Wednesday, March 25, 2015

How Do You Enjoy the Hobby?



I want to pose a question to the group here about how we hobby because I know not everybody plays or if they do, maybe they don't do so conventionally or maybe they just paint and maybe, like myself, it really depends on where they are in their lives at the moment. With that said, I just want to generate a little conversation and share a few thoughts.




So just due to the nature of the blog and our history of being pretty GW game-specific, I know most of the conversation will likely be in the light of 40k and maybe fantasy, but certainly I can see the issues applying to any wargamer.





For me, the act of playing the game came first and painting my models was something that I wasn't good at and sort of had to do to be accepted while playing, so I did it.




Then I met Capt. Obvious, who was into painting and had some skill, but not so much that I thought it would be impossible to replicate. Suddenly, the way my models looked became important.





As time progressed, I went to my first Adepticon, saw amazing models, became a part of a great group of friends who played. My accessibility to gaming with a very awesome group ramped up my interest in play and also competitive play. I also became friends with Chris Vinton, who already had a ton of talent and a friendly rivalry developed which pushed us both higher into the hobby realms for a few years.





Once I moved away from Michigan and gang, I had some wet and dry times, but spent most of sixth edition playing competitively and playing armies with power and thanks to Chuck Groff, I stayed high up on the hobby front, making some of my best work ... however, game availability dried p and local tourneys became much less local. This has made 7th edition interesting to me because I haven't kept up with it and when I try to read in depth, I just hit a point where I lose interest. I have been slow building models however and taking my time has opened up some door to improving my sculpting and basing skills and has me looking at projects that are just dream conversions that have nothing to do with my army.




The feeling that tugs on my sleeve here feels like freedom. The promise to make whatever I want without regard to an army or even a game is foreign to me ... and at the same time the pragmatic side of my personality seeks the justification promised by having a model fit an army if for no other reason than to give it more of an excuse to see table time ... but then I wonder how much table time is really in the future?




I ask about how we hobby because I am interested in how people enjoy miniatures and even if that was a journey or if they have always enjoyed them the same way. Maybe it has been cyclical? I am very interested in your thoughts and your experiences as I ponder my current transitional state.



8 comments:

  1. I feel ya TJ, I'm not sure if I've played more than a handful of games this edition, and most of those were with my brothers who wanted to learn. I've started moving into the paint-whatever-looks-cool mode while still building up an army, such as my orks. Perhaps with changes coming up this year for me I will rejoin the gaming side, but I am currently contented with painting and being involved with the online community.

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    1. Thanks for the response. The local scene took a huge dive in the 2 hour drive range and just tanked my ability to get games and tourneys. I too am getting comfortable in just making models, but there is a part of me with the itch to take skulls.

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  2. I enjoy every aspect of the hobby equally. I had seen the models and loved them, but didn't have a real way to get indoctrinated. So I started reading, notably with Gotrek and Felix. Then I searched the internet and also bought a huge auction of rulebooks and codecies to read...which was really, really confusing.

    I ended up buying some models from eBay, and just building and painting as I wanted. Total freedom! I loved the Rhino tank, so that was one of my first kits. I then bought some CSM to go in them...and then my first love, Necrons. I was dissuaded locally from playing Necrons, and went with the modeling opportunities and cool rules of CSM (which were the hotness of the day).

    I remember googling Conversions...and came across Scarpia's site http://www.garbo.org/40k/bottom-conversions.htm. That was it, Orks from then on out. I converted every last model in my army, and never really worried about what went where and what was good.

    Over the years though, I have begun to worry about it. It's because I've been playing more and more, at least once a week. I enter in every local tournament I can find (and my wife lets me :)) As an example, I hate the latest Ork book and haven't played them but 3 times since then and I have tens of thousands of points worth. The positive side is I'd finally started that Necron army, and I can't tell you how much I enjoy every aspect of it.

    I guess I envy your position. I think you should just make cool models and enjoy that aspect of the hobby. I'd love to see more!

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    1. I love those orks too! I felt the lure of the Waaaagh and had mine not been stolen, itmmay have happened. I do plan to use this time to challenge myself as I have with the panther. Maybe I will do something with another end times kit soon. I will say that I relate exactly to what you are saying about tourney play though. I placed or won 19 tourneys in 6th edition and it really warped my hobby choices and led me away from models I liked and into rushing stuff I could have spent more time on, so I look forward to some more time away from that pressure.

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  3. Love to build em and paint em. Couldn't care less about keeping em or gaming with them. i think it's the process i love. That's why i help out with the NOFC every year. Now, it's taken my like 20+ years to come to this realization, but I never claimed to be smrt o_O

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    1. That is the ultimate freedom. If I let go of the rail, I want to live that dream.

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    2. I hung onto all my armies until last year. then i sold them all. I thought i would die if i ever sold my dark angels and successors, but i didn't, in fact I was excited to paint up more stuff. Now it has become a self sustaining hobby. I don't really do commissions i just paint until i am out of room and then sell it all for more. I always have the pretty pictures for later... I do a few personal projects here and there for my display case but even those can be sold when i run out of room - some times i just give those away to good friends though or paint them specifically for friends or charities:) Ironically i do my best work for others, not sure why, just happens.

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  4. Building, painting, and playing (non competitive friendly events). I came to the decision awhile ago that participating in GT's wasn't for me. I enjoy the models far more then the game itself, and when I do play, its mainly to enjoy two awesome armies clashing with one another!

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