What I love about this hobby is ...

[Archie]

So I thought it might be fun for us all to share what we really love about this hobby. We are after all involved in a really niche hobby that is unheard of by many outside it.

So lets all geek out together and share what we love.

For myself the thing I love is the adaptability and individuality of the hobby.

I've just spent the last year putting together a Greek styled Amazonian army designed and themed after Wonder Woman's Amazonian army from the six issue comic series "Amazon's Attack"

(Using Foundry's God of Battles rules and currently playing them under the Orc army list although I might be changing that to Sea Elves as I think they might be a closer match gameplay to fluff.)

Projects don't get much more niche than that except of course when I read wargaming magazines and blogs and realise that such a level of specialisation and focus on one thing that just happens to make someone happy is everywhere in the hobby. From Osprey books on individual weapons to people building spaceships that were featured in twenty year old RPG rules. Examples abound.

I do like lots of other parts of the hobby and just the sight of nicely painted figures arrayed on a table can make me smile but what I really love is that adaptability and individuality.

What about you? What do you love?

[zizi666]

I love the minis, the modelling part, the painting part (alhtough I consider myself an average painter) and ofcourse the social aspect.
Getting together with friends, going off-topic way too much but still manage to get a game played.
Apparently I also like the collecting part *sigh* 

[jp1885]

Seeing my basecoated miniatures come to life after a coat of quickshade.
Chopping up miniatures and adding bits of greenstuff to create new ones.
Digging bits out of the bin and sticking them together to make scenery.
 

[Argonor]

I love gaming with good, solid rules, that let me exploit my inner tactician, without turning into discussions over trivial matters. A battle should be decided by WHEN and WHERE you place, and move your troops (and a little luck), NOT by HOW you do it.

I do it all too rarely, because I get distracted by new interesting rulesets, and because I lack a proper player pool to draft opponents from.

Currently also into God of Battles, BIG time! Building a 28mm Lords of Undeath army (mainly from old GW stuff, bought second hand, plus some Mantic zombies I was given by a friend to act as ghouls), proxied armies of 28mm LotR minis, AND a 15mm Thousand Tribes army based on Copplestone barbarians.

[warlord frod]

Painting and collecting is my favorite part of the hobby followed closely by the social aspects of playing.

[Blackwolf]

For me; it's the painting,modelling,research on subjects whether historical or not and the great bunch of chaps I have met on this forum

[Vermis]

I love gaming with good, solid rules, that let me exploit my inner tactician, without turning into discussions over trivial matters. A battle should be decided by WHEN and WHERE you place, and move your troops (and a little luck), NOT by HOW you do it.

Yes.

I do it all too rarely, because I get distracted by new interesting rulesets, and because I lack a proper player pool to draft opponents from.

Yes.

Though I guess we're both not too sorry about checking out new rulesets? I think that's one of my, er... sub-hobbies. A big shelf full of rulebooks to pick and choose from.

What else? Sculpting. I love sculpting, even if I'm not particularly great at it. I did art in school, made a clay sculpture, and wasn't really moved by it. It took the discovery of blisters of green stuff in GW, and the idea of modifying your minis for different looks and even different functions, to make me catch the bug. And I like perusing and collecting putty and tools as much as rulebooks.

Similarly, I wasn't much into history until I started historical gaming. It began with Northumbrian saxons, because they had lots of horses, and it'd be like playing riders of Rohan. But it spread out from there, to where I'll by a book on a historical personality, people or event that I don't really incorporate into my gaming.

Modelling armies, or the idea of modelling armies. I love looking at well-painted forces, especially those on diorama element bases. Problem is I can't get very motivated to do the same myself, for very long.

[Steve63]

I like to see the finished mini "grow" out of a black undercoat, if that make sense to anyone else.
I also like to build terrain, not bothered about the subject, I like to see it take shape and then undercoated, when all of the different coloured materials used in the construction take on a uniform colour.  I haven't done much terrain building lately but I'm currently refurbishing the garage, turning it into a work space so I should be able to do more in the near future.

[Dave Knight]

Gaming

New rules

Gaming with good opponents

[Rob_bresnen]

I love finding a new period or project then spending hours researching it on line, the searching for the exact figures for what I need. I spend ages planning what to buy for my next project. I always have lots of ideas buzzing in my head and fighting for the right to make it onto the painting table. I always seem to have many more projects planned that I actually buy (and many more bought than I actually paint).

For me it is the excitement of planning a project that gets me going. I love it! And to make it more fun I deliberately pick obscure projects as that makes it more difficult to find just the right figure. I want to do WW2 but rather than doing Normandy or something like that, where figures are common and good manufacturers make whole ranges, I go for Dad's Army/Operation Sealion or Britain's invasion of Vichy Syria  because it's going to take more research, and its a real challenge to find the right figures. When I wanted to do a modern day zombie game I set it in Finland. Why? It's harder...who makes zombie survivors in winter gear?

So there it is, in a nut shell. My favourite bit of the hobby is planning, and finding that one perfect figure that is exactly what I needed, or a range of figures that were made for one thing but will be perfect if I just swop their hats, and so on. I prefer that to the painting, and the playing too.

Does that make me weird?

[Conquistador]

<snip>

Does that make me weird?

War Gamer = Weird to those outside the hobby (and many within TBH.)               

Gracias,

Glenn

Who learned the "Secret handshake" before his teens...

[zizi666]

War Gamer = Weird to those outside the hobby (and many within TBH.)               

Yep, I guess we al know some weirdo wargamers (unless we're the wackiest of them all, which would make all other rather normal...)

[carlos13th]

The community here is one aspect. People who are helpful and willing to share tips advice, have also met people I regularly chat to outside of the forum too.

Making a model your own by adding paint converting, etc. Everyone in this thread could paint the same model and make it unique to them personally.

I enjoy researching new era's or topics too, not only historical but also fantasy or sci fi settings.

I also like being able to use the same models in a variety of rulesets and games.

[FramFramson]

Most games you buy and play on the manufacturer's terms. You choose (and modify) the rules. You choose the figures, modifying and painting them as you see fit. You choose and make the terrain. You tell a story you want to tell.

GW and their ilk notwithstanding, what I love best about wargames is the fact that they are something you make your own.

You don't spend years desperately hoping some company makes a sequel to a game you loved, or an expansion pack that will support your favourite strategy or team, no, you just put the thing together and to hell with balky manufacturers.

[Conquistador]

Yep, I guess we al know some weirdo wargamers (unless we're the wackiest of them all, which would make all other rather normal...)

Maybe not wackiest... but "niche-iest"?

Gracias,

Glenn