Personal connection to a project?

[capthugeca]

I've gamed some ancient games ... does this mean I'm really old?

Looking at your profile, you're not there yet... but well on the way. 

Well, I do fantasy.      Some would claim that most of the time I'm away with the fairies!

But seriously, I interest myself in genres that are sufficiently fictional (fantasy, scifi, pulp) that there can't be any personal connection.

[Orcs]

What I personally find distasteful is those WW2 gamers who are obsessed with the SS, I play WW2 but there are no SS in my German forces, too many atrocities committed to include them in a game..

WhileI agree with Sandanistas comment, there were plenty of atrocities commited by all sides.  My Ex wife's uncle, was German and he was defending the beaches.  When his unit tried to surrender  to Canadian troops  they machine gunned everyone in the trench .  He dived to the floor of the trench and lay under his dead comrades until dark, then found some Yanks to surrender to.  40 years later with a landscape gardening business in Australia the Canadian Embasy asked  to maintain thier gardens - His reply was unprintable, he was not even  interested in taking thier money becuase of it.

[Rob]

Slightly different but the same type of thing, if you know what I mean. I’m currently spending around 3 hours a day at the moment travelling back and forth to work so I’m re-reading some old books.

The one I started today was about the Iran v Iraq war in the 80’s. Now I’ve been down this path before thinking what a great wargaming period. A chocolate box of kit with a choice of Chieftains, M60s, T62s, T55s, BMP etc, etc all rounded off with attack helicopters and for good measure Iranian human wave tactics!!

As I look deeper you have Iraqi and Iranian regulars with Iranian Pasdaran irregular infantry carrying out fanatical massed infantry attacks.

All that’s OK but then again I read about the Basij. The Basij were school children as young as 12 who Khomeini as a special favour allowed to fight for their country. Mullahs would actively go into schools to recruit these kids. The Basij were basically cannon fodder sent in to clear mine fields by getting blown up or exhaust the ammunition of the defenders by suicidal attacks.

Apart from almost pulling my hair out at the attitude of these people  I think do I really want to wargame that? No, it would be just distasteful I think.

So I have no personal involvement but still decide not to wargame it.

Cheers, Rob 

[Leveller Mutineer]

Take it you don't just mean a personal connection to 'shiney shiney'.  Otherwise that's all of us.

I love history, particularly military history.  Therefore anything's game as long as I can get the 'shiney shiney'.  I've just ordered some WWI stuff because someone's been putting batreps up and talking about it and I've just read a book, seen a documentary and stuff. 

The only stuff I don't do is modern, as I'm an ex-squaddie.  No war stories or anything just don't seem right somehow.

N.B.  Plastic soldiers are not 'shiney shiney' and therefore should be avoided like like a menopausal leopard or ice in a single malt whiskey.

[Nosher]

The only stuff I don't do is modern, as I'm an ex-squaddie.  No war stories or anything just don't seem right somehow.

N.B.  Plastic soldiers are not 'shiney shiney' and therefore should be avoided like like a menopausal leopard or ice in a single malt whiskey.

With you on most counts except Whisky. A drinks not worth drinking unless it has substance - i.e. its a MEAL

I'm an ex-squaddie too - just not one of those 'orificer' type's who drinks girls drinks.

Bring on the gorilla snot! Baileys, Lime and Peanuts.... normally followed by a visit to the glasshouse and an invite to the Really Scary Monsters office on Monday morning with a short, sharp exchange of one way words followed by ROPES and more extra duties than you can shake a shitty stick at

[J.S.]

WhileI agree with Sandanistas comment, there were plenty of atrocities commited by all sides.  My Ex wife's uncle, was German and he was defending the beaches.  When his unit tried to surrender  to Canadian troops  they machine gunned everyone in the trench .  He dived to the floor of the trench and lay under his dead comrades until dark, then found some Yanks to surrender to.  40 years later with a landscape gardening business in Australia the Canadian Embasy asked  to maintain thier gardens - His reply was unprintable, he was not even  interested in taking thier money becuase of it.

That's quite an interesting observation concerning war memories..some people bear their former enemy a grudge, some don't.
I rember very well when we German youngsters were in England for the first time and stayed with a host family near London. They were an elderly couple and he took part in Operation Market Garden 44' (and could tell the most amazing war stories  ) I've sent him a painted 54mm British Paratropper as Christmas present years later; sadly, they quit writing us last year and we fear one of them might have passed away since they both were already quite old when we were there many years ago.

