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#81102
Avatar photoRhoderic
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I don’t conform to much of anything in my miniature wargaming pursuits. That goes in equal measure for new, shiny, dogmatic “complete package” type games where high-priced miniatures and high-priced rules are supposed to go hand-in-hand, and old grognard siege-mentality doctrines where whosoever voices the most scorn for new, shiny, high-priced miniatures and rules gets crowned “most OG wargamer”.

I’m more of an omnivore scavenger. I’ll take whatever from wherever and use it however. That may involve using things that are “trending” at the moment but there’s typically some subversive element in there.

Many of the projects I’d like to do in the future (if I can afford them) are rather abnormal, and would involve a lot of scavenging for suitable figures and rules. For instance, there are numerous video games I’d like to emulate stylistically. As another example, I’ve started thinking of using the Mythic RPG engine for miniature gaming.

I do, however, like to be “in the flow” insofar as following, and talking about, developments in the hobby scene. On the whole, I think the tendency for trends in wargaming is more of a positive than a negative, because it’s interesting to look at and to discuss. There’s downsides to trends, sure enough, but the upsides outweigh them by at least a little bit.

As for the solo gaming aspect of the question, I don’t consider myself a solo gamer by definition, but it’s true that solo gaming has become a major element of the hobby for me lately. At any rate, all my projects are self-contained “collect both sides” type ones, and if there’s an opposing player they’re expected to accept the concept of the game the way I’ve designed it. I’m not much for the “you bring an army, I bring an army” tradition of miniature gaming anymore, nor for the “let’s twelve of us pool our Napoleonic figures together so we can do Waterloo” tradition. Admittedly that’s partly just because I can’t stand mixing different painting styles on the same table.