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Well, I recently began my application to join the British Army as a Tank Crewman, and in doing so my brother (who has recently finished selection) began to go on about how the hobby is ridiculed and scoffed at in the Army. As an avid hobbyist I just want to know if there's any merit to what he's saying. How big is the hobby in the Armed forces, and not just those of Britain.


LazzurusMan

I guess it'll be just like everywhere else. You'll have your active haters, passive accepters and fellow hobbyists.

In my experiance, people fall into one of those 3 groups (regardless of the context - universite friends, work friends etc.)

I don't have personal experience of being in the forces but I have a lot of friends that do and the majority of them are gamers.

I know that it's pretty common to drag your paints and minis with you when on tour although obviously you are very restricted by how much you can take with you.

And in terms of the gaming itself I don't think it will be scoffed at any more that it would be in any other form of life, that is to say yes people will probably take the mick, but I think the majority of personnel will be pretty interested.

Got a mate who is an ex tankie and played whilst serving. I also sold my German Rules of Engagement force to s serving member, so treat it like life in general. There will be people who like it and others who don't.

My colleague, a former radio operator with the army, got into the hobby while he was on tour.

Sounds like your brother is your atypical armed forces macho chest beater. Disregard his hate and do what you enjoy. In the American armed forces at least you need something to do in your downtime and take your mind off things, 40k,Warmahoards and the like a rather common and considering its even more commonplace in the UK, I think you will be fine.

Im in the army and I play wargames on a weekly(ish) basis in my office with one of the guys from my unit and I keep some of my stuff on 'display' next to my desk.The army is rammed full of geeks, possibly more so than civvies. I also spend my downtime on ops painting toy soldiers.

There is a bit of banter but thats all there is really.

There's always a lot of talk about shipping to bases whenever GW's embargo gets changed.
The Middle-East bases seem to see a lot of GW stuff being sent out there, so someone there must be playing.

I know several members of the armed forces who Wargame. There are even official forces gaming societies.

There may well be a few squaddies who scoff in much the same was as you get people in regular life who scoff, but the idea that the forces in particular have distain for hobbyists just isn’t true in my experience.

LuciusAR's avatar puts it into perspective. You will have those guys and then you will have your buddies that will glue a mini to the inside of the tank just to have their stuff always with them.

Ce la vie, everyone has a moment when they look at what someone else is doing and go "That guy is a tosser." Then you go back to your hobby and forget about it.

 LuciusAR wrote:
There are even official forces gaming societies.

There is only 1 at the moment, the RAF wargames society. There are a few 'military' clubs in garrisons though.

I've even seen Space Marines used on a foamboard mockup of the inside of a ship to show how the teams should move when searching for intruders. It was just like Space Hulk.

I painted a Dark Elf army in my hooch while deployed to the Sandbox. No one ever said anything negative to me about it. I'd have the wife send me a box I'd paint them and they would pass another box on the way home. Did have an issue with the sand basing. Seems customs was not too happy about that.

I live in a large town with an air force base about 30 minutes away, and I swear >50% of the people I play work there.

Thanks for all your replies guys, giving me a much better view of it all!

I'm a former US marine. I first discovered the game while deployed to Okinawa. Some of the guys in the unit would play in the barracks, and I would watch their games. I didn't start playing until I got out, but don't recall anyone having anything negative to say about the dudes who did.

Plenty of military gamers out there. General advice would be keep it quiet during phase 1&2 training (you do not want to be known as the warhammer guy, you want to be the quiet man).
My own experience is that the Scaleybacks and Green Slime have highest number of players (there is active club in Chicksands and bland ford).
Try posting on Arrse too to see who else plays.

Nobody in the Royal Marines said anything derogatory about it, we often made models too, basic ones in the field, and really detailed ones at camp. I actually made an awesome foam core, putty and airbrushed relief model of Helmand Province and was lauded by the entire unit for my efforts, in fact, we took it to Helmand and everyone at Camp Bastion sucked me off when they saw it.

It took pride of place in the OPS room there, Ill put money they still use it as well.

Anyway, I think anyone with any tactical acumen or an IQ above 65 will realize that it is a worthwhile hobby in a culture filled with lots of young men who drink and fight.

I reckon you will find plenty of other players if you are a tanky, your brother must have been in one of those regiments full of brainless apes who do nothing but exercise?

I almost said the Paras, but I'm fitter than those fethers as well.

If you meant actual "selection" (SF) rather than "selection" to join the army, I'm sure the hobby will be better received amongst his new peers, because you generally don't find many planks at Hereford or Poole.

