nazis, nazis everywhere!
So this week one of the largest wargames hobby creators on YouTube decided to make a video about historical wargamers (specifically bolt action player) and instead of focusing on the game itself or the miniatures, Midwinterminis chose to focus on Nazis. The video even started with the tag line its all fun and games until someone has to play as the Nazis.
I’ve been a big supporter of the Midwinterminis channel since the very beginning which is why i was so disappointed with this latest video. Throughout the video there were many narrow minded opinions and statements made about historical wargames and historical players. Lets talk about a few of the comments……
“Why isn’t historical wargaming as popular as 40k”
This one is an easy one, historical wargaming isnt as popular as 40k, its much much more popular. 40k is one game made by one company that has a rich background with multiple editions. Yes 40k is a very popular game but there are thousands of historical games produced by hundreds of companies ranging from all periods in history. Once you step outside of the Games Workshop bubble and take a look at the wargaming world as a whole its obvious how popular historical gaming is. just go to any wargames convention that isnt Warhammer fest and its obvious. Using the most recent convention I attended for example Salute. At salute there was one table with a game of 40k and one vendor selling 40k. Most of the other games and vendors in attendance were historical based with thousands of people in attendance playing and purchasing historical products.
“Someone has to play as the Nazis or a force aligned with the Nazis”.
Well this one only works if your playing a World War 2 based game but even then you don’t have to play s the Nazis. Not all of the German forces were Nazis. Plus its still a game. You can pith any force against each other.
“Trying not to paint everyone with the same brush but”
In this section of the vide Guy Implied that if someone is playing as the Germans in a game of bolt action they may be a bit off and a Nazi sympathizer. This is an incredibly narrow minded view. People may choose to play as the Germans for aesthetic reasons, the colour schemes, the armour, the uniform or may be interested in German history. I myself have a German force based around Stalingrad. Not because im a Nazi but because I’ve always been fascinated with the battle of Stalingrad. I also have a Soviet force, does that make me communist?
“German players might be secret Nazis”
This is such a ridiculous comment, yes there is the possibility that a person with a German army may be a Nazi, they may also be a priest or British war vet or a shaolin monk. You cant judge a person by the army they play in a wargame. For all you know one of the players in your group may be a far left domestic terrorist.
It was also incredibly hypocritical for the subject matter of this video to be sponsored by world of warship’s. A game set during WW2 where you take control of battle ships from your chosen faction in the war.
The main point that should be taken from this video is……. keep politics out f wargaming and all of he political views that come along with it. After all through history everyone was the bad guy to someone else.
If you cant play as the Germans because of history who can you play as?
The Americans? Hiroshima so i guess that’s a no. The British? fire bombed Dresden thats another no. The Soviots? killed hundreds of thousand s of their own people , so cant play as them.
What about another time period? Napolionics? The frenchbrought back slavery to the colonies so they are a no go. The British?Wellington was a horrific Irish landlord, so no.
What about ancients? The less said about the Vikings the better, a definite no. Persians? enslaved entire populations so again no.
My point is every army, country, religion, race and political group have carried out atrocities throughout history.
I will finish with this point….. I hope Midwinterminis take a step back and actually speak to historical wargamers and realize that what was said in their latest video was narrow minded and ridiculous. People play historical wargames to keep history alive, to teach and learn of human history.