Return of the hex-crazed wargamers

Is the Net breathing new life into an endangered hobby -- or just postponing the inevitable?

By Andrew Leonard

May 29, 1998 | In the world of computer wargames, each new release is pinned to the promise of state-of-the-art goodies: the best graphics ever, the most realistic explosions, the most challenging artificially intelligent opponents. The paper wargames of the past -- with their hexagon-laden maps, die-cut cardboard units, and insanely detailed rules manuals -- seem at best obsolete, doomed by relentless technological advances.

The business of board wargames certainly isn't flourishing, by anyone's standards. It reached a peak in the late 1970s and has declined ever since -- thanks to the rise of computer games, the mismanagement of leading wargame companies or the increasingly formidable complexity of the games themselves, depending on who you ask. While the computer gaming market, overall, continues to explode, the number of people willing to shell out cash for the chance to relive the Battle of the Bulge or Gettysburg via "paper-and-dice" simulations has steadily plummeted.

But some fans aren't yet ready to wave the white flag -- and they're pointing to the Internet as a potential savior. By giving hard-core gamers a means to find each other and the tools to play their favorite games online, the Net, some gamers argue, is turning the tide.

"The Net has very definitely saved board wargaming," says Alan Poulter, Webmaster for the premier wargaming Web site, Web-Grognards. "When SPI [Simulations Publications, a major wargame company] crashed in the early '80s, the rot set in. The production of new board games collapsed. People grew up and drifted out of the hobby, because of job, family, etc. The Net has turned all this around."

"The Net has saved the board-gaming hobby, which was/is under attack on at least two fronts," says game designer and veteran board wargamer Dave Casper. "Obviously computer games have absorbed a lot of people who might otherwise be playing board games. Also, several years ago came the collectible card game craze, led by 'Magic: the Gathering.' A few years ago there was a very real fear that these two interlopers would spell the end of board gaming as we knew it. I think it has not come to pass because the Net has allowed board gamers to stay in contact and meet other like-minded gamers. There are still long-term concerns about getting new people into the hobby, but at least we have survived the initial onslaught."

Next Page: Solving the "lack of an opponent" problem -- and refighting Waterloo via e-mail

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