Captain Idaho

1. How many regular people play war games in your group? = 7. 2. How long have you been in the hobby? = 30 years... at least! 3. Is your group growing? = Nope. 4. What games does your group play? = Soon to be Legions Imperialis enmass once the Necromunda campaign ends. There are Warcry games and AoS occasionally too. Some 40K but that's diminished hard. 5. How often do people leave your group? How often do new people come into your group? = I'm old enough for our group to just be still and stable. Forever, until it isn't. 6. Age Range of oldest player? = Do you mean age as opposed to age range? 42. 7. Age Range of Youngest Player? = As above query... 26 but he's an anomaly as the rest of us are 39-42. 8. Average age of player? = 39-42... with a single 26 year old. 9. Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)? = Either my friend's house or my other friend's garage. 10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying? Please explain why. = Honestly I think it's deeper than that. Getting new people into the hobby seems to be diminishing, particularly younger people. Why put the effort in when the kids can play a PS5 eh? We're spending less. We're not made of money and the costs going up means we buy less as you need so much to get a credible game in. 3D printers do indeed have an impact here too. Recent "events" by GW are discouraging folk from buying in too. It's a big hobby though, with GW being the highest corporate overlord so seeing whether there are trends echoing my experience remains to be seen.

Thanks. I was actually really proud of glowing blue effect on the hammer as normally I struggle with such things, so means a lot you picked up on it. :) I'm really enjoying painting Necromunda models. I'm working on the cherub with power pick I created and Prize Fighter and then I'll do some Mastiffs and finish up likely with 2 more Wreckers... because they're cool!

We had a downtime scheduled so we could get a bit of a refresh and increase the rate of games and threat to territories (rackets) by challenges instead of accruing territories. So with a healthy 250 credits and my stash, ready for a Pitfight with some bad enemies I built and painted this dude: Jack "Bane-Hammer" He's a unit! Took out a Sumpcroc and Goliath Stimmer, took a Necrobeamer to the chops and laughed then was exhausted by a rogue Deacon who took advantage of an exhausted dude who failed his charge. 2nd place lol. But he smashed and turns out Ark Hammers are alright. Helps to have a Stim-slug stash and 1+ functional armour save eh.

Hopefully they'll remake it, though that could clash with Necromunda now they've introduced vehicles?

There's a 2nd edition short story, 2 pages long, of a Farseer who wakes up from a nightmare and it describes the clothing I'm sure, but I can't for the life of me remember the source - Codex Imperialis or Codex Eldar... maybe the wargear or rulebook but I don't think so. Dang that'll drive me nuts.

=][= We're going political again. Posts have been removed. I'm closing this down. =][=

I'm closing this down for a review and cool down. Attacking each other, discussing off topic subjects, condescension - oh the condescension. I'll raise the discussion with the B&C Moderation team as there's a lot that needs to be looked at and a way forward needed. I'll of course raise the question "can the topic be salvaged, has it run its course, do we get benefit in the community to allow it to continue and escalation being a possibility. If it can be opened and the team decides it can, I'm sure it will.

Particularly sad times for me to see such amazing peers as @Chaplain Lucifer and @Brother Lunkhead to leave. Thanks for all your hard work, guys.

You've hit the nail on the head there; it's personal. It might be a great change, it might be a terrible change, it most likely won't change things much at all and we're posting about this in vein (lol) If it's a good change and I'm someone who it doesn't appeal to, then so be it! The hobby isn't mine after all. That's how we should all be of course. Anyway, that's my position on it and I hope I've illustrated a different angle that shows not every differing opinion has to be a line drawn the sand type of thing.

