This, like all my part 1's, is a bit of a rambler.
As many of you are probably aware, I used to work in a hobby shop. I worked there for the better part of 10 years and in my time there became very interwoven with the hobby. Debatably interwoven enough to do things like start a blog, or a podcast. Since "leaving the industry" some odd five years ago I've flirted, probably more than casually with the hobby in various ways. Always participating in some capacity but discovering how I interface with it in a very different way from "the outside." I could really wax lyrical about that for hours at this point but I say all this to say I had a really interesting day.
See, when you surround yourself 22 hours a day with "hobby people" you tend to forget what it's like for "non hobby people." I think this goes without saying but though I'm referring specifically to Wargames, Painting, Boardgames and RPG when I say "hobby," I do truly believe this sentiment extends to any sort of "enthusiast. Whether you collect comics, sports memorabilia, vintage 90's Vampire the Masquerade novels, or are more of bowler, golfer, sporty type, I do think that outside looking in, our hobbies tend to be a bit of a great unknown.
This all comes to an interesting head today. Part of the company culture at the company I work for now includes a sort of annual check in. Similar to a review, you meet with your direct boss and discuss things like goals and plans for the future. Less of a review by the numbers and more a personable check in. Now obviously these are conversations any manager worth their salt should be having anyway but I think the process is a good one and it leads to interesting conversations and shared experiences. See, part of what makes these consultations so interesting is that the people giving them are sort of explicitly instructed to do "some sort of activity, that the employee chooses" they're told to get out of the office and not just go for lunch or something. My teammates chose things like the firing range, or bow hunting in the woods.
This was something we did last year and now for two years we've chosen an activity that I think really gets to show my interests and gets me talking. Today was the second of these I've done and for the second year in a row, I've chosen to go tour a few hobby shops in our area and show my boss some of what I get into in my free time.
My boss is a bit of a nerd as well and is definitely aware of things like Warhammer, even having read several of the black library novels. So none of this was "new" in that sense but as he looked at some of the kits, games, books etc, beyond sticker shock, he had several questions that I really enjoyed answering because it gave me a chance to sort of be the expert and share something I take such enjoyment from.
One question in particular was "so is there's just a guy in here? already painted?" in reference to the Lion El Johnson kit. I found a clamshell blister and began explaining sprues and such. Also humorously he said "he's older than I imagined" to which I responded with a comment about yeah, you haven't seen him in 10,000 years, not since the heresy."
It did really get me thinking though. I realize that most of my readers (all 8 of you) are really aware of what this hobby entails but it was an interesting peek in from the outside again. I explained sprue cutters and how the game is kind of like risk but more complicated. We had a very long talk about "if all the games are the same or if they're totally different." For a lot of the conversation though, the subject of sticker shock, pricing, and content per dollar came up. When I first got into the hobby, 3-4 hundred bought you a decent army and now, 300 is the asking price of 2 750 point starters in the Armageddon box.
Mostly, what got me to open up this old blog though was the thought of step by step document just how much I'm "getting out of this hobby" so to speak. I redownloaded Brushrage and was thinking about documenting fully, the painting of this box set.
To start however, since I plan on sharing this entire entry/series with my boss to show him as well, I wanted to actually take the box out, open it up and show exactly whats in it from a new persons eyes.
You've seen the box art up top but here's what's advertised on the back, promises of miniatures and rules and more. Oddly this box contains no dice or measuring devices, making it technically unplayable as a single purchase, paint supplies not withstanding. Part of what makes the "starter sets" their own thing is inclusion of those elements.
Opening the box we are immediately greeted by a pile of plastic frames and bases.
Here I've got all the Space Marine sprues laid out, with a standard mechanical pencil for scale.
For the most part, space marines come on one frame, orks are separate. The Comanders for each side share a sprue in this case. Presumably because they only come in this box and arent available outside of it but thats just me guessing.
These are each of the Ork sprues. You get two of the bottom left sprue so I've only shown one.
This sprue in particular I find kind of strange as it comes with 10 orks and 5 goblins by my quick glance, meaning those units are sold as one kit. I am wondering what the long term plan is for those, whether they'll be getting another set with more options or what. I have gone into this project without reading much discourse and will have to see what the community thinks.
The banner is sculpted but has room for an included decal or freehand design
Below all this plastic is a pile of paper in the form of several books and cards. Having not played any of 10th edition, I don't know the role of all these components but if the project goes long enough may revisit this later. Personally, I bought these to paint and collect but am interested in giving 11th a go.
The core rulebook is actually a smaller format than I was expecting which is great as it makes it easier to lug to a game. In it are just rules, no story lore etc. Included is an instruction booklet that comes full of painted examples. For a new person, this is useful but a bit of a disclaimer, theres no painting instructions beyond cursory inspiration.
I'm currently finishing another project which I'll post shortly but the next step for the Armageddon project is to pick a unit and show exactly what goes in to painting it. The plan is to share this article/series with some of my non hobby people and just give a little insight into what it is I love about this.
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