Librarium Online Forums banner

How often do you game?

Other 
2K views 29 replies 28 participants last post by  Slim21 
#1 ·
Hey all:

I'm just curious as to whether I'm the only one struggling recently to find time to actually get in and play this game we all love (well, for me it's 40k, but this applies to WHFB as well). First, let me clue you in as to my situation.

I have always been fortunate enough to have several clubs and hobby stores in my area to choose from (though that number is shrinking of late--thank you, recession), but despite this, my opportunities for gaming have always been limited. I work full-time (and, against my will, part-time--again, thank you, recession), and what little free time I have left I often spend with my gf, so dashing off to the store even once a week has been nigh impossible.

Now that I'm a homeowner, various repairs and usual maintenance has sapped even more of my time. Add in the time to paint and build these models, not to mention OTHER free-time interests of mine, and getting in for a game is often seen as a periodic luxury. On top of that, when I DO get to go in, I find it difficult to justify to myself (let alone the aforementioned gf) the idea of just "hanging out" in the hopes that someone else will drift in and want a game, so I have to almost "make an appointment" via my stores' local forums.

I'm wondering if anyone else finds this to be a problem, and how you deal with it. I know SOME of the players there by name, but not all, and it's often that when I post in local forums that I'm looking for a pickup game, I get a response back from someone I've never heard of. On occasion, I never hear anything at all (I went for more than three weeks at one shop trying to get someone to join me for a game and heard nothing back). I can't help but wonder whether being a "sporadic" player is frowned upon, and I don't know how to bring it up when I'm there.

For those of you who are regular club-goers (bless you, BTW. Wish I could do that!), do you know anyone who comes in only once in a while? How is that person looked at? Does it matter? This frustrates me sometimes, as I know this is, in part, a somewhat social activity, but I find it hard to "bond" with anyone I play with, as I don't think I'm around long enough to do it. Has anyone else had to deal with this?
 
See less See more
  • Like
Reactions: matus
#2 ·
I'm in the same boat really, i work all the hours that the gaming club is open
so going there for a pick up game is not easy. Plus the g.w is a half an hour train ride away plus ten mins on the bike so dragging my carry case there is a chore.
I love to play the game tho and i think i would be much better if i got to play it more.
I think when me and my girlfriend find our own place (and if there is space) then i would love to have my own gaming table so i could game at home.
After all staying in is the new going out! (I really heard that on the telly)

Boomer.
 
#3 ·
Hey Canew!
I'm lucky enough to be a student and thus have alot of free time on my hands! especially suring the summer months! and because of this i usually get a minimum of 7-8 games of 40k in a week at gaming clubs/Games Workshops/my house and mates houses!

i woudnt worry about not being able to attend as much as you like.. Real Life often tkes things away from us that we enjoy and puts you up "craps creek" (PC'd it a bit lol) but it always knows how to give you it back through comprimise.

As for you thinking people look down on you not being able to attend... we don't.
Theres a guy at my local gaming club that hadn't been in contact with us (our gaming group) ever since my local games workshop closed... know that we have started up our own gaming club and have been running it for 2-3years he's finally decided to come down and play.. and I must say it is great seeing him...

Whenever and where-ever you make friends you will never loose them! they're always going to be that.. your friends! get down when you can.. I'm sure they'd like to see you, just as much as you would like to play the game :)

Tibby
 
#4 ·
Not even I, an unemployed who live 10mins from his local GW, find THAT much time to game these days. I much prefer the hobby side of it at the moment, which is weird, because when I was younger it was always the gaming that I enjoyed more and even putting them together seemed a chore.
 
#5 ·
I have a designated warhammer table in my attic.
I get to use it maybe once a month
 
#6 ·
I started collecting GW armies in late '06. Since then, I have played 5 games. Yep, just 5. I don't mind too much though, I'm a painter/collector more than a gamer. I'd like to have played a bit more, but I'm fairly sure I'm never going to be one of those people who play regularly. I'll just keep painting, until in the future I'll be a rookie general with absolutely enormous armies!
 
