Sunday, June 12, 2022

Where is Your Wargaming Interest?

Is it Historicals, Fantasy/Sci-Fi, or a mix of the two?

Having referenced the Great Wargaming Survey's question on how survey respondents classify themselves along the spectrum between purely historical and purely fantasy/sci-fi wargamers in previous analyses, I figured it high time to dive into the data to see if my early assumptions toward data reduction hold.

The particular question of interest asks survey respondents if they classify themselves as historical or non-historical wargamers on a '0' to '6' scale.  A rating of '0' identifies an entirely historical wargamer while a rating of '6' denotes an entirely fantasy/sci-fi wargamer.  Respondents could choose any point along this continuum.  In the following analysis, this classification of response range from '0' to '6' is labeled as 'Genre Scale.'

What are the results of tabulating these counts?  The table below shows that the largest proportion of gamers fall within the middle band ('2'-'4') of the distribution with the middle value, '3', having the largest count.  Seeing that the extremes of "entirely historical" ('0') or "entirely fantasy/sci-fi" ('6') are similar in counts provides comfort that the survey is not biased toward one demographic. 

In an effort to reduce the range of responses from seven to a more manageable and intuitive grouping, I introduce the notion of 'Primary Interest'.  When considering a respondent's Primary Interest for past analyses, I classified those responses having a Genre Scale of '0' or '1' as being primarily historical wargamers.  Those respondents having a Genre Scale of '5' or '6' I classified as primarily fantasy/sci-fi wargamers.

To consider period choice, favorite wargaming periods are tossed into the mix.  In a separate question, each respondent could choose up to three, favorite wargaming periods.  Counting up responses, was this Primary Interest aggregation scheme reasonable?  Let's examine the period make-up of each Genre Scale by looking at the Top 5 periods within each group.

For the entirely historical category of '0', the Top 5 periods are all historical.  This is a good start.  Notice that WW2, Napoleonics, Ancients, and American Civil War comprise the Top 4.  

For those respondents choosing '1' Genre Scale, the Top 5 still are all historical periods.  While the Top 4 remain in the same ranking as the '0' grouping, Medieval replaces 18th Century at #5.  

Genre Scale #2 still holds WW2, Napoleonics, and Ancients in the Top 3 but one non-historical period makes the list in the Top 5.  Dark Ages slips into the Top 5. Is the Dark Ages period a gateway to non-historical wargaming?  Perhaps, it is the converse and Dark Ages wargaming is a gateway from non-historicals to historicals? 
Genre Scale #3 falls midway in the selection range.  At the halfway point on the scale, one could expect a mix of historicals and non-historicals.  This is the result seen with WW2 still holding the top place but three non-historical periods making the Top 5.  Science fiction takes the #2 spot in the survey.  The midrange classification shows a bias toward non-historicals that I did not expect.  How long can at least one historical period last as the results increment through the Genre Scales?
Perhaps not long.  At Genre Scale #4, WW2 remains the only historical period in the Top 5 with non-historicals taking over the Top 3 spots.  Science fiction moves into the top spot.
By Genre Scale #5, all of the Top 5 are represented by non-historicals.  Is the Pulp genre historical or fantasy/sci-fi?  Hmm. I suppose it could fall within both groupings.
The final classification, "entirely fantasy/sci-fi" is composed of all non-historicals with Warhammer 40K taking top honors.
Showing the Top 5 wargaming periods by level of interest is, well, interesting.  Looking back at the distribution of counts and Primary Interest, selecting '0' or '1' certainly identifies a Historical wargamer.  Similarly, at the other end of the scale, a '5' or '6' definitely classifies a Fantasy/Sci-Fi wargamer.

The results suggest that examining Primary Interest allows for reasonable data reduction and provides a sense of validation to the survey.

Into which bucket are your wargaming interests found?  

45 comments:

  1. My bucket is very much in the '0' genre Jon and pretty much covers all of my gaming, with the notable exception of 19thC Europe.

