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Made in us
Posts with Authority





It's focused at anyone with the time and the money.

It's also a pain to do this while you have a significant other, a military career, and other obligations.

I fortunately have a friend who does most of my painting for me, as I don't have the time to paint my own any more. I do my own assembly, usually at my weekend job.

Mob Rule is not a rule. 
   
Made in ca
Rookie Pilot




Lotusland

 ServiceGames wrote:
Thank you all for your input. So, here's the deal...

First off, I put the girlfriend and her son at the top of my priority list always. That's never even a question. They go above any of my hobbies. I didn't and don't mind making that transition at all.

Secondly, I've tried to get her involved into tabletop War Gaming. Unfortunately, she does not want to try it. She says it'd drive her crazy painting such small figures. I've tried several times even mentioning dry brushing as an option. Just a no go. And that's fine. Not everyone has to like wargaming.

Thirdly, we do spend time together doing our own thing. She enjoys putting puzzles together. So, she works on puzzles, and I work on putting together Gundam Models as they require no glue or painting.

Right now, seeing that she's a single mom sharing custody of her two year old, it's very difficult for her to take care of all the chores every day. I asked several times if I could help with the chores, and she would always say now. So, now, when I'm over at her place visiting, I just kinda force my way into helping with the chores. But, until we get married, we're not going to have a good routine for keeping the house clean. So, we're often working on that as well.

As far as her son goes, I try my absolutely best to get down on his level and be engaging. Sometimes, I just don't have it in me, so if he's happy doing something safe on his own, I might sit down on the couch for a few minutes. But, he is among my top priorities (long before Gundam or Warhammer).

I've searched for some speed painting tutorials on YouTube. I have seen some that look like they might work (like painting 40 clan rats in two hours), but the paint jobs aren't great at all. Paint from robes on rats' tails, etc. Will it work for tabletop? Sure. But, it's tough for me to take pride in that considering I've won a couple of painting contests at my local GW store.

Unfortunately, bringing a project box to work and working during lunch is out of the question. I am pretty sure that's against the rules here. And, I can't guarantee I won't accidentally spill or flick paint onto the conference room tables... and even acrylics eventually stain.

If anyone has any speed painting tips, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks

SG


Sounds like you're serious with the girlfriend and kid - good on you

I've got a four year old, and to be honest there wasn't much in the way of free time to do hobby stuff when he was two. I think it's pretty much just a matter of grabbing whatever random free time you have when you need to unwind, and accept that it may not be that much. As the kid has gotten older I've gotten a bit more time, and now I'm beginning to look forward to the day I can introduce him to the hobby and play with him.

But yeah, with a serious commitment to a young family and a newish relationship you're probably not going to have as much time to dedicate to the hobby those without such commitments. That's alright, I think. You'll find the time as the relationship continues to grow and the kid gets older.

Dispatches from the Miniature Front - my blog about miniatures and things 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Denver CO

Sounds like you've got your priorities strait which is a very good thing. As for finding hobby time you'll find that at times you have plenty of it and other times when an hour or two a week is a luxury.

I used to work from home a few days a week which gave me painting time when my kiddo was in school (my job was suuuuper easy). I had a regular gaming group to keep me motivated and plenty of space to spread out and leave stuff out.

Then about 18 months ago my family moved a few states away and I found myself unemployed and able to answer the question "how many models can I complete if I paint 4-5 hours a day 5 days a week?" (the answer is...a lot). And then I got divorced (not due to excessive hobby time...I hope) and started a really demanding new career (teacher/coach). This new phase of life has left me with zero hobby time (I've completed one unit sense July 17'). I'm not to bummed out, I know I'll get back into it at some point and I can't stress about it because its a hobby.

So for me right now its feast or famine
   
Made in gb
Ork-Hunting Inquisitorial Xenokiller





I'm always a bit confused by these "how do you find the time to do that?" discussions.

What time does this two year old go to bed? Mine went at 6.30pm or 7pm at that age, I think. My boys are currently 4 and 7 years old and are in bed by 8pm? Not asleep by then, but in their bedroom having quiet time and getting ready to sleep. A bit of lego or guitar or whatever.

Then... I tend to go to bed sometime between 11pm and 12am.

