I played 40k back when Dark Millenium was around, and it was enjoyable. I even got into making my own terrain, which featured in a hee-yooj 8,000 point battle we had over a weekend once.
Now those same miniatures lie in a large chest, or stand on my shelf, mostly unpainted and covered in dust. I don’t really know anyone that is interested in playing it any more, and the game is far too expensive to consider reecommending to friends as a new hobby.
I’ve got Circle for Hordes and Menoth for Warmachine, but I mainly focus on Hordes. I found it is very easy to get into. Especially if you focus on 500 pt games and Hordes, then you aren’t fielding that many models. I played a game last week with no infantry, just warbeasts and solos. Also, for the special rules, I found that most players will tell you what special rules their units/warlocks have that may be different. Also, I usually play with people that will let you redo a move if you do something stupid because you forgot something about their model.
Last tabletop game I’ve actually played through was Silent War.
I’ve played a lot of Epic, 40k, and Warhammer Fantasy in my years, and have lots of pewter/lead to show for it. Since I’ve become more busy with real life (work/kids/etc), I’ve abandoned the Games Workshop stuff. Lately, though, we’ve been playing some AT43 which is great. It’s like 40k without as much goofy shit (overpowered heroes + gear, for example) and pre-painted miniatures. Quite fun.
Where do you play in our area? I go to Games of Berkeley pretty often, but I’ve never ventured in on miniature night or anything.
I haven’t actually gotten any games in at stores since I moved here. My MkII games have been with a friend in San Jose. I know that Endgame in Oakland has an active wargame group and I’m fairly sure they play a lot of 40K and Fantasy as well, but it looks like they may have stopped on WM/Hordes. The same sort of thing happened at the store in Tempe that I played at; WM/Hordes started getting a bit too ridiculous and fell out of favor. However, I have noticed with a lot of groups that things go in cycles so I bet that Endgame will have WM/Hordes going on again soon.
I completely avoid any wargames that involve miniatures anymore, just due to the fact that my collector’s mentality (yes, I’m going with that, though my wife would probably call it ocd) would keep me awake at night if I didn’t have a complete set of everything available.
So my favorite wargames just use simple blocks or cardboard pieces. Less durable and way less cool, no argument, but I can focus on the game. I still think Ogre is my favorite but I’m really digging Ship of the Line and the re-release of Blackbeard. I just love ship-to-ship combat.
I didn’t even know Endgame existed. That’s what I get for never going downtown. Thanks! If I end up picking an army anytime soon, I’ll shoot you a PM and you can stomp my newbie face in.
So I checked out Endgame today, really nice store. Turns out they don’t carry Privateer Press minis anymore, though, since everyone there is very burned out on the rules and price changes from the line. Oh well, I ended up buying a copy of Mage: The Awakening and having a good look around. Highly recommended.
Ok, non snarky question maybe disguised as being snarky.
I can completely understand the appeal of buying and playing say, Warhammer. Every time I go into one of their stores the stuff looks really awesome, especially the blasted building terrain they make. But . . .
Why would you want to paint all those miniatures? I don’t understand it. Isn’t it absolutely mind numbing? Does it have to do with feeling “connected” to your troops, as it were, that you get to “know” each one individually? I’ve painted small models before for dioramas (even miniatures) and it was mind numbing. What’s the appeal?
I’ve been following Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000 for close to ten years now. I finally let my White Dwarf subscription lapse a few months ago and keep thinking about resubscribing.
I like to paint. I love to paint, actually. I just don’t love painting thirty of something. If there’s a local painting contest and I find out about it, I’ll enter. I also love reading the fluff and the rules, so those are both a big win for me as well.
Playing games, on the other hand, is where the problem starts. I used to call one of the local gaming stores “The Armpit Store” because it used to smell like a nasty gym locker, so I never wanted to play games there. They’ve disinfected or something now though, and Madison has a lot of nice gaming stores in general, so the venue isn’t necessarily a problem. Gamers, on the other hand, are an issue. The few times I’ve tried to play, I inevitably end up playing some jackass who does whatever he can to bend or break the rules in order to win. No, your chariot does not get to roll impact hits on turns it’s stuck in combat after the impact. No, you don’t get to rewrite your armylist after you find out what army you’re facing for every game of the tournament. No, no, no, no, no.
So, yeah, I haven’t played in a long time. The most I do now is occasionally buy 40K stuff, paint it up, and sell it on eBay at a ridiculous markup. Who knows…I’ve been thinking of trying my luck playing again and painting up some Lizardmen for Fantasy. We’ll see how it goes.
I tried to get into Hordes. I was going to play Trollbloods. I bought some models and the books. After a few days of reading, I was so disgusted by the writing in the rulebooks that I actually threw everything in the trash.
Back in January I pulled my 40k Imperial Guard army out of storage (in part based on feedback I got from a Qt3 thread) and started playing again for the first time in 5 years.
