This is my hit parade, 50 years of wisdom distilled =O
1. Research.
Used to be difficult, requiring access to an extensive library (British Library scale). Nowadays with the iternet, much easier. I can and do spend hours chasing things down.
2. Planning.
What figures, paint, bases. Again much easier with internet.
3. Organizing.
Once the blighters have been selected, how do they go together to form units? This is relatively straight-forward if vendors have illustrations of their ranges. I'm a 1/72 plastics fan, so a site like Plastic Soldier Review (PSR) is golden. Cut/paste and it's possible to more or less see how a unit will look.
4. First Paint Run.
When all the colours have been applied to the appropriate places and you get an idea what a finished figure will look like. The final point of direct involvement of real interest
5. Paint Finishing.
Fixing all the overpaints and runs, tedious. Especially as once photographed they still look as though they haven't been touched!
6. Basing.
What a bore this is. Nowadys everyone expetcs every base to be a mini diorama. In the good old days the base got painted green and that was it; perfect.
7. Gaming.
Lifetime soloist. My attention span is fleeting at best. Hate rules and using them, all that fuss and bother. The best days were hordes of Airfix hoover-fodder being mown down on a carpet battlefield by match-firing artillery. Oh the joy! Yet I'm still interested in wargaming goings on, collecting 'armies', watching games at conventions, reading (short) AARs and generally looking at what people are doing.
8. Model Preparation.
Flash removal, filling, sanding, etc., etc. What a waste of life's most precious resource - time.
This is a light-hearted contribution, please keep it that way 8)
1- The history and research of a period, army etc.
2- Planning. Can be fun but often I've moved on to another project by the time the figures have arrived :-[!
3- The game. Mostly solo these days, so hard to get motivated to get the toys out onto the table given the pressures of real life.
4- The painting, but only when the Muse is upon me, which is sadly quite rare these days, again due to the pressures of real life.
Gazing upon the slain body of my enemy, beholding the humiliation of his tribe, and hearing the lamentation of his women.
Quote from: Steve J on 08 February 2019, 01:07:00 PM
1- The history and research of a period, army etc.
2- Planning. Can be fun but often I've moved on to another project by the time the figures have arrived :-[!
3- The game. Mostly solo these days, so hard to get motivated to get the toys out onto the table given the pressures of real life.
4- The painting, but only when the Muse is upon me, which is sadly quite rare these days, again due to the pressures of real life.
Same things, same order, for me, apart from the solo gaming, most of mine is still with other people.
1. Fellow gamers and banter round the table
2. Gaming. Solo if necessary but preferably multiplayer
3. Planning the next big thing
4. Research
5. Buying stuff, half of which will never get painted ... doh!
6. Cleaning, converting, painting, basing, varnishing - mind numbingly dull but essential
1. Research and planning an army. :)
2. Trying out different rule sets.
3. Shopping - great therapy, but horns having to be pulled in quite severely these days
4. Basing - I have tried many methods over the years and have now hit upon one which is perfect for me - having had a great deal of help from El Mercenario and Fat Wally
5. Applying the final wash
6. Painting the base colours and highlighting them
7. And now the WORST and least enjoyable aspect of the hobby - painting straps, belts and reins. Tedious and usually the major contributory factor to my figures not looking as good as they could. :'(
Playing - especially The Recrimination Phase and saying to your opponent no later than half way through the game "I'll tell you where you went wrong"
Fraid you would not leave the table without an axe between your eyes. Sure fire way to ruin a game. Enjoy your win, but smug comments lead to death - at least of playing live opponents.
The joy of multiplayer games is the knowledge that your side's victory was entirely due to your brilliance or that your loss was entirely down to the ineptitude of your fellow generals :D
Funny how playing the actual game didn't even make my list. Probably because it can swing between the most fun you've had in a while to the most incredibly crap three or four hours in a long time. This has nothing to do with the result but usually to do with either who you are playing or the set of rules being used.
Finally finishing a unit (hate all the painting and basing beforehand).
Rules that move along swiftly and don't give me a headache.
Wot the moggy said...
1) Research
2) Planning
3) Varnishing ('cos I've finished painting)
4) Gloating over my hoard
5) Gaming
6) Painting
7) Putting together tiny artillery pieces
8) Painting horses
1) Gaming. I am blessed with having found circles of great like-minded gaming buddies who always guarantee good times.
2) Research. I love the voyage of discovery to learn about a historical battle, and then the challenge of translating that into a tabletop game that is both historically accurate (usual caveats and parameters apply) and entertaining to play.
As for all the craft elements of the hobby, I virtually never do any painting or modelling any more. This for both positive and negative reasons: the negative being that I just don't have the time, the positive being that between me and my mates we have plenty of armies and terrain already.
Chris
Bloody Big BATTLES!
