Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The Well-Balanced Wargamer

Wargamers in Michigan settle in for the winter bivouac.
This new year has been a rough one so far for me. I have finished a ton of Skorne models and I'm ready to try them in 2013, but I've been pulled in multiple directions already. Cerberus started a 40k slow-grow league, Brother Jeremiah wants to do the Crusade of Fire campaign, and we've already committed to the Great Lakes Warhammer League. GS is starting a WM/H Journeyman league later this month and I want to attend a WMH tourney in Livonia on the 26th... way too much stuff.


This is leaving out that I'm getting back into Historical wargaming with Flames of War (15mm company-level WW2) and Bolt Action (28mm squad level WW2), and Blackwater Gulch... too many games.


I've tried to get other guys into new games and many will just stick to 40k. I've stated this before and I feel like it is absolutely true - playing more than one game from different companies will always make you a better gamer and hobbyist. Learning different rulesets with different tactics, painting different types of models, it'll all make you more balanced.

A lot of people think you're an idiot to buy-in to more than one game. As a gamer I do feel the pinch. I am lucky to get one night a week out at the Gamers Sanctuary to play, so trying to split it between 3-5 games is really rough.

I think going forward I'll have to have my 'main games' and then 'backup games'. I can play 40k and WM/H pretty much every week if I wanted to. I can schedule games of Fantasy and Flames of War as backup games. I can demo Blackwater Gulch and Bolt Action to see if I can get others into that one.

I'll just have to shift my thinking. If I look at my shelf and see things on there that I haven't played in months and they're unpainted I get the undeniable urge to sell them. I'm going to have to focus on painting everything in my basement before I start any other systems / armies. No more army ADD.

I'll also have to just commit to less. As a leader here at FC40k I try to get my hands in everything and see all that we're doing. I may have to step back and just play the games I'm interested in. Lately I'm extremely into Warmachine and Hordes so that is what I'll focus on. I need to focus on Fantasy as well so I can get ready for the GLWL.

Post your thoughts below - how do you balance your time between the various games you play?

4 comments:

  1. As a full-time dad and 45+ hour-a-week employed individual with several non-gaming hobbies like reading, home improvement, pinball, video games, comics... the list goes on; it can be hard to do any one tabletop system well, much less two, three, or more.

    I have my eye on Dreadball, because I can get some of my non-gaming friends into it. And Blackwater Gultch seems cool since it only requires a few models, low hobbying commitment.

    Other than that, I don't see myself doing much outside of 40k anytime soon.

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    1. Yeah - I didn't even hit on other hobbies like reenacting, pro sports, video games, etc. It is tough!

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  2. I've found I really like doing RPGs online - not trying to replicate the tabletop experience, but do something similar yet different. With wargaming, you have the big expense of 'buying in' to a new system, like you mentioned. I've picked up the starter sets for FoW, Warhammer, and have a small Warmachine army, but those are games I might play around with if I get bored with 40K. Historicals are only interesting to me for the models and background, I could care less about the rules and playing a game with them. I do want to do something with Warhammer Fantasy this year - while I'm not interested in league or competitive play starting out, I would love to do something like our slow grow league with it eventually. We've had really good turn out for that.

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  3. A slow-grow WFB thing is something I could maybe get into later in the year. The Skaven army I have going would be fun to continue with.

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