Back to the Jungle

I recently had an amazing time with my friends for a 40K Apocalypse game. I was playing on the side of the Tyranids in an alien invasion of a human held world. I was however also rightly impressed with how the Imperium performed, namely the Imperial Guard (IG). This has reminded me quite fondly of my first 40K army which was the Catachan Jungle Fighters. Mine came in the starter set with my friend who introduced me to the game playing the Dark Eldar.

Here are some of the Catachan figs I bought extra to complement my army back in year 2001. I think I lost all my battles haha! But it was a fun experience and it was from the Catachans that I finally found my favourite unit in the 40K universe: the Terminators of the Dark Angels Deathwing. I had played Space Hulk on PC and the Deathwing were the heroes facing a never ending tide of genestealers. My 2nd 40K army was thus the Dark Angels :)

But playing against the Imperium has motivated me to revisit my first army. The Catachan Jungle Fighters. I used to play the army without any of the IG tanks and will still stick to this practice. I painted up a few models to get in the mood.

Here's a Sergeant and a normal Trooper. They both have quite a few layers of paint on them. I just painted on top of it all.

It just took the LONGEST time in learning how to paint flesh. It was frustrating just how beautiful the ones in the codex usually are. But I think I have come to a stage where I am happy with the flesh tone I am able to paint up these days. But it took quite a few years lol!

It really brought back a lot of memories painting these miniatures, particularly of the 4 years I spent living in Perth, Western Australia.

This mini of a female Catachan with Grenade launcher was purchased from a brick and mortar game shop called Tactics in London Court of Perth city. It was my favorite haunt in the city and I would go there every weekend, and some weekdays after uni classes :)

I was really stoked to see that the opposite sex is also represented in 40K tabletop gaming.

I learnt alot about painting miniatures and also things about life during my time in Perth. It will always be one of the most beautiful places I have ever had the honor to have been a part of. 

Looking back, I still miss a lot of my friends there. But the busy-ness of work, lethargy and numerous distractions (which should be no excuse really), have seen me not being in as close contact with these very special people as much as I desired.

I have realized when writing this entry that my miniatures have become part of the timeline of my life, tangible reminders through times both happy and sad. They have become in a sense more than just toys.

I'm sure many of my fellow gamers out there also have their share of memories as well with their minis ;) 

I leave you with a quote from George Bernard Shaw that has always been in my heart. And my excuse to maintain that inner child lol! Have a great week ahead everyone!

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

-George Bernard Shaw