So, couple of things from a guy that has been in the hobby for 50 years. The hobby you call "wargaming" is actually several hobbies. There is the "gaming" hobby, the "painting" hobby, and the "terrain making" hobby. Some people go farther and add the "rule writing" hobby and the "miniature making" hobby. There are specialities of some of these, such as "display miniature painting" hobby, the "3D printing" hobby (spanning the miniatures, terrain and accessories hobbies), the "laser cutting" hobby, the "campaign runner" hobby (e.g. Tony Bath, Gary Gygax), the "solo gamer" hobby (very different from simple "gaming"), the "wargaming blogger" hobby, the "wargaming vlogger" hobby, and so on. I am sure you get the point. We are forced to divide our time amongst all of these hobbies. The corporatization of the industry tends to focus on the lowest common denominator, the gamer; those that want to game, but not paint, sculpt, make terrain, come up with or tweak their own rules. These days more game designers are emphasizing solo game play (for good reason), so they are now developing sophisticated ways to program the opponents rather than having you "play both sides to the best of your ability". In a way, you are really preaching to the choir here, but the message is off target. No one watching these videos is likely to be a "gamer only". The whole point of watching the output from your "wargaming vlogging" hobby is to get ideas for one of our other hobbies, like rules tweaking, solo gaming, or running campaigns. Don't get me wrong, I am not irritated by your mild rant. I found it rather motivating as to why we do these other hobbies. Mentioning the early days of TSR also allowed me to reminisce on when they used to attend conventions to promote their games. Brian Blume taught me his rules "Cavaliers and Roundheads". I met Gary Gygax running a D&D campaign. We loved "Fight in the Skies" and Mike Carr always ran a rousing game in which he seemed to the the first one shot out of the sky. His pilot seemed to be a bullet magnet. [sigh] Those were the days, when your club ran monthly games with thousands of miniatures and 10 people on a side. Thanks for the memories!

I played my first D&D game with Gary Gygax as dungeon master at a convention in Buffalo about 1973, and not for nothin' he was still tweaking the rules while we were playing. You're exactly right!

Preach! 🙌 I just witnessed a game of Chainmail for the first time, with 1/72 minis, felt terrain and everything. It was glorious. We need to make sure we don't get the creativity taken away from us.

One of the most grounded and on-point videos I’ve ever seen. Glad I found your channel.

Thanks for this video. Reminds me why I still enjoy Wargames from 35 years ago and why I just randomly grab rulesets and read them for fun. Cheers.

Over the years I have found myself turning more and more to doing things my own way... using original concepts of gaming from my youth (the late 60`s, 70`s and even the 80`s) to find my inspiration, then taking these pioneering ideas, and rather than try to mimic the `good old days` of gaming... instead tend to use this tone of motivation to create my own content (rules campaigns, painting styles etc etc) rather than simply copy other people`s ideas. Everything you mention in this video feels like it validates my style of hobbying, and inspires me to continue doing things my way with even more intense vigour and confidence than ever. Yes... early Chainmail, original D&D, and early wargaming rules helps focus me on the path... but end of the day the path I follow is very much based on the personal enjoyment of productivity within my hobby.. not just aping a style of play. I suppose this is because I was there when it all started, and can remember clearly how things used to be, so I grew up naturally understanding (and following) the original and non commercial intent behind the hobby, in the state as it once existed. For me I have lived this way my entire life anyway (I`m an old dinosaur), so don`t need to learn it all again fifty years on. Videos like this are fantastic for those who WANT to recreate things as they once existed, and remind grumpy old men like myself that we`re not totally alone or just a dying breed of outmoded fuddy-duddies hehe :-)

Many points of agreement with you after nearly 50 years wargaming. The mentality of th elast 20 years or so is to make money from wargaming. People with money came to wargaming.Now a generation or two are used to buy everything and areoften not interested in history or war. Teenagers money drives this. Those teenagers got older..need more fixes delivered. In my opinion this grew a new hobby area.Now anyone thinks they can make money from gaming right from the start. Wargaming - kriegspiel , not board games with figures on a table - remains and is still a minority in the gaming industry. Maps, organisation, personalities, technical details all feed into writing your own rules or modifying existing ones. It is a project beyond many gaming consumers. But it is nice to try and coach some of them on.

