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Strength_Hammer

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  1. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  The Paint is really beginning to flow on my Hobby Table.  Also with Nova Fast approaching, I am trying to play as many games as I can to prepare for all the events!  It is an exciting time for Age of Sigmar as well with the announcement of the Generals Handbook 2017 coming in August, be sure to check out the video announcement.  It is a real gem!


    My Blades of Khorne Color Scheme was decided and I got to work on my Bloodletters.  It took a good portion of my Saturday, but I managed to finish the unit up.  I am still trying to decide on how to base them, but I am saving that for the end of the Army to do it all at once.



    A couple of my good friends are getting back into the Fantasy side of gaming with Age of Sigmar and one had a group of us out to his place for some Basement Hammer.  It was a blast hanging out, rolling dice, and eating pizza.  It had been a while since I had seen some of them so it was great to catch up over some games.

    I also snagged my room for Adepticon 2018!  I am much closer than I was last year which means I can join in on the late night gaming with everyone and with what appears to be a British Invasion of Adepticon it promises to be a great event!  Hope to see you there!

    Let me know what has been on your table or what Games you have played lately by hitting me up on Twitter.  Also if you're going to Adepticon 2018 I suggest booking a room soon as the Hotels are quickly filling up!  I will see you Friday as I continue my Road to Nova Open series!  Happy Hobbying!

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  2. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  This week I wanted to continue my new segment where I talk to a club mate about his Hobby and his efforts in Community Building.  Today I will be talking with DJ who I have known since I began playing Warhammer years ago.  DJ has taken on a large task within our Local Community.  While I have been trying to grow and develop my local club, DJ has been embracing Wargaming, Board games, and Tabletop RPG's by creating a group for everyone to chat and discuss all the tabletop goodness.  The group he has created is Called Westmoreland Gamers Guild and the local clubs I run and/or play which slot in nicely to this larger and more collective group to help grow as a community.
     
     
     


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    DJ, can you let everyone know a bit about yourself?  
     
    I live in Western PA. and enjoy all types of Tabletop games, D&D, Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar, X-wing.  You name it I will play it.  I am usually around on Wargaming Forums with the name IGMeatShielf or SkullSplitter.
    How did you get Started in Wargaming?
     
    I was in 8th Grade at the time and I discovered Warhammer Fantasy and not much after that I found my way into Warhammer 40,000.  I kept with it for a while until I was Deployed to Iraq, but when I returned I stepped right back into the games.
    What armies do you play in Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000?
    I have always played and loved Tomb Kings.  Thankfully I have a large army of them from my Time in Warhammer Fantasy.  As for Warhammer 40,000 I play Imperial Guard as well as Thousand Sons.  I really enjoy the narrative of The Thousand Sons so I will stick with them for a while I think.

    Do you have a favorite Hobby memory?
    There was a tournament up in Erie, PA which is a four-hour drive or so from my house.  I was young and drove early in the morning to attend so I could meet the (at the time) cast of 40k Radio.  I got to talk with them and play a few games.  It was really great.

    What about your worst Hobby moment?
    I was traveling to my first tournament outside of the local club.  It was a long drive and shortly after one of my games began it was discovered that my opponent was cheating to win.  Being a newer Wargamer at the time I couldn't understand why anyone would cheat in a game built for fun and it really put a sour taste in my mouth.  I don't remember the details anymore, but I remember the feeling and I strive to play the rules correctly in all my games to ensure I don;t ever give anyone that feeling by accident.
     
     
     
     

    What is the Westmoreland Gamers Guild?
    WGG is a unifying group to connect gamers all across the county I live in (Westmoreland county located in Western PA).  It allows gamers from all types of games get to chat and possibly share their game systems with others in the group.

    Why did you decide to start the group?
    It started as a Facebook page in order to connect groups I knew of in the local area to plan games and events.  After seeing the Wargaming community begin to grow again I realized how much I missed large events with everyone smiling and having a great time.  We use to have tournaments for Warhammer with a minimum of sixteen players on a regular basis, but it fell off for quite some time.  I wanted to step up and do my part of growing the community again.

    What is the goal of the Group?
    I am hoping the group will gel and eventually we can have a large presence at major events such as Adepticon and Nova with Team shirts and having a great time together.

    If you want to find out more about the group you can find the Facebook page here.  Have a great weekend everyone and if you haven't done so already the rooms are available for Adepticon so be sure to get a reservation soon!  Until next week you can find me on Twitter and Happy Hobbying!

    Thanks for coming on DJ.  I look forward to seeing the group grow!
    It will be exciting that's for sure!  Thanks for having me.
     
     
     
     
     
     
       
     
     
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    If you are in Western PA I highly recommend you join the Facebook group to get on board.  Have a great weekend everyone and until next week, feel free to follow me on Twitter and Happy Hobbying!
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
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  3. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  My Hobby is finally starting to gain some momentum.  Considering Nova Open is about five weeks away it is about time I try to kick it up a notch.  My recent vacation time has invigorated me to get back at it as well.  Spending a week away from my Hobby table was the best thing to refresh myself and make a push to finish my Blades of Khorne.


    My Club held a Shadow Wars: Armageddon event this past weekend with the store kit and it was a fun and relaxed day despite there being prizes to go along with the event.  My Squad of Harlequins set out for Glory that day and did not disappoint. 


    I came home with best overall as well as a second place award in painting.  It was a very fun day with five great opponents just rolling dice and having a laugh.


    Recently my wife agreed to paint her first model, but she said it had to be an Aelf!  Austin from Shadowclaimer minis hooked me up with the model while I was at Adepticon.  If you haven't checked out his Live streams you should as he does great work!  She has always loved the lore of Warhammer Fantasy and her and I played the MMO quite extensively when it was up and running, but she never dove into the Hobby side of everything.  She still has washes and highlights, but she has grasped what took me years to learn pretty quickly.


    My Wife wasn't the only one to get some paint flowing either.  I managed to take my primed Blakes of Khorne and begin layering on two thin coats of Ulthuan Grey.  It was maddening as it felt like I wasn't doing much at first, but after the second coat, it really began to smooth the models out.  Next up is some actual colors!


    Hopefully, these close ups can help you see the difference between the Grey and White on the model.
    I would love to see what is on your hobby table so feel free to hit me up on Twitter and be sure to come back Friday as I do another player Spotlight on a man after my own heart who is working on building a stronger community in my local area.  Happy Hobbying!
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  4. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  If you have known me for a bit you will know that I prefer to play the "Good Guys".  Aleves, Duardin, and more recently Stormcast Eternals are my mainstay.  I enjoy their background and how in The World That Was Order was typically the underdog and on the backfoot, but despite the inevitable End Times they still fought and tried to save it all.  Whenever I would buy a starter set or a bundle I would always sell or trade off the Chaos without a thought.  I never truly identified with those armies, but that has all changed.



    Now that armies are quicker to get on the table and my skills as a hobbyist has improved I found myself looking elsewhere than Order.  However, nothing really came out of that looking around.  I attempted a large Orruk force I got a great deal on, but soon lost my inspiration for the project.  Part of it was due to most of the units being compendium and the other just an overall wanting to go back to my Stormcast and hope for Aelves to be released.  I did manage to keep enough motivation to create a small war band that might one day grow, but for now, is being used as my force for Skirmish.

    I was looking for a fun side project to work on with a few friends and Path to Glory seemed like a good fit.  Everyone seemed keen to all pick a Chaos god for our armies and I agreed.  After the decision was settled I was put with Khorne due to my lack of dedication I took who the god who was left out.  I looked at Chaos, but never let anything sink its hooks in other than passing interest in the fluff without examing the army play styles.  So I was gifted the Khorne Bloodbound from the Starter set since I had traded mine off long ago.  However, I wanted the iconic Bloodthirster and a few Daemons to add as well and looking at building a 1000pt list for the total of our event it seemed like I was set.


