What do you enjoy the most in the hobby?

[sarabando]

On 9/4/2023 at 10:01 AM, Wormwoods said:

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.

pretty spot on for me too :D 

 

im more painty painty than dice rolly

[Matcap86]

I go through cycles of which part of the hobby I enjoy most. Though the thread through everything is reading and expanding my understanding of the worldbuilding of the settings, which is pretty consistently a thing I really enjoy. I enjoy individual characters less than the coherent picture they paint of the universes the exist in, if that makes sense.

 

Next to that it rotates between (improving on) my painting, converting/kitbashing, terrain building and honestly the excitement of buying new kits. 

[Rogue]

For me, it's all about playing games. Age has slowed me down a lot, but as a kid I'd play 40k, Fantasy Battle, Hulk, HeroQuest, Space Crusade, Necromunda, BloodBowl, everything.

 

At that point, painting was I thing I did when I couldn't get a game. It was nice to have painted models, but not vital. Honestly, it wasn't even that important to have the models, as long as we could play.

 

Over time, as I play less games less frequently, I find myself painting more and holding myself to a higher standard (both in terms of finished product, and in terms of only fielding painted models). 

 

So painting has become something that I increasingly enjoy, but playing games is still my favourite thing :)

[gideon stargreave]

Everything about this hobby comes down to one key pleasure

exploring

when I paint or read lore or even god forbid play, I am revealing an aspect of the universe that never before existed. For me, 40k has no canon, and never really did, rather, it has some foundations within the setting that allow exploration to gather meaning. 
 

[NovemberIX]

I've found my favorite part is taking pictures during games, it sorta feeds into my narcissism love of literally just looking at completed models. In close relation is lore crafting for my forces. Most all my stuff is part of a larger DIY combined Imperial force so I spend a lot of time just figuring out how they'd exist, what would their culture be like, their hierarchies, command structure and the logistics that entails, how they fit into the 40K sandbox. Somewhere there are also all-night block painting sessions watching endurance racing during ETL (We Miss you Cap'n Semp!) because they always lead to more painted models, usually better than I've done before.

[Wormwoods]

23 hours ago, Rogue said:

Over time, as I play less games less frequently, I find myself painting more and holding myself to a higher standard (both in terms of finished product, and in terms of only fielding painted models). 

Made a personal vow to never field any bare plastic since coming back to the hobby in early 9th, and am damn glad of it, it's kept me honest. HAS made me a bit of a snob, though, so swings and roundabouts. 

[phandaal]

45 minutes ago, Wormwoods said:

Made a personal vow to never field any bare plastic since coming back to the hobby in early 9th, and am damn glad of it, it's kept me honest. HAS made me a bit of a snob, though, so swings and roundabouts. 

 

This is how I do it. If it isn't painted, it doesn't go on the table. Keeps me chugging along and keeps the grey pile from growing too large, since I know there is only so much I can get to in a given amount of time.

 

Putting those little painted homies on the table and seeing where the game goes is and always has been my favorite part of the hobby, whether it is WFB, BFG, 40k, or non-GW games.

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by phandaal

[Rogue]

50 minutes ago, Wormwoods said:

Made a personal vow to never field any bare plastic since coming back to the hobby in early 9th, and am damn glad of it, it's kept me honest. HAS made me a bit of a snob, though, so swings and roundabouts. 

 

I know what you mean. For me, part of my personal commitment to "paint before play" is also commiting to not apply that standard to anyone else - their hobby goals and enjoyment don't have to align with mine.

 

(But as I mentioned in another thread - I'm first and foremost a game-player who paints in my downtime. So if getting a game means bare plastic opposition, so be it. Others will feel differently.)