11.03.2011

Feast of Blades: Update 1

As I write this I'm sitting in the hotel lobby of the Red Lion Inn in Denver, Colorado, enjoying a Heineken after a 12-hour day of driving and junk food.

My hosts have been just awesome.  Rather than rewrite it, let me borrow from myself:

I'm lucky enough to be attending the Feast of Blades this weekend, an event I was looking forward to but marked off my calendar.  It was especially disappointing since missing the Nova; after my father's illness, there was no extra money for entertainment.
Now, I'd beggar myself to see my father well after an aneurysm, not to mention being blessed with enough disposable income to attend a few national events each year to begin with!  Still, I'm human enough to admit there was a level of disappointment about Feast...
...but the expense simply wasn't justifiable.  Family comes first.
Duke, the Tournament Organizer (and rightly feared Mod of the BoLS Lounge), touched base with me on it all out of the blue last week.  He could have said, "Sorry to hear that, see you next year," and I wouldn't have thought a thing about it.  Instead, he took time out of his day to make calls on my behalf - and found me a spot in a caravan heading north to Denver!  The next day, he called to let me know he found someone I could split a room with...
...and suddenly it was coming together.
The caravan is leaving out of Dallas on Thursday, and I called Sid to touch base with him about a spot. Now, I assured him of the standard stuff - like being respectful and covering my portion of the gas - but let's face it, these guys don't know me and surely didn't need my contribution.
These dudes don't know me, but they had a spot and they allowed me to fill it.  It was very cool of them, and I genuinely appreciate it - there was simply nothing in the budget for a plane ticket.
But you know, as I sit here typing I'm just not surprised.
You hobbyists are good, decent people.  Meeting like-minded folks is the reason for the season...
...you're not alone!

Sid, Neil, Phillip, Chris, and Bryan are all tournament veterans from the North Texas area.  I actually recognized Neil and Bryan from past events, though I don't believe I've played them, and Sid more recently at Comic Asylum.  Sid and Neil are the drivers, and I made the trip up here first with one then the other.

Maybe there was hugs and gropings.  I'm not saying - but I will say that these guys were very hospitable and I genuinely appreciate it.

(Knowing Brent, he probably doesn't feel he gushed enough.  Bet he made people uncomfortable.)


Being who I am, I plan to stalk their exploits some over the weekend - should be fun!

I'm rooming with Rob Baer from Spikey Bits.  The rumor is he has a bunch of 'Cron 'Dexes for sale at midnight... hopefully I can (beg on my knees) talk him into selling me one!

Here's the plan...

The Plan

Stop that.

First, I'm going to drop as many updates this weekend as I can.  I've got a fully charged camera with 4 gigs of memory all ready to go.... so watch this space!

I've got a free day tomorrow - which I'll need, 'cause I've got to paint two more squads!

Let's take a look at the list I turned in:

So, is the battle plan obvious or what?  Since this is so mission-dominant, I felt I had to go with a balanced, all-comers list.  Still, it should do its thing okay.  

The problem..?

The Problem

I said stop that!

(Sorry.)

He's not.  (Note even slightly.)  Not Brent has been like that since Lauby fired him from the Top X.  But I'm pretty sure the restraining order means I can talk about that, so let's move on.

The problem is... and this is embarrassing...

...I haven't actually finished painting two of those squads!  I'll be spending most of tomorrow getting twenty Brotherhood Hunters painted to a 3-color minimum.

Still, with the spray layers and the bases done, all I really have to do is a flat layer of Boltgun Metal on the weapons and backpack, Tallarn Flesh on the head and arms, and Snakebite Leather or another color for the hair.  Then I'll do some spot colors then wash the models.

Voila!  C'est vrai bon, n'est pas?

If I have time, I can start in on the more important details, like the Spacewolves Grey blocks and the various piping - but we'll see.

I just got off the phone with Duke and volunteered to help out setting up tables, so I have to run.

Wish me luck!  Watch this spot!

8 comments:

Darkwynn said...

Make sure Rob has a book for me or I am throwing him off the roof.

Kevinmcd28 said...

Brent! Ton parle francias! Tres Bien!

Good luck, I love how most of my family is in denver this weekend but me...sigh...I am a subscriber to your youtube and will check back for those updates

Xaereth said...

Awesome dude, didn't know you'd be down here already! I'll see you tomorrow! Will you be playing in the Team Tournament?

(obviously not, because you'll be painting all day?)

And, are you in the Open event, or the Invitational?

Anyways, we'll see ya there!

Unknown said...

Say hi to Biscuit. Write for 3++. Best weekend :P.

Swags said...

Congrats on getting to go to Feast, Duke is the man with the plan. No matter if its playing the game or getting to the game.