I enjoyed it, but I have sort of hit a mental wall. The new codex made I.G. a lot stronger, but also highlighted some of the problems I have always had withe G.W. codex writing. Things are better then they used to be, but the design team still intentionally writes unclear and unbalanced rules, which can make pick-up games with strangers needlessly frustrating. That said, my local gaming store has a good crowd, so I plan to stick with it.
As for the comments about “Why paint?”, I find that I need to be in the right mood to paint, but when I am in that mood, I find painting to be very relaxing. It also fills a mental space that none of my other hobbies have ever filled: I do nothing else that combines working with my hands and such detail-oriented work.
The downside of painting my own miniatures is that I have an attachment to them that is not merely financial. So when a new codex comes along and completely shakes up my army, I’m always tempted to pack up and quit.
I find painting a dozen of something pretty tedious, but that’s partly because I’m a perfectionist prick and spend entirely too much time on them. The thing is, at least for me, there’s a tremendous sense of accomplishment when the squad/regiment is complete and on the table looking completely badass.
I suppose it has a lot to do with, like anything, how good you are at it. I am awesome at painting dolls, so I like doing it because I get all stoked about the end-product. I’ve got superdork-pride in my little dudes.
I can’t even begin to describe the difference that it makes to play warhammer with friends in a gaming club instead of randoms in a store. Just read up the awesome thread here about doing Naxxramas in WoW with a tight friendly raid guild, then think of the worst Pickup Group experience you’ve had in any multiplayer game ever, and imagine the difference between the two while you stick your head in a trashcan for the smell and ambience. It’s like that.
Painting is something I really enjoy. My wife calls it my yoga, and she’s kinda right in a way. It’s a hobby that requires imagination, skill, patience, and rewards those things tremendously. Even if you’re “just” drybrushing 25 skeletons, it’s still worth it to see the finished block on the table when you’re done. And if you’re actually applying effort and skill to do the best job you can on some centerpiece model it’s tremendously satisfying to see the finished result.
Most I ever painted in a single sitting was about 10 hours I think. Ended up with this guy:
Painting miniatures is the primary reason I play games like Warhammer. It’s like any other hobby, parts are tedious and parts are a lot of fun. Painting 100 goblins is not so much fun but it’s very satisfying to see them on the table all ranked up and painted nicely. Painting characters, like the goblin boss, is a lot more fun. Depending on your interest, it can also be challenging to achieve certain effects and looking back on the things you’ve painted you see a nice improvement. Also, the progression from a bare metallic or plastic figure to a painted one that has a lot of character is neat.
Here are some of my trollbloods from the game Hordes. They were painted fairly quickly when I was trying out a new faster style. The camera shots are not the best but you get the idea.
I can’t help but see miniature painting as the same kind of OC time and money investment strategy as your average MMO. I liked playing Battletech way back in the day because aside from filling out a stat sheet it didn’t require much of a material investment. I can’t imagine paying 300-500$ for a Warhammer army only to find out that, you know, oops, i should have had a banshee instead of a ghost, and now i lose my three round / ten hour tabletop game. It seems like the prep for the game is more enjoyable than the game itself, and way the rules are designed, it pushes if not requires multiple redundancy in your miniature selections to ensure you have every possible option. It just seems… childish, like really, really (really) cool pogs (or your average Magic player). I’d rather stick to Relic RTS games to get my Warhammer-ish fix.
Since you got a few replies from the folks who like, and are good at painting, let me balance them out.
I enjoyed playing, enjoyed making armies, and enjoyed owning and admiring the miniatures, but every attempt I made to get into painting ended up in me throwing out whatever unfortunate models it was I had tried to paint.
So I just found other people that would paint for me, and paid them. If I would buy miniatures now, I’d just buy them from ebay or direct from a Games Workshop store.
I’m sure if I could get good at painting I’d eventually enjoy that too, I’m just not willing to put in the hundreds of hours to move from god-awful to terrible to bad to mediocre before getting good even comes within range of a pair of binoculars.
A buddy of mine described Trollbloods as all looking “a bit retarded”, and now I can’t unsee it. However, those are nicely painted for sure. I only wish I could do that.
(incoming r-word link in 3…2…1…)
I will try to get some pics up of my painted minis. Just started painting them seriously, and it really isn’t that hard with the basics of basecoating, washing, drybrushing and basing. Also, I find it is fun to go into the craft room, turn on Hulu to some documentary or NatGeo show, and paint for hours. I don’t do it all the time, but it is relaxing and love that I can then show off my minis.
I highly recommend this book. It’s a bit old school in terms of style, there is no two brush blending or hyper thinned layering, but it will allow you to get a good looking paint job on your minis with not a ton of time. It’s tied to the Foundry paint system, but there is no reason you can’t use it with any type of paint.
