Gaming in the Military - Your Experiences?

[Laman Stahros]

I was in the US Navy from 1983 to 2003. RPGs are everywhere in the Navy. All I ever had to do to get players was sit in a common area (the messdecks on a ship, barracks lounge, etc) reading a D&D book like the PHB and at least 5 people would be asking if I played within 10 minutes.

Did it on my first ship (USS Proteus, AS-19, out of Guam) and had 30+ gamers begging me to run a game within 5 minutes. Scary and yet fun.

I don't know about the other US services, but in the US Navy, enlisted personnel transfer every 2 -3 years. Kinda made it impossible to do long term campaigns Aw well, it was always fun and cheaper then getting plastered at the bars.

 

[BenjErik]

Yeah, US Air Force has its share of gamers as well. Even in basic training a couple of guys knew the rules well enough to run a game on sunday while everyone else was out to various church services. We used a hat with folded up scraps of paper for our "d20"...

 

[vongarr]

I'm in the Army right now, and I'm DMing a group of around 7 players. I usually get four at a table on a good week though. Add in the flakiness that gamers already have, and compound that by "duty" excuses, and you find yourself working harder as a DM to get all of the knuckleheads in line to play. But since I'm MI, it's just a matter of letting it be known I host a game and plenty of fellows reveal their true nature.

Yeah, plenty of gamers. They just tend to have more mental problems than non gamers (in my experience) but being at war will do that to ya.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

While not in the military, I was a military dependent and always saw military personnel in the gaming book sections of my local FLGS's...and most of my game groups have included at least one service member (active duty or retired) or dependent (besides myself, of course).

As I recall, many of the more interesting fan submissions to Task Force Games' Star Fleet Battles game were from military men and women.

Heck, there was even one game store I used to go to in KC, KS- King's Crown, as I recall- that was run by a retired Marine.

 

[phaeton]

I was a combat engineer in the U. S. Army during the late 90s and early 00s. In garrison, there were three basic hobbies: drinking, working out, and gaming. (Well, there was one more, but this is a family-friendly board, after all.) You could lean your head out of your room and find someone to join you in any one of those three endeavours (or any combination thereof, if you were an overachiever ) at pretty much any hour of the day or night.

Granted, keeping a stable group together was impossible, and DM quality varied wildly, but there was never a shortage of willing gamers.

<snip>

Yeah, plenty of gamers. They just tend to have more mental problems than non gamers (in my experience) but being at war will do that to ya.

A buddy of mine pointed out something similar to me recently. He said he thought it was because gamers exercise their imaginations much more frequently than your average person, so they were likely to recall terrible experiences more vividly, and more often.

*Shrug* I have no idea if that's true or not, I'm not a mental health professional. It doesn't, however, sound totally implausible. Either way, your comment just reminded of the conversation, so I thought I'd share.

 

[Wik]

While not in the military, I was a military dependent and always saw military personnel in the gaming book sections of my local FLGS's...and most of my game groups have included at least one service member (active duty or retired) or dependent (besides myself, of course).

As I recall, many of the more interesting fan submissions to Task Force Games' Star Fleet Battles game were from military men and women.

Heck, there was even one game store I used to go to in KC, KS- King's Crown, as I recall- that was run by a retired Marine.

Yeah, I'm a navy brat myself, and I remember in Toronto, my dad was in about three different gaming groups the five years we were there.

And, he's a SFB *freak*. Something he picked up just before he joined up, I think.

Right now, I play in a monthly-ish game with him, a friend of his from the Navy, and my little brother in absolutely CRAZY games of Axis and Allies. Lots of fun.

I generally find the military folks I've met and talked to to be very interested in the mechanical side of things, and tend to say things like "that's not how it works in the real world" before they go off on a rant about how 9mm bullets and 10mm bullets behave completely differently.

Except my dad. He's more of a "my ranger has a 23 strength and could kill a hill giant in one swing. does *your* ranger have four 18s as ability scores? I didn't think so."

Which is well and dandy, I suppose.

I used to joke, back when I couldn't find a group, that I should join the navy just so I could finally get in a game.

 

[jimpaladin]

I too must go in the "way back" machine. I was USMC from 82-86 in Pendleton. My 3 hobbies were drinking, computers(apple iie with DUODISK drive), and every weekend from Friday night at 8pm till Sunday night about 8pm Non-stop DnD in an upstairs barracks with 5 of us and the DM. We all took turns DMing also. There was usually a meal break saturday morning and sunday at noon else pizza or quick px run.

We used minatures and props even then because it was always funny tossing the dwarf across pits and chasms Best DM of all time (in my mind) Wayne Neubaugh of (somewhere in) Missouri. Damn, now I'm stuck in the way back machine for a little while remembering I blame the OP!

 

[Raptor]

Up here in Canada, gaming is alive and well in the CF. From my experience the largest contingents of gamers seem to be with the Army, with smaller groups in the Navy.

 

[Ender_rpm]

Currently in the Army, and I never have problems finding gamers. As someone pointed out, just take your PHB to any open area and you will attract gamers like flies to sweet potato pie Partially, its demographic (avg US military is 19-20 and male), and partially its portability (no electricity required, unlike XBOx). In the current deployment environment, there are a lot more creature comforts, like room full of networked XBoxes, but its still pretty easy to find gamers. Schedules suck, and the constant movement of personnel mean its best to keep the plot simple and concise. Tactics and teamwork tend to be more fully thought out, but thats service/ Job dependent- One navy guy I played with just charged everything. As a low level drood, maybe not the best plan

 

[Goose]

My past three bases ive always managed to find people to play the game. Not always as much as i prefer, but also ive had to turn people away before.

I say the military has the same ratio of geeks as any school or other public job in the world. Only problem is we never get ot have those 8 year long games. Alot of games are put on hold due to people TDY or moving.

We also get people with alot of different tastes and styles. So its cool to meet alot of different people