[Ben Waterhouse]

A very interesting topic. My take is really a mixture of the above; a love for military history, a connection to a number of British regiments and their antecedents I have been around one way or another ( in no particular order DWR, RRF, RHAMPS, HAC) tend to end up on the table. WWII is usually desert and Eighth Army as my father in law served in the Royal Regiment '42 to '47 - ending up as infantry RA fighting Greek communists on the Bulgarian-Greek border (Now there's a game idea), and 11 RHA (HAC) were in the desert also. Plus the usual megalomania - I "am" Napoleon...

[robert]

I have two strands of thought on this - my dad served in the Royal Signals attached to 51st Highland Div. as part of 30 Corps - he was in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy and all the way up to Bremen via the Rhine bridges and Ardennes - 51st were everywhere!  I intend to 'do' WW2 by using scenarios to 're-enact' some of the famous actions the Division and my Dad was involved/partially involved in.

Currently I am on holiday in Alnwick and am taking in the wonderful local countryside - in particular the area around Embleton on the coast - an absolute must for AVBCW/Sealion scenarios:

Embleton has a fantastic beach - perfect for German landings - we knew this so bulit several pillboxes to cover it and they are still here - the local golf club, Dunstanburgh Castle, would not allow engineers access to demolish them after the war    try Google earth for the area - just inland is Brunton airfield and then immediately you have the North-South rail line parallel to the beach then half a mile or so inland the A1 trunk road.  All of these can easily be fitted onto a wargames table (when scaled down!)

Embleton is a sleppy northern coastal village - lovely old Norman church and another pillbox in the corner of a field next to the church, covering the crossroads up from the beach.  The personal connection is being able to do the walks my wife loves to do whilst planning wargames inmy head using the local scenery - stone walls, small hedges, copses, beaches etc.  Perfect relaxation - keeping her content and playing games in my head:)

[Hertsblue]

Embleton has a fantastic beach - perfect for German landings - we knew this so bulit several pillboxes to cover it and they are still here - the local golf club, Dunstanburgh Castle, would not allow engineers access to demolish them after the war    

How right they were! At Dawlish Warren in Devon the local club allowed the Royal Marines to blow up one of the three pill-boxes on the sand-spit the course stands on. Result - pill-box still standing (virtually undamaged) and the club picking debris off the greens for several years after. 

[MooseDontBounce]

All that’s OK but then again I read about the Basij. The Basij were school children as young as 12 who Khomeini as a special favour allowed to fight for their country. Mullahs would actively go into schools to recruit these kids. The Basij were basically cannon fodder sent in to clear mine fields by getting blown up or exhaust the ammunition of the defenders by suicidal attacks.

Apart from almost pulling my hair out at the attitude of these people  I think do I really want to wargame that? No, it would be just distasteful I think.

So I have no personal involvement but still decide not to wargame it.

Cheers, Rob 

Rob:

   I've played some Iran-Iraq war games and have a small Iranian army.  I agree with what you said about the Basij.  In the game I'm working on, a human wave night attack, I give the Iranian player a number of points.  Since it's a night game, the Iranian player allocates the points to a part of the battlefield.  If the Iraq player chooses to destroy the points, that position is revealed.  If not, then a certain amount of minefield is removed.
  There is NO way I was going to paint children to be slaughtered. Maybe a 'cop-out' on my part but that's how I choose to represent it.

  I used to game with a person that would not use flame throwers in any of games.  That was his personal 'line in the sand' and I respected that.

Dale

[FierceKitty]

Embleton is a sleppy northern coastal village -

I bet the people living there wouldn't thank you for calling their home sleppy. Doesn't sound like a term of praise at all.

[lentulus]

I bet the people living there wouldn't thank you for calling their home sleppy. Doesn't sound like a term of praise at all.

I don't know.  Sleppy villages sound like a bit more fun than sleepy villages.

[Serotonin]

I game anything usually, but recently have been considering doing some local projects. Been wondering about using Hail Caesar to do the Battle of Dyrham (Dark Ages) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Deorham    as I live about 5 miles from battle site and also with Pike and Shotte on the way I wouldnt mind having a go at Battle of Lansdown (ECW) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lansdowne , again because its only a couple of miles down the road from me.

[sultanbev]

I've no military connection, nor religious one, my favourite army is Ottoman Turks for the Napoleonic era, and I have sundry arab armies from 1805 to 1990, but I'm not a muslim. Although Turkey is the only foreign country I have visited. And I have a 1798 Papacy army but am not catholic. So am not sure what drives my army collections, other than the desire to have a brigade from EVERY army 
WW2 Hungarians? 1948 Egyptians? 1798 Irish? No idea! But I've got 'em 

My dad was in the REME in national service, and I tend to put ARVs in all my mechanised units, but only because we have rules for AFV breakdown and recovery.

Mark

[Steve J]

Never heard of the Battle of Deorham Chris, but another game to be played added to the list .