Motivation and inspiration

[Maenoferren]

well thats a pile of orcs and ogres based individually, same with a number of dwarves and my giant and rock elementals, oh and a tyranosaur 
actually got them undercoated too. I would have started painting them but a certain young man has just gone to sleep 

[DanJ]

I also find that buying and painting figures in small batches works very well, I rarely spend more tha £30 on an order, that way there is no huge and depressing "lead mountain" in front of me.  £30 is about 8-10 Pendraken  packs which is about 6 weeks enjoyable slow, painting, hardly intimidating and the results slowly rack up.

[Hertsblue]

I also find that buying and painting figures in small batches works very well, I rarely spend more tha £30 on an order, that way there is no huge and depressing "lead mountain" in front of me.  £30 is about 8-10 Pendraken  packs which is about 6 weeks enjoyable slow, painting, hardly intimidating and the results slowly rack up.

I agree wholeheartedly - speaking as someone who has left entire units undercoated on the work-surface for months while I worked through a totally different project. 

[Leman]

I think DanJ has a very positive and doable approach. Must try that one - maybe with my newly acquired Republican Romans - very nice figures indeed.

[DanJ]

I also never have more than 3 units on the painting table at any one time and normally only one or two, one being cleaned and primed and the other being painted.

As soon as a units is inished it's whisked off to the box, that way I never have to look at how little I've done or how much I've got to do, only the figures I'm actually working on. 

[Luddite]

What do other do to keep the momentum/inspirational juices flowing?

Aye, those are two separate things though, for me at least.

Inspiration tends to come from two places;

1.  The chaps at the club and i deceide on a new project or event, like a big game or more usually a tournament.  Dealine is set and off i go.  Typically in that case, i'll buy an army in one go and paint it over a weekend (or perhaps a week if i'm busy).

2.  I find something that i really like, a new set of rules, range of figures, inspiring battle etc.  I that case i'll do the same as above.  Buy all i need, paint it up in a mad frenzy and get it on the table.  Last time i ran a project like that was 'The Battle of Dorking'...painted a large 1880's British and similar Prussian army over the course of a month (all 10mm Pendraken of course!)

So i tend to sort things out in 'bursts'.

'Keeping the momentum' going is a lot harder for me.  Some of the chaps (and some of you here two), are methodical - painting small amounts regularly.  I find that really difficult to do and tend to lose motivation unless i have a clear goal to hit.

E.g., now having a large Prussian army ready for FPW action i bought a French army to match...it's still not finished.  My motivation waned because i haven't found a good set of FPW rules yet...


How do i keep things going overall?  Well, a change is as good as a break, so i switch things about quite a bit to avoid getting bored (like with the FPW French).

So i've recently been painting 6mm DRM figures and got about 30% through those...but we're kicking off a Club FOG Tournament so i've switched over to some 15mm HYW English to fill out my arhcers ready for that bash.
Once done i'll head back into the DRM stuff to finish it off...etc.

The only current 'slow burn' regular painting i've done in the last year or two has been my 28mm AVBCW figures.  I have a small xmas cache of add ons (some little tanks, a few bicyclists, medical chaps, etc., to fill in the gaps on my Chopwell Communists.  So thats a sizable force built up over a couple of years.  Its nearly done now and that sort of long term motivation is very rare for me...


I see painting as a bit of a chore really...a neccessary evil to get the toys on the table so i have to get the paint slapped on as quickly as possible when the muse takes me, as i can go months without wielding the bristles at all!

[lentulus]

My wife's been sick since Christmas, and I find as a result that I do not give much of a damn about hobbies.  Which is a pain, because I could really use the distraction.

[Nosher]

1.  The chaps at the club and i deceide on a new project or event, like a big game or more usually a tournament.  Dealine is set and off i go.  Typically in that case, i'll buy an army in one go and paint it over a weekend (or perhaps a week if i'm busy).

Had this one recently - the clubs embarking on SAGA in 28mm and I bought, based and painted a 9pt warband in under a fortnight

I find something that i really like, a new set of rules, range of figures, inspiring battle etc.  

