I was pondering on this in bed the other day - if this can be said of wargaming where various arts come to together to create a totality. The art of design, the art of scenic modelling, the art of painting and the art of rule writing. . What prompted this musing was the total work of art that is Mark’s Little Soldiers where a total aesthetic is seen through from concept to table top. Another example , which I follow but cannot lay my hands on is a chap who has created a science fiction/ rogue trader settlement in painstaking detail such as posters, graffiti and scenery not to mention the figures or buildings themselves.
Comments please, what do you think?
Haven't heard the term before, but German is certainly expressive enough for it!
ReplyDeleteYes, I can get with this. To an extent, you can see this theory in Games Workshop, at least in the way that John Blanche's art informs everything in Warhammer 40K. There are plenty of articles out there about how the rules-writers, fluff-writers, artists and sculptors feed off each other. It's not as obvious as it used to be now GW is a giant of the industry. To an extent, you need a small in-house group or a single creator to get that feedback loop.
I could see the old Major General Tremorden Rederring's site in this light too. A background inspired by history but with lots of levity, inspiring rules, conversions and terrain which in turn inspire ideas for the other elements. And all together in a shared universe. I think it is that shared universe that is required. Very British Civil War is another one, though not quite as coherent.
Yes I think wargaming is an art form .
ReplyDeleteI think it's especially prevalent in "Imagi-Nations" which of course Mark's Little Soldiers is an example ; depending on the depth to which you go in creating an imaginary world, I think it can easily become an art form. Think Hyboria by Tony Bath or Charles Grant's VFS with its characterisation and mapping of places, creating regiments to match the background. At the boom of such things, when it became something of a fad, there were pale imitations which probably don't merit the term, but these have tended to disappear.
ReplyDeleteI'm also reminded of an American who created an art project involving lots of 1/32 and 1/35 models with "army men" in his extensive land, leaving them out throughout the seasons. Cannot recall the name.
Neil
Neil Patterson,
DeleteI think that you are referring to Peter Shulman (http://www.peterswar.com/index.htm) who ran an outdoor wargame for many years (65 or more, I understand) until he became too disabled to continue.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks Bob, that's the site I was thinking of.
DeleteNeil
Tradgardmastare,
ReplyDeleteI've never heard this German portmanteau word before ... but it sums up a lot of hobby wargaming. As I discovered recently, a large number of hobby wargamers are also model railway enthusiasts, if not owners of model railways, as they see the aesthetic aspect of model railway modelling as something that they want to emulate on their wargames table. When you add in the skills many wargamers display when it comes to painting their figures, model vehicles, and buildings, you often see artistic talent that many amateur painters would envy. Then there is the imaginative aspect of writing one's scenarios and backstories, something that is especially true in the part of the hobby that enjoys speculative or imagi-nation wargaming. If you add in the thinking and creativeness that goes into writing the rules that we use, wargaming becomes a hobby that embraces both the arts and the sciences (well, mathematics and statistics at least!) and is a total package.
All the best,
Bob
As a wargamer and a railway modeller I think the appeal of both hobbies is their wide embrace: research, modelling, painting, design of a layout as a cohesive whole or in designing a game or campaign which creates (imagi-nation) or recreates (historical) a setting which is believable. Possibly an English equivalent would be an 'immersive experience'.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds very painful, but then German is a very violent language. I think a lot of older wargamers embraced this concept over the years without realising they were actually doing it.Its just another wonderful facet of our hobby.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd nominate Bruce Weigle, the '1870' rules guy, his terrain layouts for large battles with 6mm figures look amazing, I think I saw one at 'Colours' before the pandemic.But I'd agree the 'Toy Soldier' look with stylised terrain is another great approach to the same thing - the trick is to have a coherent 'look and feel'. Given my painting/modelling skills, I am happy to 'keep it simple'!
ReplyDeleteI think our gaming hobby is an uninteresting mix of paint related Science and Art (and design tech making skills, History, Geography, Logistics ...) When you also consider the cultural influences of the period music you listen too or podcasts whilst painting, the influence or inspiration of books, TV and film, photo research etc etc it is a gesamkunstwerk ...
ReplyDeleteTo quote myself this morning on the Little Wars Revisited forum Woking Games day write ups.
“For me too, Researching and converting or making the figures is all part of the fun. Quote from Featherstone that I have on my Man Of TIN website:
“The pleasure does not begin and end with the actual playing of the war-game. There are many pleasant hours to be spent in making model soldiers, painting them, constructing terrain, carrying out research into battles, tactics and uniforms ..." Donald Featherstone, War Games 1962
It’s almost like preparing for local panto or the school play etc. Rackety theatricals of the concert party, one pace forward!
First you have ‘casting’ the characters.
Then researching and preparing all the costumes, scenery, rules and scenario (Script).
A performance or two ... followed by the “reviews” or games reports.
After taking your production on tour (gaming shows) there is the anticlimax afterwards, lack of mojo etc.
This is solved only by and starting working on the next project / production.
(Is the panto / school play / play metaphor / comparison to toy soldier gaming wearing or stretching thin here?)
No surprise however that Wells and lots of his writer friends / toy soldier enthusiasts also enjoyed toy theatre.
manoftinblog.wordpress.com/h-g-wells-little-wars-floor-games-toy-theatres-and-magic-cities/
manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/12/penny-plain-and-tuppence-coloured-rls-the-toy-theatre-of-war-and-early-wargaming/
Thread quote https://littlewarsrevisited.boards.net/thread/1020/woking-games-day-2023-report?page=2&scrollTo=8469
Sorry, maybe that first line should read “an interesting mix ...”, very far from “uninteresting”!
DeleteThis is pretty much what I used to present when explaining what 'wargaming' was to the uninitiated (e.g. The City, Investors, etc) but it was also useful when trying to hold onto the core concepts at Games Workshop once the company grew to a point where many of our staff weren't traditional wargamers. In addition, I would include the social element - which is to say the mutual understanding that creates a 'club' of like-minded individuals, and which can form the basis for friendships, often life-long in many cases. The social interaction may be part of those other things - i.e. crafting, painting, researching, intellectual competitiveness and rule-writing - but I always think of it as key.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of wargaming that way, bit it sure makes a lot of sense. Esp when you try to achieve the perfect blend between social game, visuals, rules, (historical) background, overall look-and feel. When everything "matches" it becomes the perfect wargame, in which all these elements reinforce each other.
ReplyDeleteI think that the commercialization of wargaming (play a game out of the box) has diminished this notion of gesamtkunstwerk somewhat. The modern wargamer does not create, the modern wargamer rather consumes.