Its been a long time since my last post, a little over a month in fact! Things have been crazy lately, but that's the same for everyone, isn't it? I have gotten to the place where my work travel for the year is done, except 1 more day trip to NY. Overall, this time of year should be good for my hobby, as I can generally carve out some time during my work day (I work from home when not on the road) to do some modeling or painting. On the other hand, Assasins Creed 2, Dragon Age Origins, and MtG for the Xbox call to me and conflict for my hobby time.
So, the big question is what I have been up to and whats new? I have a load of stuff on my painting/modeling tray, much of it started and underway. The projects that are likely to roll off first are 2 new Fire Prism's and a new Wave Serpent. As a matter of fact, I just completed one of the Prism's an hour before writing this. I need to figure out where my wife hid the camera so I can get some pictures up. Lists to the left and right have been updated appropriately. As a note, I have passed the 3K mark on for a painted army, taking the typical options I play with (not maxing out options). I think thats some type of milestone! I tried to do a quick add-up of my complete collection, and I think I still have another 4K or so to go, just with what I already own. I am going to have to decide when I am going to end my Eldar Exclusivity and start on my WHFB High Elves. Probably not until after Adepticon next year.
I was very excited about a month back (shortly after my last post) and got started on my Avatar project. This came to a halt as I realized I want to document the conversion and painting step by step. This is certainly a goal to have complete before the end of December, although it may wait for significant work until my end of year vacation.
Outside of modeling and painting, I have been somewhat active in games and doing a lot of reading. I got a game in with Jay a couple weeks back that was enjoyable. Kill points, and I was trying out a small jetbike seer council (1 farseer and 4 warlocks) for the first time. I figured I needed to try this unit out since it is the "hotness" according the the internet tourney players. Personally, it did not work for me, but I need to give it a couple more chances. From a modeling standpoint, I think I will model up a "Jetbike Seer Council" although it will be highly modified and not on bikes per-se. I have a great idea and will use jetbike bases to make sure the foot-print works out. Even if I end up not using them as a seer council, the models should look good and I can use them as warlocks for my bike squads.I have the bits for the first 2 test models, so those are in the plan and on the workbench.
A couple weeks back I was out at the local GW store and ran into a couple guys who have played 40K since 1st edition. We all ended up heading out to dinner and I was fascinated by thier stories of the changes to the game over the years. In addition, one of the guys has been a die hard Eldar player form the beginning. After listening to his stories and his memory of the fluff, I became intrigued enough to troll ebay for a number of items. First I am still looking for a copy of the 1st edition Rogue Trader 40K rule book. Second, I grabbed 3 old white dwarf's, with 2 having arrived. I picked up White Dwarf 171 and 172, which have write-ups on the "new releases" of 2nd edition Eldar models and an Eldar vs Orks battle report. I have enjoyed reading the fluff in the magazines regarding the Eldar. I also found Gamehobby.net, which is fantastic and provides references for the Eldar fluff, along with reposting some of it. I may post some of the old rules and snippets over time if they catch my fancy.
On another note, two old friends of mine have returned to the 40K side of the hobby. Those of you who have followed my blog a while may remember me mentioning Trevor and Jen in this previous post. Well, Trevor dug his Tau out of hiding, and started painting/repainting them again. He came over the house a couple weekends back and I walked him through a 5th edition intro game, rolling out the basics and changes to him. Then again, this last weekend, we headed to the Baltimore Bunker with his wife to play a couple games and introduce her to the 5th edition changes. Overall, I am happy to see them back in the hobby. Jen's 5th edition intro with her Witch Hunters was brutal, with 3 of my tanks and 3/4 of my army dead or fleeing at the end of turn 2. I ended up pulling enough back together before the end of the game to not get tabled while teaching her the new dynamics of 5th. The two games vs Trevors Tau renewed the old rivalry, with both being fairly bloody games for both sides.
I will also be attending Adepticon next year in March. I have everything nailed down (hotel, registration) and am registered for the Friday combat patrol game along with the Sunday 40K championships. I plan to get in Thursday and head back home Monday, after everything is over. My plans include catching up with the Dice Like Thunder guys, possibly crashing their podcast (again) and just gaming as much as possible over the weekend. I am currently debating driving vs flying out. If I drive, I can make time to drive into Chicago (which I love) and grab breakfast at Lou Mitchell's downtown. Its well worth the drive, but I cannot bring myself to pay the ~$50 in round-trip cab fare to go in and out for breakfast! In addition, if I drive I do not have to worry about bringing my armies on the plane. On the other hand, Driving is ~12 hours, where flying is less than 5 including the wait at the airport.
Thats it for now, I need to go and find the camera to grab some pictures of the new tanks!
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