[unofficial Weekender] Communal hobby – a hidden secret?

[sundancer 43266xp 2]

### Start of shameless copy and paste ###

First time visitor to OTT? Then please introduce yourself in the New Member Thread and look around in the Project System. Then come back and read on…

https://www.beastsofwar.com/forums/topic/introduce-yourselves-new-member-thread/

https://www.beastsofwar.com/project/

Read all of this before you start as it will save you any trouble later.

First thing you must do is make your “pledge”. It can be anything gaming related, big or small, and you don’t even have to finish it. No, in here, happiness is the road. Have fun doing whatever it is, but it is not a race. Accompany your work with pictures or we might think you are do something sinister and just using us for cover.

You are also presented with a few questions. It is to get the conversation started. Try and keep your answers ‘conversational’, no text speak, and certainly no “basically”. This is how we all get to know each other better. While you are here feel free to tell us a story, show a picture, joke, tales of love or woe, or just add your own little bit. This is the whole point…in here it is just us.

If you have never taken part before we may bark and bite, but we also like a cuddle! It is all done in the best possible taste and it is character building. feel free to give as good as you get.

A few other things to note: NO RELIGION & NO POLITICS! Glasgow pub rules are in effect. If you need to make a better point then it is fine, but don’t take the piss. And always keep it civil. This includes no philosophy, no home computer culture wars.

Play plenty of music to go with your work. Loud and through proper speakers. Write us a playlist of things we might not have heard before.

Now, after all of that there is only one ‘real’ rule in here and it cannot be broken: NO DICKS! (Exceptions may be made for little fighting men with little plastic/resin/metal wieners)

And don’t forget the highlights of the weekend: The Weekender on Friday and XLBS on Sunday. And the little show that is the unofficial Hobby Hangout over at twitch.tv

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Question of the week:

• Communal hobby – a hidden secret?

And now back to the show.

[sundancer 43266xp 2]

Pledge: finish Soundwave, continue on 10mm LotR

Yes, I nicked the question completely from @warbossd but I feel it bears repeating to be asked. And I did a rather long write-up on my blog so here I will quote myself:

So there is this little weird YouTube channel “Yellow Belly Tabletop” who in their weekly live streams ask really important and weird questions or discuss odd topics like:

Wargaming’s hidden secret: Communal hobby

Now, is communal hobby a “hidden secret”?

No, I don’t think it’s hidden and it’s no secret but it is an aspect of our wargaming hobby that might not be very apparent to new players and painters. Just like “you need a proper light” and “get a wet pallet” or “shake your rattle cans *really* well”.

Is communal hobby something I enjoy? Yes but no but yes. Depends on how you define hobby or rather what aspect you’re talking about. Let me explain:

Building and painting

Might be fun to be doing that with other people in person but it’s not for me. Packing up painting stuff, getting to the hobby space of club just adds so much extra time that I’d rather spend on actually doing hobby. Online, via the medium of Discord, Twitch, YouTube and what have you on the other hand is fine. I can sit in my comfy chair and participate.

Playing games

For me a thing I only like doing in person. I want that tactile feeling of pushing minis across the board. No current video game online adaptation comes close to that for me.

Talking about the hobby and all it’s aspects

Everywhere and all of the time. No preparation needed and can be done online and offline. And all variants have their pros and cons. For example you can’t interrupt me here on my blog. You can stop reading but that won’t end my train of thought. On the other hand if I get something wrong you can’t stop me from walking of the proverbial cliff. So that’s a nice thing to have in real life.

Meet-ups and conventions

Real life only. I tried to “attend” cons online and it’s just horrible. Better to wait for after the con for some proper, well done videos to see all the nice things.

So coming back to the question: is communal hobby a hidden secret? No, definitely not. Communal hobby is such a big part it literally stares you in the face all the time. It’s the elephant in the room you choose not to see 😉

And since we can’t end without music, here is some music!

[grantinvanman 2394xp 1]

Pledge: start my mutant terrapin secret project!