    Shortly after they announced The Blades of Khorne Battletome and I knew I was going to do well in the campaign by having a great way to mix my new Daemons and Bloodbound into a cohesive force with army specific abilities.  A few weeks later I attended Adepticon, which was my first Major event, and I was lucky enough to get an early look at the Blades of Khorne Battletome.  This is when the Damn broke and my Fall to Chaos went from Bunny Slope to free fall without a parachute.  I fell in love with the army and what it could do as far as fluff and playstyle.  I am happy to say I have over 2000pts with plans to add more in the future.

    So far I have built and removed the mold lines for the army and have begun priming the force in preparation to paint.  I am hoping to complete the army by Nova and take it along for some narrative or pickup gaming.  As I paint the army over the next few months I will be bringing you my insights, hobby, and plans for the army.  I don't consider myself an expert on the army in any way, but I am excited to share my experience.


    I hope you will join me in the coming months as I bring you Road to Nova and Falling for Chaos series.  If you have any insights into the army I would love to hear them and if you are attending Nova Open 2017 I would love to say hi so let me know if you will be around.  Until next week, BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, and Happy Hobbying!
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  5. Strength_Hammer
    Happy Wednesday Everyone!  Vacation season is upon us, but that doesn't the Hobby has to stop.  Hopefully, your summer is full of fun in the sun as well as plenty of Hobby!



    Reading list set for Vacation.  High Elves on the Beach!
    It has been very humid and hot in the Northeast U.S. lately and it has stalled my project work as I have been unable to prime for a week or so, but I was able to get the primer down just before leaving for vacation.  I am using my vacation to step away from touching a model in hopes it will ignite my hobby in a way it hasn't been since Adepticon. 
    I need to really get a move on with the army as to not fall too far behind Miles for our little wager or a beer for the upcoming Nova Open in seeing who can paint more models before the event.

    When the weather is too bad to Prime it gets weird


    Despite the weather, I finally got the white primer down on my army
    Hope you are enjoying the summer and getting more Hobby done than I have as of late.  As always feel free to follow me on Twitter and until Friday, Happy Hobbying!
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  6. Strength_Hammer
    730 days, three armies, 756 models painted, countless games played.  No matter how you define time with your Hobby it is a fact that we have had Age of Sigmar for two years now and what has those past few years looked like for all of us in The Mortal Realms?  I hope to share my view on the past few years and my hopes for the following year to come in today's post.

    In order to grasp where we are now, we need to look back at where this all began.  The ending of a world.  I won't go into the full details of the End Times, but it was decisive in the community at the very least.  Some players like myself really enjoyed the unfolding events and the drastic changes that let Warhammer Fantasy go out with a proper bang!  Others did not like the changes to the gameplay and fought hard to hold on to what the game was and avoid what it might become.  As that world ended we also so a community end along with it.


    Rules and Preorders came out this day for the Game we love
    When Age of Sigmar was released there were those who were hesitant.  Some people outright left the Hobby or the game and a few went to make their own game to continue the torch of rank and flank fantasy battles.  A very small group, myself included, picked up the game day one and began to build and search for anyone who wanted to play.  The release was not smooth or handled in a smooth way in regards to Public Relations and Marketing.  It is clear with the recent release of #New40k that Games Workshop has seen the issues and corrected them for how they launch a game and when Age of Sigmar dropped they were still what we consider "The old GW" as opposed to "The New GW" they have become.  Either way, the community shrunk, drastically and there were very few safe havens for those of us wanting to play and talk about Age of Sigmar.  Then Twitter saved the day as the community gathered there and we could all enjoy each others hobby and games played and discuss anything and everything in The Age of Sigmar.  This foundation of the community would grow in the following years as we have seen.

    One of the biggest issues was the lack of a point system to allow players to play pickup games and have a fun and relatively balanced game.  In the U.S. this is a large way in how we play as with such large regions we rely on a community driven standard on what size army to carry along to an FLGS in order to get a game going quickly.  While it is important to have a discussion with your opponent before a game for many reasons the need for a point system and general points played at saves a lot of time as part of the conversation would be solved before it began.  We saw a number of point systems develop to help give us what we need.  SDK, MO-Comp, etc... all came about from within the newly forming and still small community.  We heard about these systems through a few different channels via Twitter, Podcasts, and Blogs.

    We saw a large number of Podcasts and Blogs being created as well.  Some have survived and going strong while others silently disappeared and a few have decided to take a well-deserved break to focus on life outside of the hobby.  A few over in England really took the bull by the horns and worked directly with Games Workshop in order to create The Generals Handbook.  Heelan Hammer, Bad Dice, and Facehammer were all involved and are still involved with each iteration of the book.  When The Generals Handbook released it was a game changer.  Suddenly interest for the game was growing and people wanted to play.


    Shortly before this time is when Games Workshop came back to Facebook and social media.  We saw the creation of the Warhammer Community Team as it is now through small videos here and there.  After a while, we saw Warhammer TV develop with daily painting tip videos, weekly streams, and success in taking the wind out of rumor sites and posts online.  The availability of Age of Sigmar was at an all time high.  I could hobby while watching live games and let us not forget the Warhammer Age of Sigmar App for tablets and Smart Phones.  It has changed since its first iteration, but for the better.  We can view all the rules, unlock points, and build our forces conveniently on our phone with added options such as being able to name and take custom images of our models to print out the lists.  While this was a great change to the app we cannot forget Tony P. and his gift to the Age of Sigmar world with Scroll Builder, which is now hosted and incorporated into the Community Site.

    Games Workshop has also stepped up their presence at independent events across the globe as well.  They offered great support to the LVO with Terrain on top of running the Age of Sigmar event as well as streaming.  They continued this trend into Adepticon and soon Nova Open over here in the States and South Coast GT, Facehammer GT, and soon Blood and Glory in the UK.  They even brought back their own Age of Sigmar Grand Tournament with multiple Heats throughout the year.

    While the community team has been driving forward we have received plenty of updates to our Armies in an ever evolving Battletome format that keeps getting better.  We saw the conclusion of the initial Campaign "The Realm Gate Wars".  We had a fantastic Summer Campaign with The Season of War.  A full Skirmish update has come out and a full Path to Glory supplement is on its way.  We even had the announcement of the next version of The Generals Handbook (2017).

    All of this has inspired many great pursuits, projects, and events from the global community.  We have seen more Grand Tournaments come about with Nashcon, SoCal Open, Midwest Meltdown, Battleshock Bash and of course the Global Event of Coalescence.  We have seen many groups get together to grow Age of Sigmar even more with support and acknowledgment from Games Workshop which was unheard of just a few years ago.

    While we have been through a bit of a lull as #New40k was being developed and released I am sure we are right around the corner from much more Age of Sigmar and honestly, the small lull was a bit a nice break to cool those Hobby engines a bit for what is next.  I can't wait to see what is coming this year, please be Aleves, and as a community, we should be excited and rally around this game we love along with each other.  The Age of Sigmar Community is one of, if not the best, Wargaming Communities out there with a great back and forth between us and Games Workshop.  The Warhammer Community team are a small group of wonderful people doing great things and we are a large and passionate audience that could accomplish even greater heights by working together as we have been doing so far.  Consider what you might be able to do for your local club or possibly a larger area of your region to grow the awareness of Age of Sigmar and build your community beyond where it currently sits.


