Saturday 31 December 2011

2011 Plans

So New Years Eve is here, and as I'm getting paid to sleep tonight I thought I'd do a blog post about what I've done this year and what my plans are for next year.

So 2011. Well I started out the year with a massive Fallen Angel Army and some nebulos ideas of where I'm going with it. I liked the idea of doing an army that was made up of various units with different colours thrown in to show attrition and the nature of campaigning army to have lots of units crashed together. This idea lead me to sitting down one wet weekend with a number of Codecis and the 3 Index Astartes I have to read and come up with a plan to change my army. I started by culling the XIX and moving the models around to give me a number of Iron Warriors and Knights of Blood. I bought some Space Crusade Chaos Androids and some 2ed Necrons to use with the Eye of Terror Lost and the Damned list until I found out that that list is no longer game legal, so I'm now using a Renegade Guard army list as Skittarii and the Androids are going to be used as more Marines/Chaos Androids/Necrons depending on mood. My Black Sisters are almost done for now, waiting for the release of the plastic SOB.

And now, to quote Fish, '' where do we go from here?''

2012 Well I'm getting another order from Hasslefree Miniatures to finish off, for now at least, The Black Sisterhood. Just going to keep my eyes open for a large scale female figure to use as a Daemon Princess for them. The XIX for now only need 5 more DA Veterans and 5 more Jump Packs to be done and dusted. The Iron Warriors are paused for now, while I wait for the Legion Codex to come out, the only plan for these guys for now is a Daemon of Iron and Violence. Looking at the Zombie Dragon for this as I'll be able to use some of the bits for The Knights of Blood... As to them, well I can build on what I've got. Plan is start off with a Daemon Prince, plan is to use the basic GW plastic and pose it like The Sanguinaer or as close as I can. More Marines, which will be a mix of Khorne Berzerkers, standard Marines and some of the branded Blood Angels. There'll also be transpor; Land Raiders, Storm Ravens, Razorbacks and Rhinos. The Androids will be re-enforced with more Necrons. The Skittarii I'm not to sure what to do with them, leave it for now or go ahead and build them up now. Last buy for them is going to be a titan.

Friday 30 December 2011

Working Over Christmas



Not so much time off, more like time on. I've been so damn busy over the christmas period, and my usual access at the local Library has been closed on my days off that I've not been able to get on in ages to do a post. And again my phone camera lets me down by not giving the detail I'd wish. This is an amazing miniature to paint and this is from my moderate level of expertise and crap camera.

Saturday 17 December 2011

Well Done to Forge World.

My dad ordered me Imperial Armour Apocalypes 2ed on Tuesday the 13th of December as a Christmas present for me. It arrived yesterday while I was out at work, so I went and picked it up today while I finished off my Christmas shopping. Had to get 1 of my kids to wrap it to stop me from reading it!

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Outcast Dead


Just finished read The Outcast Dead and was really pleased by this book as it's a good 'Seven Samurai' story and it does feature a couple of nods back to the earliest days of 40K with the vision of The Insects Armies that aren't Insects, a subtle nod to one of the founding corners of 40K, Nemesis The Warlock.

Thursday 8 December 2011

Fimillar






So this weekend and time off during the week was like a trip back in time for me, painting a toy car and gluing guns to it. I almost felt 15 again and playing Dark Future with my friends and brother before going and playing Blood Bowl.

Still enough of the nostalgia and back to the modern day. I spent most of the week looking for a Micro Machine tank but gave up as I couldn't find one anywhere in town, so I started to look at the matchbox-hotwheel sized cars to use. I wanted something that looked like it would be okay off road, so chunky wheels and high ground clearance where a must. I saw a couple but settled on this one , the Jungle Crawler from Matchbox. I painted it black and dry brushed it with bolt gun metal then added the yellow and black hazard stripes. I've done a litte extra as I've added painted sections from the other warbands to the car to give it some unity to the overall warband.

The Fimilar itself actually drives the car, I've given it the Doombolt power, and with no thought what so ever have called it Doombolt this will go with my Sourcerer when I get him back from GW Preston and I think I'll mount it on a base from Hasslefree miniaturs as they have some cool looking post apocolypes bases. There's so many to choose from!