#8 · (Edited)
I play every Saturday. We have a group supported by a local indy comic shop. Start playing 40k at 10am, break in the afternoon for food, then some of us come back to play RPGs in the back room.

I'm fortunate enough to have a full time municipal job that gives me longer night shifts over fewer workdays. That way I only actually work 7 days out of every 14. Might need to fit a part time job in there soon though...

My wife gets the "quality time" she wants, and I get to make Saturday, MY day. Strangely, I'm always behind on painting.

EDIT: Forgot to add, I drive 50-60 miles(one way) to play each week. At least until I move in the next few months.
 
#9 ·
I am living in the countryside without knowing too much people for three years now... Also I work in impossible shifts (weekend afternoons for example), no weekend off. The closest club is 66 miles away and a GW store is 100 miles. :(

I played (ONCE) since I moved here bout three months ago with Dream Thief who stays somewhere near.

So, painting, converting till I`ll leave the area and go home and/or near to a City.

But the air and the scenery are just perfect :)
 
#10 ·
I feel your angst. I've got job, family, and house commitments that come before game time allowance. I may get in a game every few months, and I usually do so by signing up for local weekend tournaments or events. That way, I can pitch it to my wife that its an actual special occasion to pursue my hobby that she indulges but doesn't share.

Of course, as a result of playing so rarely, when it is a tournament-style get-together, I usually get an afternoon/evening of complete humiliation in return for my efforts to enjoy some games. Depending on the severity of the drubbing, it may cause me to switch from 40K to fantasy or just take a hiatus from the hobby for the next few months.

If I did have the ability to devote unscheduled time on Saturday afternoons to my own gaming, I'm lucky enough to have two excellent local stores with large gaming areas that are usually great spaces for pick up games. I know faces in both stores from tournaments, but just showing up for games on any afternoon is a luxury I don't have.
 
#11 ·
At least every 2-3 weeks at home.

I don't go to the club to play all that much, when my armies match the standard pointlimit i'll be playing a bit more and get some more varied games in.


It's still not quite enough though, we get so many cool ideas for campaigns and scenarios as soon as we start setting up the board that we never have time for.. :excruciating:
 
#12 ·
I get most of gaming done at tournaments. I might play about 2 games per month, but almost every month my local shop hosts a 3 round tournament. So there's about 5 games per month.
Depending on the size and interest levels of the tournament, my "team" will get together and play a few games to dial in the lists we're taking. That can add another 3 to 12 games to the play time.

So... it varies in spurts??
 
#13 ·
I barely manage to play anymore. Up at college I know one guy who plays, but the rigmarole involved in finding 6 hours of time between classes where we can monopolize a bunch of tablespace, leaves us playing only 1 or 2 rather unfulfilling games each term.

As for back home. I have a table in my room, 5 armies of 1000+ points, and 1500 points of DA & IG sitting on the table. I have been waiting to test my new IG list since June, and I can't even find time to play against myself.

I am a sad panda :excruciating:.
 
#14 ·
well i got laid off. so i get to play once a week. i meat my friend around 4 o'clock at the hobby store every Tuesday. so i take time look for work and then to the hobby store. i never really had hobby stores around me till now. so im taking full effect that i can get.
 
#15 ·
I have a small, local club that I attend two-three times a week with some of my friends. Haven't been there a lot lately though, what with the LO meet and having to work afternoons in my holiday season job.

Usually I get 1 or 2 games a week, so I guess I'm pretty lucky compared to a lot of people in this thread!

But yeah, life gets in the way, eventually. I'll be starting uni at the end of august and I think that it will severely limit my available hobby time.

I usually don't care too much if I don't get to game that often. Meeting my friends is far more important so it's good that several of them is in the hobby as well.
 
#18 ·
what with the LO meet .
The L.O meet was the last time i got to play a game and was the first time i had played in ages. But it really did remind me that there are many sides to this hobby. I often just class myself as a painter / converter but after playing some really good games at the meet i realized that i really do love playing the game as well, and not just to win (infact i lost every game at the L.O meet).