    Just a small part of the friendships I have made in this Hobby (I need pictures with more folks!)
    On a personal note, I want to say thank you to everyone I have met within the past few years through this Hobby and this game.  This game and hobby have become so much more to me through all of you.  I have made what I feel like are friends for life all due to my love of rolling dice and painting little toy soldiers.  It's humbling to think about, but it makes me very glad to know how welcoming and supportive we as a community are to one another.  Finally going to GT's and conventions this year has really opened up the Hobby world for me and I encourage everyone to attend at least one in the coming year.

    I am sure I didn't even cover half of everything, but it was enjoyable to just let the memories flow and I hope you enjoyed this little recap of the past few years.  Perhaps I will add more in a follow-up post at a later time if I feel there is more to be added, but for now, I will leave it here.  May the next year of Age of Sigmar be even greater than the last and until next week, Happy Hobbying!
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  7. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  The past few days for me have been full of Games of 40k, Age of Sigmar, and Skirmish.  On top of that, I managed to get some models primed and ready to begin painting.  Let us not forget that yesterday was The Release Anniversary of Age of Sigmar and if you're over in the States it was Independence day!



    Another Year in and going strong!

    Got a few games of #New40k in at the club meetup on Saturday and loving it


    A friend who took a break when Age of Sigmar dropped got his first game in on Sunday (Welcome back Richie!)



    I also got to play a game of Skirmish with my buddy Aleks.  My Orruks charged the field..and died to a man...WAAAGH!


    Let me know what you are working on this week!  Feel free to follow my Hobby on Twitter and I will see you on Fridays Post!  Happy Hobbying!



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  8. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  There is quite a lot of Warhammer Events coming up such as Midwest Meltdown in July, Slobberknocker GT in July, as well as Heat 3 at Warhammer World this weekend!  However, my focus is on Nova Open as it will be my second Grand Tournament and I could not be more excited.



    This time around I will be participating in the Age of Sigmar Team Event on Friday as well as the Championship on Saturday and Sunday.  I also plan to catch up with the friends I have made in this hobby and enjoy the atmosphere of another major event so if you see me around come over and say Hi and talk some Hobby with me.  I really enjoyed connecting with others at  Adepticon this past year and joining in on the sense of community that we are all a part of in this Hobby.

    I feel these larger events are the best time to really grasp the idea of the National and Global Community for Age of Sigmar.  We all share the same interest in this game and hobby and being able to share that passion as well as our ideas and projects regarding our local communities.  In doing this we will see all the smaller pockets of groups begin to connect and blend a bit more to really solidify what the U.S. Age of Sigmar players are as a whole, and create a collective feeling of Community.  I encourage everyone to talk, interact, and share your social media groups with each other as well and look at how we can all help each other grow into the following year.  Also, The Warhammer Community Team will be attending in force and they are a great group who I enjoyed meeting and discussing the U.S. Community with at Adepticon and they will be hosting a number of seminars once again.

    One that I will be sad to miss will be on Wednesday night about Building a Community and if you can attend this seminar I couldn't encourage you more.  I am sure it will be full of great information and tips to help grow your local scene which in turn will work to improve our National Scene.


    I have decided on my Stormcast Eternals again for Nova Open.  I feel very comfortable with the army and always have fun playing them winning or losing and the best part is I have a fully painted army so I do not need to rush to paint the army for the event which allows me to work on my current Blades of Khorne army.  However, I wouldn't put it past me to add a random unit to the army within the next month because I just can't stop painting Stormcasts it seems.

    The Reiksguard Eternals return!
    My goal for Nova Open is to place top half in the Team event with my good friend Matt who is bringing is Duardin Force and going for the top 25% in the Championship.  My list will be similar to my Adepticon list with minor changes and as of Sunday, I will be going into full Age of Sigmar practice mode.  I plan to play as many games with the army as possible and examining ways to adjust my list to bring the most competitive list I can for the Championship.  The Team event I plan to go a bit more relaxed as the event to me seems to be more about having fun with your partner and engaging in a fun game.  While the Championship will have the same feeling of fun and engagement I don't feel any pressure to win in the Team event.

    I also have a little wager with Miles Hamrick.  We are seeing who can paint more models to completion between now and the event either Age of Sigmar or 40k.  Loser buys the other a round of drinks.  I will track this progress in the series as well to see if I can keep up with him and his Hobby!  Follow both of us on Twitter to see use duel it out.

    Hopefully, I can knock out enough of these to pull out a win on our little wager
    I look forward to bringing you more on my Road to Nova article series as well as coverage of my time there once it is all in the books.  If you are going to Nova please let me know and perhaps we can meet up.  I plan to be there Friday through Saturday and hitting me up on Twitter is the best way to grab my attention most of the time.  See you all there and until next week, Happy Hobbying!
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  9. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  It's Wednesday and time for my weekly Hobby Update.  It has been a fun week getting in my first game of the New 40k and getting back to some Age of Sigmar Hobby.  Nova is fast approaching and I plan to prepare with as many games with my Stormcast as I can in the next few months while painting up my Blades of Khorne so look forward to lots of that soon!


    My good friend Ed also known as EvilEd has finally moved back into 40k coming from being very prominent in the X-Wing Community.  We had a great game of my Dark Angels versus his Space Wolves with him taking the victory.  I had a blast and I look forward to more games of 40k in the future.



    My Khorne is assembled and free of mold lines.  I plan to give them a once over before I begin priming for my White and Gold Scheme.  I plan to push this army hard during July and possibly bring them to Nova for some Narrative games.  I am very excited as I want to take this army past any previous army I have done while removing mold lines, green stuffing gaps, and going for a paint scheme with shading, washing, and highlighting the entire army.

    After finding out Path to Glory will be its own full supplement recently we get some info on the next edition of The Generals Handbook.  I am glad it is being labeled 2017 instead of Edition 2 as it promises a standard yearly update.  I can't wait to get a release date and will give it a review when I pick up my copy.

    Let me know what you are working on and feel free to follow me on Twitter.  Until Friday, Happy Hobbying!
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  10. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  Another week has come and gone and I bet you're sitting at home, or perhaps sneaking a quick read in at work, or possibly commuting home and passing the boredom with today's post.  However, if you are reading this I bet you are similar to me with your passion for our Hobby and the ever present thoughts of painting, building, and playing games are within you.  Sadly, not all of us are can count our Hobby as our profession, and sometimes it might be best to keep it separate.  How do we strike that balance between our Hobby Life, Home Life, Social Life, and Work Life?  I hope to share with you today my thoughts and how I attempt to obtain Hobby Balance.

    Picture of me doing my best to not think about Painting a model  (Shortly after I went and painted a model)
    As I write this I think about the hectic time I am having this evening.  I drove home from work after a nine hour day followed by household chores and cleaning my gutters before tomorrow's rainstorm.  I won't lie and say this post has been crafted over a few weeks as I am writing it the night before it goes up.  After all the chores are completed I plan to cap the night off with dinner and build some Blades of Khorne while relaxing with my wife.

    I am no pillar of hobby balance as you can see.  I do my best to keep it all portioned appropriately and despite tonight's imbalance, I will be back on track shortly working toward balance.  I do not believe a true balance will ever be reached as it's an ongoing process that we as hobbyists must be aware of as we paint those armies and squeeze in those games.  Just as I will never be satisfied with my latest paint job I will never feel as if I have given enough time to each aspect of my life, including Hobby.