👍 Loved the video! Thank you , you said what I have not been able to so eloquently-THANK YOU! I am so glad someone else feels the same way I do! You are AWSOME SIR! Love the chanel and keep up the great job!

Donald Featherstone is the giant upon whose broad shoulders almost everyone stands.

I can respect what hes saying what works for him. We don't need everything new that comes out. But you simply can't ignore the hobby itself just because you bought the core book to something. The games are being supported through the manufacturer because yes they'd like to make some money but also hobby games are supposed to provide an ongoing thing. It's not monopoly where it's one and done and let me just add an extra house rule of throwing an extra 200 dollars when you land on free parking. Its an ever growing thing. If you want that through your own creation then go ahead, if you want it through purchasing something that may fit what you want out of it then go ahead. Nothing wrong with any of the two options we have for expansion.

You make some excellent points about what the "mainstream" of wargaming has become. However, I feel that it would be far better exemplified if you dug back just a little further to the 1960's some of the real innovators such as Don Featherstone, Jack Scruby and John Tunstill amognst others - my mentors when I first discovere "proper " wargames. Back in those days , at best you could get some bits of terrain via railway modelling, but as for actual troops metal models were far too expensive so it was Airix for whatever you needed, armed with a trusty craft knife, plasticene and glue you converted everything to suit the period you needed. It is those same early skills I love using today. However, it is also far too easy to simply put down the money and get a ready made army (armies). The great joy of this hooby is tha balancing act between doing it yourself and giving in to the addiction of more plastic or metal.

Still have my ancient copies of Chainmail (with the first Fantasy supplement), the original "cllector's edition of the 3-booklet boxed set of D&D. and the box-set of Tractics, all mail-ordered from Don Lowry's, and the Lake Geneva crew!

Interesting my 17 yr old started about 3 years ago with 5th Ed dnd. He and his friends create their own worlds and adventures, using the rules and character building rules. I would say they play it somewhat like you’re saying. He’s more interested in the ideas for monsters and other things to get ideas on building out some of his own stuff. The “pretty” art is a draw but they do the work. It’s been interesting watching his journey.

Had to laugh at the thought of someone buying all the merchandise in order to appear to be a "cool miniatures wargamer" I spent most of my youth concealing the fact from those not in the hobby. It was definitely NOT cool back then. 😄

I started with WWII using 1/72 plastic figures then Napoleonic's in the same scale. Next came Chainmail with the fantasy supplement which lead to D&D. All of it was DIY. D&D or AD&D grew and some game modules were bought and used later on, but the majority of the years I played D&D it was mainly imagination that made it fun. Imagination and good friends who were willing to buy into it and add their own contributions to the mix.

The most important video I have found on youtube. Glad I stumbled on this channel.

Disposable Entertainment - Invented by Red and the boys at Spacegamer Magazine. A fresh new game in every issue. Can't believe the Price for Issue #2 Nov/Dec 1992 anymore.

Explains why I keep dragging out my old GHQ miniatures that my son and I painted and all the hex terrain I created. I have so much invested in it. Thanks for the thoughts. BTW: please say "blander" instead of "more bland." This is something else we're losing: the comparative suffix.

