The Heart and Soul of the Hobby

The last year has been a relatively disheartening time for me in terms of my GW hobby. Recently I've come to realize the source and reconcile my negative feelings for GW with my continued passion for their products. This past weekend I think I was reminded what the heart and soul of the hobby is for me.

The pictures below are from a couple of 40k players I know who were playing in a tournament at the Chicago Bunker. I'll also include a link to a third player's blog with pictures of his beautiful IG army. I found, even with my disgust at GW Corporates complete lack of "love" for the hobby community (i.e. pulling the prize support, pulling the circuit, failure to support local clubs and players who champion their game, etc) I was still drawn to these games. Well, I think these pictures should give you some idea of why. For me, I can't look at armies like this and NOT be inspired and excited to do some hobbying of my own. Plus, when I know the people and they are a great bunch of folks (fun, into the background, love to paint and hobby, etc) that is a further plus.

I don't like GW Corporates recent policies or prices and I know I spend less now then I would have in the past, yet I really enjoy the products they make (well, except finecast maybe), the background AND most importantly the other gamers and hobbyists I know who also play their games. In the end, these people and the beautiful, inspirational hobbying they do is the true heart and soul of this hobby to me and it keeps me coming back for more every time.
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The following links are to Brian and Jeff's blogs. Brian's Necrons are also pictured below along with a Tallaran IG army painted by a different guy named Jeff.

http://briancarlsonminiatures.blogspot.com/

http://jeffshobbyspot.blogspot.com/

What have I gotten myself into this time?

So, the past year or more I've been very down on GW and had decided to spend my hobby money elsewhere like FOW, Historicals, etc.  Essentially, I felt that I would not buy anything model wise from GW until the Hobbit release (I already have enough Lord of the Rings stuff to keep me busy for several years anyway).  And then I had to wander through the bitz trading at Adepticon (why I don't know) and felt compelled to haggle over the Cadian Battleforce box (new in box) which after getting him down to roughly 50% off I felt obligated to buy. 

It must have been fate because it turns out a number of different gamers I know and sometimes game with are looking to start both Kill Zone and a Badab War campaign.  I only found this out the day after buying this box!  So below is the start of my combination Kill Zone Team and Badab Sector Planetary Defense Auxila.  I wanted to do something different and more prestine, plus I'm feeling like painting some blue.  Although the initial force will be pretty generic I'm basing the theme around the Guard Auxila that fought for Huron Blackheart in the Badab Sector during the Badab War.  These poor bastards thought they were protecting their sector and homeworlds from a traitorous Imperium and Space Marines when in fact, they were the ones who at unwittingly turned from the Imperium by blindly following Huron and the Astral Claws.  If things do take off with the Badab Campaign I may even add some Astral Claws to the force and make it a Traitors Legion list out of the Badab Forgeworld Book 1.

You may notice one of the models here is not a GW model (don't tell anyone) but is instead one of the past Adepticon models which I've always wanted to paint and finally found the opportunity.  For now he'll serve as my Company Commander.

Lots Still Going On Behind The Scenes

It's been awhile since my last update but even with the silence I've been busy.  Expect a few posts over the next month with a recap of my April and May hobby adventures including Adepticon, LotR, Guns of April, Gorgon work and even some 40k (yes, even that!).

In the meantime, this weekend I had a chance to play some ancients with a local group I've started meeting with.  Mike runs these games in which he supplies all the figs (painted nicely I might add) and we just show up, roll some dice, have some laughs and push some lead around.  AWESOME!  To top it off, I played on the Roman side and we pulled of a nail biter of a win against the Numidians.

The Roman Legions arrayed for battle

The Roman heavy and light cavalry destroy the Numidian Cavalry on the Numidian right flank

The Numdian right flank has fallen and the Romans move in for the kill

After seeing several Roman units destroyed the game hung on the outcome of the battle above with the Romans winning the day in the end

FOW 3rd edition!

