Love and Tyranids

Love is an action - it's a verb - it's what you do.  Not some fickle feeling that flickers in a thousand shades and is replaced each and every moment with a new one.  It's not the nervousness, the infatuation, the giddiness, or the goose bumps, or even the total oneness of complete non-judgmental acceptance.  What in the world does this have to do with 40k?  Or Tyranids?

Well, last Friday a friend of mine got married.  Not just anyone, but someone whose love for 40k and all it's supposed to represent changed the community narrative surrounding the game, and brought together warring gamer factions that had previously never really had a common ground.  The NOVA Open brought together the 'hardcore gamer' and the 'hardcore painter'.  An outsider would say this was more through force of will than anything else, but I know better.  It was done out of love.  Love of friendship, camaraderie, and the spirit of the game.  It hasn't been easy, and at times it hasn't even been that fun.  Hard choices, hard words, hard decisions, sacrifice and stubbornness have all had their time.  But the purpose of bringing people together where they can enjoy each others' company, enjoy the game, and drink deeply of the rich creative culture of this amazing hobby has remained the rock-solid foundation.  Altogether - every action, every argument, every sacrifice of time - has been about love.  From a backyard barbecue to the Crystal City Hyatt, love has achieved a pretty amazing thing - and the best part is it's really just getting started.  I have to say, I'm pretty intrigued to see where this marriage goes.  I've seen firsthand what happens when Mike loves something.  So for Mike and Britney - congratulations.  Getting this far is an achievement, but it's really just getting started.

Tyranids is a bit harder to wrap (or is it warp?) in the love angle.  Not sure what it is about slavering gribblies and razor sharp claws by the dozens and hundreds.  Maybe it's a subtle form of mind control and I'm secretly beaconing out to the hive fleet.  Whatever it is, I'll be bringing my nids to NOVA again.  Trying to understand how the hell to build a list given the drunken Jenga game that GW has constructed is less than fun.  After a few days with Battlescribe I ponied up for the Pro version (worthwhile cause right there).  I'm not bringing a lictorshame or flyrant-filled list - I just don't have the models or time to start over.  I have some plans to be mobile, flexible, and unfortunately squishy.  I may even try out pyrovores, just because no one will expect them.  But it'll be fun.  Cuz I love my 'nids.  And the game.  And I'm thirsty for that rich, creative culture.