Inspire

That word has very special meaning to me.  Eight years ago, I felt very lost and alone very far from everything I knew and loved.  Something that helped me bring focus and positive energy back into my life was in the mission statement of the company that I worked for.

"...to create a spirit that inspires..."


That little phrase became one of the most meaningful things in my life once I experienced what it feels like to truly inspire someone.  I tasted a little piece of nirvana yesterday when I received a nice email from fellow hobbyist and blogger extraordinaire, Thomas "Goatboy".

"So your models inspired me to draw this up.  Those guys look friggin nuts by the way.  I can't wait to see that army in real life.  It is nuts."

I can't explain the warm fuzzy feeling it gave me to have actually inspired someone.  It's better than any of my tournament wins, terrain, or painting prizes.  To have actually influenced and affected someone with my work, to produce thoughts or feelings in another human being, is so much more fulfilling than taking home a box of grey plastic after a tournament.

The ironic thing is, Thomas was the one who planted the seed that inspired this army that in return, inspired him.  It was a full year-and-a-half ago when I was reading his blog and saw his grotesques.

That image burned into my mind as grotesques seemed like a really fun unit to play as I cruised through the then new codex.  The idea of using fantasy plastic models as 40k conversions seemed like an amazing idea and the discovery of ogres was the final motivator to try my own hand at converting grotesques.

So the creative inspiration has come full circle with his grotesques inspiring me to build an army that inspired him to do some wicked artwork.

Something to think about when you plan your future armies:  What if you build and paint your next army with the sole purpose of inspiring other hobbyists?  Not smash everyone you face in a tournament with a spammy list that you can find multiple clones of at the same event.  What if you go into every game with the goal of inspiring your opponent to want to play you again?  Did your opponents enjoy the game on every level from appearance to epic highlights and failures, talk about them with a smile as they leave with their friends, and feel like they played another hobbyist not just "opponent number three"?

I'm no perfect angel over the course of a tournament and have my moments where emotions distract me from these goals, but what if we all went to tournaments with those mindsets?  This is my challenge to all of you when 6th edition rolls out this summer.  Build an army that inspires the imagination, not one that exploits the strongest rule/unit combos.  Go into each game hoping to connect with another hobbyists that you would game with outside of a competitive event.

Thanks Thomas!