addressing the elephant

You know, when i got back into the toy solder pushing manchilding action a few years ago i did so without some things i took for granted in my youth. For example i am married to the wonderful Mrs Sprinks, (center of my world and crochet expert to the stars!). I also have 3 wonderful (and mental) kids to be all responsible for. All this requires a degree of wage slavery during the week to ensure they have a shack to wreck and food to complain about!. Now this, i am told is adult life, and in my book its rather the bind (not the wife and kids bit obvs!). I find that my younger self would be astounded at the time he had to waste on BUGGER ALL compared to this tired and burned out shell that is sitting writing these bitter words!. So coming back into 'the hobby' i had to work out exactly what i had time to do and what i enjoyed most, i elected to be utterly selfish and please myself entirely and to do it 'my way'!. What i finally decided on can be found in the 'nonafesto' ( or 'wrongafesto if you will........god im a twat at times!) which can be found here. Some of the things that went were collecting armies only playable in one rule set (army books my arse!), being dictated to by any company as to what was cannon or 'legal' (see last brackets!) and spending silly money on hobby related bobbins (i still wont pay more than 50p per 28mm mini for example, i will kit bash anything i cant afford! ).
Now if you have read any of my previous posts you will know there is also something else that i decided to forgo in my relapse into plastic army madness......painting!. This has oft been remarked upon in many a comment on blogs and forums and is something that in the war games world is seen as a bit odd by most it seems. Now i would like to say at this point that i love painted figs that are done to a good standard, it can be amazing to see what some painters can achieve on a tiny lump of plastic/metal. I have a full appreciation for the art form (for that is what it is) and wish to in no way seem like i am anti-painting. The fact is, i just dont enjoy it, never have done.

When i first got into the hobby way back at the end of the 80s me and my mates were turning on to warhammer in a big way, white dwarf was mana from heaven and games workshop could do no wrong. I collected as much of an army an pocket money would allow ( Dark elves if your wonderin) and we all got stuck into painting are forces up ready for battle. Even at that age i loved pouring over the rule books and warhammer armies, loved writing army lists and trying to come up with fun ways the forces could meet on the table top. I enjoyed planning my next shopping spree to ogle the blisters and complete units. The idea of putting minis on the table and creating epic stories (for epic read stupid!). ....and i still love all those things. However painting just never got me. I dont know why, i just found it tedious (dont lynch me!), it never felt in any way relaxing or exciting to sit and paint. I soon realized that i was only doing so because i thought is was 'what you did', part of the 'done things' of gaming. I tried to enjoy it but always found i would rush it just to get it done. Soon enough like most teens the lure of peers, girls and 'cooler' past times dragged me away. Fast forward almost 20 years and im back at the table top only this time with more cash and a lot less time. I can finally put together the vast forces that fueled my teenage imagination and have the wisdom to house rule and bodge to fit my own template of what i want. I also remember the feeling of what was to me the 'chore' of having to paint all the minis just to be 'allowed' to put them into battle. So i simply added painting to the list of stuff im not going to worry about!.  I guess what im trying to say is i dont paint my minis for no other reason than the fact that i havent got time to spend doing something i dont enjoy, thats massively counter productive in my eyes!. And secondly, gaming is full of the right way to do stuff but also the pressure to do it the right way!, this to me is a bit silly, its a hobby after all not a day at the office!, do what you want with your toys however you wish to do it so long as it is the best way for you personally to spend your hobby time!. Have fun with your solders and game/paint/collect/build/write/lurk/window shop/and/or other  to your hearts content but remember, there is no wrong way to do it!.

good natured rant over.........anyway, till next time!