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Mine plays along with me now.

When we first met it was a pretty neutral thing, beyond a bit of friendly jabbing and calling me a dork from time to time. A bit before we moved in together I traded my Eldar for a Tyranid army. When I started painting them, she saw the Carnifex's and said they were kinda cool and she wanted to paint one of them. She painted up the first carnifex and said she wanted to paint all of my big stuff (Two more carnifex's) and would help a bit with the small things (gaunts.)

After I finished painting up the first few squads of gaunts she wanted to paint some up in a different color. No problem, my want of a horde army got me carried away in the trade and I wound up with more gaunts than I could really make use of. She painted them up all black and pink, and I prodded her into repainting one of the carnifex's and a few other things that way to make a 500 point army. She wanted to paint them up but insisted that was it, she wasn't going to learn to play or paint another model after that.

As soon as that was finished, she repainted one of the other carnifex's because she was tired of painting little things, and wanted another big one. She looked through the codex at all of the pictures and really liked the Biovore model, so I wound up convincing her to let me buy her one (The cost of the game was a big part of her relative dislike of it at the time) to paint and add to the army to round it out at 750.

Not long after she finished painting, and painstakingly named every single model in her little swarm (All with matching names in each unit, and wrote them on each of their bases!) we were bored one night and she let me teach her how to play. But she was not going to add anything else to her army.

Now, she's completely taken over and expanded the Tyranid army, has an Ork army as well, and just got done helping me clear the garage out to turn it into a game room as our FLGS is closing. So that we can continue to all play weekly.

In Short: I really lucked out.

Heh heh. Mrs. Gearhead is generally tolerant, and I try not to abuse her good graces (the fact that I don't actually play anything helps enormously.) Occasionally I'll hyperfocus on something (usually packaging stuff up for the Swap Shop,) and not realize that I've let a couple of hours pass without getting up to go see how she's doing, and find her more than a little annoyed at being left alone for so long (before anyone says anything, yes I've tried the "you know, you could have come and gotten me" line of reasoning, but apparently the age-old "But I shouldn't have to" retort trumps all argument...at least when a woman uses it.)

Early on she was in the habit of picking a random mini off the bench, peering closely at it for a bit, then putting it back with a grimace and saying "these are so ugly!" She's happier with my selections these days, and sometimes enjoys watching me paint. I tried getting her into it, but she gave up after a couple of tries. It's too bad, because she's got artistic talent and I think she could develop a knack for it, but she says she hasn't got the patience.

@Sinphonite: I'd like to see those 'nids!

My GF tolerates the hobby.

I started it after we were already going out and she already knew I was a geek so there wasn't really any fall out. Plus she is a geek in her own way, she has just started knitting.

She doesn't like going in to the store, to the point that we walked 20 mins out of our way to buy the fantasy rule book from hobbycraft rather than GW (which i was a little shocked at as she doesn't like walking in the cold). Its something to do with the sales tactics they use, she doesn't like the fact they approach her, she would prefer to browse.

She also doesn't like it when I line them all up on the dinning table, doesn't like all those small guns pointed at her

She has bought me stuff but she would rather buy me things not related to the hobby, she flat out refused to let me name my demolisher after her (she bought it for me). I'd love her to be more into the hobby as i don't actually have that many other interests but I love her more than the hobby and we were going out before I started so I can deal with the fact she isn't.

Every so often she'll try to act interested in my latest project and she always asks me how games went but she doesn't really care. It's all part of the give and take of our relationship.

In short, she likes the painting aspect of it, but overall she has negative sentiments about it. Her biggest gripe is that it is a waist of time and seemes depressing.

Fun thread... My wife accepts it. She use to complain about the cost until I demonstrated the cost of me being a "regular guy" I went and spent a Friday and a Saturday evening at the local bar and spent $400.00 on whiskey. (not to mention the cost of the cab ride and my coming home blitzed and looking for love) After that she does not mind the $50/month I spend on a box of guys and I hear rumour that I actually have some models coming for Christmas this year.

Also my 16 y/o son plays Salamanders and Brit rifles so that adds into the acceptance factor. My 9 y/o daughter likes to play as well.. She has a chaos army of hasbro littlest petshops that swarm out of a landraider and kill everything in sight. (they are so cute they killl!!!)

