Hobby Update April '17: I'm back bitches!

Dusk settled across the expanse of the great city, shadows darkening as the air chilled over the streets below. Watching from atop the vast walls, all seemed in bliss, as marketeers closed, mothers rushed children into the warm of their hearth, and dogs barked at imaginary life in the shadows. All seemed to be well, all seemed at peace.

But it's in the quiet, that all stories stir....

Miss me?

It has been yet again a long time since I have found the time to attend my blog, and now I wonder if my followers may have found better writers and are too busy pouring over their words written to the screen, to notice the stirring. The stirring that represets the return of An Empire Fallen.

As I have mentioned prior, this year has to this point been an extremely full on one, and coupled with hobby burnout, I have well avoided the tables, both for dice rolling and paint splattering. Hobby updates have been left unnoticed, and my presence has been absent from tournaments (which I am sure everyone was happy not to see the Blood Hunt on the tables!).

But this vacation from the reality of my second love (with coffee being my first) has come to an end, and I intend to return.

So firstly, what is hitting my painting table? Well, amongst the boxes and mess that is my unpacked office/studio, I have managed to find space to set out my Empire of Sonnstahl models. After a lot of repair work on many of the miniatures, I have finally started making work on giving them some much required painting. As the only army that I own that I have not finished painting a single model for (even though it is probably my second largest collection) I decided that it was time.
This collection will be adorn in the colours of Altdorf, a city-state from the history of another tabletop game. This red and blue painted force will not however be led by an Emperor, but by a Queen, and I am sure will open my mind to many more tales to be written.
I am starting off by painting a unit of Handgunners, a unit of Demigryphs (or whatever they are called now), an OOP volley gun and a Wizard of Pyromancy. The reasoning behind these choices will become apparent latter.

Alongside this, I am starting work to compete in the diorama section of the T9A NZ Autumn Paint comp. Although I will not share my creation plans until it is complete, I can tell you that it is also set in a Empire city-state, and I would not like to be the guy on the other end of the barrel so to speak.

As for events, well, things are well underway in the planning of Warbanner IV, which I host in Napier every October. Dates are yet to be confirmed, but the playerpack is underway, and as we aim each year, should be more interesting then ever!

My close friend and tournament travel partner (whose name shall be, Annoymous) has taken it upon himself to run his first event. He has opted for a local slow grow campaign, with simple criteria, designed to teach new players how to play and get them interested. Starting at 1000pts, this campaign will run for 3 months, with the points level increasing by 1000pts at the end of each moon.
It is for this campaign that I have chosen to paint the models I have, and as my intention is to only paint models I will later need in my tournament list, I am expecting to end up playing some very strange and unorthodox lists will getting my Empire painted.

Directly following this campaign, I shall host the Hawkes Bay Regional Championships in its third year, and second year using the T9A rules. Although we have had a decent coverage of players previously, this year I am hoping to see an increase, and the slow grow will definitely aid in this.

Finally, I have just confirmed that Panzershriek 2017 will be my first tournament back. This will be my third year in attendance at this longstanding Palmerston North event, and as with each year, I cannot wait to get back to its tables! Although originally this was to be my second tournament this year, I have unfortunately had to cancel NiCon shortly after deciding I was going, due to, well, let's say the gods demanded more payment.

So if you have successfully managed to read through this jumble of words we call sentences, and haven't been distracted by either unicorns or your knew favourite blogger/storyteller/shittalker, I thank you.

For you may not have missed me, but I have missed you.
And my Blood Hunt, well, they have missed the taste of your blood and flesh as they tear it away from your trembling bones.....