Yes, I can kill Plants Too....

Little known fact. If you don't water plants, they die. If they don't get the right amount of sunlight, they die. If they are in the wrong growing conditions, they die. Did you know that?

If you could now please turn your attention to the following picture:

This my friends, is a miniature bamboo. Bamboo plants, again if you were not aware, are very hardy specimens.

For a long time, this bamboo was healthy and thriving, and loving life. Then all of a sudden, it just started dying. For no apparent reason. Try as I might, I cannot get it back to life. (Seriously though, if anyone has any ideas please let me know, I love this plant).

This bamboo plant is The 9th Age. Well, no, actually it's just a bamboo plant.

But it's current state is my observation coupled with opinion of where things stand.

Before you turn away, before you starting slamming that keyboard with angry comments, and before you tie me to the back of your undead chariot and drag me through the dirt, please take a moment to continue to read, and understand that this is NOT a rant. This is NOT a venom surge of poison aimed at the community. I just hope that this is the water of life we need.

Anyways.

I spoke recently to a close friend. This (you know who you are) person's thoughts on the gaming community, and wisdom on life, I hold more highly then most (No, I am not about to go build a golden idol of him and bow to it, fuck, what did you think this is, a cult or something?????)

He said something to me along the lines of this:

         "T9A in NZ is sitting on the very unpleasant edge of a cliff. It would not take much for it to       topple over. May it be growth in the AoS community, or KoW just pulling their socks up a little bit. Either, will be the balance change that would push T9A off into oblivion"

Not exactly what he said, but you get the point. And he is right.

We have seen little growth. Maybe a new player into the scene every 2-3 months. And no I am not just talking about in my own little scene. I am talking about the community as a whole. No I am not just talking about attending tournaments (do not get me started on that issue), but from watching not just the interaction online of NZ players, but how many of them decide just to press the goddamn "Join" button on the Facebook Group to be apart of the main social platform for the game in this country.

And guess whose fault it is? No, its not the trolls in the forums spreading their poison. No, it is not the Executive Board who blatantly disagrees with every who puts up a post on the forum with even constructive criticism.

The blame, is yours.

Well, its just as much mine, but today I want to play the blame game.

You stopped watering the plant.

I have watched so much as people in the community put up their hands saying I want to do this. And then never do. Or start to, and just let it fall flat. Or people in the community who have the ability to do things to grow the community, but just chose not to.

Guess what people, wake up. Its not the T9A Exec board's responsibility to come off their high horses and do it. It isn't the job of your club board to do so. Hell its not just the responsibility of the leaders in your gaming community to do so.

If you want to see the game grow, If you want to see more players, new players, then just water that goddamn plant. Take the finger out of the arse and do something.

And yes, I know right now you are probably sitting behind the screen thinking "thank God he isn't talking about me". Well guess what, you are absolutely wrong.

We took it upon ourselves to become part of this community and to play this game (and no, I do not want any "Its just a game, don't take it so seriously" comments, because that's just an excuse for lack of motivation). We don't get something without giving something. That doesn't happen. That is not how life works.
We got a community, and it is our responsibility to continue to put back into that community. It's our obligation. Not just the higher powers role, but everyone's.
You don't just get a plant, put it in a pot, and expect it to live into eternity. You have to give back to it, to feed it and grow it. Unless you got a fake plant, in which case I openly judge you for it.

I can tell you openly and honestly, that if we do not start seeing changing in the motivation of this community, we will wither and die. THIS IS FACT.
I also know for myself in person, I cannot keep carrying the torch when so few others are even willing to raise a hand.

And now comes my favourite excuses: I work. I have a family. I have study.
Okay, sarcasm and shit aside, I actually respect that far more then you are currently thinking I do.
But it doesn't take much........bring out the trumpets please.....
I work 40-50 hours a week for an employer. I own and run a business that takes up another 30-40 hours of my week. I have family and friends too.
But I am still here, running with an ever dying torch, because it is just as much my responsibility as everyone elses, to grow this community.

Now that thought is running through your mind as you angrilly reach for the keyboard to write.."You want to grow the community yet you write such a negative and harsh blogpost about the community we already have, you fucking asshole"....
Yes. And you are right. I am a fucking asshole. And thank God for that. Why? Because someone has to be. Someone has to be willing to say what needs to be said in the interest of progression. Otherwise we may as well just be the T9A Exec Board walking around with blindfolds on and washing our hands clean of it all.

