Phil Millar has been a good friend of mine for a few years now. He is an active trade unionist, keen gamer, and lover of awful 90’s Cali-punk. The admins of Corehammer recently discussed how unhappy we were at the state of aspects of the wargaming community. Corehammer itself is a response to this. A haven for those of us who don’t like to scream ‘WAAAGHH’ across a table, for the player who doesn’t want to attend a gaming club full of neckbeards making rape jokes. But just existing isn’t enough. It’s not enough to encounter those attitudes and just be glad that we’re not like them. I spoke about it with Phil and he agreed to knock up a few articles on wargaming with some basic level of a social conscience. And I’m really glad he did. – Kev

Tabletop wargaming is a social hobby, at its most basic level, you need to interact with at least one other human being. Any social activity depends on its members to be responsible for making sure its society includes those it wants to include. You get this self-policing in every subculture and fan group, but it feels to me (maybe because its my main hobby these days) that the general and overarching world of wargaming is lagging behind when it comes to making a safe and welcoming place for everyone interested in fucking about with plastic models.

“Geek culture” – if you can contain that idea in your mind without being violently ill – had a turning point in the last few years. The success of feminist movement in pissing off the entrenched sexists of video game industry polarised the community and made it really easy to see who those sexists were. They quickly become a hideous, violent parody of themselves, GamerGate was quickly and correctly equated with chubby, neckbearded unwashed freaks who hated women because of the constant rejection in their lives. They struck back at women enjoying a pastime they liked with threats of rape and death and so excluded themselves from any serious debate. Feminism may have won the moral high ground, but it’s not over by a long shot. There is still a fight to be had, but women are ever so gradually getting more and more recognition from that industry because people grouped together and opened a dialogue. They were open about what they didn’t like and how it was stopping them from doing something they enjoyed.

We need that dialogue to start in the tabletop community, Fantasy and Sci-Fi are in the middle of a resurgence in popularity and we’ve got more people than ever reading massive Fantasy novels, picking up board games, Dungeons and Dragons and all that good stuff. It’s a small leap to miniature wargaming, but there are some things we need to clear up to make sure people are comfortable making that leap. I’m going to go through a few trouble areas, so if you are guilty of doing these things or are aware of others doing them and do nothing about them, take action. It’s a common thread of moving towards a better society that we have to stand up together and tell people how their actions are wrong, so let’s do this with our hobby and change some attitudes.

The big one is sexism. Women are people, women might want to take part in our hobby and that’s okay. The reason there aren’t many women doing it isn’t because they’re not interested, or because they can’t, it’s because of the environment that we’ve either created or have allowed to form, excluding them. People don’t feel comfortable being a minority, and so things that you might think are a part of gaming can be problematic. Stuff like looking at images of scantily clad women, which is great, but they have a time and a place. That time is when you’re on your own, and the place is your stinking pit of a bedroom, not in a hobby space you share with other humans.

Basically, if it makes other people uncomfortable and stops them taking part in the hobby we all love, knock that shit off. If you see other people fetishizing women like that, with their artwork or models or general attitude, tell them it’s out of order.

Another big one is using the word “rape”, this one isn’t so bad in wargaming, as in video games, but it’s creeping in because those two hobbies cross over a lot. Everyone knows this one isn’t good, you know this, rape is a heinous, demeaning and horrible act and can shatter the lives of anyone affected. Why the fuck would you think it’s ever appropriate to demean those people that have come through that shit by throwing that word around? Just hearing it triggers memories and feelings in people. Its not difficult to find a different way to say that you beat your opponent wholeheartedly, maybe try: “Ha, I comprehensively defeated you in the game we partook in just now, I hope you’re suitably humbled”.

Homophobia is fucking rampant, mostly it’s indirect and ignorant, but that doesn’t mean it’s not damaging. Saying “Eldar are gay” isn’t funny, we’re not 5 year olds who are vaguely aware “gay” is a bad word. Calling your mate a fag isn’t funny either, you might not mean that he’s attracted to other men, but it still hurts some people’s feelings, so just don’t do it. Again, challenge that shit when you see it and try to be aware of how your actions affect others, like a grown up. Let’s make sure that we’re creating environments where people can come and not feel uncomfortable, and just get on with having a fun time with their hobby.

When these things are brought up, when people are told they shouldn’t use certain words or make certain jokes, they act wounded, or as though you’re the one with the problem BECAUSE you called them out. But the fact is, you’re sharing a space with people, you don’t have the right to say anything you want if it causes others to not enjoy their hobby.

People get offended, you’re not ‘hilarious’’ edgy’ ‘comedian’ Ricky Gervais, it’s not your job to say ridiculously offensive things and then complain that those offended are being overly sensitive. You’re a nerd in a shop, other people deserve to use the same hobby space as you without being offended. This is all fine, your rights aren’t being infringed, you’re not being censored. You’re just being told not to be an arsehole. This isn’t about ruining jokes and ending fun, you can still make jokes, just think of something better than “I raped that gay fag”. Political correctness isn’t a bad thing, unless you like beating up gay men and calling them queers.

Another thing I think is a big part of the problem is how much right wing views are accepted, within the hobby. How much racism, homophobia, sexism and military fetishism is allowed to slide. Its only natural that a game about soldiers and tanks will attract some freaks that are obsessed with the military, loving tanks and that is fine, it’s just that it so often comes coupled with a slight reverence for fascist ideology. You know the types, period accurate Third Reich armies for Bolt Action and Flames of War, Iron Crosses everywhere, hatred of Jews. Again, it should be obvious that this is wrong. Call these people out, let them know that glorifying fascist regimes is in itself fascist, and that you don’t want any part of that. Solidarity with hobbyists can make people see the error of their ways, or at least silence them, so more progressive people don’t have to listen to their bollocks.

Anyway, that’s enough of telling you what to kick off about, next time, I’ll be writing about how Warhammer 40,000 started as a parody of the Right Wing and how the ideas there are still relevant today and what your gaming group can do to be a force for good.