    It's great to catch up with friends on life even during games
    Work is a necessary task, the hours of toiling can be broken up with Hobby.  List building in your head is a fun past time of mine.  I do take a peek on Twitter as the day goes on and chat with the fellow hobbyists to give myself short mental breaks.  Even on lunch I head to the gym and put on the recent podcasts or an Audio Book to ensure I keep up to date with what's going on in the Lore or Community.  Likewise, your commute home is an excellent time to catch up on Audio Books and Podcasts.

    At home, the hobby time may seem close at hand, but we have families to spend time with and responsibilities to clear off our plates.  I am blessed to have a wonderful wife who acknowledges and encourages my enthusiasm (obsession) for this hobby and I can spend the night relaxing with her while building or painting.   While I keep true to one hour a night for my hobby there are times when I put the hobby away to give her my full attention. In turn, she lets me take nights, especially before and event, to hide in my hobby area and let myself get lost in all the madness.

    Building a fence and visitng the Warhammer Store are both parts of Hobby Balance
    My friends and family know about my hobby and understand that my blank stares while we are at a local coffee shop or dinner usually means I am thinking about the Hobby.  They laugh and ask how my latest project is going and from time to time join me in painting on group hobby days!  It wouldn't be fair to expect my friends to always let my hobbies take precedence so when they suggest a night of fun or an event to attend I use it as a break from the hobby.  While constant immersion in Warhammer is a great way to live it is necessary, I believe, to set it aside completely in order to keep it fresh and prevent burnout.  Besides your friends and family are the ones who will keep you grounded while building you up in areas beyond the hobby as well as in the hobby.  Even with your friends who partake in this hobby, I find it important to spend time with them specifically not doing anything hobby related.

    After event hangout where Hobby talk mixed with Non Hobby Talk
    Despite our best efforts times will arise where we might have to put a part of our Hobby aside in order to focus on the other parts of life that demand our attention.  We have seen it within the community when hobbyists are getting married, having children, or taking on more responsibilities at work.  It is a hard decision to step away from part of or all of you Hobby, but sometimes it is necessary.  We saw it recently with Dan Heelan and Wayne Kemp taking a break from Podcasting.  I have a lot of respect for those two for making that call as they could try to push on and keep putting their podcasts, but over time the demands elsewhere would see them put out a show that is not up to the quality they expect of themselves.  The flip side is they might continue putting out a great product, but other aspects would begin to suffer.

    My friends, family all know I build, paint, and play with Toy Soldiers and love to immerse myself in the stories.  They encourage it and in turn, I must do the same for them and their hobbies and interests.  While work may be a grind from time to time it is okay to take a moment to chat on twitter or think about your next project in order to keep enthusiastic about our hobby.  Give time to your Hobby and squeeze every spare moment of the day, but keep in mind this world is more than painting and building models.  Spend time enjoying the world outside the hobby, but it never hurts to keep an eye out for the next project inspiration while you do so.  Keep you Hobby with you, but don't let life pass you by.

    Some Potential Sylvaneth inspiration from a rcent trip
    I hope some insight can be squeezed out of this post, but I would be happy to continue this topic either on Twitter or in future posts if you all think it would be worth exploring.  Please let me know and until next week, Happy Hobbying!






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  11. Strength_Hammer
    Happy Wednesday everyone!  It has been a flurry of Hobby lately and most of it #New40k.  I am very happy to be jumping back into the Grim Dark of The Far Future as well as playing in The Mortal Realms.  I remember the fun-filled times of days gone past when I played both systems and I am glad those days are back!  While the 40k break has been nice, especially after putting a lot of time and effort into Coalescence, I am very excited to jump back into more of a Sigmar Focus in the next few months to prepare for Nova Open.


    With the 40k edition dropping, I let myself get swept in all the fun.  I haven't really played since 6th edition, but the changes to both Games Workshop and to Warhammer 40,000 I couldn't resist letting the Dark secrets of The Dark Angels run rampant in my head once again.  I picked my index and my Starter box and got to work.



    After a long day or rebasing and building this past Sunday, The Sons of The Lion are up ready to hit the table while receiving a fresh coat of paint.  It was fun to loose myself to an entire day to the hobby.  It has been quite a while and while drained, really motivated me to move forward with the Army.




    My plan for the Army is to have the majority ready to go for this Summers Campaign, Fate of Konor.  I really enjoyed last years Season of War for Age of Sigmar and cannot wait to see what is in store for us at the end of July.


    I haven't forgotten about Age of Sigmar during all of the 40k hype.  My Blades of Khorne Army is being assembled and getting ready for painting.  Hopefully, I will be priming by Saturday.


    Originally my fall to Chaos was part of a Path to Glory campaign with a few of my Club Mates.  We all chose a different Chaos god and set to the task, but as life does it can prevent us from gathering to game as much as we would like and the campaign went by the wayside as my army grew.  Thankfully, the announcement of a standalone Path to Glory Supplement for Age of Sigmar has reawakened the call of Chaos for my club mates and come July we will be picking this up to start a new campaign!
    I would love to see what you are working on as well so please let me know either int he comments or by finding me on Twitter.  Until Friday, Happy Hobbying!
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  12. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  Today I wanted to run down the Coalescence event I ran at my local club last Saturday as part of the Global Narrative.  It was a great day of wargaming with a room full of players really getting into the setting of the event.  The tables were full of smiles and friendly banter all day as well as exciting games and stories being created!
    We ran the event at our local library which is our usual club hangout.  We play in the basement where we can be as loud as we like and there is plenty of space to set up all the tables we need.  I set out early to grab some coffee and relax a bit before all the madness began.  It was a great time to reflect on what I needed to do to ensure everyone had a great time.
    The local Library where the event was held

    I was very lucky to have some players show up early to help set up the tables and the terrain.  In about thirty minutes we had everything set up right now time as the players began to roll in with their armies and excitement for the games to come.  I called everyone together and gave a brief rundown of the day and encourage everyone to play within the spirit of the event.  
    The calm before the storm
    This was my first real go at being a true Event Organizer.  I have run small events with my club, but never before have I branched out across the region to get as many players as I could for the event.  It was a lot of work even for a one-day event and even though it was nerve-wracking it was one of the most fulfilling experiences within this hobby and I fear I might be hooked to T.O.ing.

    I want to give a shout out to the Steel City guys and the Rend 4 crew from Ohio who made the trek out for the day.  Being able to play different people is the best way to grow as a war gamer both socially.  These players brought fantastic hobby, great attitudes, and really helped make the event.


    Game 2 in full swing
    When the dice began rolling we had 11 players show up which meant I had to play the ringer so no one was sitting.  I worked my ringer army into the fluff from my event and brought Tyrion and Teclis to the table.  I paired players off with the goal of players playing at least one person they have never played before at least once in the day.  The great part of the narrative event structure was I could freely choose who plays who throughout the day.

    The Event Pack was very nicely written and I had one minor questions throughout the day which was great considering I had to play along with everyone else.  After game one we saw Chaos in ascendance and due to the player mixed Chaos was the favored to win the event, but Order saw things differently and fought back every step of the way.  Destruction and Death were out in force, but could never really foothold on the other two Alliances.

    The FLGS owner Norm choose to Photobomb
    After the dice were down everyone pitched in to help clean up the tables and rest the Library basement back to how it was when we had arrived.  After three games the last thing anyone wants to do is moved heavy tables and put terrain away, but many hands make light work and it was done in no time.

    We all gathered at the FLGS The Toy Soldier Gallery.  I calculated all the results and handed out the awards.  Thankfully we had some great prize support so most everyone went away with some models and an award, but the real winner of the day was the Game.  Everyone knew they were part of something bigger with this event.  They all fought to have a piece of the global narrative.