K there will always be those that look down on gamers. Who think that all gamers are the stereotypical, bad hygiene, 350lb mouth breathing neck beards. Just don't care what people think. Do what makes you happy. I'm as Alpha as they come... crossfit, competitive shooting and if you know anything about the army , check my avatar. I play miniatures games and have for 20 years. If you catch any flak, ask em what they do; most likely will be alcohol or COD. Not that impressive.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/gaming/2012/09/warhammer_40k_why_american_troops_love_to_play_a_game_featuring_orks_necrons_and_space_marines_.html

Sort of gives you a run down on things...the numbers are pretty accurate as well. 20-25% of US GW customers are active duty. With veterans - upwards of 40%.

They are normally widely accepted and widely embraced. Even those who wouldn't normally play wargames will often pick them up when deployed or stationed on an overseas remote since they are pretty useful time sinks.

In my experience, there always seems to be at least two people in any section that have at least heard of the wargaming hobby, be it "I played that a while ago", or "I know someone that played that" as far as the armed forces community looking down on it, that's complete rubbish, its more often than not they will just dismiss itas a "geek thing". Nerds, gamers and geeks are in the armed forces, its a fact.
My suggestion for finding them is to subtly advertise, bring a book and leave it visible somewhere near you. I've had people come up tome and ask what it is. Tell them without shame, be proud of your hobby. Forthose that have heard of it or even play it, it leads to an open forum and friendships are quickly formed.

well im in the process of joining raf (just passed my interveiw today ) so this is a really interesting thread

 luftsb wrote:
well im in the process of joining raf (just passed my interveiw today ) so this is a really interesting thread

Plus in the RAF you will have plenty of time to play because you will never actually deploy anywhere that doesn't have air conditioning and comfortable accommodation!

Ah to be young again... feth all that "running up mountains and fighting the Taliban" gak.

 mattyrm wrote:

 luftsb wrote:
well im in the process of joining raf (just passed my interveiw today ) so this is a really interesting thread

Plus in the RAF you will have plenty of time to play because you will never actually deploy anywhere that doesn't have air conditioning and comfortable accommodation!

Ah to be young again... feth all that "running up mountains and fighting the Taliban" gak.

haha yeah sod fixing the planes im gonna just make a huge metal space wolves army with working guns

 Zambro wrote:
I guess it'll be just like everywhere else. You'll have your active haters, passive accepters and fellow hobbyists.

In my experiance, people fall into one of those 3 groups (regardless of the context - universite friends, work friends etc.)

pretty much this sums up my experience from my time in the military here in the states. You'll find people that play, people that think the stuff is neat but dont play, people that think its dumb, people that have never heard of it. In my experience its really no different then the reactions you get from people in any walk of life

 luftsb wrote:

 mattyrm wrote:

 luftsb wrote:
well im in the process of joining raf (just passed my interveiw today ) so this is a really interesting thread

Plus in the RAF you will have plenty of time to play because you will never actually deploy anywhere that doesn't have air conditioning and comfortable accommodation!

Ah to be young again... feth all that "running up mountains and fighting the Taliban" gak.

haha yeah sod fixing the planes im gonna just make a huge metal space wolves army with working guns

You could rip the parts from a Harrier and make an actual hovering Land Speeder.

I bet the fether would go for heaps on eBay!

Gaming goes with the armed forces.

It helps with the job on so many fronts I could go on all day about it.

 luftsb wrote:
well im in the process of joining raf (just passed my interveiw today ) so this is a really interesting thread

I'm off to a RAF Reserves interview next week and if I get in I will certainly be taking my models with me on any deployments

 LazzurusMan wrote:
Well, I recently began my application to join the British Army as a Tank Crewman, and in doing so my brother (who has recently finished selection) began to go on about how the hobby is ridiculed and scoffed at in the Army. As an avid hobbyist I just want to know if there's any merit to what he's saying. How big is the hobby in the Armed forces, and not just those of Britain.


LazzurusMan

A tank creman, huh? Damn shame, you'll be sitting ducks with only 3 hull points and no wounds characteristic.


On a more serious note that doesn't suggest you might die (that was light hearted, I apologise if it disparages you), I've got a few friends in the armed forces that play 40k - There're even tournaments held on bases because it's so prominent.

This takes me back, registered on Dakka just so I could respond.
Way, way back in the mists of time (well, 2003) the club at Warhammer World was making a display for Gamesday of Gaunt's Ghosts vs World Eaters. I offered to paint up some berserkers whilst deployed for a month and came back with about 50 painted marines. One of the quickest deployments I've had.

The military is like anywhere, some people will take the piss and some won't care. You've got a better chance of finding gaming partners in the mob than most other places so you'll be fine.

One thing I've noticed is that the Americans seriously love them some geeky games, even more than us Brits. In the hot and sandy places it was difficult to find a free table in the social areas because the spams were either playing Magic or had their laptops out playing MMOs.

Drop by Arrse when you're sorted, you'll probably find some pongo gamers there.