Wow what an amazing week it’s been, and I can only process it all now that the week is over and I have had some down time to take it all in and get my mind wrapped around the events of this past week.

My birthday was last Wednesday, and I like many others just prefer to spend the time with those closest to me, I ask for no gifts, and just enjoy a quiet time of reflection and soak up the love of my wife and daughter who are my everything.  It’s nothing special, just another day to me, and I am happy to just get up, go to work, come home and have a nice dinner with my girls.  Inevitably though people who care about you will do tremendously kind things for you, either by getting gifts, giving thoughtful cards, or celebrating you and the impact you have made in their lives.  And I guess part of this post will discuss my impression of those kind gestures and what they mean to me.

 

No, seriously, the caption above is what greeted me Saturday, May 25th when I walked into the Hobby Kingdom to play in a great annual event.  My hetero life partner Chris “Gdaybloke” Miller of Lost Hemisphere infamy had spent hours overseeing the faithful Bakers of the Protectorate of Menoth as they toiled on this massive assortment of vanilla and chocolate cupcakes which they then slathered with frosting and wrote the above caption.  It was amazing, it was breathtaking, it was the most sugar I had consumed in a very very long time, and made for a nice buzz to carry me through an afternoon of gaming in Burlington at the store.

In typical boneheaded fashion I totally forgot to take any pictures, so for that I have felt some shame, but otherwise I really enjoyed the day.  Also received that day was a model that had been done for me by a great friend out of New York state, Mr. Seth “Nohgannan” Peterson and the gorgeous Bosun Grogspar that he did for me and delivered to Gdaybloke at Templecon 2013.  For a first attempt at freehand on the shirt, I would have to say Nog has already done a great job, and I am looking forward to using him as an anchor for a pirate list at some future event.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday the 29th was the actual date of my birthday, so that day was full of well wishes and birthday notes on Facebook and e-mail from friends reminding me that even though I may not see them all that often, they still think of me and are able to take some time and wish me well.  It was very touching, and I make it a point to reply or respond to every one of the birthday wishes as I think it is important to show appreciation and thanks for those who took the time.  Family dinner and time at home was lovely in the evening and even my colleagues at work chipped in to get me a lotto ticket and a pair of “scratch & win” tickets which netted me $16.00 and another pair of lotto tickets for Friday night’s draw.  The funny card signed by the entire staff meant a lot, as we see each other every day but don’t spend a lot of time outside of the office together like some places do.

Thursday was business as usual at work, which turned into a disaster of chemical proportions as some labels and bottles were mixed up and customers couldn’t tell if they had Muriatic Acid or Liquid Shock (Chlorine), so that prompted a swift action on our part and had me driving all over in the sweltering heat to open case upon case for inspection and verification.  Needless to say, my very long day, followed by an “emergency” swimming pool service call led to my being unable to attend our weekly gaming night at the local shop, Heroes World.  However I wanted to see my guys and was oh so thirsty for a pint, so headed to Kelsey’s regardless and made it in time to be greeted by about 16 of our locals plus some partners all out for food and drinks after gaming.  This of course was exactly what I needed, and after a pint of beer and some poutine I was happily engrossed in conversation about games and lists with my usual group of players.

Not to let a chance to surprise me go by, Masterseck himself gifted me a model he had painted for me in just a few short hours, shaming all of us at our low skill level and lack of speed when it comes to a brush and some paint.  Combining my long-time forum and blog handle, my age, and my family name onto a Cygnar Lancer via free hand painting, Masterseck has gifted me with a new custom character warjack that begs inclusion in every list so that I can proudly show off the following piece:

 

 

I was blown away at the awesome gift, he is such a great model, a staple for any Cygnar army, and now that he is customized for me he begs to be included in any battle group and be the best friend of any unit of Sword Knights!

The next surprise was a nicely wrapped present that, when shaken, sounded vaguely model-like, albeit in a rather large box.  Not expecting any other gifts, and certainly none wrapped, I opened the package with trepidation to find a new Legion of Everblight Warlock, Lylyth3 the Reckoning of Everblight!  She is a blighted Nyss Cavalry Warlock, and man is she ever pretty.  The owners at Heroes World had decided that I needed this model to go with all my other Legion stuff, and knew firsthand that I hadn’t bought her yet because they had no record of me buying her at the store!  So another amazing gift, though this one I have to assemble and paint myself, which is both a blessing and a curse.  Really makes me want to go back to my Legion army, but the Convergence is so close to being in my possession….

 

So me being very fortunate to have such amazing people in my life aside, I also have to absorb the incredible news and excitement that came out of Seattle and the third Lock & Load Game fest for Privateer Press.  Much has been reported on the Convergence of Cyriss, no need to go over it all here again.  Let it be said though that I am so glad my partner Boots was able to ninja me a bunch of new Convergence models as the details of what these models can do is astounding and exciting.  And if you haven’t yet seen all the spoilers, well then a quick Google search will net you results, as will a quick read through of the Privateer Press forums.

The other exciting news was that we got more info on what is coming out in the Warmachine Vengeance book due out later this year; Stryker3 we knew about, Butcher3 Warcaster unit with 2 Argus’, Reznik2 battle engine Warcaster, Goreshade, Lord of Ruin on a mount, Ghordson Earthbreaker Rhulic Colossal, Issyria Retribution caster, Imperatus character Myrmidon, Bane Cavalry (we knew about these before really), a new Skarlock thrall (a character perhaps?) and all the new stuff that we haven’t heard or seen as of yet.

 

Personally I am most excited about the Convergence of Cyriss models I am receiving this week as well as the new fiction in the Forces of Warmachine: Convergence of Cyriss book.  There will be more great things for the main factions, and I am excited to see what a Stormblade solo can do as well as Stryker3, but for now I am totally enthralled with the construct-heavy lists the Convergence are going to be able to field, and their Metropolis-inspired Vectors and Servitors.  I’m sure soon enough we’ll all be talking about the newest thing for Hordes, and the next broken Legion models, but for now the Convergence, and Vengeance, are upon us!  2013 is certainly a good year for the fans of Warmachine.

Until next time my friends, stay sharp!

– Northblade