You know what sucks?
Getting in that 'hobby funk,' where you get all disinterested for one reason or another, or real life hits you about the head and neck area for a hot minute, or whatever. It's times like these that you might find me in full-blown 'woe is me' mode, flailing my tentacles about in anguish.
A lil' over a month ago, I prolly sounded something like this:
'Waaah! Of all the garages in all the world, why did someone hafta crash their car into the Ultimate Rival's? Why? What are the odds? It's the Dice Gods! I know it is! This is their doing! Curse you, Dice Gods...Curse yooouuuu!'
...later of course, I retracted that statement, and prostrated myself before a cube of Chessex 12mm's.
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| *Maybe sacrifice the occasional Justin Bieber fan to the Dice Gods. Keeps 'em happy* |
You know what feels good?
...
Well...yes, that feels good too, you sickos, but this is a hobby blog, so how about we focus on that as our topic of discussion today, huh? I know what you were thinkin'...
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| *And this is what I was thinking...wait, no...HOBBY! I was thinking HOBBY!* |
Ahem.
So, anyway, like I was gonna say, snappin' outta that funk feels good. Real good.
The gaming garage is back in working order. Better than that, even- it's been improved, and given an all-new, minty-fresh coat of paint and everything.
So this week the Ultimate Rival and I were back in there, cursing mightily at one another from opposite sides of a 6x4 foot table with tiny model tankie-tanks on it, and all was right in the world again.
:)
The game we played that night was beyond epic.
I lost, of course (sigh), but it was a game of such incredibly epic epicness that I know it'll be forever remembered. It was one of those games, and one of those nights, that will make me smile every time I think about it. At the same time, I'll always wonder how I could possibly shoot nine tanks in one turn, but only kill three and bail six.
It's only a lousy 3up to kill 'em, fer cryin' out loud.
Really, Dice Gods? Really?
-_-
Hey, these things happen, amirite? Anyhow, I've got another great addition to my gaming memoirs. File this one under 'bittersweet.'
Heh.
I came home and immediately started fiddling with lists, which led to plotting some new purchases/additions to the army...
Don't you judge me!
This is war, goddammit. I need armored mortars for smoke, see? Sure, I have some other models that could do that, but...but...
Hmmm...I'll need a tighter argument to slip this one past the Crazy Lady I Live With.
:P
I'll hafta ponder that. In the meantime, I thought I'd lay out some of my favorite hobby memories for you, starting from my initial jump off the proverbial cliff, up until the present day.
I'll be forced to update this, once my plan to conquer the world is complete (notice I didn't say 'successful.' Stupid Dice Gods will prolly betray me. Nyah), but here's where I'm at, so far....
*Note- as a bonus, instead of boring old hobby pics, which we've all seen before, I thought I'd include some Katrina Bowden pics. She plays Tina Fey's assistant on television's 30 Rock, and starred in a pretty cool lil' flic called Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.
You're welcome.
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| *If anyone would prefer like, pics of 40k, FoW, or whatever models, lemme know and I'll prolly ignore you* |
The decision is made- I'm doin' this!
The Ultimate Rival described 40k to me on the phone, and I was all like, 'Sure, man, that sounds fun. What do we need to get started? I'll throw in with you.'
Wow, I made 'the decision' so casually...Lolz! Little did I know what I was getting into, huh?
I'll tell you what, though, I had a tingly feeling in my stomach when I decided, though. There was definitely a feeling, a rightness.
Choosing an Army- Tau for the win, baby!
My fishie dudes. I heart my fishie dudes.
After making the decision to play 40k, I figured I better see what 40k is, actually. I go to Games Workshop's website and fall in love with the Grimdark. I stay up all night reading Black Gobbo.
I knew I was goin' Tau the second I laid eyes on them. I'm not gonna lie- I'm an anime guy, and this is a no-brainer for anime guys.
I know the very fact that the Tau exist, and are blatantly anime-ish (and not exactly grimdark-ish), bugs some old-school 40k players, but whatevs. They're friggin' cool and I luvs 'em.
There goes the rent- First trip to the place of wonder known as...the Gamestore!
Oh, man. This is a big one. The sights, the sounds...there were games being played, models being built and painted, gamers hanging out talking games, and, and...the stuffs.
So.Much.Cool.Stuffs.
What got me was the models. So many...all so awesome. From dragons to tanks, spaceships and sexy warrior women...
My brain explodes, and when it did, it emits a long, very high-pitched girly scream of joy that only dogs could hear.
Thankfully. Woulda been awkward, otherwise.
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| *Imagine an 'interior of gamestore' pic here. Or don't.* |
Learning 2 paint- Thank the heavens for online tutorials!
If it wasn't for the internet, I never would've gotten anywhere. Like every aspiring Golden Demon winner, I had big schemes, big plans...now if only I had a friggin' clue!
To the interwebz!
Aaaaagh! New terminology to learn!
:)
I still have some of my 'revision one' models. They're so bad it's hysterical, but it makes me feel pretty good about my abilities now! The rev. one models look like they were finger painted by a blind man with leprosy.
:D
The learning curve- from noob to 'at least I haven't poked my eye out with a burst cannon...yet.'
Well, this one is kinda bittersweet, I must say. Simply put, I learned to play 40k by getting my butt kicked. No one offered to play 'gentle, friendly' games. No tutorials, demo games, or anything like that.
I learned the Dangerous Terrain rules when one of my Crisis Suits jumped into it. I went to move another model, and my opponent grinned and said 'Dangerous Terrain test.'
I rolled a one.
Figuring there's no way that could happen twice, and needing to get my suits away from incoming Black Templars, another Crisis Suit hopped in.
Hey, guess what? It can not only happen twice, it can happen three times in a row, as I found out moments later.
Sheesh. My tactics eventually improved. Maybe one day I'll sacrifice enough Hobos and/or Justin Beiber fans to get some love outta the Dice Gods.
I learned more terminology, I memorized stats, rules and fluff. I'm more of a 'learn by doing' type, however, and getting seal-clubbed repetitively was trying, for sure.
I got through it, though, and I do my part nowadays by helping the new guys. Good karma should give you re-rolls in game, right?
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| *Pretty good homage to the genre, actually* |
The next level-off to a tournament we go!
I've come to treasure these days of pure hobby. A tournament is basically the biggest 'gaming fix' you can get and still have it be legal. Cool armies to ogle, cool people to meet, and games, games, games!
The night before my first tournament, I got zero sleep (I may have been a tad nervous, and still painting a ton of stuffs), but my army was fully painted when I arrived (although a few models may have still been tacky). I got spanked in all three games, but it was so much fun that I go to every one I can now.
The internet sorta casts a bad light on 'competitive events' nowadays, but for a knucklehead like myself, it's not about the competition. Besides, the Dice Gods are clearly punishing me for something I did in the past life, so...yeah.
I go for the lolz, the friends and rivals, and to see the cool armies and whatnot. Most times I don't embarrass myself too bad!
But then there's those other times...
And you may ask yourself, 'How did I get here?'- SinSynn goes blogging!
So there I am pestering Brent over at Strictly Average, and Lauby hits me up in the comment section....
;)
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| *As much as I like Brent's 'Empty Digital Headache,' this is easier on the eyes* |
Well, I'll leave it at that for now. Thanks to Lauby, and all of you wonderful, weird folks out there, I get to share my madness with you...
But I bet some of my experiences are pretty darn similar to yours, aren't they?
I wonder if there's a one-eyed hobbyist out there, who during his first game, bent over to check Line of Sight and misjudged the height of that custom banner...
I'm glad I'm not that guy!
Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!
-SinSynn
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