When I picked the Haitian Revolution as my new period, I chose it for a number of reasons. I wanted to do a Napoleonic skirmish game, but one that not many people would know about or even bother to do. I did think about the Peninsular or even the Waterloo period, but these have been done over and over again, by others.
Then I saw a advert for Trent Miniatures Haitian Revolution range and found Stuart's blog , Dust, Tears & Dice and I was hooked. But it has caused me a few problems.
Personally I rather not to play any games post WWII, as they're a bit too close to home, I understand that some people are fine with playing Falklands, Iraq and other modern warfare, I say good luck to them, but they do make me a little uncomfortable.
In my naivety I didn't think playing the Haitian Revolution would cause any problems, it was 232 years ago after all. But the date isn't the problem??
Sometimes my kids and Mrs are in a happy mood and they actually listen to me bang on about my latest wargame creation, (usually their eyes glass over, much like mine do, when the conversation goes over to shoes and handbags). I spoke about the up coming battle plan, where the black Colonial Infantry, joined forces with the mulattoes and rebel slaves. I was then read the riot act, "why do you have to call them black infantry, that's racist?" and so on.....
I tried to explain that they were the terms used back in 1792 and there were a lot more terms that really can't be used anymore. They asked what a mulatto was, I explained it was a half white, half black or brown or mixed race person, at the time they were known as mulatto or creole. I got told off once again, there was really no talking to them.
So my point here is, what are you supposed to say or do, I'm a wargamer, not a politician. I do have many political views, none of which I might add are in any ways racist. But trying to explain this very difficult period of history, can wind people up the wrong way? Its a very nasty period, mistreated slaves, slave owners, massacrers and lots of racial tension.
I was talking to Dave from Milton Hundred who runs the Broadside Wargame show, he told me one of the other local Kent clubs were asked not to put on their WWI Palestine game, that they'd spent a year getting ready, at another local show, as they thought it was in bad taste, with what's going on today with Israel and Palestine.
This got me thinking about the civil unrest that's going on in Haiti at the moment??? As I'm putting a game on at the Broadside Wargame Show on the 8th June, so I thought I'd ask the guys there whether they thought me putting a Haitian Revolution game on was ok? Was it going to cause offence? Did they really need the hassle? Luckily they told me to go ahead.
I do understand my generation is completely different to my kids generation, but history is history and in the end this is a game..........What do you guys n gals think?
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