Have considered quite a few new periods and rules myself but am holding out for Falklands and LoA ranges. Have also made a pledge not to buy from either range until the ranges are complete (or complete enough to field a coherent force without resorting to filling gaps with make do figures)

i haven't found a good set of FPW rules yet...

Me neither - and I have loads of FPW all painted up awaiting the day when 'the' ruleset comes along. At the mo its the occasional Principles of War game but keep meaning to try BP. Im in the process of finishing off the last few units to give me a couple of Corps a side in POW terms but we are talking 6mm

After that I'm hoping to take on an Ayyubid Egyptian force which is all based and ready to go but the thought of tackling a few hundred mounted figures is (quite frankly) about as appealing as lockwiring my knackers to a garden gate and allowing the children to swing backwards and forwards on it.... (the gate that is!)

[Peritas]

Hey everybody

My motivation is a good Competition because you have a Deadline so you have to paint yes or yes.


Cheers

[mollinary]

Luddite,

What do you want from a FPW set of rules that the current crop doesn't provide?  Is it size of action that can be played, or command and control, or "period feel" or something completely different?  I realise that rules are a very personal thing,  and I am currently - very, very slowly, working on something which might bridge the gap between corps level games and skirmish games. Lots of figures, not quite one to one, but one to five, or one to ten.  Something which begins to close the gap between ground and figure scale, which produces the look I am trying to achieve, and which, just perhaps, starts to face the player with the tactical choices commanders faced.  At the grand level, I am a fan of To the Last Gaiter Button,  which "feels" right to me -but not to everybody.  It seems to me that for a relatively minority interest we already have a load of rules out there (V&B, Black Powder, TTLGB, 1870, Zouave,  Field of Battle,  Principles of War, and the FPW rules on this forum) and we are soon to have Age of Valor (sic).  I am sure I have missed others.  This period really inspires me,so I am truly interested as to what other enthusiasts think is  missing from the existing sets.

Cheers,

Mollinary

[Chad]

Mollinary

I do not think anything is necessarily missing from any of the sets you mention, anymore than with other sets for other periods.

We are all in the hands of the rule writers and their view of how periods should be played. This is why we are continually bombarded by new sets, all of which have something different (or so they claim).

I have tried many of the rules you mention (and others) simply to find the one that I like the most. They all lack something, somewhere, but they are all playable.

I am sure like many gamers, I try to tweak elements to adjust the feel to my ideas. The 'Holy Grail' of rules will never appear. In some ways this is why I enjoy Black Powder. It is a toolbox which can be modifed by individual wargamers to meet their individual needs.

The one thing I think is missing from all discussions on rules is who the rules are best suited to. For example, if you are a member of a club that meets once a week, does not have permanent facilities and must complete a game in a day/evening, then they need rules with different game mechanics than those where games can be left in situ from week to week. Those different mechanics must, I think, produce significant variations in the feel for the period being played. Horses for courses.

Chad

PS. 'Die Fighting' is also a very inetersting set of rules, which I am trying now.

[Luddite]

V&B = not a fan of the scale although the rules are fair enough.

Black Powder = bland, flavourless, generic and completely miss the period friction

TTLGB = ??  (If this is from the Too Fat Lardies stable i'm unlikely to be a fan...)

1870 = excellent source material but rules are fiddly

Zouave = ?

Field of Battle = ?

Principles of War = Very good set of rules but i don't like the '1 base size' mechanic

The FPW rules on this forum = Um...as Leon will no doubt attest, i think they need some work to be playable...(i sent through a critiqued copy and a 'proposed rewrite').

What do you want from a FPW set of rules that the current crop doesn't provide?

OK, so...

1.  Friction - rules that effectively model the key Prussian mobility vs. French foritifcations and 'Chassepot vs. Krupp artillery' duelling.