So on the rare occasion that I absolutely NEEDED to paint (e.g. to get an army done for a tournament) I could find 3 or 4 hours every day.

In the real every day world, that's not the case - I will spend some time with the missus then get my stuff out and paint from around 9.30 pm to 11.30pm maybe twice or 3 times a week.

On that level of work I have managed to paint...
2500 pts marines
2000 pts admech
an imperial knight
800 pts Tallarn
A Deathwatch squad
I'm just starting a Seraphon AOS army
I've done 5 or 6 "one off" display style models.

Yes, I can't paint fast enough to keep up with the meta without winding up my wife... and I do get frustrated at having to snatch a couple of hours a day and stay up late... I guess I wish I could paint more.

But really, everyone has time. They just choose not to use it on things like this, when the great big telly box in the corner and their Netflix sibscription calls to them like the modern siren.

TO of Death Before Dishonour - A Warhammer 40k Tournament with a focus on great battles between well painted, thematic armies on tables with full terrain.

Read the blog at:
https://deathbeforedishonour.co.uk/blog 
   
Made in gb
Ridin' on a Snotling Pump Wagon






As a Hobby, I think there's too many strings to the bow for it to have any one demograph.

Whilst there's an undeniable and self-evident appeal to teenage boys, there's also the same for blokes in their 30's and 40's in terms of the purely gaming aspect.

The painting and modelling? Well, that's near universal. Lots of people like painting. Lots of people enjoy making things. That transcends gender and age brackets, especially with the sheer variety on sale (Person A might be mad for historical kits from WW2. Person B might really be into Unicorns, and has found a kit they really want to paint)

   
Made in us
Infiltrating Broodlord





United States

This is an issue of your hierarchy of values.

You need to place the values in your life in order of what is most important to your life in the long run.

It seems that the "hobby" aspect of of wargamming is going to be low on your list, and thus, ignored.

Since you work, you can translate the money you make from time invested into your career into paying someone to get your models painted.

And if you find painting relaxing, you can forget about painting horde armies, and instead paint the leader of your army, while someone else paints your other 100 models for you.

You can't have your cake and eat it. Be rational about your values, plan, and get things done according to your values in life.

As for demographic..... I'm sure it's single males 18 - 65. Not sure married people with very young children (1 - 8) is part of the GW strategy.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/03/10 17:21:52


Ayn Rand "We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality" 
   
Made in us
Winged Kroot Vulture






No kids here but married.

I know games like Warhammer and the such are targeted to people willing to devote the time. I would be that target but I can't sacrifice any more time that doesn't include some amount of money making.

Then there is the fact that time moves differently in the hobby. Once I got out I found the perceived slow pace of releases got blindingly fast. This has made wanting to come back not appealing because the time it would take to update myself is daunting.

I'm back! 
   
Made in gb
Wrathful Warlord Titan Commander





Ramsden Heath, Essex

Well let’s face it they’re toys, so they’re aimed at kids.....kids of all ages.

How do you promote your Hobby? - Legoburner "I run some crappy wargaming website " 
   
Made in au
Norn Queen






 Adeptus Doritos wrote:
It's focused at anyone with the time and the money.

It's also a pain to do this while you have a significant other, a military career, and other obligations.


This is why I swapped to skirmish games, though a regular career rather than military.

Painting 10 dudes and being able to say 'finished' is more achievable than 100.
   
Made in us
Fiery Bright Wizard





California

Id certainly say people with disposable income and time. Plus the setting (40k in particular) kinda appeals to people across age groups and I hope it stays that way. In some areas it's more mature than Star Wars, and in others its the opposite and intentionally over the top. I'm not sure it's wise to market to younglings exclusively because most of the time they just don't have the money to spend. And at that point its up to the parents who might not see much value in little unpainted plastic figures.

 
   
Made in us
Shas'ui with Bonding Knife






 -Loki- wrote:
This is why I swapped to skirmish games, though a regular career rather than military.

Painting 10 dudes and being able to say 'finished' is more achievable than 100.
I would absolutely love to do this, but my local GW store seems to have a bad habit of throwing aside new GW sponsored game ideas after about two weeks to a month. Kill Team lasted maybe six weeks. Silver Tower really never took off. Blood Bowl lasted a little longer (maybe a few months with games here and there), Shadow War Armageddon lasted maybe a month, and AoS Skirmish essentially never took off.

