The Secret Every Wargamer Shares

Today’s video takes a slightly more reflective turn, looking at something many hobbyists experience but rarely talk about openly: imposter syndrome in tabletop wargaming. It’s that odd little feeling that creeps up when you read comments, talk to other gamers, or scroll through painting posts online and suddenly think, “Everyone else knows far more about this hobby than I do.” It’s familiar, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s surprisingly common. But as I’ve discovered through countless conversations at recent shows, it’s also based on a complete misunderstanding of how this community works.

Every one of us arrives in wargaming by a different route. Some come in through history, others through RPGs or boardgames, others through painting, collecting, or social clubs. Our personal routes shape the way we learn, what we love, which periods we specialise in, and the areas where our knowledge is deep—or hilariously shallow. When you bring thousands of these unique journeys together, the result is a community full of extraordinary expertise, but spread across many different people. The illusion that “everyone else knows everything” comes from seeing many individual specialists at once.

The heart of the video isn’t about inadequacy—it’s about the shared passions that tie us together despite those differences. A love of storytelling runs through every corner of the hobby, whether historical or fantastical. A love of making things keeps us painting, building, converting, and creating. A love of playful competition keeps us rolling dice and swapping tales of glorious victories and ridiculous defeats. A love of learning keeps us exploring new techniques, new eras, and new ideas.

And, of course, there’s the universal joy of playing with miniatures on a real tabletop. Big figures or tiny ones, sci-fi or historical, epic battles or skirmishes—it doesn’t matter. The moment painted figures line up on a table, something instinctive flickers to life in the hobbyist's brain. That spark is one of the strongest threads holding this community together.