    The winners of the day!
    As is customary we all gathered at the local bar to share stories and talk about our next hobby projects.  After a long day of gaming, no matter how fun, it is great to unwind and just talk about our games and what they are inspiring us to do next.  I couldn't have asked for a better group of players that day and a lot of friendships and group connections formed that will mean bigger events for us all in the future.

    Relaxing afterwards
    In the end, Order managed to upset Chaos in the final round.  While Chaos led the way all day they managed to drop the ball in the last game while Order came up big for the upset.  Tyrion and Teclis would be proud to see the Shard attuned to Order and safely in the hands of Sigmar.
    Order attuned The Laurel Diamond in the end

    I hope you all enjoyed this brief recap of my Coalescence 2017 event.  It was a great success with lots of support assistance from the NEON team to help me confidently run my first larger event.  I can safely say I will be running more larger events in the future by working with other Club leaders in the surround region.  I hope to have a continuation or a new story for Coalescence 2018 as you can be sure it will be bigger and better.  As always have a great weekend and feel free to follow me on Twitter.  Until next week, Happy Hobbying!
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The story of Coalescence 2017 
    Tied to my local Story set in Hysh










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  13. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  Time for my weekly Wednesday hobby post.  It was a fun and exhausting weekend with Coalescence, but there is no rest for the weary, especially when there is so much exciting hobby on your painting desk.  Be sure to come back this Friday for a recap of the Coalescence event I ran this past Saturday that was part of the bigger global narrative! 

    I finally have been able to pick up the books by my nightstand and managed to work through this novel, Blood of Asaheim by Chris Wright.  While a bit slow to start it really kicked into high gear near the final third of the book.  The concept of a Space Wolf trying to reintegrate within his pack after spending time in the Deathwatch created a fun story that set up for a sequel nicely with Stormcaller that I plan to pick up soon. 

    My very good friend Matt gifted me this lovely gaming mat this past weekend.  Frontline Gaming recently got into the gaming mat business with FLG Mats, but they knocked it out of the park.  The quality is exceptional and I look forward to playing my future games on this great product.

    I began salvaging some bases I received with my recent acquisition of some new Dark Angel Models.  I have never been a fan of quark so off it goes!

    Speaking of Dark Angels and #New40k I pulled all my Dark Angels from their dusty shelf and brought them down to the hobby desk.  I plan to rebase all the Marines to 32mm as well as give them all either a fresh coat or some touchups.  I will be working on this project alongside my Blades of Khorne army so expect Green alongside the Red very very soon.
    As always feel free to follow me on Twitter and until Friday, Happy Hobbying!



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  14. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone and happy Friday.  It is no secret that I have been traveling quite a bit for my job recently.  While it is fun flying across the country and seeing new places once the work day is done it can eat away at your hobby time.  Today I wanted to share some tips for keeping your hobby going strong even when traveling.
    I tend to travel a lean as possible be it for work or pleasure.  I enjoy not needing to check a bag when flying and being able to make just a single trip to my hotel with my luggage.  A single bag is all I ever take and as such, I need to make sure I can fit what I need for my hobby in a small and durable case.  Only a few months ago I would put everything into a small sturdy box packed as nicely as I could with tissue paper to prevent items from moving.

    While this method worked in the short term I knew it wasn't and ideal solution for the long term.  Thankfully my solution came to me while I was at Adepticon this past March. I stopped in at the Battle Foam booth and found their Pack Mini.  I grabbed the case and 3 different foam layouts.  One being the standard pluck foam so I could create my own travel layout.  I cannot recommend these bags enough.  I plan to switch entirely to Battle Foam within the next few months as my only foam and bag brand to transport my models and you can expect a review when I do.


    While having hobby to enjoy at your leisure in the hotel room at night you cannot forget to have some books and podcasts ready to keep your hobby mind working during your flight or drive.  I listen to a fair number of Warhammer Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 podcasts and audiobooks so that is my usual preference during my travel.  It also allows you to stay light by downloading the podcast or audiobooks to your phone for convenience.


    It may be tempting to bring a lot of models to try and crack through them in the hotel at night, but I would recommend against this train of thought.  We all have one of models or units laying about that we promise ourselves we will paint one day.  When you are traveling this is the perfect time to fulfill that promise yourself.  It is a chance to paint something different while keeping to the thought of painting light.  Recently I chose to bring and paint the event model from Adepticon 2017.  I typically paint armies or more recently terrain so this was a nice escape and a chance to experiment a bit.  Also since it was a one-off piece I didn't stress about recording my paint recipes and simply let my creativity flow.


    While it may seem as if you will have a lot of downtime in your hotel I found it more common that I had less time than usual to hobby at night.  I was either out with a vendor or exhausted from the day of travel so a few nights I barely managed an hour, but I planned for this to be the case.  I decided I would only to the color blocking and a bit of blending.  Holding off on any Washing or Highlighting until I had returned home allowed me to stay lean.
    I was able to pack fewer paint pots and brushes to keep the eventual security stop at the airport to a minimum.  It also gave me the piece of mind that I wouldn't open my bag at my destination to find a pot of Nuln Oil spread through my clothes.  For this same reason, I typically do no build models while traveling due to possibility issues with Super Glue leaking.  The one time I have built on the road it was a short trip in a car and only a few infantry models to stay lean.


    It is also worth noting that hotels will often have a few of the necessities such as a desk to hobby on, cups to wash your brushes, and paper towels or tissues to keep your painting area neat and clean.  The one item that varies the most from Hotel to Hotel is the lighting as you can see in a few pictures above.  This reinforces my thought to avoid washing and highlighting on the road.  I don't plan to travel with any lighting soon and keeping to the basics on the road will prevent any frustration due to any poor lighting.


    When you arrive home it is time to fix up any missed mistakes and finish the piece.  It is very satisfying coming home from traveling and spending only a short while more to wrap up a model. If you packed lean like I typically do then there isn't much to put away either to get your hobby base back to normalcy for the next, and probably, more in-depth, project. 
    I hope my insights are helpful if you have any travels coming up and your planning on hobbying while abroad.  Stay lean, keep it simple, and take something different to work on.  I find it a good way to keep my hobby flowing and motivate me to dive back into army projects back home.  Let me know if you have any tips or if you go in a completely different direction to Travel hobby.  As always feel free to follow me on Twitter.  Also, one of my local Groups Steel City Sigmar has planned their next event on July 9th so come out and join us!  If you're participating in Coalescence this weekend I hope you and your group have an excellent time crafting a great story!  I will be covering my Coalescence event as well as the global view on the event next week so until then,  Happy Hobbying!
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  15. Strength_Hammer
    Hey everyone!  It is Wednesday so it is time for my weekly hobby update.  My Hobby hasn't slowed down despite a lot of work travel lately, but the more hobby the better.  From Club Days to  Coalescence preparation, and even my Youtube Debut it has been frantic and fun.

    I was lucky enough to be brought on as a guest on last weeks Warhammer Weekly Hosted by Vince and Tom.  We did a review on the "New" Stormcast book and I was honored to join them and hope to be back on in the future.  Check out the video here and be sure to catch his live talkss every Wednesday.

    This past weekend my club held its second Barter/Buy day and lots of minis exchanged hands in a fun filled day.  Some of my gains can be seen below.


    I was able to round out a full 2000pt Blades of Khorne list with a few recent additions.  It isn't my ideal list, but I can finally begin painting these guys soon and a new project is always an exciting feeling.


    Also, I got my hands on an unwanted Unforgiven army.  I will be stripping it to ready it for a new paint job for my #New40k army.  I am currently debating on stripping my older Dark Angels for a fresh coat of paint as well, but time will tell with that endeavor.


