HFC Operating Principles

HFC Operating Principles or…

…who we are and what we want

The HFC (Homefront Wargame Center) is not a local playing group or club looking for more members, but basically the website of two dedicated wargamers who like to share their thoughts and enthusiasm for this great hobby with fellow gamers. Nevertheless, it’s considered to be an open project – for people working together in order to promote the wargaming hobby in general, and to support the players of these games.  Therefore, any contribution is welcome!

We mainly offer information and define the HFC as an open platform designed to present wargaming and the different games we play to the interested public, to help new players in taking their first steps into the wargaming universe, finding other players and giving experienced wargamers the chance to publish their own Player Aids, AARs, articles, strategic analyses or reviews. The HFC wants to help newbies and experienced players to exchange knowledge and information. We also offer a platform where experienced players can take an active part in promoting their hobby, for example by introducing their games, by writing reviews, or by contributing articles and other stuff. Last but not least, it’s perfect for discussing games, sharing thoughts and experiences – just leave us a comment, a suggestion, whatever you like!

We offer a central contact point, help with rules questions, information and tutorials for specific GAPs (=Game Assisting Programs) and generally promote the topic “wargaming” which is not very common or well-known in Germany. We address both the newbie and the experienced player because both depend on each other: The newbies learn from the grognards and the grognards are happy that their hobby attracts fresh blood in these times of high-tech PC games.

We are strongly connected to the international wargaming community by being members in many important forums, mailing lists, yahoo groups etc. and by being in contact with other wargamers from all over the world who run projects similar to the HFC. That means we are often able to arrange contacts and supply German players with helpful information about wargaming in general or specific games in particular.

HFC was founded with the following intentions by two wargamers who love The Hobby:

• to promote exchange about all aspects of the wargaming hobby
• to offer interested people the opportunity  to find opponents, or to learn about new games
• to publish information about the rules of specific wargames, about tactics and strategies, scenarios & news from the international community
  
• to give wargamers the opportunity to share their knowledge about specific wargames and the hobby in general
  
• to enhance tactical and strategic thinking and to raise interest in gaming’s historical aspects
• to find people who share the same interests and who know that this hobby is much more than just playing demanding games – people who know that this hobby is a way of life and who are inspired by their games to actively support the wargaming community.
• to inform a broader public about wargaming in order to keep the hobby alive and active.
• to enhance the playability and gaming experience of wargames by developing and offering player aids, PbEM tools, setup files etc..
• to help people in deciding which wargames they should buy next (and which they shouldn’t) by writing competent reviews about all kinds of wargames, developed from our own personal gaming experience – reviews written by players for players.

What you can do to assist us

We will happily publish any articles, reviews or AARs you send to us (in English). Don’t hesitate to participate here on the blog by leaving comments as well! We appreciate any opinions, discussions and interesting news you have to share.  Help us to promote the hobby in this wargaming diaspora in order to make wargaming more popular over here and help us to fight against the prejudices connected to this hobby in Germany. In addition, we are looking for English native speakers who could correct our “German English”, thus improving the quality of the site in general. There is no strict time schedule or any pressure; when you decide to volunteer for this ‘job’, we would be happy if you correct an article or two once in a while.

You can also link our website to your website (our URL is: http://www.homefrontcenter.de) by downloading our banner here.

Thank you very much!

Why is this site in English and not in German?

Initially we did run the HFC in German as a place for German-speaking gamers to share their thoughts and to get specific information about the hobby in their own language. But over the course of time it became obvious that a certain knowledge of English is a sine qua non to participate in this hobby since almost all the game rules are written in English – and often in a rather technical English not everybody is familiar with. The simple fact that it is pointless to make  information available in German about games in particular and the hobby in general while the knowledge of English is necessary anyway to actually play these games, was the reason that we changed the concept of this site. In addition to that almost all of our wargaming friends and contacts are English-speaking and so were excluded from this project because of the language barrier.

So, since the HFC is our way to enhance the joy we get from wargaming by connecting with the international community & supporting this great hobby we had to get in line with all the other sites using the English language. In consequence of this major change contributions to the HFC can only be accepted when written in English.

We hope that you enjoy this site,

Denny & Andreas