I love everything that you’re saying in this video all of my war games that I have made all six of them have been made with my own pieces and making it by hand

Ive been working on a weirdo skirmish game and I was begining to feel angst about how necessary the work I was doing was, this video was exactly what I needed to hear hahah

I'm the creator of the Panzergranate WW2 wargames rules, for 6mm., 15mm. and 20mm. I first published the rules back in 1997, but their origin dates back to the 1981 WW2 house rules that I devised for the WW2 group of the South Dorset Military Society wargaming club. They are still the most technically accurate wargames rules, when dealing with anti-tank weaponry versus AFVs, but this took me decades of research trawling through range test data for hundreds of WW2 AT weapons and munition types. The rules are still fast playing and 10 to 15 turns per hour in a game with a tank platoon and two platoons of infantry per side, is the average playing speed. It's not anywhere as slow to play as Rapid Fire, Tactical Commander, etc. The ground scale is 1 to 1 and each game turn is represents 13.2 seconds of action. This makes 5 game turns represent approximately 1 minute of action. There's no unrealistic gimmicks such as command or activation points or throwing a D6 to see if an infantry unit have noticed the enemy tank 10 metres away, hiding behind a telegraph pole (Tactical Commander). AT combat is summed up as throwing a D12 (with modifiers) to hit a target AFV. Throwing a D12 for the hit location. Throwing percentile dices (with angled/sloped/oblique armour gouging loss modifiers, taken from actual range test reports) and consulting the actual penetration % probability tables for that weapon & munition type (taken from actual range test reports), to judge whether the shot bounced or penetrated. If the target AFV is indeed penetrated, depending on the munition type and a turret or hull hit, a D12 is rolled to determine the damage inflicted. Regardless of the outcome, if the target AFV somehow survives a penetrating hot, it is required to take a comprehensive morale test at the end of the game turn. This morale test can cause a crew to retreat or abandon a crippled and/or partially decrewed AFV rather than fight on to the death. This one feature causes AFVs to behave in a way that mimics historical after battle reports. Since 1997, I've revised the Panzergranate WW2 rules a few times. I've had to add in the German wire guided XT-7 AT missile, after buying an SHQ model of a 3 man XT-7 WGAT missile team. After researching its range test and after battle reports, I ended up devoting a whole page of rules & operating conditions to it. Basically, it cannot be launched over hedges, bushes or any other potential wire snagging obstacles. It also suffers from operator error as range increases, due to the human eyes losing stereoscopic ability, over a few hundred yards (the operator doesn't realise that the missile has already passed over the target).

Great video, watched it after going through your solo campaign series while sitting at the kitchen planning my own DIY campaign, not had so much fun with wargaming for years. I’ve always build my own bits of rules, or settings or add ons but always (foolishly) felt a bit of a sham thinking I wasn’t a proper wargamer as I couldn’t keep up with the need for the latest or greatest. This has tweaked my thinking.. and having a load more fun as a result.Thanks!

I started playing D&D in the eighties before I played any wargames, but in college when I started playing Avalon Hill and GMT tabletop wargames, i realized what had truly appealed to me from D&D was the aspects of it that had been influenced by its wargaming roots. It is disappointing to me to see the current generation playing D&D like drama students doing improv. It is getting ever so close to LARPing. I have been trying to bring tabletop adventure games such as D&D back to its wargaming roots.

This is a beautiful video. "You slap down the $75 and what?" Says nothing. Shows clean, empty hand.

Builders not wasters become even more true when you see the fantastic terrain pieces people create out of random household items. World building is a big part of the fun of miniature gaming for me. Sure a quick game of having these little guys shoot at these other little guys is fun, but to create the narrative as to why they are shooting at each other is as fun as rolling the dice.

Your remarks about being a builder and not a waster resonated with me. Grand Strategy Wargames and Miniatures Wargames have always been for builders, and I would include RPGs as well, at least for Game Masters. You have to be a builder to be a GM. I have been a hardcore gamer for about 40 years now, and I've gamed all over the world with all kinds of people. I always like to look under the hood and tinker with the game engine to make a better game. Even a simple game like Risk or Axis & Allies can be tinkered with, and made into a new and better game. And that is how you tell if a person is a builder or a consumer. If they tinker with the game engine, they are a builder.