Good luck!

Terminus Est said...

Funny how many peops who said they couldnt afford to attend BeakyCon suddenly can go to an event the following weekend.

:\

Not pointed at you Brent.

<3

Xaereth said...

BBF- if it's directed at me, not really the same thing at all. I live less than an hour away from the Feast, and am the defending champ. $100 for an event weekend is much cheaper than $500, not to mention way less stress.

/shrug

Darkwynn said...

Yeah tickets to fly to Denver is 99 dollars for us. Can't miss it with that price.

(A new favorite!) Anon: I haven’t even bothered playing a game of 6th yet, cause I have read the rules, and actually understand how they interact with units. I know my armies no longer function how they should, and so I need to change them.

Strictly Average: 'cause 6-inches is all you get.

Stalking Jawaballs since 2009.

Jawaballs: "My butt just tightened up."

Brent, preferred 2-to-1 over Not Brent in a recent, scientific poll.

Brent: emptied the Kool Aid and DRINKING YOUR MILKSHAKE with an extra-long straw.

Unicorns don't exist.

Home of the Stormbuster, the Dyson Pattern Storm Raven.

I'm a comment whore and this whore is getting no play.

Not Brent hurts Brent's feelings.

I think, therefore I blog.

"You should stop writing for everyone else and worry about your crappy blog." - Anon.

Not Brent has been spotted lurking around with a green marker.

He's not like a bad guy from a cartoon, all devious but never quite evil, Not Brent is bad beans, man, bad beans.

Dethtron: "Again I feel obliged to remind you that trying to sound smart only works if you are."

MVB: "I am not one to join the unwashed masses of self-titled 40k experts out there distributing advice from their blogs about exactly how your list should be built..."

Shiner Bock on tap: that's how I choose hotels.

Strictly Average: The Home of Hugs and Gropings.

Don't feed the trolls!

MoD: "Welcome to Brent's head."

Competitive is Consistent.

Dethtron: "...you could use that extra time to figure out a way to get your panties unbunched and perform a sandectomy on your vagina."

Dethtron: “When calling someone an idiot, it's generally best to avoid making grammatical mistakes.”

Warboss Stalin: "You know, if it actually WAS funny, maybe I wouldn't mind."

Mike Brandt: "It's not a successful bachelor party if you don't misplace someone".

"The Master Manipulator (every store needs one): "...now, enough stroking."

Kirby: "I don't know about gropings. Seriously, Brent, keep it in the pants, please."

Loquacious: "No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get Hugs & Gropings or Stalks Jawaballs into Brent's little tribute."

Captain Kellen: "I rate this article a Brent on the Faith Hill to Nancy Pelosi scale!"

Drathmere: "Come for the balls, stay for the Brent? Kind of disturbing, man."

Go no further, lest thee see something thine eyes would fain look past!

Isabelle: "So, thank you for supporting your local and not so local unicorns. A noble gesture like that can show some scared kids out there that they don't have to hide from everyone and it's ok to be who they really are."

There is nothing more interesting than We The People... in all our beautiful, ugly glory!

On Internet Advice: You see, I have an almost religious belief that's it's a huge, colossal waste of time.

...I think I'll call it the Gun Shy Pattern Stormbuster, because after the Internet destroyed my first humble effort, I find I'm a bit worried about the reaction to this one.

Lauby: "Is it left over from that time you thought that you could just complete step one 12 times to meet the mandates of that court order?"

Not Brent: "I guess we'll have to read on and find out. Signed, Not Brent. Especially today."

Cynthia Davis: "I think the scrolling text is from Glen Beck's new book."

Grimaldi: "Spamming certain units creates interesting possibilities but also fatal weaknesses."

Purgatus: "Math can inform decisions. It cannot make decisions."

Thoughts? Comments? Hugs and gropings?

You'd be that much quicker to figure out what I mean when I refer to a Unicorn if I covered it in a rainbow flag.

SinSynn: (To Brent) "Curse you and your insidious influence on the internets..."

Dave G (N++): "You know you're an internet celebrity when your following is more akin to tabloids."

I prefer the term Internet Personality (or IP) myself, seeing as how I coined it.

Lauby: "Your attempt to humanize him as failed. I feel nothing but scorn for his beard - it's like a warcrime or something."

BBF: "I've always thought you are a good player but I finally figured out that you are a great player. It's hard to see sometimes because your personality is engaging, sincere and quite charming - to me that is kind of a rare combination."

'Clearly cheating?' I didn't misspeak: you jumped to conclusions. If you'd like to apologize I'll be happy to send you an autographed picture of my ass.

Ass.

I thought I was doing alright before I realized I was losing.

Age and treachery beats youth and vigor every time.

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