Welcome back to another edition of “Mayday, Miss Marcy!” where I, Marcy, answer YOUR questions! Last week we kicked things off by talking about how much mania is too much mania in hobby building, how to realize you are in charge of demoing games you like, and concerns about whether people will think you are a nerd for reading books while playing a game of tiny army men. Let’s reach into the mailbag, brew up a fresh cup of coffee (this week, I’m preferring my Aeropress), and dive in!
Crusader? I Barely Know Her!
Miss Marcy, I joined my first 40k crusade a few months ago and I’ve really been enjoying it but as I’ve played in 6 out of 7 games our campaign has logged in administratum I worry about “becoming the main character of the campaign” or stealing the spotlight. I suppose I’m too underemployed for this. But on the other hand I may as well enjoy the crusade to the fullest right? Is there an etiquette to this sort of thing?
Thanks for your time,
Concerned Crusader.
Dear Concerned,
Main character syndrome can certainly be a fear, but the fact that you’re somewhat self-conscious enough to be worried about it should allay some of your fears; from your question, it doesn’t sound like you are being unbearably omnipresent in the games, but instead you are being the thing your campaign desperately needs: consistent. Whether you are winning or losing your games, you are actively present at them, which I can guarantee you if you asked your campaign organizer(s) would get you an answer of “thank you for showing up”. Why? Because without consistent players, most campaign style events wither on the vine. The fact that you’ve been at 6 out of 7 of them likely had the impact of ensuring other games also happened, even if you weren’t aware of it; simply knowing other people will be showing up to play and participate can often be enough to motivate less decisive or more anxious members to do so as well.
If you consider a campaign like Crusade in comparison to a board game or TTRPG setting, I think it becomes easier to see that you aren’t being overbearing with your presence, but instead being a glue that holds things together and helps get people motivated to participate. The fear you have of being “main character” is something others would apply to a person who wants everything to cater to them, whereas from your description, it sounds like you are simply doing exactly what you said: Getting your mileage! So go out there and crusade and know that the people who set all of it are probably thrilled someone seems so engaged with it.
Courting Casuals Carefully
Mayday, Miss Marcy!I have some friends that are, shall we say, passively interested in Warhammer, in that they think it’s interesting but are hesitant to take the plunge and buy/paint their own models. I’ve played a pick-up game with them to show off the rules, and they liked it, but the hesitancy remains. What would you suggest as some next steps? I just want to play toy soldiers with my friends!
Sincerely,
A Lonely Blood Angel.
Dear Lonely,
It sounds like you are doing your due diligence to help introduce people to the hobby you enjoy, and that you’ve taken the steps to have available items and time to help demo the game to try and attract their interest. If they still seem hesitant despite having fun, I think it might be worth your time to consider what, exactly, the hesitancy hinges on. Is it time, money, or something else? Time can be a tricky problem because we often forget that hobbying requires multiple days and times to be available: time to purchase, time to build, paint, and then, of course, play. Cost is also a concern, especially as things seem to be uncertain economically.
I think once you can isolate the cause of their hesitation, you will likely have a better idea of whether your friends will play toy soldiers with you or not. If it is a time investment problem, encouraging them to do things together might help, such as organizing a build & paint night instead of just playing. If cost is a concern, that is a far harder question to answer; many people are going to be resistant to having you bankroll their hobby for them for numerous reasons, and it is also unfeasible to suggest you basically supply your friends with armies. Hopefully, the issue is mostly about taking the plunge and being encouraged to participate, but if the issue is cost, make sure that you hide your disappointment and try to be supportive instead; feeling like you’ve let someone down because you can’t play a game with them is a bad feeling for all parties.
As a final note, keep in mind that if your friends are hesitant, depending on where you are demoing things or playing, this might help attract new people you could meet too; keep in mind that your own time is valuable here as well, and ensure you aren’t spending all of your hobby time/play time trying to get people on the fence to get off of it, otherwise you may find your own enthusiasm waning as your recruitment efforts don’t pay off. Play because you want to play, and if you extend reasonable accommodations to recruit others, that’s all you can really do.
Losing the Plot
Dear Miss Marcy,
I have trouble coming up with the narrative and stories of games. While this might not be a problem for some people, me and my local group always play for the stories the dice tell. Any advice?
– The Confused Spearman.
