How did it come to this?

First some background on me:

I have be involved in wargamming as a hobby for about 15 years. I mainly did historicals until about 6 years ago when I wrote a set of rules titled "Gnome Wars." (That rules set and the miniatures attached to it are available at www.brigadegames.com.) The design and promotion of Gnome Wars has been the focus all of my hobby time for some years. 

I teach in a middle school and a last year someone mentioned to me that the art teacher also "plays with little men." When I go to talk to the guy I find out he plays 40K. I have obviously heard of GW, Warhammer, and 40K but have never really looked at the models nor have I ever played a game. He shows me his stuff and I'm drawn to how cool the models are and impressed by the paint-jobs. But at the time I'm too wrapped up in Gnome Wars to investigate any further.

This September the art teacher, who I later find out is Jawaballs, and I decide to run an after-school club focusing on the gaming hobby. He starts to teach me 40K and tries to coax me into buying an army and painting it up. I start by painting a few Black Reach marines and get a rhino but cannot see setting aside time for this and a couple of months go by.


Then in January he reveals his plan: Take a total 40k nooby with wargaming experience, and turn him into a tournament contender.  The first tournament would be TempleCon, a mere five weeks away.


I had my work cut out for me!