That question addresses opponent availability and asks,
Do you feel you have enough opponents within reasonable travel distance?
If the answer is "No" then survey respondents can choose from a Pick List of possible reasons why this is the situation. Besides the provided Pick List, respondents could also add in their own reason as to why opponents are lacking.
Figure 1 illustrates the distribution of responses from the 2025 survey. Nearly two-thirds of respondents state that they have enough opponents available within a reasonable travel distance. The remaining 34% marked that they did not have enough opponents at hand.
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| Figure 1 |
For those in the latter camp who lack enough opponents, the reasons why and those counts are detailed in Figure 2.
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| Figure 2 |
- Lack of Awareness of Nearby Opponents. The leading reason, by a large margin (43.28%), is that wargamers simply don't know other potential players in their vicinity.
- Mismatched Interests. Even when opponents are nearby, opponents' interests might not agree with your own specific wargames or game type (15.86%). Differences in ruleset preferences (9.79%) also present a barrier to finding opponents.
- Geographic Distance. When distance is a factor, (11.56%) opponents are too far away for regular play.
- Time Constraints. Wargamers, themselves (10.32%), and opponents (3.30%) are often too busy to play more frequently.
- Dislike of Nearby Opponents. A small percentage of players (1.30%) simply dislike potential nearby opponents.
- Finally, the "Other" category (4.60%) lumps all of the free text responses that could not easily be classified into one of the Pick List choices.
The survey results highlight a core issue. That is, many wargamers are isolated either by not being aware of local players or finding that potential local players don't share their specific interests or schedules. While there are many wargamers who prefer solo play, an opponent shortage seems more driven by network and information disconnects than by a dislike of gaming with others. This pattern suggests a fragmented local gaming community. Enough players may exist nearby, but these gamers are either not visible to each other, or they play different periods, rules, or styles. While distance and scheduling challenges matter too, these two traits seem to present smaller issues than discovery and compatibility. Opponents are probably out there. The challenge for many is that gamers either cannot find opponents or lack enough agreement in choices to actually to set up a game. What can we do to improve this situation?
If we want to increase our available gaming pool, the biggest bang for the buck is improving visibility. Make it easier for players to find other players. Find out what others play and know when they meet. A close second is improving compatibility by categorizing possible gamers by rules, period, and preferred game size.
My solution to this challenge was to embrace remote gaming by promoting and supporting the use of Zoom (or similar platforms), Vassal Engine, Tabletop Simulator, wargame-specific online platforms, and other virtual or remote tabletop environments.
My solution to this challenge was to embrace remote gaming by promoting and supporting the use of Zoom (or similar platforms), Vassal Engine, Tabletop Simulator, wargame-specific online platforms, and other virtual or remote tabletop environments.
The 2021 Great Wargaming Survey (see Remote Gaming in a Changed World) found that remote gaming significantly increased gaming frequency for many gamers and broadened their circle of gaming friends. It did for me! Survey responses suggested that gamers who gamed more frequently were more likely to try remote gaming.
By addressing the barriers identified above, the wargaming community can effectively increase opportunities for players to find and engage with opponents even from all over the world.
I am not finished with this survey question just yet. There are a number of possibilities to explore to see where differences and commonalities exist between the two groups of respondents. That study is for another time.
Do you have enough opponents within a reasonable travel distance? If not, which of the reasons listed drive your response?
I think I'm one of the lucky ones, local club with 10 members, meet every week and everyone will give any rule set or period a try at least once. If I put a game on there is always someone that will play. Haven't had a real need to try remote gaming.
ReplyDeleteYou are a lucky one, Neil! Even if you have no "real need" for remote gaming, it works well for me.
DeleteMmm. How to respond. Most people within an acceptable driving distance of me actually took part in WW2, or look like they did. Can’t remember the last time I saw someone under 80 apart from the wife. Not sure I’d want to put them through the rigours of simulated combat, they might get flashbacks. But seriously, don’t discount that some gamers (like me) are just ruddy weirdos and misanthropes. There could be half a dozen perfectly decent folk into exactly the same thing as me within spitting distance of my house but I’m more likely to eat my own fist than seek them out. Zoom games were interesting and enjoyable but the more folk that were involved the less pleasurable it became. I guess the short answer to the original question is yes, I’ve enough opponents near me thanks. In extremis I’ve a stuffed toy clanger called Major Clanger who’s always on hand to be an opponent when I tire of playing solo. lol.
