I’m back from vacation and nearly recovered from an early morning flight thankfully. Orlando was less sunny and warm than I hoped but still a much needed improvement from Chicago. Disney World was less fun than I hoped, more crowded and frustrating than expected, and so it is hard to assess how much fun my trip was.
What I do know is that I missed hobbying as I always do when I’m away from home. Every so often, my hobby eye wanders to other games as when you’re in the middle of a big project, your motivation isn’t always the highest. Personally, I tend to follow a cycle when I discover a new game or I get interested in a type of game outside of MESBG. First thing I do is find out what I can about the game and evaluate whether it is something I could enjoy playing solo or not. If it passes that step, I start to envision what projects would look like for that game and how achievable they would be for me. Finally, I start to figure out how I can afford to buy X game and if the buy-in would interfere with other things I want to buy.
Generally, I don’t make it to the final step before deciding to steer clear of a particular game that had caught my eye or I just never end up actually buying into the new game even if the desire is there. This is probably a good thing as it keeps me from having too many unfinished products. The downside is that I often get inspiration for a game or project and never start it which is a bit of a shame.
Lately, my inspiration has been the Wild West thanks to Red Dead Redemption 2. It just so happens that there is a rules set called Legends of the Old West made by Games Workshop that uses many concepts from Lord of the Rings. A natural fit for someone like me who pretty much only plays MESBG! The system seems pretty solo friendly (just like MESBG) so that is another plus. The model count is low (as low or lower than many MESBG scenarios) of around 5-10 models per side. The catch is that it is more campaign based and not narrative scenarios like I usually play. Not many games try to do what MESBG does with narrative so no surprise there and that isn’t a problem that can’t be overcome.
Of course, the challenge is not painting up the miniatures needed to play the game, it is the terrain. A wild west game has to have terrain and honestly, you need buildings and lots of them since everybody can and will be shooting. That is the problem because buildings take up space and they’re going to take a decent time investment to create too. At the moment, I’m not willing to commit to a big project like a Wild West town and I don’t really have the storage space either. So the cycle began and ends again.
Which leads me to my real point. Are there just too many tempting games out there? Or do we just have too many interests that we can fall prey to them? I’d love to play a Post-Apocalyptic game like Fallout. The Wild West is an era of history I really like but so is Ancient Rome. There are unsurprisingly, games you can play for both. When you add to that my love of samurai, there are honestly more games out right now that I’d consider playing than I’d ever be able to actually get together what I needed and play through them. It does become a bit frustrating for me as I love variety and have many interests but ultimately, I stick with what I know I love in Lord of the Rings. Even at the low points in a project, I never consider stopping as I enjoy most of the process too much. I also try to tell myself that I will have more storage room in the future and that if I continue to build up my terrain collection for MESBG, I’ll actually find it easier to play another game in the future. So in that sense, it isn’t all bad news as the Shire terrain I’ll be making in the coming months will work well with a wide variety of games. In fact, I should have a decent update for next week lined up which I will be excited to share.
I am also taking solace in that I think I will attempt to make my first “full size” diorama with cowboys in it slowly over the course of this year. I will need to buy a decent number of minis to get the ones I want and I can slowly paint some of those minis as I have time. Perhaps that way, I may eventually be able to piece together what is needed for some fun gaming in the Wild West.
Kuribo's Painting 
There seriously are too many great games out there. Problem fir me is starting at a new club is that they do more 28mm GW than my original club, various scale historical and fantasy like Frostgrave or HOTT. I have suddenly started looking at the Lizardmen army by GW.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad to hear it isn’t just me! I can definitely see where changing clubs can cause someone to have to adjust their collection and focus. I guess I’m lucky in that I only have to focus on me and whatever I want or feel like doing. Thanks for sharing your experiences, mate!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can totally relate. Though from what you’re describing I think you may be a bit more cautious in buying / starting a new game than I am, which I see as a good thing. Because of a scarcity of time, money and storage space I decided to sell of my collection of Star Wars Legion. I bought into that game thinking that one day I would get around to it, but realistically I no longer saw this happening within the next couple of years or so. So I have become more critical of what to keep, what to keep buying and what to play.
Even though it’s a recent change, it feels quite liberating to be so selective in what to start / buy into. For example yesterday I saw a good sale on the LotR: Journeys into Middle-earth board game. While I am interested in that game, I didn’t think I’d get around to it for at least the next year and then it would only take up storage space. It feels good for me to focus on just a few games at a time. So right now I have of course MESBG going on, but also some more quick / casual games as well as a number of video games. I like switching them all up for variety. But too many projects going on simultaneously is quite the demotivator and I do very much dislike leaving stuff on the painting/building table for too long, which is what occasionally happens if I’m doing all kinds of stuff.
