As seems to happen to me every time it comes round to this time of year I am struggling with motivating myself to pick up a paintbrush or organise a game. I last picked up a brush on the 18th November... :o I played a couple of games of IABSM in late November/early December and haven't painted or gamed since then.
Last year I went almost six months between painting things :( and then had an intensive period where I was painting like a man possessed :D
I have a WMA game lined up for tonight against a *real* opponent which I hoping will spark some enthusiasm and of course the Pendraken painting competition is just around the corner.
What do other do to keep the momentum/inspirational juices flowing?
I tend to need some extra inspiration, currently it is IABSM3 got it a few weeks ago so WWII forces are getting reinforced at the moment. A similar boost will probably come along when the revised Gotterdammerung supplement is released. I also have to have a target of some sort such as rounding out forces for a particular scenario.
Rewarding yourself for getting stuff completed is an idea too, I often decide that I can get no more lead until xyz is finished (but never stick to it) I find that my projects have to be small, manageable and varied. It helps to have a couple of projects on the go at once so I can switch if one gets a bit of a toil.
I have no problem with the inspiration etc, my problem is finding the time to paint or play games. If I'm too tired to paint I may do something else wargames related. A deadline such as a forthcoming game tends to spur me on to finish painting a unit, scenery etc.
Mine is usually - I want to do this project, I have been there, or Help I'm playing game X and I need my own troops!
But then you've seen the size of my FPW collection, and I have to admit I'm a completeist, did the same for POW Napoleonic Prussians 1806 and Anglo-Dutch 1815! Only 3 more Corps of French and 7 of Prussians to do for 1870 then...
I usually try and read a couple of books relating to the project/period I'm doing - I recently managed to finish a 28mm CoE Roman army, which is probably the first army I've finished in about 20 years!
My problem is not usually one of motivation, it's more that I get distracted by something shinier, so for the period when I was painting my Romans I made sure I only read books on the Roman army. There was a slight distraction into 20mm moderns after watching Blackhawk Down, but I managed to get over that :)
Reading "Redcoats and Rebels" got me into 10mm AWI and am managing to build up a small library of AWI books to see my through the painting, although I did make the mistake of watching Last of the Mohicans thinking it would strengthen my resolve to paint my troops, but it's just got me wanting to buy some FIW! Must...not...give...in...
I make it a rule that I have to do a bit every day, come fire, famine, or flood. It adds up as time goes by.
Forgot to mention that like Fiercekitty, I try to paint for around an hour 4-5 days a week. It's suprising how quickly it all adds up.
Very true I've tried that rule even if it's just a case of priming a single tank get something done.
think I might have to re-intoduce that one with immediate effect.
Playing games helps me actually complete units.
There are plenty of things that make me start armies or projects. But actually getting the army on the table really pushes things along.
We recently did a big game for one of our group's 40th and that generated lots of painting activity.
I find the summer months less successful on the painting front as I desperately want to enjoy the long summer evenings. Autumn and Winter are very much my painting seasons, with at least some gaming taking place in Spring and Summer.
I seem to find that I *think* about gaming (and associated history etc) way more than I actually do anything...although I do read voraciously - and will often have 4+ books on-the-go (usually cross-period); I'll also tend to dive online first with available downtime...which can inspire me, but doesn't actually help with getting anything done.
Oh - and then, once I get 'there', I really am like a man possessed. Full-throttle, full-frontal, unadulterated assembling, priming, painting, gaming shenanigans. Redux. I might just be a bit like the ocean tides like that 8)
You may have noticed. ;) ;D
I have just recieved my pendraken package my late christmas present from my good lady wife, I really want to paint stuff up, but just cant seem to achieve it. the little one is giving us 4 hours sleep on a good night and 2 on a bad night. So my sleep deprivation is beginning to tell. I have the motivation to want to paint stuff but just am too b*ggered to get anything done...well not exactly true, i glued the club into the giants hand and took off all the flash and taken stuff out of packages and gone ooooh and ahhhh and planned colours etc, but just no actual painting as yet
(:| (:| (:|
I tend to lose motivation toward the end of a project. I usually complete a project to the minimum point where I can play a game but still have a significant number of figures left over which I could use to expand my forces. I can't seem to get those last few units painted. I usually go through a two or three month period after running a game at a convention where I have no motivation at all. I think a big part of it is that I rarely actually play a game. Instead, I usually GM games at conventions.
I find my motivation to paint when I finally decide to start a new project or some new rules set comes along and I break out the old figures and start painting again.
Quote from: Shecky on 14 January 2012, 02:40:31 AM
I tend to lose motivation toward the end of a project. I usually complete a project to the minimum point where I can play a game but still have a significant number of figures left over which I could use to expand my forces. I can't seem to get those last few units painted. I find my motivation to paint when I finally decide to start a new project or some new rules set comes along and I break out the old figures and start painting again.
I suffer from exactly the same affliction ;) Too many projects on the go at once, too little 'attention span' to see each one through, and a distinct lack of patience to paint everything I bought for a project BEFORE bunging dice at stuff once there's enough done to get a decent game out of my new toys!
By the way had a stonking game last night, got home, popped a tinny, flicked onto the Lakeside highlights and failed miserably to pick out a unit to paint whilst watching...!
I think the shiny lead syndrome affects us all. Nice to know that a lot of us seem to suffer from never being able to quite finish a project off before getting distracted by another one ;).
