Know what that is? Photoshop hoax? Nope. My latest purchase from eBay? Nope. A sign
of the apocalypse? Maybe. But better then a herald of the end of times, it is my tournament
army for this weekend. This weekend will be a plethora of firsts for the Baron.
I have never actually played in a Warhammer 40k tournament before. Crazy, I know right. I
have run them about a jillion times, but it has never been me in the hot seat, sweating out
the battle and watching who I get seeded with. I am pretty excited about the anonymity that
will come with me to this tournament. I haven’t really talked to many people at GW
Springfield so no one knows who I am or what my experience level is. I get to come in “raw
dog”, as a gamer guy, and see what I can do. There is also a painting contest attached. I
have never put my stuff into one of those before either. I have mentioned before how I feel
about my painting. Nonetheless, at the encouragement of the kick ass painters whose work
has given me this complex in the first place, I have decided to solider.
Another first I must admit to rather shamefaced. That being that this is my first full painted (I
still need to do two bases) army that I have ever fielded. Yes, I have been playing mini
games for a long time. No, there is not a good excuse as to why it took me this long. I am
not sure what cosmic alignment has made me keep my nose to the grindstone on this
project. I would sometimes stop, overcome by wonderment, as I mechanically had begun
prepping the next mini before the dull-coat of a previously painted mini had dried. I can
speculate though, and really all signs point to lack of distraction and focus. I think that
working in a game store these last couple (and by couple I mean seven) years was
detrimental to completing anything. There was always too much shiny shit around for me to
get distracted by. That coupled with the fact that it is pretty easy to jump ship on an army
when you are getting a hefty discount on it. Focus came from the Baroness. Her little plan
to save money has worked well on all accounts. There were times I would finish models
just out of spite, for the sole purpose of being able to get another one. I would like to think
that the Baroness knew what she was doing all along. She has forever heard me complain
about not having a painted army. She has forever complained about the money I waste on
half finished projects. I think she eventually put two and two together and devised a plan that
would yield results that we were both happy with. I would like to say that it was a great
compromise, but it wasn't. She is much smarter then I am, and this could have gone the
other way. Instead I count myself fortunate that her tyrannical control of the treasury was
able to yield a benevolent result.
It is looking like, unless some things clear up this week, this weekend will mark a rather
scary first. That being the first time I have actually played the army. I know that this is way
dumb, and in no way what ya want to do when you are entering a competitive event.
However, shit happens. I can take solace in the fact that I have played marines before,
especially Dark Angels, and I have the basic jist of what everything does. I have had some
speculative conversations with both Sunburstfalcon and Momma, which included many
poorly drawn diagrams such as this. As well as bombarded Otto with questions. Let the
record show that my questions were always concise and for the purpose of research. I
never “talked tactics” with them. Though, admittedly, I was rather impressed with Sunburst’s
e-lecture on something I think it was called The Wheel Offensive. To me there will be
something kind of exciting about playing a virgin that army that is already painted. Kinda
backwards from the way I usually roll.
I am going to hit on two more things before I go. The first being quasi-related in that it has to
do with Space Marines. It dawned on me that Space Marines probably sing, a lot. This
realization came to me when I was encouraged to go to church with the Baroness this
Easter Sunday. There certainly was a lot of singing and chanting going on. If the flavor text
is correct Space Marines basically are fighting or in church all the time. Thus it would follow
that they probably chant and sing a lot too. Either way, I was able to survive this mass by
suddenly replacing people in the pews around me with Space Marines in my head. They
towered over me in reverent attention listening to their Chaplain give a mass on why the
Emperor is “super sweet” and I felt like I was kicking it the 41st millennium, only like the 41
millennium with a lot of crying babies.
Lastly, do you know who this is? If not, you fucking pretty well should. Last Exile has been
out for awhile so it is probably not anything new to most anime fans. However, if you have
been thinking about watching it, get your ass of your shoulders and do it. If you hadn't been
thinking about watching it please see previous sentence for instructions. Most people who
talk anime piss me off. They say things like “color separation” and “frame rates”. Ya
whateva, this series is beautiful, straight up. It looks cool and stunning at the same time.
Above and beyond all that it will just tell you a really great story. It is innovative, touching, and
genuinely exciting. Claus is incredible. He struggles to do what is right all the time, even as
a world he barely understands gets pitched into a devastating war around him. Good shit
man.
I am off. Whilst I am sad that this army’s debut was not be at the what will always be my
game store, S&P Hobbies, I hope the boyz can send good vibes transcontinental. Hopefully
I will whup some northeastern ass.
SQUOGRE!
