Over the weekend I received one of those emails that perfectly captures the charm—and occasional confusion—of the wargaming hobby.
It began with:
“A friend of mine was at the Source the other day…”
Ah yes. Not the player, not the person at the table—but a friend. Somewhere out there is a shadowy network of secondhand observers reporting on our games like it’s an intelligence operation. I half expected the next line to involve someone’s cousin’s roommate confirming troop movements near the snack bar.
Still, credit where it’s due—whoever sent the email clearly did some digging. They found us, tracked down the Centurions, and reached out. That’s more effort than most reconnaissance missions require.
Then came the real question:
“I’m interested in Dark Ages gaming—what rules are you playing and when is your next game?”
And here’s where things get a little funny.
Why does it always seem to be a period we don’t actually play as a group? I tend to assume the blog reflects our current, active projects—so naturally the inquiries end up being about everything else. Maybe it’s less about what we’re doing and more about a bit of hope on the sender’s part—a wing-and-a-prayer that we might be interested in the same thing they are.
If you take a quick stroll through our blog (there’s even a search button—we’re very modern), you’ll notice a distinct pattern: we don’t actually play Dark Ages games. Not recently, not occasionally… possibly not at all in the past 15 years.
Which leads to the next perfectly reasonable—but slightly mysterious—question:
“I have some figures—are they compatible with what you’re doing?”
Compatible with what, exactly? At the moment, our Dark Ages project exists mostly as a philosophical discussion and a collection of “we should really do that someday” conversations.
And of course, no Dark Ages inquiry would be complete without:
“Have you tried [insert obscure ruleset here]?”
Now that is the most familiar part of all. If there’s one thing wargamers excel at, it’s discovering fascinating rule systems that someone, somewhere, swears are perfect—if only you can convince six other people to commit to them for six months.
The Real Story Behind the Joke
All humor aside, there’s a reason this keeps happening.
The Dark Ages—especially Britain from the end of Roman rule through the Norman Conquest—cover hundreds of years of shifting cultures, armies, and styles of warfare. It’s a fascinating period… but also a tricky one to pin down into a single, satisfying game system that a whole group can rally around.
So what happens?
Everyone is interested.
Everyone has a few figures.
Everyone has a ruleset they’ve heard good things about.
And somehow, no one quite gets it to the table.
The Important Part
If you’re curious about what we’re doing—or wondering if your figures might fit into something we’re planning—the best answer is also the easiest one:
Stop by and join us.
We play regularly at Source Comics & Games in Roseville, and our games are open. No need for scouting reports, intermediaries, or secondhand intelligence networks. Just walk up, say hello, and take a look at what’s on the table.
And who knows—if enough people show up asking about the Dark Ages, we might finally have to stop talking about it… and actually play a game.
Stranger things have happened.
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