Re: War games and war was Re: Just heard the news

> >Why is it that war games seem so... well, Fun... but the real thing
is
> >so... Horrific?  Is it because it has the 'distance' of history or
(for
> >SF and Fantasy) 'not reality' or because we compartmentalize our
minds so
> >easily?

Why wargaming?	Well, it's an escape from day-to-day frustration--a
set of problems that we can solve and know we've succeeded.  When we
lose a game, we can still have fun while losing because there are no
significant consequences.  Okay, that's true of any game (as long as
you're not playing pro sports or gambling), so why wargaming in
particular?

It's more complex than chess, therefore more satisfying to solve.

It's an avenue to understand history.  I suspect this is the main
reason most of us began gaming; certainly my first game was AH's
Luftwaffe, because I was interested in WWII fighters at the time.
When I get into a game that covers a period I'm not familiar with, I
find out about the background.	I wouldn't know anything about the
Napoleonic era if it hadn't been for a campaign a friend of mine ran
for a couple of years.	Right now I'm thinking about a PAU vs IF
campaign, so I'm reading up on Nigeria and Islam; and of course the
Alarishi Empire is an exercise in designing governments and societies.

The miniartures aspect gives us an opportunity to be
creative--building terrain and painting minis.	The gamer also has the
opportunity to create scenarioes, which are essentially stories--that
why everyone likes a well written AAR.

And of course the main thing is, it's not real.  Win or lose, the
figures are all okay and ready to go again next week.  Put it this
way: would you play Monopoly if it were real money out of your own
pocket?   For most people, the answer is no.  The same for most
gamers--we play because it isn't real.