Old Stuff Day

 

Hi folks,

Old Stuff Day has to be my favourite event of the 40K hobby season. I have somehow managed to miss it a few times recently, mainly because "real life" has been biting so damn hard. One of the things that has kept me going the past 5 years is the 2nd Edition Army Challenge. Dr The Viking ran the challenge for the first 4 years, but recently stopped after facing some really tough times. The camaraderie between challengers was so strong though, that we couldn't fathom not continuing. As a result, the Wachtmeister has taken up the mantle of collating and publishing the results each month.

For old stuff this year, I wanted to provide some links to the previous season's final posts, so that people could take a look at some of the fantastic old school armies that have been born out of this challenge. 

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 1 (2020)

Finding myself deep in a hole of grief, when Dr The Viking put out the call for challengers, I was pretty quick to put my hand up. I didn't even have any idea at that stage if I had the models to build a 2nd Ed. Dark Angels army. As it turns out, I need not have worried; I had three seasons worth of old miniatures just waiting for love. I managed to paint 1500 points worth of Dark Angels in the first challenge.

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 2 (2021)

Knowing now that I had a bunch of Dark Angels left to paint, it was easy to sign up for the next season. Some absolutely incredible models were painted in this challenge, including an Eldar Exodite army with dinosaurs in it that is to die for. 

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 3 (2022)

For the 3rd Challenge I decided to go all the way back to my first 40K army: Legion of the Damned. To achieve this I had to purchase some extra odds and ends on eBay, which cost me a small fortune. Finally painting Sergeant Centurius, though, was a teenage dream for me. I love the army that I painted so much: 100% nostalgia.

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 4 (2023)

Picking through the rest of my bitz box, it was clear that I had enough Tyranids for at least one challenge. One of my mates heard that I was considering them for the challenge and gave me a box that roughly doubled my model count, and wifey bought me a couple of the old Armorcast epic-style figures. The hardest part was coming up with a paint scheme that did the 90's 40K era justice. I'll let you decide if I achieved that. In this challenge we also worked on and produced a 2nd Edition campaign, which paid homage to Jurassic Park in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. Playing some of the missions with my son is some of the best fun I have had with 40K in a long time. I helped out by designing the rules for special terrain; seeing people model those things and play with them was fantastic.

2nd Ed. Army Challenge 5 (2024) 

That brings us neatly around to the 5th Challenge being run by the Wachtmeister. We are just through our first month and I am again working on brightly coloured Tyranids, as I work at expanding Hive Fleet Proteus from the previous challenge. First on the paint table was a second Screamer Killer because, let's face it, why stop at just one! 

Even with all of the experience of 5 challenges under my belt, I am a bit worried that I am not going to make it though this one. I am not one to withdraw, however. I'll keep you posted with how I go!

See you across the table,

Marc

Old Stuff Day!

Hi folks,

Happy Old Stuff Day!!! With a blog called "Old School Gaming" I guess it is no surprise that Old Stuff Day is one of my favourite days of the year. This year I thought I would do something a little different and cleave a little closer to the original spirit of the occasion, by visiting my favourite blogs and posting some links to articles I have enjoyed.


Old School Gaming

To start with, I'll dredge up an old favourite from my own blog. A while ago I interviewed my wife on what it is like to live with an Old School gamer and posted her responses to my questions. It is quite illuminating for those deeply entrenched in the hobby, I think: enjoy!

WeeMen

It took me way longer than I care to admit to find Siph_Horridus' blog. I literally stumbled upon it whilst searching for other blogs that feature obscure Chapters of Space Marines. Siph_Horridus collects Relictors ("collects" is an understatement) and posted an RTB01 Relictors squad for Squaduary a few years ago. It is pure awesome sauce.

Chucking Monkeys

I have been following MonkeyChuka's work on a couple of platforms for ages; his Tyranids are to die for (literally). This tutorial on how to paint Hive Fleet Nidrot doesn't bring me remotely closer to being able to paint like that, but it is as inspiring as heck.

Cadian Shock: Warhammer 40K Blog

Deep down inside, I am a tread-head. I love tanks in 40K and lament the fact that I have so many unpainted. Well, this blog is a tread-heads delight. This post in particular reminds me of an old White Dwarf battle report, where a player asks for advice before the game, to which the reply was "how many Leman Russ do you have?". It is not that old a post, but if it inspires you, you will dig for more (you know you want to). From a bloggers perspective, it really does set the bar high as well. I wish I had the patience to document a finished project so comprehensively!

Confessions of a 40K Addict

There was a time when I really cut back on my social media/forum/blog engagement. There were only a few blogs that I kept my eyes on, having made a commitment to myself that I would try and be more active from a community point of view. Fewer blogs, but more investment. Dave's blog was one of the few that I kept, mainly because it so closely paralleled my own interests (Dark Angels and Tyranids!). He also seemed like a really top bloke :-) I would be happy posting a link to any one of his old posts here, but I will pick an obscure one for simple nostalgia reasons. Every year for the past 6 years I have joined with other 40K Addict fans to write a To-Do list that I promptly/mostly ignore until some kind of mad existential panic sets in around July. This post was when I first took the plunge and joined the alumni.  You should totally join us next year... you know you want to... there are badges...

P.S. I have made some progress on those Iron Snakes!

St Andrews Wargaming

Corrm has a fantastic collection of diverse articles on his blog. I humbly submit exhibit A, a detailed post about how the shooting phase has evolved since 2nd Edition.  Having started my 40K journey during 2nd Ed. I could vividly remember playing each and every iteration of pew pew, for better or for worse. It brought back so many memories of old games. Brilliant!

The Beard Bunker

This blog is utterly brilliant. I don't quite know what to say about my choice of post for Old Stuff Day here, as the link will take you to a recent post. Go and check it out, if you will, then subscribe and explore the rest. The post I will send you to was written by a member of the Beard Bunker crew who recently passed away, and was posted posthumously. It made me think about a lot of things; what I would do if I was in the same position, or what others may do for me, friends I have lost and the good times I have had with friends through the medium of this amazing hobby. Anyway, take a deep breath, here is the link.

The Burning Eye

It's just before midnight here in Sydney, so I had better publish this post before Old Stuff day is over for another year. I started trolling through The Burning Eye for a post to show everyone but ended up reading a whole bunch and couldn't pick a single one, so here, choose your own adventure! I don't have much time for competitive play, list building, codex reviews or battle reports except when they are from The Burning Eye. The blog is just getting back into the swing of things (keep at it!), so hit it up for some rules analysis, with a healthy side order of wonderfully painted and competitive Primaris models. Seeing how the Swords of Dawn have developed in both paint scheme and composition has been a joy and worth sharing.

That's it for now, I'll leave you with this old school project my son is helping me with; 2nd Edition card bunkers!!! I should have them finished during the weekend sometime, ready for some Old School 2nd Edition Gaming.

I realise I have taken some liberties in screen-shotting everyone's blogs and posting the images here. If you want me to remove the images of your blog, let me know and I will do so. Thanks for all of the amazing posts you folks have created over the years.

See you across the table,

Marc