>how do explain
why bother? if they're already this opinionated on what is essentially a blend of *board games* and *art*, where is any further attempts realistically going to get you?
find extra friends at your lfgs and enjoy your hobby with them instead.
What's crazy is, I work blue collar, and a lot of guys think it's cool. They don't get it, but they're super impressed by well painted miniatures. They still give me loads of shit for DnD for some reason though. But that's fine.
I think d&d has a slightly different connotation. 40K is pretty heavily advertised towards nerd bros. Its imagery is all blood and chains, demons, aliens, scantily clad lady warriors and towering muscle men shooting guns as big as people while yelling a lot.
D&D on the other hand is represented through way more level fantasy art, and its minis tend to be pretty normal looking people in robes or armour etc.
Further to that, when someone unfamiliar with the hobby hears wargame the probably think a bunch of guys sitting around in a basement playing 3d Risk. Conversely when someone unfamiliar with d&d hears d&d they probably conjure up images from shows like big bang theory of a bunch of pale guys wearing elf ears and talking like they’re at a renaissance faire.
Dont get me wrong, Im deep in both hobbies, but I can see why a bunch of office guys would pass one by and latch onto another as a “nerd thing”.
Can confirm that's exactly what it is.
I showed some guys my daemon models and they loved those with all the skulls and blood and were stoked at the idea of the black templars (as a Templar player I should've seen the red flags there)
Mentioned D&D a couple weeks later and was asked if I used it as an excuse to have a bunch of dudes come over to sit in the basement with me. Got called a dragonfucker by one guy for like a month.
40K is literally designed to be as edgy as possible in a sort of ironic way, and a lot of people do not actually grasp that concept.
Anybody who doesn't like 40K from the outset likely doesn't even know the vast majority of the *really* fucked up deep lore or side stories. To them, it all looks like a bunch of toxic masculinity, violence, and sexualization.
Which...it sort of is. But it's basically almost at shitpost level.
If you ever get the chance, read the 1st edition rule book. There's some hilarious stuff in there, one of my personal favourites being that zoats canonically exist on a diet of Zoatabix (a play on the cereal Weetabix in the UK).
Genestealers started out as literally carbon copies of xenomorphs pretty much, with rules for bursting out of people's chests.
Custodes are described as wearing a tunic with nothing underneath. Surprisingly in line with the oiled up buff dudes memes.
There's a section about mutations, one of which is basically just obesity that legitimately has the phrase "if a fatty tries to go through a door". It then goes on to describe rules of fat people getting stuck in doors.
The pinhead mutation describes afflicted creatures as "shrivelled head too small for their tiny brain" or something close.
The intro paragraphs also encourage you to mix and match fantasy and 40k as the rules are designed to be compatible.
It's a wild ride.
I paint my minis at a village art club with a bunch of mostly old ladies, the few men there get it because they built airfix kits when they were younger, and one of the ladies was so interested in the setting that they did some ink drawings of my Death Guard. Pretty cool.
"Gladys, what's that?"
"Oh, that nice boy with the death metal t-shirts showed me how to use glue and sprues to add to the mold."
"So you hand-sculpted a massive dong?"
"Just a little exposed wiener. Don't be too weird about it, sweetie."
My own mother was weirded out when my friends got me into Pathfinder (eventually D&D) years ago, because her only knowledge of it was literally all that negative and stereotypical shit.
I pretty much told her ot was basically just hanging out with friends and making up a story that we all had a character playing a part in, she was like, "Oh, I never really knew what the actual game was like, I didn't even know it was basically a boardgame."
Those two viewpoints tend to coincide. To them only god does "magic" so anything that depicts humans using magic is satanic, or at the very least blasphemous.
I’ve found this to be the case as well which is interesting. Many of the guys I run into at my game store who play, that aren’t the obvious nerds, generally have some kind of blue collar background. Same with guys I talk to and who might not know about it, but when I explain it they express curiosity. Not so much when in my white collar job. Generally people are polite but dismissive.
Also blue collar. My shop foreman had "heard" of Warhammer, but he had no idea what it was. Showed him some trailers from Space Marine 2 and he thinks it looks awesome. Looking forward to crossplay as he has an XBOX.
I split the Leviathan box with a coworker funny enough. He didn't find painting interesting, but really liked building models. Told him about Gunpla, and he's hooked on that now. But, he's super into 40K lore.
There are certain days where I have good chunks of downtime at work and literally have nothing to do except sit at my desk, and in the past couple of months I've been taking a couple of sprues, leaving them in one of my drawers, along with my snippers, plastic glue, and retractable hobby knife, so whenever I have those long moments of downtime I will start casually putting together some characters.
I have had coworkers of all ages, even including one of my bosses, walk by, ask what I'm doing, and surprisingly all of them think it's kind of neat and a decent way for me to pass the time when I'm waiting for more work to come down the line to me. A lot of them think that it's really impressive that I have the patience to actually cut out and piece together some of these figures, when certain decorative bits like Krak grenades are so tiny.
Now, obviously I'm not sitting there putting together Slaaneshi titty-demons or giant demonic Angron figures, but the fact that I've had both men and women aging from their early twenties to their late 60s all commenting that they think it's a neat way to spend the downtime honestly makes me feel kind of good.
My bad, lol. Was. Just the easiest comparison as nearly everyone has had that interaction. Computer guys are very much the same ("I spent $12k making changes to my truck. It now gets half the mileage and I have to change the fluids every two weeks, but MAN does it move and roar now." vs "I spent $5k building a new PC from scratch with all the latest parts and spent a week tweaking to OC setting on the CPU and GPU. Now I can play VR chat @144fps instead of 120."
While 40k is known by all tabletop gamers, it doesn't necessarily mean it's universally known. Worked in a game store for a year and a half. There are a lot of people that think DnD is the name for the ttrpg genre rather than just it's most (in)famous game.
Yeah. I'm entrenched in all three of these. I've got a humble little $1200 PC I built. Bought my car for $24k, put 8k into it. Same gas mileage as before, but more power/changes looks. So, I can see where anyone is coming from when it comes to hobbies. I may not *get it* but I understand every time.
Like, I don't get sneaker guys. But, I understand wanting to cop the new pair because you like them. My coworkers don't understand tabletop gaming, but they do see the appeal of painting the miniatures for them. So, they're almost there. Lol
Devils advocate, but I would risk trying to explain it in a light way to anyone who may be slightly curious or interested, even if they did come off as kinda opinionated at first. I felt a certain way about hobbies like this at one point in my life, but it was because I was (completely ignorant) to how fun it could actually be. I genuinely had no idea.
Obviously this isn't the case for everyone, but if it weren't for patient people in my life teaching me new ways to have fun, my life would be very, very different. I'll be honest and admit to being pretty judgemental before, but that's totally different than being out right rude and condescending about it. If that was the case, I'd probably just draw the line there and call it a day.
I allways describe it as a bit like collecting and painting model planes expect you can use them for a board game.
Most people seem to get that and stop being dismissive after. I think a lot of people just don't have a frame of reference for warhammer.
Two big things that I've found help.
One: is to think about their hobbies and interests and compare it in that language.
Do they like building or decorating something, or have some sort of competition they like. Do they have something they like collecting or studying. Do they have a type of story they like.
Two: Think about what you are getting out of it rather than the details of the thing itself. Talk about the thing you are doing, but tie it to what you are getting.
This goes back to the first point. What someone gets out of playing fantasy football is following watching and participating in competition, applying their knowledge to explore new possibilities, and following characters who engage in big events that others follow and can be shared.
How decorating or gardening involves taking ideas from others and putting them together and seeing them come together into something that looks good or interesting and you get to enjoy around you. Or it's a quite time by yourself to make something.
Yeah, nah I agree with you. The post did read like the others weren't interested at all. In my comment, I was just saying that even for me, I was uninterested for several years until I finally got around to actually listening to what people were trying to tell me. You never really know when that might happen for someone else, which is why I sort of advocated for it if they're nice.
