The miniature community that paints small figures for tabletop role-playing games has already filled entire display cases after years in the hobby. However, it turns out that the game that actually belongs to the soldiers, heroes, and monsters often not only fades into the background for many but becomes irrelevant.
What do even veterans admit? The miniature painter RecentEarth shared with the hobby community a picture of a well-stocked display case full of miniatures he painted himself. “I have painted armies/kill teams of Slaves to Darkness, Age of Sigmar Orks, Stormcast Eternals, Thousand Sons, Tzeentch demons, Khorne demons, and Death Guard,” he writes about his picture on Reddit. However, he also admits:
“I still don’t know how to play the game …”
With this statement, he strikes a chord in the community and receives almost 1,000 upvotes from those who can relate to his situation. Despite a full display case showing a lot of work, he has not yet had any experience with the actual tabletop game. And he is not the only one.
The hobby works even without a game
What does the community say to the confession? Based on the number of upvotes and reactions on Reddit, it seems that the hobby is no longer (just) part of Warhammer, but independently captivates many fans.
“I feel the same way,” writes redrock963, “I have no interest in Warhammer tabletop. I just like painting monsters.” Nussknackerknacker also writes: “There’s a game?”
Those in the thread who actually play Warhammer still have a similar perspective as the pure painters.
“For me, Warhammer is 90% painting and 10% playing,” writes Robo_Patton. ChiBurbNerd adds: “Painting is much more fun than playing.”
However, before a general negative wave towards the actual game aspect of the tabletop can occur, rodgeramjit interjects:
“I was the same way for about ten years, but then I finally tried a game (Kill Team) and it changed everything. It’s SO great to see your beautifully painted game figures moving around in the game, even if they get destroyed. It’s a charming excuse to look at your miniatures up close and share them with a buddy. I love the game now.”
Here you can see the OP’s display case:
MeinMMO editor Caro has also discovered the hobby for herself and finds: I have not painted any Warhammer miniatures yet. Instead, I refer more to characters and creatures that my group and I can use for our campaign in Dungeons & Dragons. At least that was a sort of personal excuse to get started. Ultimately, my miniatures don’t need to have a direct purpose in the game for me to want to paint them.
What started as a kind of “means to an end” has become a hobby that not only bridges the gap until the next campaign but has also become one of my favorite activities on its own. Even if some finished miniatures will never see use in the game, it doesn’t stop me from painting them because of their cool design.
Accordingly, I can imagine giving Warhammer miniatures a chance. Especially the Tyranids have caught my eye on several occasions…
The hobby of miniature painting not only has a beginner-friendly aspect but also a deeply helpful community that welcomes every interested newcomer. This is also reflected in the situation of a beginner who almost wanted to give up the hobby due to his “ugly” results. Fortunately, the community was able to stop him just in time and provides him with the really good tips: A miniature newbie wants to give up the hobby because of “ugly” results, but the community knows the words that really help at the start
