There are many facets to the wargaming hobby from gaming, painting, collecting, hanging out with friends, and many more. Are we gamers foremost or do other facets of the hobby drive our engagement and motivation?
Top Rankings - OverallTo begin with an overview of the data, the top three choices from each survey respondent are aggregated and presented in Figure 1.
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| Figure 1 |
As seen from many of the previous analyses, overall statistics may hide or mask underlying tendencies. To dive into these contributing attributes, let's see if a gamer's primary interest has a bearing upon top choices. Recall that primary interest is divided between Fantasy/Sci-Fi (ie. non-historical) Historical, and Mixed groupings.
Figure 2 illustrates these tendencies by Primary Interest for respondents' top choice. This is confined to only each respondent's first choice and not the top three choices as in Figure 1.
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| Figure 2 |
Top Rankings by Age Group
One result that remains consistent throughout all of the analyses on the 2020 survey data is that tendencies differ by age group. Earlier work has demonstrated that age group tends to correspond to primary interest. Does age group influence wargaming facet as well? To explore this question, examine Figure 3.
One result that remains consistent throughout all of the analyses on the 2020 survey data is that tendencies differ by age group. Earlier work has demonstrated that age group tends to correspond to primary interest. Does age group influence wargaming facet as well? To explore this question, examine Figure 3.
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| Figure 3 |
Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA)
Now, consider the interactions between wargaming facet, primary interest, and age group. Considering only the top four wargaming facets (Gaming, Painting, Friends, Collect_Figs) from the analysis shown in Figure 1, Figure 4 illustrates these interactions given the survey data.
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| Figure 4 |
While the clustering of collecting figures and painting makes intuitive sense from the perspective of individualistic endeavors, the separation between gaming and friends is somewhat surprising. Intuitively, the clustering of gaming and hanging out with friends seems a natural pairing. Perhaps, gaming is more of an individualistic undertaking than I thought?
Do these results reinforce your own rankings given your primary interest and age group? Are your favorite facets of the wargaming hobby different from these broad generalizations compiled from about 10,000 responses of wargaming peers? I would enjoy reading your thoughts on these results.
I really wish I could remember now how I responded. I can vaguely recall that these choices were a ranking rather than just picking one, and know I would have put gaming, painting and friends in there, but can't remember the order. I am finding as I get older I am enjoying painting more as an end in itself, which I certainly didn't when I was in my teens when I was far more eager just to quickly paint stuff and get gaming with it. Now I'll happily paint figures even if the likelihood of hauling them out for a game is low, although I'm much happier when an army does actually get some table time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your recollections on survey completion. Like you, I do not recall how I ranked the choices either. Perhaps we ought to have an option for saving our results?
DeletePainting, for me, has always been a central part of the hobby and I imagine it will continue so. Of late, gaming has moved into the fore.
I dont know if its age, choice or just force of circumstance - but it must be a general fact that for every hour spent gaming, the average gamer spends a week painting figures!. Our group has members who are definitely gamers over painters ie they are not overly concerned about the quality of paintwork, but just want to get with the game, whereas others may spend all year creating beautifully painted armies that only hit the table a few times in twelve months. For myself, I think its more a practical requirement - I want to game in a new era, therefore, I have to buy and paint figures for that era. Some of my plans from five or ten years ago have yet to come to fruition EG I spent maybe three or four months painting OG Brits from the 1830/40's colonial era (Sikh War etc) several years ago and they have NEVER graced a table! This does not trouble me unduly as I think the "collecting" part of the hobby is also quite high on my list and one day, hopefully, my early 19th century troops will get a chance to show what they can do! Currently, I am enjoying smaller level, skirmish type games like the Sharp Practice one Julian and I just did yesterday, or the Reivers games we are intending to get to later this year. Hanging out with friends is good too but I suspect its one of those things everyone will pick as three or four in a survey, because they feel it is the "expected" or "right" sentiment to express - even if it may not really be as high on their priority list (like saying you are a self motivated, pro active team player in a job application or CV!) As always Jonathan, much interesting food for thought in your analysis here!
ReplyDeleteKeith, you are exactly right about the division of labor between painting and gaming. I can work on a project for year before it is gameable. Even then, getting this new army out onto the table can be a chore.
DeleteI would enjoy seeing your Sikh Wars collection out for a game. This is another of Old Glory's better ranges, I think.
I enjoyed seeing your recent foray in SP. Like you, I have recently been enjoying skirmish games only with Rebels & Patriots.
Always very happy to have your support and encouragement in these analytics posts.
I wonder how these answers relate to being a solo wargamer or not?
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good question!
DeleteIt would be helpful to see Figs 2 & 3 shown as %ages of the total count by grouping. Is that possible?
