“First of all, a warrior has what are called
the Dual paths of Scholarship and Warfare to follow,
and must have a liking for both of these Ways.” - Miyamoto Musashi
One of the main reasons I started this blog centers around my belief that players should worry less about playing the best list they possibly can and focus more on being better players. I believe one of the best options for a player to improve their play outside of reading rules and playing games consists of reading actual military history and philosophy books. Now I already highlighted this belief back in the early writings of this blog here, but now I wish to discuss my own research in detail rather than in a sweeping overview.
The book I selected for this more in-depth discussion is The Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi, translated by David K. Groff. I first read this book during COVID quarantine last year and I knew I wanted to do more than just read this book after the first couple of pages. Sadly, it took a challenge from my podcasting partner Heath from Tablewar Hawaii on the June episode of the Path to Redemption Podcast, THE Warhammer 40,000 Dark Angels podcast, to get my writing juices in motion.
Today, I will outline what I believe are the three core concepts for wargamers from the first book of The Five Rings, Ground. Miyamoto used this book to layout and overview the entirety of his work making it the most practical starting point. For me, learning core wargaming concepts, choosing a play style comfortable to you, and developing positive relationships with other players benefits wargamers the most.
Knowledge of a core wargame concept, which holds true for real combat, provides an essential starting point for Miyamoto’s philosophy. Miyamoto establishes the importance of knowledge when he writes, “Having one thing, you should know ten thousand.” As a wargamer, I took this to mean that understanding one concept from any one wargame, such as movement, provides you the knowledge of how to apply that concept in any other wargame. Transferable skills and knowledge of wargaming allow a player to migrate between games and follow their muse everywhere it takes them. I would identify some of additional skills as the following: understanding how terrain affects line-of-sight; using mobility to flank enemy armies; or simply knowing something is six inches away just by looking at it. A player shouldn’t engross themselves with learning the most minute details of any one game in order to derive some kind of advantage. Miyamoto himself warns us against focusing, “On learning the trivial specifics, forgetting about the true way.” Players should rather spend their time focusing on these broader concepts that allow them to succeed even if they change armies inside one particular game or switch to a different game entirely.
Possessing a solid and transferable knowledge of wargaming concepts allows a player to easily slip into new games or armies and find what works best for them from the beginning. Miyamoto warns us against simply copying and pasting tournament lists off the internet, “Without imitating other people, choose what is appropriate for your own size and shape; you should have weapons that you can wield comfortably.” Now, if you possess the strong knowledge of wargaming then I would not dissuade you from playing meta lists because you most likely possess the skills needed to move from army to army as I mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
Unfortunately, I frequently see many new players to wargames fall into the trap of meta chasing where, “There are a lot of flowers, but not much fruit.” If a player fails to possess the understanding of the deeper concepts of wargaming, then a player lives with the impending doom that a more skilled player will come along and teach them a valuable lesson about how unbeaten armies don’t exist. It takes time to learn an army, a wargame, or a core wargaming concept. I always try to encourage new players to look into their army’s own rules for a solution to a particular problem rather than wholesale jumping ship to a new army. In my experience, a lack of good rules doesn’t hinder players nearly as much as a lack of knowledge or worse lack of self-control.
One of the ways a player quickly acquires knowledge comes through their gaming community. Miyamoto instructs us, “
Furthermore, as strategy on a large scale, one wins by retaining good people,
and by using large numbers of them; one is victorious by way of comporting oneself correctly,
by governing the country, by nurturing the people, and by carrying out the laws of the world.”
Some might read this passage and take it to mean that one should simply find and keep their best units in their army. I ask players to reconsider this approach and focus on a human rather than miniature perspective. At the end of the day, the main enjoyment of playing wargames comes from playing with other people. Yes, winning is nice but if there’s no one to play against then you can’t win. Miyamoto provides the first step in surrounding yourself with good people by telling us to behave correctly at the game table. No making up rules, no hiding dice rolls, and no saltiness when things don’t go your way. After taking care of yourself, Miyamoto then asks you to look after your community. Help your gaming community grow and follow the rules of not just any one game but polite society as well. By participating in a constructive gaming community, you will find players who will help you solidify your understanding of wargaming concepts. I speak from personal experience that my own knowledge of wargaming would not be as extensive as it is without my excellent team of people that play with and it all started with a few respectful and positive interactions in person or online.
These relationships with other players, along with choosing your own playstyle, and learning core wargaming concepts generate the most benefits for wargamers from the book of Ground in Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings. By learning core wargaming concepts, I discovered things such as how effectively combined arms forces secure objectives and win battles regardless of the game system. In accordance with Musashi’s philosophy on finding your own path, I became comfortable playing this combined arms force across all my game systems and it remains an important part of my wargaming identity. This identity also includes helping other players in my community develop their own playstyles so that I maintain a team of good people around me as Musashi suggests. Now I admit that these three concepts I discussed do not cover the entirety of the book or that any reader or scholar will agree with me upon their own reading of the book. Despite this, I believe that these three concepts consist of the three ideas that persist in my mind long after reading this book.
Biography
Miyamoto Musashi, The Five Rings, trans. David K. Goff. China: Chatwell Books, 2012.
1) Miyamoto Musashi, The Five Rings, trans. David K. Goff (China: Chatwell Books, 2012), 46.
2) Ibid, 56-57.
3) Ibid, 65.
4) Ibid, 6.
5) Ibid, 72.
6) Ibid, 70.
7) Ibid, 64. “Although for everyone, when they start, the tachi is heavy and hard to swing around, all things are so at the beginning: the bow is hard to draw, and the naginata is difficult to wield. Any of the weapons takes getting used to. You become able to draw the bow with strength, and when you are accustomed to swinging the long sword, you understand the power of its Way, and it becomes easy to wield.”
8) Ibid, 77.
9) Ibid, 77.
10) Ibid, 69. “For each person, to carefully polish his own Way - that’s what is essential.”
11) Ibid, 77.
12) Ibid, 45.“Nowhere are there any warriors who can be said to fully understand the War of Strategy.”
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