A Nice Problem to Have - Too Much Choice...

While chatting with one of my fellow hobbyists Tom (Citizen_W when messing around on the internet...he's also currently my GM so I have to be nice to him or my character might have a mysterious and fatal accident next session, lol) about how many games systems we owned compared to how many we actually played we began to wonder how we could so easily slip from spending all our spare time on a particular game to happily putting it in a box and forgetting about it....

Both of our initial interests in miniature war-gaming were primarily in the area of Games Workshops systems (Warhammer 40K for the most part) and it was only really when a certain new edition of that particular game emerged that we weren't big fans of (Personally I f@#king hated 6th Edition but I won't put words into the mouths of others...) that we started looking elsewhere...

I often get accused of making arbitrary decisions about what I choose to like (or not like) but this isn't actually true (well...not totally...). It's just that I don't see the point in writing about things I don't enjoy and most peoples opinions of me and what I care about are (for obvious reasons) based on what I write about. My hatred of Infinity (for example) came about after playing it several times and I gave 6th Edition 40K about fifty chances to convert me and it failed on every occasion...

Well that's enough preamble...

My bits will be in red, Toms will be in blue and any generic information will stay in black...

As Tom is a guest we'll let him go first...

A lot of blog space has been given up over time (including much of my own) to how best to get into certain systems. Their positive and negatives, USP’s and the damage they’ll cause to your wallet.

At this point in my life as a hobbyist though I have an issue, through friends, FLGS, Kickstarter and just sheer impulse I have accumulated more than a few systems. The sad fact is however my magpie like nature exceeds my time and ability to learn to play, paint or play these systems. With Christmas coming up and a number of Kickstarters due to arrive in the early new year the number only looks to increase, so my plan is to take you through a few of my systems and my reasoning for keeping some and ditching some.

A point before I continue, I am not saying any system is better than another (unless I expressly say so) this is very much a subjective set of reasons for me. I on the other hand will probably be less diplomatic...

These are the categories that Tom decided upon and they seemed reasonable so I've left them as is...it will be of no surprise to any-one whose seen my painting that 'display' is unlikely to have been on my list of reasons for keeping any system...

Systems will fall into categories:
Scrapped - Got rid of in their entirety
Display - Key figures or ones I like most will be kept and put in my cabinet
Played - Systems I am playing

System 1 - Malifaux
Malifaux is what I consider to be my core system. When I was looking for something different to 40K a few years ago it was Malifaux that grabbed me first and even through an edition change and a near complete restyle I’m still fully on board.  Malifaux is the system I play most and some of the models I most enjoy painting. For me it and the smaller skirmish games are an easier fit to my free time and the available space I have to store my hobby. 

Also my core system and one of the few occasions where a change of edition hasn't annoyed me in any way as all. This was one of the first systems I invested any time in after I abandoned Warhammer 40K and only having to paint a handful of models* was a refreshing change from forty identical Space Marines

*I now have several hundred Malifaux models so this argument is a little hollow now, lol.

System 2 - Warhammer 40,000
While Malifaux may be my core system now, my first and for a long time only system was 40k. I haven’t played 40k much since 5th edition for many reasons. First like many other players the rules change to 6th ed did not suit me, my armies or my play style. Secondly the system is getting bigger needing more models, larger models and all my current armies would need a fair bit of updating to be competitive.  This sadly means the system that got me into hobby is consigned to the scrap pile to be fondly remembered when I glance at the few models I intend to keep as display pieces.

Pretty much all of my Warhammer 40K has been sold to loving homes, given away or transferred to the loft and even 7th Edition wasn't sufficient to lure me back. The reasons for this have been ably described by Tom but I'd also have to add the poor internal game balance to my personal list of issues. If I wanted to play 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' I could do that far more cheaply by simply playing 'Rock, Paper, Scissors'... 

System 3 - Batman
Knight models Batman system is the game I’m most excited about at the moment. Ever since I got my hands on my Joker crew almost two years ago I’ve wanted this system to be more out there so I can play with my favourite characters on the table top. Needless to say I will be keeping hold of this system, it's small the models are detailed and make great display pieces and I can’t wait to see it develop. 

In my first game a member of the Gotham City SWAT team brutally machine-gunned Batman to death...

...which quite obviously made me an instant fan. Like Malifaux it has a small model count so it doesn't take a large financial investment to start and the rulebook is downloadable for free from Knight Games website and despite a few translation issues early on it's a solid enough rule-set. I haven't played it enough to comment on balance but it scores in both the 'cool models' and 'is fun' categories so I'm sold...

