Planning Permission

Here at Asgard Wargames, we are mostly doing two things. The first, of course, is charging our lasguns and loading our bolters ready for Warhammer 40,000 7th edition next week. After the last post, I had come to the conclusion that it was time to enjoy my Jobby (my Job-Hobby hybrid, of course) and really threw myself back into planning and painting!

The trouble, I find with owning a gaming store (apart, of course, from the bills), is that there are so many awesome games out there that my customers are wanting to play, and only so much time I can devote to each! Of course I want to have a bit of everything so i can join in the gaming fun too, but there comes a time when you have to prioritise and force yourself to resist the shiny toy soldiers!

So this week I settled down to decide what my hobby priorities are for the forseeable future:

1. Warhammer 40,000

The new edition has really fired me up. The idea of unbound armies has shocked many into rage-quitting the hobby, but for me, it represents the perfect chance to have all those ideas I've ever had come to fruition! 7th Company of all Landspeeders? Check. Leman Russ Tank Platoon? Check. Almost 300 Gaunts? Sorry Phil Kelly, but no, the gloss alone would drown my hobby butterfly!

So now I'm looking to my Imperial army (as it now can be called) and my budding Dark Eldar army with renewed fervour. Already this week I've painted up my Captain Darnath Lysander conversion and I'm halfway through a squad of Imperial Fist Terminators to accompany him. Alongside them stand my newly painted Inquisitor and her retinue of followers. So my now 1500pts of Imperial Fists, 500 of Grey Knights and 250 of Inquisition stand ready to face any foe! Years ago, this army would have been inconceivable outside of apocalypse, now its not only game legal, but Battle-Forged to boot!

I'm also hoping to take advantage of the Unbound army rules and build myself a nice army of Dark Eldar with all the fun stuff like the Talos, grotesques and the odd Razorwing, just because I love the models!

2. Gorkamorka

One of the best things to have happened recently is, through random conversations in store, to find that my own love of the classic 90's game Gorkamorka, was shared by quite a few others. So, the idea was formed to resurrect this old gem and get some games going of this frankly brilliant game! So was born, GORKAMORKA REDUX!

A quick rummage in the bitz box and I had myself a Rebel Grot Cutta and plans to build myself a warband of renegade Gretchin. If you haven't seen or heard of Gorkamorka, go to google now. Go on, I'll wait.

Good eh? It really was the defining game of my early hobby life, and I suspect is the reason I look for fun in a game first. If I'm laughing about it before having played it, its for me!

So the guys in store have all begun working on their own mobs. We have classic miniatures form the actual game, through to guys using Warpath Marauders and even a toy car converted into something truly orky! Expect a full blog post about this in the fullness of time

3. Malifaux

Another skirmish game that has recently piqued my attention is the crazy looking victorian-steampunk game Malifaux. Set in a city that sits between two worlds, you lead a band of warriors hunting for soulstones (condensed magic) either to use them for nefarious purposes, or keep them from those who would do so!

Malifaux was a game that I had decided to stock primarily because it was seldom seen but had an incredibly beautiful range of miniatures. Not only that but the 2nd edition of the game is moving towards plastic rather than metal, and the detail on those plastic miniatures is incredible, far in excess of pretty much any other game out there. There was a lot of interest to begin with but with people not knowing anyone to play against, it made them reluctant to take the plunge.

However, I have now gathered a group together to get some games started, and along with a new terrain board (the incredible Terraclips Sewers of Malifaux set), we will soon be battling it out! Stay tuned to the blog and facebook for more

Finally, one of my customers is hoping to start a Bolt Action Escalation League, starting at 500pts. Having recently invest in a bit of WWII scenery for the store, I am now confident that we can get that off the ground in the near future too, indeed I'm eyeing the Soviet Infantry on the shelf as I type...

So, that's my hobby plans for the near future (not to mention the Wood Elves, Deadzone Asterians, Mars Attacks!, and Dropzone Commander stuff I'm hoping to get into soon too!).

What about you though, how do you organise your hobby? Planned or organic? Lots of games or just the one? Skirmish or massed battle?

Comment below.....