This is the army my friends built.

This post has been a long time coming.

The mighty Dynasty army, virtually fully painted (75%?), reaching a respectable 7500pts now.  It all started gifts from friends.  Then as my life took a rather nasty turn, survived on that same generosity. One could say this is the Dynasty my friends built.

A few years ago, after many gaming nights with me complaining of a hopelessly uncompetitive Imperial Guard army (you know the one, hobby burn out syndrome), I received the beginnings of a Necron army.  They had recently received their 5th edition codex revamp.  I got the codex, warriors, immortals and pariah.  Later I got a Monolith! Luvely boxy Monolith.

My monolith.  MY PRECIOUSSSSS

I've always had the burning need to do something Stargate-ish and after reading a rant online from someone obviously opposed to the idea I was inspired by something he wrote which has stuck with me to this very day:
"They are just tomb kings in space!"

Well... THAT'S AN AMAZING IDEA!!!

So began the bone.  So began the encroaching death that was the mysterious and dreaded Trazian (alt Trazeen, Trazio, Trazalian) Dynasty of the thrice betrayed. Once the priests of one thousand deaths of Necrontyr of old, of the time of the flesh.  They had been first forced to consort with the Ctan and then as the first to convert, alongside the criminals of the age.  Remembered amongst their own as a half forgotten misdeed, their emergence into the new age of the Imperium can only be bad for them and the galaxy at large.

As you can see, generating fluff has never been an issue with me.  Even borrowing from Basque worked a treat.  Thus Overlord Hautsi'du, Soldat Armak and the rest were born.

This trend however, of receiving Necrons continued with every celebration.  Any gift vouchers given were spent on more battle forces, more 3rd part mail orders for those Egyptian heads from various sellers. A pair of friends sold me their second hand Necrons for almost insultingly cheap prices
(What do you mean he doesn't know how to 'aggle!?)

Then, last year, right after finding out I would be being made redundant at work and dead on my fricking birthday, we had a fire at our apartment. My wife and I had just come back glowing from our recent wedding and as you might expect a bit broke spare the money given kindly to get us on our way to our honeymoon.

Thanks to the fire however, we were left living without a home of our own.  Nearly all the clothes we owned and over half of our belongings were destroyed.  So much had to be started from scratch. Amongst the tiny miracles that happened (not the PC, that melted), our wedding clothes survived mostly, but nothing went untouched.  Smoke damage is deceitfully effective.

Spare the Necrons.

I kid you not, the fire swept up and over my wargaming collection.  Obviously they rolled all the resurrection saves.  Though all card elements needed to be thrown and cloth washed.  A lot.  In Isopropynol.

Insurance came in, and with that, and the money for the honeymoon we decided to use the opportunity to dive in and buy our own apartment (STRESS!).  So we took the plunge and decided that stuff would be replaced as we went along.  Hel i uhel as they say in Norway, or Silverlinings.  We are still looking for things that simply aren't there any more. The outcry from our friends and family was instant as it was amazing.  Despite this, with the money situation I began to consider selling a lot to help pay for essentials.  Not something I wanted to do, but did consider heavily at the time...

Then came a party for those who hadn't been able to or just plan couldnt come over to England for our wedding.  Now I know a looot of gamers, nerds and collectively beautifully unique people.  Which is amazing.  There was for example one chap who started a fund on Facebook using one of those Fund me things to raise support for us!

Anyway, at this party, amongst all of the surprises we got, one related to this post is the collaborative gift given by the boys from the GRIM club here in Oslo.  They had come together to give me an inordinate amount of GW gift vouchers.  They knew I couldn't continue paying for the club membership.  They knew I was unable to really continue with my Necrons, and they didn't accept it.

I also received this.  A data slate memo detailing in true GRIM style, the reasons for receiving the Throne Gelt and giving me the task of hunting down the heretics in the group once "rested and recuperated."

Now this is all great.  And thanks were given long ago.  So, over a year on... what is the point of this post?

#Forgethecommunity

Its a simple act: anything from giving something from your bits box, to helping someone with that horde army get it painted up.  Working with someone to get that board finished.  Its the act that puts your effort somewhere other then on your own stuff.  Not just on to a friends army but therefore also into your community of friends, people you play with.  Yes money and gifts are extreme examples of this, but the thought truly is what matters.

Remember that board you helped make scenery for?  It's now your play ground, the army you helped paint? You get to play against it.  That bit you gave away enabled your mate to create that work of art or get inspired enough to keep at it. That dataslate with those collected gift vouchers may well have saved your friend's happy killy-figure time.

One example of this in practice in a huge way is the Facebook Group dedicated to Poppy, the daughter of a wargaming paragon Paul Bullock, who is currently fighting cancer.  Nigh over 100 fellow gamers and dads came together to raise money to support the father, Paul Bullock which he and his wife go through this indescribably tough time.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/poppysangels/
Take a look and see what a common interest between good people can do.

Inspired by everything from the start to the amazing responses of next year, I kept on painting bone.  This November will see the whole Dynasty going to war for the first time, against those same boys from GRIM.

Huge thanks to Soundslave for the army shot!

To those guys at GRIM and to everyone else who saved my favourite hobby I've been at since I was 12 years old: a thousand thanks.  You know who you are.

Rick

#Forgethecommunity
#Bonecronsftw
#TrazianDynastySmash