Look What I Did: 2012

(Originally posted on 12/12/12) It looks like it's my turn to share. Wow, what a year. We've laughed, we've cried, we've finally collectively discovered Martin Freeman. But enough about emotions and acting genius, let's talk shop. This year saw the release of 6th Edition, Chaos Space Marines and Necron players such as myself still chuckling to themselves after years of praying for a tie as we now poop whatever Necrons poop on their enemies. I'm going to guess it's Gauss bars or something, I don't know. All of this rules talk for most of the year has really hit me with a hard realization; I'm caring very little for the game and very much for the hobby as time goes on.

What Happened This Year

Let's see... The beginning of the year saw much Necron action. I began building up my already good-sized force into...well, almost 5000pts of them. With a lot of grey and not much paint on the army and after some friends painting some of the units in return for models and whatnot, CSM rumors hit more and more. (For those who don't know, I really want a Slaanesh CSM army of my own, but more on that later.) Spring time was crunch time; I had around 2000pts to paint and an uncertain amount of time to paint them all in. So I buckled down, bought paint things and stuffs and got to it.

I hated it. I hated it so much I was actually pissed at myself for ever buying so much plastic. And at some point, I'm not exactly sure when, I liked it. I liked it a lot, to the point where I was excited to come home and paint. Ya' know, after some gin, of course. I actually had fun with it, having come up with a back-story and theme. And eventually it was just done. Just...done. Nothing left, and I wanted to keep going.

It was around this time that things started changing. My gaming group was falling from consistency due to our lives outside of the hobby. I stopped listening to podcasts as frequently. My sculpting/conversion tools were slowly being pushed to the side for paints and brushes. I started condensing down how many blogs I was writing for. I defiled my body in the most awesome way possible. My RSS feed was slowly turning into a hobbyist's feed instead of a ruler-lawyer's. And let's not forget, STC was born. It was an odd time for me, but important.

Bam. Like a brick wall CSM had been released and after practically dry brushing an entire army, I wanted to do things right. My original plan for the past couple of years was an all-female Slaanesh CSM army, but seeing as SoB models cost 3 kidneys per unit and the female-models at 28mm with the same detail as GW's for consistency are few and far between, I decided to say screw it and go for Emporer's Children. A chapter who's story is simply a determination for perfection so strong that it devolves into chaos. A story I'm very familiar with...

THIS IS A SUBTLE SEGUE

I'm a perfectionist with a pinch of OCD. I care not what my neighbor does, but in my realm everything is a certain way (anyone reading this ever notice my posts always use a justify-alignment format? No. No you didn't. No one with a normal brain does, but my brain notices it and it won't stop! And I need help..). Before I get started on a project I want to know the ins and outs and have every tool necessary to achieve my goal. For weeks I read and watched and researched and listened before I touched a single brush to paint. Finally I gave it a shot, and all of that work really paid off. The cultists I've finished thus far aren't contest-worthy by any means, but they're much better than I had anticipated as someone who's never really tried painting before. But my brain says it's not enough, I want to become better at this which justified this purchase:

My X-mas Gift To Me, From Me

I just got it. I have no idea how to use it or even which end the paint comes out of (I'm kidding...kind of,) but I'll be damned if I don't master this thing. This is a damn-cheap kit for everything you get and I dare you to find a poor review on that airbrush. Seriously, this is a blog, go try and find one, I'll be here when you get back. That's right, you couldn't find one, no worries. Either way, this will be my 2013-Child and will hopefully hurtle me into some great finished products. So let's talk about where this beauty sits...

LOOK, ANOTHER SEGUE

Here's a few snippets of my work- and/or play-space. Despite what Citizensmith says, folding tables are "streets ahead" of other workspace table setups.

That's Why I Have Three!

Here are some items I'm currently working on/have completed:

The aforementioned airbrush kit:

I Call Her Scarlette

The objects of some future posts:

About six months ago this was the exact same setup, but the conversion tools and painting tools have all switched places:

Our group's spare gaming table:

In Case Of Gaming Emergencies

And a couple more objects of future posts, my Grey Knight and Adeptus Mechanicus armies:

And I suppose that's about it, mainly because I'm sick (literally) and tired. It's been a great year with ups and downs. In summary, expect more painting and hobby-focused posts from me in 2013. Here's to the new year (assuming we all don't end up dying from the world crumbling beneath our feet whilst John Cusack flies overhead in a private plane).

Happy 2012 everyone.