In The Grim Darkness...

Many years ago, I started playing Warhammer 40,000 with a group of friends. It was at the tail end of 4^th edition, so we were perfectly timed to get into 5^th when it was released. We played some games, bought some minis, and ended up starting this blog. After some things went down, I quit playing.

When I quit, 6^th edition was just coming out. I was interested in picking it up, even bought the codexes I needed for my Chaos Marines and Imperial Guard (no, I won't be calling them by that dumb new name), but didn't really need or want the new starter set. I had another friend who wanted to get me to play again and I asked him about it. It was because 7^th edition was coming out. Two years after 6^th. That's insane. I said no. Not only did it seem like they had screwed up badly in 6^th (thus requiring 7^th), the prices of models were increasing. And not just the new ones. The same models they'd be producing for years, over a decade in a handful of cases, were starting to double in price. Plus, every time a codex came out, the units you really wanted to have were of course all the new ones. I do understand why they do this but, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The last thing that really got under my skin was the whole Finecast debacle. I supported the idea of switching to resin. However, the quality control was ridiculously poor when it first came out. I know some people were really tried of the game timeline never advancing, which I can kind of understand. I'm not too upset about it but, I really wanted to get in on some kind of big event like the Third Armageddon War or the 13^th Black Crusade. But, if they weren't going to advance the setting...

So, I quit. I sold my Orks. I hadn't touched one of their minis in years. I pretty much gave up on most of the other games I was playing at the time, too. As you might have noticed, I did dabble in some other games and projects, but nothing serious.

A few weeks ago, I was going through some things and found the five Dark Angels that came with my paint set I bought before I quit. I'd thought about converting them to Chaos (like I did with my Assault of Black Reach guys) or keeping them and getting a few more to create a small force for my Inquisition force. But, since it had been several years, I decided to give them to a friend of mine who had his birthday. I knew he liked the lore and stuff from Warhammer, so I thought he might like them.

If you give a mouse a cookie... Or, a nerd some Warhammer minis...

We got to talking about the game and setting and all that good stuff, and I realized that I missed playing the game. I missed playing minis games. I've never been particularly good at them, just look at the battle reports I've got here, but I like playing them. I also missed painting, even though I'm not good at that, either. It's just something I find relaxing and get a sense of accomplishment when I finish.

That conversation ended which me saying “Well, if you really want to play, I do have a couple of armies and all the stuff for 5^th edition.” I then texted the friend who had tried to get me to play a few years ago and talked with him. He wasn't playing 40k proper but, still had all of his stuff. More conversations and now it looks like I might be playing it again. For right now, we're talking about playing 5^th because I have the stuff for it. I also picked up a few codexes, as 5^th edition books are dirt cheap right now. I might also end up playing an Apocalypse game, which I've always wanted to do after picking up the books. 

When if comes to 8^th edition, I've been doing some research. I'm very wary of starting up again. Not only because of the cost, but I've been burned by Games Workshop more than once. However, it looks like GW has changed. Time has moved forward. They're not trying to wring you dry (but it's still expensive), they seem to be trying to prevent doing 9^th edition, and the game looks fun. I've watched a ton of battle reports online and I've figured out most of the basic rules and stuff from those. I can still use my old stuff, so I wouldn't have to spend too much. Will I pick up 8^th? I don't know. I really don't know yet. What I am doing is getting my Chaos Marines finally painted and ready to go. I did discover that some of my paints had dried out, so I'll be spending a little bit of money.

Everything else? I guess you can watch this space...