In my defence...

Hello all, my name is Ben Hollas and I am the other party to this madness.

Now that Luke has explained in his post (the first on the page, it shouldn't be hard to find) what this is about, I find I've little do in my introduction, other than offer a defence to the (what I wish was) libel he wrote about me.

As Luke has said, we both are "gamers" (a terrible, terrible phrase), I enjoy playing computer games, card games, roleplaying games, board games and most certainly wargames.

Twilight Imperium - don't say you weren't warned!

Certain parts of each appeal to me: I've played CRPGs, turn-based strategy games, civilisation construction games, MMORPGs; everything from poker to Magic: the Gathering; Dungeons and Dragons (in four incarnations) and others; Monopoly (I'm sorry if you don't know what this one is) to Twilight Imperium (I'm so, so sorry if you do know what this one is); and almost every game Games Workshop has produced in the last twenty years as well as Other Wargames™.

There is something I enjoy about all of these, but I keep returning to wargames time and time again - why is this you might ask?

Well, if you're asking a question I hope you put up your hand first (did you not read Luke's post?)

I can't exactly put my finger on it, there's just something about the tactical challenge. If you've played a wargame (and I'm sure most of you have - chess is the most famous wargame of them all) you may understand: you have a set number of pieces, with set abilities and a confined set of rules in which to achieve a specific objective. Ninety-nine per cent of the time you're also playing against specific person, which makes victory all the sweeter.

Note to self: remember to win battles during this Tale of Two Ex-Gamers, something I have a habit of not doing...

Ahem... sorry, got distracted.

Anyhow, Warhammer was the very first wargame I ever played and so it has always had a soft spot in my heart, and that's why I'm delighted to be having a go at this project with Luke.

What's that I hear you ask? Where is my actual defence against what Luke said?

Oh yes, I suppose I'd better respond to that, as it is this post's title after all.

To be fair to Luke, most of what he said is true - the majority of my miniatures both Games Workshop and Other Wargames™ are glacier white (if not, they're probably night-time pitch black - it's amazing what you can achieve with spray paints), but this isn't due to lack of interest in the game, or even lack of interest in painting.

I'm just not a very good painter.

By which I mean, I can't paint both well and quickly.

Coupled with the fact that I'm a perfectionist and I'm sure you'll see my problem.

I've read about people who can just turn around the paint job on an entire army in a weekend - I would love to be that person!

I like each miniature (please note that's the correct term, whatever Luke says: these are miniatures, not models. Never models) to appear well-painted, but that takes me ages; and I just don't have time (all those other games you see) to paint armies.

I'm good at all the other aspects of this hobby: collecting is fine, I'm awesome at collecting. Playing I enjoy, although I refer you to the note to self above. It's just painting I have a problem with.

Hopefully, this challenge will help with that though. For if there's anything else I am, it's competitive.

Therefore Luke, I say to you - the challenge is on!