Friday, December 17, 2010

Things that make you go "Huh?"

To start off, my latest painted unit - Austrian cuirassier - waiting for basing to be finished!

I enjoy painting cavalry, but I find that I always have to work up the enthusiasm to clean up the next unit to paint.  Right now, I have the next unit (Austrian dragoons) sitting on the workbench.   For some reason, I just dread cleaning up and preparing cavalry for paint.  I don't like messing with the seams on horses, I don't like attaching arms...maybe I'm just lazy.

Which brings me to the title of this post:  Things that make you go "Huh?"

No doubt, I'll probably tick somebody off with things that make me go "Huh?", so I apologize in advance.  If you recognize yourself as any of these people - good for you, enjoy your hobby!

1.  Plastic, multi-part 28mm figures.   Huh?   I just don't get it.  Why on earth would I want to put that many pieces together.  "Build a man" Frankenstein soldiers.  Ick.  I'd rather prepare lead cavalry.

2.  The penchant for 1:1 WW2 games and rules.  Huh?  I have to believe this is tied to comic books, video games, and cheesy WW2 movies.   The common reason given for 1:1 preference is that any higher scale of representation is too abstract.   Huh?  Really?   So....you play that 1:1 squad with correct tactics?  The LMG is almost all the firepower?  Your rules reflect that at this scale, if you're seen you're dead?  It doesn't bother you to control each individual on the battlefield?  Zowie, bang, boom (insert explosion sound here).  

3.  ImagiNations.  Huh?  I really don't get this.  Our hobby is all historical fiction anyway...but I'd much rather that my fiction be "historical fiction".  I rather enjoy playing ACW with Confederates and Federals, rather than the "American Social War" with Corndoggians and Finials.   No purple tunics for me, thank you very much.

4.  VBCW.  Huh?   What's up with that?  Is the allure using goofy armor?  Maybe 'cause I'm not British....

5.  Steam Punk.   Huh?   I don't even know what that is.  

6.  Buckets 'o Dice.   Huh?   Is that faster than a chart or a CRT?  I don't like mangling my terrain and figures with dimples from the buckets o fun.  If I want more noise in the game I'll just turn the stereo up.

7.  2mm figures.  Huh?  HUH?   Why not paint rice grains?  I can cut a square of 60 grit sandpaper, paint it black and drybrush on some color, add a flag, and it looks just about the same..I once glued sand to a stand and did this...didn't look half bad....

8.  Zombies.  Huh?  Now, I like a zombie movie as much as the next guy....but zombie games?   Does everything have to be a game?

9.  Weird WW2.   Huh?   Isn't the real thing interesting enough?  Aren't there enough fascinating technology developments in 6 years from '39 to '45 that you don't have to create an SS Tiger-Walker with a Confederate flag flying from it?

10.   Opinionated wargamers that post stuff on their blog that most people don't care about reading.  Huh?  Sure glad I'm not one of those guys.....

1 comment:

  1. Wow - that is some artistry - seems like a painting. Dean

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