I want to see a continually growing and thriving bamboo plant on my bookcase. And I want to see our community do the same. But I am really, really out of ideas anymore people on how to push you to build this community. I really am. And it's the appalling lackluster of people in the community, that is slowly taking away my love for this community.

Warbanner is in a few weeks, and I cannot wait.
Invitationals are following, should I get there.
I have demos I am working on getting booked in at my local hobby store over the next little while, which will be awesome fun.
And I am still sitting on the fence regarding my application to ETC18 (for other reasons).
There, I even gave you a mini hobby update....I am good at multitasking.

Well guys, if you read all the way through this and didn't get distracted by a shiny tumbleweed passing your window halfway through, I thank you. Regardless of whether it was because you saw reason in my words, or wanted to have the full capability to destroy me from behind a screen, I thankyou.

And I do humbly thank the few in our community who have taken up torches with me to try and drive this, without you, none of what we have accomplished these past two years would have happened, and you have done an amazing job. I truely look forward to working with you in the future, well, that is if you still talk to me after reading this blog post and don't ban me from your dinner table.

I hope, in my own way, I have hit home to at least one person out there. If not, then thankyou to the Internet for giving me a place to leaving writing on the wall that no one pays attention to until it is too late.

And with that,
Peace.

Hobby Update July'17: Let's Roll

It seems like forever ago already since Panzershrek, yet this time last week I was being dragged down to the Irish Pub just a block from our Palmerston North accommodation. So much has happened since then, both in the business world and the plastic world.

But we are only here to talk about Plasti-crack.....

Since leaving Palmy, things have gotten really full on on the painting table.
I have picked up another commission, well, sort of the end of an old commission so to speak. My tournament partner has decided that it is time his frozen Ogre Khans collection was complete, not just as a single army but in a way that he can take anything off the shelf and put it on the table, and it is painted.
So to kick it off, I have 45 gnoblars to paint with stand out unit fillers. How do we make frozen gnoblars? Well, really they are Eskimos, though politically correct we must call them Inuits, like it is politically correct to call these miniatures cave goblins, but really they are gnoblars......#mindblown
I have also picked up a secret little project that involves a High Elf, an Orc and a Beastmen (no this is not a poor reenactment of the Three Hunters of Middle Earth!).
This little side project has me excited, as it will allow me to explore more techniques, and increase my experience on freehand.
To top it off, my Empire have returned to the painting table (Sound the horns, beat the drums!), as I get working on the army of the Queen of Promissa Terra. As many of you may know, I started this collection back in WHFB, but never really got far with painting it, minus a little bit here and there. It follows in the paint style of the old Altdorf of WHFB, but will not be designed around the typical war-stricken fantasy army.
I am looking forward to posting photos of these many works in progress.

The local scene is about to light up again, as I have opened registrations for the 3rd year running of the Hawkes Bay Regional Championship! This year 9th Age is back in the event as the main stay, and we are working towards involving Flames of War too!
However on the 9th side, it runs as a 3000 pt open list event, with a few list restrictions over the course of five weeks. The first four weeks see you face off in heats against 4 randomly selected opponents. Following this, in a one night event, the top 4 face off in a single death match semi final, followed directly by a death match final! It's intense!
For the past two years, my Empire have succeeded in taking second place. Let us see if this year is their year to shine!

Although I do not wish to go into too much detail on this, I have also opened up registrations for the 4th annual WarBanner event, a multi-platform event held on the 14/15 October.
This year sees the return of Flames of War, who joined the event for the first time last year, The 9th Age, which has became the fantasy tournament after we switched it from WHFB, along with a newcomer, Napoleonics.
As per usual, I am really excited for the weekend, and am working hard to make it as stand out of an event as possible. For more details or to register for any of these tournaments (or the HBRC above), email anempirefallennz@gmail.com

On a final note, before I put the keyboard to rest tonight and get myself lost in reading the mystery that Elon Musk is, it is time to touch on something that I have promised many times before....

.....I am starting a YouTube channel.....

