In a funk again. Just can't get excited. Not codex fault.

[Davor]

I am in one of those funks again. I just can't pick up the glue or paint brush. I want to start modelling again, BUT just don't have the desire to do so.
This has nothing to do with the 6th edition codex. Even if it was super awesome, I would still be in this funk.

I was so excited to start gaming again, and modelling and painting. Maybe because I see all those haunts it has turned me off. I get everything
ready, and then either just put it down, or have a brain freeze and don't know what to do. I did line up with what I have. A few got broken .
I guess I have 2 or 3 different colour schemes, I don't feel like stripping the old one. I will just buy new ones when it comes to it. I just don't know
where to start. I was thinking of finally putting together my metal Lictor I bought used. I guess he could be the beginning of the invasion.

What do you guys and girls do whenyou are in this funk where you don't feel like it? What gets you motivated? What is your painting techniques?

Let me read your stories (again) to get myself motivated.

Davor

[forteh]

Progress gets me motivated, I've had unpainted gaunts for years now simply because I've not looked forward to painting the same model repeatedly (it's not like I have loads of then either, 105 gaunt species in total).

Being able to airbrush the primer and skin tones made it infinitely more enjoyable because I can get the skin painted ready to wash in a couple of minutes per miniature, that includes all of the lighting; literally wash and then drybrush the highlights.

Now I find I can blast through 20 gaunts in a matter of hours and the rewards come much quicker and spur me on. I tend to do a large brood then a single monstrous creature to go to town on

[biomassbob]

I hear you Davor. I have trouble getting motivated to paint and model as well, but my lack of motivation mostly stems from my dislike of GW and what they have done to my favourite army (5th ed dex and now this one). I have some broken metal models sitting near me, that have been broken for quite a while.

That said, when I do decide to play this can help to get me motivated. We have a big tournament coming up in 2 weeks that has a painting requirement and since I want to use nids (even as angry about them as I am) I have to finish the models I will use. So even with the points above, I still find things like this help motivate me sometimes to get the model finished. For example I finished my mawloc and second flyrant (and made a set of TL devourers), and have been painting many bugs. I still have to paint some more hormagaunts and paint the second flyrant but I think most of the rest has been done.

I prefer playing with painted models. Do you find time to play yet, as this can be a motivator - to have nice models on the tabletop (when I say nice I just mean painted since I am an average painter). I find it satisfying to get models that I use painted up for play.

You might try to set yourself some small goals. Don't look at the whole pile of models that need painting. Pick a few and focus on them. Forget about the rules issues and GW and just imagine the model and fluff while you are working on them. Good luck.

[Inquisitor Stingray]

Hmm, that depends on whether we're talking a sense of depression that pervades the entirity of your life or simply the hobby aspect. What really motivates me is the aspect of getting things done. But getting things done requires motivation, so it's a bit of a catch-22. Sometimes there's just this curious sense of... intertia, in everything you do. The assembly instructions seem overly complicated, the clippers are dull, that little metal tube thingy has been glued shut and so on. Being intrisically motived to do these things can be difficult, I find it much more compelling to spend time on, when I know that date X or weekend Y I will be playing a game or two. Also, and this sounds very reckless and go-to materialistic, if you're fiddling with old metal models that refuse to stick together or simply have worn out their use, buying a new kit can really spicy things up. Like one of the new fliers or the dual-Guard kit. I find that building never models (well, basically anything that isen't Gaunts, metal or Finecast) is motivating even during the act. Assembling the Haruspex (ahh, don't kick me!) was a fun and rewarding experience, even if time consuming.

As for the painting part, that really seems to differ from person to person. Some people can use days on masterfully painting a single Gaunts and still feel satisfied with what they accomplished, while others splash their models with paint and call it a job done. Personally I'm trapped in the middle, because deep down inside I know that carefully painting each and every model will yield decent results, but the prospect of doing so is just overwhelming.

[tsinner]

Funks suck...I usually read..black library fluff. Watch starship troopers or alien..grab my buddies Scott and Chris to have a games weekend to paint roll dice build terrain..I try and cruise the inter webs on painting tutorials or just google image the ass out of everything..it's like going to the gym ..sometimes you just gotta kick yourself in the ass and go..you always feel better afterward..so pick up your brush and paint..do it....do it NOW!

[Kwodd]

This new codex has been giving me motivation to work on my other armies, white scars and orks, the jumping around always brings me back to nids then repeats itself.

[mobugs]

I'm in the same funk. Minor burn out on part I think. I was going gang busters getting ready for an apoc game then I got sick and now I am lacking motivation to get back to modeling. Think I need to get a game in maybe

[Davor]

I bought the iPad version of the 40K rule book. I am hoping this will make it easier for me to relearn the rules. This way I can say to myself, when I finally get to game, I only use the minis I painted. I am hoping this works.

