Crisis of Faith? Or Warmachine Atheism?

It is with a heavy heart I say this, and not lightly.

I do not enjoy WARMACHINE any more. I don't know what happened. Maybe it was my total inability to win. Perhaps it was the nerfing of so many rules my old armies depended on. Maybe it was the introduction of Battle Engines, Colossals, and Gargantuans. Perhaps it was that there are (in my opinion) too many units with too many rules to keep track of. Maybe I just no longer get the game. It's got to be one, a few, or all of these things.

I think it started a while ago when I sold my Skorne. I felt no pain at letting them go. None. I gave my Hordes rulebook to my sister who was at the time starting up the game (who knows what happened to that). I never even flinched at getting rid of any of these things.

Just not doin' it for me...

During this time my figure cases full of minis have been sitting in the closet. Not just unused, not just collecting dust, but getting in the way. I have a limited amount of closet space, and on several occasions I have found myself getting annoyed that I can't put things like my Skaven or Dust Warfare minis there. They're beyond unused, they're almost a hassle. it is at times like these I begin to contemplate things.

Let's throw out an example. I really, really like Song of Blades and Heroes. A lot. I have a bunch of miniatures for it. I have a ton of terrain for it. What I do not have is an opponent to play the game system. The same goes for Alien Squad Leader. The same goes for Hordes of the Things. The same goes for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. Finally, the same goes for Flames of War. These are, to me, dead game systems. They are great games, but with no opponents, they are dead games.

It could get worse. I built an entire In Her Majesty's Name warband (that was the secret project) and barely even finished painting it before coming to the realization that there was no way I was going to be able to play the game.

Tau to be?

I guess what I'm getting at is this; it's "spring" cleaning time. All the above miniatures have to go. I'm going to sell the ones I can, but most of them (LotR, HoTT, SBH, ASQL) will be seeing the dumpster. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars of stuff getting pitched because of impulse buying into systems that looked cool, but I had no opponent for. Watch this space for the upcoming picture of the "Big Mountain O' Trash Minis" coming soon.

Now my attention turns to games I actually enjoy. Games I want to play. Games I have an opportunity to play. There's just this big part of me that doesn't care to play Warmachine any more. Maybe it'll pass, but it's only got until I find a potential buyer for my stuff.

Time will tell.

I Want a New Drug



I couldn't think of anything else, so have some Etna!

 I've been plodding through painting my Dark Eldar, when it hit me; I'm plodding. I'm not enjoying painting the miniatures like I should. When I paint MalifauX, Song of Blades and Heroes, or Anima: Tactics, I enjoy painting the minis. I remember painting my Confrontation Alchemists, too. They were a blast, and I spared no detail on them.

This just isn't possible with a 40k army.

Not for me any way.

What is the common theme of these mini games I so enjoy painting? They're skirmish scale. With maybe ten miniatures per side, I can lavish each one with the attention it deserves.

When you look at my Dark Eldar, you can tell there is a bit of a hurry when I paint them. Highlights aren't as crisp, occasional shading is missed, and certain reas (like eyes) are a bit "outside the lines".

Now, a portion of this can be attributed to the injury my hand sustained since I last painted a miniature to true "showcase quality", but deeper than that, I'm hurrying myself. Symptoms include, but are not limited to;

-Sloppy paint jobs
-Rapid fire unit completion
-Dipping minis
-Poor conversions
-Looking at painting as a chore

I've been exibiting all of these signs for a while now, and I can only think of one thing to bust me out of this slump. I need a skirmish game, ASAP. I've been looking for a good skirmish system for a while, and since I can't find an opponent for MalifauX, Anima, or Song of Blades and Heroes, I figure I'll look at Infinity. I'll still probably lack opponents, but damn if those models aren't sweet. The factions look like a cross between Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed. If these models don't inspire me to paint, and to do it to the best of my ability, none will. I'm just tired of forcing myself to turn out sub-par results, and with my financial status the way it is, I may have to stick with skirmish systems weather I want to or not. Right now I'm having trouble saving up for a Venom, let alone the rest of the army.

Don't get me wrong, army scale games will always have a place in my heart, but right now 40k may have to go on the back burner. Sorry to Demitra, but between time and money I just may (note I said may) have to drastically slow down the slow-growth project.