Sometimes one looks at the world and it appears to be spinning out of control, the future is uncertain, we worry, we agonize, and lose faith, but those of us who love and study history tend to remain much calmer, we realize that whats going on at the moment is not really that different than what has gone on in the past. Most current events have a parallel somewhere in history and people in those times made it through as we will this time. Probably the biggest difference in the incidents of the past, wars, revolutions, pestilence, plagues, etc, and now is the now in your face, over blown, and frequently wrong coverage by the media, often creating a bigger problem.

The world is currently going through one of these periods with the Corona virus and it is impacting society in many negative ways we all are painfully aware of. Our daily lives, our routines are tossed aside and that can be very tough on us mentally and physically. In times like this we tend to dwell on the “negatives”. What I want to spend time on is the positives that are coming out of this, and things we can do to maintain a healthy/positive attitude! First, the current situation is wake-up call to everyone and especially governments around the world as to how unprepared we really are for these types of emergencies (as were people in the past) and that hopefully we can be better prepared in the future.

I think I’ve done a fair job of being prepared;

• I have plenty of food
• toilet paper
• gasoline
• plenty of Historical weapons to protect it!

I am also fortunate to be working for a company that has shut down for at least a few months and have me working from home (for now). There is the first “positive”, working at home means I have no commute to and from work, that’s and extra three hours a day, 15 hours in a week, it’s like getting an extra day or more off a week when you think about it. How many of us have wished “if I only had a few more hours”? Well now most of us do! I can now settle down to a somewhat isolated existence until this thing starts to shake itself out and we learn how to deal with it. One of the most important things we all need to develop and have until then is a positive attitude! We can do that by finding things to do that calm us down, occupy our time, and give us a sense of accomplishment. To start planning and working towards that brighter future. In this article I’m going to look at these goals from a wargamer/miniaturist standpoint. For this I have been preparing for years!

• Plenty of paint
• Plenty of brushes
• Plenty of glue
• A pile of unpainted figures that dwarfs the population of many small countries!

While contemplating the huge block of time I was about to inherit and how many miniature related tasks I was going to be able to accomplish my loving wife plopped a rather large list of thoughtfully prepared “honey do’s” on the desk. Oh well there will still be time for an assault on “lead mountain”!

More time for painting will be at the top of most wargamers list when it comes to having time on their hands but we are going to look at quite a few more aspects of wargaming in our effort to stay healthy by being busy, creative, and productive!

Where to start? Organization!

Most wargamers suffer from “biting off more than one can chew” or not being able to finish what we have started. We tend to buy more miniatures than we can paint and start more projects than we finish.

I actually started several weeks before, sensing that this situation might happen by cleaning out my storage cabinets, reorganizing my miniatures into projects “I will do, I might do, and I’ll never do”. Almost all of us collect miniatures or start projects with good intentions of finishing them at some point, or maybe it was just “ooh shiny! I want those”. We then find that our interest change, groups change direction in their gaming pursuits, and boom another layer to the “lead mountain”. I remove the layer called “I’ll never do” every once and awhile with a “sale” and while it may hurt a bit it does help to fund the purchase of new “shiny things” that once again I may or may never get too! I also took stock of my essential supplies, glue, primer, paint, as well as basing material and found I was in pretty good shape. To be honest I live out in what was the country, now really just past the edge of the suburbs, and I have always kept a stockpile of these essentials because of the distance to any hobby shops. I felt I was in pretty good shape!

Pick a direction!

I started to think about what figures to start on, that got me thinking about playing, what direction is the local group going in? That’s what usually dictates most folks painting. I thought I might just pop down to the “club”, for me the “Dogs of War” in Southern California on Saturday since at the time the situation was “no gatherings of more than 50 people and maintain social distancing”, I felt that there would only be 5 maybe 7 of us. I thought about how that would work, 5 or more of us in two rooms and trying to stay 6 feet away from each other, one member said “our table meets the requirements for social distancing” but our table is 4’x10’ so unless only two of us played from the long ends it certainly didn’t meet the requirements. What about walking around the rooms, passing each other, we all touch the same items in the rooms, are we all wearing gloves, masks, constantly using wipes and sanitizers?