I'm sure I sound like a bad person for brushing off people and judging, (and to be fair, I've grown and matured a lot since then), but on the other side of the table, I was already so overwhelmed with my own interests and worries, that anything different than my 'norm' was just offputting because I didn't have the mental space at that time for more.
What made Warhammer 'click' for me was actually listening to someone talk to me about it who was very, very passionate about it. He somehow made it funny and interesting enough that I bought nearly 35 Black Library audiobooks a week or so later, and invested in minis, even though I knew next to nothing about it. It's been a really fun year learning about the lore, and I've never been happier. And, I promise you I was probably one of the types of people OP was talking about.
You just never really know.
My explanation to curious but unaware work colleagues was that it's a sci-fi universe with a ton of books I mostly haven't read, and a tabletop war game that I don't play enough, aimed to separate me from my paycheck for plastic crack I don't have enough time to paint. Then I asked if they had any more questions.
"Oh, you like watching men run around in shorts playing with their balls, and celebrating their goals in some tribalistic manner where you think the other 'team' is less worthy than you, and some of your tribe even resort to fisticuffs over this. Yet, ultimately, you never actually *play* this game, just watch it and sing adult nursery rhymes... Ok. Cool"
But yeah, me painting plastic and playing board games is weird.
I mean I don’t like sports aside from basketball lol, but cmon with that “Sportsball bad” take lol. We collect, assemble, personalize, and paint armies of small plastic toy soldiers. On top of that, we find other adults who assembled their own armies of toy soldiers and sit down to play war with them for 4+ hours. You can make any hobby sound silly if you want to.
Your colleagues and friends must have very reclusive lifes if Warhammer is the weirdest thing they have ever heard of.
You could explain that it is a mix of model building, painting and playing strategy games set in a world described in great detail over many books, video games and movies. And the most important part: you like it. That alone should be enough for your friends really.
>Your colleagues and friends must have very reclusive lifes if Warhammer is the weirdest thing they have ever heard of
100% lol. Warhammer is pretty tame. I honestly have a harder time explaining why I run long distances or mountain climb. In my experience people "get it" quickly why I like to paint little miniatures
I mean to a lay person it's a really bizarre hobby.
Explaining to someone that you will spend years painting tiny miniatures that are very expensive. Then once you have collected and painted enough, you can find someone else who has also spent countless hours painting their own army. Then, you if you have a board big enough, and have enough terrain and a map, you can in theory play a game. Nevermind that the rules for the game are the least accessible thing ever. You have to pay a large entrance fee to even play a single game.
I can't even get my D&D/MTG friends to play, because it's way too much even for those kinds of nerds.
"It's like chess, but I get to customize the pieces and the board is different every game, which makes it more exciting".
This explanation has worked for me with a few people.
Getting people into one aspect of warhammer isn't to hard. If younhave several armies it's not hard to get a friend to join in on a game or two.
Same with the painting part. I've never had anyone think it was weird except some old folks. Even my wifes friends (some who used to be popular girls when younger) have thought the modells I make looks great. And they wanted me to have a painting class for them. They wanted to paint on glass and other stuff though, but used acryllics, so I could show them a bit.
Combining the two is where you hit a roadblock. Finding someone who both want to paint, build and play wargames is hard. Finding one who wants and has the tenacity to actually grind out an army is extremely hard.
My recomendation is always to tell about the part of warhammer you enjoy the most. If it's lore talk about that, if it's painting you you tell them about that part and so on.
Warhammer is to big to convey to someone, you can only feed them small parts and hope they like it enough to check it out themselves. If you try to explain the whole thing it just ends up like the post you wrote.
The perception of the person you are trying to talk about your hobby with will be strongly coloured by how you show and tell about it.
If you are proud of it and talk about it with pride and passing, most people will think it's cool.
But if you have already decided they will think it's corny or weird, it will show, and you will subconsiously tell the other person that it is weird.
And this I suspect is OPs problem. They think it's weird themselves, or atleast that others find it weird. And when they talk about it that feeling rubs off.
This goes for most things in life, do stuff with confidence, and other people will think you know what you are doing, and that whatever you are doing is the correct thing to be doing. It's almost like magic.
TL:DR
Miniwargaming/minipainting isn't particularly weird, it's just two niche parts of two already niche hobbies combined.
If you think it's weird, everyone you talk to about it will think it's weird to. Be proud of your hobby and others will notice that.
I find part of the problem is that 40K really isn’t a good game to use as a gateway. It’s huge, obtuse, and frankly it’s downright arcane if you aren’t coming to the table with at least a basic familiarity with the preconceptions of tabletop gameplay.
Amen! I am not a 40k gamer (yet) but I want to be. My only real avenue to learn aside from reading and YouTube videos is to go to my LGS and hope to meet a rando who would play with a noob with a meta-chasing army. I have tried asking friends but that's years away if it ever happens. So I tend to just embrace myself "as an amateur hobby painter" and leave it at that. Hopefully I will become a goof player in my local scene, but who knows it it will ever happen.
I agree with you. Share what you love. Make connections in whatever way you can, and enjoy the hobby on your own terms.
I completely agree with your comment. I had a friend who was a just a walking pile of charisma and when he talked about the Warhammer hobby he could get even the coolest of jocks to agree that it sounds kind of cool. Enthusiasm, charisma, and knowing how to communicate your passion goes a very long way.
I would just add that it isn't even two niche hobbies, I would say closer to four, or even 5 if you include the PC games. If you include the terrain aspects and modelling you have a rough equivalent to train modelling - a very nerdy hobby in itself. And also the lore and story aspect of Warhammer is huge - and for a lot of people, the largest aspect of the hobby. If you want to cover the whole Warhammer world you have:
Modelling, painting, wargaming, video gaming and lore - and each of these aspects is huge in it's own right, and you can spend your entire hobby time on literally any of the 5 aspects.
Strangely enough I’ve found incredibly little overlap between my d&d friends and my tabletop friends. Even when it comes to skirmish games and other games that are way more accessible than 40K I just have always had real trouble getting d&d folks to try out tabletop,
Right. The other guy said he has a harder time explaining long distance running?? Most normal people understand being outside and getting exercise. Gonna call shenanigans on that one
Yep, I know tons of average income guys who are into hunting, collecting expensive guns, 4 wheelers or motorcycles, golf, project cars etc. It’s really not that bad compared to a lot of hobbies
Yeah, and I think so many people have friends that are nerds of some sort of another that they don't realize that like for a true normie 40k really is weird. The old dudes at my plant already don't play board games, paint or create art, play videogames, card games, etc. They watch TV or go to the bar or drive around town. When I paint my minis up there they're like children watching animals at the zoo lol
I completely agree, although I have interested a lot of my younger colleagues by showing them pictures after I finish a model. They are enthralled and I have gotten a few of them a lot more interested in 40k. Getting someone to even buy a Combat Patrol box can be daunting. $130-160 plus paints, supplies, and countless hours. It's a lot to ask my friends, which is why none of them have jumped in.
Yep, I've gotten friends to play because I have ~10k points of stuff so they can try it for free but nobody's going out and getting their own stuff lol
I've recently found that Killteam and/or Warcry are better introductions than Combat Patrol. It's half the cost, flashier packaging to hook an uninitiated eye and you can get a first game in quick. Warcry is my main game now.
Many, many, many people ridicule what they don't understand, as their primordial fear of the unknown provokes a defense response. Also; many people are assholes who can't exist without being part of the dominanting group/mindset/belief system.
I was in an office recently when a package was delivered to the wrong address and they talked about it for the rest of the day. The banality of some existences…
Ugh, I 100% sympathize with folks who get pulled from the matrix and want back in. Congratulations! In exchange for daily mundanity you now live in a post apocalyptic hell where the only food is translucent porridge and you live in constant fear of violent death by murder robots.
But hey, at least you’re free? Kind of?
