Gamer Tribes: The Saxondale Gamer

There is a certain subspecies of Englishman (or -woman, but it's by far and away mostly -men), which is very distinctive but which to my knowledge has never been accurately labelled or studied. I call it the "Saxondale type", after the main character of the brilliant but sadly unsuccessful Saxondale Steve Coogan vehicle from the mid-2000s.

The Saxondale Type is defined by outfit (jeans, t-shirt - usually a metal band tour t-shirt from a decade or so ago - leather or denim jacket, boots), economic class (lower-middle/upper-working borderline), outlook (phlegmatic and sarcastic), and interests (metal music, beer, probably muscle cars, probably military history, possibly Warhammer, possibly historical re-enactment, possibly wargames). He could be from anywhere but the paradigm example would be from the East Midlands, probably Nottingham. His politics could be anywhere on the spectrum but would tend either towards the UKIPpish, or alternatively Corbynista loony-leftism. He is staunchly against political correctness but it would be unfair to call him bigoted - beneath the bluster and "blokeishness" and sarcastic approach to conversation, he's usually a very nice guy. He is probably of above-average intelligence but has been frustrated in life by having gone to a crap comprehensive school.

Most Saxondale Types are not RPG players but a very large percentage of RPG players, in my experience, are Saxondale Types. Wargame and RPG clubs across the land are absolutely chock-full of them. They are not my tribe, but a lot of the people I played RPGs with in my formative years were putative Saxondale Types. I like them.

The problem with Saxondale Types, though, is that they're not cool, and they are most certainly not the image which Wizards of the Coast, Games Workshop, or any other major "geek" industry companies would want to cultivate or have represent them. Their faces don't fit. I find this very sad, because their loyalty to their hobbies is unquestioned, and if anybody deserves to be celebrated, it's them: in its lean years the RPG hobby in particular in Britain at least would probably have been economically unviable without them. So here's to you, Saxondale Gamers: I at least identify you, and salute you.