Honestly, wouldn’t I be in potential contact with others in just traveling there and back? Was it really a necessary activity and was I not putting others at risk as well as myself to play a game? I thought about it and realized that my desire to get together with friends was not so much about the game as it was about need for the comfort of friends, the sharing of news, ideas, outlooks, the socialization we as human beings have come to both need and cherish.   I was having that debate all day as I worked in the yard “to go or not to go?” when the news worsened here in California, Los Angeles county and in fact the entire state went on “Safer at Home” footing to slow the spread of Corvid19! “Safer at Home” is a softer way of saying “lock down” or “Shelter in Place” and actually better describes the rules and intent of the order. Wow, I guess getting together is out now and for the immediate future, but what about socialization? Without it miniatures wargaming would not exist! This got me thinking about ways to give both myself and others a healthy dose of “socialization”, mental attitude has always been a big part of both preventing and recovering from illnesses.

Make a list of possible Directions to go in, I’ll call them “Tasks”. So, in picking a Direction or ”task” many of will naturally pick “painting time” as a first direction/task but take a moment to look at the different things you do with your hobby time as a whole, the different aspects of your hobby, and you might find other things that NEVER get to the top of the to do list. Allocating some time to these can be a pleasant change to your regular routine. Some of my choices were;

1. Painting
2. Building
3. Buying more cool stuff on the internet!
4. Becoming a better painter-explore new techniques
5. Getting rid of projects, I won’t do
6. Creating more storage space
7. Working on my “Wargaming Website”
8. Writing about Gaming
9. Writing about painting
10. Finishing paint projects, sitting on the shelf
11. Completing builds, half done on the shelf
12. Taking photos of completed minis and projects
13. Organizing the “Wagaming section” of rules, research, and pictures on my PC
14. Reading rules I’ve purchased
15. Getting better at the rules I play
16. Doing research for future projects
17. Look at ways to improve my rate of completion for projects

Now your list and mine may and can be different, that’s fine, the key is to make the list, just write things down as they come into your head you can organize it in some type of order later. Now later the order is up to you but it should make sense to you and be appealing to you. My list has the things I NEED to do at the top, followed by the things I LIKE to do next, and at the bottom are things that I SHOULD do. The way I use the list is I pick something from either the “I NEED to do” or the “ I SHOULD do” list first work on them for a while, and then reward myself with a similar amount of time devoted to “things I LIKE to do” This simple procedure helps keep me motivated, sort of a “carrot on a stick” approach to your “wargaming to do list”. Break these sessions into doable amounts of time with clear session goals if possible, avoid burnout! If a particular task is tough, tiring, or boring, then limit the time on it, balance it with frequent switches to a task you like more. This will help to get the tasks done in manageable bite sized sessions. Limit the tasks you start on 2-4 is more than enough, try to complete one or two before moving on and opening another task. This will give you another “reward” the sense of accomplishment!

Now I took my list that was done in no particular order and organized it using the NEED/LIKE/SHOULD my list ended up like this.

NEED to do;

• Getting rid of projects, I won’t do
• Creating more storage space
• Finishing paint projects, sitting on the shelf
• Taking photos of completed minis and projects
• Clean Work bench/table
• Organizing the “Wagaming section” of stored bit and pieces on my PC

LIKE to Do;

• Painting
• Building
• Buying more stuff on the internet!
• Writing about painting
• Reading rules I’ve purchased
• Getting better at the rules I play
• Writing about Gaming

SHOULD do;

• Becoming a better painter-explore new techniques
• Working on my “Wargaming Website”
• Completing builds, half done on the shelf
• Doing research for future projects
• Look at ways to improve my rate of completion for projects
• Staying “more” in contact with gaming friends

You can see that from my quickly done not terribly long list I have a fairly equal number of things in each category, also remember its fine to put items on the list not connected to “wargaming”, although those will probably go into the “need to do” or “Should do” section! (some of my wife’s “Honey do” list is in the “NEED to do” section!)