Lost my mojo when trying to paint Artizan Swiss - every time I picked them up at least one pike would spring off. Refound when completed them (6 weeks later), dragged out my 6mm Napoleonic project and played some more Black Powder down the club (1st Carlist War). Next 10mm project will probably be late C15th Condottiere.
QuoteI make it a rule that I have to do a bit every day, come fire, famine, or flood. It adds up as time goes by.
I also have this aproach, I have a "window" of about 20 minutes every morning after walking the dog and before getting showered and ready for work, it amazing how much those 20 minutes add up to over a few months.
Incidentally there was an Archbishop of Cantebury (possibly Runcie) who when asked how he managed to write so prolifically said he managed at least half an hour a day while he was waiting for his wife to get dressed and ready to go out ;). I haven't been that brave but the principle's the same.
Quote from: DanJ on 16 January 2012, 12:00:31 PM
Incidentally there was an Archbishop of Cantebury (possibly Runcie) who when asked how he managed to write so prolifically said he managed at least half an hour a day while he was waiting for his wife to get dressed and ready to go out ;). I haven't been that brave but the principle's the same.
Wouldn't work for me; mine's a nudist. But there are consolations.
;D ;D ;D ;D
I have a theory...
Read my blog piece here on the Phases of Wargaming
http://panther6actual.blogspot.com/2011/10/wargamine-phases.html
Things just have to mature I tell you.
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 :D
actually got them undercoated too. I would have started painting them but a certain young man has just gone to sleep :'(
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 :D packs which is about 6 weeks enjoyable slow, painting, hardly intimidating and the results slowly rack up.
Quote from: DanJ on 21 January 2012, 06:07:39 PM
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 :D 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. :(
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.
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. :D
Quote from: Nosher on 13 January 2012, 08:47:56 AM
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!
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.
Quote from: Luddite on 28 February 2012, 03:47:26 PM
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
QuoteI 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)
Quotei 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!)
Hey everybody
My motivation is a good Competition because you have a Deadline so you have to paint yes or yes.
;D
Cheers
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
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.
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').
Quote from: mollinaryWhat 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! :'(
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.
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
Quote from: Chad on 29 February 2012, 09:32:53 AMFor 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.
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
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
Quote from: robert on 29 February 2012, 09:32:22 PM
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!
;D 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 :d
Blimey Nik how do you manage that quantity in that time??
:o
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
Quote from: robert on 29 February 2012, 09:32:22 PM
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!
Presumably you explained that a wargamer's lead mountain is a fountain of youth, and that we only actually die when we've painted our last figure and the lead mountain is gone?
Buying more unpainted lead (and plastic) is vital for our long-term health...
;)
My wife tends to be very tolerant (bless 'er) of the teetering masses groaning off the shelves in our spare room...not to mention to tower of box files containing the finished articles...WHY is the box you want always at the bottom of the pile?
Luddite
So true. So true.
Chad
Have you all noticed as well that when you go looking for something, you tend to uncover a bag containing a whole unpainted army that you forgot you'd bought?
Quote from: Luddite on 01 March 2012, 10:50:15 AM
Have you all noticed as well that when you go looking for something, you tend to uncover a bag containing a whole unpainted army that you forgot you'd bought?
Yup :o
Had a weeks leave this week and decided it was hightime to do a stocktake of the wargames inventry. Found a 10mm Rolish renaissance Army which I only purchased about six months ago...
It's a nice surprise to receive though ;)
Chad,
Well spotted, my experience was actually with the original Piquet, so I am delighted if FoB has corrected this problem. I think my psychological scarring was as much caused by my excessive expectations for Piquet, as the actual massacre! Still, I am in a happier place now, secure in TTLGB heaven, at least until Age of Valor arrives.
Mollinary
Quote from: Chad on 01 March 2012, 08:54:57 AM
Blimey Nik how do you manage that quantity in that time??
:o
Chad
I blame it on rock n' roll decadence, good single malts, an appreciation of the finest totty - and complete & utter contempt and disregard for that over-rated commodity known as 'sleep' :d
Oh - and I can paint
fast too...so that helps ;)
Quote from: nikharwood on 01 March 2012, 07:54:51 PM
I blame it on rock n' roll decadence, good single malts, an appreciation of the finest totty - and complete & utter contempt and disregard for that over-rated commodity known as 'sleep' :d
Oh - and I can paint fast too...so that helps ;)
It catches up on you eventually, Nik. And watch out for the RSI - seriously. :(
Ray
RSI is now known as Work Related Upper Limb Disorder, so watch out for that Nik as it sounds even worse. Also a report I heard on Radio 4 this week said that too much sleep, 8 hours or more and too little sleep, less than 4 hours IIRC, leads to a shortened life expectancy.
So with all of the above, things are not looking too rosy Amigo ;).
Thanks for your concern compadres - but fear not...I reckon on getting around 3-4ish hours per night & have been doing this since I was about 11 - which is 30 years ago...so by some basic calculations, that's around 49,000 extra hours I've had over an average 8-hour sleeper...
49k hours = 2053 days = 5.6 years
So if I've had five extra years now, with life expectancy of about 72-80, I'll give up those ones & shuffle off this mortal coil at 67-75. And if I live longer, I don't mind.
:D
As for the RSI / WRULD I'm really not worried...considering the years of using laptops, playing guitar, video games, shooting things, driving, bowling, batting and other assorted activities, painting 10mm figures for short periods of time is a doddle <)