Miniature Wargames: The Social Benefit

"So what do I need to start?" the twelve year boy old asks, a glee in his eyes all too familiar to those who are the life blood of the hobby.  The child’s mother, looking less interested in the answer then her son, has an eye and ear on the alert for the information that would answer the question that’s on her mind: How much does it cost?

"There only one box that you actually need to get started, but there’s a second that I very highly recommend." The Games Workshop employee answered, his arm moving as if it has a will of it’s own, reaching for a large box on the wall behind him.

"This is the 'Assault on Black Reach' starter set. It comes with two complete armies; Orks and Space Marines, the basic rule book, and all the dice and templates you need. It’s $75. The second box that I mentioned is this one." The employees's arm again moving with-out him looking to guide it.

"This is the hobby starter set. It comes with a small selection of paints, a pair of model clippers, plastic glue, basing flock and a paint brush. That’s  all the tools that you willneed to assemble and paint the models in this box." He explained, pointing to the Assault on Black Reach box.

"How much is that one?" The mother asks, her sons already examining the contents list of the Assault on Black Reach box.

"The hobby starter set is $49.50, ma'am." The employee responds.

$75 + $49.50 = $124.50 flashes through the mothers' mind. Her first reaction was to recoil at the mention of such a price. It was clear that her son was enthralled with the idea of building these little plastic figures and that he would make a major scene if she were to forcibly removes him from the store.

With a start up cost of $125, many people initially see purchasing the materials to begin in the hobby to be a poor investment. And indeed, on the strictly one time purchase, $125 is a hefty investment unlikely to recoup its’ cost. But lets compare a couple things real quick:

 Those are the average start up costs for game consols. Anywhere from $350 to $540! And even then, you'll play the games three to four times on average. Then what? Ya buy another game, for $35 to $60. You play that game 3 or four times, and ya go buy another game.

But the Warhammer hobby is about more than simply assembling one model and then buying another model. It is a social hobby. To participate in the hobby, you have to interact with other people. You can’t play against yourself, you need another player. Much different from the investment of $300 to $500 in a video game consul, where you pay $50 per game that you may three or four times and then forget it exists, the Warhammer Hobby is one where the more you put into it the more you get back.

I myself am a member of a Warhammer games club known as ‘Big Gunz D.C.’. With in the group we have a program known as “Young Gunz” where a veteran hobbyist takes on a mentor role to a younger hobbyist, typically they are 15 years old or younger. The veteran’s job is to answer the younger hobbyist’s questions and teach him about the hobby. However, we teach them less about the hobby as a game, and more about the hobby as social environment. While we may develop fierce rivalries with opponents, we make it a point to always keep it friendly. We teach sportsman ship over “win at all cost”.

I had a Young Gunz apprentice, his name was John and at the time he was about 13 years old. The thing John really wanted to learn from me was conversions though, and I was only too happy to teach him.

I made it a point to teach him safety with his tools, proper care and maintenance of his tools, and a variety of different tricks about how to work with the models. I later learned from his mother that she and John had moved to Virginia from California to get away from an abusive father and that she wanted John to be involved in the hobby as it offered him positive male role models.

Having been told that I felt both a great honor and tremendous burden had been placed on my shoulders. Now I was more than just a mentor, I was a role model.  With his mother’s permission, I began asking to see John’s report card from school. Where I was able, I helped him with his school work, and in so doing reminded him that Warhammer is a game and that school must come first.

As the close of the school year came, I noticed that John’s math grades were starting to slip. I sat down with his mother and we came to the same conclusion. John was spending more time working on his Warhammer miniatures then he was his school work. With 1 interim report, and the final report card to go before the end of the school year, I gave John his ultimatum. His current grade in math was D. He had until the final report card to bring it up to a C. If he failed, he was to turn over his Warhammer materials to me for the summer, during which he would study in preparation for the next year.

John worked hard and gave it a very honest effort. I arranged for other members of Big Gunz D.C. to work with him as tutors and study aides. We cut his Warhammer time down to 2 days a week, which worked out to be Saturday and Sunday, with the rest of the week being reserved for his school work.

June 16th. Schools let out the 14th that year and I knew John’s report card was on it’s way. When it came in, John called to tell me it was in. Thanks to his mother I already knew what his grade. I told him to get down to the Games Workshop we normally met at as soon as could. Twenty minutes later he and his mother came in and I presented him with a $50 gift card for his accomplishment, he had pulled his grade up from a mid-D to a High C+, only 1 point shy off a B.

As with anything else miniature war gaming, when taken to extremes where the participants sacrifice for the game it will be a self destructive Endeavour. Warhammer 40,000 in particular can lead to this sort of behavior due to its’ popularity. It a matter of some pride to point out how the veteran hobbyists are wizened enough to help guide the younger participants down paths where they are able to enjoy the game, but keep it to a safe level of participation and keep an objective eye about it.