After making my list I decided to start off with something I “LIKE TO DO” and that’s paint! Always easiest to start with something that gives you a bit of a reward right off! While I was immersed in painting, I usually do some thinking and I used it to think about what would be the next item on the list. Well my next item would be off the “NEED TO DO” list,

• Getting rid of projects, I won’t do

And the good news was that I had already started that so putting in some time would be easy, I sold somethings to friends and off a few internet sites generating cash to further a few ongoing projects, win, win, reward! Since I sold much more than I purchased this also helped with another “NEED TO DO” task;

• Creating more storage space

Ok two “Need to do” task worked on, time for another “LIKE TO DO” task, my first thought was to paint again, but I decided to;

• Writing about Gaming

That’s when I decided write this article and let others know they are not alone, that many of us feel the frustration, isolation, and sometimes the helplessness when faced with these situations. I wanted to write about what I was doing to deal with it and some of the things we can do as gamers to “weather the Storm” so to speak.

We have already seen some of the wide range of tasks one can get involved in, some of them are easy to implement, cleaning, organizing, painting, etcetera, but what about some of the other things, research, socializing, showing off your mini’s, getting feedback? Well this is where I bring up what many in Wargaming used to think of as the enemy…the “Internet”

For years wargamers accused the internet of helping to destroy our brand of wargaming, by “our brand” I mean that back in the day (say before 1990) there were no alternatives for wargamers except to meet up with our little dollies lay down a sheet, some tape roads, and have at it. It was physical, it was in your face gaming! Then computer games popped up and many people left the hobby or never got into the physical aspect of wargaming because there was now an arguably easier way to get some of that same satisfaction and competition found in physical wargaming. Many folks bemoaned the rise of internet sales as leading to the demise of “Brick and Mortar” stores, well it did! However, there is always a silver lining, good stores got better, better able to make a profit by reaching more customers, offering more products, easier shopping. Bad stores closed (not the internet’s fault, it just hastened their end!) and that was sometimes sad just for the fact as it was often a place where one got their start as gamers. I was once in the camp of “Computers are killing our hobby” but It was not very long before I saw that the computer was really helping to expand and revolutionize the hobby. The internet has helped to increase by leaps and bounds the miniatures, rules, and sharing of our wonderful hobby like never before. The internet is our friend, and it’s going to help us through this current situation!

The actual playing of a game is really a small percentage of the time most people devote to the hobby. Much of a gamers time is really spent on the other aspects of gaming and for that the computer is the most powerful tool on the planet!

Let’s look back at the “List of Task” above and see which ones the internet can help us with. I’m going to pick some of the items on that list that I think the internet can help me with, right off I find that of the 19 task on the first list 13 of them can be done wholly or partly with the help of the internet, and many times better!

NEED to do

• Organizing the “Wagaming section” of stored bits and pieces on my PC
• Getting rid of projects, I won’t do
• Taking photos of completed minis and projects

LIKE to Do;

• Buying more stuff on the internet!
• Writing about painting
• Reading rules I’ve purchased
• Getting better at the rules I play
• Writing about Gaming

SHOULD do;

• Becoming a better painter-explore new techniques
• Working on my “Wargaming Website”
• Doing research for future projects
• Look at ways to improve my rate of completion for projects
• Staying “more” in contact with gaming friends

Let’s look at some of the “Task” and how the internet can help!

Getting rid of projects, I won’t do;

Before the internet it was tuff, sell to friends, at a convention, or to a local shop. Now I have many outlets with world wide distribution, Ebay, Bartertown, The Miniatures Page (TMP), the Lead Adventure Page, to name just a few. I can list things at my leisure and “shelter at home”! I’ve over the years sold and purchased items from California to South Africa!