[werewalrus]

I usually paint listening to podcasts. Try to focus on the ones that don't whine all the time, and it might help. Its nice to focus on some positive outlooks when painting, in that their enthusiasm can rub off on you. I also have a friend that's a really good painter, and its nice to have a new painted model every time that we play since we try to 1-up each other with new painting techniques/freehand. Good luck to ya...and don't give up.

[fleetofclaw]

Yeeeaaaah, I bet if this codex was fun, creative, and offered a diversity of viable unit options you would not be in this funk. Just a hunch.

[commandersasha]

Fleetofclaw has a strong point: a lot of us are suffering from a crashing letdown.
I think 6th is the best ruleset yet, but there is the opportunity for abuse, and both the powergamers, and more sadly GW, have abused it sorely. It is definitely all about the shooting, so this codex should have had some mechanic-breaking army-wide rules to bypass this: if it had, Tyranids would have been fluffy and balanced.

Instead we got a half-baked cut-and-paste codex by committee, guided by a shameless priority to sell models. EVERY dual model kit has had the previous build nerfed, the other boosted, to re-sell the kits.

I personally am boycotting ALL GW products, and the only reason my group are still playing 40k is because we have agreed on a set of house rules (no fliers/swooping FMCs, Wyches get invun against overwatch, Tau don't get supporting overwatch, Ignores LoS is snap-shot only, multiple flamers overwatching do 1D6 total hits)

If I were you, I'd jump ship for a bit, as my group largely has: X-Wing is an awesome exciting game, the pre-painted minis make you want to pick them up and zoom them round the room; Malifaux is great fun, with small crews and exquisitely sculpted minis, Dreadzone is a great BloodBowl re-make, Studio McVey's Zombie game is beautiful...and there's also some amazing themed board games: Battlestar, Firefly, Arkham Horror.

Get back to gaming with mates, beer and pretzels, favourite music playing, and no bunch of corporate bullies wrecking your precious hobby and gaming time.

[Inquisitor Stingray]

Feb 1, 2014 20:00:22 GMT commandersasha said:

Fleetofclaw has a strong point: a lot of us are suffering from a crashing letdown.
I think 6th is the best ruleset yet, but there is the opportunity for abuse, and both the powergamers, and more sadly GW, have abused it sorely. It is definitely all about the shooting, so this codex should have had some mechanic-breaking army-wide rules to bypass this: if it had, Tyranids would have been fluffy and balanced.

Indeed, the few new additions to our codex merely follows the trend of favouring shooting and list monotony/redundance, rather than trying to work around it in creative ways. Regardless of what you of the model or the actual rules, the Exocrine really does feel like grandpa GeeDub telling his least favorite grandchild 'sure, you can have one of those uninspired S7 AP2 spammy things, just like the rest.' It's treating the symptoms, not the cause. Like pissing your pants to stay warm.

Ahem, but I shouldn't be derailing this further. It's my impression that Davor isen't so bummed about the new codex, after all if you're only just relearning the rules, you are much too busy to notice what blatantly stinks in this codex. And to clarify, I mean this in a optimistic sense, not in a patronizing way. As for when you are actually building/painting/ audiobooks or podcasts are really good. I find that the two don't "conflict" with each other, unlike reading and listening to radio or whatever. Doesn't have to be Warhammer related, just whatever you feel like. There's a lot of free stuff on iTunes U, if you want to listen to history, philosophy, language or something along those lines.

[Rahab]

Only one thing has ever worked to get me motivated to paint. I made a vow not play with any model not fully painted and based to the best of my ability, and I've stuck to it for almost three years now. If this means I miss out on an event or can't join a gaming league because my figures aren't ready to go, so be it.

I also try to set up deadlines for myself. If I know there's a tournament coming up in a month, I'll write my list to include a new unit, and get to painting in hopes of finishing it in time to use. I also don't buy more models than I can paint in a reasonable amount of time (Helps me pay the bills, too!). There's nothing worse than staring down 50+ termagants/gnoblars/skinks at a time and trying to get excited about putting the brush to all of them.

My final trick is audiobooks. With a good 6+ hour book going, the time and the models fly by. I collect the Deathlands series, one of a surprising number of post-apocalyptic survival stories marketed towards over-the-road truck drivers (after enough hours on the freeway, I suppose a nuclear holocaust starts to sound mildly refreshing). They sell them at truck stops, and also on the internet.

[slug]

I'm hearing you Davor. I haven't painted any GW stuff for weeks. Have a break, do other stuff, but a few models, pile them on your table and you'll get the urge again. Personally, I bought some Malifaux and I'm learning a new system.

[chuckles]

Funks are a part of the hobby, I've been through about 3 now. It helps to have other stuff to alternate with like MtG or tabletop roleplaying (I don't really count videogaming as a hobby, more like a lifestyle). Don't force it, just accept that you're not feeling the hobby right now and store the stuff in a reasonably secure and undusty place so you don't find yourself with a lot of fixing to do when/if you come back.