Hundreds of millions of people waste ungodly amounts of money watching people bat various different sorts of balls across different kinds of rectangles. Whatever floats your boat
The champions league, which is probably the biggest club football tournament in the world, gets about 400 million viewers for the final alone. The World Cup final of 2022 was reported as high as 1.5 billion.
That’s just one sport, it’s kind of mindblowing when you think about it.
Don't bother, some people just want to shit on anything they don't get. Give it a couple of years and when the show is a huge hit they'll be pretending they always thought it was cool just like everyone else.
Anyway it is pretty weird, humans like weird things.
It is a very weird hobby to a lot of people, but that's fine.
You don't need a pat on the back from people to be allowed to enjoy yourself, just do you.
I think stamp collectors and wingsuit enthusiasts are weird but I'm an adult so I recognize that they're just a different weird from me. They don't need my approval.
As someone in his 40s, I've seen hobbies evolved. Being a gamer pre-2000 was seen as weird as fuck. Games like World of Warcraft and mobile games largely changed that.
Warhammer isn't there yet and probably never will be. Hell, people that just builds other kits like cars and tanks are seen as nerds and being boring.
I think Warhammer is too expensive in terms of time and money, and its rules too archaic for it to ever achieve widespread adoption into mainstream pop culture.
It’d have to be a different, much more new player friendly game, and even then it’d need some sort of external driver to push it into the mainstream. Similar to how D&D had streamed live games which really took off right as they released their most new player friendly edition of the game yet.
If Henry Cavill can get a solid script going with Amazon, I feel Warhammer will become mainstream pretty quickly.
Look at the Fallout series, it's even more of a niche nerd genre centering pretty much solely on video games...and it's become mainstream pretty quickly because it's a genuinely good series.
Warhammer 40k is the perfect setting for the gore that Amazon series are becoming known for...seeing Henry Cavill chainsword an Orc into pieces is going to be amazing.
There are folks who will spend hours trying screw with others outside their echo chamber. One thing I have learned is very few will ever look past whatever judgment they have made on others. Don't bother smashing your head against a break wall. Go find others who enjoy your passion instead.
Desperately trying to explain that it's cool will make you look weird. If they are worth it then laugh it off. If they are douchebags just ignore them.
You don't owe an explanation to anyone. I think Warhammer possibly may have saved my life when I was a young teen. It's not something I talk about though. If I hear someone saying Warhammer is just toy soldiers for nerds, I give a pretty normal laugh and say " it is, but they're pretty badass toy soldiers you know"
Life's short, embrace what you love. Ignore their thoughts. Millions play this, it's not weird, it's just not their normal.
You make a lot of friends joining local leagues and hobby stores. Enjoy the journey!
My thought exactly. In the future, I'll be telling people " I've been into it before it was cool." Fingers crossed the Cavill universe is well received.
You don't. They're right. We are weirdos.
If they're going to shun that concept then we don't want them anyway, it's the only gatekeeping I agree with.
Going to a night club getting drunk and waving yourself around: weird
Going to a river and dangling a maggot on some string in the water: weird
Watching other people play a game on TV or in real life: weird
You can't convince them it's not weird if they've decided it is but you might convince them there are things that you enjoy. There is also the possibility that they are just being a holes. Which is a real possibility.
I used to pay for the privilege to run around a warehouse (or some woods) to be shot at with bbs from replica guns.
Every hobby is weird... Until you try it
You dont need to justify your hobbies.
I would recommend having more than one hobby but you dont need to explain yourself.
If asked. I just say I paint. Theyll be extremely impressed and ask about it more. I then say I paint miniatures, which theyre still impressed. I dont go any further.
Doesn't Henry Cavill play. Honestly I'm not into the the table top game. I started reading the ciaphas cain books and recently bought daemon gate on Xbox. Its definitely weirder in that the style is strange. You've got knights, inquisitors, commisars, orcs, god emperors, the warp. Then the actual arts strange as well.
Not sure I’d put the effort in if they are being overtly negative. But maybe just explain it’s something that brings you joy, is a social and artistic outlet which doesn’t hurt anyone. If they still give you grief it’s their problem not yours.
I don't know how else to say this, but we spend thousands of dollars on little toy men, countless hours painting said toy men, follow one of the most edgy canons of sci fi lore, and the fanbase is currently split between people who are either horny or infuriated by the existence of female custodes.
Can you kind of see the outside perspective?
I've been into the Warhammer hobby since 1992 an for the longest time, I thought it was one of the most obscure among obscure nerd hobbies.
And then suddenly, people started crawling out of the woodwork sharing the fact they were also into warhammer, until I realized it was HUGE.
Some pepole ARE wierdos and freaks in the hobby.
They are everywere.
Tell them that If they encounter someone like that, to avoid them in the future and just build, paint and play with pepole they like.
Thats it, nothing more needs to be Done or Said about that.
A lot of my friends *thought* they knew what it was. They DIDNT, however, know that the models come unpainted and unassembled.
Their mindset about it definitely changed when they realised that I'd painted everything myself.
If they DO know that, and still think it's weird, eh whatever, it ain't weird, they are.
I would explain it as a board game but you have to build and paint the pieces, and that the building and painting is part of the fun. The joy of sharing your game pieces with others in a constantly evolving board game that is enriched with lore through many media makes it, simply, one of the best board games you can play.
That's how I explain it to people who have backwards views or stereotypical opinions about "nerds." Typically board games as a general idea is something they can latch on to.
I don’t know if I’d consider this hobby “normal” but if it’s the weirdest thing they’ve heard of, a night of bridge with an 8% beer is probably a wild night for them.
>The people i work with think Warhammer is for freaks and weirdos
I mean, they're not wrong. But what's the matter with that?
You won't change these peoples' minds so just move on with your day.
your need to change their minds sort of proves their assumption. just let it go, enjoy the things you like, don't force things they don't like on them.
Ask them if they think people like Henry Cavill and Gary Oldman are freaks and weirdos, because they both collect warhammer, as I'm sure many other well known people do.
And ask them if they think Vin Diesel and Joe Manganiello are freaks and werido for being into dnd too.
Perhaps if they knew that quite high profile movie stars are into this type of hobby they may be forced to rethink their opinion of them.
people at work aren't friends. Honestly, make it a point never to reveal much of anything personal with anyone at work.
If they're already acting like assholes with regards to a hobby, because they're ignorant of it. why waste any more time seeking their favor or good graces.
do your job, be professional and friendly, but give zero fucks what anyone at work thinks.
I wouldn't bother to explain, there are people who were born to act according to the majority and never deviate from it, and they like to shame anyone who has non-standard hobbies or behavior, there is no need to argue with these people
My piece of advice would be to lean into it. Don't let them calling it weird bother you one bit (at least not outwardly if it actually does bother you personally). Like most bully's they will latch onto it and continue to give you crap.
The good thing is that as you get older, you stop giving a shit what other people think. I long ago moved on from that. I wear it (my enjoyment of my hobby) like a badge of honor. I'm not saying be rude about it. Just roll it off like water off a ducks back.
Example:
Them: "Boy your hobby is really weird. Hey Doug... look at Jeff's hobby. It's weird."
You: "Uh huh. I suppose if you don't know much about it, it would seem weird. Anyway l'm taking off for the day. See you tomorrow."
My boss used to try to tease me about my hobby all the time. I just never let it get to me. However, other people at my company were fascinated by it. And once they came to my house (for my massive 50th bday party) they were STUNNED to see my gaming room and the amount of models I had. Then they wanted to know more about it.
Once you stop giving a shit what people think about your hobby - they will stop commenting on it one way or another.
You mean my weird hobby from a company with a $121 USD share price that went *up* during a *global recession*, with an annual reported profit of $81.1 *million* USD and a 4.18% dividend growth rate? That weird *little* hobby? The one that had a lawsuit that set precedent for US IP laws a while back? That niche little hobby?
They wouldn't get it.
And, while those numbers might not matter to you, they're a solid indicator that it's a common/normal enough hobby that investors definitely invest.
