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We all know that we're wargamers; we spend a bit too much money on toy soldiers. We spend a lot of time painting them, sculpting them, writing army lists, and making them shoot each other. Some of us even make scenery for them to fight over , and reams of backstory to explain why they're fighting. We have fun doing it, but it can look a little... pointless from the outside.

What I want to discuss in this thread is the skills that we have gained from wargaming that we use in the rest of our lives. For example, I work as a cake sculptor and decorator; I do off the wall projects for alternative weddings and celebrations. I would be much worse at sculpting and painting little flowers in icing if I did not also spend my free time sculpting and painting plastic men in my free time. Like this:

http://stuff-face.tumblr.com/post/43239485047/yetanotherstudent-now-the-icing-is-dry-and-its

As a side note, this game is now the only thing keeping my ability to do maths functional, even at a relatively low level.

So what do you reckon Dakka, how has wargaming improved your ability to function as a real world human being?

I swear we had a similar thread to this a few months ago but I suppose I'll bite. Wargaming has made me pretty good with a scalpel.

 Corpsesarefun wrote:
Wargaming has made me pretty good with a scalpel.

So have my other hobbies. But I'm not allowed to talk about those.

Not 40k specific, but a lot of historical war/board games help with geography. Risk, Axis & Allies, etc. When you’ve fought over every theater of operations, you tend to learn where they are.

A solid grasp of probability and statistics is another off-shoot of chucking dice around. Some practical applications of that in the real world.

You learn a lot of history if you read up about the background of historicals.

Yeah, I posted a thread like this before asking for help.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/561653.page
In the end i put down it gave me an eye for detail, to never give up and that no matter what, women will not like you

In your line of work or similar, then yes. You can prove the skills that you have and show what you can do. Any thing else I can't see it have a major bearing on anything as most employers will want a qualification.

Take historical s for example, all that proves is you know dates and facts, it doesn't mean that you can write up a suitable paper on it. There's more to it than that, which is what a qualification is supposed to prove. Does anything a gamer do actually mean anything to a mainstream employer?

I don't think I'd ever dare mention wargaming on something that I was submitting to a potential employer. Though all of the people who work with me wargame in some capacity or another.

Hotsauceman: did you get into college?

I suppose you could say it enhances your creativity. For example, all the 40k books that I have read have had a profound impact on the way I write. All that gravitas and intense fluff have added more layers to my literary skills.

The historical aspect is there also. I recently had a history exam in my university where we had to label a European map around the time of the Roman Republic and those wargames sure helped there!

Looking at the big picture though it really depends on whether the skills you gained from hobbying are really applicable. As a cake decorator I can certainly see how that would be a transferable skill but there are a plethora of other jobs out there where your little toy soldiers 'aint going to be of much use in real life!

The tedious painting and sculpting of models convinced my boss that my attention to detail deserved to be rewarded with a promotion in the company. I'm now the CEO's #2. If anyone makes a poop joke, I will hurt you.

Also used Beastmen/Dark Elf monsters to teach Greek mythology back when I was substitute/student teaching.

I've found it to be a useful skill.

In before TFG that thinks that wargaming makes him some sort of expert tactician/strategist.

As for historicals, it depends on what kind of historical gaming you're talking about. I know some who research battles meticulously down to very exacting detail so they can attempt to recreate them as accurately as possible. Surely that has several relevant skills associated with it.

Kinda OT but not.

Playing 40k has shown me something that i can do without getting addicted, obsessed and competitive over. It's fun, not to win for once.

I get a good sense of achievement with having a well painted (to my standard), and modelled army on the board. Not struggling to hide an ego or ignore someone else's is very refreshing to me.