ReplyDeleteI can't help that think that the name "wargaming" is quite a big clue as to what the hobby is about. There is certainly a wargaming/military modelling divide, in that some people make models and paint figures just for the sake of it. I have done less of that as I've got older. I like painting and making models, but only to some purpose other than putting them in a box out of sight or letting them gather dust on a shelf. That might be because I'm not that talented in that direction and have to work really hard at it to get anywhere near the standards expected for even entry level these days. The quality of your output is quite beyond me, Jon.
The last year has been instructive about what is important in the hobby. I got a lot of painting done in early days of lockdown, and published a fair bit - couple of sets of rules and a history book - but as we got to the end of summer and the weather got worse I found that I was really missing games and talking to wargaming friends. I am enormously pleased that a friend suggested we give web wargaming a go. I am now in a better place, and wondering how I keep the on-line stuff going once I'm back to face to face games.
I can't help thinking that being a wargamer and not playing games is a bit like claiming to be the world's greatest lover and then having to admit you haven't been on a date for the last 5 years.
Hi Graham. I think I can accommodate that request. I will re-pull the data and see what I can do.
DeleteYou are right in that wargaming really ought to be about war "gaming." For me, though, far more time and energy has been spent at the painting desk at the detriment to the gaming table. Well, that is until the last three months when gaming has jumped into the front of the line. This sudden switch is in no small part due to you and your king invitation to participate in your weekly games. It has been great fun and an activity I eagerly await each Tuesday.
For you, this last year has been very productive on the publishing front. Very few can match your accomplishments over the last twelve months. you are putting out works faster than I can read them!
You last point is well taken. Reminds me of an mathematician joke...
Another very interesting breakdown of the survey Jonathan. I think I pretty much fit the 'norm' for my age group (57), but from memory my choices were gaming, friends, research, scenario design and painting.
ReplyDeleteRather like Trebian above, the past year of lockdown, redundancy and recent health scares have given me time and space to re-assess my attitude to our wonderful hobby. So for now my aim is to have a few core armies (mainly Imagi-Nations, but with some historical, certainly for WWII) that I can then paint up and get in plenty of games, solo or otherwise. Maybe after this I will add more armies, but I doubt it. I've found this very liberating and it has allowed me to regain focus, which was sadly lacking over recent years.
Thank you, Steve!
DeleteGood to see that you fit the tendencies in the analyses above. Always good to receive some confirmation on the results for at least one respondent!
I admire you ability to focus your hobby efforts and pinpoint a few periods and gaming styles. Maybe one day I will reach your place of wargaming nirvana but not yet. I have too many varied interests.
For me, gaming is the priority and painting is the necessity to get there. Or in my priorities, I like gaming and wish I didn’t have to paint!
ReplyDeleteI know you find a pleasure from both and so you would have to prioritise between those two pursuits from the surveys point of view. In that regard, it is difficult to tell from the survey how many people actually like both those categories and how many like only one, but very little enthusiasm for the other i.e. like painting but never game!
With regard to the above, the ranking creates as many questions as it answers.
Thank you, Norm! You know yourself. This is a position for which some of us still strive. Until recently, I would likely claim myself painter first, gamer second but that ranking seems to have changed over the last few months as remote gaming has kicked into gear for me.
DeleteThese analyses always seem to generate more questions than answers, no doubt. My hope is that these efforts provide some points for consideration.
It would be interesting to add a question along these lines to the survey "If cost was not an issue, would you choose to paint and base your own figures or buy them ready to use on the table?" I think my answer would still be no - I get a fair bit of my pleasure in selecting, buying and painting the figures...but others may well be different...
DeleteKeith, I derive much pleasure from project planning, purchasing, painting, and basing too. I could not give up that part of the hobby.
Deleterross: I think I'd still paint my own. Then they're mine and I have an emotional attachment to them.
DeleteI have a similar attachment to my armies.
DeleteA very interesting break down that you always provide.
ReplyDeleteI rank gaming, painting and collecting pretty much equal as my priority is always in influx. I also consider gaming to include friends as I far prefer it over solo.
Christopher
Thank you, Christopher! I am pleased o see that you continue to enjoy these looks into the survey.
DeleteBased upon your preferences and rankings, you are in good company!
I can't remember my choice either but despite the number of solo games I play, the social games are high on the list but these days they are as much, or more, about time with friends than the games themselves, not that a good challenging game isn't high up on the list of attractions!
ReplyDeleteOn a purely anecdotal basis it seems to me that I am not the only gamer of a certain age who is finding painting to be more physically challenging and thus less enjoyable as the years go by and there are also those phenomena such as "all the barracks are full but the recruits are still pouring in" or "I loved painting and playing with this army but we've moved on and they haven't seen action in 20 years" or "my beloved old 25mm(etc) figures don't match the new ones or the new basing, org etc that everyone else is using and I hate the thought of retiring old friends and painting the same army again" which also reduce the urge to paint for some of us, or at least the urge to reduce the speed at which the collections grow.