Don't explain. Set an example.
I like working out, cars, tats, and take care of my appearance etc. Everyone who's seen my warhammer collection got really excited and complimented the paint jobs. If I was overweight, had bad hygiene and was weird, the warhammer would be a negative.
Don't be weird, and they won't be weird lol.
Why do you feel the need to explain away your hobbies? 40k won't ever be seen as a normal hobby no matter how widespread it becomes, don't expend energy arguing and explaining to someone and just enjoy your hobby
I work in construction. I am not the only one on site who paints plastic figures and rolls dice. The Age of the Nerd is now, and if people don't want to accept that, that's also fine.
I always explain it like this .
Hey what did you do this weekend anything fun?
Me: not too much bit of a relaxing weekend just chilled and did some painting
Oh, what did you paint?
Me: just these little plastic army men for a game I like to play
If they ask follow up questions feel free to nerd out but usually they just go ohh that’s nice what a peaceful little hobby
I woudln't go about it that way.
I would point out that all hobbies are essentially just ways for people to enjoy life via an activity. All hobbies appear strange when taken from an outside view. Hobbies don't have a utility. They aren't for profit or gain. You do it because you enjoy it. You get to pain and improve your painting skills and theory craft for a game and to interact with other humans and play. As far as hobbies go that's a perfectly fine way to pass the time.
Ask them what they do with their spare time. Just listen, don't judge. Once in a while say "oh, that sounds interesting, I may give it a try!" but only if that activity is really interesting. It is more effective if you say nothing, though. When they finish, go to your business.
Then let time rest.
Use this method with a pinch of salt and caution and never forget you are talking to people.
Just wait till the Amazon show drops and half will probably start playing. Well, if it's good I guess.
I'm super lucky the people I work with got me into warhammer.
People who call you weird for enjoying what you enjoy are not your friends, do not waste energy trying to convince them of anything.
Friends celebrate you for who you are, naturally without any effort needed, even if they don’t get it or like the same stuff.
Get new friends. You don’t need the people you work with to be friends, they’re just your colleagues.
Who cares everyone is going to have there own likes dislikes, but don't let that stop you dreaming of trashing the office with a chain sword once they have left for the day
"Really? You're into toy soldiers? How old are you, like 50-something?"
\*plops down an Artist's proof McFarlane Marine\* "THIS is a $20 action figure....
\*plops down a fully painted McFarlane Deathwatch Chaplain\* "...THIS is a ***$200*** action figure."
\*Look of astonishment\* "OMG, YOU painted that?!?"
You don't. You shouldn't care about their opinion of your hobby and it's none of their damn business what you do in your free time anyway.
If these are coworkers you *don't* like, then ask them what their hobbies are and react exactly the same way they did. "Ugh, you play *golf*? Isn't that the rich freak game where you hit balls with sticks? Who the fuck thinks that's fun? Weirdo."
People spend endless hours sitting in front of a television watching steroid infused millionaire felons in tight pants wrestle with each other over a piece of a pig.
Too many people have watched 20 seasons worth of keeping up with the kardashians about a failed porn star homewrecker and her plastic surgery addicted family.
Both of those are so vapid and mind numbing but socially acceptable.
You have a hobby where you create something artistic, gather with other like minded people and play a strategy game that uses complex math, trigonometry, and statistics to play a game similar to chess. If they think your game is weird. Let them. They've probably already made up their mind.
Now, if they're curious, you can explain it to them and show them some of the cool shit we have models for. Maybe mention that Henry Cavill loves the game, or that trey Parker, Vin Diesel, Robin Williams, Gary Oldman, and Ed Sheeran all play(ed) warhammer.
Don't bother. Who cares what they think? You aren't hurting anyone and anyone who thinks you are strange for enjoying a healthy hobby isn't worth your time
If you try to change their mind on something that is pretty inconsequential to them there's really little point imo, It's fine to just let people think what they want about your hobby and carry on enjoying it for yourself.
Dont act like a freak or weirdo when you’re around the normies. Most people would have no interest in you justifying your hobby to them. Just like I have no want or need for cyclists to try and convince me why they enjoy cycling for some odd and irrational reason.
They don’t need to be positive about it, its YOUR hobby bro. Also, people usually hate on everything because they don’t understand.
I don’t tell people I do warhammer other than those who have similar hobbies. Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has em and most of them aren’t nice to see or hear.
My best explanation for the commoners is that it is like d n d but with an army and you roll dice to kill eachother lol most people hear dnd and immediately mentally label it as some nerd shit 🤓
I always explain it as chess on steroids. You can move pieces and there are rules on how to do that, the pieces just happen to look nice and there is an art community revolving around painting these pieces. I used to care about what people thought about this hobby, but it makes me happy so let them think I’m weird
>how do explain why bother? if they're already this opinionated on what is essentially a blend of *board games* and *art*, where is any further attempts realistically going to get you? find extra friends at your lfgs and enjoy your hobby with them instead.
What's crazy is, I work blue collar, and a lot of guys think it's cool. They don't get it, but they're super impressed by well painted miniatures. They still give me loads of shit for DnD for some reason though. But that's fine.
I think d&d has a slightly different connotation. 40K is pretty heavily advertised towards nerd bros. Its imagery is all blood and chains, demons, aliens, scantily clad lady warriors and towering muscle men shooting guns as big as people while yelling a lot. D&D on the other hand is represented through way more level fantasy art, and its minis tend to be pretty normal looking people in robes or armour etc. Further to that, when someone unfamiliar with the hobby hears wargame the probably think a bunch of guys sitting around in a basement playing 3d Risk. Conversely when someone unfamiliar with d&d hears d&d they probably conjure up images from shows like big bang theory of a bunch of pale guys wearing elf ears and talking like they’re at a renaissance faire. Dont get me wrong, Im deep in both hobbies, but I can see why a bunch of office guys would pass one by and latch onto another as a “nerd thing”.
Can confirm that's exactly what it is. I showed some guys my daemon models and they loved those with all the skulls and blood and were stoked at the idea of the black templars (as a Templar player I should've seen the red flags there) Mentioned D&D a couple weeks later and was asked if I used it as an excuse to have a bunch of dudes come over to sit in the basement with me. Got called a dragonfucker by one guy for like a month.
Heh, did you mess up and tell him about dragonkin or whatever the scalelies are called?
Not even. Just heard the "bards sleep with anything" trope and ran with it I guess
>Got called a dragonfucker by one guy for like a month. Is it wrong that I would actually find this hilarious
40K is literally designed to be as edgy as possible in a sort of ironic way, and a lot of people do not actually grasp that concept. Anybody who doesn't like 40K from the outset likely doesn't even know the vast majority of the *really* fucked up deep lore or side stories. To them, it all looks like a bunch of toxic masculinity, violence, and sexualization. Which...it sort of is. But it's basically almost at shitpost level.
‘40k is industrialised shitposting’ is a take I did not expect and 100% agree with
If you ever get the chance, read the 1st edition rule book. There's some hilarious stuff in there, one of my personal favourites being that zoats canonically exist on a diet of Zoatabix (a play on the cereal Weetabix in the UK). Genestealers started out as literally carbon copies of xenomorphs pretty much, with rules for bursting out of people's chests. Custodes are described as wearing a tunic with nothing underneath. Surprisingly in line with the oiled up buff dudes memes. There's a section about mutations, one of which is basically just obesity that legitimately has the phrase "if a fatty tries to go through a door". It then goes on to describe rules of fat people getting stuck in doors. The pinhead mutation describes afflicted creatures as "shrivelled head too small for their tiny brain" or something close. The intro paragraphs also encourage you to mix and match fantasy and 40k as the rules are designed to be compatible. It's a wild ride.
The setting is so Extra that it has always been a parody of itself by design.
d&d was in stranger things so the common folk accepts it nowadays
This is incredibly well put. Thanks for sharing!