But if you’re committed, it can be great fun and be quite inspirational. Looking forward to seeing your Western themed diorama!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Caution is probably an accurate word. I definitely put some thought into any games I decide to buy though I think sometimes money is what keeps me from buying it too. With other hobbies that I spend money on, I always try to maximize my spending on wargaming and I try not to create too big of a hobby backlog at the same time time too.
Star Wars Legion is a game that would be fun to play but I came to a similar conclusion as you that it would take too much time and effort for me to tackle it in the near term. I think it is wise to consider whether a new game can potentially compliment your “main game” and Star Wars Legion would probably be too demanding to balance alongside MESBG. It is encouraging to me that other hobbyists out there have the same troubles as I do and I appreciate you sharing your experiences with all of this.
LotR: Journeys into Middle Earth is tempting for me too. My only difficulty with board games is that I tend to not enjoy replaying them once I have exhausted the content they offer. That game will have tons of content added and will probably take up lots of room which has scared me away. That and I don’t think I could write fun battle reports like I do for MESBG which is surprisingly one of my favorite parts of the hobby. I’m right there with you on switching between video games, wargaming, and things like that. It seems to keep the right balance of things and keep you from being bored or burnt out.
I look forward to getting started on the diorama. Once I order some minis for it, I’m sure they’ll pop up here on the site 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I bought Journeys cheap and I do enjoy it, problem is that the IT side if Fantasy Flight are being stopped which might have a knock on effect in the updates and new stories. We are playing it at the club and have managed 4 missions. We have won by the skin of our teeth twice and lost one too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is surprising about Fantasy Flight. They seem to offer pretty great support for their games. I’m really glad to hear you’re enjoying it. I may have to give the game a second look based on your recommendation, Maeno! 🙂
LikeLike
Yes.
Lol I could just end the reply there.
Whenever I feel like starting a new genre I first have a serious hard look at my pile of unpainted lead first. Usually that sobers me up. We only have so much time and energy so having too many projects going on will only diffuse our efforts to get stuff completed. There is a big lag time between investing in a game and getting it all ready for the table.
I’ve also been tempted by the Wild West. I even have the rules Dead Mans Hand, some miniatures, and some terrain but you’ve correctly identified the issue; it’s only 20 miniatures buts it’s a whole western town!
This is why I like game conventions, where you can get your fix of other games. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Huh, my response got deleted or didn’t post! Let me try to rewrite what I had written before.
Haha, well said, my friend! I was honestly hoping to hear your thoughts on this as I had a feeling you had some experience with it.
I completely agree about the terrain (which I can make but I don’t have space for currently) in the Wild West genre. I wouldn’t have guessed you shared an interest in it. It is a shame that you don’t live closer, I’d absolutely be up for DMH!
I was surprised and disappointed to see the Adepticon only had tournament games and new miniatures games that are well supported in their sign-up lists. Surely, I would think there is a way to do some narrative gaming instead. Hopefully I can figure that out and get some games in this year instead of just wandering around taking it all in. I have heard of a group in Chicago that is into skirmish gaming. I might try joining that group to get a bit more gaming in as getting one game in every six months is not doing it for me at the moment.
LikeLike
I used to live in Orlando, and yes… the crowds really are not fun at all! I barely ever went to Disney (or any other theme park for that matter) because I had no desire to pay to stand in long lines waiting for a 2 minute ride! Sorry your vacation wasn’t as fun as you hoped, but at least you got old of the cold weather for a bit!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh wow, I didn’t know you lived there. Orlando seems like an interesting place to live. Very different than other cities in the US. I think Disney World and Land are really popular because they’ve added a lot of new things recently and honestly, had I known it would be as bad as it was, I might have chosen a different vacation but I still had some really good times there. It was definitely better than being here in cold and windy Chicago! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah I grew up there! I moved because it was getting so crowded and housing was getting really expensive, but most of my family still lives there! I’m not too far away, but it’s still nice to be away from the hustle and bustle. I’m glad you still managed to have some fun! Haha, I haven’t been up to Chicago in almost 20 years but I went during the summer, so it wasn’t too cold then 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have family in Florida (Tampa) but I never took to visiting it like my brother did. Its too hot in the summer for me 🙂 Getting out of the Chicago in the winter though was great so I’m sure I’ll go back to Florida in the future. Chicago is great in the summer in my opinion and tourists. They really swarm the city for those three months! It is a fun place to live and I hope you get to visit it again one day. I’m sure a lot has changed!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh haha yeah the heat can be pretty bad… but I’m a beach bum, so I love to sit out by the ocean or by the pool during the summer! I’ve been to Tampa a few times 🙂 And I would love to visit Chicago again in the future! You’re right, a lot probably has changed. It would be a lot of fun!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You went to Orlando and didn’t stop at Full Sail for a set of NXT tapings? I’m horrified!
