Saturday 7 October 2017
Sunday 19 May 2013
In which I talk a little about the online gaming communites ...
I had originally intended to only have the one post today, including my ramblings from both of these however, as I was writing, I came to realise that it needed to be split in two, as they didn't really belong together.
As I'm sure you're all aware, there are large, world-wide wargaming communities that have sprung up online. Just spend some time poking around on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube to get a small taste of what's out there. There are also countless blogs, forums, podcasts, and individuals' web pages. It's safe to say that we gamers are passionate about our hobby, and there are a lot of good people out there who are more than happy to discuss it given the opportunity ... it is, after all, a social hobby.
What I like about the internet, is that it gives you the option to be as social as you want - you can happily just sit there reading, watching or listening to other people's exploits, you an tell the world of your own, or you can simply comment, chat, or whatever makes you happy. Like half of the world, I'm out there on Facebook, and can also be found kicking around on Twitter and Google+ - I don't go in for aliases, so should be relatively easy to find using my name. I also have a YouTube account, but don't produce videos - it's something that I currently have no interest in doing myself, even if I had the self confidence, resources and idea about where to start. Am I likely to change, and start producing videos? Who knows - never say never, right? Kudos to everyone who do choose use form of media. Interestingly, my channel currently has something like 25 subscribers ... not bad for never having put up a video, I guess!
There are a lot of people who use YouTube, who have little competitions when they reach various landmark numbers of subscribers, as a little thank you for their support. Where this is conceptually a good thing, there are one or two little bugbears that I have with it.
Firstly, it can put pressure on others to follow suit, and run their own giveaways, possibly where it may not be economically viable to do so.
Secondly, a lot of these competitions require video responses as an entry requirement. It's the prerogative of the person running the competition to lay down whatever competition rules they see fit, and hold no ill-will towards them personally for doing so, however, it can lead to a form of elitism (enough of which is fostered within the hobby, by various parties, as it is), potentially excluding a lot people who may have been supporting the channel from it's outset, simply due to the fact that they don't produce videos, for whatever reason.
Thirdly, it highlight a fundamental bug within YouTube's software. I find that there are quite a lot of channels that I follow, even which I get email updates about, that never show on my subscriptions list. If I go into the channel's main page, it usually says "subscribed", but if I play one of the videos, the subscrption doesn't register there, unless I click on the Subscribe button again ... then shows as unsubscribed again on the next video and, no matter how many times I click the Subscribe button, the channel will never show on my subscriptions list. Am I subscribed to the channel, or not? Who knows. Nobody I've asked to date has come back to me to say yeah or nay, and I've had no response from YouTube/Google after reporting the issue.
I wonder how many others have this issue.
Have fun.
-G.
As I'm sure you're all aware, there are large, world-wide wargaming communities that have sprung up online. Just spend some time poking around on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube to get a small taste of what's out there. There are also countless blogs, forums, podcasts, and individuals' web pages. It's safe to say that we gamers are passionate about our hobby, and there are a lot of good people out there who are more than happy to discuss it given the opportunity ... it is, after all, a social hobby.
What I like about the internet, is that it gives you the option to be as social as you want - you can happily just sit there reading, watching or listening to other people's exploits, you an tell the world of your own, or you can simply comment, chat, or whatever makes you happy. Like half of the world, I'm out there on Facebook, and can also be found kicking around on Twitter and Google+ - I don't go in for aliases, so should be relatively easy to find using my name. I also have a YouTube account, but don't produce videos - it's something that I currently have no interest in doing myself, even if I had the self confidence, resources and idea about where to start. Am I likely to change, and start producing videos? Who knows - never say never, right? Kudos to everyone who do choose use form of media. Interestingly, my channel currently has something like 25 subscribers ... not bad for never having put up a video, I guess!
There are a lot of people who use YouTube, who have little competitions when they reach various landmark numbers of subscribers, as a little thank you for their support. Where this is conceptually a good thing, there are one or two little bugbears that I have with it.
Firstly, it can put pressure on others to follow suit, and run their own giveaways, possibly where it may not be economically viable to do so.
Secondly, a lot of these competitions require video responses as an entry requirement. It's the prerogative of the person running the competition to lay down whatever competition rules they see fit, and hold no ill-will towards them personally for doing so, however, it can lead to a form of elitism (enough of which is fostered within the hobby, by various parties, as it is), potentially excluding a lot people who may have been supporting the channel from it's outset, simply due to the fact that they don't produce videos, for whatever reason.