Hopefully i will get a better job soon and will be able to get a table for my home and be able to go to the games club aswell. It would be nice to get 1 or 2 games a week.
 
#20 ·
Usually at least once a fortnight, I have a club near me as well as a GW store, should have been playing tonight but I'm injured at present so the Imperial Fists will have to wait their debute. There are probably upwards of twenty five 40K players at the club as well as some regular FB players.
 
#21 ·
During term time it can be difficult since work inevitably sucks up part of the weekend. When not a slave to the little darlings lessons, the club I go to meets every other week...when I can usually get in a couple of games.
 
#24 ·
Well for e its changed recently. For months i have had a great gaming club near by so been able to play almost every week, about 3 games. But now its allchanged, i have moved and i cant seem to find a gaming club and the "local" GW is open only as i work. So im going to be lucky to get games in for the next year maybe get some in on weekend... sometimes.....maybe.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Ahh this was a question I was wondering about for a while, all the talk on the forum about people perfecting strategies, I wondered how often they play. Rep to canew for asking the question!

I play very very little. In some ways I'm lucky, I work in a school and can use the hall at the weekends when I want. My friends and I have an ample supply of scenery and miniatures. However like others have said, time seems to be the issue.

The lenght of a game seems to be my issue, from getting everything out and transferred to school or the house of someone who does not like in a 1 bed flat, playing, and putting it all away again takes hours. We've tried and tried and can't get a 2000 point game done in less than about 8 hours, so we never get to fit a quick game in. Having the facilities to have a table and scenery set up would speed things up, but mainly its a vicious circle.

Play little -> Forget Rules -> games take longer with all the looking up -> fit less games in.

Things were quicker when we played at Warhammer World, as the scenery was all set up, there was little tidying after, food was easily accessed and there were people there to explain rules issues. It took us somewhere between 4 and 5 hours to play our 1.5k game. Factor in a few hours up the M1 though and it doesn't look so good :(

How long do you guys need set aside for a reasonable sized game? To avoid thread jacking I'll set up a new one asking that.


I'll tell my story for why I have no time like others have. I had a great idea when I finished my undergrad degree that since I worked almost full time and did my degree I cold do the same for post grad, worked for masters, but now all the time I don't spend at work I spend in front of this computer (and that includes the weekend, this is a lunch break :) ), bar the few hours from about 6 till 10 in the evening. That has to include shopping, tidying, eating, painting and my friends and family. Not a lot left for gaming.

Second problem is that my gaming group started as a Dawn of War clan, so we're not all close. We only get to meet up once or twice a year as a group, although I have one mate round the corner and one about an hour away.
 
#26 ·
Being summer lately my friends and I have played up to two battles a week now for a few weeks. But the other 8 months before the last one I don't think we hardly had a battle. It is funny cause being summer we play all the time but once school starts I think my dark eldar are going to go back into mothballs :(
 
#27 ·
I go down to my local independant reatailer that I live maybe 2 or 3 miles away from every saturday for open 40k gaming, with about a dozen other regulars, and usually two por three other peoples that are just browsing, seeing what the game is like, or just come down occasionally for a game. Because of this I usually get two or three games of 40k in every week, plus 1 or 2 of necromunda at home at my own dedicated gaming table. In short I game.. Alot.
 
#28 ·
Ah, I can empathise with the older posters here. I got into GW through my son, whose interest vanished after about six months. Mine did'nt. That was twelve years ago. Now, I have over two companies of Ultramarines that are in the process of being repainted to a diy chapter. ( Sorry Ultra players. Calgar duffing up an Eldar Avatar was just too much - i had to get off that bus. )

Other times of sadness are finding out the new Rhino chassis completely blows away the old. Scrap those fifteen transports and tanks then, and start the armoury from scratch. When they decided to resize terminator bases i stood my ground though. The new assault termies look quite good on the small base, so long as you weight it down.


For the future, my long term project is converting my double garage into a Bar with pool table, and a six by eight game table I can rest on top of it. Then i can start Gaming ! Yeah, right after i win the national lottery.

Tell you what though, I'm determined to go to the LO meet next year !
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top