Gaming Wisdom: Use What You Have

I admit that I am a games collector.  My shelves are full of great games that more than often sit unplayed.  I consistently challenge myself to use to stuff that I have.  The other day I received a karmic lesson.

Last year I ordered the Storm of Sigmar starter set and the Age of Sigmar: Citadel Essentials paint and tool set from Games Workshop.  The Citadel Essentials set comes with a set of clippers, glue, a brush, and 3 mL pots of paint for the figures in the Storm of Sigmar set.  I assembled all of the figures from the Storm of Sigmar set.  Then I packed everything up for our move.

I have written on the trials and tribulations of our move.  All of our stuff spent about a month and a half in a Houston warehouse during the hottest months of the summer.  A few days ago I pulled out my Sigmar figures and paints and decided to put a coat of Imperial Primer on one of the figures.  This was the result.

The miniature is supposed to be coated in black.  The paint I was using was not doing a good job of covering the figure.  The covering is patchy.  When I looked in the pot I saw that most of the paint had dried into a huge lump on the side of the pot.  The lesson learned is that I should have used my paint right away.  The paint would have been still usable.

I went to my local game store to buy a pot of Imperial Primer.  The store was out.  The Games Workshop site currently does not list Imperial Primer as a product, and Games Workshop is notorious for changing their product line.  Maybe the store will be able to order another pot or maybe I will need to buy a different brush-on primer (I can't use spray primers).

This is a good learning experience.  Use what you have.  Don't worry about saving things for tomorrow.  Enjoy what you have today!

Reflections on Fantasy Flights Games Losing the GW License and Material Anxiety

Rumors started to spread around the internet after Fantasy Flight Games pulled their Warhammer roleplaying game pdfs off of Drivethrurpg.com.  Games Workshop was seen selling their IP at a trade show in Las Vegas.  People were speculating that Fantasy Flight Games had lost the license to produce games based on Games Workshop properties.  On September 9th we got the answer as Fantasy Flight officially announced that they no longer have a license deal with Games Workshop.   Now the mad grab for Fantasy Flight/GW games begins as gamers start to buy them up before they disappear forever.

Damn those are some sexy looking games.

Let's take a deep breath.  My wife and I watched a video by a parenting expert in which he explained the concept of material anxiety.  Material anxiety is when your child feels that they have to own all the cool toys and gadgets that all the other kids have.  As a gamer I have suffered from my own case of material anxiety.  I know that I have had to buy a game, often motivated by the fear that the game would go out of print or already was out of print and about to vanish.  Heck, that is how I ended up with a copy of the original Deadlands: Hell on Earth game plus six of the sourcebooks.

My message to gamers everywhere in the wake of Fantasy Flight losing the GW license is:

Take a deep breath, everything is going to be okay.

We, as gamers, do not need to own copies of every game that exists.  There are some FFG/GW games that I was/still am interesting in playing.  The Warhammer Adventure Card Game looked interesting.  I would love some expansions for my copy of Talisman.  The Black Crusade rpg seems like it would be interesting to run.  However, life will go on if I don't own those games.  Before you go on an internet buying binge, look at your shelves.  Are there games on there that need to be played?  Do you really need more games, or are you suffering from material anxiety?

Fantasy Flight Games is going to make more awesome games.  Games Workshop will continue to to  put out awesome games.  If you have always wanted a copy of Blood Bowl: Team Manager then this is probably a good time to get one.  Buy the game because you will enjoy it, not because it is going away.  Perhaps I am writing this more for me than for you.  Take my advice with a grain of salt, and remember. play well.