The First of Many...I Hope

Roughly one thousand years ago (In all actuality only three years ago.) I finished a Warhammer 40k army. Then hardship struck, and I was forced to sell it. In retrospect, I didn't need to. At the time my friends told me that they would float me loans to make it so that I didn't sell the army. Though I kept denying the offers stating, "I can't take charity."

Now a few years down the road I have a stable gig and money isn't as tight. Last year I felt compelled to participate in various charitable auctions, drives, etc. Admittedly the tax write off was nice, but also I have a very caring and civic minded wife whom it made very happy. I for one believe wholeheartedly in the age old axiom "Happy wife, happy life."

I could only imagine how angry I would have been if, after all my efforts and my wife's joy, the people that we sought to help, not because we had to, but because we wanted, suddenly denied our efforts and financial gifts saying, "I can't take charity." It probably would have resulted in a good ol' fashioned face kickin'. The hypocrisy is not wasted on me. I am equal parts glad and sad that my close friends were better able to control themselves in the face of my own idiocy.

The unfortunate aftermath of the aforementioned, other than the fact that my Dark Angels are no more, has been a complete inability on my part to finish an army. More aptly stated, an inability to commit to an army, let alone finish one. I have spent the better part of year purchasing, assembling, and then ebaying. Never let it be said that the tanking economy of the last 15 months was this guy's fault. I have been squandering resources with the best of them.

But now there is Tau. I bought a whole bunch of Tau in one of my many flights of fancy over the last year. I base coated like "a" firewarrior, without ever playing a single game with them, and wrote them off as "not my thing". The harsh reality being that "my thing" was just declaring everything as "not my thing". My wife got pregnant, which I am stoked about, and we needed to consolidate our craft rooms (hers sewing, mine GW, Privateer, etc). During the preliminary consolidation she noticed the ample boxes that made up my failed Tau endeavor still in their cellophane wrap, prompting a look which is normally followed by her going super nova. In an effort to prevent the formation of a black hole in suburban eastern Washington, I assured her that I would be making the army.

So, here we are. I am about four weeks into an escalation campaign with my preservation of marital bliss Tau and I have finally put paint to something. I did this firewarrior on accident. I saw the scheme in the new GW tank painting book and wondered if I could recreate it. Next thing I knew it was getting late and I was rushing to put the finishing touches on him.

From Mars Project Blog

From Mars Project Blog

From Mars Project Blog

He is rough, and some things didn't go as well as I would like, but I feel inspired. Going to try and crack out four more over the next couple days and have the squad done by about this time next week. (I am the world's slowest painter.)