Are you a gaming snob?

[Elbows]

Like just about everyone else my age, I began wargaming with Hero Quest and then painted figures from Battlemasters (even chopped up the crossbowmen and gave them bolters to add to my tiny initial 40K forces).

Having progressed over the past 20-odd years from that point, I'm now to a point where I am very comfortable thinking up a project and putting it into action.  This includes the most reasonable terrain I can afford and fully painted miniatures, bases etc.  This is something I picked up from my gaming group which I've been on/off with for the past ten years (I've moved out of the area a few times).  I suppose I'm a bit spoiled, but I hesitate to get invested in a game if it doesn't meet that similar criteria.

I suppose it started early...back in maybe 2000-2001 I was the only guy in my small gaming group then who had a painted 40K army and would hesitate to field any unpainted figures.

While I know the game itself is no different if it's played with plastic models/unpainted plastic dishes as terrain on a simple piece of felt...I just can't be bothered.  I occasionally sit back and feel a bit like a snob since I expect a reasonable standard of table-top quality when someone is presenting a game.  Am I a jerk for feeling that way?  I don't mind at all playing, say, a board game with unpainted figures - as it's just a board game.

I'm also that jackass who likes to buy colour matched dice for each faction, period pieces for cards/dice, etc.   

[OSHIROmodels]

Are you a gaming snob?

Yes 

cheers

James

[Rhoderic]

I'm a lazy gaming snob, but yes, I'm a gaming snob. I want to make the worlds in my mind come alive in miniature - it's rather the point of the hobby for me. Unpainted figures, makeshift terrain, inconsistencies in painting style, illogical terrain set-ups (if I can recognise them as such) and other things of that sort shatter the harmony. Given my underachieving tendencies when it comes to actual painting and modelling this can be a problem, but hey, I'm still here and enjoying the hobby, even if I do belong to that majority of gamers who spend much more time talking about gaming than actually gaming.

[Elbows]

Hey now...I miss my first car (a 1997 Ford Ranger pickup truck)...and that was a turd.     I'm very much in Rhoderic's mindset.  To me, the idea of miniature wargaming (outside of tournament stuff which I don't dabble in) is creating a movie with the tabletop being the stage.  I suppose my theatre background might have something to do with this.  I think that conventions had a big impact on me.

Coming from relatively ho-hum GW gaming in my teens/college years, the first convention I attended with massive sprawling tables with heaps of terrain and painted minis (a rarity in the GW gaming circles unfortunately) kind of blew my mind.  I guess as I slowly developed the cheats and tricks to painting stuff quickly and the presence of wonderful retailers with excellent stuff nowdays, it's a bit easier to realize.

[Steve63]

Are you a gaming snob?

I always have and always will be.

[LeadAsbestos]

It has been so long since I had a game, I've been trying to.get a set of woodland critters painted to play in aquarium terrain just so my 3 and 4 yr old daughters will play me.
So, no. Desperate times...

[Barry S]

I'm also that jackass who likes to buy colour matched dice for each faction, period pieces for cards/dice, etc.   

I am also one of those jackasses  

 

[warlord frod]

Yes I will not play with unpainted mini's and I buy all sorts of matching dice and card sleeves etc. Half the appeal of miniature gaming is the visual aspect and I for one like it to look good.

[Elbows]

Well, good.  Glad to see I'm not alone. 

[wolfen]

I want to be a wargame snob but have neither the time nor the energy to be so. I buy minis and terrain and assemble and convert but rarely paint, let alone play. I honestly don't remember the last game I played. I am hoping to start Pulp Alley soon and have a few painted leagues ready to go. I'll get there eventually...

[Peithetairos]

I very much enjoy fully painted armies, all expertly realised, a visual feast for the eyes. Excellent terrain makes me happy to look at and looking for the small details is a real pleasure. That said I would always play people with unpainted armies, makeshift terrain etc. if they just start out. However, after years of gaming I would wish for the miniatures getting there and terrain pieces one by one being upgraded. I am a  slow painter myself, so I understand it takes years to field an army with matching terrain, but I would find it a shame if someone is in the hobby for years or decades and still just plays unpainted on felt.

[grant]

Absolutely. I only paint the best, want the best, and will happily not purchase anything but.

[Elbows]

I suppose I should clarify a bit.  I've no issue with gaming with plastics etc. if there are kids or new players, etc.  But for seasoned gamers etc. I'd probably shy away from an invitation to something like that.  I don't have any new gamer friends at the moment, but if I did, I'd enjoy helping guide them to the cheap/easy way of getting nice stuff on the table.

I just remember going to a convention one time which was hosting a Warmachine tournament.  Bless the poor guys running it, but they had a dozen tables with felt (white= snow, green= grass) and went so far as to put brown cut-outs for felt as rocks (2D), and black/grey cut out felt boxes for bunkers (again, 2D).  It almost made me sad to see such a poor attempt at running an event.  It was made worse seeing the tournament underway with almost exclusively unpainted figures clambering over a completely flat gaming surface.

I just found myself thinking "put in some kind of vague effort, please!" 

It reminded me of my days playing at the GW store near my college.  While the manager at the time only allowed normal gaming on Thursday evenings (bring b' battle, etc.) I approached him, since we were on friendly terms and arranged to play big 2,000 pt. games against a buddy of mine (a nice old Vietnam war vet).  Because he knew we were mature and had fully painted forces, he'd slide a couple of tables together and let us run games in the day during the week.  It was an excellent trade off.  We had a place to meet, and terrain/table to play on ---- he had something better than a "five space marines vs. ten orc" promo game to show to customers.  Instead of walking in, looking at an empty store and a handful of figures, he'd bring customers over and show them our 8'x4' table w/ the game underway.  It was a win-win scenario.  It was an excellent recruiting tool for him as a store manager.

[Too Bo Coo]

Totally.  That said, I'm happy enough when people put in the effort and dont criticize the result.

[tin shed gamer]

Unashamedly so.
Especially when it's  a game for a show or club event. For me it's more when a table/game is compromised by 'that'll do' you've got well painted figures on a table where buildings have been done in base colours and nothing else,and or the other way round.But my ultimate pet hate is toy cars straight out of the packet.They just ruin a table for me(not if you've spent time on them).theres nothing wrong with using them in there toy state while you find time,or playing against friends ,but to a bigger audience  
That said what does amaze me still(and I love about the whole hobby and this forum) Is how everyone is proud of what they achieve with a brush ,no matter how well they paint.There always willing to show there work.The sence of achievement is palpable at times(but the gentleman at Partizan who though sticking your latest creation in my face whilst  I'm actually mid sip, would be met with a positive response .Then he found I tend to be less snob and more khaki.You do not spill beer!)
Wether it's your hobby or your lively hood there comes a point when your time served,and your entitled to the double standard of expecting a good looking game,and still be quite happy to use unpainted or improvised scenery in your own games.
So you'll still find me championing both the homemade and the commercial models.You need both for the hobby to stay fresh .(but only if there's been effort put in. The level of skill isn't important )
So yes I'm unashamedly a Snob .


(interesting that the unashamed Snob in this thread are all able to put 'there money where there mouths are 'with a brush ! Like said time served . )