Womp. My pancreas says hello, and it’s terribly sorry for kicking my ass for the last little bit. I keep telling it that you all understand, but my pancreas is surprisingly compassionate about you folks missing out on content, so there is that!

In between flare-ups I’ve managed to get some painting in, and I’m actually feeling okay at the moment, so fingers crossed. I had a friend ask me to play a little Age of Sigmar, which I tried and actually almost enjoyed, it was my vampires vs. his awful, smelly, tricksy elves.

There are some really fun and thematic actions baked into the game, but they usually come in the form of a re-roll, and there’s just so freaking many of them. Once again, GW‘s penchant for over-complicating a ruleset gets in the way of what could be a rocking good time. Still, my friend was awesome to play a game with, and that’s what matters in the end.

I even had the urge to paint up a little Warhammer, this demon lord from the Darkwater box has been calling to me for months, and he was a blast to paint!

That got me thinking, though. Mass fantasy battles used to be catnip to me. The Old World rules look to be pretty close to classic Warhammer Fantasy, but honestly that’s way to many rules for me. I want something fun, loud, and easy to table, but still elegant enough to get a little crunch going if I want it.

One Page Rules is cool, it’s just not crunchy enough for me. Close, though. I think Oathmark holds some promise, I just have to get enough minis together to give it a test game. Kings of War and I never really got along.

And there’s the fact that at the end of the day, I’m a hobbyist, not a gamer. That’s going to impact what I enjoy more than anything. Still, I like to build something to a list, just so that I can say there’s a theme or method to the madness, hahaha!

I started printing some Forest Elves from Highlands Miniatures, and if I use Warhammer rules as a template, there’s about 1,700 points worth waiting for a paintbrush. The minis look cool, and I’m not really pushing myself to do more than have fun at the moment, so looking at them isn’t making me want to scream and hide.

What do you all think about mass-battle fantasy games? Any of you find a system that you love? Or are you all tourists in the gaming world like me? It seems like most of the folks reading this are more into hobby building and painting than gaming, but I would love to hear what you enjoy building and (even ocassionally) playing!

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Published by lgkade

Illustrator. Author. Sculptor. Mellow Rebel.

6 thoughts on “That’s MISTER Lord of Infection to You!”

  1. Its good to hear from you and I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better too. The Nurgle miniature came out well and I like how you managed to come up with some creative colors for it. Nurgle miniatures can be kind of predictable color-wise but that is not at all the case here.

    I don’t play or paint any mass-battle games. I’m too slow of a painter to get an army done before I lose focus/motivation. I could probably be described as more of a painter/hobbyist instead of a gamer, for what its worth. I like to play but that is more of the cherry on top and I get as much joy out of the journey as I do playing. Hopefully somebody else will come along with some helpful suggestions to your question.

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    1. I think we’re pretty much in the same boat! I love painting and modeling, the gaming is always just the “justification” of what I do with all of it when they’re painted. But in reality, I can’t think of a game that I’ve really been hooked on since the early 2000’s. I keep looking, though! I’m sadly realizing that even if I DO find something that wins me over, it’ll probably be a solitary adventure as my friend group is so hooked in to 40k.

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      1. I suppose the good news is that there are more solo options now than ever before in our hobby. I really enjoy Fallout solo but it is not a perfect game, its more of a great fit for my gaming interests. I would think that with your fairly sizeable collection, you can probably find a game that fits your collection pretty well, especially with all the miniature agnostic systems out there nowadays. Though having said that, painting with the goal of eventually playing with the minis/terrain is very motivating and fun in and of itself, which is why new Starter boxes are so appealing.

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      2. Miniature agnostic systems have been a real boost for my hobby enthusiasm for sure, it’s cool to put together a “whatever” list and see what it looks like! I’m still perpetually addicted to systems like Five Leagues from the Borderlands and Frostgrave for exactly that reason!

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  2. Great to see a post from you, and that you have had some relief, excellent looking model, and quite a few in the wings as well. As for rulesets, haven’t played any fantasy systems, since Age of Sigmar came out, and sold most of my Fantasy models, but the rule system I’m making for myself, will work for Fantasy as well, with weapon changes.

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