I wasn’t originally planning on signing up for much at NoVA – I wanted to keep time relatively open so that I could wander around, hang out with friends, and have plenty of time to take in all the sights and scenes that would doubtless be on offer. Then, for reasons mostly unrelated to the hobby, I wound up in Chicago the same weekend as Adepticon and decided to check it out.
What I learned was that my original plan was really bad – even with other stuff keeping me from spending the entire weekend on the convention floor, with nothing on my itinerary, a solid two-thirds to three-quarters of my time was spent thinking, “gee, wouldn’t it be great if I had signed up for [insert event here]?” I decided to sign up for a few more games at NoVA than I was originally planning.
To that end, I registered for two groups of events: all of the NoVA Narrative Night Fights and the Adeptus Titanicus Princeps Formal. This will give me something to do every night, and a full day’s worth of gaming on Saturday. It will leave most of my mornings and afternoons without anything scheduled, but if I’ve got full 40k and AT lists, filling that time shouldn’t be a problem.
So, here’s the plan: I’m going to build out my Legio Vulpa forces and pull together enough Titans to let me field a decent list for each of the games that are part of the formal. At lower point values, I’ll lean on my Reavers to get stuff done, but I definitely want to field at least one Warlord with an Arioch Titan Power Claw in the 2000 point game. I’m targeting 2 Warlords, 3 Reavers, and 4 Warhounds to bring with me.
As far as 40k goes, those of you who’ve been here since the beginning may remember that I “committed” to the Tale of Goony Gamers, where a group of us set out a schedule according to which we would all build various armies around themes of our own choosing, and would post regular updates on our progress. It was a great idea with a ton of potential, and we were all excited to see what would come from it.
Those of you who’ve been here since the beginning will also recognize that the reason I put “committed” in quotes is because I promptly got distracted and didn’t stick to it. Oh well.
My entry was Task Force Normandie, a combination of dumb rules interactions and self-indulgent historical references that is so painfully on-brand for me that if someone else came up with it I’d suspect them of identity theft. I’ve decided to resurrect the Task Force (with a few changes to composition) for my 40k army, and I’m hoping to build a list that’s fun for me to play despite being kneecapped by a series of stupid self-imposed restrictions I’ve made, including, but not limited to, “using the mediocre Space Wolves Vigilus Detachment,” “building from two chapters with completely different goals on the table,” and the cardinal sin of “playing Space Marines.”
So here’s the plan:
- Build and paint a bunch of Titans well enough that I won’t get tagged with the “Least Effort” badge they’re threatening everyone who signed up for the AT Princeps Formal with.
- Simultaneously, finish out enough Marines to field Task Force Normandie at no fewer than three different points values for the Narrative Night Fights well enough so that I won’t feel ashamed whenever my opponent looks vaguely in my general direction.
- Generate lists for each event I’ve signed up for and test-drive them at least once.
- Somehow do all of this and not get fired from my job.
As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s going to take some effort, but it should be doable if I’m able to keep momentum and avoid getting burned out. Luckily, I’ve got enough of a variety in what I’m painting that I’ve found that if I don’t want to work on one component of this project, I can usually muster up the will power to work on something else.
Watch this space for updates. And if you don’t hear anything in about a month, kindly check to make sure I’m not trapped beneath a pile of half-painted plastic.
Thanks.