Still roaming your older videos. 😉 Basically I agree. The pressure to consume sometimes leads to bizarre things. People are quicker to buy systems than play them. It is said that many more books for 5E are sold than there are players, so you're right in this. An important thing, especially now before Christmas... Started to clear off my pile of shame in 2019 and it works. ☺

I've been watching (but mostly just listening to) your videos for the last few days whilst I've been painting and at this point I have to comment. I really like your sense of humor and the way you think. I'm pretty sure you are the "realest" wargamer I've found on this site and also the realest person. Many people either don't see or don't want to admit it, but many things are getting more and more watered down. Just look at gaming in general. Ghost Recon (2001) was a literal simulator, now in the new Ghost Recons you play as a Rambo kinda guy, running around and nothing matters anymore. My personal experience with wargaming has been short, but really enlightening. I've played 1 battle of 8th edition 40K against a friend. 2000 points of borrowed units from a gaming group. Good guys, they've helped us with the rules and it was an ok time. Never again. After a little more research I've realized, that this is "war" gaming. In actual war you never have perfectly balanced sides. In war you have assaults where the attacker outnumbers the defender. In modern combat it's usually not even an actual war, more like a few well equipped guys and some sneaky guys trying to mess with each other. In these "war" games the actual strategy has minimal impact. You just get to roll 10 dice, "look how cool it is when you roll 10 dice for a single attack!" and then the whole attack is negated by some magic "invulnerable save" or whatever. I want to see something real, something unfair, something that no one expected, but still makes total sense! I've came up with my own system for sci-fi, but it didn't feel right. I've came up with a different system for WW2 and it was better, but not good enough. Now after I've realized, that my Euroboi, gun license is going to get delayed for another 3 months, I've decided to revisit this wargaming thing, to pass the time. (And I'm not one of those Olympic airgun shooters, just to be clear. They have some really weird techniques, it's a little disturbing . . .) So I have a new system for modern combat. It's not finished, but it already seems a lot more streamlined than my earlier attempts I've had and it puts a lot more emphasis on tactical decisions and on how you handle complex situations, than anything else I've seen. (Maybe I'm just too new in the hobby, but who knows?) Then I saw your solo campaigns and it just hit me. Yeah, these rules will be solid, but a campaign with (sometimes unfair) random events, med-evacs, support options and the overall "big picture" will just put the last pieces into their places. I know you've been thinking about doing some modern combat, so it would be an honor if you would join me in a long distance co-op campaign in the near future. Something where the Russians invade a fictional middle eastern country, because they are trying to obtain nuclear or chemical weapons? Something asymmetric with 80s Soviet-Afghan vibes? What do you think? And sorry about the wall of text, this is why I rarely comment.

IMO. It’s a game take as seriously as you want, don’t want to waste the money on expensive sets then don’t buy them, don’t have the time or resources to build it yourself, or you just flat out don’t want to, then don’t build them. Don’t have a rule set? Screw it make it up as you along. That has always been my favorite part of the hobby, the accessibility to not have to do things just one way. Also why are we ignoring the fact he has a printed version of I’m assuming is a pdf. Please! Where did you find that!

Truly excellent video thank you for inspiring me all over again with thoughts I already felt very strongly about. Its nice to hear others taking about things I already believe wholeheartedly.

Fantastic videos. Such a brilliant take and I appreciate your thoughts.

