"I'm rubbish at my hobby !!!" Topic

Some people get into some fancy outfit with special shoes, they agree to play with 21 other guys and give it their all.

Some people have an entire library of carefully catalogued albums containing postage stamps and can get you any stamp in their collection within a few minutes.

Some people will take a hunk of rust and after a few years of diligent labour will produce a perfectly restored classic car

Me, I have a pile of lead, some of which is painted. I switch periods more than a windvane. I get high on a new project, invest a small fortune, lose interest, move on to the next shiny. I'm not even faithful to my hobby, I want to do so much more, so much that a 72-hour day with nothing but free time would not be enough to get it right.

I paint, badly, and I can crank out a few almost decent figures, but doing an entire army is something I can indefinitely postpone.

I want to do some really broad periods "Pike and Shot !" "Ancients !!!" but I can be oh so tempted by obscure subjects that have too few figures if any "Maori Wars ! The conquest of Siberia ! Yangpat ! 80-years war ! Mexican Civil War !"

So it's a mix of not enough focus, procrastination, wild enthusiasm, wanting what's not available and always looking away… to the future, to the horizon. Never my mind on where I am … what I am doing …

I'm rubbish at my hobby !!!

you and me both
I don't have the problem painting an entire army but I loose probably about 80% of the games I play

Well that about describes me also. I have recently realized I'd need to live to 2218 to finish all my projects & read all the books in my library, so I'm trying to divest myself of the unused/unwanted stuff.

Well, don't go bragging about it. If it bothers you, change your behavior. You can't necessarily paint better, or win more games, but you can certainly sell off unpainted lead and finish a few projects.

I worried about much of the same a couple of years ago. I took stock of my unfinished projects and looked for the "easy wins", not on the tabletop but moving on in projects. Find an army that just needs a little bit of work to finish, or even just one unit that would really improve it. I made a list of about 6 projects that just needed a bit of effort to make a big impact. By the end of the year I felt much better as I could see the difference on several projects.

Some ideas that have helped me. Most will be considered heresy by the typical wargamer.

1. You can narrow your focus by following Morschauser's philosophy that there are only 3 periods – Shock, Horse & Musket, and Modern.

2. Create imagi-nations. This means that you only need 2 armies for any period you adopt.

3. For quick armies, go small. 2 or 3mm small. Even a slow, crappy painter like myself can crank out usable armies in no time.

Patrick,
I thought that was what this hobby was all about.
Having too many unfinished projects and more in the planning stage. I'd say you're a success!

In the words of the immortal Homer Simpson, "it's funny 'cause it's true!"

And yet it never bothers me. Perhaps it should, but the fun comes from a lot of angles, too many to be cancelled out by the ultimate number of troops on the table: researching people or periods; collecting; terrain making; uniform details; thumbing a glossy magazine; admiring the great work of others; the discovery of new figures or subjects; painting; and much, much more. All of this usually occurs in the bat cave, with a coffee at hand (mornings) or a tall pint (any other time), the music of choice, and with the concentration of effort that a busy job and a rich, wonderful family life can sometimes make it rather hard to find. I sometimes answer the doorbell absent-mindedly still wearing my painting goggles, and then – in the laughter and feigned embarrassment of kids and bemusement of whoever was ringing – the illusion is broken, just for a minute.

Steady on, mate! The only person you're pleasing is you.

"I can crank out a few almost decent figures, but doing an entire army is something I can indefinitely postpone."

At least for this problem there is a solution: focus on skirmish level games or similar small scale games. Also, if you do this then it doesn't matter if you jump from one period to another, because you need only a few figures (or at least a manageable number of figures) for each period.

Assuming our lives are otherwise typical, I'd suffer no criticism on how I recreate.

I think Fred summed it up very nicely. I have grand plans – always seeing the 'big picture' but always falling short.

Lately I seem to buy, paint, collect, terrain, take photos and sell! LOL – I am wondering if this is who I am…

I am finding that I am better off collecting and painting at skirmish or pulp level – one figure = 1 person. Can take my time painting, terraining, and hell I might even play a game or two.

I very much understand where Patrick is coming from.

Good advice, Carlos Von B.

I also made a sort of spreadsheet to document all my projects, broken down into primary (priority, on the workbench), secondary (projects shelved to keep them from gumming up the Primaries, or just indefinitely stalled), and tertiary ("like a hole in the head" projects, and even ones that are largely conceptual…"those great Copplestone minis I had to have but really don't know what to do with" go here).

Sounds silly, but it helps me keep things in focus.

Braggart.