Previously, although inspired, the motivated lacked for me when it came down to the crunch of doing it. Maybe not only that, but a mix of self consciousnesses and perfectionism got in the way.
Recently, I gave a good friend some advice on a written battle report he had created, and pushed him to do them as videos for various reasons. This got us talking further, which reignited my interest in doing it myself.
I have now lined up with him a very awesome and special series of videos that we will be doing post ETC, which gives me the inspiration to commit more.
However, I feel a lot of it will come down to what the community wants. It is all good and well to put in the effort to do this, but is wasted if people do not want it.
So, what would you wish to see? Battle reports from a known NZ player/tournament goer? Pantisodes as the troll-king Malorian once called them, bring a space of addressing recent topics whilst painting? Interviews with NZ and world recognised players? Tactica and Paint tutorials? What would grab your interest? What would make you watch? We all know it has to be a little more then just my good looks and charm right........okay, stomach hurts from too much laughing now.
But please, have your say in the comments! I really want to know.

With that said, it is time to get these weary eyes away from the screen and to the pages.

Until next time, Peace!

Saying Goodbye and Looking Ahead

Well, that title sounds frighteningly sad. I bet you are all sitting there thinking, how can AEF truely be leaving us? What's happened? How on earth can this be true? What would make him say goodbye to wargaming and leave it all behind??

Well my friends, the answer is quite simple: nothing!
I'm not going anywhere, but I sure as hell got your attention!

However, over the past few weeks I have had to say a few goodbyes. Firstly, I watched as my Tau collection was packaged and shipped to a new and happy owner. This was my final tie to the 40k World, a place which I am unsure if I will go to again, and most definitely not anytime soon.
But the hardest of all, was saying farewell to a collection that was very dear to me...

Twelve years ago, when my uncle drew my attention to the world of miniatures and wargaming, I spent hours rereading the same two white dwarf magazines he had. And one army in particular grabbed my interest of all three Games Workshop worlds. Not only that, my Space Marine loving uncle then went on to buy me my first miniatures from the range. And so, my mighty Dwarf throng begun.

Not only was this collection what got me into wargaming as a whole, a collection I spent many a thousand on and plenty of hours with a brush, but it was also my first tournament army, and the collection that opened my gateway into commission painting. It held the most sentimental value of all the miniatures I have ever owned.

So why say goodbye? Times change. Over the past few months I have gone through a walk of understanding and letting go of sentimental value on all materialist items, and this was the final step in the journey. Since the beginning of 9th Age, my Dwarfs have stayed on the shelf, as my interest in their game mechanics under the rules of the game were not there. I did not like it nor enjoy it in the way I once did. Not only this, but dusty spaces have other priorities to be filled by. And to crate space for new major projects, I needed to clear this place. So alas my stumpy friends, I do bid you a dear farewell, and I hope your new home is one where you will be enjoyed.

*sniffles sniffles* Oh, a tissue? Why thankyou, you shouldn't have....

Okay okay, enough sarcastic sentimental shit. It's getting depressing. Let us look at what is next.....

Firstly, it dawned on me today as I poured probably the hundredth coffee for the day (for perspective, I have only been at work about an hour and half at this point), that Panzersheik is just over a month away! That is crazy!
I pulled out of NiCon this year due to work pressure, meaning that Panzer will be my first tournament back this year, and I have a tonne of catching up to do if I even want a chance of sneaking into Invitationals at year's end! With this in mind, it is time for me to start playtesting a few list ideas I have had up my sleeve, and whipping into shape those extra miniatures needed. As it stands, it looks as though the Beast Herds will be making the tables again, as I attempt to retain my much coveted crown as the top BH player in the country.

On the line of tournaments and events, the WarBanner 4.0 player pack has been released and registrations are open, with the first applicants pouring in! This is fantastic, and I am really looking forward to seeing my baby run in its fourth year.
Alongside this, its drawing close to the time for the annual Hawkes Bay Regional Championship to run for another year, with more information coming very soon!

Well, it is now 8.26pm, and old age seems to be kicking in, and it is time for me to find some much needed beauty sleep.

Until next time my children of darkness....

Peace

[RANT] If you don't like it, there's the door, but don't break my toys on the way out!