Ross, your "all the barracks are full but the recruits are pouring in" had me laughing and hits so close to home! Actually, all of your anecdotes are easily recognizable to me.
DeleteI agree that in-person gaming is more about hanging out with friends than the actual outcome or even play of the game. Perhaps this realization comes with maturity although placing "playing", "toy soldiers", and "maturity" in the same sentence may seem strange to some...
As always, thanks for your input, Ross!
I think these words would seem strange to almost everyone Jonathan! Talking about laughing out loud at Ross's comments, have you read "Achtung Schweinehund!" by Harry Pearson - if not, get it - he is a sports journalist who can obviously write well but is also a wargamer - some of his descriptions had me literally laughing out loud eg "I put our domestic economy on a war footing" etc....
DeleteI have not read that book but I should! Thanks for the recommendation!
DeleteThanks for showing the results so clearly, Jonathan. I'm near the top-tier of age groups, and definitely agree with having an historical interest primarily (almost exclusively). I would say painting and collecting are my top interests. However, I do enjoy hosting games and commismerating with buddies. These last two interests, missing for about a year now.
ReplyDeleteActually, I should say bottom tier age group, by the way the chart is. About to enter the last age group in a couple of years (and retirement!) :)
DeleteMuch appreciated! Until recently, painting and collecting were where most of my efforts lay too.
DeleteI AM in the bottom Age Group!
DeleteDefo gaming and painting are my top two.
ReplyDeleteBut in which order of ranking?
DeleteSee, now I come in from the Fantasy and Sci-Fi realms, having done RPGs and Star Fleet Battles, yet also played Squad Leader and Panzer Blitz.
ReplyDeleteI would place myself in the 'middle' category of neither only historical nor only sci-fi/fantasy.
My experience has been very similar to the survey, early on I was painting - cuz guess what? you cannot have a minis game with out minis, preferably well painted, or at least with some paint on them.
So of course you have to paint, Paint, PAINT! first, then over time once your collection has reached the point where you can field larger forces you use them in larger or longer games.
This was why many of us painted up the forces in the first place. Some may have branched off to just keep painting and collecting or studying the era/uniforms etc. So the 'age' factor makes sense, in your under 40s you are still building up forces, in your over 60s you have built most of what you wanted to AND WANT to use them! (dammit)
As far as only sci-fi/fantasy or historical, it has been my observation that few young players are keen on the historical battles (though I have found some - YAY!) while after the fantasy players either tire of the same game/process, or the round-the-merry-go-round of ever increasing rules costs that keep being revised and tossed out to satisfy accountants at the companies making the minis. They discover that there's a history playing side to the hobby, one that has been around since the late 19th century, and decide maybe this has more stability and find loads more players and great comradely energy round the table and decide to stay. Sadly some tables miss this comradely energy, and thus miss the chance to 'capture' those seeking yet not finding.
Cheers
Thank you for your detailed comment!
DeleteVery good to see confirmation of the results given your "Mixed" primary interest and your progression from painting to gaming as you matured.
I am still starting new projects and adding to existing ones even though I find myself in the top bucket of the age groups. They may pry my brush from my cold, dead hands or something like that.
You provide hope that younger non-historical gamers may transition to historicals as they climb the age group ladder.
Well, I'm certainly another "bottom line" gamer, LOL! I also don't recall which order I placed Gaming, painting, and collecting, but probably gaming first although, like you, probably the least time is spent doing that, although once again like you, more this year. I probably enjoy running games most of all.
ReplyDeleteWe have much in common, my friend!
DeleteGreat analysis Jonathan. I am a painter who games rather than a gamer who paints.
ReplyDeleteCollecting and research are key elements to both painting and gaming, especially when looking at historical games. That said both also relate to fantasy and sci-fi games.
The game provides a platform for interaction with both people and the game itself. The former drives the latter, sadly lacking over the last 10 months.
Age is another factor that relates to my key interests of painting, gaming, collecting and research - I have been in this hobby directly and indirectly for 45 years. Painting styles have changed and I constantly look to develop and improve my painting skills. I have figures that are now in their 30's some of these purchased in the year of release others collected in later years. As with painting, gaming develops and changes with trends and emphasis on what is marketed to the hobbists.
Will look forward to further comments and anaysis on this and other topics in the future.
Cheers, Ross
Thank you, Ross!
DeleteCollecting and research are keys to my hobby enjoyment as well. I have have figures older than some of my children and they are all adults with families now.
