GWS 2024: Wargaming Inspiration

By Jon Freitag

In a promised second half to the Looking to Media for Inspiration post, today I examination the more general survey question, viz: What Inspires You the Most?

The 2024 Great Wargaming Survey included two questions on gaming motivation and inspiration. One question asked about a gamer’s primary source for inspiration. The other question focused on media and its influence. The previous post, linked above, addressed the second question. Today, I examine the primary source of wargaming inspiration.

Respondents could select up to three primary inspirational sources from a list of choices. Some respondents included only a single choice, while most included up to the maximum number of three choices. Looking at only the top choice, Figure 1 shows that My gaming friends was the top choice for inspiration when all responses were aggregated. The choice of A text about an historical event came up a close second. After the top two responses, a gap emerges, and the remaining response counts trail off quickly.

Graphically, the Top Choice is illustrated in Figure 2.

Does this picture change if the Top 3 choices from each response are aggregated? No. Well, not much. Figure 3 shows that the top two choices remain the same as before. The exception is that the ranking may change slightly in the other choices but the relative order of the front, middle, and back of the pack remain about the same. Notice that the gap between the Top 2 choices has diminished from that seen in Figure 2. 

When looking at the ranking of the aggregated Top 3 choices in Figure 3, notice that manufacturers' offerings filter down toward the bottom of sources for inspiration. Kickstarters find themselves near the bottom as well. What does this result suggest?

While My gaming friends rises to the top in both rankings, I wonder whether a game or show ought to be included in the survey next time this question is asked? Seeing or playing in a well-presented game can offer inspiration as can attending a wargame show.

If these data are examined with a focus on age cohort alone, are there any meaningful tendencies emerging from these results? That is, does age group drive or influence inspiration? Figure 5 illustrates these aggregated results by breaking the results out by Age Group.

Does Figure 5 bring forward any age-related tendences with respect to inspiration? Yes, it does.

As demonstrated in a number of past analyses, younger gamers tend toward fantasy and sci-fi gaming while older gamers gravitate toward historicals. For the younger cohorts, that result still holds in this survey question. These younger cohorts find inspiration in reading about fictional events more so than do the older cohorts. Interestingly, these same younger cohorts find inspiration in reading about historical events as well. Another interesting result of looking at the question by age group is that watching movies or TV shows offers consistently less wargaming inspiration as one advances in years.

Confirming the finding from primary inspiration analysis, manufacturers’ advertisements and well-presented kickstarters provide little inspiration for the masses regardless of age group. An interesting twist to manufacturers' efforts to connect with wargamers is that a manufacturers' website or newsletter offers a small but increasing inspiration as age increases.

Looking at the graphics above, do any of these results stand out to you? Do these results reflect your tendencies for wargaming inspiration? From which of these sources do you draw inspiration? Are there sources of inspiration not included in the current survey?

From where do I draw inspiration for wargaming? While inspiration for my wargaming projects and activities continues to evolve, my Top 3 today are:

• My gaming friends
• Getting in a game, or painting
• Following others' gaming activities through their blogs

What about you?