John Curry’s profile has risen in the recreational wargaming world from being someone well known within the circles of Wargames Developments (see the previous episode featuring Bob Cordery) where he met Paddy Griffith, experimenting with ways to expand the remit of the hobby beyond mere head-to-head battles with massed soldiery on the tabletop, to someone now acknowledged as the official archivist of the great and the good of our pastime.
This came about when John Created the History of Wargaming Project, a business that began by accident, which has assembled and re-published works ranging from the very earliest days of the hobby, through to many of the ‘big name’ gamers who brought the hobby from obscurity to prominence in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
Hear how these doyens of the hobby competed to have their works reproduced, and how John’s life as an academic and professional historian has almost been taken over by the desire to bring these works – many of which had been, or would have been lost – back into the light of day, at affordable prices that make them accessible to gamers everywhere.
Alongside this, John has played a key role in the UK’s professional and military gaming scene, specialising in cyber warfare and crisis planning. As a result, he has also been able to publish hugely important works – many previously classified – that have proved their worth in wargames carried out in both military and civilian circles. He even has a story about how the late Paddy Griffith – yes, him again! – may have contributed to preventing World War Three.
So, enjoy this exploration of the work of this modest man who normally beavers away diligently at his monumental task unseen by the wider hobby, unused to the glare of the spotlight, but to whom the hobby owes a debt of gratitude.
Henry
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