Weekender XLBS: Tabletop Gaming; What Grinds Your Gears?
May 20, 2018 by dracs
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Happy Sunday from Australia
Happy Sunday from Maine!
Happy Sunday all,
Happy Sunday… Despite that vision of Justin taking a dump confronting me first thing!
As a butterfly gamer that flits between a number of systems, my gears are ground by systems that churn through versions/editions/seasons so frequently that by the time I get back to playing it I find half my collection has been rendered redundant because I haven’t continually invested in this month’s books/cards/tokens/models. I like to get a few factions and the cost of that churn means I soon get left behind by certain systems. It’s an obvious business model to maintain a revenue stream, but not in my case as I’ll probably just drop it. For example, much as I like… Read more »
Same for me with Guild ball. Every time I got a game I had to buy a new set of rules and cards 🙁
Oh, me too. I play many many games, and I like breadth of experience rather than depth, and I never play in tournaments or leagues, so I rarely come across those “balance issues” that gamers love to bang on about ad nauseam on forums. So when a company issues a new version of a game the first thing that goes across my mind is “Oh crap, I’m going to have to fork out £100 and spend several evenings reading new rules books and learning the game all over again. As you say, a lot of the time, in fact probably… Read more »
I agree about the Osprey books. Most of them are very good
Yup thats a good one, its a bugger when you have spent months painting stuff and organising and they change the rules, Mongooses Call to Arms was a serious pain for it.
Happy Sunday everyone
Some lovely work this week for the painting section, congratulations to all those who won a Golden Button.
For the subject that’s the meat of the show I would have to go with repeat sculpt and poses in skirmish games and board games without rank and file. Exact repetition for me takes away from the submersion into the game even with a different paint job.
Justin .. WWX eating your hobby is nothing to be ashamed of man , you are living the dream. I hope this means that there are more wwx videos in the offing soon. Thanks for your hobby sacrifice
Happy Sunday everyone
Happy Sunday! Agree with Bens point on negativity and sams point on over granularity in games. Those grind my gears too!
The cork adapters are maybe from Rathcore. The have different miniature grips and for those grips they have cork adapters in the size S (custom bases 20mm(0,8″) square and 25mm(1″)Round), M (30mm(1,18″) round and round lipped bases), L (25mm(1″) square and 32mm(1,25″) round bases).
Grinds….KS cowboys Like Robotech and Evil Dead 2
Very interesting discussion and good to shine a light on some of the darker areas of the hobby so that positives can be taken. The thing that grinds my gears most often is that whenever a game company releases anything, up pop the same brigade of people who seem to think that every game company is out to steal the clothes off their back and take food off their tables. These companies, large or small, are businesses. In my view they have the right to sell whatever they want at whatever price they want. If the price is exorbitant, it… Read more »
Theres only one main thing in the hobby that really annoys me, which is when somebody in a game, complains about things going badly all the time…for no reason For myself, i don’t care about winning, if i enjoy the game, i’m happy. My dice rolls are constantly terrible, so i usually lose, or i make terrible decisions, but 99 times out of 100, i’ll enjoy the game, regardless of how badly im losing, because for me, the game in made fun by the person im playing with, not the game itself. In the club i used to go to… Read more »
Oh yes – some people come into a game with a the-world-is-against-me complex. Or an if-I-lose-it’s-not-my-fault worldview!
Nothing really grinds my gears. There are things I don’t like such as scale snobbery. It wasn’t too long ago when 28mm gamers were derided when everyone knew 15mm was the only proper scale to game in. Times change except people not liking 2mm but I’m strong enough in my little darkened room to cope 🙂 I suppose following that is rule makers claiming games are 28mm,15mm etc. I’m just not sure I get this at all along with gamers not wishing to play games with figures that the company has also produced. Again this seems apart from a couple… Read more »
Happy Sunday
Viking 878 is a superb game Ben should definitely get it, it’s lots of fun as are the other academy games games:-)
I fully agree with @commondorerob it is a great game that can be a beer and (not around my game) pizza game, a teaching tool or just a great evening of fun
Also just to say, my Spitfire was the simplest of paint jobs, base coat colours, transfers added using Decalfix which effectively melts them on to the model. Then I used Army Painter Darktone dip brushed on. Followed by AP anti-shine and a few edge highlights and done the longest part was the waiting for the decals to set and the dip to cure 🙂
@Brennon opinions on model poses vary. I like static commanders, done well the pose conveys authority, or just “does-not-give-a-monkey’s-ness”. I also don’t like every last rank and file figure being in some kung fu movie super action pose.
I agree on feet on rocks (ammo boxes, logs, frogs, etc.) that needs to stop.
