WFB: It’s Time to Play – Part 1: The Switch Over from other Systems

I thought before I start going through rules and semantics that I would first try to talk a little about the switch from one game system to Fantasy.

For me that is Fantasy.

First I’m going to address those people questioning why they should switch and then I’m going to talk to those people who are already in the process of switching.

• The Fluff: The story behind each army and the game as an entirety is incredible. Historical background, individual backgrounds, items, scenarios and games developed around the history. There is a great love in Fantasy groups for the fluff.

• The People: whether casual game night or weekend tournament Fantasy players tend to band 
  together for a drink, meals, socialization, and enjoy developing a bond and community where they are friends with their competitors.  You are never simply treated as another competitor: you are high fived, laughed with, joked with and teased.

The first year I attended a local multi-system convention there was roughly 40 Fantasy players, and the same for each of several other systems; after the day 1 games 20 Fantasy players converged upon a pub together: pulled the tables together and sat down involving as many people in the conversation as they could. When players arrived from other systems I observed that they were in groups of 2 or 3, nodded at other small clusters of gamers and found a seat somewhere in the pub where the two or three of them could talk. When more Fantasy players came in room was made with the large group. It was awesome, it did not matter that I was the only girl there, it did not matter that some of those people had never met each other before that morning, they accepted everyone into the circle of friends. 

In my opinion the people we game with are the absolute best reason to switch over to Fantasy. After a recent local multi-system convention occurred and a couple of the comments from non-Fantasy players makes me think a few other people are starting to see this too:

“The Fantasy players sounded like they were having a lot of fun and the Warhammer Fantasy armies looked fantastic. With the majority of armies 100% painted and to such high standards it was enjoyable to just walk around looking at the armies. The 40K community could learn a lot from the Fantasy players both in terms of painting, display and approach to the game….makes me wish I had bought Fantasy all these years instead of 40K”

 “I noticed a lot more fun going on in the Fantasy room compared to the 40K room.”

This may be different in different areas and with different gamers, as I know I have seen some beautifully painted 40K armies as well.

Vern’s Daemons

Ryan’s Lord on Disc

I just have two things to say to those who keep saying they are hoping for someone or something to convince them to play Fantasy:

• If you want to play just do it already. If you’re not already playing Fantasy but you want to then do it: stop waiting for someone to convince you (because we have already tried) and just do it. The game changes with every edition, some changes you will like and some you won’t, the models might change a little but mostly they`re going to stay the same, and the price of models I can`t do anything about but if you really want to play you just need to do it.
•  No one says you have to stop playing other systems. Perhaps the biggest misconception people make is thinking they can only play one system. There is no reason you can`t play 40k, Flames of War, Malifaux, Warmachine or any other game system AS WELL AS Fantasy. No one says you must play tournaments with them all or that you have to give them up altogether to play Fantasy. That would be like saying if you like Chocolate ice cream you can’t like Tiger or Strawberry Ripple or if you play Monopoly you can’t play Catan or Risk.

Already Switching?
You have found a reason…now what?

If you are like me the idea of switching between game systems is almost like changing socks: you reach in a drawer and pull out a pair, then sit down and put them on. I have Fantasy, 40K, and X-wing currently and play all three fairly regularly. Now that you have found a reason to play Fantasy it can sometimes be intimidating or challenging to break into the Fantasy groups.

The Rules Difference
When I first started to play and decided I was going to actually learn to play 40K (I might have started out with a 40K army but I hadn’t learned to play choosing to start with

the Fantasy rules) I found that the hardest part was keeping the rules straight. The turn in 40K is movement, shooting, charges, combat whereas Fantasy is charges, movement, magic, shooting, combat. Remembering that difference took some time but my opponents were always quick to correct me or understanding. The comment of “sorry been playing round bases and forgot” is a commonly heard statement after not playing Fantasy for a few weeks. The biggest advice I can give is: don’t be daunted by it, it might seem overwhelming at first but in most areas Fantasy players are just glad to see you playing square bases so prefer to help you along than to expect you to know everything right off. And worst case there are the last few pages of the rule book to help you along with a nice summary of the key rules.

Finding Opponents?

Hopefully before you started playing Fantasy you already knew a person or two in the Fantasy circle in your area but if you didn’t I think that it is pretty easy to do–especially with this world of technology. 

Our little Island has Facebook groups, twitter, and easily found forums where we post and can find each other. We don’t have game stores or hobby shops in every community so we have set up game nights that we discuss publicly but are hosted at people’s homes. The same is probably true for most gaming areas. If you do have a hobby shop/game store in your area that the best place to start because the shop staff will know people that play.

To everyone:
Get On With Playing

Whether you decide to start playing Fantasy or stick with the game systems you already collect I hope you will enjoy yourself and have fun because that is really what playing any game is about. It is less important what game system you enjoy so much as that you enjoy one and play it.

Author: Jen A

Jen is a tabletop wargamer with over 10 years of experience. Her specialty is Warhammer Fantasy. She began writing for BoLS in 2013.