    Last on my table has been my final preparations for Coalescence this Saturday.  Packs are printed, the terrain is painted, and the players are excited so it will be a great event for everyone.  The prizes and awards will be fun to track and hand out.  I will be doing a follow up to my event next week as well.
    As always feel free to follow me on Twitter to see what I am working on in more depth as well as letting me know what you have going on.  Until Friday, Happy Hobbying!


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  16. Strength_Hammer
    Hey everyone!  Today I wanted to talk about Steel City Sigmar's Second event.  Sadly I was unable to attend, but one of the local club members Mike S. was gracious enough to write up his games and thoughts from the second event.

    I met Mike at the local Warhammer store and he has been part of the scene since the first day.  He admittedly is a bit of a Meta Chaser, but always a fantastic gentleman to play and have a beer with after the dice are done rolling.  Check out his game recaps below as well as pictures from the event!



    ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game 1: vs Dave D. and his Iron Jaws Blood and Glory
    Great opponent and friend. His experience in 40k really made him a difficult opponent even when it was his 5th game of Sigmar and never played against beast claw.  I let him come across the board figure I play the movement game with another Destro army.  There he got 3 Gore Gruntas into combat with my Thunderstusks on turn 1 but wasn't enough cause the 12 mortal wounds coming out a turn are just too overwhelming to deal with for some armies.  I was lucky to table him basically by turn 4. He was doing really good dmg but just couldn't keep up with 1/2 dmg stone horn. 1-0
    Game 2: vs Alex W. and his Kharadron Overlords and Stormcast mash up.
    Border wars
    I made tactical blunders and turn 1 he killed a Stonehorn in the shooting phase. Never seen an army do that before.  We played all the way to turn 5 and it came down to an initiative roll.. who won the roll off wins the game. I lost.  I am not used to these shooting armies in Sigmar. I left my 2 big guys in shooting range and it was a bad idea. Even though 1/2 all wounds still wasn't enough. 1-1

    Game 3: vs Grant and his Kunnin Rukk (X2)
    Escalation
    Grant was working hard for a top spot and I decided with 460 shots a turn I have to do something unorthodox to get a victory. So... I basically fed him 2 units of moon clan grots. This gave me time to get my big guys into big charge range on turn 2. I got my Stone horn and thunder tusk into combat buffed with bellowing tyrant and battle brew. I killed like 60 out of 80 orcs in 2 turn and on the other side I killed another 25.  I ended up tabling him for max points and a major victory. 2-1

    I got 2nd place overall and a bit of prize money that went right to Tyranids for 8th ed 40k!  I had a great time at the event, rolling tons of dice is awesome.  Very good times!
    Final Standings from the event!
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    I am very happy to see the day went well and fun was had by all.  It is great to see the scene growing and a strong regular turnout to these one-day events.  I will be looking to join the Steel City Sigmar Club in their next event and hopefully do better than my first outing.  Until next week everyone, feel free to follow me on Twitter and Happy Hobbying!
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  17. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone! This past weekend my club held a very important event in place of its standard gaming days.  We had determined at our Town Meeting that our terrain was in need of a facelift and we committed to repairing, repainting, and if needed replacing terrain from our club collection.  I also committed to painting up all of my terrain so when I am running Age of Sigmar events such as Coalescence I can also bring a few extra tables of quality terrain as well.




    I went to this project with the mindset that if I am unwilling to paint my own terrain how could I possibly motivate others to fix up our community terrain?  While painting my own terrain was motivating for the club as we came up to the club terrain day it really began to stretch my endurance.  While some terrain like the new Games Workshop has a lot of fun little detail to spend some time on other proved to be monotonous with priming and dry brushing becoming the standard.  All that said it was educational going through the process on my own terrain.  
    I also spent time using a hot foam wire cutter and some sharp knives creating hills along the way.  I cannot express how easy these were to create and very friendly on the wallet as well.  If you are needing some simple terrain to get on your or your clubs table I can honestly say you could have a table full of line of sight blocking hills done to a decent standard in an afternoon. 


    Our local library which is our normal meeting location was completely booked through the month.  Thankfully we had another FLGS nearby with a lot of space who was willing to host us as we got to the task.  I picked up the clubs terrain early from our club FLGS and headed over to the hosting FLGS.  I arrived and one of our younger members Luke had already arrived and was eager to get going so we began unpacking and setting up shop.

    Over the next hour or so more and more club members became coming in to help out.  It was great to see every rally around a single task to improve the club as a whole.  There was a wide variety of hobbyists as well.  The hardcore gamers, the high-level painters, and the casual group all joined it.  The time really passed quickly as we all chatted hobby and upcoming releases.  It was a real bonding experience for those who were able to attend.


    I think the key detail of the day was who showed up to begin taking our club to the next level.  While it is worth noting that a few members who let me know there were schedule conflicts and they couldn't attend I noticed that those who showed up were the younger players.  I feel I was able to relay to them how important they are to the future of the club as it will be them leading it one day.  They are enthused about what I have been pushing with taking the club to a higher level and growing once again.  It wouldn't be possible without the support of the entire club, especially the younger players.

    The fruits of our labor paid off as we managed to repair and repaint all of the club terrain in about six hours of hard work.  It was great seeing the looks of accomplishment on everyone's face and the care with which everyone put the terrain away in its boxes to be transported back to our FLGS.  The club showed up and took ownership and they will see the fruits of their labor during our next game day when we play with the terrain.


    If your club is in needs to up their game tables I can recommend dedicating a single day to repairing and even building new terrain.  It is a great way for everyone to take ownership in the club as well as bond as a community.  If you do have a day like this coming up let me know as I would love to check out some pictures or offer any advice I can.  Follow me on Twitter if you would like to see pictures from the next club game day where we will begin using the freshly updated terrain.  Until next week Happy Hobbying!
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  18. Strength_Hammer
    Happy Wednesday everyone!  Over the past week, I have finished all my terrain in preparation for my Coalescence event.  I have also been working up fun teasers for my event to hint at what my places could expect during as the narrative unfolds.  My Club also held a terrain build/repair day that I will dive into more detail during my Friday post.  I also received a nice surprise from a local commission painter and club member!


    Teasers for my Coalescence Story!
    A Club mate who goes by BrushForHire painted this up for me.
    Finished all my personal terrain in preparation for Coalescence.
    My Local club showed up and put in work!

    Let me know what you have been working on and follow me on Twitter.  I have some travel coming up for work so the Travel Hobby will be in full force along with pictures from my travels.  See you with Fridays Post and Happy Hobbying!
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  19. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  This week I wanted to take the time to discuss the value that I have found in using a Hobby Journal.  Earlier this week I also put out a Poll on Twitter to ask the question "Do you use a Hobby Journal"  I will dive into the results, but while there was a lot of votes for no it seemed those who did use a Journal were passionate enough to discuss how they use this handy tool.  Hopefully, by the end of the post, you will run out and start a Hobby Journal of your own!



    When I first picked up a Hobby Journal it was with the intent to be a painting journal.  A place to record paint mixes, army color schemes, and even order I apply different layers to my models.  For a while, that was its one and only purpose.  After a few months, I started using it to write down ideas for my blog.  In fact, the ideas and concepts that lead to the creation of my blog are in the journal!  Later it became a notebook for conversion ideas, custom scenarios, army schemes, and community building ideas.  While it has begun serving other duties it still serves as a painting journal.