If you don't like it, there's the door, but don't break my toys on the way out! 

Last night, in my not so sober state, I listened to a video on YouTube by a wargamer who I have followed since I started watching YouTube videos. This gent has been a solid brick in the foundation of the Warhammer YouTubers Collective over the past many years, and I have just about always enjoyed his content.

However, last night, he posted a video that really threw me back. It was about the major reason he will not be playing The 9th Age. Now I am not going to get into the reason, as that is not the part that threw me, but if you wish to watch the video you can here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2NzT2nztLU

After watching, I commented on it, listed my opinion in regards to what he had to say. And was about to leave it at that, until I read the other comments on the video by other subscribers, and saw an issue that has been happening for a long time. Just this time, it got too far under my skin.

We all play games, whether board, video or table top wargames because we enjoy it. No one is forcing us to do so, we do it because we enjoy certain or many aspects of the game. Basically, it's because it makes us happy. But we aren't going to dedicate the same amount of time to a game we don't enjoy, that doesn't excite us or give us a fun time. And that's fine. Maybe we will try it out, watch videos about it, read up about it, and make a decision based on information and experience that the game is just not for us. If we don't like the game, "then there's the door". Take it. Don't spend anymore time on it, and find something that you enjoy.

"...but don't break my toys on your way out!"

Why is it, as a global community, that when we do not like a game, or a gaming company, we feel the need to dedicate time in 'bashing' the game, in making negative sentiments towards the game, and making anyone who has a part of the game either as a gamer or developer, feel like you are targeting your negative feelings at them.

It's quite simple. If you do not like something, walk away, and leave it at that.

Over the past several months I have spent a lot of time in the 9th Age forum, reading posts from various levels of gamers. And on numerous occasions, I have watched people who have felt that their entitlement to the game means they have a say in the way things happen, or what should happen, and when it doesn't, they call the creators "delusional" and spell out the doom and darkness of the game. Purely because they didn't get what they wanted.

Its that sense of entitlement that people have that makes them feel that a game should be the way they want it to be, and that they have a right to bash games they don't like. Since when did we as gamers become so self righteous as to think we can tell others that their games are crap? To tell game developers they are delusional? To tell people that this is the way it should be, and if we think otherwise, we are stupid? And when did we become so self entitled that we feel we can dictate the way a game is developed or played.

9th Age is an interesting concept in this, as it isn't company built but community driven. But even though that is one of its biggest strengths, the weakness that comes with this is it increases the amount people feel they can have their say and that their say should be listened to and, obeyed.

We are stakeholders, not shareholders.

The decisions made relating to a game effect us as we have an invested interest in the game. But we do not own the game, we do not have shares in the company, we are not its developer, design team, executive board of directors. We are just the people at the end of the chain holding onto it for the ride, whatever it shall be.

The 9th Age is Community Driven, not Community owned.

It's a game being designed and built by many hard working volunteers for a community of wargamers wanting to see the complexity of WHFB continued on in a balanced and competitive game. But just because we are the reason it is being built, we don't own it. We don't have a controlling power invested in it. We are not financially entwined in the organisation. We just have an invested interest, even financial based invested interest based on the fact we own the miniatures to play the game, but we do not own the game.

Is someone wants to play AoS, that's cool. You don't have a right to tell them their game is shit.
Is someone wants to play KoW, that's cool. You don't have a right to tell them their game is shit.
Is someone wants to play Warmachine, that's cool. You don't have a right to tell them their game is shit.
Is someone wants to play 40k, that's cool. You don't have a right to tell them their game is shit.
Is someone wants to play 9th Age, that's cool. You don't have a right to tell them their game is shit.

Let's stop being self righteous and entitled. Let's just play the game we enjoy, and leave others to play the games they want to. Because, "if you don't like it, then there's the door, but don't break my toys on your way out!".

OTT 2016: The War of the Legions and the Three Elves

This past weekend saw the annual Over the Top tournament in Hamilton. This year, it hosted WH40k, LotR/SBG, AoS and Warhammer 8th. There were about 40 competitors across the mix of games, and was a great weekend.

