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I have long been a fan of the YouTube channel Hobby Night, and its host Angela. Currently, the channel is a mix of painting and hobby news, in a sort of round-up style, but one of the things that I like about it so much is that it is very approachable. Angela is incredibly charismatic and engaging (and the off-screen “Chaos Cultist” is entertaining as well) and you never get the impression–as you do with other YouTube channels–that Angela is talking down to you. Until very recently, Angela worked in a game store, and you get the feeling when watching the videos that you’re just hanging out in your FLGS talking to the regulars about the hobby and maybe learning a little about how to paint. It’s all wonderfully welcoming.
Today, Angela from Hobby Night answered some of my questions about what she enjoys about the hobby, what insights she has into hobby trends, and where she sees Hobby Night going in the future.
Wargame Explorer: How did you get into the wargaming hobby?
Angela: I was introduced to the hobby side of wargaming at my college’s tabletop gaming club almost 14 years ago. As a massive art kid growing up I was immediately interested in learning to paint the models alongside learning how to use them in the games.
WE: What draws you most to the hobby? The painting and collecting? The gaming? The lore? Something else? And why?
A: I am very enamored with the painting and collecting side of the hobby, but the modern community is what keeps me going. My experiences both in person and on the internet with the hobby community have been overwhelmingly pleasant and encouraging with very rare exceptions. It’s hard to not want to contribute to that.
WE: How did you get into YouTube, and how has being a YouTuber changed the way you engage with the hobby?
A: I have been doing YouTube for around 4-5 years now. My partner and I started with a video game let’s play channel as a way to spend more time playing games together, which worked really well because it got us playing more video games and tabletop games too. Then around 2 years ago I brought up the idea of shifting our YouTube focus from video games to tabletop games. We had both gotten back into painting miniatures right around then too and we had also started watching a lot of battle-reports and painting tutorials. I figured I might be able to create a painting tutorial too and then it just blossomed out from there!
Being on Youtube (and subsequently Instagram) has significantly amplified how I engage with the hobby. I paint more miniatures and play more games now than I ever did before all because of the channel, but that was part of why I wanted to start. I wanted to be doing more with it. So it’s working out really well for me so far.
WE: You recently became a full time YouTuber after having worked in a game store. What do you think you learned from working in a game store that most gamers don’t know or understand?
A: I think a lot of gamers don’t always realize just how intense and sometimes unfair the supply chain can be to a small business like a game store. Nor how exceptionally challenging that can be on the staff of those stores who end up being a buffer between the publishers and any disgruntled customers. Please always be kind to the people that work at your friendly local game stores. They often have no control over a game not hitting their shelves when the publishing company says it is supposed to.
WE: Your channel has a big focus on gaming news, and you seem to have your finger on the pulse of the hobby. What trends have you noticed that you don’t think are getting enough attention?
A: One of the great things about how the community has grown in recent years is there has been a wider chorus of voices calling out way the hobby can be improved.
One thing we should try to ensure is keeping a unified voice against unfriendly consumer practices. Exploitative separation of rules into multiple expensive books, subscription services that don’t provide enough value in 2022, etc.
WE: By the same token, what gaming news or topics do you think are overblown or overhyped?
A: How overblown every upcoming rules update or preview can become. We see that a lot in 40k, often because the previews are given to us piece-meal through specifically marketed hype articles rather than with full context of how they are meant to synergize with the rest of the rules.
We see the ‘coolest’ stuff, and people jump to the conclusion that it represents everything.
WE: What makes you most pessimistic about the hobby?
A: Seeing people actively gatekeep still. Just don’t do it. This hobby is for everyone.
WE: What makes you most optimistic about the hobby?
A: That it’s still growing exponentially right now. More people are playing games, expressing themselves artistically and seem like they are having a really good time doing it.
WE: What are your plans for Hobby Night in the future?
A: I have a lot of plans for the channel going into the future. One of the most impactful is to simply expand the content we create. We want to add a few more shows to our weekly line up. A new Let’s Play series will be launching this week on Wednesday (01/12) and later on I’d like to produce a Vlog segment regularly. In the back half of the year, I am hoping to start tackling some bigger hobby projects too. Things like large format dioramas or terrain boards depending on how things are going. We will of course continue to have a hobby-centric video like painting tutorials or board game lists as well as the weekly hobby news segment (moving to Mondays starting 01/17).
WE: What advice would you give to someone who is just getting into gaming?
A: Always keep in mind that games are as diverse as film, you probably aren’t going to like everything. Best to keep an open mind, keep trying new games to find the ones you like the most, and have fun doing so, even if that takes time!
Thank you to Angela from Hobby Night for being interviewed! If you want to hear more from her, you can follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and, of course, YouTube. And you can support Hobby Night on Patreon here.