I'm sure if I put some real effort into it, hyped it up a lot, made sure I was around to run games often or teach people how, etc. that Skirmish might actually take off or even something more like Shadow War Armageddon (very much doubt we'll see Kill Team again for a long time since it was based on 7th edition rules). But, investing that much time and effort into getting something started would essentially take the same amount of time as painting a 2000 point army... more importantly, it'd take a lot of time away from my family (which is far more important).

SG

40K - T'au Empire
Kill Team - T'au Empire, Death Guard
Warhammer Underworlds - Garrek’s Reavers

*** I only play for fun. I do not play competitively. *** 
   
Made in au
Dakka Veteran





Sydney, Australia

 ServiceGames wrote:
 -Loki- wrote:
This is why I swapped to skirmish games, though a regular career rather than military.

Painting 10 dudes and being able to say 'finished' is more achievable than 100.


I would absolutely love to do this, but my local GW store seems to have a bad habit of throwing aside new GW sponsored game ideas after about two weeks to a month.


There's the issue IMO. GW largely don't care about the skirmish market, and it's evident in the support those games get. Necromunda and Blood Bowl are the only ones that aren't one and done affairs, and even then the support for them has tapered off somewhat since the initial releases. Skirmish gaming should be intended to stay at that level, rather than the GW method of having these smaller games be purely a gateway to the larger ones (and thus theoretically higher sales volumes, although this in itself isn't necessarily correct). Compare the GW games, where boxes for the skirmish games are fairly limited in scope (one box per faction for Necro and Blood Bowl) to dedicated skirmish games like Malifaux or Batman, where a playable force is 6-10 models on average, and expansion is fairly easy (whole lines, and even smaller factions are 3-4 boxes giving a lot of variance)

DC:90S++G+++MB+IPvsf17#++D++A+++/mWD409R+++T(Ot)DM+

I mainly play 30k, but am still fairly active with 40k. I play Warcry, Arena Rex, Middle-Earth, Blood Bowl, Batman, Star Wars Legion as well

My plog- https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/787134.page
My blog- https://fistfulofminiatures.blogspot.com/
My gaming Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/fistfulofminis/ 
   
Made in us
Shas'ui with Bonding Knife






 Rygnan wrote:
There's the issue IMO. GW largely don't care about the skirmish market, and it's evident in the support those games get. Necromunda and Blood Bowl are the only ones that aren't one and done affairs, and even then the support for them has tapered off somewhat since the initial releases. Skirmish gaming should be intended to stay at that level, rather than the GW method of having these smaller games be purely a gateway to the larger ones (and thus theoretically higher sales volumes, although this in itself isn't necessarily correct). Compare the GW games, where boxes for the skirmish games are fairly limited in scope (one box per faction for Necro and Blood Bowl) to dedicated skirmish games like Malifaux or Batman, where a playable force is 6-10 models on average, and expansion is fairly easy (whole lines, and even smaller factions are 3-4 boxes giving a lot of variance)
On the plus side, GW did give us their formula for figuring out Renown when it comes to Skirmish as they have no intention of updating AoS Skirmish for the new Daughters of Khaine models and point values: Renown Formula for AoS Skirmish. Personally, I would love to play with some Daughters of Khaine, but those models are outrageously expensive... even as dual kits, they cost more than most other dual kits. I cannot justify the money for even a 1000 point Daughters army. But, I think I could justify the cost for a 50 Renown Skirmish army.

Here is the actual formula in case you don't want to go over to the AoS Facebook page:
Simply take the points per unit from the matched play profile, divide this by the number of models in the unit to get the points per model, and then divide this by five.
I haven't figured out if I need to round up or down when the numbers end up as fractions. I will do my best to figure that out soon.
EDIT: It looks as though you use regular rounding rules... if the number on the right side of the decimal point is 0-4, round down. If it's 5-9, round up.

EXAMPLE: Putrid Blightkings - 180 points per 5 models. 180/5/5 = 7.2. So, round down to 7.