Taking photos of completed minis and projects;

For years I took pictures of games and miniatures to share with friends, but after the initial “look see” at the next game they went into a box and never saw the light of day! Dragging them out for the relatives to see at Christmas never went over big!  Now with the internet there are many ways to post and share your game, and miniatures pictures with the world! My website gets hits from interested people all over the world as well as my friends looking to see past battles or what’s happening lately.

Buying more stuff on the internet;

I’m astounded by the proliferation of manufacturers and mini’s available nowadays! This is because the internet has allowed companies and people no matter how small to show and sell their wares with a minimum investment. It used to be that you had to travel to a shop, hope they had the figures, rules, or supplies you were interested in, frankly it was hit and miss! After all, carrying all or even most of the different lines, periods, rules, paints, and modeling materials was beyond the ability of most shops! The internet has changed all that.

Reading the rules I play & Getting better at the rules I play;

How many times have you read the rule book “cover to cover”? Many people just read the basic things they need to start playing and then hunt and peck for rules as situations demand. Take the time to read your rules cover to cover. This will pay enormous dividends later, in speed of plat, where a particular rules section is, and just a better understanding of the rules and gameplay helping you to more often be the “winner”!

Reading rules and playing the game can often times be confusing or unclear. In times past you just had to talk them out among your group or perhaps send a S.A.S.E. to the publisher or writer with your question, what? Oh, sorry for you younger folks, that’s Self Addressed Stamped Envelope, and in a few weeks, you might get a reply and clarification… Nowadays there are websites, Forums, Facebook groups, and other forms of social media that can answer those questions in almost real time! Yes, more than once while playing Col. Bill Greys AOE Napoleonic rules we have asked and gotten answers to questions before the game ended!

Organizing the “Wagaming section” of stored bits and pieces on my PC;

What a marvelous tool the PC is for storing and organizing all that info that wargamers accumulate over the years! It used to be lots of shelves and boxes with no easy “search” box or folders to make finding the info practical!

Becoming a better painter-explore new techniques;

Well if you haven’t checked out all the websites and forums on painting, building, and modeling techniques you must be living under a rock in the woods! Before the process of getting better took many years of effort, seeking out other painter, talking, trying to imagine the process they were describing. Now you can go out and find articles and “how too’s” on almost any wargaming subject you may care to think about. Just the other night I was painting some figures with old rusty armor and I wanted to see what others were doing, a quick line in the “Google” search box brought half a dozen videos, two pages of articles, tons of pictures!

Writing about Gaming;

Well this article came from my thoughts on our hobby and the current situation, without a PC and a writing program I doubt I would have done this. Most of us like talking, discussing, and just kibitzing about our hobby, the computer and internet is a way to record and share with others our thought and accomplishments. My website www.HistoricalHobbies.com is a living record of my journey in the hobby.

Staying “more” in contact with gaming friends;

This is one of the most important things to do especially in times like this where the support, comradeship, and interaction with others is so important to both our physical and mental well-being. It’s also one that many of us struggle with. I have a list of friends I call but that can be very time consuming when you want to talk to twenty people from the group, basically having the same conversation again and again. Using the internet to make these interactions easier, timelier, and get everyone participating is just a “no brainer”

Email, forums, Facebook, Twitter, are all good. I was on the internet long before most and remember the first couple of wargaming sights out there, at first text only, then a few pictures, nowadays there are thousands devoted to wargaming with miniatures, the Lead Adventure Forum is one of the best with tons of pictures how too’s, discussions, idea’s, and a ton of helpful people there to kibitz with! The Miniatures Page is much the same. Voice communication programs like Skype, Discord, and TeamSpeak allow you to all have conversations and even share pictures and videos as a group!

The internet was born out of social interaction and sharing, at first files and codes, but soon text and pictures, look at it now. It is our most powerful tool to maintain and share our Hobby, keep it and ourselves strong and moving forward.

I hope this article will help you or a friend look at the positives, enjoy!

Bill Witthans