The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 02, 1981, Page Page 11, Image 11
War de
By Danny Powoll
Staff Wrh?r
Ever wonder what it would
be like to be a World War I
ace dogfighting over France
in 1917? Or to lead hoardes of
Mongol invaders into
Eastern Europe? Or even to
command a division of U.S.
MarinPS islnnH-hnnnino in
I the Pacific?
Well, there is a way you
can do it in the courtesy of
your own home without the
use of a time machine. It's
called wargaming.
Wargames, for the most
part, are games depicting
certain battles, campaigns
or wars in our past. Any
situation of conflict between
men can be recreated in a
wargame, from two
cavemen going at it with
clubs to a re-enactment of
Napoleon's defeat at
Waterloo. You can even
depict interplanetary wars
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"IT'S A CHANCE TO
escape; you can become
whatever you are playing,"
Jeff Bass, USC student and
secretary-treasurer of the
USC Wargamers Society. "It
gives you a chance to see if
you are as good as the
strategic military minds of
I our past like Napoleon and
Hitler."
However, you have the
advantage of hind sight, and
you can try to prevent the
mistakes they made, Bass
said. Once the weak points
are corrected, you could
change the course of history,
as far as the game is concerned.
Wargames are played on
I maps tnat are marked off
with hexes. There are
markers, usually made of
cardboard, which depict the
different playing pieces.
Action is determined by the
player's moves, dice rolls
and/or random card
selections.
" There are so many
different types (of
wargames) to play that you
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"After the Holocaust}'
volving America's recover
can never get bored," Bass
said, and "there are enough
games to interest just about
anyone. What it takes is a lot
of time, because these are
not games that take 15 or 20
minutes to play. It also takes
a lot of imagination."
THE WATERLOO ARMORY
is a wargamers shop
in Columbia owned and
operated by USC graduate
student Pete Saussy, who
said he has been interested
in wargaming for he past 20
years.
"I figured it would be
better to sell them than just
play them," Saussy said.
"It's sort of like making a
hobbv Dav for itsplf "
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Many games come and go,
depending on the times,
Saussy said. One of the
topical games he had a hard
time keeping in stock in
recent months was called
"Mission To Iran."
One of the most popular of
the wargames is the fantasy
game series known as
"Dungeons and Dragons." D
& D, as it is called, allows a
player to create his own
character and take him into
battle against dragons,
giants, mythical monsters
and other humans. There
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a complex war game iny
after a nuclear war.
have even been similar
games to D & D spring up
because of its success, most
notably one called Tunnels
and Trolls.
"IT (WARGAMING) is a
lot healthier than jogging ?
you don't get run over or
mugged, or cold or hurt your
feet; that is unless you
smoke and drink while you
play. Then it's not healthy,"
Saussy said.
Wargaming is a very
expensive game," Bass said.
"It can be like a junkie
supporting his habit."
"In a lot of the games,
there is the mere pleasure of
winning that is satisfying. A
lot of the games, though, let
us portray God, which is
something we don't get to do
very often in real life," he
said.
"You can ,do anything
from blowing up oil tanks in
Iran to rescuing a virgin
maiden from the clutches of
a Red Dragon," Bass said.
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