This year, I stumbled upon a YouTube video by People Make Games that explored the world of wargaming—specifically, wargames used to help decision-makers navigate adversarial situations.

While the video raised ethical questions and cast some parts of the scene in a negative light, it actually had the opposite effect on me. It opened my eyes to a space where I could take my vast knowledge of recreational hobbies and pivot it into something that could make a real difference. Isn’t that what we all crave—purpose and meaning? 🙂

Coming from a background rich in LARPing, D&D, Tabletop games, and video games, I’ve spent years building immersive experiences. I’ve written and run award-winning LARP events for over five years, and I still DM a compelling nautical D&D campaign—eight years strong, set in a homebrew world I crafted myself. I’ve even led a team to design a video game aimed at educating children through multiplayer storytelling based on fairytales, and created frameworks for games, using hex-based systems to bring meaningful progress to multiplayer battles.

When I first encountered the world of wargaming, I was intrigued. Naturally, I turned to Google. I absorbed presentations from Tom Mouat, devoured Wargaming 101, and listened to every MP3 I could get my hands on. I was hooked.

Then, straight after that I discovered Connections UK 2024 was just two days away. And guess what? There was one ticket left. Without a second thought, I booked it.

Video watched Sunday -> Ticket booked Monday -> Turned up Tuesday!

The event was a whirlwind. I met an incredible range of people—many of whom assumed I was already working for a defence company, thanks to how quickly I picked up the lingo, the meta, and the intricacies of wargaming. I jumped into games, had fantastic conversations, and walked away with 5 solid contacts. I’ve given them some space since, but I’ll be reaching out soon!

The experience was eye-opening. It quickly became clear that I needed to reframe my massive wealth of recreational knowledge to fit the wargaming space. How could I pitch myself? How could I be an asset?

Over the course of the event, I met gamers, students, designers, facilitators, military personnel, government officials, and educators. It was exhilarating, to say the least.

From the first day to the last, I got the answers I was seeking.

And now, I have direction, a mentor, a handful of promises and new friends.

The first step? Building this website. What was once a home for my hobbyist content has now become the foundation for my new venture.

The next step? Reaching out to my contacts and offering to get started!

Stay tuned—there’s much more to come.