The good, the bad, and the arduous

Bow down! I need a soapbox to stand on and you just volunteered!

I was recently asked a question which, once I had a chance to reflect upon it, occurred to me to be a very poignant, and frankly difficult question to answer.
I like miniature games. I figure that is obvious to people reading this blog. I also assume that which games I like (Bolt Action, Infinity), are also obvious. But I don't think I've properly explains the why of my love of these games. To do this properly, I believe I should explain the why of what I like in miniature gaming... and what I specifically DO NOT like about many games. I think this will explain why I have not ended up writing all that much about a certain game that two of the other writers for this blog are pretty in love with (Warmachine/Hordes).

I play miniature games for a variety of reasons, the primary of which boils down to 4 reasons:

1. I enjoy collecting things
2. I enjoy painting and building models
3. I enjoy being social and teaching things to people
4. I enjoy competition

Simply explained, I'm relatively sure most of you out there reading this blog (that are not pure roleplayers) enjoy two of the four above reasons. We wouldn't be into minigaming with our war-dollies if we didn't enjoy making the models, spending our time painting them up into tiny pieces of art, setting them up into battle formation and then maneuvering them towards the enemy whilst creating complicated onomatopoeia to signify our opponents (and ours~) models downfalls as the damage stacks up. That is, to my mind, the central point of doing what we do.
 I also believe that we are, as human animals, in love with competition. We like to challenge ourselves against an opponent, in skill and strength, to see who is better. It''s in our DNA and we all love it... specifically, we ALL LOVE TO WIN. Some of you out there will say "but Bean! I only play to have fun and get together with the guys on _____ night, drink some brews and roll some dice", to which is say BULLOCKS. If that was all that mattered to you, then you could just as easily be out watching a movie, eating out at the pub, or doing one of the million other things people do that doesn't involve actively pitting ourselves and our tactical acumen against an opponent in a game of chance.

Make no mistake, these games are a competition, tiny gladiatorial combats decided by the gods and fate (dice rolls), we've just swapped in our swords and shields for dice and templates.

So where am I going with this? I'm simply stating that friendly competition is good. Personally, I learn best by getting my ass handed to me in a game. I'll be straight up and tell you, I rarely loose. It's not something that happens all that often.... unless I'm learning a new game. And that's where my love of collecting comes in. I love discovering a new game, sussing out its mechanics, and battling my way to the top. It's amazing. And I 100% enjoy loosing a game that is well played. The concept of being outplayed is wonderful and I never enjoy a game more than when I'm loosing, not because of some rules imbalance, not because the person is abusing the system, but because the opponent simply OUT-PLAYED me. Even shitty dice luck doesn't bother me as that's part and parcel of the game.
 Which leads me to the two games I enjoy the most right now and the two games I despise right now.

Infinity (by Corvus Belli) and Bolt Action (by Warlord games and Osprey Publishing)
 vs.
Warhammer 40,000 (Games Workshop) and Warmachine/Hordes (Privateer Press)

but that is enough of a rant for today.  Next week, I'll discuss the two games I can't stand and the reasons why.

Until next time,
Keep rolling those dice.
Bean out~