GAMES DAY!!

It's been 19 years since I first heard about Games Day, and today was finally the day I got to go. 19 years is a long time to build something up in the mind, and I was a bit let down - not to say that it wasn't awesome; it just wasn't as I'd pictured all those years.

High points - the terrain, the terrain, the terrain. Every bit as amazing as every White Dwarf and blog or forum post I've ever seen. Next year I *will* bring a painted army to play on one of those exquisite tables. The (build/paint) and take activities were very cool - nothing like being handed a half-dozen sprues of stuff and a pair of clippers, a base, and some glue and being told: "you keep what you build". Hobby nirvana. Bummed that I didn't get to the Golden Demon displays until most had been taken down - but the few I saw were jawdropping awesome. Talked with the winner of the sword; apparently his FOURTH. Yeesh. I have aspirations, but that's pretty rough competition.

The low points - I was pretty disappointed with the store; I really expected they would have stocks of the things you can only get through online/mail order. Only a very few - so basically, you really do have to get stuff through direct order. The Forge World line was every bit as bad as I've heard, with most people standing in line for over an hour.

Not that the store was all bad - I finally succumbed to the whisperings of the hive mind, which have been gnawing at my brain stem since seeing the new Trygon/Mawloc model. Very stoked about all my new gribbly little 'nids, and feasting on Space Marine biomatter... I have some big plans for painting these suckers up quick, and pillaging both my Space Hulk games for ~60 stealers sounds like a good way to start! Battleforce, Hive Tyrant, Raveners, Trygon, extra box of Termies (for Tervigon goodness later on). Need to read up on the 'nid lists to see what else I need. Guessing zoanthropes and hive guard, maybe a FW Malanthrope to serve as my Tervigon...

The other good part was seeing some of the crew from the NOVA Open, and some of the personalities who were there as well (Jawa, Scooter, a few others).

Can't wait for next year - I definitely intend to play in some of the "big games" as well. Had I known they give prizes and whatnot during those games they would've been a definite on the list, rather than a, "hm, neat but check out all those sprues!" decision.

For today - color me one happy mid-lifer. One box in the long list of things I have wanted to do for a long time has a shiny new checkmark.

NOVA Open tomorrow

I'll be one of the staff helping out at NOVA Open tomorrow and through the weekend - it will be my first close-up view of a competitive WFB/40K tournament and I'm pretty stoked. If the blogosphere is any judge, NOVA is shaping up to be something pretty special. Players from something like 30 states, and at least 3 countries will be flying in. With Games Day next weekend, that really says a lot about the efforts and thought Mike and company have put into coming up with the format.

I'll be on the pre-registration table on Friday for a while, and then on registration on Saturday morning. Most of the rest of the time I'll be manning a repair station for figs that get broken during play or transit.

I've been a GW player and hobbyist for about twenty years, having started back in 1990 or '91, and have never been to a major tournament or Games Day. To say I'm looking forward to these next two weekends would be a gross understatement. Really hoping the negativity I've seen referenced in blogs and forums doesn't show up at either event.

Before I forget, here's a pic of my WIP Wave Serpent: Eldar_Wave_Serpent_in_progress

It's been a WIP since 2004 or so; I took the time this week to go through and consolidate all my Eldar figures into a few cases - hopefully the organization will help motivate me to finally get out of my fugue and start painting frequently again.

Blast from the past

I wrote this in 1998 or so...

http://web.archive.org/web/20040116165559/http://www.elpn.com/jaydeo/mydkeld.htm

Dark Eldar Army List - Khornate

A brief, sad history...
This army list is based on Teshara, a typical Eldar craftworld whose central god once was Khaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-Handed God. Teshara had always been more militant than most. As the depravity of the Eldar heightened, so too did the battle fury of Teshara. Eventually, battle fury became something darker. Warriors painted blood on their armor before battle and took captives for this express purpose, knowing they would battle again soon. As the rituals of battle became bloodier, even the warlocks and farseers began to become involved. Slowly they began to lose contact with the infinity circuit of Teshara.

---

With Slaanesh dreaming, yet to be born, mighty Khorne himself was drawn to the destructive depravity of the craftworld. It was a simple matter to subvert some of the most bloodthirsty Tesharans. The Aspects were the first to succumb to the plasmic lure; many of the already battle-hardened Guardians were not resistant to his call. Even the farseers and warlocks, only barely in contact with the agonized infinity circuit began to turn. A pity, Khorne does not tolerate sorcery. They were hounded down and murdered. Battle raged in the craftworld as those unwilling to give up their souls were hunted down. Many of the noncombatant eldar were slain in the bloodbath that followed. Until only the mighty Wraithguard and their big brothers, the Dreadnoughts remained. Their souls were the last to go, Spirit Stones shattered to feed the hungry god. The final blow was struck as the infinity circuit of the craftworld was broken, its souls sacrificed to the Blood God.

---

So simply was born Tresha, known alternately as the Brass Craftworld. Khorne's influence shielded them from the birth of Slaanesh, but his bloody shadow was little better. Its wraithbone tenders slaughtered, the infinity circuit broken, Tresha became cut off from the webways. As the wraithbone deteriorated, the Treshans replaced it with brass and the bones of their dead and those unlucky enough to cross their path. Now little more than a hulk floating through space, Tresha makes its way towards the Eye of Chaos and eternal battle with the Slaaneshi-corrupted eldar of the Crone Worlds. Its ties with reality tenuous at best, Tresha flickers in and out of the warp, emerging sometimes closer to the Eye, sometimes further away, but always leaving a swath of destruction and piles of skulls in their wake.