Army Collection

To kick off the overload of minutia, a general overview is necessary. Back when I first started the hobby, I purchased the second edition starter box, containing a load of snap-together Orks and Space Marines. My friend and I played a few long games with a sparse understanding of the rules, then moved on to a different hobby (role-playing games.) Since Space Marines were in big suits of armor and far more high-tech than Orks, that was my choice - but as Space Wolves, at least in paint scheme.

From Space Wolves

After I stopped playing the game in seventh grade, the Space Wolves languished in a box until I came to Athens for college. Then they came back out in force, where I lost or fought to a draw every game I could get my hands on. I was terrible with the Space Wolves, a fact which I blame completely on their style of play. And their baby blue paint job. The Space Wolves gave way to a 13th Company list, which I was nearly undefeated.

From Daemon Hunters

During the later years of the Space Wolves reign of failure, I started mixing in Daemon Hunters, mainly because the minis looked awesome. They are, unfortunately, very difficult to use - so they too were set aside. The Grey Knights were a blast to paint, mainly because I did it well (a fact that I had to have hammered into my head -- I thought I was simply doing a mediocre job with my typical anal retentiveness.) In the end, I traded the Grey Knights that that I had collected, about two squads, to my roommate for minis in my next army.

From Eldar

After much debate and gnashing of teeth, I finally broke down and purchased the Mega Army Box for one of the most beautiful armies in 40k: the Eldar. The concept way Biel-tan, an exceptionally viable list in Fourth Edition, and I rapidly expanded my collection, aiming for at least one force organization chart choice of every unit in the army book. Since the Eldar have a huge number of unit choices, I currently have well over 6,000 points and more than two large Games Workshop army cases full of the minis. As mentioned above, I was semi-commissioned to finish off my twelve Daemon Hunters in exchange for a squad of Wraithguard and Eldrad.

While my Eldar were growing by leaps and bounds, my Space Wolves were sitting in a closet, taking up precious shelf space. I eventually traded them for a bunch Sisters of Battle and Cadians, something I had wanted to do for a while. The Sisters are currently being stripped of their paint. Since this process is new to me, it's apparently taking about a year to do. The Sisters, however, have definitely been moved to the back burner. Using oven cleaner (as opposed to the newly discovered Simple Green) as a paint stripper was a pain, but I also didn't have much of my next army until recently, which will be a wonderful ally.

Also during the Eldar expansion, I was semi-commissioned to paint a friend's squad of Space Marines in exchange for a squad of Death Korps of Krieg (DKoK). DKoK miniatures are positively beautiful, so this was something I had no ability to turn down. That squad led to more squads and more tanks, so I currently have over 1,000 points of DKoK in various stages of assembly, none of which are in any stage of painting.

Given the armies I had up to this point, it would appear that the Races of Order were my preferred choice, which is quite true. Until the Chaos Daemons came out. Originally designed as a bridge into Warhammer Fantasy (a plan which failed due to simply not liking the game,) I've collected Daemons through purchasing and trading and now have a decent army of all four Chaos Gods. Now with a bit over 2,000 points in a competitive format, my Daemon army is stable.. Until I start focusing in again. There are definitely interesting units out there whose siren call I won't be able to resist in the long run.

And in a recent development, I've fallen for another Army of Disorder. Through a series of backroom, shady deals (it was at a swap meet, which was actually in the backroom of Classic City Comics and Games - not much shade, though,) and some sly haggling, I've acquired a sizeable Ork army. The number of miniatures required to make a decently fluffy Ork list, the sloppyish paint job required, and the haphazard tactics have somewhat pushed me away from the Orks, but sometimes a deal comes along that you can't resist - particularly when it's prepainted.

So, there you have it: a long history of my 40k collection. I've traded and bartered my way out of a Space Marine background, and I currently own Eldar, Sisters of Battle, Death Korps of Krieg, Chaos Daemons, and Orks. While I enjoy it, my hobbying moves at a snails pace -- but I'll be sure to make it look a lot faster by posting far too many pictures.

Introduction to Overload

I'm NegativeK, a Warhammer 40K player at a Classic City Comics and Games in Athens, Georgia.

I got into 40k back in 1996-1997, fell out when I realized how expensive it was, and got back in around 2003/2004. Since then, I've grown quite a collection of stuff, most of which is unpainted (but assembled!) This blog will be a way of keeping track of my hobby, be it too many pictures of assembling and painting, or battle reports and notes to myself on how to play the game.

And note that I really do mean excessive pictures. If I keep this blog going, I expect to have photo records of how I do most things, be it putting the banner pole on, ways of creating Green Stuff Bases, to stripping minis. Hold on, and I apologize if you're not on broadband.