Hello everyone Frankie here to talk a little bit about the Warhammer/ Tabletop gaming Community.
First off, I have had the honor of being a part of quite a few different communities. I grew up playing sports and through that made a lot of really good friends from various sports teams. The sports communities that I grew up with were great and you always knew that everyone had each others’ back weather on the field or off. Maybe not go too far out of the way for each other, but we were there for each other within reason. Now everyone has different experiences so this is just from my view point.
The next Community I was a part of was the Boy Scouts. Now that is a great organization and gets a lot of kids together from all different backgrounds. It teaches teamwork and gets you to meet people you might not have thought were cool, or maybe thought were too cool to hang out with. While at events, the brotherhood is great and everyone is always really helpful and willing to go above and beyond to help each other out. But once you get outside the events and such the brotherhood kind of disappears which is really unfortunate. It might just be growing up and the cultural differences but it seemed in my eyes that through high school everyone kind of hid the brotherhood of the Scouts until away from school. I am guilty of being one of these people as well, unfortunately, as sometimes it wasn’t always seen as being cool to be in the scouts. Frankie is too modest to say it himself, but he was an Eagle Scout! -Reece
Now onto the community I am currently a part of, and that is the Warhmmer and Tabletop gaming community. In this community it feels a lot like the scouts where it brings a lot of people from all kinds of backgrounds together. We have military, athletes, actors, nerds (proud to be one), police, CEO’s, professional gamers and the list goes on and on. Now in a community that has this broad range of people and differences you would think there would be a lot of tension and butting of heads. But to be honest the majority of people I have met have been awesome! Very friendly and helpful. Now of course there are still people that start trouble and I am sure everyone has those people in the community they don’t like but that is just life and most people keep it civil and are adults about it. So far this is the best community I have ever been a part of.
The main reason for this whole article and the reason I believe this to be the greatest community to be apart of is from what recently happened to a buddy of mine. My buddy James that lives down here in San Diego recently got his Daemon army stolen right out of his truck. It really sucks, especially since that is an army he has had his whole tabletop gaming life. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens a lot. But the amazing thing to me was that as soon as he mentioned it on Facebook and on our stream he started getting all sorts of emails and texts from you guys. People he had never met before but are apart of our community offering to send him models to help rebuild his army. Even people that have their differences with him reached out and offered to send some stuff his way. This is amazing. People going out of there way to help someone they may have never met just because they love the community. it made me feel proud to be a part of this group of gamers.
Like I said before, I have been apart of quite a few communities and told you guys about a few. By far this is the best one I have ever been apart of and am damn proud to be able to call it my community. No matter how frustrating games go, no matter how much I hate the dice sometimes, I am happy to be apart of this community. I mean helping someone out, that you have never met or may never meet. That is a community to be proud of. Thank you everyone for being a part of this community and hope you are all proud to be apart of it as well. Let’s continue to grow it and cant wait to see all of you during the tournament season even at events with crazy formats. I will be there to support the community and see all of you my friends and hope to see you all at events, too.
Community is why I play this particular game.
Me, too. I love modeling, nerdy stuff and gaming, but the community is hands down the best part.
Awesome article dude! Couldn’t agree more with you. The community does in fact kick some serious ass. When we went up to Pasadena for the bsb prep event on Saturday, people I had never met before we’re coming up to me and lending me their support. Everyone i played against was more than willing to help me out with anything from letting me borrow templates and dice, to offering to let me proxy models for my summoning. But just the notion that people really do feel a connection to their fellow gamers even sight unseen, speaks volumes to the profound connection we all have in this community. We all know how much time, effort and sacrifice it takes to play this game on any level. We also know the rewarding feeling of seeing our hard work pay off whether we’re winning games or admiring the finished army we’ve created set down on a table for everyone.
I have met some pretty awesome people through table top gaming and know I’ll continue to meet more with every event and league. A big thank you to all of you that make up this diverse and tight knit community.
