GWS 2017 – 4/31 questions

Happy 4th of July!

Men and women in the Great Wargaming Survey 2017

Let's be honest - we've never had very many responses from female wargamers. It has varied between one and two percent of responses. In absolute numbers, that's a difference of a few dozen participants this way or that. So any caveats that go for the survey as a whole, go doubly for such small numbers. That said, there are significant differences in the way some questions were answered. Let's highlight some of them.

First off, when asked how long the respondent had been a wargamer, women responded significantly more often (32.3% vs 12.5%) that they had been in the hobby less than five years and significantly less often (14.6% vs 30.9%) that they had wargamed for over 30 years. They're significantly less interested in computer wargames as well as less interested in chit wargaming. Presumably those outcomes are no surprise. Perhaps it is more interesting to look at hobby preferences.

The wargaming hobby

Men and women are equally interested in "playing the game", but men are significantly more focused on the rules, fiddling with them, collecting them, and doing background research. Women, on the other hand, are more interested in painting. See below.

How important is the painting aspect of the hobby?

There are also some significant differences when it comes to the social aspects of wargaming, as seen below. First off, the 'hanging out' part isn't as interesting as it apparently is for men.

How important is it to just hang out with friends?

Moreover, conventions and shows are significantly less popular among women as well, and there seems to be a preference for larger regular groups to play in. These three outcomes together do seem to point to a similar theme.

Finally, there are differences in the type of game and preferred settings as well, but we'll save those for tomorrow.

Contribute to our 31 Questions challenge

Have any questions about the results of the Great Wargaming Survey 2017? Feel free to submit them here, but try to keep in mind what we can and cannot answer based on the questions and possible answers to the survey. To refresh your memory, check out a preview of last year's questions and possible answers.

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