ReplyDeleteGood answer, Mark! I agree with you that remote gaming enjoyment can have an inverse relationship to number of players. Not always, though, but games tend to slow down as number of players increase. Something to always keep in mind and monitor. One-on-one remote games are quite fun and interesting. I don't know what a stuffed toy clanger is, though, so cannot comment on your at-hand opponent.
DeleteVery response JBM. Do you converse in whistle with Major Clanger?
DeleteJonathan, the Clangers are puppet like characters who lived on the moon in a 1970s British TV children's programme. They spoke to each other in a whistle like language.
and there was a Soup Dragon...
DeleteI learn a bit of British pop culture every day.
DeleteMy favourite memory of around the same era is Noggin the Nog....someone even makes figures for it!
DeleteI learned of Noggin only recently via a discussion on the SoA forum.
DeleteLOL -- The SoA is a perfect place to find people who remember Noggin 😂
DeleteVery funny! I hadn’t thought of that!
DeleteI loved the Clangers and Noggin the Nog, with Nogbad the Bad as his enemy. One day I will eventually get around to getting two forces together for the latter to fight each other! As for the Soup Dragon, I think there was a Brit Pop group going by the same name...?
DeleteSteve, would this be a turn toward fantasy gaming for you?
DeleteSteve, yep - the Soup Dragons were a British band if memory serves correctly. From the late 80's? "Im Free" is probably their most well known hit.
DeleteIt would be a pseudo-historical match up, but using the stories for the background fluff!
DeleteIsn't pseudo-historical fantasy?
DeleteWell.....
ReplyDeleteDespite living in the "lead belt" and near the apparent centre of wargaming in the UK, I'm unaware of any local opponents.
When I first moved here, I did try to find clubs and make contact, but didn't get what I'd call a positive response....
After a while, I just gave up.
I've moved around the country and had a mixed response - some places have welcoming clubs, others very clique ridden and lukewarm receptions....some have had clubs that are alleged to have existed, but have turned out extremely elusive!
Not that bothered now; would rather play solo.
Clangers - see here:
https://shop.clangers.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooV8GjuXXXSN-y5oY4OOspixJF8Xi0CG1tETAXRnscqX37HX5pw
Neil
That is surprising that no gamers can be found in your area. How often to you get in a solo game and can that mode keep you motivated to bring games to the table?
DeleteFortunate enough to have opponents within reach. However, these days most of my games are via Zoom.
ReplyDeleteYou are fortunate to have gamers nearby. I am fortunate to have you as a regular, remote gaming compadre!
DeleteI am lucky enough to live in a city of over 1.5m people, so unsurprisingly, I have managed to hook up with a group of about 10 like minded individuals within 50km traveling distance and most of them will give any period or rules a try .I have never been a member of any organized UK style club, with subs and a committee and elected officers etc....very British!!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you lived in such a metropolitan hub! I am also surprised that out of 1.5 million people that you can only roust out ten like-minded fellas. I have never belonged to a formal club either although that is a rarity here.
DeleteYes, Auckland has around one third of the entire population of New Zealand! There are other plenty of other gamers here, I just don't need to worry about them at moment because the group of guys I play with is more than sufficient!
DeleteYou are in a Good Place!
DeleteFor me I think I answered in regards to lacking "time", which sadly will be my default answer for the foreseeable future until my children are done thinking their Dad is a superhero, and replace me with their own friends who will be "So much cooler than this old duffer".
ReplyDeleteAlso though, what's considered a "reasonable" distance to travel for a game? For me, it'd be perhaps 30mins? Anything more than that, then one would need to block off a significant part of a day, rather than say, an evening, to play a decent game.
All the time I spent blogging and reading about remote-gaming, especially during covid and I never once tried that out.
