The Ramblings of a Hunchback
Created | Updated Sep 30, 2004
The End is Nigh
Whenever you go to a massive international event, it is imperative that you remember important things like time, date and cash. These key elements are essential to the success of any such event before anything else and the day will be rendered an utter waste of precious moments of your life if not done.
- Cash - Like all students yet to get their EMA and without a job, I have no cash. A recent influx due to a certain auction site, whilst giving me a temporary boost, has magically disappeared as people (not looking at you mum *waves angry fist and shouts curses*) remind me I owe them cash. I should have about 40 quid for Birmingham. However, hopefully my dad will be back this week from his adventure to the windy city1. Having left me behind to enjoy the wonderful joys of college, he may look kindly upon me and bless me with the gift that is money.
- Time - After missing an exam time is something I don't let slip anymore and I focus on it like a deranged demon focusses on innocent souls. The bus leaves at 6am sharp and doors to the NEC open at 10am. I haven't been late to a Games day yet and this year has seen fit to grace me without the hinderance of other people2 so, for the first time, I can finally attack games day! Huzzah!
- Date - *Calmly looks at ticket, bearing in mind the huge amounts of work he's not done on all his entries*
It's next Sunday. Sunday 3rd of October. I have done one single entry, and it wasn't even an entry I had intended to do.
As a painter, I find myself naturally driven to distraction by all sorts of things. For instance, this week I have three essays to do yet, instead, I may build and paint a completely new entry. It's just that the way things happen can lead a painter down a completely different road. A challenge to paint yellow, for instance, went from an experiment on one model, to a full unit, to a games day entry, to a full army.
Perhaps that's what really drives a painter like me to the limits we go to. I've heard stories of all-night sessions turning into week-long marathons with insanely small breaks. I've heard of blitz's where tournament competitors will spend the last few hours before a tournament painting their entire army.
Perhaps it's a zen thing. To strive for hours and hours, days, weeks and months to achieve a perfection in miniature only to be distracted at the last. And for that distraction to be laughed at rather then hated for an eternity.
Every year when I go to Games Day I spend the first few hours in search of something. This could be anything from the earliest conceptual models of the latest race, or could be models I'm after. The second year I went in search of the mighty plastic Necrons and was rewarded when, after a trip to the design studio, I saw some beautifully painted ones yet to be released. The third year3 I went I bought some amazing models (which look uncannily like starship troopers), a sentinel (a type of walker) a pile of wall sections and who knows what else (I was mega skint by the end of the day, put it like that). I spent most of the day trying desperately to find some Bretonnian knights and men-at-arms but to no avail as Games Day had stopped putting on pre-release models. A year later I have the army, but it would have been nice to have it earlier.
So what for this year? Well hopefully I'll be able to get my grubby and paint sodden hands on some Gnoblars4 to help cure my recent goblin craze but I doubt it. So far on my hit list is two pints of Guinness, a unit of Menghils Manhide flayers for me, one for a friend, and then whatever else I can afford to get. This will most likely end up being more men-at-arms for my Bretonnian army, or some Haradrim warriors from the Lord of the Rings range in an attempt to create a Haradrim army to which I one day plan to add a mumakil5 too.
With this being my first time entering I'm not too fussed about winning anything although, surprisingly, my horoscopes for today (Tuesday) said two things - I would find love and that towards the end of the week I would be attending a large convention.
Yet even now, where I should undoubtably be focusing on my single entry and such I've being toying with a few men-at-arms and such and I'm tempted to create a mighty standard bearer. Of course you won't know the results of temptation till next week, the final week.
Until then good luck one and all. May you always roll sixes and may the enemy always roll ones.
For anyone who wishes to keep track of the day as it happens the only way I know of doing it is through the following site. There should also be various other updates involving lots of pictures which always look stunning. Let's hope this year mine's up there as well.
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