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/
1 Taking the p*ss of FSN or Techno
2 Figures on the top totty page........ Oh sorry you mean actual wargames figures.
Ok start again
1 Gaming
2 Planning what I need to buy
3 Buying stuff
4 Painting
5 basing, Cos this means it is finished
6 The satisfaction of putting stuff on the table for the first time
7 Taking the p*ss of FSN or Techno
Quote from: FierceKitty on 08 February 2019, 01:54:57 PM
Gazing upon the slain body of my enemy, beholding the humiliation of his tribe, and hearing the lamentation of his women.
Going by your AARs isn't it usually your partner who gazes upon
your slain body...
Quote from: Orcs on 08 February 2019, 06:23:28 PM
1 Taking the p*ss of FSN or Techno
Isn't that more of a vocation than a hobby though?
It's hard to say which I enjoy most and that is one of the things I truly love about this hobby :)
Research
The Internet has made this so much easier and allows us to go as far down the rabbit hole as we wish
With my Free French Flying Column, March 1943, I went from one mentions of French Foreign Legion (wrong, it was the 1 BIMP), armoured cars and tanks to identifying each crew member of the tank squadron (Crusaders and Shermans) and a potted biography of each officer. Plus discovered my favorite Frenchman, Sgt Fred Moore, born in Paris after his father resigned from the Royal Navy
Modeling
I really enjoy the almost meditative nature of painting and the creative side of painting and basing
The planning of the force and your orders is another delight
The preparation can be a little tedious but the quality of Pendraken castings reduces this
Playing
I'm fortunate to have found a group of like minded players and we have mostly settled on the rules we use for the periods we play
For King and Parliament has allowed the recent addition of ECW
We also interact with both the local clubs which adds welcome variety
The discussion and banter that surrounds the game is almost as enjoyable as the challenge of a well designed scenario or trying to rescue a plan from contact with the enemy
The insights into history and the understanding gained both in playing and in research is also fascinating
1. Research.
Yep.
2. Planning.
What figures, paint, bases? I feel more a hostage to this than it being a 'enjoy most' item!
4. First Paint Run.
Yes, like to get the block painting complete
5. Paint Finishing.
No, this is the point that i ruin the figure and 3 times as much work goes into the rescue ...... my problem is dipping / inking.
6. Basing.
I like this bit, it means the (expletive) painting is finished.
7. Gaming.
The whole point of the exercise surely! And yet I find too many of the steps to get to the gaming point actually get in the way of playing!
8. Model Preparation.
This is why I need to be a millionaire ...... so someone else can do it!
9. I do like the internetty thing, blogging and all that ...... but sometimes I feel it contributes to getting in the way of just plain old gaming.
Well the politically correct answer would, of course, be 'all of them" because they are all (even basing!) essential to my hobby! But actually I would come down in favour of research, because it contains as a subset battlefield walking. I love walking battlefields, and I have never been to one without being astounded as to how different it looks in real life, as opposed to the clinical clarity of a map. In particular you come to realise that contour maps are not produced with combat in mind, as the difference between contours is always too large to show militarily significant differences in height between positions! It is amazing how often seeing the field instantly answers those nagging questions as to how and why a particular battlefield incident occurred. But no battlefield walk is complete unless it has been well prepared in advance. The culmination of all this is the fun of meeting with like minded friends for a day of gaming. All in all, a brilliant hobby!
Fascinating. Like-minded isn't in it, apart from the true gamers not like me. Hobby seems to tick all the same boxes for folks.
m/
Quote from: Orcs on 08 February 2019, 06:23:28 PM
1 Taking the p*ss of FSN or Techno
2 Figures on the top totty page........ Oh sorry you mean actual wargames figures.
Ok start again
1 Gaming
2 Planning what I need to buy
3 Buying stuff
4 Painting
5 basing, Cos this means it is finished
6 The satisfaction of putting stuff on the table for the first time
7 Taking the p*ss of FSN or Techno
I was number 1 for a while! :D
1) Research - love of history got me into this and learning about new periods or getting deeper into old favourites is a big factor driving it.
2) Planning - partly because I can do this anytime I've internet access and partly because it's a natural follow on from research. I enjoy planning out units and scenarios long before I've the materials to do anything with them.
3) Painting - putting those plans into action and getting something looking good (or at least not terrible) can be relaxing and satisfying. Except for cavalry. Bloody horses with all their straps and tacks and awkward angles...
4) Gaming - mostly solo and rarely have time for it but do enjoy putting the finished products on the table and letting slip the dogs of war when I can!
5) Basing - to be honest, it's growing on me now I have more materials to use and can make something a little more interesting.
6) Prepping models - trimming, clipping, gluing, priming and other such necessary evils... One of the things that put me off 28mm pretty quickly was all that faff with sprues and glues. Not so bad at 10mm except for artillery.
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10) Buying things - looking at all the lovely models for potential projects I really can't afford at the moment! :'(
I guess terrain building should be in there somewhere but not sure where as I've not had the time, space or motivation to do any yet. Plan to do some hedges, tree stands and a bit of scatter in the near future though.
Quote from: paulr on 08 February 2019, 07:42:26 PM
Going by your AARs isn't it usually your partner who gazes upon your slain body...
