The Gaming Kingdom

In this blog I want to let you know what I think about when choosing an army, when playing the games and while converting and painting my armies (ok maybe not the painting as much as i'd like but hey i'll get it done), I of course mean the imagery of the games we play.

For most of us we play games to have fun and not only does this depend on how we play our games by learning through experience and our opponents but also the effort we put into our armies when creating them. When I start an army the first thing I like to do is think of a theme, a reason for the army to exist whether it be something as simple as they are Black Templars on a Crusade or a more in depth background including character names and a historical events that they were raised for or fought as part of.

There are many ways we can continue this once the army building begins when we assemble our models and most of us have no doubt converted models whether it be a simple head swap to something slightly more complicated such as making or sculpting items from modelling putty. As the process continues we paint our armies to reflect the theme whether it be a setting or by basing them in a certain way to match gaming tables or scenery, all of this helps to convey the imagery of the setting which if you reflect on, the very source of enjoyment for our games whether it be the Ultramarines fighting to the last against the Tyranids or the kin strife of the High Elves fighting the Dark Elves all help to convey that sense of hope or dread of that foe that we somehow care about or take more pride in beating.

Without the imagery of the games we play the fun and excitement would be minimal as essentially all we would do is have dice rolling competitions and what fun would that be? For me the highs and lows of playing games comes from seeing my force warriors taking to the field and giving all they can to carry the day and perhaps write their own little piece of history, by having that moment that can be reflected upon in the months and years to come whether it be a bold move or a crushing defeat under the strangest of circumstances.

Hopefully this has helped you understand that for me at least the setting is very much part of the game itself and while I strive to paint my armies to complete this I am confident the New Year will give me plenty of oppertunites to do so. I'm also hoping that if you don't already do so that you try putting that little bit of extra time and effort into the theme of your army as i'm sure you'll find it rewarding.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment with any feedback

Jono