With a houseful of young children, I can certainly understand the "no time" excuse! Distance traveled will be one of the topics in the follow up post. Never too late to dip your toe into a remote game.
DeleteI also think that getting older can change opportunities. Take my 20+ year DnD group for example - I've played with those guys since I was 25. Back in those earliest days, we'd play every week for 10-14 hours straight on a Saturday. Now that we are all approaching or passing the big 5-0, have health concerns, familial responsibilities or in the case of one member, early retirement (Lucky sod) fun/travel, we maybe meet twice a year at most. Circumstances of life seem to change a lot of our availability where roleplay gaming is concerned. I guess if I had had a regular wargaming group/club to attend, these type issues may well pop up here too?
DeleteBefore retiring, I figured gaming friend's schedules would open up but I find that scheduling a game is just as difficult as before.
DeleteOff topic - I made the top-10 of Commentors on your blog again for the first time in a long while.
DeleteI noticed that this morning! Good to see you back on the Leaderboard!
DeleteI think I answered yes to this, but that was before one of our Saturday group found he could no longer attend which means we are down to three of us. I used to prefer one to one gaming the most but am finding that I enjoy the collaboration two or three to a side brings, so two against one is not quite as enjoyable for me. We are keeping an eye out for another fourth but then that brings its own challenges as finding another with a similar mindset who wants to play the same rules at the same time every fortnight is challenging.
ReplyDeleteScenarios pitting two players against one can be challenging but I have hosted many games where that situation has worked out well. Perhaps choosing the right scenario to accommodate three is a workable approach until a suitable fourth can be found?
DeleteUnfortunately these aren't scenario-based games, but points-based ancients encounter games. Still very enjoyable, it is just nice to have a balance and two versus one is probably the least attractive ratio to my mind.
DeleteWhen faced with two v one games, I put the more unified army under one player and split the other, possibly less coherent army under the other two players. The dynamic between one general in command and two generals splitting a command can produce some lively entertainment.
DeleteDid you also see a difference in the responses by nation? I would expect more yes responses in Britain where we see established clubs and conventions vs. here in the US where clubs are much more rare and the remaining conventions are dominated by Sci Fi/Fantasy gaming.
ReplyDeleteThat is a question to be answered in the follow-up post on this topic! You are thinking ahead!
DeleteNeed to find those qualifiers to separate cause and correlation!
DeleteThat is not so straightforward with categorical variables. For these types of associations, I tend to use MCA.
DeleteI haven’t been a member of a wargaming club for almost 50 years. That was at University and we had a tight knit membership who would give most rules and periods a try. Since then I have tried local clubs a couple of times but found them hard to break into as they had an established membership with no apparently interest in integrating new members. The one exception to this was an informal group run by ‘Trebian’ who were a very friendly and welcoming bunch. Wouldn’t you just know it though I had to move away from the area and haven’t found another group where I live now.
ReplyDeleteSeems like breaking into a new club carries a lot of friction to overcome. You and Neil seem to have had similar experiences. Trebian's group is a very welcoming bunch. In fact, I was offered a seat at his remote wargaming table during COVID.
DeleteI do have a club within driving distance of me that is reasonably large and welcoming that I went to for a number of years.
ReplyDeleteI thought that once retired I would go again but have been unable to get up any enthusiasm to do so. So just solo gaming for me.
If solo gaming works for you then that is great. Before remote gaming came up, most of my gaming was solo as well. I sometimes miss the ability to enjoy a solo game but having a life opponent is more challenging.
DeleteI live in a small rural town in the North of Scotland, so opponents are few and far, there is a club 12 miles away from me that meet on a Monday but due to work commitments it does not work for me, I may give them a shout when I retire but I am happy with my own company so we shall see.
ReplyDeleteI am (mostly) happy with my own company too but I enjoy facing a real adversary across the table.
DeleteI'm pretty sure my response would have been 'no' for the following reasons:
ReplyDelete- I have two/three clubs about 20 minutes drive from me. So that's good.
- I know one gamer who lives about 5 minutes walk from me.
- But they play periods, rules and scales that do not interest me at all. Not good.
