"What makes Miniature Wargaming so Much fun?" Topic

"If you're relatively new to boardgames, it may seem like every other game has incredible miniatures in the box: as if they're as common as cardboard tokens and meeples. In fact, it's only been a recent trend for these highly characterful and detailed components to be considered commonplace in the realm of boxed board games. Before that, miniatures lived in the realm of miniature wargaming: a niche of tabletop gaming where collecting, building and painting the components of your army is as much a part of the experience as actually playing the games.

Painting your miniatures is a creative outlet. If you're an Alpha subscriber, you may have gotten some insight into how much fun painting miniatures can be from our show Painter's Guild. From picking out paint schemes to the final product, you get to choose everything. Your Stormcast Eternals don't have to be painted gold and blue if you don't want them to be. They can be whatever color you want them to be, and no one can tell you they are painted wrong…"
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Amicalement
Armand

For me, it's definitely NOT the painting!

Anything else – reading the history, researching a particular campaign or battle; devising a scenario; writing or adapting rules, and of course actually playing a wargame – I enjoy.

But painting, NO!

It's definitely a different strokes thing. I like painting figures and terrain!

A 2nd no to painting. Writing rules, researching battles, developing scenarios, and playing the game for me.

I'll attempt to paint buildings and simple terrain but no to painting the miniatures.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Successfully completing a painting project is immensely satisfying: that having been said I do have innumerable partly completed projects that have yet to be consummated. Seeing the completed armies on the table is the ultimate pinnacle-- rarely achieved in the covid world :-(

Ha!…

Amicalement
Armand

Watching the unpainted metal figures take on their own personalities.

Not trying to be judgmental, but I am greatly surprised to see so many miniature gamers who don't like painting the figures and building your own armies. When I first started this pastime in the late 70s building and painting your army was simply a given and considered to be as much a part of the hobby as the actual gaming.

Have to second what v Schwartz said. When I first started the guys I gamed with were figure painters who wanted to do something with the figures.

Now with the shut down all I've been able to do is paint. That big pile of unpainted lead is starting to get a little lower.

Part of the reason for my dislike of painting wargame figures is the much greater emphasis on high quality painting and modelling than was originally the case, so that painting an army has become a much slower process, requiring more skill and effort.

When I first became interested in the hobby, it was perfectly acceptable to simply paint Airfix 20mm figures in block colours, with no shading, and stick their bases onto plain movement bases with no textured ground &c. At normal viewing distance it was clear what nationality, arm of service and unit they were; that was sufficient to wargame and enjoy an exciting battle.

Now the figures are more detailed and the wargame magazines are full of photographs of expertly painted, lined, shaded troops on miniature landscapes, so that has become the norm to which we are supposed to conform. It's as if prospective chess players were told they must first carve each piece by hand and construct a wooden marquetry board with contrasting inlaid squares before they could play!

For those who enjoy doing that, and have the time and skill, that's fine; I don't, so that is not the aspect of the hobby I enjoy.

Even if I could paint to that standard, the repetitive painting several hundred similar figures to that standard would soon prove very boring! Result: I'd never finish one army, let alone two…

Granted, there is a degree of skill involved but if I am any measure it doesn't require much!! I am probably an outlier here but the museum quality figures they sometimes show on these pages are not the norm for the gamers, as least in the games I have been involved in. If you wanna do museum quality fine, but most gamers that I have associated with in the past just want to get a decent quality paint job that at least resembles the unit being depicted. I often wonder how often the owners of these museum pieces let them get on the table and have multiple players handle them with sticky fingers covered in Cheetos dust. If you paint enough, the skills come, as well as many neat little tricks and shortcuts.
The best part is when after you get your meticulously hand painted figures set up on the table someone actually compliments you on the detail/accuracy of the paint job, yeah, a little bit of an ego trip!

Absolutely Painting is a Pain! Aathur1815 has it. I am perfectly happy with moderns in a a max of 3 colors, no dry brushing fetish most of the time. Scenario writing, reading and a little rule consideration to me is the fun part.
"Push Comes to Shove" unpainted is acceptable, better than not playing any day!
I have realized my 3 colour trees are no better than 2 colour trees, I never notice the difference, too busy playing and its less of a pain.

One man's meat is another man's poison.

Pissing people off on public forums, especially the snowflakes.

Wolfhag

Yeah, I enjoy THAT too!

What have snowflakes got to do with whether you like painting or playing more?

I just said what is fun and what is noit fun to me. Funnily enough I am aware not everybody agrees with me. ;-).

Von Echwartz +1, but not sure what one is and if I am one.

If you're on this site, and gave me a +1 on my remark regarding this topic you're probably not!

BTW, most snowflakes are so PC and uptight that they squeak when they walk. Not true of the denizens of this dungeon.

So… Its supposed to be Fun??????