More seriously, I’ve got a ton of rulebooks and rulesets that I may or may not ever play, but a couple of things that I work with as guidelines before buying into anything new is how well it will work with what I alreayd own, and how well what I own will work with a new game or ruleset.
Osprey has a whoile bunch of minis-agnostic rulebooks across a variety of genres.
I have the Zombicide board games (also very solo-friendly) giving me a ton of zombies and survivors, pluus I hava a nice selection of survivor-types, modern and post-apoc models, so I picked up their “Last Days” ruleset, since I already own (and am slowly painting) all the minis I’ll ever need.
I like Vikings, I have a bunch of Vikings, nominally for SAGA, but also to use as a force in Kings of War. I was Osprey has a skirmish ruleset called Ragnarok with a slightly fantastical take on Viking warbands. So I grabbed that as well.
And so on.
My scenery collection has elements that fit across ancients and fantasy to WWII to modern to sci-fi, so once again I have stuff with a generally broad eye. Many ruined vehicles and buildings, machinery and bits of industrial plant that aren’t festooned with skulls will work in Stalingrad, a zombie apocalypse, Necromunda-40k, Fallout… so I always have an eye on how versatile something is, which incidentally leads me to being put off the Wild West genre for the same reason that you were – a mostly unique set of terrain pieces. I’m not opposed to a few more genre-specific pieces (like a hobbit hole or two) but a whole Wild West town (which is what you’d obviously want!) is too much for me.
So with all this in mind, a $20 or $40 book that gives me a new way to play with my existing models? Sure. A boxed game like Shadespire or WarCry or Speed Freeks that is both self-contained and also gives me models I can use across a bunch of other Warhammer-y games? Sure. Or something like TANKS! that does the same but for Flames of War? Not a huge problem.
Asking me to buy into a whole different genre, scale or IP? Maybe, but it takes rather a lot more to get me interested and more again to be willing. FFG’s little stunt with changing the scale for Legion from what they used with Imperial Assault was enough to turn me off
buying into that game completely.
hm. I might return to this reply and turn it into a full blown post when I get time later on. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Truthfully, I grew watching the Attitude Era of WWE but since then, while I follow some wrestlers, I don’t sit down and watch an episode of it so I suppose I am a very casual fan.
I really like your mentality and the way you decide to buy in to a game. I wish that I had such a versatile collection as well. I have a modest collection of minis from LOTR (probably more modest than you would think) and an even smaller amount of terrain so it isn’t easy to find many other game systems that fit with that. If I did have a bit more to pick and choose from, I would absolutely be more game agnostic than I am.
I didn’t know that FFG re-scaled Legion from Imperial Assault. Was that to make the game appeal to wargamers more? I love Star Wars as I’m sure I’ve mentioned but neither of those games have gotten me at all interested in them.
Your opinions and experiences in this hobby are always interesting to me so I think it would be great to see you turn it into an article. Also, you are a saint for reading all of these updates. I was not at all expecting you to wade through everything you missed while on your sabbatical and it is flattering that you consider it worthy of your time 🙂
LikeLike
No problem on the updates – I”m doing a lot of people, bit by bit as I have time – so it’s taking a lot of time, but… meh! General consensus on the IA>Legion rescaling was to prevent people from using their existing collections directly, and require them to re-buy everything to have everything in the new, consistent scale (because Star Wars fans, right?)
As you continue to amass your LotR collection, you’ll find that you can eaisly slip into more games with a rulebook purchase and perhaps just a few models. Jackson’s Rohirrim are basically Ango-Saxons on horses, so a sprue or two of them and you’re set for SAGA.
Or of course you could supplement the official models with some Actual Saxons models:
https://store.warlordgames.com/search?type=product&q=anglo-saxons*
Dunlendings are visually Vikings in all but name, are the “natural” opponents for the Rohirrim. Once you have just a small set of those two forces you also have two opposing forces for SAGA – and it also means that a cheap purchase of a plastic Vikings box or two means you have got a substantial Dunland force. (for a fraction of the GW price!)
https://store.warlordgames.com/search?type=product&q=vikings*
With all those Vikings you now have all the models you need to play Ragnarok, and you can use some of those mythical beasties from the LotR range to boot!
https://www.bookdepository.com/Ragnarok-Mr-Tim-Korklewski-RU-MOR/9781472832818
And so on it goes and flows….
LikeLiked by 1 person
That makes sense and I can see why FFG did it even though I bet they knew it would cause some complaints. It does seem a bit greedy. I can definitely see how LOTR and historical gaming could well together. The type of historical gaming I’d like to try doesn’t overlap with LOTR quite as well other than in the terrain department so it would be a trickier jump for me but I will be thinking about this and see what opportunities there might be for me as I’m running into a lot of space issues with my hobbying unfortunately.
LikeLiked by 1 person