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I started because my brothers wanted another person to play against. i continued because GREEN IS BEST!!

ahem. i continued because its fun, and unlike my job, allows my creative juices to flow.

Building stuff and being creative and an escape from other parts of my life/hobbies etc.

Me,I have an addictive personality,and its sort of a sense of pride making that little speehs muherren curbstomp a grot,also,i like building things,so 40k is my official white horse of a interest !!

I've always liked the commander/general feel you get from 40k.

I loved RISK, especially setting up all the little men in formations. RTS's are my fave video game genre (I especially like the Total War series).

The idea of being the guy behind the frontline giving all the orders is more appealling to me than being the super soldier in the thick of things

And all the fluff and huge diversity in factions. But more importantly how malleable the fluff is and how open the hobby is to custom armies with personalized backgrounds.

haha im 15 and every cent i get i put into this game (thank god i work at a gaming shop) and if i could go back and rethink this hobby, i would do it all over again. Its a great game that stretches my imagination and stretches my mind! Its just an amazing game

Synister_Intent wrote:I worked last night and didn't have too much business due to it being Christmas morning and all, but the quiet time at work gave me time to think and one thing that I thought about is why do I do this hobby? Why do I spend so much money on these little plastic guys and then paint them? I haven't figured out my reasons behind it but I would like to hear why you guys do it. So please post up the reasons why you spend the money, spend the time painting and then playing.

I do it because I enjoy painting and bringing the battles on the tabletop to life once their done. Seeing two well made armies on a decent quality gaming board really entertains me. With both forces having a narrative and story only adding to it.

Because I luvs tabling newbs and have loads of space in mums basement for my half painted collection of intanet lists!!!1!

[seriously though, it is because of all of the chicks]

Synister_Intent wrote:Yeah I understand all what you guys are saying, but I am also sitting here thinking that I am 27 years old and maybe I am just too old to be playing with toys.

I'm just about to turn 30 and I've just got back into the hobby. For me, it combines different aspects: collecting miniatures, painting miniatures, gaming, mathematics (probability), tactics and strategy, creating scenery, rich storylines. It feeds my imagination, helps develop my creative side (not my strong point) and gives me problems to solve (my strong point).

The way you describe yourself sounds similar to me, I'm usually very indecisive - with this hobby it doesn't matter, and one of the reasons I think it will hold my interest longer than most hobbies (I have a very short attention span), simply because there is so much to do: bored of painting miniatures? Build some scenery; finished making your gameboard? Read a novel (or write your own fluff); bored of your army? Collect another! Most people in this hobby collect either multiple armies or multiple games/systems (and quite often both).

As for being too old: boys don't grow up. Ever. The nature of the toys change, that is all (usually meaning more expensive).

Dude, you think you're too old for this?
John Blanche is well over 50 and he MADE A LIVING on warhammer.
Unless you've been following GW since before day 1 you're not too old. I would go so far as to say you're NEVER too old for it if mr.blanche still going strong

Never too old to play, H.G. Wells created wargames as well!

Ulver wrote:As for being too old: boys don't grow up. Ever.

H.G. Wells:

""LITTLE WARS" is the game of kings--for players in an inferior social position. It can be played by boys of
every age from twelve to one hundred and fifty--and even later if the limbs remain sufficiently supple--by
girls of the better sort, and by a few rare and gifted women."

"The soldiers did not stand well on an ordinary carpet, the Encyclopedia made clumsy cliff-like
"cover", and more particularly the room in which the game had its beginnings was subject to the invasion of
callers, alien souls, trampling skirt-swishers, chatterers, creatures unfavourably impressed by the spectacle of
two middle-aged men playing with "toy soldiers" on the floor, and very heated and excited about it. Overhead
was the day nursery, with a wide extent of smooth cork carpet (the natural terrain of toy soldiers), a large box
of bricks--such as I have described in Floor Games--and certain large inch-thick boards.
It was an easy task for the head of the household to evict his offspring, annex these advantages, and set about
planning a more realistic country. (I forget what became of the children.)"

Simply, I enjoy it. I like the backstory, even with all the gaping plot holes and errors, and I enjoy actually seeing mates and doing something constructive(ish - well, more constructive than drinking lol). Plus, painting really helps to calm me down and relax me, perhaps more so than anything else, so all in all it's a very enjoyable hobby. I get a lot for the money I pay

Im 34. Started when I was 18 and soon gave up due to the cost. I started again early 2010 and still going, although very slowly.

Most people I find are more intellectual without the creative personality and can't understand or accept such a lifestyle.

Its a little depressing to have someone say "you play with toys? But you're *insert age*". Its best to have your own come back like "thats weird, all my friends play. You don't"?