- My old gaming chums have moved away, so the nearest is now about 1 1/2 hours away on a good traffic day. Not good.
- With the demands of being a full-time parent carer means that often being able to attend a club or friends regularly is just not an option.
- This year I've certainly felt my age, and that former desire to meet up for a game, say 20 years ago, has certainly dwindled.
- Blogging. In a sense the Blogoverse has become a virtual club where I follow other games whose output interests me, all from the comfort of my chair!
- So solo gaming, with the odd FtF meet up, just works for me on so many levels.
These are all good reasons for a “no” and mirrors many of the responses given in the survey. Thank you!
DeleteI’m in the 1.3%. I have clubs within a reasonable distance but don’t have the time, energy or will anymore. Remote gaming would just give me the worst of all worlds and I don’t have the space or motivation to game solo. Collecting and painting needs minimal space and human interaction and that suits me down to the ground.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insights into your gaming preferences, Jeffers!
Delete…and my general contempt for other humans! 😁
DeleteHa ha. I doubt that is entirely true...
DeleteI guess I'm fortunate as I'm both a member of a very active local Wargames club, and a rather looser national/international group too. Oddly we rather knocked f2f gaming on the head during covid and our weekly sessions are entirely remote now and include people from all over the country and sometimes overseas. We meet for f2f games several times a year as well. We all like the same types of games I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou know, Martin, my situation is much like yours. The rise of remote gaming during COVID knocked my gaming mode on its head too. My gaming is predominately via Zoom nowadays and F2F is much less regular. I remote game with wargamers from all over the globe.
DeleteFunny how situations change and effect one's outlook. The aging of my local group has got me thinking about solo play versions of rules sets. Upon broaching the subject, one opponent is a 30 year veteran opponent, the other started to win against me in 1970. There are newer players who get thier chances as battles come and go.
ReplyDeleteMostly now cing I see is whether rhe next game will need new figures painted or none
Funny and interesting how our preferences and outlooks change as we age. While we may drift toward solo play as we age, it is important for us old fellows to maintain some human contact.
DeleteVery trenchant finding, the one about visibility. We have a very active club with a social media presence and a rather high profile at the regional conventions. Although we don't have an open membership, we have members who know other gamers, who know other gamers...you get the idea. We're networked. Yet when we hold open game days and we host games at conventions, we still discover gamers who have been right in our midst of whom we were not aware of (and these are--nowadays--niche gamers who have been doing historicals, no less, and not new to the hobby).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ed! Visibility and networking are key as the survey results suggest. Your group is on the right path.
DeleteA few days ago, Vlogger Zilla Blitz did a survey that said something like ‘If you were able to have players locally, would your preference be to game with others or solo play’. He was amazed that the response was split almost 50 / 50, so this is based on choice, not circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI suppose this just reflects population behaviours that swing between loners and those who crave company, which might be exaggerated at the loner end amongst the wargame community compared to the general population. I don’t particularly crave company and am fine with solo gaming.
Thanks, Norm! I will touch more on solo play tendencies when I dive into these data in a follow up post. The 50/50 split for preferring solo play may hold for those without enough opponents but perhaps not for those claiming that they have a sufficient pool of adversaries. We will see. If your last paragraph is true, why do you suppose wargamers are such introverts? I may have to dig up my notes from the academic study conducted several years ago for answers.
Delete‘Supposing that wargamers are introverts’ can be turned on its head that introverts may be wargamers … what comes first the geek or the geeky hobby :-)
DeleteI am pretty single minded about the hobby, but it only consumes 25 hours a day of my thinking and I don’t particularly seek friendships, so I imagine that I am somewhere on someones spectrum
I for one would be interested in what the academic study came up with - worth a post do you think?
That's a good question to ponder. Like you, I tend to obsess about wargaming all of the day. I touched on the academic psychometric study in an earlier post. I should revisit the study and dive in on some of the other topics covered. The link to my earlier post is https://palousewargamingjournal.blogspot.com/2024/06/are-wargamers-competitive.html.
DeleteThe table sums up my situation perfectly except the two "busy" comments and "other". Sigh!
ReplyDeleteThere is no shame, Martin!
Delete