Oh and an anecdote to back up the games snobbery, I was talking to a small manufacturer of MDF kits at a show last year.
MDF kit man: looking for anything in particular?
Me: your Normandy stuff looks good.
MKM: 15mm?
Me: 28mm
MKM: oh, which game are you playing?
Me: Bolt Action
MKM: (20 minute diatribe of all that’s wrong with Bolt Action)
I’ll give you 20 guesses how many of his buildings I bought that day.
Happy Sunday to all, reference the grid my gear segment . Solo play, I have found a lot of game snobbery towards this. I have people say to me why would I bother playing solo and my answer is because snobs like you, i remember once emailing the dice tower to ask if they would review some solo games and the email I got back was five words…I DON’T PLAY SOLO GAMES… and that was it , so i answered back you are a board/ miniatures game review website so you only review games you play or your group play… Read more »
I agree with you on Solo play! It is , for me, the only way I get to play on a regular basis. The local game shop, (if it ever truly was a real game shop, more of a card shack), closed down and the gamer group dried up as they believed that to be a real adult you can’t play and enjoy table top games. I’ll Solo game for an entire day. My aponent, (me), is always available when I’m ready to play. Don’t get me wrong, I jump at the opportunity to game with others. But I’m picky… Read more »
that’s hilarious as i saw dice towers gloomhaven review and Tom played it solo.
Gripes. Fan boys. I have tried to hobby and game as cheaply as possible. I am the only bread winner, so any money spent could have been saved for a rainy day or spent towards a family project instead. But some smaller company fan boys will tear you down for using alternative models to those produced by the company, claiming you are eating into their margins. If I buy the rulebook, play the game, spread the word that it is a good game, do they really think that everyone at my club will go through the hassle of buying and… Read more »
Happy sunday folks! Gear grinding….mmm…… As the guys stated on the video, everyone is entitled to their opinion….. so buckle up this could get bumpy!! 😀 What grinds my gears? (I know this is going to be contentious) 8th Ed 40k, for a multitude of reasons that I shall expand on which to be fair, where mentioned on the show. I’ve played every edition since 2nd Ed, and until June last year I played 40k once, sometimes twice a week. Enter 8th Edition, a major step change in play style for the game. I bought it, tried it, played for… Read more »
@brennon, I disagree about kickstarter helping create positive mindsets in the community. I’d say it’s the complete opposite. communities are acting as if they own the brand, and creating such toxic responses to new releases that companies feel they need to rethink THEIR own product because the community is backlashing so hard. This is certainly true on kickstarter itself but it has definitely crept into “normal” releases too. It’s become a big issue in the video gaming industry, take a look at starwars battlefront 2, the communities toxicity has killed the game. The absurd allegations against their loot crates caused… Read more »
!Happy Sunday, everyone!
It’s badly written rulebooks for me, Either they are difficult to understand lacking logical progression, the layout is badly designed or you are flicking between 4-5 pages to figure out what needs to be rolled. Whether it’s a board game, miniature games or RPG’s, if it’s acting as a barrier to someone playing the game or learning the game it cannot be a good thing.
I find it annoying if rulebooks don’t have an need in the back
Index even
What grinds my gears is forums without the option to edit your posts… 😉
🙂 🙂 🙂
I thought it was just me that couldn’t figure out the magical ‘Irish Edit Secret’.
(sigh of relief)
Absolutely concur!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Peeves, The people/social side: The Old Grognards who will not allow a gaming system to evolve forward. They are so vocal and will defend bad mechanics just because this is how something has always been and they believe in more of the same despite many wanting change. Many in the Battletech community seem to fall into this category. Many Criticisms are shot down on the official forums which turns many off to the point now it is hard to find anyone to play with as there are so many other game systems available. The False Experts. I see this… Read more »
Ouch Ben, the ‘Old Hands’ comment! Well I guess I am a lot older than you guys! 🙂 Guess I might as well own it, hence my call sign SilverFox. Was given that nickname by some of my friends spouses at the Army War College. Think it was more the grey hair than anything else!!!! What grinds my gear during gaming. Agree with Ben on the negativity comments, life is way to short to focus on the negative. Work on getting a positive outlook and life will be much better. OK now on to my two issues. People that answer… Read more »
When it comes to board-formatted wargames, @brennon … GO FOR IT. Take the plunge. I’ll have you sitting at a Panzer Leader table before you know it.
Bwa ha ha ha ha!
THEN you can say you are a “wargame commander.” 😀
878: Vikings are to Panzer Leader, what grain, yeast or hobs are to to beer, a step in the right direction but not yet there.