What do you enjoy the most in the hobby?

[GreenScorpion]

Some recent discussions have brought this topic into my mind, seeing people discuss what they value/enjoy more as part of the hobby, so I decided to start a thread for people to share what parts of the hobby truly are the driving force behind your enjoyment.

Some people prefer building, some like to paint, others enjoy converting, scratch building, playing and so on and the hobby is large enough to accommodate all of those preferences.

 

My personal preference has always been on building miniatures and mixing parts from different kits to make something custom or more unique, but for a long time painting felt like a chore to me.
As I have gained more experience as a miniature painter, the painting side of the hobby became less of a problem and it is currently more enjoyable, but despite that my main preference hasn't changed and I am not sure it ever will change.

The tendency to build kits rather quickly after getting the boxes does create some issues, as assembled miniatures tend to use more space than boxes of sprues and an army of grey can often feel daunting when it comes to paint everything in the backlog, but I ended up finding ways to control the urge to build at the speed of light, namely through my self imposed zero bits challenge, which gets me to spend the extra bits on sprue building/converting stuff beyond box numbers and tends to keep the number of assembled miniatures on the paint queue a bit more stable, as it takes more time to get things assembled than I would with the models built straight out of the box.

 

So what do you enjoy the most in the hobby?

[Wormwoods]

I think my hierarchy of enjoyment goes:

1. Assembly/Conversion
2. Painting
3. Lore/Writing
4. Talking mad cuss in the group chat for my hobby friends
5. Playing narrative/Crusade games
6. Playing regular games

I've enjoyed my fair share of actual games on the tabletop, but it's pretty far down the list, as the rest of the Crusade will probably say when looking at my availability for games. What can I say, I'm more about the hobby side than the wargame side.

[Bryan Blaire]

The majority of my enjoyment in the gaming hobby these days comes from painting - Battletech, Star Wars Legion, GW skirmish games and 40K - pretty much in that order.  When I have the time, building and converting models/units to be more unique to me is actually my preferred enjoyment point, but it doesn’t get to happen as much as I’d like it to, and there are things in my life I’ve come to enjoy a lot more.

 

My time for playing has become quite limited, so when it does happen, gaming time is used to enjoy either a non-GW game by preference or it’s one of GW’s skirmish games (Kill Team or Necromunda).  The hobby encompasses so much beyond GW, it’s better for me to play something I enjoy than try and limit my time to GW’s offerings in that area, which immediately restricts my enjoyment of the hobby.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Bryan Blaire

[andes]

What I like most about the hobby is that there's something related to do no matter my mood. Can paint, build, buy, play, watch, read, etc. depending on my whims. I happen to spend most of my hobby time painting but I wouldn't say it's my favorite part.

[ThePenitentOne]

For me it's about growing an army through game play.

 

That's always been the hook for me- Crusade just made it easier; there were fewer house rules that I had to design myself. 

[The Spitehorde]

That's a good question.

 

For me #1 would be standing around the gaming table nigh on wetting myself with laughter when playing the game with a bunch of mates who are just as irreverent as I am (WAAC players would last all of thirty seconds around us. We're there for the laughs, the stunning routs, and the epic moments when a guardsman manages to survive close combat with a Helbrute. None of us care if we win or lose). #2 would be radical plastic surgery/kitbashing of models due to my almost complete inability to build anything according to the instructions. #3 is building terrain. No matter the edition, i'll still get to use it (unlike half my world eaters. Yes, i'm still salty about that). #4 would have to be listening to 40k audiobooks or lore on YouTube (the usual suspects - Baldemort, A Border Prince, Oculus Imperia).

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by The Spitehorde

[nilsh]

My favorite part is like @andes said above, that there's many parts of the hobby and I can mostly find something to do with it that fits my mood. Painting is probably the part I spend the most time with but my favorite part is probably planning things.

[Wormwoods]

6 hours ago, ThePenitentOne said:

For me it's about growing an army through game play.

 

That's always been the hook for me- Crusade just made it easier; there were fewer house rules that I had to design myself. 

 

Crusade is brilliant, warts and all. It's the only reason I'm playing the tabletop at all.