It's like champagne when it's
my turn, then. ;D
Quote from: mmcv on 08 February 2019, 11:23:19 PM
6) Prepping models - trimming, clipping, gluing, priming and other such necessary evils... One of the things that put me off 28mm pretty quickly was all that faff with sprues and glues. Not so bad at 10mm except for artillery.
I recently used a touch baking powder with super glue following advice on this forum, sets almost instantly and forms a much stronger firmer bond :)
Quote from: mollinary on 08 February 2019, 08:06:56 PM
.... In particular you come to realise that contour maps are not produced with combat in mind, as the difference between contours is always too large to show militarily significant differences in height between positions! It is amazing how often seeing the field instantly answers those nagging questions as to how and why a particular battlefield incident occurred.....
Agreed. I found that with Antietam/Sharpsburg and the boulder strewn ground sloping up to Little Round Top at Gettysburg - so different from what I had previously imagined.
Quote from: paulr on 09 February 2019, 03:37:54 AM
I recently used a touch baking powder with super glue following advice on this forum, sets almost instantly and forms a much stronger firmer bond :)
Yeah I've used that trick myself recently, it does help, but I've not the most delicate of hands so can still be quite fiddly!
Quote from: paulr on 09 February 2019, 03:37:54 AM
I recently used a touch baking powder with super glue following advice on this forum, sets almost instantly and forms a much stronger firmer bond :)
Haven't tried that, currently use a spot of Blu-Tac with superglue, it sets like concrete. Must investigate.
As long as you're not making something that will end up in a vulcanising press....Like what I do. :P
You can get away with murder.
You can also try Black-tak......FAR stronger than Blu - Tak
Cheers - Phil
Re. Mollinary's comment above: I too enjoy battlefield walking and was surprised to find how much the supposedly flattish battlefield of Mars la Tour actually undulates. I had wondered how the Prussian cavalry could have taken French 6th Corps' gun line by surprise. When standing on that spot it is noticeable that in only a short distance ahead the ground drops away by no more than thirty feet, but ample to conceal a man on horseback.
What I have discovered that I do enjoy is painting something to the first time.
Spent today trying various things with the Triremes.
Did it float your boat?
Research is the main thing. The uniforms, organisations and tactics.
Finding rules that are enjoyable.
The banter amongst players.
Organising the figures into units.
Painting and modelling are lower down the list.
Once it was history, uniform research, figures.
Now I'd say it is rules, army planning, games.
Quote from: fsn on 09 February 2019, 05:58:30 PM
What I have discovered that I do enjoy is painting something to the first time.
Spent today trying various things with the Triremes.
I can appreciate that, four battalions about my limit though.
Quote from: steve_holmes_11 on 09 February 2019, 09:04:45 PM
Once it was history, uniform research, figures.
Now I'd say it is rules, army planning, games.
Seems like a natural progression that, the one I failed at!
Quote from: Leman on 09 February 2019, 01:17:48 PM
Re. Mollinary's comment above: I too enjoy battlefield walking and was surprised to find how much the supposedly flattish battlefield of Mars la Tour actually undulates. I had wondered how the Prussian cavalry could have taken French 6th Corps' gun line by surprise. When standing on that spot it is noticeable that in only a short distance ahead the ground drops away by no more than thirty feet, but ample to conceal a man on horseback.
Yes, I have walked the same ground. From the French artillery position you can clearly see, and target, the Prussian positions around Vionville below. What you cannot see, particularly in a smoke filled battlefield, is the gully which debouches about eighty yards to your right and less than a hundred yards to your front. You have no time to react.
Quote from: mollinary on 09 February 2019, 10:28:17 PM
Yes, I have walked the same ground. From the French artillery position you can clearly see, and target, the Prussian positions around Vionville below. What you cannot see, particularly in a smoke filled battlefield, is the gully which debouches about eighty yards to your right and less than a hundred yards to your front. You have no time to react.
Surely the biggest factor at Mars-la-Tour was the fog limiting visibility to 100 yards?
Or perhaps that was just because when I visited the battlefield it was October. ;)
Nowt uts an addiction I'm trying to get cured of ;) ;D
Hey, man..... :D :P
Are you trying to score 'Some white metal ?'
I can probably fix you up. (Oooer, Matron)
Run......Quick.....It's the Feds. ;)
Did we ever decide whether I'm the 'pusher'......Or is that down to Sir. ?......No, Leon must be the pusher....And 'me and my colleagues' are the suppliers.
Cheers - A Total Wally X_X
Playing the games, then researching history, setting up scenarios, YouTubing and blogging, painting figs, making terrain
In that order
Rediscovering a passion. Last Year it was 10mm FPW and They Died for Glory. This year it is 15mm Italian Wars and Impetus (actually big battle Basic Impetus 2 - so much more straightforward than Impetus).
I like mixing green stuff...'Cos I can play patience on the PC, or go and make a cup of coffee while I'm doing that. :D
Cheers - Phil