Interesting stuff Jonathan and would perhaps be best discussed over a cool glass of beer. This like most of us is a multifaceted hobby for me but rather than linear relationships each element for me sits around the core of gaming. To expand slightly, I think I was hooked as a child by the pictures and airfix figures I played with, several of us have blogged about these in the past. It has become clearer over the years that it is the narrative told by the battles and the small details rather than the winning or losing. All the other facets of the hobby, friendships, painting, research, collecting, blogging, battlefields etc all hang around that central core. With time some of these take on their own life and would continue even if I didn’t game (not quite sure why I would stop ?) but I wouldn’t paint figures or collect if I didn’t game. Of course I have absolutely no intention of stopping any of these elements any time soon.......👍
ReplyDeleteThank you, Matt! Perhaps discussed over an enjoy bike ride as well?
DeleteThe goal of gaming with the figures is central, for sure, but my gaming has been infrequent until late so painting, collecting, and research have become a means of their own. As long as I convince myself that a game is possible, I will keep painting. I do enjoy amassing large armies, though.
As always an interesting post and equally fascinating reading the responses. I think my list was painting, research, gaming in that order, in response to Trebian I like to have a structure/reason to paint and a focus for historical research which wargaming gives, any games are a bonus really, so like you I will probably keep on painting until I'm cold and stiff!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Glad you find these pieces interesting, Iain. We are very much alike in our goals with the hobby.
DeleteThank you for your feedback and continued interest!
I think that I’ve stated many times how I am a paint to play gamer, so gaming comes first for me. And I would include hanging out with friends as part of gaming.
ReplyDeleteBut I can see how scyfi gamers could choose painting (or modeling) as the primary thing as the miniatures in a scyfi world can be crazy with different possibilities bc don’t need to be realistic. Which might make them more fun to paint for someone who actually enjoys painting. 😀
I know you paint to play, Stew. No shame in that! I wonder if sci-fi figures are more fun to paint? Besides a few Star Wars figures, I may never know the answer to that one. You know, I made a typo when writing this and wrote "Stew Wars" rather than "Star Wars." Interesting...
DeleteOf course for most of us many of these options are co-dependent. Discounting solo gaming for a moment, if you want to play figure games you need to mix with other players (who are most likely friends), you will need to collect armies that need to be painted and to paint you need to research, and the dependencies go on. So for me the results here are no surprise.
ReplyDeletePerhaps another question, and one that would be difficult to quantify, would be how often gaming enters your thoughts. I know from my own perspective it enters my thoughts many times during the day. I have discussed this before in ramblings on my own blog how it helps to pass the time on my daily commute. For those of us in a corporate environment it also helps drown out other noise such as the latest HR seminar on “Unintentional Bias in the Workplace”, or even helps to suppress some of the negativity about COVID or the global political situation. There is nothing better (or less harmless) in my view than to let the mind drift away with nonsense about what would have happened in that last game if I had rolled a 5 instead of a 2, or should I buy that second regiment of dragoons (or should I go the whole hog and buy four to complete the division). As we have discussed before Jonathan, cannot fathom how people who do not have wargames in their lives survive.
It is comforting when the data substantiates your experience. I am a little surprised that the "Friends" facet only game in at #4 in the aggregate but from my personal experience, the rankings fit me very well.
DeleteMark, I am in complete agreement with your observations on wargaming as a hobby. I spent plenty of my time thinking about wargaming and agree that my life would be more empty and less fulfilling without wargaming.
Project planning is a terrific mental diversion away from less interesting thoughts.
Thanks relating your personal experiences, Mark!
I was discussing this with a friend yesterday - without wargaming and its attendant tasks (research/collecting/painting etc) I dont really know what I would be doing in my free time - watching TV and reading most likely! I would also say as someone who arrived in a city of 1.5 million people on the other side of the world from my birthplace in my mid twenties, the closest group of friends I have made are the ten or twelve guys I wargame with regularly.
DeleteKeith, I often what I would have done without wargaming too. With the time spent wargaming and its attendant tasks, I could have completed several PhDs!
DeleteSome interesting facts very well presented. I love gaming and drinking and talking to friends.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrè!
DeleteGood man - I like those priorities - drinking definitely comes ahead of talking!
DeleteVery interesting analysis Jonathan, myself I think I switch between preferences, sometimes its gaming, sometimes it is painting a heck of a lot. This weekend I'm going to a tournament and that's very much social, driven by increased awareness that some of these guys I've gamed with for so many years, might not be coming along for much longer.
ReplyDeleteI have painted so many figures for entire divisions that have not seen the table yet that you could call me a collector too, but I have grandiose plans for them all of course! They are not collected to just sit there :)
I also echo comments above being mystified how others get along without wargaming, something I'm thinking about every day at some point! :)
Mark, we have very similar preferences and our mix varies as the mood strikes us. Good luck in your tournament and enjoy the companionship of your old friends while you can.
Delete