Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I am surprised how many people don't hide them in fact I thought a lot of people would because in all reality they are not the best chick magnet

Don't be all pushing it down her throat, but don't hide it in shame FFS. In my experience, the only thing that puts open-minded girls off from the hobby are creepy types with poor hygiene, and obsessive types who get in your face and talk at you about their Marine chapter who use traded Eldar and Tau tech.

So, put them on display in a smart fashion. Get a cabinet with glass doors (or even entirely glass) and have the good-looking stuff in there like you would see in a hobby centre. Make sure your painting area isn't a bombsite full of half-finished projects, bitz and jars of pondwater.

If you're really smart, you'll know exactly where to find the units needed for a beginner game as you say 'well I guess I could show you how it works'. All you need's to give the game a narrative that the rules mechanics are used to give structure to, always connecting the rolls to what's happening without jargon. A good-looking battlefield that looks like something worth fighting over is practically a must. Avoid going into a quarter of an hour potted history of the IoM, or going into tourneymode and putting handfuls of dice in her hands and telling her 'roll these, you need a three plus':

'Your Tyranids' guns can spit out spikes at my Space Marines; each of them will hit me if you can roll more than a three. Okay, so seven of your shots hit me; since you've all got two guns and shoot lots of spikes, you get a second chance to hit and can roll the misses again. Ouch, that's nine hits in total, not good for me. Now, we'll see how badly you've hurt us; this is a harder roll, because Space Marines are extremely tough elite soldiers, and these spikes aren't huge. For each roll of more than a four, one of my Marines is brought down. Oh no, four of them hit the dirt! Luckily for me, they've got excellent armour, which might have protected them from being badly hurt; now I get to make a saving roll - if I can roll more than a two, a Marine stands back up again. Uh-oh, I got a couple of ones, that's not good; two of my troops get back to their feet, but the other two are dead! Taking casualties can make a unit panic and run away, so we'll now see if my Sergeant can maintain order...'

And have a handful of undercoated models sat around that 'you were going to use for practice and can spare'. Wyches, Dryads, Greenskins and Tyranids are a good call - eye-catching archetypes with textures and anatomy that a novice can feel proud of after a wash and drybrush. Maybe Catachans and Chaos Warriors as well.

^^^ Damn good advice ^^^

Commissar41.0 wrote:I am surprised how many people don't hide them in fact I thought a lot of people would because in all reality they are not the best chick magnet

Well if you employ a scattergun pick-up technique, it's true that they're not the broadest sweep. But if you're aiming for people you've got common interests with, having them visible to someone who goes 'these things are sooo cool! Can I paint one?' is a pretty good idea.

lindsay40k wrote:Don't be all pushing it down her throat...

Good advice. Forcing someone to ingest plastic, metal and resin is not a good icebreaker.

Commissar41.0 wrote:if a cute girl you like comes over would you hide your miniatures or show them to her?

This is kind of simplistic, don't you think?

For one, your talking about art. As long as you don't pee your pants over it, treat her right, take her out to dinner, clean yourself up and have a actual conversation Your not going to get anything other then- "Oh, thats interesting, how did you do that?" sort of line of discussion, which leads ot the end state of you either painting up a figure there for her as a discussion nd showing her how to paint, to her sitting down there, you give her a brush and then you teach her how to paint.


Works better with Reaper guys then it does with GW, though...

Something about when you tell her how much the GW ones cost, she ends up laughing her ass off out the door....

Commissar41.0 wrote:I am surprised how many people don't hide them in fact I thought a lot of people would because in all reality they are not the best chick magnet

Helped me.

Not exactly the same thing but my GF, who became my wife glimpsed some of my 40k stuff and asked what they were. I explained I played a game with figures simmer to what you might find in a museum display. Then showed her the codex covers until she said "ooh what are those?" I bought her Orks because she liked them, someday she will finally paint them. Until then she had taken a shine to my purple Eldar...
Most chicks don't "Dig" nerd games, but it's not a turn off either. Now people come over to OUR house and see my models in a display case and make faces. Most of these deluded young men (my friends) are also single so I guess what I mean is gamers>nongamers.

I wouldn't hide them... I would be too busy explaining to the wife why I had a cute girl coming over...

Quiz her. I'd probably do this anyway, whether they were in my room, or hidden away in their cases. They cannot simply walk into my Mordor.

insaniak wrote:I wouldn't hide them... I would be too busy explaining to the wife why I had a cute girl coming over...

I think we have a winner...

None of the above, here is my experience:

I enjoy a lot of hobbies, from target shooting and scuba to tabletop gaming and D&D... I met my now wife at a poker tournament (yet another hobby) with a good friend of mine a few years back. During a break I managed to sneak the cute girl (this would be my now wife) away from the crowd and have a few minutes of relative peace just talking. My buddy shows up and tried to bust my balls by asking her "Has he told you he plays D&D yet"?

I could of freaked out, I could of denied it but instead I jokingly said "DUDE!!! your ruining it?!?!" and went right back to being myself...

There is no reason to bring undue attention to some of our dorkier tendencies but its not worth denying it either. Its just a game... Don't sweat it.

Bottom line is never hide what you are. If the girl doesn't like (or at least tolerate) your hobby now, she isn't going to years later so cut your losses. Of course you also shouldn't go over the top and say "check out my meganobz" or other similar remark.

Balance wrote:Honestly, making sure the bathroom was clean probably was more impressive.

This.

As long as your place is tidy, doesn't smell like Yu-Gi-Oh night at the LGS, and the bathroom is clean enough to perform surgery in, she probably isn't going to notice/care.
If your place looks like most of the ones in the "Show us your room" thread, you're doomed.

I've not hidden my hobby from any of my previous GF's or my now Wife. None of them had an issue, in fact my Wife refers to the LGS as her "Man Crèche"
Don't hide it, but don't make a big thing of it either.

I've found that the ability to wash and change the sheets on a bed regularly (plus being able to cook) are far more important.