If you are a miniature wargamer, no matter which of the holy trinity of hobby you prefer - be it painting, gaming, or collecting, and you have not been to Adepticon, you are missing out. The innumerable hosts of people who make this grand event happen deserve the gratitude of all gamers and I can only hope that they continue to put on this amazing spectacle for years to come. Last year was my first go and I really just observed, took a couple seminars, and took it all in.
This year, I was able to participate in the Warhammer Fantasy Big Brawl event, a 3000 point brutal competitive tournament. Finished 0-3... yuck... but I learned quite a bit. Not a great start, but I've never played in a tournament for Warhammer Fantasy before, so I can't be mad. Good news - The Ogres got a lot of attention and praise, which was great. From the feedback, I would have had a good shot at best painted in the tourney had I finished my display base, which I will be working on very soon. Here are are a few pics from my first couple battles (before I was too tired to take any more pics):
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| Surrounded... |
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| Really cool battle against the lizards... just too much skink annoyance to stand. |
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| First time seeing Chaos Dwarfs on the table.... ouch. |
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| Trying to avoid the skullcrackers was a pain... getting hit by them was much worse. |
After spending a whole day at the tournament, it was nice to kick back. Again, if you've never been, there's plenty of different types of events for everyone in the hobby. For the 40k/Fantasy crowed, there are competitive, team, and narrative/friendly events, each different sizes. One of the highlight events for me, event though I didn't participate, was the Adepticon Titanicus battle, featuring only 40k titans. I'd love to do this next year, provided I have a Titan to play with - it looked like way too much fun.
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| All that money... |
This year, I was able to attend even more seminars. I took a glazing, photography, and freehand class. My favorite, of the four I took however, had to be the Intro to green stuff with Joe Orteza. The class was short, but taught me such a great deal about how to create simple things, such as purity seals, with little effort. Very much an aha moment with sculpting for me, which was something I have completed avoided in the past. Can't wait to try some things out and take the more advanced version next year.
One thing that I love about Adepticon and other gaming conventions is the indie and upstart games and companies that show up. Over the week, I was able to try out and see the miniatures for lots of new games. You almost have to be careful, because you can end up signing up for lots of stuff that you'll never have the time for. Relic Knight looks good and the Kickstarter package should be arriving in May (fingers crossed). Also got to try out Deadzone. Oh man... Its gonna be tough not going all in on that one. And the figures for Wild West Exodus might be unmatched in the hobby... especially for a game so young.
And then, finally, there is inspiration. SO many beautiful armies and models - so many that you start failing to notice them. Just like my failure to create a display board, it will be easier now to do so because I have ideas and had the chance to see them executed on the tabletop.
Which brings me to upcoming projects... Its been nearly a year since I put paint down on my first Ogre and they are essentially done. I will continue to add more to their ranks over the years, but with adepticon out of the way, I can start to focus on other things. With a fully functional army list, I can spend more time on those additions, bumping the quality up to competition level, hopefully. As far as the ogres go, there are only a few things to add aside from more troops - Gnoblars, a Giant, some Characters, and a Stonehorn... exciting but there is much more to be excited about.
I have a large contingent of Dwarfs that I neglected to work on because their book was so old. Now, a new book. But the great thing about them is that with the Ogres done, I can work slowly on them.
Imperial Guard? Sure. Maybe the new codex will re-spark my interest in 40k... Maybe. I do have that awesome Vulture Gunship sitting un-assembled on my WIP shelf. I can add some of those paddy wagons. Part of me wants to repaint the imperial guard... but I'll stick with the red and figure out a way to make it look better... besides, I picked up two more squads of Krieg this weekend.
I've also got quite the collection of miscellaneous miniatures. Things that I bought because they looked cool or fun to paint and I said "Hey, if I can't make it look good, it'll be good practice." The flower knight diorama is still there and I hope to begin work on it soon. A friend of mine even dumped his Reaper Bones Cthulu model for me to paint. I said sure... it'll be fun and good practice.
But what I'm most excited about... are you ready? I've decided on my next major army project. If you've ever been to any convention where Forge World has a presence, then you have experienced that burning sensation in your wallet. They just invite you to spend money on their beautiful models. While the bulk of my order is going to have to come from their online store, I purchased my first miniature for my new Horus Heresy World Eaters army. I played Khorne/World Eaters for years back when Khorne really had a presence in 40k. The last couple of editions have left the Blood God wanting for better rules and models. However, in Horus Heresy, they seem to rule the roost (Maybe the Sons of Horus get some of the spotlight). I've not painted an army white before, so I look for it to be a challenge. Either way, I'll be throwing up all my progress pics online so my 14 followers can see... and maybe somewhere in there more will show up and read my ramblings. Either way, 2014 should be fun. Hope to see you all at adepticon next year... For now... I gotta figure out what to paint... Here is my loot pic and the underwhelming work from this week... some resin soaks... haha.
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