Debunking the Myth of Wargaming's Demise

In recent times, there has been a whisper in the gaming community that "Wargaming Culture is Dead." This assertion implies a decline in interest, engagement, and overall vitality within the wargaming community. However, a closer examination reveals that such claims may be premature and fail to capture the resilient and evolving nature of wargaming culture. This article aims to debunk the myth of the demise of wargaming culture, exploring its current state, challenges, and the thriving elements that prove its enduring appeal.

[@obitoEsports]

My local shop has tons of older military models for sale very cheap like 50% off sticker price. IDK if those models are actually built for historical wargaming, but I would love to pickup some. I play 40k at the moment, and I just started but I can definitely see it falling off. Its a big investment and time sink. On the other hand once you have the models they are usually good for a long time. Unless GW puts them out to legends pasture.

[@irregularmagazine]

Something GW has done with AoS putting lots out to legends. There's no fear of that with historical, a rule set may disappear but there are plenty out there to replace them.

[@WargamingHistory]

I have two Facebook groups I admin have more than 20000+ historical members and one mixed 30000+ members.
Wargames dates back to 18th century, first metals were made for Louis XVI and they are in the History of Paris museum, the first games were card based minature game and were produced in Strasbourg in 1721 and were used in the salon de guerre in Versailles palace as a strategic game, there is a list of available armies and maps in the L’Hotel de la Marine in Paris in the furniture and goods list for the Palace in 1725.
As for historical gaming, younger players are starting to switch especially here in France. Our club has 35 members and we recently completed the translation of Perry Bros Valour and Fortitude rules into French for the Perry Bros. We have 6 youth gamers who play historical ww2 15mm and ancient’s plastics 28mm, and modern also. Skirmish is very popular Saga, Gangs of Rome, muskets and tomahawks, Bolt action are popular but some big rulesets also Impetus, Hail Caesar, General de Brigade, Rapid Fire and Flames of War.
Great video all the best
Matt (Bluewillow)

[@irregularmagazine]

Cheers, interesting to see how things are in France.

[@toddzircher6168]

I wonder how many wargamers use tools like TableTop Simulator and play online.

[@irregularmagazine]

I suspect quite a few since the pandemic, even if it just to test a game out before buying the rules.

[@commandosolo193]

If anything it's increasing. GWOT vets are starting to come to terms with their war. They are now starting to get into it more and more. You are seeing more and more GWOT war games coming out. At our game store we have a few GWOT vets and they are now playing 28mm Modern. Plus of course they play Warhammer 40k and also hex chit games

[@thepun3721]

i was big with "popular" wargames like 40k n battletech, i moved into tile wargargamming, tile wargames are alive and well, there are open source vtt's that translate alot of games 1to1, someones always down to play and the price entry extremely low, it sucks that there isnt any really nice models in the field, me personally i love the game aspect of 40k and tile more than scratches that tactical itch, A World at War is the one you want;)

[@irregularmagazine]

I used to play Advanced Squad Leader and really enjoyed that.

[@newenglandpatriot4069]

Historical wargaming is graying, but definitely not dead. The younger gamers will eventually get burned out on scifi/ fantasy and put their money together to get into historical just to switch things up. This is coming from someone who played fantasy wargames for awhile.

[@irregularmagazine]

I did the same as I got older I added historical into the mix.

[@duncanrichardson5306]

The 'dead' thing is just a beat up by some insecure fantasy gamers who wish it was true because they don't like the competition. The sales of models, the popularity of rule sets produced by the Too Fat Lardies and others, show that historical gaming is very healthy and continues to change and grow.

[@irregularmagazine]

Especially when we see companies who produce historical miniatures and rule sets start producing starter sets with plastic minis. Often these are at a much more realistic price point as well