Greetings wargamers and hobbyists, and welcome to the 'overlap'. Watch where you step in this hall, not all of it is quite real...
The most excellent Sprue Cutters Union continues to go from strength to strength, and week on week the topics assigned provide a challenge. This week's topic is no exception, and in my case dovetails neatly with the topic discussed last week, which was about our other half's feelings about our hobby.
This week, the topic is:
- How has living in the small scale world influenced your day-to-day view or understanding of the 1:1 world? -
- Or 'How obsessed am I with this hobby?' -
Oh my goodness. I am not going to come out of this well...
Following on from last week's post, I think that I generally only started to realise how deep I am into this hobby when my wife started saying things like 'but it's not real...' and I answer 'I know...but' and carry on regardless.
As I am sure you are aware by now, I am a wargamer. Wargamer first, modeller second. Responsible citizen somewhere on the next continent...
I play multiple games set in the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 settings, and as anyone who is familiar with these settings will be aware, they are vast, almost limitless in their possibilities.
Warhammer Fantasy is set in a world of darkness, powerful magic, evil creatures and vast armies battling for the attention of the gods. Warhammer 40,000 is set in the far future, mankind on the brink of destruction, and beset on all sides by alien races and traitor hordes.
When you start to realise just how much material has been produced in the last twenty to thirty years, that's a huge volume of text giving depth and dynamism to the settings, and that's before you add in the untold thousands of fan fiction pieces set free in the aether. It is probably more detailed and vivid, almost more real, than many history books.
Do I think I can still clearly see the boundaries between the game fluff and the real world? Of course I can. I'm not that far gone. But do I sometimes apply the values of the armies and factions I play in the games to real world situations? In a superficial tongue in cheek kind of way, sometimes, yes.
Do I see stories on the news and think 'how different would that be if they had a couple of squads of Space Marines to throw in there?'. Yes, sometimes I do. When I see news stories about prison riots, I might comment on how lucky they are that the entire inmate population hasn't been executed already, as a precautionary measure.
I don't think the modelling aspect of the hobby affects my view of the world (though I am forever picking up bits and pieces of packaging and containers for use in terrain building, and I love visiting castles which can inspire building projects), but the setting and background material certainly has. Don't worry, I'm not about to try and unleash Exterminatus on an unsuspecting world, and my decision making functions haven't been corrupted by the promises of Slaanesh (yet), but my attitude towards some things has been coloured, I hope for the better.
My attitude towards people from other countries and cultures for example. I am always interested in speaking to and learning about people from other places, and harbour no animosity based on a persons ethnicity or cultural heritage. Why? Because the background of the Imperium of Man in the 41st millenium has instilled a sense that we are all human beings together, and we need to stick together in order to maximise the chances of the continued prosperity of our race. Ridiculous really that it should take a work of outstanding science fiction to teach us something so obvious.
Maybe the warring nations of the world should take heed. We really need to put our differences aside and work together, for the betterment of our species...
...before the Tyranids get here.
If you would like to read the posts of more sensible Union Members, check out the links below.
Finally, if you would like to join the Union, look here. All you need is a blog and a passion for the miniature modelling and collecting hobby. The Union Members are a varied bunch with a broad range of hobby experience, so we all have something interesting to bring to the table, regardless of our hobby background.
As always, thanks for reading.
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