Objective Secured

Quick intro

For those of you who follow along on Facebook or who come to the tournaments you may have seen me posting comments etc on Facebook (marked -E so you know it is me posting/commenting not M) or you may have met me at a tournament or one of the other Ob Sec related activities (like coming to our house to pick stuff up or when you have gamed in our Ob Sec Dungeon).  For those of you who haven’t met me online or in person – Hi! I’m Emma, I am married to M and I am one of the driving forces behind Ob Sec. I’m going to be upfront and let you know I am not a gamer. I am many things; I am a wife, mother to 3 Wildlings, a marriage celebrant and business woman to name just a few, but I am not a gamer. I played Blood Bowl against M once but I beat him (badly) so he wouldn’t play against me again. The closest I come to gaming is I am a little bit addicted to playing Tapped Out on my iPad so when it comes to the games I’m really not going to be your go to person for rules, or any kind of adjudication, or scoring query (outside of data entry questions) or pretty much any question at all.  Although we started Ob Sec so that M can turn his passion into a successful business the actual gaming is a very small part of building and running the business. The other stuff, the stuff that doesn’t involve building, converting, painting, and fielding models on a table, that is where I fit into Ob Sec.

Building Community

One of M’s good friends recently called M and said ‘You’ve got to tell me, how did you do it? What’s the secret? How did you convince Emma to not only LET you start Ob Sec but to be a part of it, actively supporting it as well?’ I think M just laughed and probably said ‘I’m not sure’. Well as the wife of a self-confessed Gaming Geek (actually that is a lie, it isn’t self-confessed but he is a gaming geek) who has been around gaming, miniatures, painting, models, tournaments etc for the last 17 years and has successfully managed to not know the first thing about gaming (except the bar at Warhammer World in Nottingham is gorgeous and serves really good beer) the idea of starting a gaming business was not probably my first business choice.  For those of you who are interested in the ideas, ideals and vision behind Ob Sec, what we are hoping to achieve read on, for those of you who are after a review of an army – skip this post!

Gaming has been a part of M’s life for much longer than I have been a part of his life, gaming has been a part of his life for decades in fact and it is something he loves. Even as a non-gamer I noticed that the gaming scene has changed significantly over the last decade (or more). Gaming clubs are closing down, the ones that are still around are struggling, tournaments are slim on the ground and if I heard one more time ‘40k is dead’ I was going to scream. Actually I did scream. If you see me at work I can (I don’t always, but I can sometimes) look like a very polished, professional lady.  Looks can be deceiving, the truth is I swear like a trooper but as I’m not sure of the age or sensibilities of the readership I will tone it down, I’m sure you can imagine and substitute the swear words in where appropriate. So M was sat around with some friends and one of them said ‘40k is dead’ hmmm I may have lost it a little bit. ‘40k is not flipping well dead, you know how I know? Because you’re all around at my house playing 40 flipping k, you play, Richard plays, Brett plays, Pete plays, Ghislaine plays, Scott plays, Jeff plays, Tim plays, Mitch plays, Neil plays, you took 8 flipping guys over to ATC, 8 went to ETC, you want me to keep going? And those are only the people that I know that play 40k, 40k isn’t dead, opportunities for people to play 40k are drying up but 40k isn’t dead, you don’t want 40k to be dead? Do something about it!’

In the background I have spent my entire working career at a women’s health service, I have worked to support the women in our community to reach physical, emotional and social wellness but nothing like it really exists for men (I could go on a rant about how I believe the most discriminated against population to be white men aged between 20 and 60 but I wont). Often the gaming guys that I have met or heard about don’t have very big social circles, they don’t have social support networks, they are not the guys who are out on a Saturday playing organised football with the local club and then out socialising with the footy boys at night (although I know a few are but I’m talking the majority here) and here we are watching the only places that gaming guys feel comfortable or feel like they fit drying up and closing their doors. That really didn’t fit well with me. For all the years that M has known me and he has been passionate about gaming I have been passionate about changing the world and making it a better place for one person at a time. I know the importance of social connection, of feeling like you belong and feeling like you have a place where you fit.

For me, what was missing was not just a place to play games but what was missing was a sense of community. So now I had not only challenged M to do something about ‘40k being dead’ but I had also realised that something that I value, that sense of community, was being challenged as well for many of the people who had become regular visitors to our home and so I set out to work with M to create Objective Secured.

Together we defined our mission for Ob Sec “To build a worldwide 40k COMMUNITY!” We aim, through online and in person events, supplying 40k tools and resources, drawing on decades of experience, knowledge and professionalism to educate and support gamers. And that is what we want to do.  We want to build a community where gamers feel safe to put themselves out there and push past what they have always done and we want to make sure that we are continuing to add to the gaming community by offering support and tools and resources.

So what is a community? A community is a place (real and online) where you can share your gaming experiences with like-minded individuals. It is a place where everyone is free to express their thoughts and ideas around gaming safely – free from ridicule or online hostility (it’s ok not to be an expert, it’s ok to make mistakes and it’s ok to want to be the best player/gamer you can be).  We can learn from others as well as using our skills to educate.  A community means respect and most importantly by creating a community we hope to create a sense of belonging.

Most of all we want to make sure that 40k is not dead and you all continue to enjoy playing!