[Halandaar]

In reverse order from least to most enjoyable:

 

6 - Removing mold lines

5 - Painting

4 - Lore

3 - Playing games

2 - Converting/kitbashing

1 - Surprise winner; spreadsheets. No really. I spend an inordinate amount of time planning projects, writing lists and mapping out how units fit into my armies.

[Stitch5000]

Doing stuff with my mates that doesn't involve staring at a screen and having a reason for us all to get together once in a while... Building and painting armies is just a way to honour the bonds of friendship I have with some of my oldest and closest friends. 

[Wormwoods]

2 minutes ago, Stitch5000 said:

Doing stuff with my mates that doesn't involve staring at a screen and having a reason for us all to get together once in a while... Building and painting armies is just a way to honour the bonds of friendship I have with some of my oldest and closest friends. 

I agree completely, though that's more the reason I enjoy the hobby as a whole, not really 'the part of the hobby that I most enjoy' if that makes sense? Being able to chill out after work painting little guys in the garage. Beautiful. 

[Orion]

It varies, but overall being able to work on a long army project.

Few notable points

• Forge World stuff 
• Building/converting
• Airbrushing/masking
• Basing!
• Applying Transfers

[Redcomet]

5. Reading lore

4. Browsing and getting inspired 

3. Painting large projects

2. Painting one off minis

1. Building

 

I just love opening a new kit and discovering how it was engineered and how it goes together. Probably also why I love Gunpla and model kit building so much

[Doghouse]

Converting and sharing ideas with people online.

 

Also new box set smell.

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

There is very little I don't enjoy. This is perhaps one of the most rewarding hobbys out there due its sheer scale. I know that Warhammer in general has been a great coping mechanism for me, helping to manage depression and anxiety, control self harm and although I have attempted suicide multiple times, it would have happened a lot more if it weren't for Warhammer. There are so many facets to this incredible hobby and despite GW's frequent missteps in managing it, it is a hobby I love very deeply. 

 

The Lore and Art are probably the biggest things I enjoy. There are so many incredible images that have come out of 40k, WHFB, AoS, Horus Heresy. Pictures that tell stories and stir the imagination something fierce. I love the lore too. Sure it can be frustrating that the quality of the lore can vary quite considerably depending on author/faction, but I try t gobble up as much BL as I can and enjoy the Army Books, Battletomes, Codexs, Campaign books for the lore we get. I like diving into the lore and researching events or planets or characters. I remember reading the Horus Heresy novels for the first time and being blown away.

 

The assembling of miniatures is something that I have had a love-hate relationship over the years. I do find satisfaction in putting things together myself though and it is pleasing to look back and see shelves filled with your own work. Recently I started a Firstborn project and I have really rediscovered my passion for this side of things. I have had enormous fun playing around with kitbashing, adding extra bitz to tell stories or just add visual interest.  It has been incredibly rewarding seeing the Firstborn come to life.

 

I do enjoy playing a lot (though I skipped all of 9th of 40k) but it is difficult to get many games in. Very frustrating as if it was possible I would play Warhammer, whether that be AoS or 40k or the HH, every day if I could. As is I get an average of one game a month. 

 

 

@Halandaar There is an oddly satisfying quality to the remove of mold lines isn't there.

[sitnam]

Through my hobby journey, my top priority has changed a few times. I dabbled a little with kitbashing and painting in high school (and still have the horrendous Ork army I never completed) but the novels and codex lore kept me.engaged for years. 3rd edition Witch Hunters will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

Even after I dropped the modelling aspects I still loved reading lore and writing my own. That's a big reason I've came to this place was the active liber community, full of awesome fan stories and custom chapters.

 

I got a hankering to begin building and a little kitbashing here and there starting around the release of BSF. I wouldn't say building/converting overtook my fan fiction writing, but it did take up some of my free time.

 

However, once the new Sisters came out I knew I had to get them painted, and I've really come to love painting minis. Not only have I seen my skills grow, but I get increased satisfaction with my kitbashing once I see my conversions fully painted. So I'd say just.completing models start to finish has become my favorite aspect of the hobby. I still read a ton of books (thanks to audible) but my fanfiction writing is kind of over for the time being  I still jot down ideas and notes, but I rarely find the time to complete thoae ideas because im too busy painting

[Nephaston]

On 9/4/2023 at 9:24 AM, GreenScorpion said:

So what do you enjoy the most in the hobby?

