Wars, campaigns and 24 hours…

Why do we play Warhammer? I mean truly, why do we play? Most of us have in some way in the back of their minds the visions of sweeping armies, or grand battle scenes and epic campaigns where armies clashes. We weave tales of heroism and grand villainy at the back of our minds as we paint and play. Wichever aspect of the hobby appeals to you that idea is always there, and in fact that’s what got us playing in the beginning. So why when I see a suplement like Warhammer: Empire at war, do I feel empty? Why can’t I be excited?

I’ve been talking with other gamers I know and so far everyone seems to feel the same way… everyone thinks it’s nice but no ones feels excited. I can’t be sure about everyone reason but in my case I know exactly why. It’s simply because I know at some level that a warhammer campaign is something I can’t afford. And when I say I can’t afford it’s time wise. I think a lot of people out there think the same way I do, that warhammer campaigns are something they cannot do, that is not for them…

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and look at the suplement first. Warhammer: Empire at war is a suplement designed to help you organise a warhammer campaign. Everything is there to help you out design and support a campaign. There’s rules written if you don’t want to create ones and a ton of ideas and advice on how to run a campaign, either the suggested one coming with the book or an entirely new one. And to top it all off we get the tiles! They are designed so they can fit any terrain, they can be moved easily to liberate gaming space and they look good. All in all, Empire at war is an excellent suplement for a very reasonable price. So why again does this doesn’t attract me.

Because I don’t have the time for a warhammer campaign, because very few people do. Let me explain, to run a campaign you ideally need to get a decent sized group together(four active players are often enough), you need them to play around 2-3 games a week, you need someone to actually run the campaign and finally you need a place to play. Sure you can play around with these parameters but in the end it usually comes down to that. I know I’ve ran a campaign and played in another and altough it was great fun it was also something of a burden at times to have to play so many games in such a small period. I mean that usually I would play around 3 games a week, at different days wich meant that I had to plan my week around my opponents and games. It is demanding even if I love warhammer and there was time when I was needed to play a game where I should or would have done something else. And that was at a time where I only had a part time job and no school.

Not a lot of people can make that commitment and neither can I. With a full time job and obligations I can’t dedicate 3 days a week to warhammer. Not a lot of people I know can. I’m happy if I can get just a weekend or 2 each month of playing. My gaming store organises one day tournaments each weekend and more often than not these make the bulk of my playing. When I compare to other players this makes me a frequent player. So it’s no wonder that a suplement concerning exclusively campaign play doesn’t really appeal to a lot of people. Sad to be sure seems it’s a lot of fun but I don’t have that much time anymore.