    More recently my Journal became a place to record games played.  So far I have only used it for Larger events and not simple friendly games, but I might change that in the future as I playtest armies for events such as Nova, and Adepticon.  I try to keep it simple otherwise I would get so absorbed into tracking the game I would forget to play.  I jot down the opponents name, their army, any formation they might have in their list,  and I put highlights from the game.  A failed charge or a 12" charge could be huge to the outcome of the game and those are the moments I write down during play.  After the game, I will record if I won or lost and by how much as well as any comments that might be more important in hindsight.


    I ran a Twitter poll this past week regarding the subject on whether or not people used Hobby Journals.  Near the end of the poll it was 40% yes and 60% no.  It was a much closer split then I immediately expected.  Looking through the comment threads it seems most people are using them solely as a place to record paint recipes and paint schemes.

    While I have combined my Journal to be multi-purpose I think a lot more people will split their journals to be more dedicated and focused if they are choosing to have journals for different aspects of their hobby.  For example, Ben Johnson keeps two separate hobby journals as he expressed on twitter.  One is for painting and the other is games played.  You could easily have as many journals as you feel you need.


    There are plenty of options as to what journal to buy?  You could get a large book that will last for years to come or you could get something slimmer that might only contain your thoughts for a short span of time or perhaps a single project.  I have gone with the humble pocket journal for ease of carrying.  Going with a pocket size has allowed me to carry it with me everywhere.  Going out with friends, working at the office, or sitting at my hobby desk I always have it with me in case a hobby related idea strikes me.  It is great to always have a piece of your hobby with you and I feel you cannot go wrong with a pocket Journal.


    I hope you consider picking up a journal of your own soon as this tool will be a great way to look back on past hobby and help plan out your hobby future.  Feel free to follow me on Twitter as always and until next week.  Happy Hobbying!
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  20. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone.  This past week of hobby saw more work on painting my Terrain in preparation for Coalescence as well as finally getting back to some gaming.  Outside of that, I have been planning out my posts for the next few weeks as I have a lot of travel for work coming up, but you can still expect my usual Wed and Fri posts along with some nice pictures of my travels and travel hobby.


    My Garden of Morr made its way from The Old World into The Mortal Realms
    Some Classic Terrain pieces I touched up
    My recent purchase of a Hot Wire Foam Cutter has paid off
    Small and Large practice games were had this past weekend
    Let me know what yo have on your Hobby Table and follow me on Twitter to see my future Travel Hobby Projects.  See you on Friday.  Happy Hobbying!
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  21. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  Today I will be following up from my Guest Post on the How to Neo Blog on TGA and will be discussing how I plan to run the event itself on the June 10th.



    The best way to prepare for a large event is to take time the day before to set up the gaming area.  I am currently planning to head down to the Library the evening before to set up tables as well as lay the mats and terrain.  The quicker I can get to the venue in the morning and the lighter I am able to travel the better.  I have been asking players for my event to register with me via email and a good number have done so, but it is inevitable that some local players will show up without having registered which is not an issue but this eventuality needs to be part of my preparation.  Hopefully, I will have enough tables set up for the day without eating up any extra space for the other game systems going on that day at the club.

    So I am all set up and get to the venue early.  Now it is time to lay out all the prizes and set up a   small space for myself so I can lay out any documents to hand out to the players.  One of the best parts of any event is the excitement right before it all begins and if I am fully prepared I can spend some time chatting with everyone before we kick off the first game.  I also plan to have the players sign in and determine what Faction they are fighting for within the event as well as note their army.

    Once the players are settled it is time to begin and in most events, I would set up random pairing followed by Swiss pairings for each round in most events, but most events I run are matched so I can have a bit of fun with this step.  I plan to look at the players and their armies and mix them up so everyone can play someone new in each round as well as pair players up based on general skill or army capability.  This may seem like a bit of micromanaging, but with a narrative event focused on story over winning I think it could lead to some exciting moments with not much additional work on my end.

    One item I am currently planning out is game time length and this is a bit tricky as each game is of different point sizes but with a narrative focus, it is hard to predict how long the games could take.  Finding the happy medium is key as I also need to allow time for lunch and judging of Armies and painting.  Do to the venue we must wrap up by 4:30 to give ample time to put tables away and store the terrain.


    Being a narrative event the awards are also based around the narrative and as such the judging is a bit more involved.  Some of the awards will be player chosen, others will be chosen based on impartial judges, and a few will be determined by myself.  I will be asking players to track some statistics on their sheets, but the best way is always to be around the tables.  One to answer any questions and to see the stories develop myself!  Each player will be experiencing their won story, but I have the fortune to watch the overall narrative develop as all the games are being played.  This will let me see who could be best suited for some of the awards being given out by myself at the event.

    Another possibility to be ready for is to play the ringer.  Typically it is best to have a second person help you be the ringer, but with a narrative setting I will be the ringer myself if needed



    After clean up, we will head over to the FLGS to hand out prizes.  Norm who runs the shop (The Toy Soldier Gallery) will be helping me present the winners their awards.  This is what it is all about!  The excitement of announcing the winners and explaining what each award represents is the fulfillment that makes running events worth it.  Expect to see pictures posted on my Twitter from the event as well as going Live on Twitter to hand out the awards!  
    When the awards are all handed out, there are only one thing left to do.  Head over to the local bar to share a drink and talk about our victories and defeats of the day.  This is a great time to ask the players what they enjoyed about the event and what they did not.  The info you gather at this time is paramount for the last step of any event.  Planning for the next one!
    Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter with any questions you may have.  Until next week Happy Hobbying!
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  22. Strength_Hammer
    Hey everyone!  Here is what I have kicking around on my hobby table this week!

    In preparation for The Global Coalescence event, I have been painting up all the gray terrain I have had sitting around for the past few years.  This mixed with the terrain repair/build day coming up for my local club we should have some nice looking tables for the event and for ourselves going forward.




    I also took my Display board and Imperium Force to be judged for the upcoming Inner Circle Event coming up this weekend at my local Warhammer Store.  I am looking forward to going after on of the medals up for grabs!


    I also picked up a few odds and ends at my FLGS as well.  My White Dwarf, Khorne Battletome Cards, and an old Blister of Metal Catachan Leaders so I can make one into Sly Marbo for quick Armageddon games.


    Feel free to follow me on Twitter and let me know what you are working on.  See you with Friday's post!  Happy Hobbying!
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  23. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  This week I wanted to continue my new segment where I talk to a club mate about their journey in Age of Sigmar and this Hobby.  Today I will be talking with Aleks who is part of my local club Ligonier Legions.  He hangs around twitter so follow him here (or on Instagram here)!

    Aleks being carried by me (just like our games)
    Hey Aleks,  Thanks for being letting me chat with you for a bit.
    "I am happy to be with you"

    So Aleks how did you begin your journey in this hobby?
    "It started when I was about 12 or 13 back in my homeland Russia.  There was a little hobby store near my school that I always visited.  One day I bought the cheapest models I could and the cheapest paint and began painting.  The owner of the shop was a commission painter who helped me quite a bit.  I remember painting a small goblin with about 3 colors total on it."

    What made you decide to make Age of Sigmar your main tabletop game?
    "I was introduced to Warhammer through Dawn of War on PC.  I asked my dad to send me a kit Moscow where he was working.  He sent me some Orks.  I soon found Fantasy and got an Orc Battallion I messed around with, but when 8th dropped I picked up The Island of Blood and fell in love with the High Elves.  Soon after I moved to the US and I brought my High Elves with me and found the local hobby store where I bought more Elves.  I choose to paint all my models before I played.  Actually, you were my first game of Fantasy when we played High Elves on High Elves.  I remember using my Russian Rulebook it was a mess.  I kept with Fantasy through Age of Sigmar and haven't let go.  We knew each other, but really became friends when Age of Sigmar dropped.  You were the only one in the area who pushed to play Age of Sigmar from the beginning and I don't want to go anywhere."