DakkaDakka wrote:

Thanks for the laugh, Che-Vito! Make sure pictures get posted if this thing ever gets built!!

che-vito - if I ever do orks thats happening

Mrs Ludo has a "live and let live" approach. She thinks it's a geeky hobby, and has no interest in it herself, but points out the following:

It's more sociable than computer gaming (when did computer gaming become the less geeky hobby?).
It's cheaper than a season ticket for a football team.
It's down to me what I enjoy.

She gets annoyed by women that try and convince their blokes to stop playing, or that won't buy them models as gifts if that's what they want.

And in exchange, I keep her in juggling gear and ukelele paraphenalia.

She's great, my wife...

MagickalMemories wrote:My wife is GREAT about my hobbies.

I only receive mildly contemptuous comments for my multiple "1 am" mornings during the week when I stay up late watching the Bartertown forums, packing boxes of trades (the skreech of packing tape at midnight has awakened her in a panic on more than one occasion in our marriage), painting my little men and the like.

For all this, I have but to suffer the occasional "geek" joke.

If helps that she knows that, though I spend a lot of time involved in my hobbies in one fashion or another, they really do take a back seat to real life. I'd cancel gaming in a heartbeat if necessary and I'd sell every last gaming item I own, if we needed the money for something important, without even hesitating.

Eric

THIS /\ /\

slightly edited.. but this is ALSO my experience. Late nights on the computer.. a first name relationship with my postman.. AND she also gives me painting advice (my eyes have difficulty telling certain colors apart) and positive feedback on battle reports as well.

Plus, she shares my college football enthusiasm, and thus has an emotional stake in how my Sisters of Battle perform (painted in the college colors).

My girlfriend is very tolerant of the hobby, but rather limited on the "active interest" front. She wants to paint a model, but hasn't made a move on it in the >year since I primed it for her. She played a half-assed demo game with me, but spent more time taking silly pictures using the blast templates as green filters than playing, even though she says she'd like to play again. She likes the artistic side of my painting and terrain building endeavors, but I think I've so overloaded her with my interest that she's become somewhat numb to it (even holding back and showing her only the very coolest stuff, it's still more than she cares to look at).

Reading over this, it all sounds less flattering than it did the last time this type of thread rolled around. We stand exactly where we did then, only a year or so has passed by without any action (on the wargaming front, at least ).

My wife didn't even know what the game was called; she just called it "Ork Dork," because that's what I played, Space Orks.

One time I invited her over to the game shop to watch us play, and was so overwhelmed by the BO in the room, she was up and out in about five minutes.

Otherwise, she's pretty neutral, although she does make fun of me reading dakkadakka all the time, but figures it's better than porn!

40k?

It costs your money, it costs your time, it costs your life (wife).

My wife says now, "If I had known you did this before we were married, I would have dumped you."

My response, "It was staring you right in the face when you used to walk through the front door."

I don't get the whole "nerdiness" of this hobby. It's like any other modeling hobby except you can play a game with it. Granted, like others have pointed out, there are people who make you shy away from it by the way they act or carry on. But what about those that sit in front a TV ALL day and ALL night and watch garbage that numbs the brain. That is supposed to be "cool"? Or those that live by watching Sportcenter? Where I live it's the hunting fanatics. Seriously, how much camoflauge does one need?

I enjoy collecting and painting, which never ends, more so than gaming so I don't have to worry about the nights away and such.

She can't see my mini's from the basement, unless she manages to break free from her leash that is...

My wife likes to tease me about being a geek, but she is really very supportive. She played for a little while but kind of lost interest after a time.

I don't see how this is nerdish at all. I have met people from all walks of life who play 40k.

My mother teases me about it. [I'm only fifteen.]
But, usually, the people I go out with either don't care or are interested. it's rather funny. I've never had a girlfriend openly disdain the hobby. maybe I'm just lucky?

Tolerent/Mildy supportive.

Does buy me stuff, if thats what I want. Not at all interested in playing or painting.

My 6 year old daughter is starting to show an interest. She likes to watch me paint. In another year or so I might see if she wants to play/paint.