My brother let his girlfriend know he's a major PC gamer. She lets him have his time playing his games. He wouldn't have it any other way.

I am in it for the poonani.

If you catch my drift.

Exactly. Gotta pity those poor jerks who take up the guitar.

Simple it a great game, and a way for adults and kids to get out and meet people in person.

Synister_Intent wrote:Yeah I understand all what you guys are saying, but I am also sitting here thinking that I am 27 years old and maybe I am just too old to be playing with toys.

I'm 42. Your point is?

It's a hobby. No different to collecting sports trivia.
I enjoy putting models together and painting them. Moving them around on a table with like minded adults making "pew pew" noises (and the occasional "Brumm") is a social outing.
It's healthier than getting tanked every other night or feeding slot machines.

40k is an outlet for me. It is a stress-reliever when I paint and build the models. It gives me a bit more of a social life when I go out every wednesday night and game with the guys.

I love science fiction and 40k's background sucked me in the second I read it. The story of 40k is deep, vast, ever-growing, and incredible.

I love the game aspect. Commanding a small army, imagining the battles being real in your mind, winning and losing, having fun with it.

It lets out my creative thoughts. I create stories for some of my models, my armies, stories in general, etc.

40k is my creative and social outlet.

I'm 17 years old right now, and I have a feeling that I'll play 40k until either the day I die or the day Games Workshop dies.

BrookM wrote:I enjoy building things, kitbashing them and making pew-pew sounds when nobody is looking. Though it mostly also has to do with the insane background, I really like it. It's good, harmless fun really, plus it encourages creativity and whatnot.

Kilkrazy wrote:Coz it's fun.

These sum it up nicely as far as I'm concerned!

I now live in the middle of no where. Besides heavy drinking, painting is the only thing i have to do. I dont get to game nearly as much as i want to as the nearest game store is 2 hours away and no one in my town plays but its something i still enjoy.

Mannahnin wrote:Exactly. Gotta pity those poor jerks who take up the guitar.

Sports, music and cars are for suckers. Real men know the hawt girls love to hear about dice rolling and one inch tall dolls in the grim, far future. They go CRAZY.

Heck, everyone needs a hobby.

HI all.
The table top war gaming hobby is all about inspiring creativity and social interaction in a wide group of like minded people.

Whats not to like?

And this hobby is ONLY expencive if you limit yourself to buying from one company that charges premium prices...

There are lots of FREE rule sets to download.(And excelent paint and hobby suplies available from a wide range of companies at competative prices.)

For £15 Perry Minatues give me 40 high quality multipart plastic War of the Roses infantry.
If I build and paint 10 a week end thats a MONTHS worth of painting for £15!
Not to mention the years of gaming enjoyment I will get from them.

So as long as it doesnt take over your life -empty your wallet a disproportionate amount.
Why not?

TTFN

It's about creativity, the chance to unwind from the day job and paint.

I paint watercolours, acrylics, pastels and also wargame miniatures painting so most of my hobby time involves a brush in one shape or t'other.

I also run a wargames club and enjoy the interaction with people and the kids having fun.

Interesting thread. The other day, me and my wife went to another couples house, just as a social get together.

We had the usual drinks and a chat, the guy is a video games designer by trade and is in his late 30s, his girlfriend is a teacher, in her mid 30s, a very fun couple.

Half way through we inevitably run out of things to talk about, and this is a very "adult" evening. So the guy suggests we all play Settlers of Catarn(spelling?)

It was a fun evening, and everyone enjoyed it......

The point of my story, is that adults play games, and do childish things, I think where most people get hung up with things like WoW, or WH40K, miniatures etc, is the level of fanatacism that we apply to it. As adults we are expected to be able to pick somethig up, enjoy it, and then walk away, but we don't, we spend hours outside of the actual event of playing the game, discussing it, playing with ideas, and treating the fluff like it was a real historical event.

I can see why this isn't cool, especially when you consider that real events are taking place around us that have a bigger impct on our lives from an economic and social perspective.

Yes, I can see that many would say, "but hey, this is escapism". Nobody can take away your right to every once in a while escape to somewhere "nice"....however, most hobbyist spend more time than is practicle escaping, and some could see that as an adult also looking to escape their responsibilities in the real world....just as a child migt do, when not happy with their present circumstance.

I guess in the end, how you judge your time and actions is ultimately down to you. It's not correct, IMHO, to simply say, its my life if you don't like what I do then poo to you....thats childish, we all share this reality and have a duty to one another. If we seek acceptance from our peers we have to try to understand where their hang-ups are, and step back and question, "do they have a point?"