Interesting video. I can't say I agree with every part of it, but I understand the underlying thesis. As a role-player on/off for 30+ years and a wargamer for an equally long time...and a rules writer for the past 10-ish years, I think we're in a great spot for wargaming. However...I know precisely the consumer/customers you're speaking of. In both role-playing (D&D), and tabletop wargaming (Warhammer franchises), you have a huge new wealth of people who are just vapid consumers...almost fanbois vs. actual players. I see it in both circles locally. People who buy every single item...talk about X constantly. They argue about X, post memes about X, they complain about release for X, argue the meta for X, anticipate upcoming products for X....but they very rarely, if ever, play X. The game itself (and the hobby component) are secondary to the 'lifestyle' approach to the game. I admit I don't consider these people as actual "wargamers" or actual role-players. They tend to flit in and out of the hobby quite easily, always moving onto the next thing, etc. These are the people I find with the largest "lead mountains", the huge bookshelves full of books that are made irrelevant 3-4 years later when the next edition of X is released. They don't paint miniatures, nor terrain, but they'll buy a $120 set of metal dice for the game they don't play. These same people won't be playing/pretending-to-play games 10-15 years from now. So in that regard, I understand your argument. I do not disagree. However, I don't sculpt my own miniatures, nor do I build my own terrain (when I can avoid it). I'm more than happy to buy terrain from other companies (though I do actually build and paint it...unlike many folks). I average around 200 miniatures a year painted, and a table or two of terrain. I'm absolutely fine buying digitally sculpted miniatures, or nice MDF terrain, 3D printed scatter terrain, or nice neoprene mats. As a wargamer, I've never felt the market was more fantastic than it is now - including rule sets for games. There are heaps of non-corporate games which are excellent (and some which are just okay...or downright bad!). I'm not making a living writing and selling my own games...it's just hobby money that gets recycled into miniatures or ordering more test-copies of my own games. In short, I think it's a great time to be a real wargamer, and there are plenty of non-corporate solutions out there to having fun...but yes you will be dealing with a large population of "lowest common denominator" gamers. At the very least you can lead a few into the light...

Based. Lots of great truth nuggets in this video. Consuming is not playing/creating!

I really enjoyed your point of view here. Thanks for what you do, friend.

Excellent video. Thank you for making the poignant reminders about lead mountains.

What a breath of fresh air, calling 5e an art book, OUCH, yet accurate ..

Some very interesting points. We have very much been producers and will remain so always trying to develop new ideas and create. Not a fan myself of corporate games of war but that’s our choice. Could write an essay on this and also the games of war vs wargames aspect too.

Interesting to hear your thoughts. As time goes by, I want to do more of it for myself. I sometimes take the view that I’ll throw money at something because I want it on table in a timeframe that I can’t build it in. However, I invariably find myself replacing the item when I have time. Far more satisfying to make and paint your own kit.

Wonderful to hear you nail your colours to the mast so eloquently. Family circumstances have kept me from being involved in the hobby for most of the last 37 years or so since drooling over the hand drawn citadel catalogues. By gamers, for gamers. I even attended an open day at the factory. We were fed and watered as part of the admission price. No one was ripping anyone off in those days. How things changed! I feel much better about my painting and dismal efforts at scenery, campaign creation, basing etc., reading this. It has to be about your own creative endeavour; not being spoon fed someone else's.

It was good to revisit this video after a few years. Unfortunately I think the general laziness and lack of creativity in the hobby has gotten worse, as “wargaming” in most of the US is basically just Warhammer/Games Workshop. I am afraid that outside of being able to run convention games in the future I will never find other like-minded players that want to do interesting historical gaming.

I've been into roleplaying longer then I have at wargaming (11 years versus 4 or so), but your points ring true all the same. I got started with D&D in college but got my hands on the excellent Stars Without Number by Kevin Crawford. He's produced a lot of games now, but they always feature a lovingly verbose amount of random tables so that *you* as a GM can get inspiration sparked from the results you get...not because they're handed to you on some platter! It's helped keep my imagination going strong and always coming up with something fresh to throw at my players.

Forgot to say - have you seen the Battlefields in Miniature: Making Realistic and Effective Terrain for Wargames book? Lots of plans and aids for building everything from bridges to great halls...

Have we lost our ability to imagine things now and need to be spoon fed the whole environment? Do we wish to have a greater quality than we can make ourselves? Are these mutually incompatible or just different facets of the hobby? If the gloss leads to a life long interest, does it matter?