Again, I have a feeling if I, myself, put up a Skirmish calendar where I would be there to play against anyone who wanted to come see what Skirmish was all about or who needed an opponent, Skirmish might very well take off at my local store. But, it would defeat the purpose of me trying to find a way to spend more time with my new family. And, my family means FAR more to me than any piece of plastic.

SG

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/03/13 16:09:28


40K - T'au Empire
Kill Team - T'au Empire, Death Guard
Warhammer Underworlds - Garrek’s Reavers

*** I only play for fun. I do not play competitively. *** 
   
Made in us
Stinky Spore





I honestly am single and decided to dive into wargaming hobby and the modeling head first. With work leaving me exhausted most days I delve into modeling when I hang out at the local shop or friends. I do make an effort to get my orks at least green and primed. Also I never have stressed about detail or how it is put together or painted they are mine to do paint and piece together.

My advice is then set aside a few minutes and work on one mini or model as you see fit and then paint it once the said squad is all built as you like. Although its me and I do not have a girlfriend or son to care for, just elderly parents that need my attention time to time.

 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut



UK

I think the hobby culture is very much around people with a bunch of free time, and things like X wing have been designed for people who don't want to spend time preparing models.

GW putting out Shadespire, Necromunda and soon 8th edition Kill Team is putting things out there for low prep time skirmish gamers (the dad-gamers, the people with responsibilities, etc) because these, particularly Shadespire, don't need a lot of painted stuff.

The demographic for skirmish games has evolved a lot, ironically since Specialist Games was scrapped by GW and it kickstarted lots of smaller games trying to be Necromunda.


Check out my youtube channel at www.youtube.com/channel/UCc8CECcBOeCO-srhlUwf_lQ 
   
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Ancient Venerable Dreadnought




San Jose, CA

Ben2 wrote:
I think the hobby culture is very much around people with a bunch of free time, and things like X wing have been designed for people who don't want to spend time preparing models.


when I got hurt and couldn't work, I found myself going crazy from not being able to do what I want. I thought about what could be therapeutic mentally, painting came to mind. then I remembered how much fun I had playing 40k back in RT days.

I love the fact I can paint for 5-10min at a time and not have to stop mid brushstroke. Since I have a ton of time; my Salamanders
look beautiful, my Admech is coming along nicely and am able to go hang out @ the FLGS on 40k night. it keeps me occupied, I have met new friends and I'm not going insane anymore from boredom.

kinda why I started back in the day.

   
Made in us
Shas'ui with Bonding Knife






I love to paint... much more of a hobbyist than a player. That said, I don't have the time right now. I'm spending my free time building a relationship with my fiance and soon to be stepson... FAR more important than any plastic model.

That said, the opportunity to play maybe once per week (probably 1000 point, 90 minute games at the most) are now a possibility.

I started Warhammer 40K maybe a month (or less) from when AoS came out. So, I've been an avid hobbyist for almost three years now and have learned A LOT. My models look immensely better now than when I started three years ago.

That said, time has swapped on me now. I have very very little time to paint and possibly some time to play. But, I take great pride in painting all of my models, so I don't want to commission anyone to paint them just so that I can play.

All of that said, I'll probably go the way of the 30 minutes per day or an hour per day (depending on the day, what my future wife will need/want my help with, my chores, and the time spent with my future stepson) to assemble and paint. I'm gonna be one of those people playing with mostly GW Sprue Gray colored models or possibly just models with the base coat (and maybe first layer).

But again, family is so much more important than pieces of plastic.

SG

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/04/09 15:26:12


40K - T'au Empire
Kill Team - T'au Empire, Death Guard
Warhammer Underworlds - Garrek’s Reavers

*** I only play for fun. I do not play competitively. *** 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





Post removed - BrookM

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/04/12 13:11:46


 
   
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Fully-charged Electropriest





warpedpig wrote:
Post removed - BrookM


lmao

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/04/12 13:12:01




“Do not ask me to approach the battle meekly, to creep through the shadows, or to quietly slip on my foes in the dark. I am Rogal Dorn, Imperial Fist, Space Marine, Emperor’s Champion. Let my enemies cower at my advance and tremble at the sight of me.”
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Hey god forbid I tell it like it is. Nothing I said was vulgar or obscene.
   
 
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