Table Top Motivation Part 1: What Holds You Back?

Welcome back. It's not very often I post much outside of conversions, shout outs and beating topics to death. Today is one of those rare pearls where I egotistically voice my opinion on something that I've thought about. Seeing as you all itch for my words of wisdom, possibly even thinking about my opinions day in and day out, here's a treat. (If you're still reading this, I'm shocked.) It occurred to me these last few days that I've done very little in the way of 40k or anything hobby related in the last month. I could attribute it to real life goings-ons, which there have been plenty of (moving, work, PnP, entertaining the ladies and bailing people out of jail.) But outside of those things, I have had spare time here and there. So, in part one of this installment I ask; what keeps me from my hobby? And less importantly, what keeps you from your hobby? More after the break.

So Many Questions. So Much Pretentiousness. So Little Time.

First, where did it all go? The motivation. Currently on my workbench is 10 Warriors, 5 Flayed Ones and a Monolith that need to be painted. Also the idea for a small Crimson Fist army and of course, the AdMech. I'll hammer these out one by one starting with the Necrons.

The Necrons are a pretty easy subject. They're arguably the worst army currently in 40k and therefor a true labor of love if you started one up in 5th Edition. I win games with them here and there, but those are typically 2000+ point lists giving Necrons room to strut their stuff with higher cost selections. Winning with 'crons is never easy, anyone can tell you that, which is where part of the lack of motivation comes from for finishing them off. Truly the only reason I play Necrons is because they're robot zombies. And let me make something perfectly clear here: there's nothing cooler than robot zombies.

Nothing.

This didn't deter me from completing the Necron force I have so far, though. It was merely a speed bump. The real trial came when Necron rumors started flying up. Not the ones we've heard for the last few years that the fanboys keep spewing out, but actual, realistic and plausible rumors. This is typically the sign that the codex is being worked on by GW. When this started happening I felt the need to halt my work. Why keep paying for and creating FOC choices when they could be completely useless come codex release? This is something I've never gone through, having walked into the game during 2008. I attest this to the final nail in the coffin that is the downfall of my Necron production.

Next is an idea I started churning around in my head after witnessing this beautiful piece of artwork by Volomir. After seeing this, I was truly inspired. I love the Crimson Fists, despite my mind always labeling their name as a metaphor for masterbation.

Looks Like A Typical Friday Night, To Me.

The stories I've read about Pedro Kantor make me excited in the pants ironically enough; that guy is a true bad ass. Aside from fluff, bringing Sternguard Veterans (easily my favorite unit in the codex) as a scoring unit is fantastical. I've considered this before, but was so gungho about Ultramarines for a while I figured I needed to stay on that path. But, as some of you know, once I learned how to compete effectively with Ultramarines (transport spam) I grew bored of them quite fast. This is what's holding me back from this project. I've been there and done that. Vanilla Marines are overpriced in almost every page of the book in comparison to Blood Angels and Space Wolves and don't have as many toys as their counterparts as well. Ultramarines aren't a bad dex by any means, it's just the newer codices overshadow it just like it overshadows the Dark Angels codex. And my planning on purchasing Grey Knights, assuming the codex works like it does in my head based on rumor, is another reason to hold back on another SM army. All of these things combined with a good helping of laziness to break into my old box of SMs is what's caused me lack of motivation for this project.

Finally, the AdMech. As you all know, I've been working on a FanDex for the Adeptus Mechanicus for the last 9 months or so. I desperately want to start model building for the dex, but I'm truly standing in my own way here. I'm a completest. I hate moving on to another project if another isn't finished, and I refuse to do so if both projects affect each other directly. This is the problem with the FanDex. In updates soon to come, I've gutted some of the units from the version that's out right now and replaced them with new ones. While I know there are certain units I will never want to remove, there's still that lingering fear that I will create models for a unit and then end up removing it from the dex completely.

See; Land Speeders

So there you have it. Incoming codex changes, fear of boring playstyle, laziness and being a neurotic completest. All completely understandable and valid reasons, and not at all bullcrap excuses.

So, what are some examples of what keeps you from your goals on the table top?

Part two will continue later this week.