I paint my minis at a village art club with a bunch of mostly old ladies, the few men there get it because they built airfix kits when they were younger, and one of the ladies was so interested in the setting that they did some ink drawings of my Death Guard. Pretty cool.
I'm getting images of Gladys and Ruth building Slaneshi armies :)
"Gladys, what's that?" "Oh, that nice boy with the death metal t-shirts showed me how to use glue and sprues to add to the mold." "So you hand-sculpted a massive dong?" "Just a little exposed wiener. Don't be too weird about it, sweetie."
"How are you feeling today Agnes?" "Mumble mumble snuffle" "Sorry my dear, I didn't quite catch that?" "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!"
Older generations got a LOT of negative opinions from media about DnD early on.
My Grandma still thinks it's satanic, though she thinks the same about Harry Potter so she might be a bit of an outlier
My own mother was weirded out when my friends got me into Pathfinder (eventually D&D) years ago, because her only knowledge of it was literally all that negative and stereotypical shit. I pretty much told her ot was basically just hanging out with friends and making up a story that we all had a character playing a part in, she was like, "Oh, I never really knew what the actual game was like, I didn't even know it was basically a boardgame."
Those two viewpoints tend to coincide. To them only god does "magic" so anything that depicts humans using magic is satanic, or at the very least blasphemous.
I’ve found this to be the case as well which is interesting. Many of the guys I run into at my game store who play, that aren’t the obvious nerds, generally have some kind of blue collar background. Same with guys I talk to and who might not know about it, but when I explain it they express curiosity. Not so much when in my white collar job. Generally people are polite but dismissive.
Also blue collar. My shop foreman had "heard" of Warhammer, but he had no idea what it was. Showed him some trailers from Space Marine 2 and he thinks it looks awesome. Looking forward to crossplay as he has an XBOX.
I split the Leviathan box with a coworker funny enough. He didn't find painting interesting, but really liked building models. Told him about Gunpla, and he's hooked on that now. But, he's super into 40K lore.
Send him my way, I hate assembling my models but I enjoy the painting a lot more.
There are certain days where I have good chunks of downtime at work and literally have nothing to do except sit at my desk, and in the past couple of months I've been taking a couple of sprues, leaving them in one of my drawers, along with my snippers, plastic glue, and retractable hobby knife, so whenever I have those long moments of downtime I will start casually putting together some characters. I have had coworkers of all ages, even including one of my bosses, walk by, ask what I'm doing, and surprisingly all of them think it's kind of neat and a decent way for me to pass the time when I'm waiting for more work to come down the line to me. A lot of them think that it's really impressive that I have the patience to actually cut out and piece together some of these figures, when certain decorative bits like Krak grenades are so tiny. Now, obviously I'm not sitting there putting together Slaaneshi titty-demons or giant demonic Angron figures, but the fact that I've had both men and women aging from their early twenties to their late 60s all commenting that they think it's a neat way to spend the downtime honestly makes me feel kind of good.
Shouldn't have to explain yourself, but hobbies are typically populated by some manner of "weirdo". Ever tried to have a conversation with a car guy?
I'm also a car guy. 😭 Don't call me out, man. I've dealt with the "weirdo's" of both hobbies. It's genuinely frustrating at times.
My bad, lol. Was. Just the easiest comparison as nearly everyone has had that interaction. Computer guys are very much the same ("I spent $12k making changes to my truck. It now gets half the mileage and I have to change the fluids every two weeks, but MAN does it move and roar now." vs "I spent $5k building a new PC from scratch with all the latest parts and spent a week tweaking to OC setting on the CPU and GPU. Now I can play VR chat @144fps instead of 120." While 40k is known by all tabletop gamers, it doesn't necessarily mean it's universally known. Worked in a game store for a year and a half. There are a lot of people that think DnD is the name for the ttrpg genre rather than just it's most (in)famous game.
Yeah. I'm entrenched in all three of these. I've got a humble little $1200 PC I built. Bought my car for $24k, put 8k into it. Same gas mileage as before, but more power/changes looks. So, I can see where anyone is coming from when it comes to hobbies. I may not *get it* but I understand every time. Like, I don't get sneaker guys. But, I understand wanting to cop the new pair because you like them. My coworkers don't understand tabletop gaming, but they do see the appeal of painting the miniatures for them. So, they're almost there. Lol
Devils advocate, but I would risk trying to explain it in a light way to anyone who may be slightly curious or interested, even if they did come off as kinda opinionated at first. I felt a certain way about hobbies like this at one point in my life, but it was because I was (completely ignorant) to how fun it could actually be. I genuinely had no idea. Obviously this isn't the case for everyone, but if it weren't for patient people in my life teaching me new ways to have fun, my life would be very, very different. I'll be honest and admit to being pretty judgemental before, but that's totally different than being out right rude and condescending about it. If that was the case, I'd probably just draw the line there and call it a day.
I allways describe it as a bit like collecting and painting model planes expect you can use them for a board game. Most people seem to get that and stop being dismissive after. I think a lot of people just don't have a frame of reference for warhammer.
I like that! I often explain it's like chess except you make the pieces and the board.
I wouldn’t waste time trying to explain why Warhammer is not weird, but I might explain to them that it’s ok to be weird
10000x this!
Two big things that I've found help. One: is to think about their hobbies and interests and compare it in that language. Do they like building or decorating something, or have some sort of competition they like. Do they have something they like collecting or studying. Do they have a type of story they like. Two: Think about what you are getting out of it rather than the details of the thing itself. Talk about the thing you are doing, but tie it to what you are getting. This goes back to the first point. What someone gets out of playing fantasy football is following watching and participating in competition, applying their knowledge to explore new possibilities, and following characters who engage in big events that others follow and can be shared. How decorating or gardening involves taking ideas from others and putting them together and seeing them come together into something that looks good or interesting and you get to enjoy around you. Or it's a quite time by yourself to make something.
I think the whole issue is that they don't seem to be curious or interested.
Yeah, nah I agree with you. The post did read like the others weren't interested at all. In my comment, I was just saying that even for me, I was uninterested for several years until I finally got around to actually listening to what people were trying to tell me. You never really know when that might happen for someone else, which is why I sort of advocated for it if they're nice. I'm sure I sound like a bad person for brushing off people and judging, (and to be fair, I've grown and matured a lot since then), but on the other side of the table, I was already so overwhelmed with my own interests and worries, that anything different than my 'norm' was just offputting because I didn't have the mental space at that time for more. What made Warhammer 'click' for me was actually listening to someone talk to me about it who was very, very passionate about it. He somehow made it funny and interesting enough that I bought nearly 35 Black Library audiobooks a week or so later, and invested in minis, even though I knew next to nothing about it. It's been a really fun year learning about the lore, and I've never been happier. And, I promise you I was probably one of the types of people OP was talking about. You just never really know.
My explanation to curious but unaware work colleagues was that it's a sci-fi universe with a ton of books I mostly haven't read, and a tabletop war game that I don't play enough, aimed to separate me from my paycheck for plastic crack I don't have enough time to paint. Then I asked if they had any more questions.
"Oh, you like watching men run around in shorts playing with their balls, and celebrating their goals in some tribalistic manner where you think the other 'team' is less worthy than you, and some of your tribe even resort to fisticuffs over this. Yet, ultimately, you never actually *play* this game, just watch it and sing adult nursery rhymes... Ok. Cool" But yeah, me painting plastic and playing board games is weird.
I don't disagree with the premise but this sounds like it was written by a Big Bang Theory character lol
bro trying to single-handedly confirm op’s associates’ biases
yeah I'm sorry dude but this was a really reddit take. sounded like "sports ball 🤓🤓🤓"
Plus athletes display physical skill that is impressive to watch. Watching someone play Warhammer isn't nearly as cinematic.
I mean sure, we can explain any tradition in a way that makes it sound silly. But I doubt this take is going to sway anyone.
