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I tell anybody who asks me. My parents were not bothered in the slightest as my brother also collect anmd games. Girlfriends have not really ever been told unless they were serious. Now that I am married my wife knows all about it and apart from thinking its a waste of money thinks I am a closet geek.
I say closet because I dont fit her sterotyical image of a geek (nor does my brother 2nd dan black belt)

People at work know and some of the girls were commentuing that they can tell I paint when I was applying eyeliner to one of them amy winehouse style.

SOme people take this hobby to seriously and all they talk about is the hobby. Thats sad and shows a lack of social skills if thats all they can talk about. (especially to random people who dont play 40K)

Every once in a while people ask what it is and sometimes I'll get that look. But w/e my gf thinks I should enjoy my hoby no matter what others think and she likes to paint so she can relate. My parents think its a waste of money but at least I dont buy pot and blow my money on that this stuff lasts longer lol.

Warhammer lets you pull all the chicks without any problems.

I've never gotten grief about the hobby from anyone that mattered. There will always be those people who make snide comments, but their lives probably suck anyway.

My wife every once in a while will make the "your such a dork" comment when I get into describing a battle, but she knows its the last shred of self I still retain after years of marriage and being a father...

*sigh*

reading this im glad i dont have a gf or a wife. but thank goodness i have a car.no license but a car.at 14.

This is a bit of an odd one for me as i am far more into the painting and modelling side of the hobby. Probably because i'm sooooo awful at playing the game itself

A few work mates have seen me going into the local GW and looked at me differently since, but like another poster said; I'm not a typical nerd.

Whenever i get any negative comments, i find the brutally honest statement 'I really enjoy painting stuff, find it very relaxing, and make a few quid on the side' usually shuts people up. If someone is out to get you, then discovers that you really don't care/can't be wound up by their comments, they switch tack pretty quickly.

A couple of GF's have gone from laughter at seeing ranks of toy soldiers on my shelf to 'omg, how the hell can you paint these things like that?!'.

Emphasizing the artistic side of the hobby goes a long way toward acceptance

Besides, if you're gonna be embarrassed about what you enjoy doing, what's the point in doing it?

Edit: Edited for putting 'o's instead of 'i's :S

Clay Williams wrote:

BOSS_PIMPALOTZ wrote:We have a development my Wife has agreed to play a game of Warhammer 40k.

Have fun scrapbooking

I will Im a man of my word lol

assultmarine wrote:reading this im glad i dont have a gf or a wife. but thank goodness i have a car.no license but a car.at 14.

A lot of good that's doing you. lmao

I don't really understand the "waste of money" comments. All hobbies are a waste of money technically. Unless your "hobby" happens to be work.

I get HEAPS of mocking from my family and gf because they reckon that it is a total waste of time and money!
I reckon it's 'cos they just don't understand Warhammer at all, and write it off as pointless.
I pity them, kind of...

Some people don't understand anything that doesn't get you drunk or laid.

Not that I'm knocking either one, obviously, but when your entire lifestyle revolves around it to the point where you simply can't comprehend doing anything else with your time...that is sad.

I bought the Inquisitor Coteaz model off eBay. My girlfriend opened the pack, took a look at the pewter and said "Hey, why did you buy a model with a feather boa?"
Coteaz has wolfskin hanging off his shoulders, but somehow this led my girlfriend to mistake him for some drag queen.
The model has since been known as 'Priscilla'.

Just an example

I'm pretty lucky, I guess. Most of the people I know just accept that I like wargaming and painting minis and don't comment on it at all. They seem to think nothing of it one way or the other. I've gotten a bit of gentle teasing from a couple of friends, but nothing malicious, and for every jibe I've also had a comment along the lines of "Wow, I could never paint something that small".

As said before 'Completely Boys (Girls) with Toys'. And what about this hobby is considered 'silly', or some other word, by others? Is it that it is far out of budget for some? Is it because the 'outcasts of society' (I call them real people) understand it so simply? All I know is that the onl ones who haven't like it and ridiculed it are covered in five inches of make-up.

After doing this for 15 years, I just don't care anymore. It would be interesting to know how much grief you get over miniatures compared to ages. My observation is that as you get older, no one really cares what you do in your free time, as long as it is not WAY past the social norm, and even then, many people won't really care. Most people are curious and then forget about it. I was, however, talking with this woman who, when I mentioned it and showed some pictures, thought it was neat and that "she wished she was creative like that". To be completely honest of course, I usually describe miniatures in terms of "art" and "model design" rather than miniatures gaming.

I do think it is interesting though that some of you ridicule more "commonplace" activities such as watching football or partying as "moronic", or something along those lines. Isn't that just a tad hypocritical? I just don't like pigeonholing anything into categories, in spite of the fact that that seems to be almost an instinctive response with people.

I don't think blowing 300$ on miniatures is any more "silly" or "worthwhile" than spending 2500 on a golf vaction, or 20 dollars to go to the movies. These are all recreation activities that people enjoy. Take something that is "common knowledge", and then imagine trying to explain it to someone who had never been introduced to it. Take golf, for instance. Well, golf is this game where you try to hit a ball into a hole using 14 or less club like objects with as few swings as possible. Most people wouldn't consider golf childish or a waste of time ( well, maybe the latter for people who are really obsessed with golf).

Of course, keep in mind how far someone could logically take that reasoning. Would you feel the same for someone who buys life size anatomically correct dolls, dresses them in clothes, talks to them, and then uses them for gratification at night? You could call that a hobby too.