From Dan Abbnet's blog

Just logged on on my day off to make a new post and I saw Dan Abbnet had done the first update in ages, so I thought I'd pinch his first paragraph and post it here.











Thursday, December 08, 2011
No Man's Land
Yes, I know it's been a very, very long time since I updated the blog. Forgive me, but I've been a little busy with "Know No Fear", the story of the Battle of Calth. You'll get to read it in the spring.




And a link for the rest of it and his other stuff.

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Repost.

I sometimes wonder about the human race. At the bottom of this article is my emailed responce to the editor


Warhammer 40k in the News! (and its not good)


Warhammer 40k suddenly appears on the front page of a popular newspaper in Greece, with the creator of the blog, 122nd Cadia face down checking his line of sight.

This article calls us Nazi's, stupid, racists, and more things than I am going to repeat. The Antipope was able to translate the article to the best of his ability into English for us upon request, so it is posted for your reading below. My understanding that his normal job includes translating English to Greek, so even if the article loses some of its sarcasm, as he claims, the point of it is still there.


I highly suggest that everyone, and other bloggers as well, pick up on this story and write the editor of the newspaper. Here is my email to the editor of the newspaper that went with this article. You can copy paste if you don't think you can write your own, just attach your own name to it.

Editors Email Address: kmag@kathimerini.gr
My Response
Your newspapers article this week on Warhammer 40k was high inflammatory, ignorant, and completely wrong in so many places, that I even wonder if the author did indeed listened to any of the interviews, or even read the background herself. While she was there at the tournament, she constantly questioned the gamers if they know people in the extreme right wing that play the game. She refers to the players of the game (it is only a game and a hobby), as Nazi's, racist, and complete idiots.

The Warhammer 40k universe in its background is a reflection upon the extremes of mankind. It is first and foremost Science Fiction. I really think the author of the article needs to get off her high horse and do some background on what science fiction is. Then needs to reflect upon movies and other fictional works, to see if those authors or those that follow them are also racist.

The journalist in question published a highly political and self indulging article in an attempt to garner a moment in the spotlight. Instead she has shown just how low a journalist can go in creating a monster out of what is a very strong and wonderful hobby, with enthusiasts all over the world.

At the very least, this journalist should lose her job, this is not journalism. Corrections should be made, and an apology published.

-Natfka
Author of Faeit 212



via The Antipope
Link to his blog and his response http://cadia122.blogspot.com/2011/11/bad-journalism.html

Okay Gary, this is the translation of the text to the best of my abilities. I have the impression that the underlying sarcasm of the text is somehow lost but that's not such a big deal I guess. Here it is then:


The Article
War on a table
A plunge into the dark, bizarre and militaristic world of the game that combines modeling and strategy, and holds as "prisoners" thousands of players in Greece and all over the World.

"Blood for the Blood God, Skulls for the Skull Throne". This is the motto and war-cry of the servants of the God of Chaos, Khorne (The Antipope: she translates if phonetically to Greek as "Horn"...). If you think that this sentence was "strange" enough as a magazine's article opening line, wait and see what's to come. This started as a report for one of the most popular miniature tabletop games of the last 30 years and I still don't know how I ended up fighting against "Daemons of Chaos" in 40000 AD and hang out with creatures with names such as Necrons, Dark Eldar, Black Angels (not sure what army that is...)and much more like them...undead and badass.

(Caption under my picture): Dedication. Studying the rules needs time, building requires effort, the creation of a decent army...money- up to 500 euros for the starter "set". During the game all this is forgotten though.

(Caption under next picture): Precise calculations. Before any move the player must contemplate on it's consequences. "Somehow like chess..." like they told us, but much bloodier.

Dozens of horrible creatures, together with an Emperor-God (of the earthlings) and four Gods of Chaos, live in the blackest, obscurantist, religionist, militaristic, fundamentalist, authoritarian, racist, abominable and repulsive world ever conceived by the human mind. In fact, by the British mind, since the game was coined and released in England at the beginning of the eighties.