@Trysanna thanks for your extensive reply, much appreciated. You're right there is a case of masculine and feminine in a literal sense where men can be feminine in a number of ways etc. I totally get that. The idea that I was saying appeals for me is more of an intrinsic, subconscious level that appeals to people like me. As an example, watching a Gina Carano pummel Colossus in Dead Pool was cool but I don't feel an actual connection to her in the way I did watching 300 and Captain Artemis lose it when he looked on in pride of his son only to see him fall. Similarly, watching Dredd and Anderson in the film of Dredd was great to watch. The direct and brutal masculine of Dredd and the psychic and intelligent Anderson in his wake bug never his shadow. Good dynamic. I get those things as they directly appeal to me. Just for clarity and to make sure it isn't missed by those who may take a cursory glance at this post (sorry for the long text also) but it is my perspective. I love my perspective and what appeals to me might not appeal to others. If female Custodes brings in thousands more than it puts off so be it! Good move by the hobby! But not for me. I wouldn't be appealed to by the change and it actively detracts me from the Custodes and even game universe a little. This is because it doesn't appeal to me. Whether it appeals to young masses I don't know but I can say that the hobby is predominantly male and that won't change no matter how many times I show female models to girls on a tinder date My boys, 2 and growing, follow my trends also. (It's probably a different topic to discuss the market and my brain can't cope with that so it's a passing reference only) Anyway, disastrous dating stories aside, I do feel like there's space in 40K for factions that are mixed sex and those that aren't. There can be a narrative for everyone somewhere and I feel the narrative is only going for one theme at present which just turns me away.

To provide a different perspective, I don't like the change. A personal preference to me was the idea of masculine and feminine, opposites conceptually if you will, tied together to make a greater whole. The masculine being Custodes and feminine being Sisters of Silence; they both provide different themes and are together better than they ever could be apart. A progressive visual of working together and combining our differences for a virtuous result. By removing the masculine narrative, the concept doesn't work. Another aspect lost that I enjoyed was the Custodes being a fraternity. They combine with a sorority in the Sisters of Silence, but are their own entities too. How a fraternity interacts internally and with allies and enemies under duress, success or failures is interesting to me. The dynamic between Valerian and Aleya was a highlight to me as they complemented each other so well. The First Heretic and other novels nicely showed how the dynamic between Astartes and Custodes ebbed and flowed, the good and bad. The similarities and contrasts between two fraternities, two brotherhoods. It appeals to me on a personal level. Being a large, working man myself with a sporting history and friends within and around such a thing, I enjoy reading the echoes of fraternity. There's nothing wrong with a faction or two having sex specific theme. There's plenty of room in the galaxy to have mixed sex factions and some aren't, to provide a variety of themes for all to enjoy. On that note, I'd theme my miniatures to personal preference and it wouldn't be an issue practically speaking, but my interest in the background of the faction (alongside the dynamic of Sisters of Silence) has waned. On a personal level, my connection to the faction has diminished.

Ooo made a third weapon carrying cherub for my Road Captain, so I can float between the benefits of both a Servo Claw and Power Pick depending on target (with most of the time it being better to hit with both anyway). Our campaign has plenty of softer targets with poor or no armour, so the servo claw is great but adding a power pick gives me options against the Enforcers and other characters and their armour. And I didn't have to maim my model to do it!

=][= (Edited for clarity) There's little discussion of the evidence put forward of female Custodes in the lore (topic) or rules or representation and the subject matter has seen snide remarks and off topic discussion. Whilst it is on topic to discuss referencing a change in background and how you feel about it, it quickly dips into off topic realms. =][=

Thanky Looking forward to doing some painting this weekend actually. Working on my Arms Master with Ark Hammer.

I've got friends who play One Page Rules and it's notable everyone I know who plays it, including Facebook groups etc, all are rather more liberal let's say regarding where they source their models... be it ebay or 3D printing etc. So it's definitely a case where it detracts from sales in the company for those individuals. Whilst many people point to GW making profits, personally as I've said before... Long term success needs a commited older hobbyist who spends money. I think rosey times now doesn't mean we don't need to see the work done to keep people happy later on. Customer retention is always key.