"Biggest Wargaming Regrets?" Topic

Looking back over your years in the hobby, what have been your greatest regrets?

* period you never got into
* army/armies that you sold
* show or convention you never attended
etc.

Nothing comes to mind beyond buying too much stuff.

Stuff I loaned out and never got back

Loaned out rules and reference materials that never made it back

Selling some of figures off through a store for a lot less than what they were worth

Moving from a robust gaming area of friends to an area without the same level of gaming and friendship

Having 47 + unfinished projects.

Not buying all I needed before the company went out of business.

Spent too much in lean periods. That money would better have gone elsewhere.

Sold two sets of armies I wound up rebuilding. One I shouldn't have sold: one I shouldn't have rebuilt.

Flat lost a set of five microscale SYW armies. Best guess is they were in my parents' house when my father died and I just forgot them in the confusion.

And spread myself much too thin. Armies never completed--that is, built up to where a game was possible. Armies which were completed but never saw action.

Much better now. But when you start historical miniatures gaming at 16, sorting things out in retirement is leaving it a tad late.

Having to move away from my gaming friends.

No regrets. What I sold, I view as merely trading up for something I wanted more.

Regrets?….
I've had a few.
But, then again;
Too few to mention….

Costs are slowing down adding to my collection

Just not being as productive as I would have liked.

Getting rid of all my miniatures I had collected as a kid.

Being too unfocused and scattershot in jumping into new periods. I resolved about 2 years ago that I would finish all of the existing unfinished armies I currently have before starting anything new, which very likely means I'm done with new armies. I am making good progress but realistically have another 3-4 years before I can honestly say all of those armies are "finished".

I think I would have liked to have built a Seven Years' War army. Probably shouldn't have allowed myself to be distracted by pirates, Spanish Civil War, and Celts to the degree I was.

Grelber

Murphy for the win

Committing to a new period at the same time with others then counting on them to follow through getting their opposing army on the table while mine has since been completed for months or years.

Got burned a few times when I was younger but never again.

I started painting both sides and can then game with whoever I choose to invite to.

I sold a couple of armies I then later rebuilt, and I sold some books and games I later bought again. In the scheme if things, no great biggie. I like painting and I like buying books and games!

My biggest regret was only painting one side for a period, when my opponent moved away, I was stuck with a useless army. So I had to paint the other side too (see above).

Anyway, I've never done that again. Always paint both sides from the start.

Not enough playing time is my only regret.

I regret I sold off all of my 28mm Foundry Early Imperial Roman army. I should have kept some of them, at least.

Also, trying to keep up with others' changing tastes in periods.

suka1945 yeah that too

Some of the armies I purchased, painted a sold. Especially my Eureka Toytown armies.

Starting way too many time periods.

I regret not doing more small projects. I started off with Fire and Fury large scenarios, and Tactica, so 700 figures on the table was my baseline expectation.

Decades later, I've found pleasure in 75 figure per side projects like Fallout!, Lunar, and Retro Raygun.

Getting of certain things but mainly wasting too much money on projects never finished, or even begun.

Buying more than I need, and worse buying more than I have time to do anything with. Being more focused would have been a benefit.

I also wish that I had known that the 1990s explosion in plastic figures (20mm) would cover everything I wanted eventually. I could have done everything in one scale and been happy with that.

Regrets, I've had a few…but then again…

Not many: I sold my very first army -- a great horde of Peninsular Napoleonics -- which was in retrospect a mistake, and went through a period just after graduate school when I focused on career and family instead of what was obviously really important -- gaming.

Not nearly enough time gaming over the last few years.

Of course the trade off was that I spent time with my wife and kids, went camping and Scouting with the boys, and worked a lot of over time to send them to decent private schools.

So, wish I had more time gaming with my friends, but no regrets. Wouldn't change a thing.

Buying too many figures
Starting too many periods that I never gamed

Not gaming enough.
Not finding local folks of like mind/interest.
Reading/jumping between too many rules
Not painting enough
Not gaming enough (or did I mention that already)

+1 to FusilierDan, so many times the company (or Range)

disappeared before I could get enough of the figures.

No regrets, just a bit of wists.

Figures I wish I had bought while available sort of balance out with the ones I did buy and are still sitting there…

Only the relentless reality of myself and my friends getting old, decrepit and dead.

How about regrets turned to gratitude. A few turns ago I was bidding on an eBay sale of some old broken Minifigs. They sold for a price I did want to pay. I asked here about some compatible figures. Within hours one of our members posted a link where the same figures were available new.

Shagnasty +1

That I had to work to get money, that takes up far too much Hobby time, some of which is wargame time.

[q]Not buying all I needed before the company went out of business.[/q]
This.

I wish that I could have scraped up the money to buy a Gallia castle and also built a Roman army in Ral Partha Imports when both were available.

I bought a house that has a finite volume.