I`ve been giving a great deal of thought as to why I do this hobby. After all here we are a group of grown men playing with toy soldiers, what are our motives? Are we (as some try to claim) recreate history or simulate warfare in a light hearted abstract way? Or is the hobby an exercise in meglomania, where even the most mild-mannered, whimpy of us can command legions or entire armies through the life or death struggles of battles.
For myself it is a break from "real life", I sit down with my paints and slip away into my little world of uniforms and orbats. I have to admit a get to play far too little these days, the effort to set up a game and the need to pack up/away afterwards tends to put me off. Our job doesn`t allow for much free time to have evenings off to attend the local club, thats life and i don`t regret my choice of job - its just life, we have to work for a living.
I'm in a similar position. Work and family take up time and introduce stress (work not family..mostly) and I've only managed one game this year and that was Henry's Ayton game! Grabbing a couple of hours to paint and then update the blog is a big stress release for me. I can switch off with brush in hand. If I go for more than a few weeks without painting I feel I'm 'wasting' my hobby and end up more stressed! And the blog gives me that sense of community and feedback that you often get from a Club. Look forward to following the blog!
ReplyDeleteAndy
For me it is all about channeling my creativity into creating miniature worlds where adventure and conflict occur. I enjoy creating the background fluff to campaigns, making up ORBATS and TO&Es for the force and then playing out the games.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that this blog of yours feeds your needs, and brings you enjoyment.