Thursday, October 13, 2011

So what happens when the side projects are no longer on the side?

o/

Well I ended up going with the test rat pack for Morheim the other night. I wanted to see if blowpipes are actually useful, rather than just over-priced, ineffective & very situational weapons. It would seem to me that no, they aren't useful, and they are in fact the waste that i thought they were. True the dice weren't with me, but I doubt that the blow pipes would have made a difference even if they were. In the aftermath of the game (where my dice rolling continued to fail) 4 of the rats in my test pack (including three characters, one of whom was my assassin adept) died.

The test pack was thus disbanded after it's first and only game.

Despite this debacle I've been rather enjoying Mordheim, indeed so much so that I've ordered some minis from the FLGS to form a human mercenary warband. (the captain* @ right is just one of the minis ordered). I made up a preliminary list but will have to finalize it after I open up and see just what all is in the Empire Free Company (or warband in a box) at a later date. I'm thinking of using the Marienburg list, though painted in the colors of Sollund, with a theme of it being a desperate attempt to raise funds to reinstate Sollund as a province (or something like that, I'll figure it out later).

Also, this morning I got a shipping confirmation email for another 5 Quar that I ordered a little ways back. Those Quar will bring my total up to 11 Royalists, which will equal what I'll get when I buy the Crusader starter deal (again @ some later date). However the Quar, BFG, Mordheim, Heavy Gear, etc., all got me to thinking about 40k (or rather my lack thereof). I've played 40k I think twice in the last 6-8 weeks or so. That's it, and here's the kicker, I don't miss playing it.

At all.

I'm just not having fun playing the game. I'm sure the MC/pysker spam nid list that I got handed every week for several months had a hand in that, but no more than the never ending onslaught of the Space Wolves and their apparently now required 'deathstars'. I still recall when that codex came out, it felt like I was fighting the entire chapter as there are so many SW armies here locally (and more have been added since that time!).

In years past I had 'blackballed ' a player or two as their idea of fun was to murder you to the point of you weren't having any fun playing the game (looks @ Warfrog), yet lately it seems that everyone wants to play 40k like that! WTF? Do I really need a sign on the door to my own game room that reads 'No Powergamers'?

So ebay would be the only option right? Well, I've been thinking on that concept for some time as well, and the problem is, is that I'm down to my favorite armies at this point (barring the GK which are a test of sorts). They're the ones that I don't want to sell. Yet, why keep them? Most of 'teh nterwebz' scream 'PLAY WARMAHORDES!' whenever someone says that they're tired of 40k. However i don't like that game.

Nice minis, but I don't like the play style, or the fact that every character is a special character. Additionally, a friend of mine recently played a demo and commented that the game felt like it was designed for you to be a total dick. Yup, that's what I recall from my past WM gaming experiences in WM Mk I. I took a really long & hard look @ Mk II, and nope, still the same game @ its core. Killer combos from 'teh interwebz' is what its all about (even more so than 40k, cause WM is supposed to be for competitive players). Brian @ the Gentleman's Ones called it 'mental masturbation' in his first impressions of the game, and I couldn't have phrased it better myself.

Waits for the WM players to stop screaming their just as unbiased opinions about the games that I like to play...

So, at this point in time I find myself enjoying all of my (not-so) side projects, and instead shelving my massive 40k collection, while still not wanting to sell it. Indeed, its becoming a struggle to get myself to even paint my few GK minis just to see if that idea will work, if only to save all of my otherwise worthless inquisitorial retinues from the auction block. Hell, I feel dirty every time I open the GK codex (and I do so only sparingly). I mean, who (over the age of 13) actually read Draigo's fluff and thought 'wow, that was really good'?

Sure they're marketing this stuff towards kids these days, but kids have short attention spans and shallow pockets from which to spend. Whereas older players like me have long term addictions to feed. I dunno. I'm just not quite sure on just where to go from here with 40k...

* Photo is a copyright of Games Workshop & used without their permission or consent (though if I'm buying one then I think they ought to be grateful enough to allow me to post it w/o a disclaimer).

16 comments:

The Inner Geek said...

Since going back to school I've had little to no time for hobby stuff. I miss a lot of it. But I don't miss the 40k parts as much as one might think.

CounterFett said...

I definitely see where you're coming from. I'm in about the same boat. 40k is just getting to be too much of a buying exercise rather than a gaming exercise.

Most of my gaming lately has been BattleForce or gearing up for Heavy Gear (no pun intended, sort of). Like you said, I always expected to miss it more.

War Frog said...

I await 6th ed and hope for a lack of Matt ward influence. More and more of my lists have went to fun to play instead of WAAC flavor of the month spam netlists. However I also like variety lets do BFG or necromunda soon.

Anonymous said...

At the risk of stating the obvious, there's no point worrying about not playing so much 40K. There are plenty of good systems out there, so just play the ones you fancy. Maybe one day you'll feel like another game of 40K, or perhaps not. It's a hobby after all; enjoy it and don't force yourself.

Sorrowshard said...