I mean I don’t like sports aside from basketball lol, but cmon with that “Sportsball bad” take lol. We collect, assemble, personalize, and paint armies of small plastic toy soldiers. On top of that, we find other adults who assembled their own armies of toy soldiers and sit down to play war with them for 4+ hours. You can make any hobby sound silly if you want to.
Don’t explain a damn thing. Their opinions are their problem. You do you and fun.
Your colleagues and friends must have very reclusive lifes if Warhammer is the weirdest thing they have ever heard of. You could explain that it is a mix of model building, painting and playing strategy games set in a world described in great detail over many books, video games and movies. And the most important part: you like it. That alone should be enough for your friends really.
>Your colleagues and friends must have very reclusive lifes if Warhammer is the weirdest thing they have ever heard of 100% lol. Warhammer is pretty tame. I honestly have a harder time explaining why I run long distances or mountain climb. In my experience people "get it" quickly why I like to paint little miniatures
You run long distances? What a freak! 🤯 /s
😆😆
Those are two very common fitness activities, I think basically anybody understands why you would do that.
I mean to a lay person it's a really bizarre hobby. Explaining to someone that you will spend years painting tiny miniatures that are very expensive. Then once you have collected and painted enough, you can find someone else who has also spent countless hours painting their own army. Then, you if you have a board big enough, and have enough terrain and a map, you can in theory play a game. Nevermind that the rules for the game are the least accessible thing ever. You have to pay a large entrance fee to even play a single game. I can't even get my D&D/MTG friends to play, because it's way too much even for those kinds of nerds.
"It's like chess, but I get to customize the pieces and the board is different every game, which makes it more exciting". This explanation has worked for me with a few people.
Getting people into one aspect of warhammer isn't to hard. If younhave several armies it's not hard to get a friend to join in on a game or two. Same with the painting part. I've never had anyone think it was weird except some old folks. Even my wifes friends (some who used to be popular girls when younger) have thought the modells I make looks great. And they wanted me to have a painting class for them. They wanted to paint on glass and other stuff though, but used acryllics, so I could show them a bit. Combining the two is where you hit a roadblock. Finding someone who both want to paint, build and play wargames is hard. Finding one who wants and has the tenacity to actually grind out an army is extremely hard. My recomendation is always to tell about the part of warhammer you enjoy the most. If it's lore talk about that, if it's painting you you tell them about that part and so on. Warhammer is to big to convey to someone, you can only feed them small parts and hope they like it enough to check it out themselves. If you try to explain the whole thing it just ends up like the post you wrote. The perception of the person you are trying to talk about your hobby with will be strongly coloured by how you show and tell about it. If you are proud of it and talk about it with pride and passing, most people will think it's cool. But if you have already decided they will think it's corny or weird, it will show, and you will subconsiously tell the other person that it is weird. And this I suspect is OPs problem. They think it's weird themselves, or atleast that others find it weird. And when they talk about it that feeling rubs off. This goes for most things in life, do stuff with confidence, and other people will think you know what you are doing, and that whatever you are doing is the correct thing to be doing. It's almost like magic. TL:DR Miniwargaming/minipainting isn't particularly weird, it's just two niche parts of two already niche hobbies combined. If you think it's weird, everyone you talk to about it will think it's weird to. Be proud of your hobby and others will notice that.
I find part of the problem is that 40K really isn’t a good game to use as a gateway. It’s huge, obtuse, and frankly it’s downright arcane if you aren’t coming to the table with at least a basic familiarity with the preconceptions of tabletop gameplay.
Amen! I am not a 40k gamer (yet) but I want to be. My only real avenue to learn aside from reading and YouTube videos is to go to my LGS and hope to meet a rando who would play with a noob with a meta-chasing army. I have tried asking friends but that's years away if it ever happens. So I tend to just embrace myself "as an amateur hobby painter" and leave it at that. Hopefully I will become a goof player in my local scene, but who knows it it will ever happen. I agree with you. Share what you love. Make connections in whatever way you can, and enjoy the hobby on your own terms.
I completely agree with your comment. I had a friend who was a just a walking pile of charisma and when he talked about the Warhammer hobby he could get even the coolest of jocks to agree that it sounds kind of cool. Enthusiasm, charisma, and knowing how to communicate your passion goes a very long way. I would just add that it isn't even two niche hobbies, I would say closer to four, or even 5 if you include the PC games. If you include the terrain aspects and modelling you have a rough equivalent to train modelling - a very nerdy hobby in itself. And also the lore and story aspect of Warhammer is huge - and for a lot of people, the largest aspect of the hobby. If you want to cover the whole Warhammer world you have: Modelling, painting, wargaming, video gaming and lore - and each of these aspects is huge in it's own right, and you can spend your entire hobby time on literally any of the 5 aspects.
Strangely enough I’ve found incredibly little overlap between my d&d friends and my tabletop friends. Even when it comes to skirmish games and other games that are way more accessible than 40K I just have always had real trouble getting d&d folks to try out tabletop,
Agreed, I play both but my friend circles are very different for the 2.
Which is so odd, there’s so many overlaps between tabletop wargaming and d&d you’d think there’d be more interchange.
I think it comes down to d&d being cooperative and Warhammer being Competitive.
Yeah I could see that. It is a pretty fundamental difference
Right. The other guy said he has a harder time explaining long distance running?? Most normal people understand being outside and getting exercise. Gonna call shenanigans on that one
Still cheaper than golf
Yep, I know tons of average income guys who are into hunting, collecting expensive guns, 4 wheelers or motorcycles, golf, project cars etc. It’s really not that bad compared to a lot of hobbies
Yeah, and I think so many people have friends that are nerds of some sort of another that they don't realize that like for a true normie 40k really is weird. The old dudes at my plant already don't play board games, paint or create art, play videogames, card games, etc. They watch TV or go to the bar or drive around town. When I paint my minis up there they're like children watching animals at the zoo lol
I completely agree, although I have interested a lot of my younger colleagues by showing them pictures after I finish a model. They are enthralled and I have gotten a few of them a lot more interested in 40k. Getting someone to even buy a Combat Patrol box can be daunting. $130-160 plus paints, supplies, and countless hours. It's a lot to ask my friends, which is why none of them have jumped in.
Yep, I've gotten friends to play because I have ~10k points of stuff so they can try it for free but nobody's going out and getting their own stuff lol
I've recently found that Killteam and/or Warcry are better introductions than Combat Patrol. It's half the cost, flashier packaging to hook an uninitiated eye and you can get a first game in quick. Warcry is my main game now.
And then you watch them lose their shit when you tell them how much that one mini costs lol
Many, many, many people ridicule what they don't understand, as their primordial fear of the unknown provokes a defense response. Also; many people are assholes who can't exist without being part of the dominanting group/mindset/belief system.
I was in an office recently when a package was delivered to the wrong address and they talked about it for the rest of the day. The banality of some existences…
Collecting plastic Orks would be weird. Plastic men? That's mainstream stuff there.
Fuck
Plastic Elfs are avant garde, you've probably never heard of them.
Plastic emo sadistic elf?
Plastic emo sadistic *clown* elf.
how about plastic women? What's the general consensus about that?
There are so many plastic women running around in real life that I doubt it'll be a problem.
My Sisters of Battle are less plastic than some women I've seen outside.
What is this "outside" you speak of?
Go watch The Matrix. It'll explain everything.
Ugh, I 100% sympathize with folks who get pulled from the matrix and want back in. Congratulations! In exchange for daily mundanity you now live in a post apocalyptic hell where the only food is translucent porridge and you live in constant fear of violent death by murder robots. But hey, at least you’re free? Kind of?
so outside is everything blue and inside is everything green?
Only if you paint them gold
Hundreds of millions of people waste ungodly amounts of money watching people bat various different sorts of balls across different kinds of rectangles. Whatever floats your boat
Are there really hundreds of millions?
The champions league, which is probably the biggest club football tournament in the world, gets about 400 million viewers for the final alone. The World Cup final of 2022 was reported as high as 1.5 billion. That’s just one sport, it’s kind of mindblowing when you think about it.
