Theme as a Motivational Tool.

Motivation is a factor in any project...

If you're next task on a list is 'eat a tasty sandwich' it's likely to be approached with far more enthusiasm than if it's 'clean out the garage' and though some people can no doubt organise themselves efficiently without help...I am not one of them...

I have certain methods of forcing myself to get things done. I have the 'crew a week' thing which works some of the time though even with that I sometimes find loopholes and in the past (not so much recently though) I entered tournaments that required fully painted armies in order to force myself to get them done...not done well I'd be the first to admit...but done at least...

I eventually finished these in the nick of time which was quite an achievement as the army didn't actually exist nine days before the tournament...

Another change in the way I did things was themed forces. Perhaps that's not exactly true as my 40K armies usually had a theme (tied into my Night Reapers custom Space Marine Chapter) but that was initially more as a cynical excuse to use the same army to count-as whichever codex I felt like using them as that day (which admittedly was also the one I was most likely to win games with).

Most armies, crews, forces or whatever your particular favourite game system calls them will be tied together by the style of the models so at it's most fundamental level theme is 'built-in' though sometimes it's their background that differentiates them rather than the appearance of their models.

The Ultramarines...and some other guys who aren't Ultramarines...

Warhammer 40K's Space Marines for example are pretty much the same basic model regardless of which 'Chapter' your playing and despite the occasional thematic flourish (Flames, wolf pelts, extra skulls, etc.) it's going to be the colour scheme that lets you know that the army is full of Ultramarines rather than Novamarines or Silver Skulls. Warmachine factions tend to be more distinct as do Malifaux crews and most other game systems and even those with a very tight overall concept (Wild West Exodus's Cowboy theme springs to mind) will have differences between forces.

All those concepts I've mentioned are fundamental parts of the hobby and though they are reasonably classed as 'themes' they don't provide any more of a motivational factor than whatever attracted you to them in the first place. The kind of things I'm talking about are unique takes on existing ideas or concepts from other areas of science fiction and fantasy that turn your personal army into something special (maybe only to yourself but sometimes that's enough). The best way to illustrate this is with some examples from various wargame systems so you can see the kind of things I mean...

There can be few people naive enough to believe that much is truly original these days and if the base force your looking at already has similarities to your chosen theme then your probably off to a winner. Fans of both the Aliens movies and Warhammer 40Ks Tyranids can't help but notice similarities in theme and the gentlemen responsible for this army has taken that idea and ran with it...

As you can see he's tied his theme idea to the existing armies overall concept with impressive results and I'm sure the desire to see the finished product helped to keep him going. Though the above idea used existing models as a basis and required little in the way of conversion work (the bases and slime are impressive though and painting black effectively is never easy) there are others who achieve their desired results by using different models from the existing system in order to achieve the effect they are looking for. My Warhammer 40K 'Daemon' army for example was tied into my Space Marine Chapter by making them a horde of failed experiments, creatures and mutated Marines under the control of a Beastmaster (or mistress in this case). This force uses a Dark Eldar/Dark Elf conversion as the HQ, Chaos Spawn as Fiends of Slaanesh, Chaos Hounds as Fleshhounds and half Marine, half Marauder hybrids as Plague Bearers. Later versions of the army also had larger more elaborate Chaos Spawn conversions as Daemon Princes...

The cynical amongst you may also leap to the conclusion that the above army also works out at about a quarter of the cost that using the actual models would have done...

It takes real dedication to a concept to scratch build dozens of models as well as appropriate vehicles and equipment for them but I doubt any-one whose seen or played against this force is likely to forget it in a hurry...even if it takes a while to explain what counts as what to your opponents.

So with those three examples we've looked at the extremes from what is effectively a themed paint-job (though that in no way diminishes the achievement) and a force using different models to a scratch built themed force using next to no existing parts to accomplish. I can only speak for my own army but the knowledge that I was creating something that would result in an army exactly to my specifications was greatly motivating and I can't see the creators of the other armies I've shown feeling much different...otherwise why do it?

So we've looked at movie and alternate background as an inspiration for new themes but there's no end of other existing ideas we can steal borrow from. Comics and computer games can also generously donate some ideas to us...

To be honest I could fill an article indefinitely with other peoples ideas and some of them may still inspire you to create a themed force but ultimately it's got to be something that you want to create. So if you can't be bothered to finish an army based around what the creator had in mind then there's nothing to stop you stealing borrowing the ideas of another if that's what it takes to make the experience enjoyable and almost as importantly to actually make you finish something.

And if you happen to come up with something particularly awesome then feel free to send me pictures of it...it'll save me having to write an article myself...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.