Many thanks to lurking DW, who brought this thread to my attention and suggested that I might have something to add on a lot of points raised here.
First, with respect to tabletop wargames:
If you are a committed pacifist (by which I mean, you wouldn't want your DP to raise a hand to the thug assaulting you) then I doubt there is much I could say to persuade you that they are a good idea. If, however, your pacifistic philosophy is restricted to the belief that international dispute is better solved by any means other than war, then perhaps you should take a second look at tabletop wargames as a pursuit for your DSs.
Most "warlike" games - and in this I include Action Man, GI Joe and toy weapons of all sorts - involve one "good" side (usually represented by invincible hero characters) thwarting one "bad" side (usually represented by powerful but stupid evil characters): no one really gets hurt and or injured and it's home in time for tea and medals. Tabletop wargames stand as a stark contrast to this. Now, the following points apply broadly to all such wargames, historical and otherwise, but I'll mainly apply the points in detail to the Warhammer stable of games.
Warhammer and its sister game Warhammer 40,000 both have a strong context: that is, a back story that makes the battles fought "make sense". In both cases, the context is a world (or a whole galaxy for WH40K) torn apart by almost constant warfare. These worlds are portrayed as bitter, terrible places to live where every day is uncertain, plagues and monstrosities stalk that land and even death is no end to the constant battle. Yes, this holds a certain grotesque fascination for young boys; but no one in their right mind would want to live there! In fact, it provides an instant and salient lesson of a world where war and conflict is allowed to become the principle political tool of government.
Secondly, the battles themselves teach the players that no amount of magic armour or clever tactics can save you from the whims of chance. It doesn't matter how many hours you spent painting your general or how beautiful that regiment looks on the tabletop: if the dice go against you, you're dead meat. War, it reminds us, might be an adventure, but it's an adventure that some people don't come back from.
To expand a little of the wargaming community: yes, if your only exposure to it is through reluctant forays into Games Workshop, it can seem to be dominated by pony-tailed beardies with an unhealthy Lara Croft/Heavy Metal fixation. Just remember that there are many more players who AREN'T in GW because they have jobs to go to. A much better idea of the social cross-section can be found by going to a wargaming club night. There is a national parent organization for wargaming clubs, the Gaming Club Network, that sets a code of conduct and sponsors CRB checks for club supervisors. Visit any of these clubs and you will find - yes, the pony-tailed geeks. But you will also find doctors, lawyers, post men, security guards, students, bank managers, accountants, dentists, psychiatrists, computer programmers and film stars (Will Smith and Robin Williams are both big fans of Warhammer 40,000).
And you'll also find children. And you'll also find an environment where those children can compete with men three or four times their age as equals. Yes, it IS mostly men. As I'm sure most of you are more than aware, there just doesn't seem to be the same appeal to most women - although the proportion of gamers who ARE women is increasing year on year and some of the world's best miniature painters are women.
I could go on about what I believe are the positive benefits of wargaming, but I'd be here all day. Suffice to say that examples include: craft skills, negotiation, probability theory, diplomacy, strategy and a surprising amount of advanced physics.
While I'm here, I'll also speak up in defence of the Games Workshop staff. They are practically unique in that they work for not much more than minimum wage because they passionately LOVE what the company does. Yes, they are all CRB checked: it's a mandatory pre-requirement to work at the shop. They will try very hard to answer your questions, but they are also working hard to prevent the little **s dropped off by parents who think GW is a free creche from nicking the stock and they get a little testy after the twentieth person that day comes in looking for a copy of World of Warcraft (take note: GW does NOT sell computer games; no, not even the ones based on their own Intellectual Property). Minimum wage part-timers, remember.
If you want to speak to someone who has a bit of decent customer service training, ask if the manager of deputy manager is available.
Alternatively, you can phone their Mail Order line or visit their online store. GW has one of the highest standards of Mail Order customer service in the world.
For the record, I don't work for GW and never have. I have played their games for about twenty years, however, and founded my own local gaming club. You may be interested to hear that I've spent seven years in the British Army - in a non-combatant medical support role, at least partly due to my religious beliefs.
Oh, and it's already illegal to declare war. No one has made a formal declaration of international war for almost two hundred years.
Regards,
R.
RELATED LINKS:
uk.games-workshop.com
www.gcnm.org.uk
www.victorialamb.com