Uruk Hai, the return! And more……..much much more

Well, cleaning up. Sometimes I have to admit defeat on something, a game I have never played in 3 years of owning it. Models I purchased for some reason or other that I don’t ‘adore’ and therefore have never got into them fully. There can be a lot of chaff with the wheat in our hobby.

I have recently been struggling with motivation with my project, despite being sooooo damned close to finishing something that I never thought I would achieve. It seems to be a sense of being overwhelmed. I look at my shelf and see hundreds of models, dozens and dozens of disparate publications and multiple games. It’s too much.

I can’t help but do the math on these occasions based on my progress so far, and if I do not purchase another model EVER, I will have 10-12 years before I run out.

I apply a huge amount of pressure on myself therefore, which adds to my sense of overwhelm. This takes a lot away from my enjoyment.

So what can I do? I need to narrow my focus. I have cleared away all the shelves of minis into out of sight storage boxes. If they end up being a part of a defunct line of enquiry then they are out. That is to say, if I do not play the game in 2 years and have no sign of playing it and I do not have an alternative game they can and will be used for, they are gone. Very harsh,  but I’m finding this focus on what I’m doing and what I’ve got is producing more results, with greater enjoyment of the process. I’m also playing more games, albeit with fewer game types.

But why do I need to keep trying new games?

This is the next aspect of things that has been getting me down. I don’t like or enjoy learning new ruleset’s. But the ‘oh it’s shiny and new and promises so much’ bug, gets me buying new rulesets.

I have dungeon saga, a second edition is announced. Have I finished enjoying, painting and playing the first edition? No. Will the second edition bring a genuinely new dimension to my original game while not replacing it wholesale? I doubt it. Then I should stick to what I’ve got.

Same with Warhammer! I’ve played warhammer now for decades. Have I got tired with it occasionally? Sure. But am I finished with it? Explored all its potentials? No. Can I add additional rules to the existing core idea for extra flavour? Yes. Does extra flavour come mostly from rules or from narrative scenarios and new units? No, yes and yes. So why keep keep shifting given how every time I shift I don’t seem to have gained anything other than incomplete projects behind me and a new headache of rules learning.

My original goal was a large game with the minis being relevant to as many systems I knew I enjoyed and would like to try. I should maintain that boundary, then more shit will get done and be enjoyed.

So, as hard as it is. I’m selling half my stuff. If I don’t adore it, and I mean adooore it. It’s gone. If I haven’t played it and don’t seem likely to play it. It’s gone. When looking at new purchases, if it asks me to undo or abandon what I have previously done then it can duck off. If it adds to what I’ve got, I will consider it only if it adds to what I’m doing RIGHT NOW! If it just adds to my pile, it can fuck off. And the overarching rule, is I must genuinely adore it, or it will not get done.

Finally, I’ve also learnt what I truly enjoy playing. Large fantasy battle games. Small dungeon board game. And very small narrative driven skirmish sci fi and lord of the rings. So I can happily continue onwards with our warhammer ruleset, 2nd Ed 40k as I don’t need hardly any minis for banging fun. Dungeon saga is an amazing sandbox.

And lord of the rings simply because I absolutely adore it and the miniatures.

Anything else is a distraction, or worse, an overhaul.

So, sorry Gerry. Your question of will I be getting the kings of war big red book has been very instructive to me. It was the fly that tipped my ship, I’ve decided I can get what I want from what I’ve got. If KOW big red book proves to have something I want over time, then I shall try it with what I’ve got. But I must guard my enthusiasm as I would guard my life. Nothing gets done otherwise, and progress and goals achieved really cheers me up.

So, eBay, here I come.