I took my Legions of Nurgle to the fold, led by the one and only Glottkin in what was an End Times based Warhammer 8th tournament. Prior to deciding on a list, I had really been weighing up if I wanted to bring out my Legions or my Dwarfs. After the lists were released, I really wished I had gone with my Dwarfs. Of the 8 competitors, 3 were mixed Elven lists, and the other 5 were Legion of Chaos lists. In those Legion lists, 3 contained Skull Cannons, which when your running a list based off of regeneration, hurts. So, here's the list I ran:

-The Glottkin
-Festus, The Leechlord
-Exalted Hero: BSB, Palaquin, Nurgle, Talisman of Endurance, Enchanted Shield
-22 Warriors of Chaos: Nurgle, Halberds, F/C, Shields, BoSwiftness
-Chaos Chariot: Nurgle
-Chimera: Regeneration, Flaming Breath
-5 Plague Drones, Banner, Musician

This list was very compact, and I enjoyed the writing and playing of it. However, it has a lot of hard counters that did hurt over the course of the tournament. With out further ado, lets have a brief recap of  the games.

Game One (Brian S)
My first game was against Brian, a good mate from the Hamilton area who I had only ever played against once, which was on the day I met him at WarBanner 2014. He opted for this tournament not to bring out his Dark Elves, but a Legions list he had been working on for a long time.
I think going into this game, we both believed I would win, even with his flaming Skull Cannons. However, whether by lack of sleep or poor judgement, I went against my instincts in deployment and instead of deploying to overwhelm one flank as I should have, I spread my force out. Due to this, he was able to pick off my units one by one, and it wasn't long until I had nothing left.
Brian is a great guy, and awesome player, and he really worked my poor choice to his benefit. Even taking a loss first game, it as great fun.

Unfortunately due to charger issues, Brian's army is the only one I was able to take a photo of.

Game Two (Adam R)
My second game saw me in a game against Adam and his legions list. This list didn't contain any Skull Cannons, but was based around the concept of speed and hard hitting. It contained 3-4 chariots, 2 units of Skullcrushers, 2 Chimera, and several lone characters running rampart on the battlefield. This game swung a bit, and we both had a lot of failed chargers across it. I really think Curse of the Lepar spell on my Warriors is what won me the game, as when 2 chariots, a chimera and a unit of 'Crushers come charging in, and are unable to do any wounds, they bounce. By the end of the game however, I am not sure either of us cared who won, as we were just having so much fun. The game was almost musical!

Game Three (Nick Munn)
This was the game that took me out of any contention of placing IMO. My competitor was a great dude, and really know how to work his list to its full potential. However, a few bad dice rolls on my part caused everything to unfold very quickly for me, and I was tabled with very little points gained. I must admit, I felt very dismayed by this game and knew that I wasn't likely to place after that.

Game Four (Nick Jebson)
And then this game happened. It was our final game on Saturday night, and I was matched against a Dark Elf player with a fairly balanced list, which is always nice to play against. Nick was an awesome dude, one of those people you would happily play again and again, because he made the game quite comic and fun. This game swung back and forwards quite a bit, and I really expected not to win. However, after some luck turned my way, and my tank of a BSB who had won out about 3 challenges against a mix of generic and named characters, he turned into a Daemon Prince who ran rampart on the board. Although I ended up sucking Glottkin into the warp in the final turn, and I didn't manage to table Nick, I picked up a decent amount of points on what was the bloodiest board I had played on yet.

Game Five (Andy H)
Game Five was on Sunday morning, and after a very big night of drinking, I was faced of against Andy and his awesome looking Nurgle army. There isn't much I can say about the game itself, as it was extremely uneventful in the fact that neither of us could really kill any of our opponents units. To be honest, I think the few points we both got were based more of secondary scenarios then our opponents losses. Andy was yet another great player, with a very competitive mindset. I do believe if we had not both been playing Nurgle, I would have been very hard pressed to pull of a victory against someone so tactical.

Game Six (Tom D)
In typical tournament fashion, I ended the tournament against my close mate and travel buddy, Tom. He was running a 1000pt Malekith led Elven host, a list that I had helped him write and had always miserably been crushed by it. Tom was sitting high up there in points, and there was not a lot of difference in standings between the top 4-5 players. This scenario allowed us to cast the End Times spell related to our lore, and after Malekith failed to land Pit of Shades onto Glottkin in top of turn one, the Brothers Three cast the Nurgle End times Spell at the Eternity King, and turned him into a Daemon Prince. It was the beginning of the end, and both of us were stunned as I managed to table him and claim max points by turn three. Unfortunately, this took Tom out of the running to place in the tournament overall.


