Thursdays are our "open" category for posts, so you'll usually see posts from us on terrain projects, Top 5 lists, collection updates, or whatever ideas are bouncing around in our heads. Today, I'm departing from my usual analysis of some aspect of MESBG and wanted to talk about something that I've decided to get serious about this year: expanding my sense of community - and specifically putting my money where my mouth and heart are.
Models are great and all, but what has kept me in the hobby for the last 13 years hasn't been the models - it's the community we've built here at TMAT. This year, I've decided to expand that more and support the content creators that I admire and love. Disclaimer: per the usual, I'm not being paid by anyone to talk about how great other channels are - and I get no kick-backs from you supporting these guys monetarily. And yes, there are other great people doing great work out there, but these are the groups I've decided to get behind and support as a starting point. Without further ado, here's the list!
It's no secret - my family is a HUGE fan of Lachie and the Zorpazorp family. For me, it was his Battle Companies campaign that got me hooked on the channel, but with great terrain content from War in Rohan, Quest of the Ringbearer, and then the Minas Tirith mega-build that took off during the 2020 global pandemic, Lachie's been a beacon of hope and hobbying inspiration for me for a while. With lots of helpful tips in his videos (and free templates on his website for those awesome Minas Tirith walls and buildings - and a not-very-expensive STL file for Orc Rafts to invade Osgiliath), Lachie's given a lot to the community - and this year, I became a Zorpatron through Patreon.
Lachie has also been a big inspiration to two of my sons, both of whom have eagerly begun playing Star Wars Legion (my five-year-old is using my Clones, Gorgoroth is collecting Droids) and have watched Lachie and Jacko battle it out over and over and over and over and over again. I mean, "Lachie" and "Jacko" have not only become household names for us, but they are also the definitive experts on "how the game works." Boy was it soul-crushing when I explained how "campaign strategems" are like scenario rules and not actually part of Star Wars Legion . . . but we use them anyway from time to time. Lachie also recently launched a new channel for non-MESBG content (specifically Warhammer 40k stuff) over on ZorpHammer - check out what he has going on there if you haven't already!
Lachie also does hobby streams over on his other-other channel (Zorpazorp Streams), which I tune into every now and again - usually I'm making breakfast for my kids when it's airing, so my focus is a little split, but these streams have some of the most personal moments with Lachie and occasionally Larissa (being live and all, that probably makes sense), but also gives a greater insight into his community of viewers (since we're all chatting about whatever we fancy during it - and usually giving Lachie a hard time). The videos are great and the content is good, but the community is where it's at - and that's why I'm supporting what he's doing. Speaking of hobby streams . . .
Community #2: Entering the Chaos of Whatever BSiME Is
Back when I started making content for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, there was basically nothing on the web to help you get started - there were the legendary Battle Games in Middle-Earth magazines (if you had them), but the game had very little content out there to help noobies like me get going (my first real introduction to the game was from these guys on YouTube). I decided to change that after reading a blog from a guy in Australia (he was really active back then, hasn't been active since 2020) and get started myself. Nine years ago, about the time the Hobbit movies came out, the GBHL YouTube channel was born and Damian O'Byrne and Steve Crowe alongside other GBHL greats like James Clark were producing content for the Lord of the Rings game which had been rebranded as the Hobbit Strategy Battle Game.
Around two years ago, Damian and Steve decided to host a painting stream similar to what Lachie was doing on Zorpazorp, where they would paint the models from the old magazines (or similar models if they didn't have any of the real models on hand). The streams go on for 3-5 hours each (sometimes there are technical difficulties that change that) and include fun banter about Kit-Kat bars (or the cost of Freddos . . . I declare, Brits are weird), basements, muted microphones, and whatever happens to be interesting at the time. Amidst the chaos of each stream is the overwhelming sense that these guys not only love hanging out with each other (and a bunch of other people in virtual), but also really love the art of painting the models we have (whether the sculpts are great or not). With competitions to see how many people can paint the same named model each session, I was recently encouraged to bring out an Aragorn model (two technically) that I had done a halfway job on and get them more cleaned up - something that would have sat at the bottom of my queue if it hadn't been for that particular stream.
Earlier this year, I decided to back them on Patreon and join in on the fun. After getting set up on their Patreon Chat group via Facebook, I realized how much more was happening behind the scenes - I mean, the guys in that group are ALWAYS posting pictures of models they're converting/painting, thoughts on movies they've seen, thoughts on other gaming systems they're thinking about getting into, all kinds of stuff. It's a fun group of individuals and I've enjoyed being a part of it (though I usually just lurk in the background).
Both BSiME and Zorpazorp have Patreons you can be a part of if you want to support them - and if you don't live near them (like I don't), you can keep your cost low if that's a concern and still get a lot of the benefits of being a part of their communities. The final community I decided to back isn't on Patreon and the investment is steep, but boy is it worth it - I decided to . . .
Community #3: Back the Kingdom of Durak Deep Kickstarter
Jacob Lucas at Conquest Creations does some of the best 3D-printable terrain work I've seen - there are others out there, sure, who are doing good stuff, but I tell you what, the work Jacob and his team are doing is outstanding! Jacob's battle reports on YouTube are certainly contenders for best-MESBG-batreps-on-YouTube and not only shows off how great of a tactical player Jacob is, but also gives hints as to how great his community of gamers is there (check out the Conquest Creations Champions League, Season 1 and Season 2 for more on that).
I didn't get in last year on the Kingdom of Saxonia Kickstarter campaign (wasn't in a financial position to do that), but when I heard that there was going to be a second Kickstarter terrain campaign, I was like, "Well, better start saving now." I've picked up the Siege Tower file from Conquest Creations as well, and when paired with the new Kingdom of Durak Deep Dwarf buildings, I think it's safe to say that my games are going to be a lot better after having supported Jacob's work (and if you're following my Erebor Reclaimed project, you can take a guess at the next board project I have in mind). While the Kickstarter was running, it was interesting to see how quickly the community rallied around his work, busting through his established milestones quickly and then forcing him and his team to come up with new things! I am very happy to say that the last reward milestone that was unlocked (the brewery) was because of a suggestion I dropped in the comments - what do you know, it pays to be involved in the community sometimes! I don't have a monthly subscription to Conquest Creations (there isn't one that I'm aware of), but I am eagerly watching for Jacob's next big project (and if he had a monthly subscription, I'd back him in a heartbeat)!
Conclusion
For this year, I decided to manage how much I wanted to spend subscribing to different groups - maybe I'll increase my support to these guys (or branch out and support others) next year, but I'm glad I've got skin in the game with each of these communities. Even if you don't live near these guys, it pays to support them (and others) so we can all enjoy the content they provide regularly. If there are other groups you think are worth supporting, let us know that (and why) in the comments below! Until next time, happy hobbying!
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