Wargamer Perfectionist

A wargamer friend of mine recently told me I am a perfectionist.  I was surprised by this comment.  After some thought, he is right.  I do find myself spending time getting things right.

Perfectionist: a person who refuses to accept any standard short of perfection.

In our hobby this can apply to painting, terrain, rules and/or scenario design.  I don't think it is a bad thing, I just spend a bit more time trying to get things right.  Maybe I do this based on past games I've run that I felt did not work out well.

Scenario

This is probably where I spend my most time (apart from painting).  I try to find a map from the period or close to the battle and also try to find a good deployment map.  The terrain can be important to a battle, so I spend time tracking down what the terrain should be recreated on the table.  The OOB for the scenario I'll track down to the best I can get it.  I also look to acquire a good book on the battle I'm going to do.  I think all our scenarios have improved with internet now.  

Miniatures

I have been known to not do a historic battle because I can not find the correct miniatures for the battle, whereas I think most would make do with what is available.  Fortunately, by waiting, some of the miniatures have been sculpted and I've put on the battles.

Painting

I am an average painter.  Where I focus more of my time is researching the uniforms or ship/plane camouflage correctly.  An example is researching exactly what a ships camouflage was for the battle it was in for the scenario I'm using it for.  No, I will not repaint a ship for a scenario, but I'm certainly tempted to have an additional version of a capital ship if the camouflage is significantly different.  My miniatures painted up are not perfect.  As long as they look good on the wargaming table.

Terrain

For each scenario I try to layout the right terrain for this scenario.  Recently I could not find a building for a 28mm game.  Nothing looked like the historic building in the battle, so I decided to build one from scratch.  I think it turned out pretty well.  Yes, I could have just thrown down a building and no one would be the wiser, but I guess the perfectionist in me couldn't let that happen.

Rules

We all have our reasons for choosing our favorite wargame rules.  I think we are always searching for the perfect rules.  I certainly look for rules that can generate a historic outcome and takes into consideration the period.  I have been known to be very interested in the scale the rules represent (i.e. 1" = 25 yds).  Though, a complex ruleset might just run too slow and boring for players.  I try to stay clear of those.

Is being a perfectionist a bad thing?  I don't think so.  As long as it doesn't get in the way of enjoying the hobby.