Mission
Our stated constitutional purpose is “to promote miniature figurines tabletop wargaming in the state of Western Australia”.
What is wargaming?
Wargaming as a hobby has been around for a long time. Games like Chess and Mahjong can be considered forms of wargaming. However in its present form our hobby has been popular since the 1950’s. Wargaming is an attempt to recreate on the tabletop all the drama and dash of historic encounters, but set as an intellectual challenge between two or more opponents rather than a clash of steel.
Some of the essential ingredients of our hobby are a keen interest in military history, a love of miniature figurines and an enjoyment of friendly competition.
Military History
Most wargamers enjoy the pomp and display of military panoply … whether it is a love of Greek warriors resplendent in plumed helmet and painted shield, or the gaudy chocolate box appearance of one of Napoleon’s Grenadier Guardsmen. Couple this with a desire to know how and why men of past ages saw fit to combat one another and you have the genesis of a wargamer.
Miniature Figurines & Modelling
The visual appeal of a wargame is the cornerstone of the hobby. To see a table that accurately reflects in miniature a historic battlefield … or even a futuristic or fantasy one …and then crowd that table with beautiful models of the men and you have a germ of understanding of what wargamers are about. Researching accurately the uniforms and equipment used and modelling the figures and terrain features is an absorbing part of the hobby. We just like playing with toy soldiers!
Friendly Competition
Once the troops and terrain have been prepared the gaming begins! A wargame is essentially a game, like Chess or Monopoly, where opponents pit their wits against each other. Some rules define the minutiae of tactical formations and troop types while others rely on the ‘feel’ of the period. Whatever your temperament, there is a set of rules to suit you.
No wargame would be complete though without that element of luck that seemed to characterize almost every conflict throughout the ages. This is most often resolved in a game by a roll of the dice. The dice roll provides the ‘edge’ to keep a game exciting and at a nail biting tempo to the very end … or is it actually the competitive nature of wargamers being undone by a poor dice roll that keeps things on the edge?
