Sunday, May 8, 2011

The Origins of Lord Ahriman

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first blog post! This post will be a rundown on where I come from(in terms of warhammer), and where I currently stand.

I started playing I don't know how long ago. All I know is I still have my third edition rulebook and tyranids codex. My best friend at the time and his brother played the game, albeit not very well. My friend played Eldar and his brother played Guardsmen. I asked him about other armies in the game and he took me to a website. As it was loading, I asked him if there was anything like zerg. He said yes and skipped straight to the Tyranids. The first thing I saw was a 3rd edition Hive Tyrant and I was sold. I needed nothing more to convince me of how amazing this game was. It took weeks or months(can't remember) to convince my parents to drop so much money on it, but I did.

Game after game against the eldar was lost. They quickly became my most hated enemy. I had no understanding of the rules at whatever age I was, as it took me an hour or two to understand every paragraph. I became extremely discouraged and came very close to just leaving it all behind and dropping the game, but I knew my parents would be furious at me dropping yet another pursuit of mine. Then I started hanging out at heroes. I have extremely faint memories of my first game against someone other than my friend(ironically it was someone who played Eldar - I got stomped but had more fun than ever before). I dived headfirst into the rulebook, and within a week or two my friend had no chance against me, especially because I taught him that it was about points, not just putting as many points as possible into your 2 hqs, 3 elites, 6 troops, 3 fast attacks, and 3 heavy supports. He was done with the game after his third consecutive loss to my swarm.

A story developed for Hive Fleet Zerus, and soon my hive tyrant was a veteran of countless battles, many that he emerged unscathed from. I felt unstoppable, though personal problems developed for me that kept the game an on and off interested for several years.

I found tau to be interesting for about a month, then sold them to my good friend Commander Gahner. I don't think he still has them but a deep story had developed for my sept and I was sad to see them go.

The Necrons of Athens IV then rose from the sands and I once again felt unstoppable. I had a hard time losing with them, and was obsessed with their fluff. The Lord of Athens IV and his legendary deathscythe exist to this day, albeit waiting to come back until they raise more of their ancient warmachines.

Then Brother-Captain Cassuis of the Grey Knights became my obsession. He led his small group of battle-brothers to war against every enemy imaginable, they but never grew past their meager starting numbers, and are currently lost in the warp of my trunk. But one thing I remember from the last escalation I would play until this year was the mysterious Thousand sons legion - at two wounds, those marines would never leave my mind, even when everything else(save for bugs) did. That blue paint scheme and those incredibly tough marines were so... entrancing. I was addicted without knowing it.

Three years and alot of important events in my life went by. Christmas of 2010 was fast approaching and my elf addiction crept back into my mind, and the island of blood became my only desire. I immediately bought a battalion on new years day and extra RBTs - who doesn't need at least 4 RBTs? But to my dismay, fantasy wasn't the most popular game anymore - 40k was, so back to the tyranids with me. As cool as tyranids were, the eldar of General Smiley continually taught me lessons about the effectiveness of genestealers against bladestorm, doom, and guide. So out to the plans for a new army to crush the eldar with.

It came down to the only loyalist chapter of space marines I ever respected - space wolves - and those mysterious automotons who I couldn't seem to get out of my head. After some persuasive words from a good friend who was starting a new army at the same time, my Prodigal Sons arose. I was and still am obsessed with those mindless marines. Ahriman and his sorcerers have fought countless bitter battles with all sorts of enemies - the companions of Vulkan He'stan and the Blood Legion being the most hated of them all, second only to the Sons of Russ. Ahriman and his Sons bear many scars from their battles, but survive, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

I've gotten a lot more long-winded than i meant to, but you see where I come from - a seriously devoted-to-fluff player obsessed with the servants of Tzeentch above all else. I've had alot of frustration with the current playstyle of a pure tzeentch list and I've been attempting to figure out how to make them work. But also in my mind are other armies that interest me as much as the Rubric marines, such as(ironically) the Sons of Russ, the Sa'shui sept, and Brother-captain Cassius' Knights.

More to come as my journey develops, but one way or another, I'm going to reach the Black Library(so to speak) and find that army that just fits, or figure out how to make an existing one just be the right army for me.

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