The game, that for the last 30 years has been played by millions of people all over the world, is called "Warhammer:40000 or "40K" for it's friends. With many of these friends (Greeks) we talked about the multifarious 40K and it's exceptional miniatures, modeling, hobby, required intelligence, strategic ability, men (that play), women (that don't) and daemons that eat souls (soul-eating is the pop corn of the future).

In the same future that, as the general motto of the game states, "There is no time for peace. Neither for forgiveness. There is only war. Endless War."

Little "toy soldiers" for men? And beyond...

As an intro into the world of this "joyful" game, we watched ,during a tournament, around forty males (between 18 and 39 years old), with tape measures and dice on hand, planning assaults against the military units that were placed on top of special dioramas (model battlefields with obstacles, buildings, trees etc.). 40K is a game of strategy (or tactics rather) and requires thought, a lot time studying the rules and a certain degree of intelligence of the mathematically skilled type. The toy soldier miniatures-designed with a lot of imagination and incredible details by the company of Games Workshop-have to be assembled and painted by the hobbyists-players. Painting the "armies" is a form of art on it's own accord, to which modelers dedicated hours or even days. Considering all this, when questioned "why do you play" everybody gave the same answer:" Because it's a hobby that gives me the opportunity to do miniature modeling, to think strategically and, mainly, get together with friends at least twice a week, for gaming, talking, painting...". That's great!

At this point it could be the end of this discussion, if there wasn't for the fluff to be considered, i.e. if there was no ideological-mythical environment of 40K. The world "fluff" ,that is the creation of tabletop or non tabletop role playing gamers and it has to do with everything else but the rule set of the game, is the key to open the...darkness of 40K. Because the fictions, facts and characteristics of the bloodthirsty and soul-hungering soldiers are so outrageous that the question "but, why do you want to play?" was coming back to our conversation almost automatically.

To think or not to think?
What does someone need furthermost in order to be able to play 40K? "Brains", most of them think, claiming at the same time that "nobody takes fluff seriously" but also..."I chose the game based on the fluff" or "real life is a different thing to the game" but also..."I have seen in the US the ideology of the army and the player matching to a dangerous degree. I've even seen a player with swastikas tattooed all over his body". So many contradictions they could win a Guinness world record.

Generally speaking, when having to choose the game, but also the army, fluff is always there to play a role. As a 38 old professor of biotechnology told us "I also chose an army based on the fluff - I play with dark eldar..."(he stops to think)"in the end they are psychic vampires..." (pausing and saying out very loud)... "I don't even care about my army's fluff!". Perhaps a mind with mathematical skills is necessary but it also seems necessary that the same mind needs the ability not to be able to...think!

The first thing we found out about the 40 participants of the tournament, is that most of them is what we would call "educated" (higher degree level) and working (you need a lot of money to be able to play 40K seriously for many years). Amongst them we found a manager of marketing in a multinational company, a university professor, a gold smith, a 23 year old business man, many civil engineers and many students (chemists, engineers, mathematicians).

Most of them started off as fans of science or heroic fiction, mythology, history and comic books. Many of them have read the low literary value novels based on the game's fluff, for which 30 year old Thanos said: "If I had a child, I wouldn't let him read these novels before he develops his character". We can summarize the profile of the average 40K player as follows: a rather "introvert", lonely guy that doesn't like to go out, doesn't like to watch the TV or football(!), but he likes listening to music (foreign, and mainly classic rock) and he prefers when going out to talk with friends in cafes or houses. Many of them claimed that they "believe in God", whom they defined as the "beginning" of everything or "the power" of the universe etc. but they don't like his "fan club". Couple of them claimed to be pronounced atheists.

Lastly, we found out that all of them are ready to talk about politics, expressing extreme ideas more or less with words that are somewhat muddled inside their heads. We only found one person who deals with the understanding of human relationships, while most of the other are ignorant even of the word "psychology".