Thirdly, it highlight a fundamental bug within YouTube's software. I find that there are quite a lot of channels that I follow, even which I get email updates about, that never show on my subscriptions list. If I go into the channel's main page, it usually says "subscribed", but if I play one of the videos, the subscrption doesn't register there, unless I click on the Subscribe button again ... then shows as unsubscribed again on the next video and, no matter how many times I click the Subscribe button, the channel will never show on my subscriptions list. Am I subscribed to the channel, or not? Who knows. Nobody I've asked to date has come back to me to say yeah or nay, and I've had no response from YouTube/Google after reporting the issue.
I wonder how many others have this issue.
Have fun.
-G.
In which I talk a little bit about my current position in the wargaming hobby ...
In my last post, I talked about my background, and how I got into the hobby. Now, I think we can look at where I am in the hobby today.
As I intimated earlier, I don't have any real interest in the modelling or painting side of the hobby - in fact, whenever I do manage to get some impetus in that direction, I've usually lost interest by the time I've dug everything out. No, my main interest lies in actually playing with toy soldiers, however, I appreciate that, in order to actually play with said toy soldiers, you do need an army of the little buggers to play with, preferably painted to some degree. You can imagine, then, that my army building is ridiculously slow and, as such, don't get to play as often as I would like.
The system in which my main interest lies, unsurprisingly, is Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 science fiction game, hereafter known simply as WH40K. This system has been kicking around for more than 25 years now, and is currently in it's 5th revision (and, therefore 6th version) of the rules. During this time, it's developed a large and rich setting, background and imagery, both through the different iterations of the game, and the associated army books (known as codices, or codexes, if you prefer), and the ranges of novels, and other background-related books released through Games Workshop's own, internal publishing house, The Black Library. The game also a wide, and high quality range of miniatures (the actual toy soldiers, themselves), and other models, such as vehicles (Tanks. You've got to love tanks. Who doesn't love tanks?), and scenery. The same can be said about Games Workshop's other main, primary gaming system, Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WHFB).
There are a number of other gaming systems in which I'm interested, however, my current economic situation (I'm currently out of work), makes trying to get involved with these somewhat difficult at best.
Right. WH40K. I love Space Marines. There, I've said it. I have a Crimson Fists army, that I've slowly been building up since the release of the 3rd Edition set of the rules ... it's a very long and slow process, mainly due to my choice to make them all Mk6 (or "beakies") ... in plastic. OK, so I'll admit that there's a lot of other versions of the actual armour used, they all have Mk6 helmets. Company keeping changing their paint range hasn't helped matters much - first they got rid of Storm Blue, then Midnight Blue, then the newer Necron Abyss and long-time workhorse Regal Blue (which was my choice of highlight colour) ... and the current Kantor Blue, which replaces both the latter two colours mentioned, is somewhere between the two. This, however, is a frustration and more of an excuse, than a reason for painting lethargy. Unsurprisingly, I also have quite a lot of other armies, that I've started collecting, that are just sitting there, going nowhere fast.
Have fun.
-G.
As I intimated earlier, I don't have any real interest in the modelling or painting side of the hobby - in fact, whenever I do manage to get some impetus in that direction, I've usually lost interest by the time I've dug everything out. No, my main interest lies in actually playing with toy soldiers, however, I appreciate that, in order to actually play with said toy soldiers, you do need an army of the little buggers to play with, preferably painted to some degree. You can imagine, then, that my army building is ridiculously slow and, as such, don't get to play as often as I would like.
The system in which my main interest lies, unsurprisingly, is Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 science fiction game, hereafter known simply as WH40K. This system has been kicking around for more than 25 years now, and is currently in it's 5th revision (and, therefore 6th version) of the rules. During this time, it's developed a large and rich setting, background and imagery, both through the different iterations of the game, and the associated army books (known as codices, or codexes, if you prefer), and the ranges of novels, and other background-related books released through Games Workshop's own, internal publishing house, The Black Library. The game also a wide, and high quality range of miniatures (the actual toy soldiers, themselves), and other models, such as vehicles (Tanks. You've got to love tanks. Who doesn't love tanks?), and scenery. The same can be said about Games Workshop's other main, primary gaming system, Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WHFB).
There are a number of other gaming systems in which I'm interested, however, my current economic situation (I'm currently out of work), makes trying to get involved with these somewhat difficult at best.