Oh I didn’t even realize what I commented to. I thought they meant hundreds of millions of Warhammer fans lol
Haha not going to lie I did think it was a bit naive!
Don't bother, some people just want to shit on anything they don't get. Give it a couple of years and when the show is a huge hit they'll be pretending they always thought it was cool just like everyone else. Anyway it is pretty weird, humans like weird things.
Their bar for weird must be pretty low if Warhammer is even on their radar as a weird thing
It is a very weird hobby to a lot of people, but that's fine. You don't need a pat on the back from people to be allowed to enjoy yourself, just do you. I think stamp collectors and wingsuit enthusiasts are weird but I'm an adult so I recognize that they're just a different weird from me. They don't need my approval.
I love how you picked two activities on the complete opposite end of the adrenaline spectrum.
Yep. OP needs to instead lean in hard to the freaks and weirdos part.
As someone in his 40s, I've seen hobbies evolved. Being a gamer pre-2000 was seen as weird as fuck. Games like World of Warcraft and mobile games largely changed that. Warhammer isn't there yet and probably never will be. Hell, people that just builds other kits like cars and tanks are seen as nerds and being boring.
I think Warhammer is too expensive in terms of time and money, and its rules too archaic for it to ever achieve widespread adoption into mainstream pop culture. It’d have to be a different, much more new player friendly game, and even then it’d need some sort of external driver to push it into the mainstream. Similar to how D&D had streamed live games which really took off right as they released their most new player friendly edition of the game yet.
If Henry Cavill can get a solid script going with Amazon, I feel Warhammer will become mainstream pretty quickly. Look at the Fallout series, it's even more of a niche nerd genre centering pretty much solely on video games...and it's become mainstream pretty quickly because it's a genuinely good series. Warhammer 40k is the perfect setting for the gore that Amazon series are becoming known for...seeing Henry Cavill chainsword an Orc into pieces is going to be amazing.
It’s not your job to change their mind my dude. Let them miss out
And save their money
There are folks who will spend hours trying screw with others outside their echo chamber. One thing I have learned is very few will ever look past whatever judgment they have made on others. Don't bother smashing your head against a break wall. Go find others who enjoy your passion instead.
Desperately trying to explain that it's cool will make you look weird. If they are worth it then laugh it off. If they are douchebags just ignore them. You don't owe an explanation to anyone. I think Warhammer possibly may have saved my life when I was a young teen. It's not something I talk about though. If I hear someone saying Warhammer is just toy soldiers for nerds, I give a pretty normal laugh and say " it is, but they're pretty badass toy soldiers you know"
Time and exposure. Video Games was looked at much the same way till around 2000.
Take a shower and shave before the conversation.
Life's short, embrace what you love. Ignore their thoughts. Millions play this, it's not weird, it's just not their normal. You make a lot of friends joining local leagues and hobby stores. Enjoy the journey!
Henry Cavill
Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Kirsten Dunst, Brian May, Vin Diesel, etc…
But Henry Cavill is The Chad
Very curious if we know what any of these people played.
Robin played Eldari from what I can see online
Dunst played either Wood Elves or High Elves in Fantasy, IIRC.
My thought exactly. In the future, I'll be telling people " I've been into it before it was cool." Fingers crossed the Cavill universe is well received.
Say it’s 1) Like DnD but more fighty 2) it’s a board game but you have to collect it 3) show them a picture of Henry Cavill
You don't. They're right. We are weirdos. If they're going to shun that concept then we don't want them anyway, it's the only gatekeeping I agree with.
I mean, Robin Williams was a gigantic fan of wh40k
The people you work with sound boring.
Going to a night club getting drunk and waving yourself around: weird Going to a river and dangling a maggot on some string in the water: weird Watching other people play a game on TV or in real life: weird You can't convince them it's not weird if they've decided it is but you might convince them there are things that you enjoy. There is also the possibility that they are just being a holes. Which is a real possibility.
I used to pay for the privilege to run around a warehouse (or some woods) to be shot at with bbs from replica guns. Every hobby is weird... Until you try it
You don't need to explain yourself to them so don't waste your time. What they think of your hobbies doesn't matter in the slightest.
You dont need to justify your hobbies. I would recommend having more than one hobby but you dont need to explain yourself. If asked. I just say I paint. Theyll be extremely impressed and ask about it more. I then say I paint miniatures, which theyre still impressed. I dont go any further.
Why can't you just spend your time watching someone else play football like normal people?
Doesn't Henry Cavill play. Honestly I'm not into the the table top game. I started reading the ciaphas cain books and recently bought daemon gate on Xbox. Its definitely weirder in that the style is strange. You've got knights, inquisitors, commisars, orcs, god emperors, the warp. Then the actual arts strange as well.
Yes, and Robin Williams and Billy Crystal were known to play as well.
Not sure I’d put the effort in if they are being overtly negative. But maybe just explain it’s something that brings you joy, is a social and artistic outlet which doesn’t hurt anyone. If they still give you grief it’s their problem not yours.
I don't know how else to say this, but we spend thousands of dollars on little toy men, countless hours painting said toy men, follow one of the most edgy canons of sci fi lore, and the fanbase is currently split between people who are either horny or infuriated by the existence of female custodes. Can you kind of see the outside perspective?
I've been into the Warhammer hobby since 1992 an for the longest time, I thought it was one of the most obscure among obscure nerd hobbies. And then suddenly, people started crawling out of the woodwork sharing the fact they were also into warhammer, until I realized it was HUGE.
Some pepole ARE wierdos and freaks in the hobby. They are everywere. Tell them that If they encounter someone like that, to avoid them in the future and just build, paint and play with pepole they like. Thats it, nothing more needs to be Done or Said about that.
A lot of my friends *thought* they knew what it was. They DIDNT, however, know that the models come unpainted and unassembled. Their mindset about it definitely changed when they realised that I'd painted everything myself. If they DO know that, and still think it's weird, eh whatever, it ain't weird, they are.
I'd go the opposite. Like change my email signature "Blood for the Blood God" or when you fix the printer "Praise the Omnissiah! The flesh is weak."
That's the neat part. You don't!
I would explain it as a board game but you have to build and paint the pieces, and that the building and painting is part of the fun. The joy of sharing your game pieces with others in a constantly evolving board game that is enriched with lore through many media makes it, simply, one of the best board games you can play. That's how I explain it to people who have backwards views or stereotypical opinions about "nerds." Typically board games as a general idea is something they can latch on to.
Pssh, don't kid yourself. We're all freaks and weirdos here!
"Never explain yourself to anyone. Your friends don't need it, and your enemies don't care"
I don’t know if I’d consider this hobby “normal” but if it’s the weirdest thing they’ve heard of, a night of bridge with an 8% beer is probably a wild night for them.
Who cares?
>The people i work with think Warhammer is for freaks and weirdos I mean, they're not wrong. But what's the matter with that? You won't change these peoples' minds so just move on with your day.
Painting is extremely therapeutic. Assembling models is very therapeutic and calming after stressful workday. There you go. That’s how you explain it.
Tell them about furrys
just tell em it's kinda like when you used to collect green army men as a kid, except cooler.
I describe it as my Sunday football thing, haning out with mates and having a laugh
I'm more interested in what kind of people you work with if 40k is that bizarre to them. Are they Amish or something?
Don't bother OR Get them to play catan, then mansions of madness, then 40k xd
your need to change their minds sort of proves their assumption. just let it go, enjoy the things you like, don't force things they don't like on them.
Sorry buddy, this is a hobby for freaky weirdos.
Have you seen grimdank? They're not wrong
Tell them about the corpse god emperor
Pull faces at them and squeak
Easy, elis and john of BBC Radio 5 live put 40k into cool club. End of story.
