How much is to much?

I have a confession.  I am addicted to GW's plastic crack.  I was cleaning out the hobby room and stumbled upon a realization.

My name is Dave, and I am a Hoarder.

I have tons of cool and great ideas, according to me, but I feel that I have come to a point where my eyes are bigger than my ability to finish projects.  Now don't get me wrong, I have several fully painted armies, but I am always looking for the next project.  Here was a quick rundown from today.

2000 pts of fully painted Grey Knights
Over 2000 Pts of painted Khorne
Around 3000 Pts of Painted Guard
2000 pts of painted Ultramarines
1000 pts of Tau in progress
1500 Chaos Daemons in the works
1500 of Blood Angels in the works
2-3 full boxes of bits

I am literally suffocating under all of these models.  As someone who would like to, at some point, become what could be considered "good" at this game, I realize that I need to seriously focus on playing one army.  After all, Michael Phelps does not do the Triathlon does he?

This leads me to the conclusion that something has to go.

I think the best thing will be to focus on no more than 3 armies.  So, with that in mind, I think that the Grey Knights and the Chaos will be the first to go.  The Tau will shortly follow suit.

How do you guys deal with Hobby Overload?  Any Advice?  Feel free to drop any and all ideas in the comment box.

Thanks for dropping by,  will return to hobby content shortly,

Dave

Ultramarines in 6th- what works and what doesn't?

With all the talk about 6th edition and what the new game-breaking combinations are I offer up my experiences and thoughts.  Here is a list of Whats hot... and whats not....

This afternoon I played Kevin's Space Wolves, check them out at A Downward Spyrle.

He was playing a heavy drop pod list with all of the awesome things that Space Wolves bring. It included Grey Hunters, Blood Claws (Lukas included), and of course Ragnar.

I was playing my Ultramarines.  I had a command squad, sternguard, and 2 Tactical squads.

So... Whats Hot?

Divination Powers.  My Sternguard with a Librarian and 2 divination Powers.  I went for the Primis power as well as the one that forces the opponent to re-roll armour saves.  These. Guys. Rock.  The ability to choose your ammo as well as focus on one unit means that they can really bring the pain when they want to.

Deathwind Launchers-  While neither of us took them,  we discussed the potential threat that a S5 Large Blast could generate.

Wolf Guard with Storm Shields-  One of these guys held up my Captain with Relic Blade for at least 3-4 rounds of combat.

Lukas the Trixter in a challange-  If you kill him you loose your super powerful character.... end of story.  The cloak of the Doppleganger.... re-roll all successful hits...... with the new wound allocation from shooting, if this guy is first to assault I have to roll two 6s in a row. Wow.

Whats Not?

5 man command squad with FNP does not have the same survivability as it once did.

Deep Striking is still a risk without teleport homers.

Combat Squads are extremely fragile

Placement of models is even more critical.

Overwatch is not as good as I thought.  You really need weight of fire to make it worthwhile.


Overall thoughts?

I really enjoyed my game.... I might tweak a few things with the list but I feel like it has potential.

How has 6th been treating you?  Any memorable moments?

Thanks for dropping by.

Dave

Where to go form here?

As most gamers do, I have more projects than I know what to do with.  Often times it is helpful to sit down and examine what you have and where you want to go.

Whops wrong type of exam.

Tauriffic!!

At this point I have a few more Tau units I would like to finish.  As most of these are vehicles, I will have to wait until my airbrush is more cooperative. Other than that there are only 3 Crisis Suits, a Broadside and 12 fire warriors to finish, along with 6 Pathfinders.

If anyone has 4ish Pathfinders with rail rifles I would be happy to work out a trade.

Blood Angels- but YELLOW!!!

I also have quite a large number of extra Space Marines that I am planning on painting in Lamenters colors. That tally includes:
8 Sternguard
10 Assault Marines
5 regular Terminators with assault cannon
Terminator Librarian
Regular Librarian
1 Drop Pod








Here come the question.  Where do I go from here?  When I finish both of these little projects I will have 3000 Pts of painted Khorne, 2000 Pts of painted Ultramarines, 2000 Pts of painted Grey Knights, 2500 Pts of painted Imperial Guard, 1000 Pts of painted Blood Angels and Tau. 


