New job

I just finished my first week at my new job at a SFX company in London. There's a lot to learn - I see it as a balancing act between reading and working, at least at first. Having said that I have yet to actually get to work, I'm still just starting to figure out how they do things here. It seems like a nice company though, surprisingly organized and they seem to treat their employees quite well. I do hope to fit in and prove useful.

I am quite busy with both the change in location and in profession (I mainly worked with games before), living out of a suitcase right now and trying to pick up a half-dozen new skills, so I don't think I'll be working on my engine for some time, though I do hope to do a little miniature painting.

Speaking of, I finally got the chance to step in to a Games Workshop yesterday. It's been months since the last time. Saw the Storm Raven, the front is kind of cool, very aggressive in a military, form-over-function kind of way - it really is a flying tank - but the tiny back just unbalances the whole damn thing. If I was ever to get one for my Grey Knights - not that I'm planning to - I would have to do something to make it a little more balanced.

But more importantly, I took a brief glance at the Space Wolves codex. Grey Hunters cost a point less than regular Space Marines but have an extra attack and the (very useful) counter-attack rule? What the hell? That's just disgusting. Downright obscene in fact. This blatant example of power-creep presents me with a conundrum. Do I play with the Space Wolves codex and take advantage of how powerful it is, or stick with the regular Space Marine codex in protest of this unbalanced filth (which, I reckon, is tailor-made for min/maxed WAAC armies)? A big part of me dislikes the idea of paying more for less with regular Space Marines, but the other part hates jumping on the 'latest and greatest' bandwagon and is annoyed at the first part for being so weak.

The other thing is that Space Wolves have some units that I really like, especially the greater versatility in Terminator use and equipment. At the same time I'm thinking of looking at Blood Angels, who also have some cool stuff. Regardless of what I decide to 'major in', I plan to get all the codices and buy/convert/paint any specific models that I like regardless of whether I actually use them or not, that's what I enjoy after all. I'll probably end up with one of those 'counts as' Space Marine armies in the end, and play them as different things on different days. Why the hell not right? Variety is the spice of life after all.

Also waiting on the Grey Knights. I can honestly say that the Grey Knights were a big part of what got me to finally take the jump into Warhammer 40K, they were always my favorite models and the Grey Knight books are still my favorite Games Workshop novels - each one is better than the last (bear in mind though that I certainly haven't read all the Black Library novels, still not started the Horus Heresy for example).

To wrap things up, there's a lot of changes in my life right now, sometimes I feel homesick but I'm trying to keep busy - I do have a lot to do after all - and I'm hoping for the best.