Wargames (Huh!) What Are They Good For?

It seems to me that one thing we've traditionally lacked on this site is much in the way of commentary about Wargames, which is a bit strange considering that there's a big crossover crowd of people who like both AT games and Wargames. Indeed way back in the day when Robartin first coined the term "Ameritrash" there was some argument over whether Wargames ought to be considered a subset of a wider grand-Ameritrash tradition. Wasn't an argument I ever bought, but there we go. Anyway, I'm planning, over the next few weeks, to redress the balance with a short series of articles about Wargames and my take on the genre. This is the first.

I have all the right innate stuff to be a Grognard. I play games, obviously. I also have an interest in, and read about, military history and theory. I reckon that's all the raw materials you need for entry into the ranks of the Old Moaners. To be sure I don't read a lot of history - apart from WWII there's no conflict on which I own more than one book - but that's just a matter of scale. But - until recently - I've not been inspired to even play, let alone own, a single Wargame. Why?