Amen. Have only met great people in the 40k community. I’m sure there are some bad apples out there, like in any community, but I haven’t come across any. Really impressed by how willing people are to share their time and expertise to help others enjoy the game and hobby more.
I have loved the community in 40k. I’m heading this weekend to Just A Games Con for the 40k tourny and having a bday celebration for Mr. More Tanks and others are gonna have a full weekend of celebrations. Should be a great time!
Each tournament becomes something more than just an event and is a way to reconnect, hang out, have fun, throw dice, and get to know each other better, which is pretty cool.
What keeps me coming back to 40k is the community. While wm/h I’m sure has some great people, that has not been my experience. And other communities are really small. What I love about 40k is the fact that I can get what I want. I mean I barely knew geoff, and he gave me a ride to vegas,can pascal a room to share. I have a feeling I can do the same With others. I had dinner with pascal and miho and we talked forever at vegas.
This is great place to be.
Now if only I could get a goddamn game in. No one comes down to the shop much. At leasthe when I’m there Jason says.
Seriously, people is why you play the game. In our group, even the “jovial rage”. Terminators always roll 1s on their saves, tesla always rolls 6 to hit, and Tau always wipe a unit on overwatch… but that’s all part of the fun.
And the “in game” rage (at least for us) doesn’t cross into real world rage. Their is the solidarity from a common hobby and a shared langauge that a lot of other people don’t understand or appreciate.
Yeah, it’s a lovely thing:). I always feel so welcomed when I pop over to the US, it’s crazy;P
Also, I was a sea scout and one sprained ankle [on my final hiking expedition over some mountains] away from the equivalent of eagle scout. Good job Frankie!
Right on Frankie. I’ve had the same experience as you in the community. Some of the best guys I’ve ever met has been through 40k. Like you said you get to meet people from different social circles that you might not otherwise meet, and thus are introduced to cool stuff beyond 40k.
BTW for all the flak you get about reading all those crazy names wrong, you write really great articles (bat-reps especially). In fact the articles written by all you guys are one of the most underrated items you guys bring to the community. Thanks
Agreed that the 40k community is awesome. I certainly don’t stick around for a balanced, well-written game.
If this was nothing but empty games happening between individuals we probably wouldn’t travel the country/world/coast or whatever and get excited about playing it so much! The community is definitely what drives this thing and it’s really fun to be a part of something so great.
Just wanted to take a second and commend this article. As a former athlete, Eagle Scout, and veteran 40k player this article really hit home for me on many levels. Major props to you Frankie, Frontline Gaming, and the community as a whole. I have never been prouder to be a member of the gaming community!
I agree that this article is exceptional as it speaks to community. As I first started with 40K in our city, it seemed to be a very fragmented community. But as time as gone by, more communities held events such as games days, tourneys and such and these transcended stores, and reached out to communities which is broader, stronger, and much more resilient. Thanks Frankie for your article.
Also, my oldest son is also an Eagle Scout.
Oh, and I am a 44 year old banker that does not hide my hobby, but get a little tired of having to explain it. Sometimes I feel like asking if they are asking about 40K to be nice or do they really what to know about it.
Thanks for the article Frankie!! Community is a large part of why I still play after 30 years. I have met all types and personalities in my gaming community and am the better for it.
My son showed an interest when he was 8 and I modified rule sets for his developmental level. By 10 he was in to 40K and at 12 he won his his first tournament when we played as a team against a field of teams in which he was the only under 20. (I made sure he understood that it would be downhill from there for a while.) He is now 23 with a solid place in the gaming community. We both enjoy other games, electronic and otherwise, but there is nothing like reading an opponent across the tabletop. Perhaps in time there will be a 3rd generation tabletopper in the family.
And like Gregorius above, I too find it tedious explaining my hobby when people are just being polite. But I persevere and occasionally recruit a new player by accident.