Are you a man or a mouse? Stand up and get back into it. Fear not your Lead Pile make it fear you.

And always remember
If and when the world goes to Hell in a Hand Basket, your shinys will melt into nice musket balls so you can fend off the aliens,cannibals and or zombies
Musket and black powder not provided

Sadly, "The Patriot" ruined that whole notion for me. Redcoat zombies would have been an improvement.

I agree with FusilierDan: you have described success but called it failure.

So it's a mix of not enough focus, procrastination, wild enthusiasm, wanting what's not available and always looking away… to the future, to the horizon. Never my mind on where I am … what I am doing …

You probably already have to focus on earning a living and running or helping run a household. You can relax and not accomplish anything in your hobby. That's part of what makes it a hobby.

My wife sometimes asks, "who won?" when I come home from a game day. I answer, "we all won -- we got to spend the day miniatures gaming with each other."

Patrick – Sounds like you are doing it right, at least in my experience.

sell off unpainted lead

I understand the words, but when you put them together like that, they don't make any sense.

Preach on brother Patrick, I am with you in solidarity!:)

If you enjoy being rubbish at your hobby then that's not a problem. However, if it's giving you sleepless nights then time to do some thinking and work out how you could realistically be a bit better at your hobby.

I'm rubbish at getting round to playing games, so much so that my hobby is really painting and collecting wargames forces.

Wait, we're supposed to have PLANS for minis we buy? You're pretty average at not being ‘good' at this hobby. You're probably ahead of the curve actually. I just bought hundreds of minis during the Warlord $1.50 USD sprue sale that I have NO plans for.

Patrick,

Have you considered board-games? I am serious. The game all comes in a box. The rules, counters and charts. All you have to do is read the rules, find an opponent, teach the rules and setup. No figures to buy or paint, no terrain to buy/build. My problem would be to find an opponent. I have plenty of opponents for miniatures, but none of these guys are interested in paper and counter games.

Back to miniatures,

Patrick,

I have some advice for what it is worth. This is what I do.

Break down your project into manageable sections.

• Decide on one project for now, example: 15mm ACW
• Choose your rules.
• Purchase a scenario book for these or similar rules.
• Choose a smallish scenario that interests you.
• Buy and paint figures for that scenario.
• Base according to the rules.
• Purchase or make your terrain. Paint if necessary.
• Play your scenario.

Repeat for each scenario in the book. Here is the hard part. Do not start another project until you finish this one. Even if you already have figures for another project, stick to this project. Once done move on to 28mm AWI or whatever and repeat the process.

My post is not a boast or a cry for help, it's a statement of fact.

Miniatures have always fascinated me, in almost any form. I find dollhouses just as neat as model kits or even the scaled down kit that came with my Action Man figures.

I'm also somebody who wants to know about a lot of things and have a wide range of interests, not just wargaming or even history related.

I'm a sucker for all things RPG, pop culture, science, art, design, architecture, languages, firearms etc. These days I spend more time watching youtube videos on a wide range of subjects than anything else.

I think miniature wargaming is great because it hits many notes, it's modelling, history, gaming, even interaction with peers that's the appeal and several other ancillary things.

I also make mistakes and my personal flaws probably hold me back. I'm a very slow painter, don't always feel like painting and rather than do a faster sloppy job, I want my minis to look as good as I can make them. I envy people who buy three boxes of Gripping Beast Anglo Saxons and have them on the table a week later, fully painted.

I get the urge to paint at least a few times each week, just watched some vids about the dark ages, WSS and WWI all flashing lights in my brain to star work, especially WSS. But I'm now in my RPG phase, I do at least paint a few D&D minis and even assembled a dragon that was lingering in a box for the last 20-odd years.

Maybe I am conflating half a dozen fellow gamers and think I should measure up to them combined …

There is a saying in Dutch "We modderen maar wat aan" which can be roughly translated as "We collectively go by with sheer mediocrity" And behold I may be perfectly average in that regard …

The dragon is awesome! Don't compromise your standards in the interest of speed.

I'm rubbish at a dozen hobbies. It would be more but I'm trying to cut back. Can't let failure stop you!

I think you have it just about right! Your problem is that you are too busy being alive.

What, surely the focus is on actually PLAYING. Minis are just a neccessary evil! Dump the daft sizes and go for 12 , 6 or even 3mm and paint quick and dirty WHO CARES if you are playing, you are too busy worrying about how to drin the swamp while up to your neck in crockediles worry about how well they are painted, spend time playing/doing research. Instanly problem solve (except perhaps writing Scenarios but you may get lucky and your mate will do that).