I’m there.  After decades of self-analysis I am in the position of understanding what parts of the overall hobby I enjoy most, which less so, and which I don’t much at all.  I used to think this was all one hobby and I should enjoy all of it, but that really isn’t the case at all.

The bit I personally have enjoyed most is collecting, building, painting a “force” (army/fleet/warband/whatever) for a game in a genre I was excited about, getting it to the table and playing through a small campaign or set of scenarios.  At that point my interest tends to wane, the stuff gets stored away, and I look for something else to inspire my next project.

Playing games with old shit doesn’t really interest me that much unless I am somehow “back in the mood” – maybe because of a film/book/mate/new supplement having re-engaged my enthusiasm.  At which point I will dust an old force off, maybe add some extra pieces, and game with it for a while.  Then put it all back in its box and forget about it again for a few years.  I have been in the situation for a few years now where I am almost as likely to play something really old like WFB 2nd ed. as something new like Stargrave, depending on how the mood and opportunity strikes.

I have no particular “favourite game” beyond what is currently piquing my interest (although there are plenty ones that I think are uninteresting and I won’t bother with).  By and large the mechanics of any game are just a means to an end – and the simpler and less hassle they are the better for me as I will play them for a few weeks and then not again for maybe years, if ever.

Money and storage space are not particular limitations but neither are they infinite.  My actual limiting factor is interest, and at the moment it maybe feels that after 40 years or so of hobbying, I may finally be getting bored with the whole thing.

So that said.

• I have not bought a KS for years now. (Mainly because by the time fulfilment comes along my enthusiasm for the project has long since walked)
• The idea of 3D printing makes me shudder – I have zero interest in the concept (effing nerdy computer bollocks!! :-D).
• I am running out of excitement for bothering.

Proof to me was my birthday a couple of months back.  My wife had planned a special trip to a large and well-stocked FLGS in a seaside town as part of a long weekend break – she left me there as a surprise saying “see you in a couple of hours, my present is whatever you fancy”.  After coming to terms with it and walking around the shop (which is VERY well stocked) multiple times I surprised myself with the realisation that there was actually NOTHING I wanted to buy!  Out of respect for my wife, and the effort she had put into what she thought would have been a dream present (and would have been not so very long ago) I did buy something, but it was completely for show and I can’t even remember what I bought now.  I left the shop thinking “WTF just happened?”

So now I still find myself occasionally fancying sitting in my mancave tinkering with a hobby project, but really it has moved from being my first choice activity to something I do just to kill the time, and I am casting about (so far unsuccessfully, I have to say) for maybe another hobby to engage with that I can be more enthusiastic for.  There’s a possibility that I may get into maintaining the car I bought last month (although to be honest, while I am interested in how it all works, the idea of getting oily and greasy and sweating away at stuff for ages doesn’t have huge appeal… although that may change!

Needless to say, I have a significant PoO of plastic, lead and resin accrued over the decades, and I will probably tinker away at it from time to time as my years advance into decrepitude, but…

Seems I am now more of a hobbyist out of force of habit – it’s what I have done for the last few decades – rather than any real sustained interest in the hobby.  I still enjoy seeing pictures of miniatures and stuff, and flicking through the odd mag and website, but it no longer seems to engender a need to buy anything new, rather just to maybe go and tinker with my PoO.

Of course, now lockdown is over and my gaming club is back up and running, I may discover a bit more enthusiasm to game with older stuff I have, but I think I can safely say I’m pretty much done with buying more gaming crap, certainly when it comes to models anyhow.

I’m not sure what tripped the switch – possibly the long lockdown which meant I got all my longterm projects completed and painted up, so no longer have anything nagging at my mind to get finished?  Possibly. It may be that after so long you realise there is nothing new under the sun and a model is a model is a model at the end of the day.

Anyhow, we’ll see.  I may just be feeling grumpy.  Who knows?