I could talk about war games all day

I'm 43years old, just now starting to educate myself in DnD. I...think I like 0dnd better than dnd 5e... I like the way characters are made, I like that you needed to make EVERYTHING. Thanks for the education in this video.

Thank you for this. Very inspiring.

Hit the nail on the frickin head.

Thoughtful exposition on your view and I basically concur. Without going into a Biography I am a wargamer, I have a blog and I associate with a few like-minded individuals. The hobby is a very broad church from board gamers to rule writers, builders and painters to historical researchers and experimenters. I may be that we are assailed from time to time by 'corporates' but we must hold our nerve and outlast them. They will come and go...we stay. There are however advantages even in the throes of corporatism, for want of a more accurate term. EG. We are living through a veritable figure and scale golden age. Just look at Plastic Soldier Review. They can be made to be an extra and unknowing string to our bows. Keep up the good work brother.

I remember doing mail order from Lowry Hobbies

That's a lot of wisdom bombs in one video. Hats off to you sir.

Hate miniature wargames "in a box". I never liked the idea of being forced to a corporate environment like with GW wargames. I was drawn to games like De Bellis Antiquitatis, Song of Blades and Heroes, Osprey Games. A single book, no dedicated models (if your model can fit only one game - it is worthless), and a new edition comming up like in 10 years, when there is something significant to add that came up after years of playtesting and brainstorming. I want the game experience to be customized by me, not a corporation that customizes the game for profit. This should be a hobby based on crafting, not a passive passtime like watching TV.

Be the Gygax. Nice

Well at least we got Fantasy Trip back.

Glad to find this video

I’ve tried five core (wwii obviously) but have struggled to catch the groove with it

You really should look at some fo the older writers of wargames rules. They are much more influentual on things like Warhammer. Gygax is a bit later than people like Donald Featherstone, Charles Grant, and Tony Bath. Tony Bath's Ancient Wargaming which you can find on the History of Wargaming project are especially good. It may be that I am coming from a more British take on the hobby.

Am new to this "wargaming" universe, got there in a rabbit hole (was looking for the first edition of D&D to understand the influence it had over the firsts cRPG on Plato, Apple II, etc.). I found chainmail and while I've heard about "miniature wargames" before, only now I've started to read some rules. What would you recommend for a total beginner to get a starting point in this (some book, systems, anything)? Would Chainmail be a good one or there is a better option (talking about pre-D&D stuff mostly)?

But I don't like painting miniatures. :-(

I am one minute into your video, and I must disagree. The hobby consists of two sides. The builders were encouraged by their success and therefore continued to improve and produce. If they didn't have a consumer to sell to, they may have moved on to something more lucrative, if only to feed themselves. Some people have other careers or for personal reasons don't want to create their own ruleset. Why can't we all just get along?

But still hire an editor, or learn to edit.

I've really enjoyed your cannel since I found it but I do not agree with this video at all by saying that all other games are just derivative trash. You bring up Five Parsecs and I love that game Ivan did a great job with it but now he's sold it to Modiphius Games (and it has a much larger production team) does that mean it is now just watered down trash. I would say no I think it may be in a better place with more accessibility to a larger crowd then it would of ever had before. Also some people work 60+ hours a week and when they want to get a game in they may not want to spend two days hand building the terrain to populate their tables. Especially if there is stuff put out from a company that fits what your looking for. Why reinvent the wheel if someone else is giving you what you need. If you cant find what you want sure build it your self. I have and some times it looks good and some time it's not what I was trying to represent and I start again. But not everyone is interested in that. Heck I have one brother who wants to scratchbuild all his terrain and another who just want the escape of getting a game in during his off time and would rather the table be ready for him when he gets home. Does that make him any less of a wargamer? Anyway I do like your channel I love many of the Ideas you have and enjoy your campaigns so keep up the good work. I look forward to more campaign games as there is always something in them that impresses me and gets my creative juices flowing.