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How do?

So thanks to my length commute five days a week, I rarely get much of a chance to get my armies on the field.

See, I have to be up at 5:30 to get the coach in, and I'm rarely home before 6:30. So for nearly 13 hours a day, I'm not at home. The remaining 11 are of course spent eating, showering and sleeping. Plus watching TV and films and that.

But worse, my job is a thinking job, where I really need all my brain cells firing to be doing it well. And that in itself is quite exhausting. Not in a physical sense of course, but in the 'I don't want to use my brain until tomorrow' way.

Sadly, that rules out mid-week gaming. I just don't feel I've got the brainpower to come up with cunning, game winning strategies on a weeknight when the local club meets.

My weekends? Well, I can fit Games in then of course, and I've plenty space in my flat to get a board up (and a massive farmhouse style table to boot). But.....I just can't be bothered with it. Instead I spend my time seeing friends, going for drinks, doing laundry and assorted other household chores. Whilst it's possible to make time for gaming, I struggle to get motivated.


I still enjoy the Hobby, and am very intrigued by how 8th Ed plays. But the mojo, that desire to get in as many games as I can just isn't there at the moment. And that lack of oomph and impetus means I've still not sorted out a board for home, and my Shadow War terrain sits largely unassembled. I can't even work up the enthusiasm to get friends over to play the many GW board games I've got.

It's weird. I still count myself as a hobbyist, but I'm barely active anymore. Real life has well and truly got in the way!

So what can I do? What suggestions do you have to get me back to the table and getting my monies worth out of the oodles of games and models I own and continue to buy?

Look at other people's armies and get angry that it isn't yours, so you would go make it yours, but better.

Yeah, really sympathise. I've painted maybe 2 or 3 times this year.

I take the kids to school in the morning, then head in to work. I do IT support, so a thinking job too. I get home around 6.30, then it's the evening routine with the boys of tea, bath and bed. Once that's finished, and I've done whatever housework jobs need doing, it's normally 9-9.30. I don't really want to paint by then.

Instead I spend my time seeing friends, going for drinks,

Have friends over for drinks and game
Dosent have to be every weekend, dosent have to be competitive, just brew up and throw dice around
Some of my fav gaming memories are of a few friends messing about with armies and battles whilst sipping away.

I have similiar (just not because commute reasons) "problems" with many things I like/want to do and my answer has been the same for last 20 years - go "serial" with entirety of your life: i.e. think about what you do/want to do in your life in periods of a year, not a week and don't try to fit everything in at once. You're missing some playing time now with 8th? So what, you'll probably change work/home at some point in the future and then you'll may have like 5 mins walk to work, just right by flourishing GW store (clearly exaggerated example, but similliar things happened to me couple of times already). It's not a problem if you're simply "running out of time" for everything in your life AT THIS VERY MOMENT of it. And there is frankly very little you can do about it - you won't change workplace to play 40K, won't you?

But if you're feeling, that not playing often enough draws you away from feeling like "40K hobbyist" and this is important to you, then try to "hack" your amount of time available by playing SW:A or Kill Team sized, relaxed games on your way back home or something similiar. Or try to make arrangements on weekends, so even if you're not motivated, you already have an obligation. Such approach got me through many different achievements and provided many great memories - like spelunking or sailing trainings, which happened from early hours on weekends and getting up each time was a struggle. Or got me through a year of work in a very demanding agency without forfeiting three days a week climbing practice - I just went climbing as if it were another "chore" to perform, no matter if I felt like it or not. Of course some days were "wasted" this way because I was too exhausted, but in the "grand scope of things" it proved to be the right thing to do and pushed my climbing forward, made me some lasting friendships and generally made my life better. In your case you should ask yourself honestly: what is your end goal with this hobby? Is it worth some sacrifices, some struggle, some self-forcing etc... And then act upon the answer.

Just let it tick over. Don't force the hobby, any hobby, or you'll end up resenting it. If you don't have time at present, so be it. There's plenty of time to come back later and re-engaged when you feel like. Never know, you might be sat there one evening thinking "Hmm, I really fancy picking up a brush" and let things flow from there.

All the above. Got Space Hulk? Play the campaign, one game a month with a buddy. Quick. Easy. Keeps your hand in.

I am in the same boat, for the last 3 months I have been literally working non stop in getting Gladioli and Sunflowers from the field to the nursery 7 days a week. (today is an exception, my first day off for 3 weeks!). I get up at 4.30 to start work at 6 and then depending on the workload, finish back home between 7.30 - 9pm. My hobby side has been virtually non existent. I am now thinking of downscaling to something small and new. My new goal when I get started is to build and play small skirmish forces in either 40k or AOS (I have not decided and have never touched AOS so far). That way I get a manageable amount of models, a good deal of conversions and personality, the games will be quick to play and quicker still to put away.

I feel you Doc. (Stop sniggering at the back!)

I used to work 7 days on, 2 days off, and it killed any enthusiasm for painting/playing as it was a nightmare to find actual time.

Luckily, I'm on much more time friendly days, so I get to at least paint a couple of times a week. 9pm-11:30pm night time painting is strangely relaxing...

Well I think the easiest answer is to quick your job and spend the remaining moneis you have on GW products.

But seriously for myself I've found 40k has always been cyclical in nature for me. I play mostly in the winter months with there being too much to do the rest of the year. I'll go about my business as usual until something pops into my head and I need to try out a ridiculous strategy or build some weird terrain and then I'm back into it again.

 zedmeister wrote:
Just let it tick over. Don't force the hobby, any hobby, or you'll end up resenting it. If you don't have time at present, so be it. There's plenty of time to come back later and re-engaged when you feel like. Never know, you might be sat there one evening thinking "Hmm, I really fancy picking up a brush" and let things flow from there.

This is where I would be with it.
It will come back to you, when the time is right.
Until then, if you force it, you may end up with some bad associations, as in "Arrgh, this game."

One thing that I do is stay active on forums, read a bit, maybe look at some of GW's other properties, watch PAX East/West, listen to Partial-arc Arena at the gym, that keeps my mind in the universe without taxing it at the same time...

It sounds like you're spending slightly too much time at work but otherwise living a happy life. Gaming isn't a requirement, if you're not feeling it then just take a break for a while.