Right. WH40K. I love Space Marines. There, I've said it. I have a Crimson Fists army, that I've slowly been building up since the release of the 3rd Edition set of the rules ... it's a very long and slow process, mainly due to my choice to make them all Mk6 (or "beakies") ... in plastic. OK, so I'll admit that there's a lot of other versions of the actual armour used, they all have Mk6 helmets. Company keeping changing their paint range hasn't helped matters much - first they got rid of Storm Blue, then Midnight Blue, then the newer Necron Abyss and long-time workhorse Regal Blue (which was my choice of highlight colour) ... and the current Kantor Blue, which replaces both the latter two colours mentioned, is somewhere between the two. This, however, is a frustration and more of an excuse, than a reason for painting lethargy. Unsurprisingly, I also have quite a lot of other armies, that I've started collecting, that are just sitting there, going nowhere fast.
Have fun.
-G.
Tuesday 14 May 2013
The Inaugural Post (Yes, once I get started, I have a tendency to ramble) ...
So I've spent an age trying to decide where to begin. What profound piece of nonsense I should make my official, inaugural statement to this, inevitably random journey, upon which I'm about to embark.
First off, I hate the term 'blog' ... or 'weblog', to give it the correct name. I also don't especially want to use the term 'journal' so, for now, I'm going to describe it as a series of mindless witterings of a crazy 40-something who likes playing with toy soldiers ... and other stuff.
So, as you can guess, my name is Graeme, and I'm most definitely on the wrong side of 40 (ok, so I'm most definitely on the wrong side of 45). I currently live in West London, in the UK, but originally hail from the North East, making the page's title a double pun (Geordies, at least, should get it).
You would also be correct in assuming that I like wargames, and toy soldiers. This is something that really started for me in the early 1970s, as a child, after a birthday day out to the seaside, where I got a box of Airfix British Commandos as a present (it was from Woolworth's in Redcar, if anyone's that interested). Certainly, we'd had toy soldiers before that (I have a brother who's a couple of years younger than myself), but these was really the first with any cohesiveness. Things took off from there, with more boxes of soldiers and so on. We had a wooden fort, which was built for us by one of my father's work colleagues which, I guess you could say was my first piece of professionally produced custom terrain. It should still be kicking around in my parents' loft, somewhere.
Anyway, this really was my first foray into wargaming. OK, so we had no ruleset, used no dice, and casualties were decided upon by (dis)agreement, but it was two opposing forces fighting it out to the death. We loved it.
This interest in playing with toy soldiers never really went away, but spent the usual number of years on the shelf, while things like growing up, and the insistence that toy soldiers are only for children, got in the inevitable way.
Jumping forward into the mid 1980s, off to college to discover beer and Dungeons & Dragons (of the 1st Edition 'Advanced' flavour). One of my housemates had been into the roleplaying scene for a number of years, and introduced the rest of the house to AD&D ... I was immediately hooked and, combined with my new-found liking for the ale, college inevitably suffered. Having ADD/ADHD has never helped matters but, back then, the concept didn't exist. During this time, I also picked up a copy of the 1st Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles game, by Games Workshop, along with the Forces of Fantasy (?) box. Sadly, nobody was playing it at the time.
Back home, and another hiatus as there didn't appear to be anything resembling a gaming scene in my area.
Eventually, in late 1987, the search for gainful employment took me down to Woking in Surrey. I picked up a copy of the 1st Edition Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader rules, again by Games Workshop, and set about building some armies (Crimson Fist Space Marines (who, originally, were cited as being 1st-Founding, with the Imperial Fists being the Successor Chapter), the original Eldar Harlequins, and the much lamented Squats). Funnily, this was really the only time that I've really had any interest in modelling and painting, with the exception of the ubiquitous Airfix kits in the 70s - it's around this time that I did most of my actual painting!
Again, none of my social circle played games, so it was pretty much collecting the minis, and digesting as much of the fluff as I could. However, even this was shelved again, with the exception of reading the pre-Black Library novels from GW (Anyone remember the Dark Future game? It's a pity that the associated set of books were never finished - there's a story out there requiring a conclusion!). I did try getting some of my colleagues involved in playing Shadowrun, which had just come out on the back of the Cyberpunk literary revolution, but couldn't really get enough people interested enough.
A change of job, and subsequent relocation to West London enabled me to start up playing D&D again, with a whole new social circle. Picked up the 2nd Edition WH40K, and 5th Edition WHFB, but never really went anywhere with them.
Whilst on holiday, I happened to walk past the Games Workshop store in Bournemouth, and spotted the John Blanche poster for the newly released Sisters of Battle ... WOW! (#1) ... checked out what it was all about, and was introduced to Jes Goodwin's Sisters minis ... WOW! (#2) ... Completely blown away twice within less than two minutes ... The rest, as they say ...