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    1. Steve, do you carve out 19thC Europe since it leans toward ImagiNation?

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  2. Like Steve, I'm in '0' genre Jonathan. 19th century is clearly more niche, excepting ACW. An interesting analysis. Thank you for taking the time.

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    1. Richard, is this community a bunch of Zeroes? Starting to look that way!

      Glad you found the analysis interesting.

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  3. ACW so high. Interesting. What is the geographic spread of respondents?

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    1. Well, ACW is popular, perhaps more so in the USA but I often see ACW games displayed in your UK shows.

      For demographics, the mix is:
      Location Percent
      Australia/New Zealand 8.66%
      Continental Europe/Scandinavia 19.20%
      Region-Other 1.72%
      UK/Ireland 34.95%
      USA/Canada 35.47%

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  4. I would have guessed Ancients, then Napoleonics followed by WWII. They were all in the top three, but in the opposite order to what I was expecting. I would guess that Saga has had a lot to do with the popularity of Dark Ages gaming over the past few years, although I know it by name only.

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    1. In past analyses, WWII always seems to pop up at the top of these popularity lists. Perhaps SAGA is a reasonable conduit between historicals and non-historicals? I know SAGA by name only too although I did play a game once a long, long time ago.

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  5. Interesting stuff again Jon...to my untrained eye, it seems like 30% of gamers are dedicated historical fans, 20% are convinced sci fi/fantasy...and 50% have a foot in each camp...which is where I woukd put myself...a 3 or 4 in your original 0-6 scale! I think I a, still primarily a historical gamer and Pulp is about as far as I am likely to go towards "the dark side"......but never say never, right?! As to Drak Ages being a Criss over...quite possibly...as I understand it, there are several Dark Ages rule sets that include elements of Norse mythology, so they could act as a bridge for gamers travelling in either direction, I woukd imagine...then you also have things like AD1666 and the brand new Napoleinic era Silver Bullet vampire hunting game.....

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    1. Those proportions look about right. I think the non-historical proportion may be a little larger than 20%.

      Based on the samples of figures and games crossing your blog, I reckon a '3' or '4' suits you just fine.

      Dark Ages and Medievals as crossovers, I can understand. A Napoleonic vampire hunting game? That I DEFINITELY do not understand!

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    2. Did you not read "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell"? The TV adaptation was very good too.

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  6. Very interesting analysis, especially the view on Dark Ages being a possible gateway to Historical gaming. It is a period quite easy to bridge the game between fantasy/historical. I think I fall in the 2-3 bracket. Historical game at heart but happy to dabble in fantasy /sci fi

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    1. Neil, a '2' or '3' seems to offer up a good balance between the two schools with a strong bias toward historicals.

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  7. I always enjoy these posts. Thanks. Although I have some SiFi and LotR figures Historicals are my main interest. I would see Pulp as much a Historical period as Fantasy but that may be the settings I would choose.

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    1. Hi Dan! For Pulp, I did not really know how to classify that one into the two camps. I could see and rationale its inclusion into either or both!

      Good to see you continue to enjoy these analyses.

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  8. Interesting as always, I think I'm a 1, although I used to be a 6! Saga seems to cross over dark ages to fantasy and I used to use lots of dark age figures for fantasy about 40 years ago!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks! Transitioning from a '6' to a '1' is a major shift in focus and interests. If more followed your path then there would be less discussion on the Aging of the Hobby.

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  9. For the first time, I’m proud to be a big, fat zero.

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  10. Hi Jonathan, a very interesting analysis and this would put me is a "2." My interests vary but always come back to Ancients and Dark Ages over all other periods.

    Cheers, Ross

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    1. Hi Ross! I am not surprised to see you declare as a ‘2’ since you always have an interesting mix of figures crossing your workbench.

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  11. Interesting to see. Our group (a historical miniatures club) has been discussing expanding membership--the numbers reinforce what we suspected. World War II gaming is at the intersection of interests for "alt" gamers and historical gamers (ie, will appeal to both).