Communal Hobby: I very much used to be about this – when I had a club. Thursday nights were paint nights, and Saturdays were game days. That was over a decade ago…

 

I’ve really only got back into the hobby in a meaningful way since The End Times, around 2022(?), and when I joined BoW. I’ve just met two possible gamers, finally, and I have committed to being nostalgic and playing 40k, again.

And one of my favourite Canadian bands:

[sundancer 43266xp 1]

I’ve just met two possible gamers, finally, and I have committed to being nostalgic and playing 40k, again.

Not sure if I should congratulate you or offer condolences because you’re back in the grind 😉

[grantinvanman 2394xp 1]

@sundancer – it’s been something like 10 years since I played anything … so I’ll start back with what’s near me, and hope to move them into other games…

[sundancer 43266xp 1]

As long as you enjoy it: more power to you!

[pagan8thParticipant 12318xp 1]

Pledge… have 9 days off. Do some miniature painting. Play solo boardgame. Try Five Parsecs From Home solo wargame (book arrived today).

Painting and building I do on my own. Sometimes I game on my own. Talking about gaming, texting ideas, rambling on forums are always social.

I used to play games at conventions, but now I just shop for essential supplies and buy stuff I don’t need. Crooked Dice stand is always a dangerous place to visit as their minis are awesome. Every year I see the ‘Fruit Loops’ and think “What can I use the Banana Splits for in a game?”. Managed to resist buying them a few times now, but I always leave Crooked Dice with something.

[sundancer 43266xp 0]

Buying stuff at conventions is Schrödingers Shopping. It’s the cheapest way of spending money because of all the discounts you get but at the same time it’s the most expensive way to shop because… well… to have is better than need and you’d be annoyed to buy something later at a higher price XD

[pagan8thParticipant 12318xp 1]

Weird thing about conventions that I’ve seen product for sale cheaper at a retail stand than it is if you go direct to the maker of the product.

[grantinvanman 2394xp 1]

Crooked Dice is always a win. My buddy who owns Harwood Hobbies here in Calgary, has sold most of his range to Karl. Which is cool!

[danlee 22472xp 2]

I’ve got this week off, which actually tends to mean I do less hobby rather than more. We’ll see how the week goes. I’ve nearly finished my Sun Eater kickstarter models. Just need to base them so they’ll get finished for sure.

 

• Communal hobby – a hidden secret? Apart from joining the unofficial hobby hangout once per week, I’m a purely solo hobbyist these days. Maybe I’ll get back into it when the kids have grown up.

[sundancer 43266xp 1]

I’ve got this week off, which actually tends to mean I do less hobby rather than more

Well, that’s normal isn’t it?

Maybe I’ll get back into it when the kids have grown up.

I hear you.

[limburger 21856xp 0]

communal hobby ?
is that like some flilthy commie plot ? 😉

finding people that actually play the games in real life is almost impossible.

I do love rambling about all sorts of nonsense in various on-line gatherings though.

Given that I was not exactly fit as a fiddle last week I shall trry to do something hobby related this weekend.
Not quite sure what, but that’s ok … first step is picking something out of my pile of opportunity.

@grantinvanman they’re Canadian ? I guess I always thought they’d be Americans.

This is one crazy metal cover :

[grantinvanman 2394xp 0]

@limburger they’re from Saskatoon! One province over. I had the chance to do a meet and greet right before they “got big” in 2023. They started touring internationally after that. Really chill typically Canadian dudes.

Cool metal cover!

They have been charting on the American Bluegrass scene for years; they finally busted out with Banjo Odyssey:

 

[limburger 21856xp 0]

@grantinvanman I discovered them one day on Spotify while listening to ‘Southern Gothic’ themed playlist.

The lyrics for ‘Banjo Odyssey’ are *ahem* something else:

“I guess she’s my cousin, but she needs some sweet lovin’ anyway … ”

Poor man’s Poison is another cool band :

(which feels like a summary for one of Clint Eastwoods’ westerns … )

 

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