And that brings us to where I am today. Sure, there's been the odd hiatus here and there, where frustration has waxed, and interest has waned, but I'm completely obsessed with the whole gaming malarkey. Sadly, I have a great dislike for modelling and painting, have the attention span of a goldfish, and the inability to stay interested in any one thing for any longer than it takes for the neurons to make the required connections to switch interest to a new army, game system, or whatever ... Seriously, I make butterflies appear focussed. As a result, I've not managed to play a game for quite a long time now, as I slowly try to get a playable army together.
Wish me luck.
First off, I hate the term 'blog' ... or 'weblog', to give it the correct name. I also don't especially want to use the term 'journal' so, for now, I'm going to describe it as a series of mindless witterings of a crazy 40-something who likes playing with toy soldiers ... and other stuff.
So, as you can guess, my name is Graeme, and I'm most definitely on the wrong side of 40 (ok, so I'm most definitely on the wrong side of 45). I currently live in West London, in the UK, but originally hail from the North East, making the page's title a double pun (Geordies, at least, should get it).
You would also be correct in assuming that I like wargames, and toy soldiers. This is something that really started for me in the early 1970s, as a child, after a birthday day out to the seaside, where I got a box of Airfix British Commandos as a present (it was from Woolworth's in Redcar, if anyone's that interested). Certainly, we'd had toy soldiers before that (I have a brother who's a couple of years younger than myself), but these was really the first with any cohesiveness. Things took off from there, with more boxes of soldiers and so on. We had a wooden fort, which was built for us by one of my father's work colleagues which, I guess you could say was my first piece of professionally produced custom terrain. It should still be kicking around in my parents' loft, somewhere.
Anyway, this really was my first foray into wargaming. OK, so we had no ruleset, used no dice, and casualties were decided upon by (dis)agreement, but it was two opposing forces fighting it out to the death. We loved it.
This interest in playing with toy soldiers never really went away, but spent the usual number of years on the shelf, while things like growing up, and the insistence that toy soldiers are only for children, got in the inevitable way.
Jumping forward into the mid 1980s, off to college to discover beer and Dungeons & Dragons (of the 1st Edition 'Advanced' flavour). One of my housemates had been into the roleplaying scene for a number of years, and introduced the rest of the house to AD&D ... I was immediately hooked and, combined with my new-found liking for the ale, college inevitably suffered. Having ADD/ADHD has never helped matters but, back then, the concept didn't exist. During this time, I also picked up a copy of the 1st Edition Warhammer Fantasy Battles game, by Games Workshop, along with the Forces of Fantasy (?) box. Sadly, nobody was playing it at the time.
Back home, and another hiatus as there didn't appear to be anything resembling a gaming scene in my area.
Eventually, in late 1987, the search for gainful employment took me down to Woking in Surrey. I picked up a copy of the 1st Edition Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader rules, again by Games Workshop, and set about building some armies (Crimson Fist Space Marines (who, originally, were cited as being 1st-Founding, with the Imperial Fists being the Successor Chapter), the original Eldar Harlequins, and the much lamented Squats). Funnily, this was really the only time that I've really had any interest in modelling and painting, with the exception of the ubiquitous Airfix kits in the 70s - it's around this time that I did most of my actual painting!
Again, none of my social circle played games, so it was pretty much collecting the minis, and digesting as much of the fluff as I could. However, even this was shelved again, with the exception of reading the pre-Black Library novels from GW (Anyone remember the Dark Future game? It's a pity that the associated set of books were never finished - there's a story out there requiring a conclusion!). I did try getting some of my colleagues involved in playing Shadowrun, which had just come out on the back of the Cyberpunk literary revolution, but couldn't really get enough people interested enough.
A change of job, and subsequent relocation to West London enabled me to start up playing D&D again, with a whole new social circle. Picked up the 2nd Edition WH40K, and 5th Edition WHFB, but never really went anywhere with them.
Whilst on holiday, I happened to walk past the Games Workshop store in Bournemouth, and spotted the John Blanche poster for the newly released Sisters of Battle ... WOW! (#1) ... checked out what it was all about, and was introduced to Jes Goodwin's Sisters minis ... WOW! (#2) ... Completely blown away twice within less than two minutes ... The rest, as they say ...
And that brings us to where I am today. Sure, there's been the odd hiatus here and there, where frustration has waxed, and interest has waned, but I'm completely obsessed with the whole gaming malarkey. Sadly, I have a great dislike for modelling and painting, have the attention span of a goldfish, and the inability to stay interested in any one thing for any longer than it takes for the neurons to make the required connections to switch interest to a new army, game system, or whatever ... Seriously, I make butterflies appear focussed. As a result, I've not managed to play a game for quite a long time now, as I slowly try to get a playable army together.
Wish me luck.
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