A Busy Dad's 3-Point Guide To Army Building in MESBG
It's no secret that our hobby can be pretty expensive; in more ways than one!
Between the miniatures, the paints, the brushes and basing materials, and don't even get me started on terrain!
You could fund a decent weekend away (or a wild 45 minutes in Vegas) with the money spent on building our beloved miniature projects.
But...
"It's not about the money" - The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Well, it's not JUST about the money.
Our hobby can also be more time and space consuming than Galactus on a depression-fuelled binge.
Building and painting is all part of the hobby, and personally, I love it. Like most hobbyists, I would gladly spend a day getting a unit or army painted up to a great standard, ready for a game.
Then I'd invite my friends over, and we'd play on a wonderfully set up table, have a few beers, some pizza, and make a great day of it.
But I have a job, two kids under 3, a house to maintain, exercise to do, food to make, and a business to run.
I love my hobby, but I could easily have no time for it at all.
So, that leaves us with the question, how do busy dads (or busy people in general) get projects completed ready for one of those all important games days?
Credit: Games Workshop
1. Build Smaller Armies
Now, someone might read this and think I'm asking you to play smaller games. Condemning you to little 300 Point skirmishes.
I'm not.
Your army doesn't need to be low Points, it needs to be low model count. Make an elite list, with heroes and monsters.
Will it be the most meta list? Not always. But MESBG is a game of skill, a meta list can flop in the hands of a poor player, while a great player can make even the dodgiest list shine.
But how important that is to you really depends on your goals. If you want a project completed quickly, then going for an elite force really limits the amount of painting you have to do.
However, if your goal is to place at Ardacon, then you'll probably want to invest a little more time in picking exactly the right units, experimenting with different builds and tactics, and so on.
If I was to recommend a top 3 fantastic elite lists to start with, you can't go far wrong with (in no order):
- Fangorn
- The Grey Company
- Depths of Moria (Yes, really - you can fit a lot of monsters in that list!)
Alternatively, there's always the Fellowship or Thorin's Company. (These guys always get a mention, I don't make the rules!)
Credit: Games Workshop
2. Paint Like A Cowboy
Considering miniatures are meant to be placed on a table, looked at from 3 feet away, we sure do like painting each and every detail as though our army will be looked at under a microscope.
While this is all well and good, and extremely rewarding, it's hardly what one might call 'efficient'.
And so, we learn to paint like a cowboy.
Before you yee your haw over to the painting table, you need to decide on your Magnificent 7.
These are the paints you'll be using for the vast majority of your army. Note that these will change from project to project.
Let's take these Marocian Great War Veterans as an example.
Credit: Ironclad Forge
Put simply, you could paint them with:
- Black
- White
- Rich Green (like Caliban Green)
- Dark Brown
- Flesh Tone
- Brown Wash
- Silver
Sure, we could start adding highlights, texturing, maybe even OSL or NMM, but that's not the point here. Cowboys are quick off the draw, and that means moving quickly.
What's more, you actually don't need to paint every detail perfectly. Pick a few key focus points, and give those some love. The rest can be left. For example, boots, the backs of shields, the hafts of spears can all be left a generic dark colour, and most people won't notice, and even fewer people will care.
Bases are even easier. Slap on some texture paint, add a wash, and a highlight and you're good to go. No hero rocks, no miniature dioramas, no heaps of grass tufts or rivers of free-hand painted lava.
Credit: Games Workshop
3. Choose The Right Sculpts
Now, this one requires a little bit of a different understanding than most aspects of army building.
Here we need to think about how individual sculpts are actually made up. Some are simple, one piece miniatures that slot or are glued onto a base, while others are fiddly, multi-part puzzles that takes half an hour to build.
We want the former.
That's not to say that there isn't trade offs, a multi part Mordor Troll is probably quicker to make than its points value of Mordor Orcs.
Here, you've got a range of options. We're very lucky in that the official MESBG range offers a lot of easy-build miniatures, giving us plenty of options. There is also (shameless promo time) plenty of great 3d printing services out there, who produce excellent proxies.
Full credit of course goes to the designers, the likes of KZK, Devale, and Medbury all produce great miniatures.
But, for the official range, you want to consider the 'classic' infantry options that have not yet been updated for the new era. Like:
- White Hand Uruk Hai
- Uruk Hai Scouts
- Warriors of Minas Tirith
- Mordor Orcs
- Rangers of Middle Earth
- Easterling Warriors
- Galadrim
- The Fellowship and Thorin's Company (again, I don't make the rules!)
Credit: Ironclad Forge
Conclusion
So, there we have it. A busy dad's top tips to producing completed armies efficiently, using as little time, space, and money as possible
I hope you busy people out there find this helpful, and maybe even motivate you to become active again in the hobby, if you've taken some time away. You won't regret it.
Don't be afraid to share your tips in the comment section as well, let's help the community to get projects finished, together.
In Other News…
As some of you may know, I am also a fantasy author, having released the first book of The Sundering Cycle series just last year.
I can now proudly say that I am an Award-Winning Author, having won the Judge’s Choice Award at the White Rose International Film Festival just last week (I was a finalist in the Book To Screen Category)
It was a really fantastic event, where I got to meet some amazing creatives. If you’re interested in this kind of thing, you can pick up The Sundering Cycle at Waterstones, and a range of other major book retailer.
What's more, the book does have a game associated with it; Halgrad: The Tabletop Skirmish Game. You can check that out on our website, as well.
