Saturday morning I was taking some time for myself and wandered over the Hobbytown USA where they sell (hardly any - maybe 10 different titles) board games. As I was walking toward it I noticed that the hallway of the mall just outside the store had about 10-15 long tables with tons of awesome scenery and minitures lined up along the edge (apparently getting ready for battle) - but there was NOBODY sitting at the tables.
So I wandered into the store with the intention of asking what was going on. There was a small group of guys sitting in there talking - one of the employees caught sight of me and came over with a big grin. "How ya doing? Can I help you with anything?"
"Came in to look at board games."
Boom. Smile disappears. "Oh. Ok." And he walks away without another word. I guess I was no longer welcome - and I didn't even get a chance to ask about the tables...
I guess I found out where all the college kid gamers hang out. Maybe they thought I was going to be an old grognard with stories to swap. Sorry to disappoint. Don't get me wrong, I think miniture battles are really great looking, but I'm not going to get involved for a couple of reasons.
First, I'm a terrible painter. I just don't want to spend the time to get good at it. Too many other things on my plate. I think that is why Mage Knight originally appealed to me - I didn't have to paint the stupid things.
But then I found out reason #2 that I'm not going to get into minitures. I want hexes, I want grids, I want SOMETHING that shows me EXACTLY how far my units move. I don't want to deal with measuring. I'm too anal for that - I'd make it too fiddly for my own enjoyment.
That being said, I could WATCH a battle with painted minis and nice terrain for a long time. I do enjoy that...as long as I don't have to get all pent up about my units.
Too bad being a board gamer automatically makes me an outcast in this part of the gaming world...
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9 comments:
Dont forget the ridiculous cost. $50 for a small pewter dragon is outragous. We can all thank games workshop for that.
what kind of miniatures do college age kids play with. I doubt it's Napoleonics.
"But then I found out reason #2 that I'm not going to get into minitures. I want hexes, I want grids, I want SOMETHING that shows me EXACTLY how far my units move. I don't want to deal with measuring. I'm too anal for that - I'd make it too fiddly for my own enjoyment. "
Amen to that. I'm an old wargamer myself, and I hate the fiddly nature of free-form miniature games. A major reason I never got into Mage Knight. HeroClix (which uses a square grid) came along, and I played that quite willingly.
I'm not that familiar with mini game systems, but they were all definately fantasy. I vaguely remember one of the guys looking at a D&D Minis book...but that doesn't mean that was what was set up to be played.
Just today I was looking at my way-too-large mini collection. I thought "how the hell am I going to get these all painted?"
An important consideration for me as I get older (heading into my 30s) is time. What I really love to do is PLAY games. Painting and assembling is just a means to that end.
Board games can't quite replace the pursuit of minis games for me, however. The tactile and visual appeal of the three dimensional minis is in a category of its own.
But if I could get the minis monkey off my back, I could probably spend more time PLAYING games, and saving money as well.
I like minis, myself. I've learned that I'm a visual person, so my gaming experience is significantly enhanced by good presentation. That's why I have, in the past couple years, gravitated to minis.
I used to do miniatures for RPG's - mostly D&D and Twilight:2000, just to enhance the gaming experience. Now I do minis for the sake of minis....
My games right now: 100 Kingdoms and Vor. I've got Hybrid and I'm adding the supplement and a couple of extras, but that's about it. I'm learning the trick is MODERATION....
I wouldn't feel too bad about being a board gaming outcast. Minis are far higher on the geek scale than boardgames. It's not as if some pimply kid can take you down because you don't get excited about using a 50 inch ruler and 25d6 to hit some Ork in the goolies with a laser pistol.
Minis are an 8 on the geek list with me. This is followed by RPGs (9) and live fantasy RPGing (10), the ultimate geek gaming pastime. So laugh at them and go back to your cool-as-hell hexes.
FYI Euro gamers land about 4 or 5 on the geek scale. Wargamers are a 6. The coolest is poker, followed by trivia games and then party games (Pictionary). So nothing to worry about in the social scale of things - you're not an outcast.
Being an old grognard myself, as well as a miniature gamer and a retailer, I assure you your experience was the exception, not the rule.
The HobbyTown in Moscow, Idaho (which I think is the one you went to) is typically very gamer-friendly, an exception to most HobbyTowns I have visited.
I suspect what happened is very similar to what might have happened if a miniature gamer approached a group of board gamers getting ready for an all-day tournament. Those guys (including the employee, who was probably running the miniature tournament) are all fired up, getting ready to play, discussing strategy, trash-talking the competition and so on. I think any group of gamers in a state of readiness like that would appear 'cold' to someone not involved.
We all have different personalities and I would have reacted much differently to a cold shoulder from an employee. I would have followed him back to his group and gently, but firmly, demanded he lead me to the store's selection of board games. Even good employees (who are themselves Geeks) can lose their focus when they're Group-Geeking with their peers.
I'm guessing there are lots of boardgamers in your area. You just have to find them.
This is hilarious:
http://www.brunching.com/images/geekchartbig.gif
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