    Aleks has a large custom Free People's Halfing Army
    What armies are you currently working on or playing?
    "I am playing High Aelfs, about 2000pts.  I still have Skaven around 2000pts.  I am currently working on a Free Peoples Halfling themed army.  I also have an extensive Moon Clan army.  My biggest focus currently is building Disciples of Tzeentch."

    In regards to Open, Matched, and Narrative play where do you fall?
    "Absolutely Matched Play!  I feel I am still hung up in the illusion of balance points bring.  I am happy doing custom games or events, but I always like to have points."

    Are there any aspects of this Hobby that you really enjoy?
    "I enjoy competitive army building.  As a college student, I like to squeeze out the best army possible with least amount of money spent.  I also enjoy converting models to make them unique and my own."

    These High Aelves have seen battle against my forces plenty of times
    On the other end, what parts do you perhaps not enjoy?
    "I do not enjoy painting when I have to paint.  Working to deadlines isn't fun.  I prefer to paint for myself as I take a lot of joy in putting a lot of effort into each model."

    What is your Dream Goal for yourself in this Hobby?
    "My ultimate fantasy about this hobby is to go to a major GT and win either overall, best of, or best painted."

    Can you share with us a memorable experience within Age of Sigmar?
    "It is not so much a memory, but a realization.  My favorite part about Age of Sigmar is how Gamesworkshop is handling this game.  The community team, videos, and articles are what is making this game as good as it has become!"

    His Abomination is always a must kill for me...
    Where do you see the U.S. Age of Sigmar Community regards to Locally, Regionally and Nationally?
    "Right now it seems very dispersed.  It is like everyone is in their own bubble in the mortal realms.  Not enough people get together to really solidify the US community due to the size of the country."

    What would you like to see in the U.S. National Age of Sigmar Community?
    "It would be cool if there was a U.S. ranking system that was accepted by everyone and there was a US Grand Tournament or Masters event."

    Thanks again Aleks!
    "It's over already?  Thanks for having me."

    As always feel free to follow me on Twitter and let me know if there is any aspect of the hobby you would like me to discuss!  Until Next week, Happy Hobbying!
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  24. Strength_Hammer
    Hey Everyone!  I hope you all have been on a roll with your hobby.  There is plenty to prepare for such the upcoming Nashcon, Coalescence, Socal Open, Cross Roads GT, Nova and the new Midwest Meltdown (Ask Domus for more info)!  I am still trying to prepare the terrain for my local Coalescence event as well as prepare a Display board for my Warhammer Stores Inner Circle event.



    2 day Display Board!
    I was able to work up this fairly generic display board in a few days for the local Inner Circle Event as well as having it on hand for anyone to borrow at future events due to their travel arrangements or limited time.  It turned out well enough, but the best part was finding precut 2x2 foam boards at my local hardware store.  It made things much quicker!


    Perhaps I will try to get more Sisters.  Really fun Model
    I did manage to finish painting my Sister I had on hand, but I might take my Eldar to the Inner circle instead as it is a much larger and more impressive force to display.  The other option is to bring a mixed Imperium list which could be just as fun.  It will most likely be a snap decision.


    Blood for the Blood God
    I also built some Khorne kits I ha.d on my desk  I am very happy how the War Shrine turned out with the Blood Reavers carrying it.  Now to go buy some Daemons to grow the force and begin painting within the next month or so.

    Much to PJSchard's Displeasure
    I also decided to redo one of my Stormcast Conversions.  I am already much happier with my new Venator.  I just cannot put the StormBros down it seems.

    Let me know what you are working on and as always follow me on Twitter for "up to the minute" hobby.  Until Friday, Happy Hobbying!
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  25. Strength_Hammer
    Welcome to Part 5 of my "Building a Community" Series.  If you have not read Part 1, 2, 3 or 4 please check them out in the links below.  Today I will discuss the recent town meeting I held at my local club and the rather quick turnaround I have seen in members since. 

    At our last club day, I felt it was best to hold a town meeting to get everyone together to discuss the future of the club.  I felt a lot of what I was trying to do wasn't being received properly or was being misinterpreted.  I was told that a few people felt I was going to ruin the club!  I needed to get everyone on the same page as me, and I needed to alleviate any fears while finding out what they wanted as well.  We took an hour at the beginning of our Club day and I lead the discussion.


    I began by explaining what my views on where the club is at, what I feel we can be, and how I felt we could get there.  I think it shocked a few members when I told them where I felt the club was as a whole currently. Our poor tables and fractured philosophies made us unwelcoming and unattractive to gaining new members or having other clubs come visit.  After I a few minutes of explaining how our current environment was road blocking us it began to sink in and we started going around the room giving everyone a chance to voice their thoughts.  It became obvious that I wasn't the only person who felt our club was stagnant and needed to change as a whole to survive.

    I am thankful that we had a fairly diverse group at the meeting albeit a smaller turnout than I would have liked, but it was also Easter weekend and the opening day of trout, so it wasn't entirely unexpected.  Competitive members, Narrative members, and Hobbyist members all offered advice on how to improve the aspect of the club they found themselves within.  As the ideas on how we can and should improve were discussed I challenged each of them to implement these action items themselves in order to help the club as a whole become more of what they would like to see.  Ideas such as going out to other FLGS's and clubs to play with them and discuss our local scene and what we wish to do.  Setting up monthly hobby days on Skype with one of our best painters discussing tips and just to work on projects together.  We discussed ways to improve our current table situation and committed to 12 Tables total, with 4 tables having quality terrain within a few months.  Some members offered to us their 3D printer to make nice centerpieces for tables and others generously offered to cast terrain themselves, they even brought in a few painted pieces they had cast they would exactly what we are looking to add to our tables!  The club is also dedicating its next meeting day to repair and create new terrain for our tables.


    The biggest change we all agreed on was to remove the original change I had put in place when I began organizing the group.  Originally I felt that dedicating each day to one specific game would help each game grow, but over time it was obvious that people who played one game simply didn't show up if their game was not the focus.  After suggestions from a few of the members at the meeting, we will now be running all three of our main games, 40k, Age of Sigmar, and Flames of War at each club day.  We want to be more attractive to others coming in and what is better than a room full of gamers as opposed to the small groups we were getting with the focused days,

    Afterward, I described the meeting as a Minor Victory.  I felt a lot of the misconstrued ideas and plans were streamlined and everyone began to take ownership in that their actions will make our break this club.  It was a week or so later that I saw it was closer to a Major Win.  I saw members going to the other local FLGS's to play games and gain interest in new players to come join us and see what we are doing in Ligonier.  Suddenly the Facebook group began having daily posts and discussions from everyone, not just the same few who were always posting.  I feel energized to put forth whatever more effort I can to improve the club because for the first time I don't feel like the only horse pulling this cart.  The younger gamers, the older gamers, and even those who I felt were poisonous gamers are all going the same way and I could not be more proud.



    I will continue posting updates as the club continues to improve, but I feel this is a good place to wrap up this series, for now at least.  If you would like to check out what we are about please check out the clubs Facebook page here or follow me on Twitter.  Perhaps in the next year or two, you might see us at Adepticon or Nova wearing the club shirts we are creating or if you are within driving distance we would love for you to join us one day.  Until next week Happy Hobbying!

    Edited by Grudgegamer

    Building a Community: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4



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