I found out recently that The Warstore was giving away a free copy of the new 3rd edition rules with any Flames of War purchase. Well, rather then waiting a month and spending god only knows what on the hardcover book I went ahead and put in an order. It arrived today in all it's gaming glory! I will now have some objectives, appropriate Fallschirmjager tokens (instead of panzer ones) and some destroyed tank smoke and flame markers. And best off all, the softcover 3rd edition rules. Awsome!

Laying down the (hobby) law for 2012

I can't let the month of January go without copying my fellow gaming bloggers and posting a New Year planning post. So, after much soul searching I think I have a plan for my hobby this year. In fact, I mean to lay down the law, stick to my guns and complete this whole list (yeah right!).

For 2012 I have several painting and hobby projects to complete:

• Paint one unit of 2/24th Biritish Line Infantry for the Guns of April Napoleonic project for Adepticon
• Paint a unit of Gorgon Studios Etruscans for the Little Wars Charity auctio
• Paint Fallaschirmjager and Panzer additions for my Flames of War forces
• Build and paint my FOW terrain for home use
• Paint a Lord of the Rings Harad army for Bilbo's Bash
• Paint at least one unit of Etruscans for the Gorgon Studios army (I'm setting the bar low)
• Play LotR and FOW more regularly
• Play in a FOW tournament

As usual for me, there are so many other "wishlist" items I won't commit to as I KNOW I won't complete it all and it's not a priority at the moment. For the most part, I'd love to finish the rest of my English Civil War Royalists and finish another 1000 points of Gorgon Studios Spartans. But, I guess those will have to wait until I complete the list above. Plus, I need to leave room for the unexpected hobby challenge that is sure to come my way this year (it always does).

Of course, as I work on these projects I'll make sure to post WIP shots as well as complete pictures. PAnd we'll see how well I do by January 1st, 2013.

The Greatest Hobby Ever!

Well, 2011 took a turn for the worse for me in November. But, I'm recovering and home for the holidays which I'm very thankful for. During this ordeal my family and I have had lots of generous and thoughtful people to help us out. For me, one group in particular really supported me...my gaming friends in the miniature gaming community. Whether it was visits, cards, care packages or Forum posts (thanks Adeptus Windy City Forums) from LotR SBG friends and others I've met in my gaming years. I'm truly thankful to have gotten to know these people and to be able to call them friends. I can't think of any other hobby where I could call people friends having only met them yearly at a convention or only talk to them on online forums. I'm truly a lucky man to have the opportunity to play games and talk hobby talk with some of the greatest people around.

This all leads to my first post of 2012 which actually recaps an almost perfect end to my 2011. About 6 months ago I was invited to start gaming with some local guys who play Flames of War and Ancients. I only had time to attend a few games but these guys welcomed me in from day one and made me feel part of the group. When I got sick, these guys called, emailed and generally kept checking on me. Having known them for so short a time I was truly amazed at this. Well, I told them I couldn't wait to recover and return to some games with them, not knowing how long that might take. But on New Year's Eve I got that chance by playing some FOW with three of the four members of this group. The location was 5 minutes away and my wife agreed to drive me (I'm taking advantage of that while it lasts!). For me, this was a fantastic moment as it marked my first game since falling ill and I hope it symbolizes where my gaming energies will focus during 2012 (Don't worry LotR SBG fans I still love that game too!).

Enjoy some pictures of our game and thanks again to all of my gaming friends. You truly are the best! Here's to many more games in 2012 and beyond!

I'm back!

Well, it's been some time since my last post and a few things have happened. I had some health issues recently which saw me sidelined for awhile but I'm now home, continuing therapy and improving each day.

Which brings me to my second point: I finally felt like trying my painting skills again. I was not sure if my illness would affect my fine motor skills but everything seems fine. So, after painting one model to compare with my earlier Haradrim I was inspired to finish some more. No where near what I need to do to have any army but it's a good start I think.

So stay tuned and hopefully they'll be more LotR, Flames of War and British Line Infantry in the future.

Happy Holidays!