Hmm, I agree with you , 40k is just no fun anymore, I think GK may have broken the game for me, not that I was having fun before their release , but it's almost definitely the final nail for me.

I find my attention captured and held by what were once side projects ......

Infinity may become my primary game until sixth rolls around, though I can't see an edition change fixing the mondo levels of cheese the books see mto be creeping up to, I dread each new codex release now, I used to get excited even if I had no intention of picking the army up myself.

Helpless William said...

Personally, I don't understand the dilemma. I approach my entire personal, that is non work / non necessary task, life in a do what's fun right now sort of fashion. Then again, that may be because my work life leaves me so little hobby time in the first place.

To explain further, if I feel like painting or playing 40k, that's what I do, if I feel like playing a PC game instead, that's what I do. If I feel like a fun game of 40k, I schedule a game with a friend. If I feel like a cut throat competitive game of 40k, I schedule a game with a different friend. I enjoy both extremes of the system.

The caveat here is that my work life is such that I'm lucky if I get a single game in each week. Every other week is the norm right now. I also have a number of other hobbies. PC games, running with my dog, downhill skiing... I am a ski nut. Love it, been skiing every Winter for the last... thirty-five years, as frequently as possible.

The truth is though, the last couple of years, again, because of work, I've only gone a couple times each Winter. It bugs me a bit, but what ya gonna do? Needs must and all that.

Am I thinking of selling my skis? Not a chance. Do I think it's likely to be another couple of years until I get to go skiing a lot again? Yep. The thing is though, I will go sometime this Winter, not soon, but I will find the time. I also know for sure that I will get the time to really indulge int he bit of the hobby that I love the most sometime. It may brief, it may be rare, but that's a temporary condition. I've had stupid busy periods of life before.

I submit you're just having an off 40k moment, but it sounds like you're having an on Mordheim moment, serendipitous isn't it?

Chill, roll with it, pick whatever metaphor you like. Life is change. Sooner or later things will change in such a fashion that they'll be back to where they were just before now.

Screech said...

Meh, just wait until 6th. Its not like they could make it any worse...could they?

If Matt Ward is still around, he might help write the rule book. 40K will be done. Finished. DOOOOOOOMED!!

HEY! We could always play CBT for FoW!! :)

Da Masta Cheef said...

Wow! That's a whole lotta comments in not a lot of time, lets see...

@ The inner Geek & CounterFett: Yeah, I just thought I would miss it more than I have.

@ Warfrog: Are you going to pick a 'normal' gang for once and leave the genestealers @ home?

@ thebovineoverlord: (a saw that name in a dilbert comic the other day) Ya know, sometimes it takes someone stating the obvious in order for me to actually see it. :-)

@ Sorrowshard: Yes I've seen your rants on the 'Dark Glances' and have likewise seen a parallel of sorts on our outlook of the game. We're not out of it yet, but it doesn't look too inspiring. (thought your DE army DOES look quite inspiring!)

@ Helpless William: Yeah I just wing it and play whatever suits my fancy at any given time, I think its just that 40k has been a constant for so long, that it's struck me as odd that its lack in my recent gaming isn't missed. The skis are a good analogy though. I haven't skied in the past two years or so, yet have no intention of selling my skis, boots, etc..

@ Screech: Yes they can, just give Matt Ward time, and NO & NO!

;-p

Evan said...

You should try Cutlass! from Black Scorpion games. It's like Mordheim, but with Pirates! Yaarr!

Da Masta Cheef said...

Hmmm, I've not hard of that one, I'll have to give it a look...

Necron Bob said...

Don't sell your armies!

I can't stress that point enough. When I got out of the hobby the first time, I tossed all of my stuff in a trash can during a move. I now lament those lost models.

I haven't played 40k since I left TN; however, I made sure that I kept my armies. Now that the Necron codex is close to coming out, I feel the pull back. I contemplated selling my Necrons. I'm really glad I didn't.

So, my advice is to put your favorite armies up and play some new games. There are some great games out right now: Malifaux, DBA, Field, Dystopian Wars (and of course, Fantasy). It's a great time to be a wargamer!

Da Masta Cheef said...

No worries Bob, the armies are safe for a good while I think. I'm just selling off random bits, extras & what not right now.

War Frog said...

First the genestealer cult in the underhive was balanced. I did not start off with purestrains, they were "bred" when hybrids hit a certain xp level and as such retired. Meaning that a experienced ganger and gear were lost in the process. Plus as an outlaw gang if reported the opposing gang could have arbites and inquisitors as free help in the fights. A huge power leveling feature.

So I must warn you that is will call PETA on you if you continue to beat this dead horse :)

I like regular gangs better anyways.

Da Masta Cheef said...

I recall have a BRAND NEW gang murdered (and shortly thereafter disbanded) by them without any warning other than 'want to play a game'?

Thus I will continue to beat that horse into perpetuity...

neverness said...

If you stop naming each model and giving them back-stories their deaths won't hurt as much...;)

Da Masta Cheef said...

Shush you, that's my favorite part!