Paradigm Shaft
Rock Hard Member
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2021
- Messages
- 166
- Reaction score
- 511
Something that bothers me about the current state of wargaming is that a lot of it isn't fun anymore. I can't decide whether it isn't fun because I am older or if it is another reason altogether. I can pretty much buy any models I want these days, so the possibilities open to me are almost infinite. Or another reason may be that I just do not have the kind of time I did when I was younger to play or read or engage in the hobby. Most likely it is a combination of those things. But I want to talk specifically about one particular game: Warmachine. I will talk about this game in the context of my life. It came out at a time when I was very poor and the Games Workshop juggernaut was very expensive (although hindsight being what it is, everything essentially cost breadcrumbs back then).
I walked into Adelaide's only gaming shop at the time (though now the city sports several) and found the first edition of the rulebook and some Menoth models. They were cool as fuck and cheap as well. The robots could do cool shit like pick up dudes and throw them into water. The rules were simple and not complex, but there was a little depth in the strategy, placement and resource management that was very neat. It was fun. The fluff was over the top. There was a page that said something about testicles and I liked moving my guys around the table. Privateer Press was an interesting company that grew very quickly because it offered something that other companies did not - cheap and fun wargaming. A good community. Good enough models. And then the company expanded, and all this is documented elsewhere quite well. They added new units, new lore, shitty new rules and the game still grew and then the last edition of it killed it. But after that first edition, it wasn't really fun anymore to me and I kind of followed it based on some kind of nostalgic inertia.
Anyway. There is still some fun out there. Blood Bowl continues to be cool. I think some Warhammer can be interesting. But that thrill of picking up a book, being enthralled by it and inspired by it, picking up models and making them yours? And then playing a game that lets you do cool, stupid stuff? I don't have a lot of that feeling left anymore. I think my experiences with Warmachine encapsulate it really well. It is something that works as a bit of a timeline describing my relationship with wargaming in general. It started off fun and wacky and ended up mired in its own rules and lore, absolutely trapped by it. I still buy and paint models, though I rarely play. Maybe that's it. Maybe I am aging out of the hobby. Maybe.
I don't know what this is for, actually. I guess I just wanted to get it out there. Maybe it's something. Maybe I just needed to say it out loud in text form.
I walked into Adelaide's only gaming shop at the time (though now the city sports several) and found the first edition of the rulebook and some Menoth models. They were cool as fuck and cheap as well. The robots could do cool shit like pick up dudes and throw them into water. The rules were simple and not complex, but there was a little depth in the strategy, placement and resource management that was very neat. It was fun. The fluff was over the top. There was a page that said something about testicles and I liked moving my guys around the table. Privateer Press was an interesting company that grew very quickly because it offered something that other companies did not - cheap and fun wargaming. A good community. Good enough models. And then the company expanded, and all this is documented elsewhere quite well. They added new units, new lore, shitty new rules and the game still grew and then the last edition of it killed it. But after that first edition, it wasn't really fun anymore to me and I kind of followed it based on some kind of nostalgic inertia.
Anyway. There is still some fun out there. Blood Bowl continues to be cool. I think some Warhammer can be interesting. But that thrill of picking up a book, being enthralled by it and inspired by it, picking up models and making them yours? And then playing a game that lets you do cool, stupid stuff? I don't have a lot of that feeling left anymore. I think my experiences with Warmachine encapsulate it really well. It is something that works as a bit of a timeline describing my relationship with wargaming in general. It started off fun and wacky and ended up mired in its own rules and lore, absolutely trapped by it. I still buy and paint models, though I rarely play. Maybe that's it. Maybe I am aging out of the hobby. Maybe.
I don't know what this is for, actually. I guess I just wanted to get it out there. Maybe it's something. Maybe I just needed to say it out loud in text form.