Q of the Week: Future of wargaming?

[Leon]

What is the future of wargaming?  Is it going to decline as the younger generation focus more on computers and online gaming?  Or is it going to become more popular as peoples disposable income increases?

[Stuart]

For the sake of people like yourself I hope it stays just as popular or increases in popularity!

[Steve J]

At our club we have a mix of ages and disposable incomes. Typically you have the teenagers who have started of with Warhammer and 40K plus a range of card games. Although computer games etc are sometimes discussed at the club, they rarely make an appearance.

They may then progress onto other fantasy/sci-fi games such as HoTT but often carry on with GW games.

Alongside of these we have returnees in the 30s and 40s who come back to wargaming after Uni, marriage, raising family etc when they have the time and income to get back into the 'hobby'. I include myself in this category.

At the club we have a steady core of members, with some drifting away for a variety of reasons to be replaced by new ones. Having gamed there for 5 plus years, I would say that things have stayed on a fairly even keel over this time and looks like this will continue for the foreseeable future.

[Maenoferren]

I think Wargaming will stay about the same, thinking about the times when I was in a club, the numbers remained pretty constant I cant really remember many new members at all. Up here we had an explosion of members, that was because it was a new club for Shetland and the wargamers came out of the woodwork.  I think for 28mm PLastic will be the way people are going,,, wargames factory and warlord games are doing loads, then there are the 28mm hopolites (very shiney - me want!) but personally I prefer smaller scales for big games...

[lentulus]

I expect that there will be "waves" of increased popularity, especially in the larger sense of wargaming beyond just miniatures -- anyone else remember how widely available board wargames were in the late 70s?  I think right now we are at a solid "baseline"; I don't think we are in any sort of bubble at the moment.

[Luddite]

What can wargamers and indeed the 'wargames community' do to increase the numbers of people playing?

[Leon]

What can wargamers and indeed the 'wargames community' do to increase the numbers of people playing?

There's a GW store near us, with a third-party store next door selling similar stuff.  I've considered trying to get us in there, but it's only going to be the Fantasy range that would be of interest.

GW seem to have the younger generation hooked in, but what happens when they reach 16, 17 years old?  Where to they go then?

[Luddite]

Interesting.

I wrote an article about that.

http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/battle_reports/2005/whats_the_point.asp

Basically, i think GW hooks in the kiddies, then between 16-25-ish the attactions of women take us away from the hobby, but many then return - with an interest in the historical...

However, my question still stands; how do we as a 'community' expand the hobby?  Would it help if there was a National Wargames Association promoting the hobby?

Would getting the hobby onto TV help? 

[Maenoferren]

 an Interesting article, thanks for sharing it. I ran the games club in school so that those kids whod didnt want to play sports or chess could have a club... in the end I had about 20 members per year and for a short time a couple of girls, but they decided netball was more for them.

OUt of interest where do you guys meet in Durham, i am sure in the dim and distant past I played a few times down there, when I was in the Newcastle and Washington clubs.

[Luddite]

OUt of interest where do you guys meet in Durham, i am sure in the dim and distant past I played a few times down there, when I was in the Newcastle and Washington clubs.

Here

http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/about/index.asp

Pictures here http://www.anomalous-phenomena-investigations.co.uk/featured/vane_tempest/vane.htm

[Maenoferren]

Yep I think so, but as MY wife studied at Durham, maybe I am just imagining it :

[Leon]

Interesting.

Basically, i think GW hooks in the kiddies, then between 16-25-ish the attactions of women take us away from the hobby, but many then return - with an interest in the historical...

However, my question still stands; how do we as a 'community' expand the hobby?  Would it help if there was a National Wargames Association promoting the hobby?

Would getting the hobby onto TV help? 

Thanks for posting the article, it is an interesting subject. 

I think there are a lot of avenues available to expand wargaming, but the problem is that it is such a minority, it is difficult to get the momentum, or the power, to make much impact.  I've had visions of a 'Jumanji' style movie, with wargaming being the subject, instead of a board game, but unless a Hollywood director comes to a show, I doubt I'm gonna get the chance to pitch that one!


Is it purely the women and drink that pull the kids away, or not knowing what the next step on the wargaming ladder is?  It'd be nice for GW to show the kids what else is on offer before they turf them out, but I can't fault them for their business model, cos it's obviously worked for them.