It was a fantastic weekend, and we all had a lot of fun. McCrae L went on to take out the Best General award with his Wood Elves, which he was quite happy with.
As part of the tournament, we had to provide a paint 'Hero of the End Times' miniature to purpose in the secondary scenarios. There was an award for this model as well, which Tom won. However, Tom made the decision after we returned home that as I had actually painted the miniature as part of a commission for him, that he wanted me to take the award. This was really kind and unexpected, and I have so much respect for this guy as both a player and a friend.
The final award, Best Paint overall, which was the prize I had been aiming to get, just managed to land into my hands, with another player sitting just one vote behind me. I am very estatic to have pulled this off, and humbled all the same that other players felt it was worth voting for. To those who did vote for it, thankyou, it is much appreciate.

 Teclis, Tom's Hero of the End Times Winnning Miniature

The Bronze Legion of Nurgle, my OTT Best Painted Army and Award

It was a great weekend away, with lots of laughs and excitement, and was definitely worth the trip. I look forward to returning next year to hopefully compete in either 9th Age (should this system become adopted) or Lord of the Rings/Hobbit SBG.

Thanks again for taking the time to read my blog, and I should hopefully have another hobby post up soon!

The 9th Age of Terra

Age of Sigmar has now had a month to settle in, and in that time has created a very large rift in the WHFB scene, rippling out and affecting other tabletop platforms. The immense amount of chatter in local club pages and across global forums is intense. Many players are jumping ship to other games, others are saying they will stay with 8th edition, and others yet are trying out and enjoying AoS. A change such as this release could not have created a bigger rift in the Warhammer community.

In light of all of the changes, a new edition of the game is currently being developed by the ETC and Swedish Comp teams who have in the past written and released solid comps for WHFB tournament play. Although this is not a Games Workshop support edition, this new rule set, known as the 9th Age, could possibly be a good go to for the future. It has the promise of solid rules, frequent rule and army book updates, and FAQs that are actually Frequently answered. It also has the potential for new variation in units, with new units being released for armies also. No, they aren't going to go into the business of making models for these (though it gives the opportunity for an existing business to do so, or a new business to be born), but let's be honest. There are enough miniatures from across many platforms and companies that players will be able to utilise and convert to fit as these new units. I mean, we do that with current units anyways don't we?

Although the 9th Age will not have the same strength in following as 8th has due to it not being supported by an Offical company producing official books and miniatures, it really has the potential to become a solid and well founded game that can be enjoyed on both a casual and competitive scene. I am all for sticking with 8th should nothing better arise, but the 9th Age might just be that better thing, and something that the global community will grow in and enjoy.

Age of Sigmar: the rationality

The recent release of Age of Signar has caused a massive disturbance in the warhammer fantasy community. If your an active part of this community, you would have seen it.

I got into a discussion with someone from up North last night who fully supported Age of Sigmar, and as someone who had played WHFB for the past 2 decades, he had perspective on the change of the game. 

Now for those of you who know me personally, you know I am very opionated and passionate, and am more stubborn then the dwarfs I play. For me personally, Age of Sigmar has taken away from Fantasy, the, well, fantasy of it. It's like giving a child a 3 scoop ice cream come, then taking it back, eating the ice cream, and just leaving the kid the cone.

Now don't get me wrong, by all means I am all for change, but there is a difference between changing up an edition and releasing an entirely knew gaming system, which lets be honest, is what AoS is.

The person I spoke with asked people not to 'bemoan' the game as it will put others off from trying it, and to just speak about the games that we do enjoy. Does this mean I am not entitled to civilly voice my opinion on a game that 10years ago became a huge part of my life, and has now been torn from me?

It seems Games Workshop has a thing for aggravating their customers on a global proportion, a model that any other same business person wouldn't go for, yet it seems to work for GW.

All I can say about GW, is they are the iceberg, and we the consumers are the Titanic, and this movie is on fucking repeat.