Today I’ve finished another bit of Deadzone, am playing Mars Attacks in a couple of hours (when I’ve finished the new scenario) and will be leading out the Orcs tonight for a God of Battles fight or two. Or maybe even three. I’m also composing some more bits for DreadBall and Eternal Battle in between those, which just leaves a few fleeting moments for me to be a little confused.
Flitting between systems without getting lost is a skill that I’ve learned slowly over the years, but which seems to be impossible to entirely master. It is, however, extraordinarily useful to be even half-competent at because I need to be able to do it all the time. Of course, I am trying to make things easier for myself by writing things like Eternal Battle, which will allow me to focus on a smaller number of options, but there will always be more than one.
In many ways I envy the folk who have such focus that they can concentrate on a single period and scale to game in. You come across them occasionally, usually toting beautiful armies and bags of bespoke scenery for their chosen passion. Professionally I cannot do that, not that I ever got anywhere close privately either. Still, I do sometimes gaze on in wonder.
How can they resist all the shiny baubles?
Quirkworthy 
I have absolutely no idea – I am often confronted with the exact same question. I can’t concentrate on one thing EVER, let alone in relation to the niche of my life that is reserved for hobby.
Fortunately I have budget restrictions at the moment to keep me vaguely in check, plus the lovely box of Deadzone shaped goodness that is winging its way to me soon. Although saying that, Dreadball Ultimate looks so very very shiny…
I’m beginning to settle on around a dozen gaming systems I’m happy playing regularly (with multiple forces for each, natch). That counts as focus, right?
Yes, indeed. There are so many shiny, shiny things to buy.
What I used to do is to paint and practice for tournaments. I’d set out to paint an army for a tournament 6 months away, play with it while painting, then pick another tournament and a new army once that was done. Chewed through Warmachine, Epic and Flames of War armies and practice that way.
It’s got a whole lot more disorganised since I stopped doing tournaments. Been thinking that I need to focus on particular systems, but I’m still looking at half a dozen of em that I want to play…
I keep telling you it should be GoB, especially after you won the tournament 😉
GoB. Plus Hordemachine, Malifaux, Dystopian Wars, Strange Aeons, Deepwars/Shadowsea…
Some point, I’ll have some Deadzone to play with too. And then there’s Darklands to try out, and probably some Dreadball…
“How can they resist all the shiny baubles?”
The trick is to have no money
Nope. That’s never helped.
That does work, unless you’ve already got stuff for several games, built up from when you did have money. Then you’ve still got potential to butterfly…
To paraphrase, “games will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no games”.
Funny. I thought of that phrase too.