Reply To: Giving it all up. Just too frustrating…

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These days just “attempting” to buy anything GW related is just an exercise in frustration. I can’t think of another experience of being a customer that has you jumping though hoops just to get GW to take your money. Add in the “FOMO” GW uses in it’s marketing and retail model and you’ll never be happy as a customer.

 

As a rule I also tend to steer clear of games/rules systems that have a “healthy” tourney scene (as I’m not into competitive gaming), these usually have lots of rule changes/army list changes/balance changes that have nothing to do with reflecting any “history” the rules are supposed to represent (plus the rules are usually cack anyway, and not that much fun to play.

 

There is something to be said for sticking with a set of rules that you enjoy and not following the trend (for example I still play Johnny Reb II rules for ACW. The first edition was too complicated, the third edition too simplified, the second edition was just right. And I’ve been using them for games since the 90s). So perhaps sticking with an edition of 40K where you personally got the most enjoyment might be a thing.

 

For Historicals, I must admit I’ve not had similar problems that I’ve had trying to stick with a GW game. I usually stick to scales 15mm and below, BUT I tend to play “refights” of historical battles (rather than pointed games). So the ORBATs are fixed, my army list is there and the terrain is all mapped beforehand. The “winner” of the game doesn’t matter so much as the experience of getting together with fellow gamers as a social experience. The minis are nearly always available (and a lot cheaper), the ORBATs and maps freely available online. And I gain a lot of satisfaction from researching the battles and equipment of the day (again from either books or online).

 

Just get away from GW and the “madness” of overpainting your wargaming minis up to collector standards (with 6mm figures it’s a blob of flesh colour for hands and face, no washes, no wet pallet, no blending etc). A Battalion of Napoleonic 48 6mm figures looks more impressive than a single 28mm GW figure (and takes less time to paint). If you are feeling frustrated before you’ve even got the figures, then GW have made an experience that perhaps we all should be looking to steer well clear off 🙂