Deadlines: Bane or Blessing?

So on the true eve of the next edition of Warhammer 40,000, I thought I might divert everyone's attention away for a moment of calm introspection, and serenity...

Right. Did you read the title of this post?

Crystal Brush, the Adepticon competition at least, has come and gone, Golden Demon North America is in 1 month and the local voting for Armies on Parade is TOMORROW. And that doesn't even begin to touch on the numerous tournaments that require fully painted armies to participate in.

New Edition Blues

With the dawn of 6th Edition in mere days, the rumors abound. With the rumors, however, come all the grizzled old veterans, the competitive gamers, and the beer and pretzel folks with their bevy of opinions on what should and shouldn't be done with this game.

Come on people, the new rulebook isn't even out yet!

I'm seeing three major divisions of opinion when it comes to the new edition. Let's have a little fun, and break them down.

Scrubbing Resin, Cleaning Metal

Anyone who tells you this hobby is just about rolling dice with some wonderfully painted figures, is clearly blowing smoke up something to get you to try the game. There are times when you can spend days of prep just for one model. Or in my case currently, two models.

Why spend the time to actually prep your toy soldiers before assembly?

I don't suppose you'll let me off with just a basic "Just do it, cause you should", will you? No? Alright fine, let's dive into 3 key prepping procedures and find out why your time is well invested.

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!!!

I've always wanted to say that.

Okay, so there's no chicken involved, but there are three boxes of plastic crack for someone to win! Midnight GMT happened sometime around 7pm my local time yesterday...and I quite frankly let it slip right by without noticing. Dangit.

So who won?

White Dwarf Painting Article Critique

When someone decides to write a tutorial on how to paint something, we typically expect to learn something from it. We expect a detailed, step-by-step process on how to achieve the results the author shows us. When an international magazine publishes an article on how to paint a model, we expect a tutorial that is not only comprehensive, but one with highly detailed steps that are also relatively simple to follow.

Enter the newly received White Dwarf article on how to paint an Ultramarines Storm Talon, and why I think it's a perfect example on how NOT to write a painting tutorial, starting with the picture above. I do promise that this will be a informed critique of the article, and not just a troll bashing.