Complaining,

 

On a serious note; it's spending money for that hit of happy chemicals.

[Sergeant Bastone]

List making

 

I hate power levels with a purple passion.

[Grotsmasha]

1. Converting / Kit Bashing

2. Painting

3. Building

4. The Community aspects i.e. B&C, sharing on Socials etc

5. Novels

6. Lore

7. Small boxed games - Space Hulk / Lost Patrol / BSF etc

8. ?

9. ?

10. Actually playing 40k (although I'm only hearing good things about 10th)

[Cpt.Danjou]

What I enjoy the most with the hobby, is painting center pieces and characters, painting 30-50 standard troops like cultists and daemons is not as enjoyable, and becomes a shore, especially if they are as badly designed as daemonettes, retarded thin claw-arms. 

The gaming can be fun if it not one-sided, and you can see who will win at the end of round 1. Sadly the time for gaming is getting rarer and rarer, and the gaming group smaller and smaller. 

 

Cpt.Danjou

[Helias_Tancred]

1. Lore. Reading the novels, novellas, short stories, listening to the audio dramas, etc.

 

2. Hobbying: Building, kit-bashing, and painting.

 

3. Playing the game: I play 1-2k games using the competition rules. I have yet to do a Crusade game.

 

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Honestly the general lore, and crafting lore for my own armies.

 

lore largely informs what units I buy and how I play.

[Captain Caine 24th]

1. Armies on parade style presentation - my own army in its glory but very much also the work of others and hearing their pride and passion for it (e.g. somebody painted highlights on each checker on the pant leg of harlequins, the whole army is underwater themed, an army purely converted)
2. (i'm embarrassed but must admit) predictions, soothsaying, and prognostication. I do enjoy the hype on new releases, leaks, and rumors. 
3. Diorama, scenic bases, display boards, terrain - i love building it. I love reading all the AK, Ammo, Vallejo, Damaged, Dioramag, etc, etc books and magazines. Scratch building with styrene, foam, copper foil, balsa... man I love it. Unite 40k with the 1/35 hobbyist and model railroader techniques! The 3-dimensional and tangible feel of extreme detail just adds to the emersion in the world so much better. 
4. Reading and conversing with others about the lore - I've read maybe 20-30 heresy books? Not sure where i left off about 2 years ago, but my real-world job is far too serious. I enjoy a bit of wild fantasy sci-fi. Audio books were great too. But even though I enjoy the lore, the lore itself has several aspects that are really great. It's sometimes very funny - like Garro getting backhanded across the room at the suggestion Horus could betray the emperor. Or the most horrific thing in a galaxy of horrors - tyranids making planetfall - you'll see the Orks cheering just because orks love a good fight. Yet it's also very serious and dark in very fascinating ways, e.g. the imperial calendar being wrong, or different sources explaining Events differently. Warp travel could mean a ship is lost for 1500 years, or arrives 50 years too early. The imperial bureaucracy is so outrageously stagnant and inefficient it funds whole wars already lost, or even directed at the wrong planet. 40k is also better than other more calcified fiction stories. Something like historical games have a real problem - a historically accurate army is only accurate for a very short period of time. I'm a 40k snob this way - i'm free to explore and roam in the gaps of historical records. Even still, if you wanted to do a specific lore-accurate army, the universe allows that perfectly too. There's a million worlds to explore. Well, not Beta Anphelion IV... stay far away from that. 
5. Converting, kit-bashing, customizing all units. 
6. Rule interactions and theory of gameplay - without podcasts, forums, and blogs I would never function in actual games. But I love list building and strategizing.
7. Weathering - i should probably play nurgle because i just love overdoing it on weathering. I wish i could say "painting" but I don't think that'd be honest. I procrastinate severely. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Captain Caine 24th

[MegaVolt87]

I enjoy a lot with the GW hobby. Conversions, alt paint schemes of official factions, playing and the lore. Also being inspired with what other people have been doing, prompting my own ideas and different ways of doing things. 

[Jolemai]

Apocalypse level games with a fully painted Firstborn BA army is just 

 

I am certainly enjoying getting my older stuff up to my current painting level too.