2.  Command and control - rules that accurately reflect the differences between the Prussian and French command structures and capacity for tactical initiative

3.  Playability (as ever)

4.  'Feel'

I've been looking at a conversion over from Fire & Fury which is the ruleset most close in time and potential battle friction; trying to tweak the factors to achieve the Prussian vs. French model...but so far i've not explored that too much as i'm into 'chicken and egg' mode.  Can't get the figures together until i know the rules i'm using (determines orders of battle) and can't find impetus to sort out rules as i don't have the figures ready!   

[lentulus]

For what it is worth, this is where I got to with my thinking on the problem.

http://mlt6x4rules.blogspot.com/

I may get back to it, too many other things going on right now.

[Chad]

Luddite

The simple way to sort the rules out, is to use any figures from periods you already have. Providing you are not overly sensitive to the basing of those figures, you can use them to test the various rule options available.  I have been doing this for a while now.

Chad

[lentulus]

For example, if you are a member of a club that meets once a week, does not have permanent facilities and must complete a game in a day/evening, then they need rules with different game mechanics than those where games can be left in situ from week to week.

I have seen few games, of any type of in any venue, that suffered from being completable in a short period of time; or that could be set up and put away quickly.

[mollinary]

Guys,

Thanks for the rapid responses. Luddite, To the Last Gaiter Button is not a toofatlardies product, although I like their approach and ideas, but it is from the Real Time Wargames stable, sold through Realistic Modelling.  They have certain idiosyncrasies, such as the square system pioneered by Peter Pig in 'Square bashing' , but their simplicity creates complex problems for the general.  I find them very clever (what ever that says about me!) and really tricky to play well. Concentrating force at the right place at the right time is taxing, and mistakes take ages to rectify. Perversely this is something I really like, you can argue that the way this happens is not realistic, but the result is.  And it plays quickly, is easy to learn, cheap (relatively), and can accommodate big games.  And it does reflect the Chassepot/Krupp dynamic.  Field of Battle is a Piquet product, not really my thing after a formative experience in an ACW game when I never got to move while my entire army was ripped to pieces (I still bear the scars).  Zouave and Die fighting are both by the originator of Piquet,  but have I think, more mileage in them - but I am still in the assesssment phase.  Age of Valor will be Ed Gray's version of Fire and Fury  for the "hyphenated" wars, but there is already  a version of F&F on the net from Wye Valley Wargamers, which I think originated with Nick Dorrell.  Might be worth a look.

Mollinary

[robert]

My wife has noticed the growing mountain of toys waiting to be painted and has come up with the ultimate in motivation - you can buy some more WHEN you have finished that lot!  They are in a corner in the den and she is quite capable of inspecting them!

So I want to do lots of things with Pendraken figures in various periods BUT the 28mm plastics I bought in abundance have to be built and painted first - oh well!

Field of Battle is from the Piquet stable but gives a 'fairer' outcome in that both sides will always get to move - sooner or later.  I love Piquet rules though as they provide genuine fog of battle and are perfect for the solo gamer.

Per a previous post the 'cards' or sequence decks can be loaded to make things more difficult for the French Command and accurately portray that part of the historical gaming.

I have never been in a battle but all that I have read makes me think it was total chaos - just like Piquet or command blunders in BKC2

[nikharwood]

My wife has noticed the growing mountain of toys waiting to be painted and has come up with the ultimate in motivation - you can buy some more WHEN you have finished that lot!  They are in a corner in the den and she is quite capable of inspecting them!

Like it...I couldn't help but laugh out loud last night when my wife suggested that I must have "at least 4 or 5 armies"...

Bless...

I've painted "4 or 5 armies" in the last two months...never mind the 16 years we've been married 

[Chad]

Blimey Nik how do you manage that quantity in that time??



Chad

[Chad]

Mollinary

You must have had a bad experience with FOB. What you mentioned was very much the issue with the original Piquet. FOB, while still card driven, has been adjusted so that each player has the same number of initiative points each turn, with initiative rolls determing the number of points (cards) and who goes first. I've played 3 games so far and never had that problem, although I have experienced it with Piquet.

Chad