"On a Napoleonic downer" Topic

I have been Napoleonic Wargaming since the AIRFIX days of 1980. Now a man of a certain age with a collection of several thousand metal figures in six armies I find the whole thing tedious. I no longer want to paint,play or indulge in the hobby. I am running a campaign but that is as far as it goes. Anyone else out there been in this situation and how do get back on the horse so to speak?

If there has been nothing new for a while tedium is the inevitable consequence.

My own interests are multiple, far ancient, ancient world, 18th Century, Renaissance, 17th Century, Civil War, Early Modern (between WWI and WWII.) For me "the newness" comes in changing my gaze to another period, or reworking and tweaking the rules. With these other periods there's always something new, and once I got into Imagi-Nations it only got better.

On the other hand my experience with Napoleonics was not felicitous. I had several thousand metal Scruby figures back in the 1970's but I gamed with a group of completely toxic nasty, mean-spirited Napoleonic gamers who exasperated me to the point that I dropped out of war games and gave everything away. Minis, terrain, everything. Needless t say my resolve weakened after 6 months, but I never played a Napoleonic game again.

While I don't like to disparage someone's period, what drove me out of Napoleonics was the endless arguments, Napoleonic egoes, back-biting, and rivalries, and in retrospect I found the whole period tedious. You are awash in a world of "All French are +3 in everything" and endless variations on that theme. That becomes tedious.

So now I exist in an Imagi-Nation World of the 18th century with bumbling generals, absurd plots, lascivious countess' incompetent monarchs, and all of it in rollicking good fun.

I can suggest one things that might help. Take out all the "All French are +3 stuff" and see how your games go.

All wargames are tedious if you're not having fun. So you have to ask the question "what is fun for you?"

I occasionally succumb to that old ennui. When that happens I just take break, move on to other things, be they period, reading subject matter oe just being a couch potato. Eventually the spell is broken.

Take a break. It's a hobby and if you are not enjoying it do not try to force it. Do not do anything foolish, like getting rid of a collection. Just give it time aND one day what interested you in the first place will do so again.

Good luck,
Bob

bigrig,

take the advice of first just taking a break. Then try something a little different whether it be Ancients or something not related to war gaming at all. I was forced to do other things when I relocated and it was 1 year between war games. I just painted figures, read books, and of course a little American Football on weekends. Now I found a new group and we mix it up between Naps, ACW, and WW2.

Yes, that`s it ! "A change is as good as a rest" they say.

I tend to play big and amended ancient and medieval DBA games.
After a while one tends sees parallels with horse and musket warfare in ancients – this is so I think with the linear nature of sword and sandal stuff… (e.g. maniples;
that is "columns" if you like, were a means to manoeuvre or to change, or pass lines)… and this brings me back I guess to my main period of interest; Napoleonics.

And I find medieval warfare refreshing because it is much less about articulated formations.

I guess I`ve been very influenced by DBA, but perhaps if my main interest was ancients I`d probably want something more involved. But, as it is, I`m happy to modify and add to DBA`s rather basic rules system to make larger ancient battles work for me.

I know the feeling. I was into Napoleonics in a huge manner from the late 60s into the mid 80s and then my interest just died out. I did other things for a long time. Then I joined a new game group and they did Napoleonics in a different scale with different rules and that got my interest going again. Not as intense as before, but I enjoy it again. So I agree with the others advising you to take a break. And it might need to be a fairly long break, too!

Thanks folks, really favouring the take a break method. I did consider the selling off of at least some of the collection so good to hear advice on not being rash. I have some 15mm tanks so maybe a bit of kit building to ease me back in. I think I may have reached critical mass with 25mm.

bigrig

Yes, the break suggestion is a good idea. And you could try just reading Napoleonic (or other period) books and watching Napoleonic documentaries and films for a while. That might help to get you back into the wargaming mode.

And trying wargaming a different historical period might also help. Saying that, I did that some time ago, and, as enjoyable as it was, to a certain degree, I couldn't wait to get back to Napoleonics, including the player arguments, which should never be taken seriously anyway-it is all part of the fun.

I go through painting malaises. I can paint a lot of figures over a few weeks (I'm on an upswing at the moment) but I know at some point I'll stop. And a couple of units will sit in my cupboard for 3-8 weeks while I work up the gumption to paint again.

I sometime get sick of the british are always +4 rules. Then I play some revolutionary period battles :-)

I find looking at a different set(s) of rules can jump start things. Even if you are content with what you are currently gaming, being open minded to other ideas and views about how people represent things and the priorities and balances they perceive as being important can be a good way to "reform old synapses" into new paths. This might break the pattern induced malaise.
OR if you are primarily a figures guy, start a new scale!!!! (with possibly a need for different rules).
OR…just take a break from it.
I'm more of a journey instead of destination guy myself, so I can understand how having a massive, complete collection would feel like the journey is over.

Never got tired of a specific period. Just the chore of painting weapons, horses, shields and standards…

I do agree with the above though, couple of days, weeks or months off doing something else.. usually helps.

Take a break from it Bigrig.
What usually then happens is that you will see something Napoleonic related – an old film on TV or an interesting painting in a museum, or something completely random – that stirs up all the old feelings again. Then you'll look at your collection with fresh eyes and the love will be renewed.
I hope so anyway.

P.S. just ignore Otto, no-one would play Napoleonics if it was down to him. I have no idea why he spends so much time on the Napoleonic discussion board considering that he has stated (on quite a few occasions) that he hates the era and people who game it.

+1 on teh Otto comments.

Me, I find I just pick another unit that I like the look of, and that enthuses me all over again. There is always a fancy uniform that I haven't done yet, so I can always get over my boredom that way.

Oh, and I changed rules – BP gave me and my friends a fun game so that has given me extra enthusiasm.

Good luck

Whenever I'm reading a book that I'm tired of, I put it down. I do the same with all of my hobbies. Step away for a while and take some time off.

I am usually able to recharge my interest in a period by watching a good film or reading a good historical fiction novel set in the period. This usually results in inspiring scenarios I'd like to recreate on the game table. Unfortunately, there just aren't that many good Napoleonic films out there, aside from naval settings. Have you considered switching scales? Not size, but man to figure ratios? I've always considered a good skirmish game as satisfying as a large scale battle. It might mean rebasing some of your figures, but you can have quite a fun time with a dozen green jackets and a similar number of French voltigeurs.

Please send me a message and I will take all those ugly 15mm napoleonic figures off your hands for the price of postage. (My cost). Sounds like a deal to me!!

Do what I did, I joined a figure club. One where they focus on the figure and the smallest is usually 54mm! Then you can paint up what you like and build a beautiful diorama to display.

I find that a new period can keep the hobby fresh. Not necessarily a major project – maybe a skirmish game where you can focus on modelling individual characters.

1968billsfan. What a really kind gesture, possibly all my wargaming problems resolved.

Any interest goes through periods of overload, tedium and just plain boredom.

Taking time off to do something else is a great idea. New periods, new rules, new people or new aspect of the hobby all can re-invigorate you.

That feeling of tedium comes from the lack of challenge, the lack of the new, the lack of the old excitement.

Or it could be that you ran out of beer.