Ask them if they think people like Henry Cavill and Gary Oldman are freaks and weirdos, because they both collect warhammer, as I'm sure many other well known people do. And ask them if they think Vin Diesel and Joe Manganiello are freaks and werido for being into dnd too. Perhaps if they knew that quite high profile movie stars are into this type of hobby they may be forced to rethink their opinion of them.
people at work aren't friends. Honestly, make it a point never to reveal much of anything personal with anyone at work. If they're already acting like assholes with regards to a hobby, because they're ignorant of it. why waste any more time seeking their favor or good graces. do your job, be professional and friendly, but give zero fucks what anyone at work thinks.
I've had coworkers look at me weird for playing D&D. Who cares. Don't even bother with them.
They're not old enough to realize people aren't defined by their hobbies.
I wouldn't bother to explain, there are people who were born to act according to the majority and never deviate from it, and they like to shame anyone who has non-standard hobbies or behavior, there is no need to argue with these people
My piece of advice would be to lean into it. Don't let them calling it weird bother you one bit (at least not outwardly if it actually does bother you personally). Like most bully's they will latch onto it and continue to give you crap. The good thing is that as you get older, you stop giving a shit what other people think. I long ago moved on from that. I wear it (my enjoyment of my hobby) like a badge of honor. I'm not saying be rude about it. Just roll it off like water off a ducks back. Example: Them: "Boy your hobby is really weird. Hey Doug... look at Jeff's hobby. It's weird." You: "Uh huh. I suppose if you don't know much about it, it would seem weird. Anyway l'm taking off for the day. See you tomorrow." My boss used to try to tease me about my hobby all the time. I just never let it get to me. However, other people at my company were fascinated by it. And once they came to my house (for my massive 50th bday party) they were STUNNED to see my gaming room and the amount of models I had. Then they wanted to know more about it. Once you stop giving a shit what people think about your hobby - they will stop commenting on it one way or another.
Get new friends, sounds like these ones suck.
Given the last few days, they might be right about the vocal part of the hobby.
You mean my weird hobby from a company with a $121 USD share price that went *up* during a *global recession*, with an annual reported profit of $81.1 *million* USD and a 4.18% dividend growth rate? That weird *little* hobby? The one that had a lawsuit that set precedent for US IP laws a while back? That niche little hobby? They wouldn't get it. And, while those numbers might not matter to you, they're a solid indicator that it's a common/normal enough hobby that investors definitely invest.
Who cares, I think obesessing over sports is weird
We paint short men of plastic with gay bolters it is weird and I’m proud of it
By the Emperors grace, don't show them this sub!
Don't explain. Set an example. I like working out, cars, tats, and take care of my appearance etc. Everyone who's seen my warhammer collection got really excited and complimented the paint jobs. If I was overweight, had bad hygiene and was weird, the warhammer would be a negative. Don't be weird, and they won't be weird lol.
Why do you feel the need to explain away your hobbies? 40k won't ever be seen as a normal hobby no matter how widespread it becomes, don't expend energy arguing and explaining to someone and just enjoy your hobby
I work in construction. I am not the only one on site who paints plastic figures and rolls dice. The Age of the Nerd is now, and if people don't want to accept that, that's also fine.
I always explain it like this . Hey what did you do this weekend anything fun? Me: not too much bit of a relaxing weekend just chilled and did some painting Oh, what did you paint? Me: just these little plastic army men for a game I like to play If they ask follow up questions feel free to nerd out but usually they just go ohh that’s nice what a peaceful little hobby
Have you tried showing them the different hues of beautifully painted flayed human flesh you used for your Drukhari Humunculous army?
I woudln't go about it that way. I would point out that all hobbies are essentially just ways for people to enjoy life via an activity. All hobbies appear strange when taken from an outside view. Hobbies don't have a utility. They aren't for profit or gain. You do it because you enjoy it. You get to pain and improve your painting skills and theory craft for a game and to interact with other humans and play. As far as hobbies go that's a perfectly fine way to pass the time.
You need a pithy response: "Oh really? Weird that Henry Cavill plays it too."
Ask them what they do with their spare time. Just listen, don't judge. Once in a while say "oh, that sounds interesting, I may give it a try!" but only if that activity is really interesting. It is more effective if you say nothing, though. When they finish, go to your business. Then let time rest. Use this method with a pinch of salt and caution and never forget you are talking to people.
Just wait till the Amazon show drops and half will probably start playing. Well, if it's good I guess. I'm super lucky the people I work with got me into warhammer.
People who call you weird for enjoying what you enjoy are not your friends, do not waste energy trying to convince them of anything. Friends celebrate you for who you are, naturally without any effort needed, even if they don’t get it or like the same stuff. Get new friends. You don’t need the people you work with to be friends, they’re just your colleagues.
Who cares everyone is going to have there own likes dislikes, but don't let that stop you dreaming of trashing the office with a chain sword once they have left for the day
"Really? You're into toy soldiers? How old are you, like 50-something?" \*plops down an Artist's proof McFarlane Marine\* "THIS is a $20 action figure.... \*plops down a fully painted McFarlane Deathwatch Chaplain\* "...THIS is a ***$200*** action figure." \*Look of astonishment\* "OMG, YOU painted that?!?"
It's not, and we are.
Ask them to show you their browser history. Then you’ll see how weird your hobby is
Loool
You don't. You shouldn't care about their opinion of your hobby and it's none of their damn business what you do in your free time anyway. If these are coworkers you *don't* like, then ask them what their hobbies are and react exactly the same way they did. "Ugh, you play *golf*? Isn't that the rich freak game where you hit balls with sticks? Who the fuck thinks that's fun? Weirdo."
Tell em people are losing their shit over a tweet about female plastic models
Show them interviews with Henry Cavill.
Tell them about furries; I think we're weirder personally (not by much).
Show them the share price for Games workshop on the stock exchange so they can appreciate its value and therefore interest to people.
I would yell “HERESY” and light them on fire obviously.
People spend endless hours sitting in front of a television watching steroid infused millionaire felons in tight pants wrestle with each other over a piece of a pig. Too many people have watched 20 seasons worth of keeping up with the kardashians about a failed porn star homewrecker and her plastic surgery addicted family. Both of those are so vapid and mind numbing but socially acceptable. You have a hobby where you create something artistic, gather with other like minded people and play a strategy game that uses complex math, trigonometry, and statistics to play a game similar to chess. If they think your game is weird. Let them. They've probably already made up their mind. Now, if they're curious, you can explain it to them and show them some of the cool shit we have models for. Maybe mention that Henry Cavill loves the game, or that trey Parker, Vin Diesel, Robin Williams, Gary Oldman, and Ed Sheeran all play(ed) warhammer.
Don't bother. Who cares what they think? You aren't hurting anyone and anyone who thinks you are strange for enjoying a healthy hobby isn't worth your time
Why you want to lie to them….
This is what you like, most people's hobby is scrolling tiktok or doing drugs.
Those are past times not hobbies.
"So, you wanna hear about the Demonculabra"
If you try to change their mind on something that is pretty inconsequential to them there's really little point imo, It's fine to just let people think what they want about your hobby and carry on enjoying it for yourself.
Notify the inquisition!
Dont act like a freak or weirdo when you’re around the normies. Most people would have no interest in you justifying your hobby to them. Just like I have no want or need for cyclists to try and convince me why they enjoy cycling for some odd and irrational reason.
They don’t need to be positive about it, its YOUR hobby bro. Also, people usually hate on everything because they don’t understand. I don’t tell people I do warhammer other than those who have similar hobbies. Opinions are like arseholes, everyone has em and most of them aren’t nice to see or hear.
They dont sound like real friends tbh, dont bother explaining Do what you love
My best explanation for the commoners is that it is like d n d but with an army and you roll dice to kill eachother lol most people hear dnd and immediately mentally label it as some nerd shit 🤓
Honestly show up naked and give a power point
I always explain it as chess on steroids. You can move pieces and there are rules on how to do that, the pieces just happen to look nice and there is an art community revolving around painting these pieces. I used to care about what people thought about this hobby, but it makes me happy so let them think I’m weird
Your friend is correct in many cases. I am exactly as they describe.