Mayday, Miss Marcy! Terrain Turmoil, Dice Disaster, and Board to Tears

Welcome once again to that time of the week: Mayday, Miss Marcy!, in which we take your submitted questions and try to come up with entertaining and hopefully helpful responses to your quandaries. February is well underway and 2026 seems to be rocketing by whether we want it to or not, and a new month brings new questions. Last week we took a few questions from people expressing distress over the current state of the world, project management, and much more, so if you missed out on last week's questions and answers, go take a look!

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Also as a little editorial note: last week, I mentioned having reduced a questions details to protect the reader; a few comments were curious, and yes, I do edit the questions sometimes! This is mostly for readability, or to change names, as well as trying to avoid details that might reveal a specific location.

And now, on with the questions!

Over a River and Maybe A Ruins

Hello Marcy,

I am trying to get started with 40k. I have a half-painted army (that's been in progress for like a year), no one else to play with, and a dream.

I'm fairly perplexed about how much I should try to buy, build, paint, and play and how I can enjoy the hobby without letting it consume me, but I'm specifically wondering about terrain.

I have been coveting a terrain set for a while now, despite not playing more than a handful of games last year. I was really inspired by the Narrative Forge series and all the cool layouts on there - they make the table look very thematic and way more fun to play on than the sparse scattering of random cardboard and junk that I have used in the past.

I would love to get a basic set of terrain so I can have some fun with my army and maybe introduce my friends to the game - but something that looks good, not just a bunch of monochrome MDF L-shaped ruins.

Anyway, I wanted to write in because I feel out of my depth here. I haven't even finished my army and I'm eyeing a big terrain set???

Should I treat myself to a pricey GW set? Should I invest more time into 3d printing a set? Should I slow down on buying plastic? I don't know where to start!

Thanks,

Timorous Terrainiac

Dear Timorous,

Your question reminds me of a few other questions we've had, which generally fall into the category of "Don't spend money on a hobby to convince yourself to continue the hobby." You mention having a half-painted army and waning possibilities to play and a somewhat lacking selection of local friends to play with. Buying terrain will not fix your problems and it will not make your hobby more enjoyable to you, and instead, you might find that you resent it even more that the thing you've invested in hasn't returned on your investment, to so speak.

You ask if you should slow-down on buying plastic, so my knee-jerk answer is "Yes", because I think you're looking for me (or someone) to tell you that you shouldn't spend money. Alternatively, I would suggest that you do not spend money on an expensive project here, and instead consider some smaller alternatives if you really do want to get your feet wet but not over-invest. GW terrain is expensive, and although you could always resell it later, wasting money on something you won't use or have no direct need for won't help; you're buying a question looking for an answer, essentially.

I do not want to suggest you quit, though, so instead I think you should consider looking at some second-hand options; see if anyone in your area (or on places like Facebook Market or Miniswap, for example) are looking to offload some pieces of terrain, and usually the good stuff. You will sadly find people much like yourself who decided to cash out, and this can be a great way to get a few pieces of terrain to get your table started and see if things pick up for you. If they don't, you won't have spent more than you needed to, and if things do work out, you'll always need more terrain, so then you can really get started.

Not So Dicey

Dear Miss Marcy,

I have something of an odd problem, and I figured I'd ask because I actually don't know if there's really any solution for it. I suffer from a form of hyperacusis, and while I can usually manage things very well, I'm struggling lately because my LGS just upgraded their gaming tables, and the sound of dice hitting the table makes me wince in pain constantly now. I'm not sure what it is except that I assume the table surface and the dice interact in a way that the previous ones did not, and I have had to excuse myself from game night twice now due to the issue.

I really don't know what to do about it, because I can't ask everyone in the store to avoid rolling on the table, right? But I really don't want to give up my hobby, as it is one of the bigger social events I have to look forward to.

Hyperaware Hyperacusis

Dear Hyperaware,

I actually do think you can ask that. I don't know the size of the store or your familiarity with the people in it, but I'm going to assume it can't be that massive, and if these are people you play with often, I can only assume they are aware of your condition, perhaps? If not in either count, I think it is actually still totally reasonable to mention your accessibility concern and try to work things out with the other players. Providing a rolling mat or dice tray might solve the problem (although you didn't mention how you navigate or could navigate it), so perhaps your opponents and fellow players would be happy to do so in order to help?

I say that there's nothing wrong with asking people to change their behavior for you, because you mention you've already had to leave twice. If that isn't more disruptive than asking people to stop rolling on the table you're playing at, I can't really see how; I would very much prefer to help my opponent feel comfortable than have them just pack up and leave the game store.

Obviously the store owners are probably not going to bring back the old tables, and it seems like you've uncovered (unfortunately) a new thing for yourself to be aware of, but I really do want you to think about asking your fellow players to help you feel comfortable in the shop. As with a few previous questions, if their responses are flat out "no" or hostility to the idea of changing a minor thing, you probably didn't want to play there anyway.

This Would Be Fun, They Said

Miss Marcy,

Recently my partner and I have been going to a board game night with a few of our friends. We have a good time, eating dinner, talking, and playing games, but I have to confess that I absolutely find almost all of the games we play boring. I really tend to prefer faster and more interactive games, but we primarily seem to end up playing long, drawn out games that have little interaction between players.

The issue I'm having is that I feel like I'm the odd person out here, because the rest of the group is really into these games. I do participate and I don't throw or sabotage the games, because I see no point in ruining everyone's fun, but I am starting to consider if I should just opt out of playing. I just worry that will create a bigger issue or make the hosts feel awkward.

Boarded Up

Dear Boarded,

I am curious why you didn't bring up suggesting games you do like to play? Do the other players not enjoy or own those types of games? I feel like there's nothing wrong with asking to play something you'll enjoy, but if the problem is you're stuck with what the hosts have, you may have to consider bringing a game over and asking to play it (while probably suggesting it beforehand). I do agree with you: sitting out is just going to make everyone, including yourself, feel very awkward. Your partner will probably be kind of worried and possibly unhappy as you sit by yourself doing nothing, the hosts will worry that they've done something wrong, and you'll be staring at the wall for hours while people have fun a room over from you.

I've had some similar experiences to this, though, and it usually stems from the fact that the hosts do not like competitive games because they themselves get overly competitive, and they're trying to navigate being good hosts while not causing an awkward situation. So, since board games are technically a thing I'm known for here, I also wanted to bring up a suggestion: Co-operative games! These can allow for faster paced and interactive gameplay while also letting people make thoughtful decisions and not feeling like everything is competitive and a potential struggle session. Games like Pandemic are good options, and frankly a lot of the newer versions of the game have far more interesting mechanics.

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Tags: mayday miss marcy