Random Thoughts

I don't have a lot to update you with today so I decided I would just free form and say whatever comes to mind.

There are a lot of war games out there.  Historicals (Napoleonics, French and Indian War, American Civil War, WWI, WWII, Vietnam Era, etc), Fantasy (Warhammer Fantasy, Warmaster, Kings of War, etc), Science Fiction (Warhammer 40K, Warmachine, Firestorm Armada, Dropzone Commander, etc) and Alternate History (Malifaux, WWX, Dystopian Wars, etc).

What do all these games have in common?  Well, they all use miniatures of some sort, dice (or in the case of Malifaux, cards), scenery and a couple of mates having a good time over a table loaded with mandollies.  Something else they all have in common is they look silly if played with grey plastic, resin or bare metal miniatures.  Even though a lot of people don't like this aspect of the hobby, it's still a big part of it.  In friendly play it's understandable to bring some unpainted models to the table.  Not everyone has time to paint up that new unit they just got yesterday but they really want to try them out.  In the tournament scene it's usually regulated that all your models have to have a three color minimum and all be based in some way.

I hear a lot of people whining that painting has nothing to do with tournaments.  I highly disagree!  Tournaments should be about the hobby as a whole.  If you want to play in tournaments that won't allow unpainted models then Hero Clix might just be the game for you.

Next we have the amount of rage that I hear from many different areas about how GW's rule sets aren't very well done.  Folks, GW has said for years that they are a model company not a game company.  Yes, they make rules for the miniatures that they make but they are still primarily trying to sell models.  If you don't like the rules I suggest you either get a job at the company and improve the rules since you are obviously so much better at it than they are or you should make your own generic set of rules that can be used with their models... or perhaps you can stop bitching about it and have fun playing the game.  Make house rules or your own faq to be used in your game group.  GW has always said that you should "Make the game your own".  If you don't want to do that because it won't be legal in a tournament... uh... you're playing the wrong game.  Fantasy and 40K are not designed to be competetive no matter how much you want to try to make it that way.  Try playing in a campaign some time and just enjoy the game for what it is.

This hobby, in general is all about having fun.  If your idea of fun is beating your opponent in 2 turns, you shouldn't be playing any of these games.  Go play some Magic the Gathering.  You'll find a large group for you with arms open wide.  If you want to have fun rolling dice with friends, I highly advise you find out what is played at your local club, get and paint some models and get to having a good time.