Hail, Emperor?
A large percentage of their population compared with their average number (5 out of the 15 interviewees) had some racist and xenophobic ideas and had been involved with the study of Nazi texts, including "Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler. George, a mulatto (from a Greek father and a mother from impoverished Louisiana), one of the most intelligent and sincere kids we met, following the question if the game is "a bit" racist he replied: "It's very racist and in America (US) many gamers identify themselves with that racism. Moreover, Black Templars, that have the Iron Cross as a sign and their colours are black, white and red, are clearly Nazis"

"Have you noticed that a percentage of the players belong to the extreme right wing?" we asked 35 year old Takis, a middle school teacher who claims to be "left wing". "Yes, but I don't know why. Maybe they are fascinated by the epic, heroic or even the racist elements of 40K. Because there is a lot of racism in the game." The next question that came up naturally is if 40K makes you feel superior compared to other people :"Yes, it's a bit elitist. It requires a lot of thought so it makes you feel..."somehow". Somehow superior" said Markos laughing. One of the most extreme statements we heard was :"It's been proved throughout the history of Greece that we can only go forward with a fascist government" said John. "And I am going to be the one executing them", added his friend Fotis.

Playing with your soul?
I would also add, playing with your sword. But why would someone fight with a sword in the technologically super advanced 40000 AD? And why does it's system has to be so authoritarian and obscurantist? And why does the "trophy" have to be the most valuable thing humans have, i.e. their souls?

"Because 40K combines elements that fascinate men, like chivalry, heroism, power, ability, speed etc" said 38 year old widely educated Kostas with his well structured speech. "Probably because we want to look better in comparison. Maybe I would never go to real war, but in the game you can be an awesome hero or a general without having to pay the price in return. For it's system now, the wider the network of planets that human inhabit becomes, the more we will keep losing our humanity. In the minds of the creators of science fiction, there is always a strong central authority necessary, which through cutting down our freedoms and though fear can create a structure in order for that new world to function. In 40K there is a mixture of western imperialism and eastern fundamentalism."

And why does the future has to seem so bleak I wonder: "Because", as 39 year old Giannis is saying "this sells. This game has the best marketing." "Furthermore because reality sucks and progress is even worse" adds the younger Minas. "Everything in the fluff is derived from human history, to an excessive extend maybe, but historically".

Why aren't women playing the game, I ask them: "Now you are delving into a touchy subject", Fotis told me, who is married and has one child. "Women don't go for mentally committing stuff. In order to be able to commit in something so that you can disengage from the everyday life, you have to be a man." Fotis was the same person who told me when I asked him why the ideology of the game is crazy: "Are there any ideological obstacles in fantasy?".

Epilogue
In the interview we did with 23 year old Markos, who describes the game as a "struggle for the survival of the human race" and as the "absolute decline", after he told us that "Warhammer is not a comedy but a tragedy with the classical sense, in a dystopian future" he also express the optimistic thought that "Man has the awesome capacity to conquer everything, even himself." When I asked what does he do to ...conquer himself he answered :"I am reading thousands of books, I am writing down stories and poetry, I work, talk, travel and do thousands of different things. Why? Because I have an enormous stress that I will stay mediocre"
Posted by Natfka at 6:42 AM


Dear Sir,

I'm taking a moment out of my busy working schedule to write to you about your article about Warhammer 40,000. This is the first opportunity I've had since I saw the ... offending article as I've been working shifts in my job as a Support Worker helping the Mentally Handicapped, which if your story was to be believed I wouldn't be doing, as we all know wheat the Nazi's did to anyone that was considered to be sub human.

I'd just like to say that this article is so very wrong about the people that play the game and it seems like your magazine has chosen to go with the sensationalist approach because of the current situation in your country rather than look at it again from a balanced point of view.

From person experience most of the grounding history for Warhammer 40,000 is actually from the British Sci-fi comic 2,000AD and in the early days of the company Games Workshop did some one box games for 2,000AD. There are many other elements that have over time been folded into the fabric of the game, but the statements that everyone that plays is into the Right Wing Extremist Movement is as wrong as the American stories from the 1980's saying that all Role Play Gamers where into Devil Worship and Black Magic. Check your facts in future please as I found the item offencive

Yours
Paul Harris