These days, White Dwarf is a different beast. Having shifted to weekly releases has opened up a much more flexible and diverse new release schedule, but in exchange for that freedom, it has lost some of its charm because it's low page count simply doesn't allow the golden articles of old. And it is one of these articles of days gone by that I would like to focus upon and hopefully breathe some new life into it!
My very first purchase of White Dwarf was (from memory) issue #301, which focused on the introduction and release of Ogre Kingdoms, in all their overweight glory. It was an exciting time for the hobby and so I continued purchasing the magazine each month. Shortly after I did so, I was flipping through the pages of the latest issue when my eyes were met with an article I had not seen before.
The Tale of Four Gamers.
The concept was that four gamers would be handed deadlines and goals for each month, requiring them to paint models and theme up their force. The article has been recycled twice since (only twice...) but the first was still my favourite. The participants built four very different armies. There was an Orc & Goblin army themed around Grimgor Ironhide's second in command, Borgut Facebeater. There was an Empire army based in Stirland during the Storm of Chaos, when the poverty-struck province's already pathetic military force was even more depleted than usual. There was a Tomb King player who built a diverse army of those Egyptian-esque skeletons. And lastly, there was a bloke who built a Nurgle Demon army (long before demons were the disgusting death machine they are today). I remember his army in particular because of his fantastic conversion work, including Plaguebearers riding bloated crabs and a terrifying Nurgle Demon Prince, again, long before there was any model support for one. If you ever have the chance to read this chain of articles from back in the day, by all means do so (I think it ended in #310)!
I was completely enthralled by the progress of these four armies, watching each participant buy and paint his army, make decisions regarding composition, and eventually throw down with the other players who were along for the ride with their armies. It was these articles, that seldom appeared in the long run, that would inspire me to start a new army and paint it in huge chunks.
Now, you may have picked up on where I am going with this, my dear reader. With an avenue like a blog in which to facilitate such an article, and one of my year's goals being to paint up a new army, I've decided to embark upon a similar journey to those gamers of old. And I invite you to join me.
Now, it would be an injustice to cap such a great journey at four participants, and with technology and social media being what it is in this modern age, this journey is open to everyone and in fact encouraged. I plan to share my progress in building an army, but will also be displaying other armies at similar stages, and would love nothing more than to display your work on this page as well, good reader. This is the intended schedule for subject posts with painting goals. I steer away from using terms like "requirements" because above all, this process should be an enjoyable one!
February 21st (next weekend!) - Paint up one character for your army (doesn't even need to be your general) and come up with a rough theme or idea that your army will build around.
March 21st - Paint 500pts worth (including the character from the first stage) of models for your army. This doesn't even need to be a legal army.
April 25th - Paint the remaining elements required to make a legal 1000pt army. It should be noted that not long after this, the Mt. Gravatt Games Workshop is hosting a 1000pt tournament, which means any of us in the area will have a fully painted force to take if we choose.
May 23rd - Paint our forces up to or beyond 1500pts. At this point in our journey, I would love to host a Triumph and Treachery Battle Report if anyone wishes to participate!
June 27th - 2000pts painted as well as a named special character from your army book. This model doesn't have to be a part of your final army, but is more intended to shed some light on those fabulous models we don't see often enough. Who knows, you might even find a use for them in your list.
July 25th - this date (which, if the rumour mill is to be believed, will coincide with 9th edition) will see our armies reach 2500 points of fully painted glory!
Now, it should be noted that there is no "painting skill criteria". It doesn't matter if you are a seasoned painter or about to do your first unit. And the beauty of this journey is that you can choose to focus on an army you already own that has simply never had the painting love it deserves. I would love to hear from you if you would like to join in!
If you would like to, either message the Rune Axe on Facebook or myself directly, and let me know! The only requirement this month is a single character (which can be a model you've already painted if you simply don't have time) and a theme. This doesn't have to be complex; just a basic idea of where you want to take the army. I'd love to get people in on this, showing off not only the army I'll be working on, but the armies of the wider community! That means you!
I hope you love the idea, and as always, thanks for reading!
Gabriel
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