For those of you blessed with the skill of math, you see that this is 11,500 Pts of GW product.  I don't have the time to play everything and storage can sometimes be an issue. So do I sell some of it to finance future projects?  Do I slow down and limit myself?  Do I focus more on playing and paint less?  


If anyone has any ideas, please drop me a line.  I feel like I have to many ideas and not enough space/ money.  How can I get more out of my hobby?

Here are a few ideas off the top of my head.

1. Paint to a higher level on individual units.

 Rationale- The better something is painted, the longer it takes, the more mileage out of one GW kit. 

2. Build smaller armies.

 Rationale- Smaller armies, yields smaller number of units which reduces cost. With the advent of 6th edition it seems plausible that the game is better enjoyed at 1500 pts, given the intricacies that have evolved within setup (placement of terrain), shooting (precision shots), and Close Combat (initiave steps and challenges.)

3. Forge more of a narrative.

Rationale- In the past I have been so focused on getting one thing finished perhaps now is the time to write a little background for my armies.

4. Play More.

Rationale- This is a GAME.  Perhaps I should play more....... might get more enjoyment out of the game. Besides, games give the opportunity for Bat Reps.... something that I recently got to experience..... and I enjoyed it. 

I feel like these 4 steps might help to improve my experience.


What do you guys think?  How do you stay fresh with the hobby?  How do you balance painting, playing, forging a narrative? 

Narrative Escalation

With 6th edition fresh in everyones' minds what is the best way to go about learning the rules?

I know several folks who have sat down and read the rulebook through several times.  No one can deny that plowing through "the book" (I suppose Tome is more appropriate) yields content knowledge.

But doesn't this get old?  Aren't there those of us who are learn by doing?  What about practical application?  What is the best way to pursue this?  Some might play 500-1000 point games until they have a mastery of the rules, but in my opinion  this gets dull.

With the new focus on creating a narrative is it possible to link your learning games into an escalation format?

Game 1 500 pts Focus on troops and troop actions
Game 2 1000 pts one FA/Elite/Heavy etc
Game 3 1500 pts Multiple HQ or other more rule focused models

The purpose it to limit the amount of time you are searching through the Tome while still having some sense that what you are doing is actually worth while.

Does anyone have experience with narrative games or escalation leagues?  Will this work?

Thanks for dropping by,

Dave

The Casual vs Competitive Gamer Paradigm

          There seems to be a general consensus on the Internet that there are two camps within the 40k community.  On the one hand you have the gaming/ tactics/ army list player who enjoys developing lists and playing the game.  On the other you have the more hobby centric gamer.  There are your folks who tend to enjoy the hobby/painting aspect of 40k. 

I will pose the question: Why is this a polarizing issue? I will also propose a series of solutions.

Why is this a polarizing issue?

            It is a common fact that the Internet tends to bring out the worst in everyone.  This is why we have an abundance of moderators, flame wars, etc; The ability to remain nameless leads people to saying things that they would never say in their FLGS. I have to say that I have very seldom heard hyper critical and abrasive comments in person.

            This leads me to my next point. The Internet only serves as a forum for expression of words, thought, and ideas, the participants, including myself, are judged on the information they present.

            I feel that people are drawn to one aspect of the hobby over another and as a result try to present their best work to the World Wide Web.  This, combined with anonymity, leads to emotions running high and people crusading for their own opinions, determined to portray their point of view as the superior point of view.

Thus I have developed some bullet points for consideration.

·      Play the game- I feel like we should all play more, if your hobby is important to you, time will be made for it.

·      See how the other half lives, don’t be afraid to branch out.

o   Casual Gamers- don’t be afraid to loose, talk to your opponent and perhaps try new/ different units.

o   Competitive gamers: Why not make it a goal to get a fully painted army?  Painted miniatures enrich the experience

·      Meet up with a gaming group- by playing a few different people over and over, each opponent will provide a different experience.

·      Try team games- often times this takes the emphasis off winning and losing.  It is great to come together.

·      I feel that the point of the game is to win, thus, play to win.  However, talk to you opponent about the type of list you want to use.

That is all I have for now, what are your thoughts?

Is it possible for these two types of players to come together?

What can you do to bring the community together?  As a player?  As a community member?

Thanks for reading,

Dave