As you would have noticed recently I’ve
begun a journey and project centered around the dark ages – my main focus being
to research and build a Viking Army and a Saxon army to both use in SAGA- the
skirmish game as well as for War and Conquest – (WAB Successor).
It’s been a long time between drinks as far
as painting historical go - for nearly 4
years now ive put allot of effort into 40k and a bit of a dabble into Warhammer
fantasy. This was on the back of nearly
6 years of painting Napoleonic Austrians and French in 15mm.
Suffice to say at the end of those projects
( well near end – there is more to do really) I was burnt out as far as the
heavy research and continued attention to detail as far as uniforms- historical
accounts etc. In the end I had a full
Austrian Army Corp from the 1809 Italian campaign as well as a smallish French
division and a few independent brigades.
Suffice to say I was over it and venturing into 40k was refreshing- it
challenged me around painting 28mm miniatures – teaching me new techniques in
painting and blending and stretched me.
That being said I think for the time being I have reached the end of the
road as far as painting and building 40k goes-
There are models to be constructed and painted that sit in my to do pile
but overall I think its time for a break from it.
What I have found is that going back into Historical Wargaming has been refreshing, exciting and fun, in a way 40k is no
longer in my eyes.
Im not going to smack down 40k here-
suffice to say 6th edition is great but I’m a bit over the flyer
meta and tired of the constant sales cycle you get locked into with GW. There
is always a new edition, a new model, a new rules set, a new codex that you
need to keep current in the game and its tiring to say the least.
I picked up Saga and Hail Ceaser a few
months back- read through them and then placed them into the library thinking
this sounds like fun and I wonder what I would like to do. Then a watched a few
Time Team specials on England in the Dark Ages where a few digs where completed
in York about the Viking age and I was hooked.
I bought a few books on the period and
started to read and get a deeper sense about Dark Age England and then Dark Age
Europe in general.
Then there was Cancon this year- In my
opinion the 40k event left a sour taste in my mouth- poor terrain, unpainted
miniatures and a general lack of feeling in the event pushed me towards what I
missed those years of historical gaming provided.
I wondered over to the war peace stand and
put down some cash to pick up some warbands- the expansion rule sets and begun
the process of painting the models.
What I have found the last few months is
how much I missed the Depth of Historical Gaming- while science fiction gaming
has it merits, it its relative freedom of expression it lacks a certain depth,
and to be honest I feel GW has codified 40k so much than now there is not as
much creative freedom as there once was in that games genre.
What I mean by depth is the real characters
and hero’s the battles, the cultures, the religions and politics of the
age. While painting the books have given
me a real sense of depth and understanding of what I’m working on, it has
flamed the imagination and propelled me to paint with a consistency and
frequency that has long been missing from my hobby.
So far I’ve painted about 20 models in
about a month- and having come back from Hawaii I kicked up to average about 2
models a night. What’s more my down time and spare snippets of time is spent
reading reference books and watching the odd documentary on the period, the
attraction that these where real people who had a part to play in shaping the
world I live in as well as the language I speak, is truly fascinating.
The models themselves are not as refined as
the GW product but it has also been a blast to return to painting metal models-
there is tactile satisfaction in handling a metal model- the weight has a good
feel to it (maybe you know what I mean and maybe you don’t) but the image of a
gaming table groaning under the weight of thousands of models inspires allot in
me :P
I think in a way this is the rush of
experiencing something I once did anew and the energy and fun I’m having from
rediscovering what I love about history in general.
The crazy thing is I still haven’t had a
game of Saga yet nor of War and Conquest- I’ve been involved in a few Hail
Caesar games – and the is a big Crusades game coming soon from what I hear that
I want to be involved in, but It really doesn’t matter, what I really enjoy
right is sitting back and seeing the collection grow as each model is painted
and added to the horde.
So why this rant? Well It’s partly a warning that there is more
historical stuff to come- I have the desire later this year to do some
Napoleonic’s again and even late Republic Romans and Germans, but also a bit of
challenge for those disgruntled 40k players out there. Have a look at games Like Bolt Action,
Saga, Black Powder, Hail Caesar and War
and Conquest. There are so many great historical rules out right now, more so
than when I started and with some really great production values as well.
I bet you that you may find a period you
like- such as feudal Japan or like myself Dark Age Europe and maybe even
rediscover the fun of gaming and not the push of the commercial sales cycle.
What do you guys think?
Cheers
JP
I dislike all historical wargaming, because it is treading on fact. At least with saxon era wargaming, no-one is known from that time. It is practically fictional.
ReplyDeleteBut when you start playing closer to modern day, you start playing with real people. For example - I lost great-uncles in WW1. One we believe died at the battle of the Somme. I feel insulted when people re-enact that for fun, because it is my family they are playing with.
If you play fantasy, or 40k, or warmahordes or infinity etc you are not playing with anyone real. No lizardman is going to be insulted you are playing with his grand-spawn.
If you play historical, it is hard to find a safe line between playing with real connected history, and playing with abstract history. My father has done a lot of our family tree since retirement, and can trace us back to 1500s in 2 places. My grandfather remembered his grandfather, who took a bullet to the jaw in the Crimean war. He came back home, but had problems speaking and eating for the rest of his life. I dont want people re-enacting that. It is disrespectful to my great-great grandfather.
What is your take on it? How do you feel when people want to re-enact closer to home events?
I guess each to their own when it comes that specific point of view- may family was heavily involved in both great wars, the boer war and the Napoleonic War. My great great grandfather on my mother side was at the somme in a lancishire regiment, my grandfather navigated mine fields in the pacific of the coast of japan and grandfather on my fathers side cleared mines for the Germans in ww2 and thats only part of the family history.
ReplyDeleteI think it comes down to a point of reference really, I personally don't feel im disrepecting those who fought and died, and considering the time i invest to research understand and really know about the period im playing in and or re-enacting I feel in a way im also honoring them. WW2 can get a bit tricky I feel and for the most part I have myself stayed away from that but again separate the political elements out and fundamentally, there where people on both sides and families etc, and I find no disprecet in taking the time to understand their plight.
I think war-gaming in its modern sense has a place to play in keeping our history alive and to the fore. Each historical Wargamer I know has spent countless hours and dollars not just on the figures but on the research around the period, the people and the culture, so much so for example I have a collection of 198 books on the napoleonic period - 4 of them on my relatives regiment and now a growing collection on the not so dark ages. I know there are some out there who do tred on history without any true respect- That humanity. But in my experience I've yet to meet them and would never game with them. But as I said each to their own and I respect your opinion and views for not gaming historically.
Thanks for the reply.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it comes to how my friends and I play games normally. When we play fantasy + 40K, we have no respect for the models. We laugh at the poor individual who took a cannon/lascannon to the face. We drink beer while playing and dont take the game at all seriously.
If I was a model on the board (eg an assault squad blood angel), I would be pretty pissed at how our players are laughing and joking about this important battle.
It's a good thing my models aren't real - they would not be happy with me (especially my win ratio!)
But in historical wargaming, they are (in a way). Would my grand-uncle be happy with the way I use him on the battle?
I do like your point though about how the hobby inspires interest in the events and time period, and therefore trying to be true and respectful to the time and people who were involved.