System 4 - Wild West Exodus
I’m a big fan of both Steampunk and westerns so when WWX popped up on Kickstarter I was so excited. I went halves on a core box with a guy at my FLGS, painted up my outcasts and learned the rules. The models have now been sat in my cabinet for almost a year now as no one else in my gaming circle has picked it up. This has been a hard decision as my force is painted and not taking up much space but I think WWX is a goner from my collection just because I won’t have the time (or an opponent) to play it. 

I considered this game at the Kickstarter stage but it seemed expensive for what you got even once you took the quality of the miniatures into account (they are excellent models though) and the interest locally was very much of the 'wait and see' variety as Tom discovered. I may buy the odd model to use as proxies but I'm kinda glad that I didn't leap into this one...

System 5 - Warmachine/Hordes
While they’re separate systems I consider them one (despite having a rulebook for each and more tokens than I want to think about). Warmahordes is probably my largest collection of models due to owning two 50 point forces and a large 100 point force. I really enjoy the simplicity of the game and the varied styles is covers. I think for me it fills that itch for tactics on a larger scale without having a massive amount of models. This is one I might scale back to be just the one maybe two forces as my Cygnar are hardly used at present. 

I only like one particular force from the many Warmahordes options available (Cryx) and there's only about half of their models that I like so my Warmachine army is pretty much done in that I can field three different Warcasters forces of 50 points each though there is a lot of crossover (I like Banes...a lot...). I should however probably get around to painting them at some point...

System 6 - Lord of the Rings
I like elves, Tolkien and hobby. Therefore I have a some what large collection of Rivendell, Mirkwood and Lothlorien elves for the LOTR strategy battle game and the Hobbit. While the system is elegant (if highly criticised) I rarely get a chance to play it. I think this may become a display system due to my love of the source material. 

I bought a box of Uruk-Hai once...

System 7 - X-Wing, D+D Attack Wing

...I'll add Star Trek Attack Wing to this list as they're all very similar.

Both these systems I judge to be more board games but I’ve included them none the less. Of all the systems I play they take up the least time. I may need to scale back my imperial fleet a little for space concerns but both fast and easy to play.

Locally you tend to be either a Star Trek Attack Wing or a Star Wars X-Wing player though there are a few people who play both. I'm in the Star Trek camp though I only collect a single faction (Klingons) and have recently bought into D+D Attack Wing as well. All these sub-set of systems have pre-painted models which saves on time but many people re-paint their own (The Star Trek ones are quite badly painted I'd have to admit). I'm giving serious consideration to using another systems models for D&D as though I like the system, the models leave me somewhat cold...in fact those Urak-Hai I mentioned a moment ago might be useful after all...

It's bright ideas like this that explain why tidying up always takes me longer than planned...

System 8 - Mercs

Mercs was a bit of a flash in the pan at my FLGS. The relatively cheap buy in meant I grabbed starter set, painted it up and had some great games but it died off in store, in part due to a lack of support at the time, so now the models just take up valuable cabinet space. I think it heads to the scrap pile. 

I bought a set...and then had a game...this isn't really an order way of doing things, lol. I didn't like the system or the models and this one is already gathering dust in my loft...

System 9 - Dreadball
I love Dreadball my teams live in a small KR multi case with the tokens and other paraphernalia needed ready to head out to a game day at any point. It’s definitely a keeper and one of my favourite tournament systems. 

It's fun enough to keep the one team I have somewhere convenient to grab for a quick game but I can take or leave it as a system. My Dreadball Xtreme Kickstarter is still in the box it arrived in...I should probably do something about that....

System 10 - Deadzone
Another system I bought painted and played to death for a month or so before the love died off a little. I’m not a huge sci-fi fan (compared to Steampunk and fantasy) so i think if/when Mantic Games get round to a fantasy skirmish game I’ll scurry back in a heartbeat. Scrapped though I’m afraid. 

I got caught up in the Kickstarter induced need to own one of everything so invested in this one rather heavily especially with the Plague faction but local player interest dropped off fairly quickly for some reason (surprisingly really because it's a solid enough system) so I built a Warpath army with the models I had in anticipation of Mantic updating that system at some point. Surprisingly Mantic updated Kings of War first...but the armies painted and only takes up one shelf so it can stay...hopefully Mantic will get around to sorting out Warpath soon...

In Conclusion
Due to the hassle of time I’m scaling it back to smaller skirmish systems and those with more impressively detailed models. It’s been quite hard to choose those system I’ll be dropping especially being such a hoarder for plastic crack, but hopefully this means I’ll be able to spend more time improving the quality of my models and my ability to play those I have chosen to keep playing.  Better get clearing I suppose *sigh*.

I've been clearing up too...though I'll more than likely elaborate on that in my traditional Sunday 'round-up' post.

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.