BlackBlowFly: Martian Ironearth & Wargaming Zen
Hi everyone !!! It’s your friendly neighborhood Black Blow Fly swinging by for another dose of hard core 40k enthusiasm !!!
I am primarily a tactical writer. You can think of this as my advice in a tactical manner how to enjoy the game and when I say tactical I mean strategic thinking to have fun not focused on winning. It’s fun to win but there are many great aspects to the game such as the fantastic background, modeling and painting. In my opinion why waste your time focused on hating ? If you hate on GW and 40k it just behooves yourself to find something else to spend your precious free time. If you do something you love you’ll be a much happier person in general.
If you know me then you know I love all things power armor. That said there are some xenos races I like too such as Dark Eldar, Necrons, Orks and Tyranids. I believe any army can be really strong on a competitive level, not just the EZ win armies like Eldar and Space Marines. The Tyranid fifth edition codex is right up there for all time worst but I did okay with it. If you’re willing to put your heart and soul into an army it can be whatever you want… It really can and an army doesn’t necessarily have to be the most competitive to be a lot of fun – it’s all about what you really want but then again you need to spend the time to discover what you really want. For example I prefer not to play internet meta lists but then again if others enjoy them it’s all win.
You can choose who you play and to a certain extent the game is a social contract. That said we must understand what the person on the other side of the table wants – it can’t be all about you. I remember not too long ago I was very close to quitting the hobby then I had a game where my opponent helped me with the rules and truly wanted me to have a good time. It completely changed my aspect on the game and drew me back into the game. Obviously in my mind these are the types of people you want to hang out with when spending time on the hobby.
So I want to talk a bit about a new technical paint from GW… Martian Ironearth. It’s an amazing color straight out of the pot and has me believing GW really wants to be the number table top hobby company. In many ways they are. They tell us they don’t really care much about competitive play and encourage us to forge narratives. I’m a competitive player at heart and always will be – it’s my nature but I also like to build armies with lots of unique conversions and paint them to the best of my ability. Small elite armies are optimal for me since every model can be heavily converted and I can spend lots of time painting them. We are what we are. Going back to what I said above my advice is to find like minded individuals and spend your time with them.
So back to Martian Ironearth… It really looks like a landscape from Mars which to me is simply amazing. Slather it on a big base, let it dry then dry brush with a bright orange and finally a light red wash… Really easy to do and looks quite awesome in my opinion. I learned to take my time painting and to enjoy it. Painting can be a form of mediation in which you are focused and it shuts off your mind from all those things you don’t want to have to think about for awhile. It’s never been easier to paint now with the wide range GW has to offer. You’re really missing out if you’ve never done some putty work with green stuff.
If you like to model I highly recommend looking into third party companies such as Dragon Forge, puppetswar and Secret Weapon Miniatures (SWM). Try it, you just might like it. I love Forgeworld too because they are the high end in my opinion of the hobby. If you like Space Marines I want to tell you their 30k Horus Heresy range is beside itself. The rules are air tight and every army is really good… Think about it for a moment – it’s much easier to balance the game for Space Marines versus Space Marines – it’s a good time for sure.
In conclusion I still like a competitive game but I respect casual gaming. In truth most people are somewhere in between these two states and over time if you stick with the hobby you’ll gravitate towards one end of the spectrum.
So in closing I ask what do you enjoy the most about the hobby and what keeps you in the game? We all know WAAC players like to borrow other people’s armies – they can’t ever be bothered to lift a brush – wow they are really missing out on so many of the good things this game has to offer…
I really feel for them too…
