Chronicles of Xepher - Post 2

So, not done one of these recently so while i'm on a break after an afternoon of fun filled revision....(funny how these posts always seem to coincide with revision time...procrastination? me?...never! ) On an aside note, flippin' heck! did not realise this blog has been going for over a year now...time flies when you're not really posting that often...
But thanks again to all those that have visited, almost 1000, but most are probably just me.... :D

Anyway been so long not sure where i got to with this series...ah yes, airfix models....all great entry level stuff, but soon it wasn't enough and during the final years of primary school i finally became introduced to the world of Games workshop (TM) when a friend at the time brought in his Space crusade set for a day where we seemed to just have fun..think it was towards the end of term. At that point i thought, "that's pretty cool" (probably in more adolescent terms though as was young and innocent at the time) but it wasn't until he started bringing in white dwarf and citadel top trump cards that i really started getting hooked..the intricate paint jobs on the details, some of the battle reports, descriptions and fluff, reading about assault cannons. For a young kid who had previously been been into the 1:72 scale stuff and collecting stickers (the craze back in the day)...this was the new fad that i could really get into. Except it wasn't a fad... 20 years later, i'm still here collecting a true "exarch of the hobby" to put it in nerdy terms....

1st Captain Tycho

So, what were my first miniatures? Well they had to be Space Marines, the poster boys and all. And one Christmas probably back in '92/93..at least i think it was Christmas i got my first miniatures. It was tough deciding what to ask for, but went with the Tactical squad boxed set the one with the Ultramarine paint scheme and the Blood angel captain that was to be known as the first Tycho.

I didn't care back then they didn't sit together in the same chapter. They were cool minis!! However, despite now being the proud owner of a squad of marines and a captain, therein lay the first problem, they came supplied unassembled and unpainted...what to do? I didn't want to ruin them with my undeveloped artistic skills. No better to get them done properly by an older sibling who did art at secondary school! So with a sweet puppy dog face (i was a lot cuter back then) i managed to enlist the services of my eldest sister to paint them for me. (This was to be the arrangement for the early years of my hobby career) However at this point in time i was a happy bunny.

Squad Typhon - Banner was a later replacement as the original fell off

Now these may not be the best painted minis but considering they were only painted using a mixture of 4 citadel paints (Skull white, bad moon yellow, ultramarines blue and blood red) and humbrol enamels they're not bad. However, this limited palate was a template that i would carry through as i grew into my hobby. They served me well and brought much pleasure just admiring them as have never got into the whole gaming aspect of the hobby. (Though in recent years am starting to get more enthused)


But as with any collecting, soon more reinforcements are needed. Still not really influenced by army choice these ended up being painted to whatever the artwork at the time depicted them as. This led to an allegiance of sorts towards the Blood angels, encouraged  by White dwarf battle report at the time which heavily influenced what to put on the birthday/Christmas/reward lists. So Devastators soon followed along with this Rogue trade era librarian (unknown at the time, chose it cos it looked cool)

laying the foundation for what seems to be a long haul relationship