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    1. I thought it interesting to aggregate by response to see if any patterns emerge. WWII as an interest to a variety of gamers, is one of the inferences. Good luck in your recruitment drive.

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  12. I used to be somewhere around a 3, but the last 12 years or so I'd say a 0 or 1 depending on how you look at games with a fantastical element but with a historical background i.e. SAGA , pulp, or imaginations etc.

    Christopher

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    1. Christopher, looks like you are another 'Zero' in the readership!

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  13. I guess I'd be a "1", as I do sci Fi naval gaming at times, and have certainly done Fantasy gaming in the past, but am (pre)dominantly historical.

    I chuckled a bit at the "genre scale"; the Kinsey scale is a 0 to 6 scale as well!

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    1. Peter, I figured you likely to be a '1' leaning toward '0.' While I am no clinician, the Kinsey Scale may not be appropriate for today's study. Although as we see from Iain's comment above, preferences do change over time. Once a '6', Iain is now a '1'!

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  14. Interesting to see the top 3 periods among those rating themselves as '0' : reminded me of a post by Keith Flint where he said : "Every wargamer knows in his heart that playing battles with model soldiers has just three periods - ancients, horse and musket, and modern. Don't they?" (he was being slightly tongue-in-cheek!) https://keefsblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/wargames-magazines-road-to-success.html

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    1. David, you (and Keith) make a very insightful observation about only three historical periods. The survey results not only hold for the ‘0’ class but also for classes ‘1’ and ‘2’! Great addition to the analysis. Thanks.

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  15. Mark me the local group as 3's although I must say it (wargaming) is all fantasy anyway.

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    1. You’re counted as a ‘3’! I have an old Wargaming friend who regularly argued the same point as you in that all Wargaming is fantasy.

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    2. Your friend sounds wise. OBTW, Napoleonic vampire hunting can be fun. Especially if tongues are firmly ensconced in cheek.

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    3. Wise, perhaps, but he always lost the debate!

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  16. Fascinating analysis, thank you! I think the needle has flicked back and forth for me over the years. I love all things Tolkien and the first wargame I played (this was in the 70s) was Sci Fi. Currently I’m heavily focused on 17th century historicals, but happy to play anything. Can I say 3.5? 😀

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  17. Extremely interesting analysis. I would be a definite ‘0’ on the miniatures wargame table but I don’t mind the odd sci fi board or PS game

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    1. Thanks, Mike! Seems the readership, here, leans decidedly toward the historical end of the scale.

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  18. Complex but interesting analysis. Once again I can’t remember what i answered. Where are we placing imagination games and scenarios ? and would the same
    results stand if historical meant historical battles ?

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    1. I interpret the survey question as a gauge of how I classify my own gaming. In the choice between historical or Sci-fi/Fantasy, I classify myself as primarily an historical gamer with my interests grounded in historical situations.

      Where do ImagiNation games and scenarios fall? Good question. Since ImagiNations are neither Sci-fi nor Fantasy (as I define it), I guess I would treat them in the same class as an historical novel. That is, fiction but based in history.

      Where would you place ImagiNations?

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    2. I’m sure that is the common and accepted view Jon it would be hard not to think of Operation Sealion as Historical even if it never actually happened.

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  19. This is how I would class ImagiNations and Scenarios games too Jon.

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  20. I rated myself as a 2. I have some smatterings of sci-fi but it’s mostly just stuff from famous books or movies. Namely Star Wars, Star Trek, or Lord of the Rings. Anything else I find kinda boring. I kinda like the setting of 40k but don’t really like the rules and the GW prices are kinda absurd for 40k stuff.

    It was fun to read along an look at tables and see how the slider bar went up which genes came and went. I KNEW it’d be an interesting post. 😀

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    1. Thanks for your feedback, Stew! Like you, I found it interesting to see the Top 5 periods move around as we worked our way through the choices.

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