Tao of Painting Homer

With so many cool armies available to play in 40k, I've always felt much too spoiled for choice to be able to stick to a single army for very long. Even as I'm collecting one army, I'll simultaneously be making plans for another one. It's not that I haven't had a great time painting and playing each one, it's just that I'm drawn to so many different aspects of the 40k universe that I simply cannot be satisfied with just one. After more than twenty years playing this game, it now feels like I've played just about everything at some point in time.

I've done a few DIY armies in the past and have always enjoyed that extra degree of personalization that you get from making up your own background. It's also satisfying forging new ground, unlike using stock armies for which the narrative has already been written. I like knowing that THIS army is mine, which perhaps is the best reason to DIY. I've been dabbling in stock armies over the last few years but have not felt particularly attached to any of them and have drifted from one army to the next. Initially when I launch a new army project, I feel excited and motivated, but it is transient and fleeting.

Last year I was inspired to do a Simpsons themed DIY Space Marine chapter and instantly knew that this was what I had been waiting for. I've been a Simpsons fan for almost the same amount of time that I have been playing 40k, being with both since their beginnigs, and they have been probably my two most consistent interests since discovering them. Finding a way to combine the two was probably inevitable. But at the time I first thought of this project, I convinced myself that I needed to work on other projects and allowed things I was less enthusiastic about take priority. Is it any wonder then that my overall interest in the game had also been in decline?

During my time at AdeptiCon, I realized that in order for me to get back into the game I have to go with my inspiration. Regardless of whatever was holding me back, now is the time to start work on the Stonecutters. They very well could be my 40k raison d' etre, my way of leaving a mark on the Warhammer universe... an admittedly silly mark, but that's me. Even though I'm not satisfied with my current modeling and painting abilities, so as to not be able to pull off my vision of The Simpsons in the 41st millennium, it's at least enough to start. If I like the project enough, I should be able to stick with it and improve as time goes by.

Considering how many suits of power armour I've painted, it amazes me how genuinely excited I am about these marines. I'm sure I'll still collect other armies in the future, but now I can use the Stonecutters background that I establish as way of orienting them within my particular corner of the galaxy. For now though, and hopefully for a long time to come, the Stonecutters are to be my focus. I love The Simpsons, and I love Warhammer 40, 000. What could be better? It's very nice having found my own place amongst the stars.