Barracks event feedback and future events

[GreenScorpion]

Overall I feel like the recent "Muster the Guard" event went reasonably well with lots of participation, but I would like to ask the members of the sub-forum about your feedback in case there are things that can be improved which are within my reach to change.

 

But beyond looking at the past, I also wanted to give you a glimpse of the future and what I have been thinking about for the next Astra Militarum event.

 

After an event mostly focused on painting, I think we need something a bit more generic and with a larger extension focused more on overall hobby progress rather than just focus on getting everything painted.

The idea is mostly to get people making some progress in the hobby at their own rhythm but with a bit of an incentive from the rest of the astra militarum hobbyists.

I based it a bit on the collect, build, paint and play system from the magazines like Conquest.

 

The duration of the event would be 3 months, with the event getting a new edition for the following quarter if people liked the idea or in alternating quarters to give a break in between events.

Badges would be earned per each of the three task types, based on the amount of tasks completed, regardless of the complexity of the task itself, so for example pledging to build 100 models as a task would earn the same badge as pledging to convert a character.

The idea is to get people pledging small feasible tasks in order to complete more than if they just go with a single huge task.

 

The focus of the event would be in 3 different categories:

1. Build, which would include pledges for building, converting, sculpting, scratch building and so on;
2. Paint, which would include painting, repainting, basing and other decorative tasks like decals and so on;
3. Discover, which would include reading books from Black Library (or listening in the case of audio books), reading fluff in the codex and so on (potentially writing for those who like to write their own fluff);

 

These tasks would help people to focus on different aspects of the hobby and share their progress from time to time in a way that can help work through the blockers that can happen in this kind of hobby related tasks.

 

I am still trying to determine when this event would start, but I wanted to check if there were any suggestions or recommendations based on what I have just shared.

[The Pounder]

Can I just say, you did a cracking job on the admin for the last event.

 

Things ran smoothly and I think everyone who took part appreciates the effort that went into it.

 

As for the next one, I really like the idea that it covers all aspects of the hobby!

 

Lore writing and conversions are an under appreciated art and I for one will definitely join in!

[Hiroitchi]

Don’t let Hiro participate lol

[SvenIronhand]

I liked it very much, even if I painted one unit.

[Trokair]

2 hours ago, Hiroitchi said:

Don’t let Hiro participate lol

You'll just start with a handicap. 

 

 

I like the idea of a building/converting focused challenge as that’s fun for me, more so than painting. In addition I have had Grotsmasha’s 12 month of hobby to keep me going on the painting side so for me there is less of a need to have group support/motivation from elsewhere (though it is very much appreciated).

 

Perhaps a serial challenge, build something for a set period for time, then paint what you built for a the next period of time.

[Harrowmaster]

The last event was great (thank you @GreenScorpion for the admin), but I think a more generic one as detailed above could be great. That way way we can tailor our participation to the elements we like the most (I for one would be interested in a conversion challenge). Having it be ongoing is a cool concept and may very well help me engage with my WIP thread a bit more (I'm terrible at actually remembering to take pics and upload them). 

With regards to the format could discover include pledging to get a certain number of games in? Or would that be its own category? I didn't see it mentioned in the proposed format. 

[GreenScorpion]

@Jud Cottrell Thanks I tried to do the best I could

 

@Hiroitchi Perhaps a more open ended event will allow you to slow down and do things in a different way? Don't worry, even if you want to go full speed ahead you are always welcome!

 

@SvenIronhand Thanks, participation is more important than numbers. I hope it was fun for you, regardless of the number of units you pledged.

 

@Trokair I would not restrict it in the way of doing x in this event and do y on the next, but you could do your pledges in that way, if it helps with the motivation.

 

@Harrowmaster I left playing games out of the categories on purpose as I think we have lots of people who have been shying away from the less direct parts of the hobby like the conversions, painting and other stuff, while playing is usually an end on its own and people are often motivated to do it, even if they don't work on some of their slower projects or ideas they have had in their minds for a long time. If I start seeing a lot of people with their projects being mostly ready, then perhaps I could introduce the gaming part as its own category on a follow up of the event.

[GreenScorpion]

While it might have looked like I forgot about the event, rest assured that the silence in this regard was mostly intentional, since with the release of 10th I thought it would make sense to let things settle down a bit before the next Astra Militarum event, especially given there was a forum wide event going on for the painting aspect of the hobby.

With that in mind, I was aiming to have the event start on October 1st and last until January 7th (just to give people some time to publish the final state after the holidays).

 

The plan is to run it similarly to what was described in the first post and reward mostly small feasible tasks in most aspects of the hobby (except playing).

Since there is some time left until it starts I am open to suggestions related with some of the features of the event and also some potential changes in terms of dates, so if you have something in mind as improvements or suggestions let me know

 

I still have to work on the badges and banner for the event, so there is still some work to be done on my end, but rest assured it should all be done before the event begins

[Bonehead]

I really enjoyed the previous challenge- I joined up purely to have a go in it, and it surprised me how much I got done. I was always a slow painter before, but now I'm rattling through stuff.

And i've just found some motivation to start back on my Rogue Trader guard, so the timing is perfect. You ran the last one so well, I'm on board whatever shape the new one takes.

[Focslain]

The last challenge was just fine. Would give me an excuse to work on the guard some more. I have some artillery that needs paint and sentinels that need construction. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Focslain