjoy playing football but I didn’t play it properly until I was in my teens. By properly I mean, look at the tactics, get to grips with the game and employ my version of the game on the pitch.
The primary reason for this is that I had turned it into a battle. The loud mouth kids, the bullies and the fancy Dan’s of high school who bragged loudly and often mistook a turn of pace for being a fantastic sportsperson. Often those I was at loggerheads with or on the end of bullying from.
I realised that sport was an equaliser in the sense that if you could master the rules, the tactics and the finer details of the game, you don’t have to be the quickest, the most skilful or the one with the best haircut.
I took wargaming to the football pitch. At the time I had a rather good friend, who like me was, lets say, out of shape. He had bad Asthma which made it hard for him to be actively as mobile as others. I remember talking to him one day in a PE session where we were on the same team. We came up with a plan.
I suggested we played defense together, as no one else liked playing those roles. We knew each other so our communication would aid us. We decided that we would work in a tackle fall back system. I would be the first to close down the player attacking our goal forcing them to go either side of me. My friend, would then have more time to see which way they were going to go and go intercept and use his howitzer of a kick to get it as far up the pitch and away from our goal as possible. I had more pace which meant I could
My rose tinted glasses only have glowing memories of that. I suspect my brain chose to ignore the times we were outnumbered and passed through. Although I suspect at 13-14, without drilling the passing game wasn’t really on the mind of the fancy Dan’s that wanted to dribble it past everyone and go for ultimate glory.
Thus was born my true love of football. And what it shares in common with wargaming is tactics, a field of battle, flanks, attacks, territory, control and a general (manager). Being someone that always plays down my ability, I didn’t really sit and take stock of any of this until relatively recently. Over a decade ago now I set up and ran a mens football club for Sunday football which ran for ten years before I made the decision at 36 to step down from it all.
I guess at times like those you reflect on things. I think many wargamers can put themselves down, perhaps because when we were growing up it wasn’t ‘cool’ or fashionable or led to negative remarks/attention. But also perhaps because with sports people tend to use the term ‘natural’ to describe many things.
They are a natural striker, they’ve got a really natural backhand etc etc. As if people have some form of ingrained genetic ability to do something well.
Perhaps as hobbyists we need to take the time to appreciate the skills we have too. And identify that actually perhaps we are ‘naturals’ at some of them in the same way some sports people are. Or that we work hard to achieve the skill levels we posses. The various aspects of the hobby enable diversity in ability too. Are you great at tactics in games? Painting? Model making? Organising and accounting even? Or just the socialising aspect – perhaps you are the glue that binds your roleplaying group together? Creatively, in writing, drawing, painting and story writing?
And yes of course, of upmost importance is that you enjoy it, that you find it has something that keeps you coming back for more.
So what else do you do? Do you do anything else or does tabletop gaming give you everything you need? Is there more to your life than just tabletop gaming?
Matt, aka mcfonz.
Poison Spurs 