Welcome To The Happy Heretic

Rather than go through all that, however, I figured I would spend a few minutes telling you exactly who and what I’m about, as well as what you can expect from this blog going forward.Now, I could spend days agonizing over every word in this first post. The likely result of that would be a nervous breakdown that leaves me curled up into a hyperventilating ball in the corner of my closet screeching blasphemies as I descend into complete and utter madness.

I’ve been involved in the Warhammer hobby literally all of my life. I became enraptured by the rich background of Warhammer Fantasy ever since my first game of Floorhammer at a friend’s house at the tender age of 12.

My first army was the Dark Elves-whichever edition was around in 1992. There was just something about them that appealed to me right from the start. Maybe it was the look of the models. Perhaps it was their sheer, unfettered evil. Of course, it could be the fact that I managed to get almost an entire army from a teacher of mine who was getting rid of his for about $20.

It wasn’t until years later, however, that I discovered the grimdark universe that was Warhammer 40,000. Naturally, being in tune with the local gaming scene I knew what Warhammer 40k was. I had even played a game or two. I just never got into it for some reason. That all changed, however, the moment I walked into my FLGS and picked up the third edition Warhammer 40,000 set.

By this time Warhammer Fantasy had grown stale to me. I wasn’t having a whole lot of fun painting my Dark Elves, and even less fun playing with them. I was tired of the whole thing and looking for something a little different. Warhammer 40k, with it’s vast lore and story of humanity defending itself against a vast galaxy of unrelenting terrors, was the perfect alternative. I was able to grasp the rules easily enough, and after a few practice games I was ready to start collecting a Dark Eldar army.

Or so I thought…

Eventually I found the Dark Eldar didn’t really appeal all that much to me, and I switched for the tried and true Chaos Space Marines. I found that heresy made me very, very happy. The fact that the mutating influence of Chaos meant I could literally kitbash whatever the hell I wanted was appealing as well. I set about building quite the sizable Iron Warriors force.

Unfortunately, life went on and got in the way of perhaps the best hobby on the face of the planet. I went away to college and had to leave much of my beloved collection behind. Then I ended up getting married and, well, to make a long story short I took a break from Warhammer and modelling in general.

Fifteen years later, and I’ve recently returned to the worlds of Warhammer. Initially, I had attempted to make a triumphant return to Warhammer Fantasy. Those hopes were dashed completely when I found out that Games Workshop had literally blown up the Old World I had loved and replaced it with something called Age of Sigmar. After many a night furrowing my brow in a vain attempt to understand the current state of Warhammer Not-Fantasy I threw my hands up in disgust.

Fortunately, Warhammer 40k’s grimdark was there waiting for me like a warm, comforting blanket. The Chaos gods welcomed me back with open arms as if I were a long lost friend. While the grimdark universe I knew and loved had undergone some changes-it had been five editions since I last played after all-it was still by and large recognizable. I felt like I could come back to the game without having missed…well, everything.

I also found that after all these years I really enjoyed the painting aspect of the game. Since coming back to Warhammer almost 6 months ago I’ve made it my mission to hone my painting skills. I’ve resolved to treat every model as a work of art, and I’ve had a ton of fun doing it.

I’ve rambled on about my history long enough, I think. It’s time to tell you what you can expect from this blog. First and foremost I’ll be concentrating on the painting and kitbashing aspects of the Warhammer hobby. I don’t claim to be a world-class painter, and my skills are rusty in the extreme. I will, however, share the projects that I’m currently working on as well as any little tips and tricks I’ve stumbled upon along the way.

Just don’t expect Golden Demon levels of painting from me.

Beyond that I’ll be sharing any little tidbits of Warhammer news that I find, my thoughts and opinions on various aspects of the hobby, and anything else that I can think of. I’m also open to tackling any topics that the rest of you happy heretics might throw my way as well. Hopefully we can get a few productive discussions going.