Honda's Blog: It's a Bug's Life

When I was growing up, I had a fascination with bugs. Along with playing with my green plastic army men, I could keep myself entertained for hours watching bugs. Back then that sort of developed into  the idea of growing up to be a famous Entomologist , having a big lab, and watching bugs do bug things.

Things were so simple back then.

I had a few terrariums and jars with holes punched in the lid, which eventually developed an appreciation for those that hunted. My favorite bug became this guy/gal:

Still is.

I won't recount the tales of  how a bunch of kids on our block got together and invented the precursor to  the "Thunderdome", except with bugs.  I will say that my entry never lost.

Enthusiastic about the possibilities I continued my studies, did well in my science classes, even conducting multiple forays in the playground to catch a bunch of these* for my science teacher, using twigs and empty potato chip bags...

Let's just skip over the part about how extremely dangerous and completely stupid that was.  Also, I think if my Mom had ever found out what I was doing, she would have started at the bottom and not stopped until there were three or four heads on the ends of pikes planted firmly in front of the school for everyone to see.

But hey, science!

So why are you reading about this on some blog about toy soldiers vs. some professional journal on the mating habits of tsetse flies in the jungles of New Guinea?

Fast forward a few years and the discovery that the roads to wealth and riches via Entomology seemed to lead through a bunch of swamps, jungles, and brushes with malaria and dengue fever.

Yeah, at the time, I didn't know that either.

Also, it seemed like in the movies, the guy who studied the bugs either got eaten by them, or became the bad guy because he was ostracized for having unnatural affections for his subjects. More importantly, he never got the "hot" chick.

I was already short, pudgy, and squinted a lot (we didn't know I needed glasses at the time), so adding to my handicaps didn't seem like a very smart move.

So a lifetime spent looking at bugs wasn't really looking all that attractive. Fortunately, other professional pursuits eventually captured my attention and "here we are."

Note: My professional pursuits eventually did lead to the Amazon to install software and teach on drilling rigs and I had a large praying mantis on my shoulder most of the time performing anti-bug duty.

"So what's the whole deal with the bugs?", you might ask.

As it turns out, we still seem to be on track for Part II of the Pathos IV campaign, so by next week that storyline will be coming to a close.

Now we could fold up shop after that and find other things to do, or...we could find another campaign to focus on.

Remember this guy?

Doesn't he remind you of something you've seen before? Maybe something like this?

So, after our little sojourn into pathos, we are going to undertake the Shield of Baal campaign. We've been able to discover a couple of new people to add to our gaming circle, one of which has tons of bugs, er...Tyranids.

For myself, I am going to focus on building out the things I love about Tyranids that hearken back to my days as a kid.

I love Genestealers and Lictors. The other units are Ok, but these are the units that float my boat and so I'm just going to build out a bunch these guys.

I know. You’re probably thinking "Honda, you'll never survive on the table with just those puny units!"

Maybe, then again...

One of the things I do know is that our focus is going to be Apocalypse right from the start, so the fact that it's not all about me means that other people can field their Flyrants and Mawlocs and whatever-thropes and I can focus on my bugs, because that's what I like.

Awhile back, I started collecting genestealers. I have no idea why. I have over a hundred of them now. I don't know why that is either.

I am going finish painting them for the Baal engagement. Also I kitbashed a Broodlord while painting around 40 genestealers. I am reassessing how they are done and possibly modifying them to a newer, paler scheme.

My current Broodlord.

I built this guy because I thought the design of the first version was full of energy, but an incredibly bad design. Those scything talons at the mid-chest level were next to useless for a real predator, so I decided to take some bits and build my own.

He's kind of odd, but sort of works.

But then GW came out with this guy and I just had to have one.

He's a serious monster. I have no idea if he's any good or not, but I don't care. He looks awesome. My version of the Broodlord will most likely end up as a "counts as" Lictor, so no wasted effort.

The rest of the brood looks like this. I am was going for a more natural palette with softer tones per my normal preferences. I sort of got there.

And the answer to the unspoken question that is driving you crazy, "Yes, those are lentils on the base, painted purple and green."

So, around 40 painted, another 60 or so to go, plus a few Lictors because mantis or something. 

I think that's it for now.

Next week should have a fairly interesting tale.

Or not.

* Yeah, I know a bunch of you thought I was hunting down and catching these...

...but that was only in my comic book dreams. I will say that a certain ginger eventually captured my imagination and I married her.23 years ago.

So, the story does end with Honda living happily ever after.

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