Dear Confused,
The bane of most narrative endeavors is the actual narrative part; whether you’re trying to do a narrative campaign in 40k, a new TTRPG adventure, or setting up a new roleplaying venture, the structural work of creating a narrative has broken more ships than it has sailed, so I feel your pain quite a lot! I can’t claim to have the best or most amazing solution as your mileage will absolutely vary, but I do think I have some suggestions to help you out.
The first is to create an outline, much like you would for a more formal writing project–fictive or non–and outline some of the ‘high notes’ you’d like to hit. We’ll come back to that part in a moment, but by using an outline, you can pinpoint what the main thrust of your narrative is, and try to focus on it being something simple and ‘grand’: “Recover an item,” “Explore a sector,” “Save a planet” (if we’re working in 40k terms). Once you have your more grand idea, you can pencil in a few smaller ones that could become the thrust of your narrative, and which are easily altered to reflect changes in the narrative that occur through the actual play itself.
My second point is to feel free to crib your ‘high notes’ from things you enjoy or are currently invested in. Is something motivating you to tell a story? There’s nothing wrong with emulating or even copying the narrative of something you’re currently invested in to help jump start your own storytelling. Since you’re using this for playing a game with your friends, we don’t need to be quite so worried about plagiarism in the traditional sense, but there’s no shame in saying that you’re inspired by the latest season of a show you’re enjoying or a book you just read. The difference comes from recognizing what it is about that thing you enjoy, rather than worry about copying it 1:1. For example, you probably aren’t looking to recreate Star Wars in your narrative, but probably the plucky underdog resistance angle, or perhaps you want to put together a team for a fictional heist after watching a Fast and the Furious film. This tip works for any type of narrative game, I think, because it can also help your collaborators chime in by understanding the root ‘purpose’ of the story.
My third suggestion is recruit your friends for storytelling creation as an activity you can do together. Focus, for example, on finding ways to help everyone feel involved in the process. On a recent TTRPG campaign that I did, much of our initial meetings were all about finding out what each person not only wanted to play as a character, but also the type of world they wanted to play in and the little hints of narrative links or ideas they’d like to touch on. How much of this you’ll need to invest into will depend on the depth of your narrative–40k campaigns are going to require a lot lighter hand than a TTRPG will–but by recruiting others to submit their ideas or feedback can help you create narratives that more people will want to engage in, as well as help you spruce up the types of stories you can tell on the table.
I Need You Like I Need a Hole in my Tank
Dear Miss Marcy,
What is, in your opinion, the true meaning of the Dornhole? Is it just there because GW ran out of sprue space, or is there another explanation? Are the crew propelling the tank with their legs, Flintstones-style? Is it there to give me a handy space to keep things (dice, spare models, snacks)? These questions are keeping me up at night and I am hoping that an oracle of wisdom such as yourself can help me.
Yours in armour,
Treadhead from Terra.
Dear Treadhead,
I gave this question more thought than you might initially have expected, because my first reply was very snippy and not entertaining, which is basically: “Instead of giving you a full model that looks interesting from all angles, they gave you a model with a giant hole in the bottom to save a buck.” The more creative I tried to answer this question, the less entertaining and interesting it became; logistically, I would suggest putting some actual models under it so that when you take off the table, there they are, but then shuffling it around the table with separate models underneath sounds like a nightmare. Putting things inside of the tank like dice or etc. is cute in theory but likely far more annoying in practice and tiring after doing it once or twice, and if you own more than one of them, probably just creating needless work for yourself to keep track of and clean up after.
So… I guess we are back to the original answer. GW cheaped out (or tried to save you money, if you wish to be benevolent) and now your model tank has a gaping hole in the bottom of it that you could, of course, print out something for, or make one yourself out of plasticard, or… just leave it as it is. I suppose you can always use it to remind you that you’re being sold a product, which is not a great reminder either.
…You know what?
Readers, what do YOU do with your Dornholes? Got any creative solutions, amazing paint jobs, or similar? Did you attach a bunch of Flinstone-esque feet? Feel free to show off in the comments.
Looking for Questions!
Thanks for reading another edition of Mayday, Miss Marcy! I hope you found these answers helpful, even if they weren’t yours! If you’d like to submit your own questions, Patrons can do so via the Discord using a very handy bot to ask their questions anonymously! As for non-Patron readers, I’ll be selecting questions left as comments here on the article as well! So if you have a need for advice from your dear pal Marcy, please submit your questions! Until next time dear reader!
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