It feels like a long time since I've written anything related to our collective fascination, but now seems as good a time as any to venture back into familiar territory.
By way of background, it's gone fast, but I have now been here in New Zealand since February 2019. More than two years, but I still do not feel settled, and have not found a satisfying rhythm. Helping my wife and the children adjust to life here has been my primary concern; a very close second to that has been trying to make a success of myself at work (New Zealand being an easier place for me to make a good living in middle age was one of the main reasons we moved here from Japan). Work has gone well in general, but the cost of living here is excessive. Even with salary increases there is not a lot to spare.
Preoccupations with such things therefore have affected the gaming life. I don't currently paint, rarely browse new rules, never browse figure ranges, and have almost (but not absolutely) given up on buying board wargames.
This I give for context, but it is not all bad news: there is an active group of wargamers in the area, and I have a couple of old school friends who are interested in playing figure games. One friend is already meeting me for the occasional Lost Battles refight. With luck and planning, multiplayer games may not be too far away.
Additionally, there is the opportunity to test out some simulation ideas in the work environment. The work I do is public sector. Room to use simulation techniques for training, reflection, consciousness raising, etc may present itself, and in fact I've been given the opportunity to test out some ideas in our annual team day, so hopefully that will go well and may lead to other doors opening.
What I don't have is that desire to play solitaire that I had in Japan. I also seem to have lost the urge to paint and the compulsion to write. These may come back or they may not, but wargaming is back to being - as it was in the beginning - no great matter!
It has been good the last couple of days to have a chance to look at other people's blogs and feel a bit of the old wargaming spirit rekindling. I also read over a few of my old posts and it was (mostly!) pleasant to revisit those times and places.
All up, I'm feeling positive. It may a different kind of wargaming life now, but wargaming still does have its place. I just need a little more time to figure out what that place is exactly!
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