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I always played a lot of video games, but I started played Magic the Gathering in college and that was my gateway drug into tabletop gaming.

Me and a few friends played axis and allies after shift and days off. Then one brought up warhammer 40k. Went down to a local store and saw the mass amount of models and remember growing up watching people play these games. We all picked an army. I chose tyranids. Friends chose CSM and space wolves. Played them for a while and got bored of them and now play dark eldar. Now we are all playing fantasy. Me Playing skaven. CSM player playing woc. And space wolves guy playing high elves. Kinda funny how a game keeps us playing for hours a night week after week. Glad I got into the hobby.

For me, I was just curious about a shop called "games workshop"
I had a look and then the salesmen caught me in their trap...

160$ for aobr! What was I thinking!

The local hobby store had a 2nd edition display up, you know, the mullet Blood Angel. It didn't strike me as too interesting back then, until I got my hands on one of those free booklets they handed out, with a quick rundown of the rules for both 40k and fantasy. Nothing too interesting really. Until I caught a glimpse of the Leman Russ tank.. Sold!

Things didn't get super serious until I got WD 220, which had a massive feature article on a custom Imperial Guard army done by Warwick Kinrade and Ian something-something, which really won me over.

I surprised I haven't read anything like my story yet, so I'll share.

About 6 years ago I had started carpooling to work with a guy who lived close to me to save on gas. He talked about gaming and I thought he was a nerd. One day after a few months he asked if I wouldn't mind dropping him off at the FLGS, when we got there he invited me in and I watched a game with about 10 people standing around and I got hooked.

So moral is yep I'm a "nerd" too just didn't know it at the time, and the guy from the carpool is one of my best friends now.

Back well before my ability to internet order stuff, but some time after fasa had disintegrated, my hobby was discovering local game stores and buying up whatever battletech stuff they had left. So i found this little mall store called games workshop and walked out with the 3rd edition starter set and the paint set.

I've always known about Warhammer and that, but it wasn't until last year I felt the warm (but oh so deceiving) embrace of the GW staff, and purchased some stuff. And it's never a one time thing.

My friends and me bought WD for the RPG articles, and one summer (1987 or 1988, I cannot remember) we improvised the 40k rules from Chapter Approved rules in WD. Then we bought RT and eventually WHFB, Adeptus Titanicus, etc....

Our improvised rules might have been better than the RT set...

Saw the Dawn of War trailer, played the games, and already had a strong love for fantasy and Sci-Fi.

Thought the setting was awesome, looked into it more, came upon the GW website and their miniatures. My parents had been bugging me to get a hobby outside of video games, so when I came to them with wargaming, where I assemble and paint model soldiers, they were beyond encouraging (they thought it was awesome)

After that, we visited a GW, (after I had read many forum threads and the late TSoaLR) and I played a demo game. After hearing a bit about each system, I chose 40k for the setting, the arguably cooler starter set, the Space Marines, the larger local player-base, and a little bit because I won that demo and got totally wrecked in the fantasy one.

Haven't looked back, got the Blood Angels White Dwarf codex after reading James Swallow's books, and am thoroughly enjoying the army and game. (got a few friends into it, gave one my orks, and joined a club of 30-ish guys who meet every Saturday)

I started because if the models but stayed for the chicks.....

orkybenji wrote:I was really into the first Dawn of War computer game. I had heard of warhammer before that, but knew nothing of it. I was hooked! After reading up on almost everything on Lexicanum I couldn't get enough. Finally I got into the miniature aspect of it.

Same for me; I bought the game, knew about 40k like I know about knitting (it exists, and that's about it) then it sat for a year on my shelf as my computer sucked...then I got around to play it and half my brain splattered all over the place by the sheer awesome factor.

Then Winter Assault came out, and that is when I decided to get an Imperial Guard Army.

notprop wrote:I started because if the models but stayed for the chicks.....

Glad I'm not the only one!

My Mum's friend had a son playing DnD with Citadel miniatures. I'd been playing DnD on their advice, as she'd bought me the Basic set a while before.
It was the box of Citadel adventurers that got me buying White Dwarf.
When RT was announced, I jumped at it, and grabbed blister packs whenever I could. There was no pattern to them, and before army lists were around, my Eldar and Zoats were fighting alongside Squats and Marines.
Then came the WH Siege book, and a dabbling in WHFB.
Until I went to Uni, and sold the lot.

A couple of years back, my Missus tried to get me off computer games, and I spotted the AoBR on a trip to Hobbycraft.
She's regretted it ever since

A middle school friend said: Here look at these things on my shelf (5th ed WFB empire reiksguard knights) so then my bro and i talked our parents into getting us the starter set (i took empire and he took orcs) then we continued to play WFB for a while until i started to get interested in 40k. We had proxied stuff using the 3rd ed lists in the back of the rulebook but when 4th ed came out i got battle for macragge and kept at 40k ever since and even brought several friends over (and then started things like BFG).

And yes i still game with the middle school friend as my hive fleet tries to om-nom his guard, we have also played almost all of the specialist games a few times except for bloodbowl.

fishy bob wrote:I've always known about Warhammer and that, but it wasn't until last year I felt the warm (but oh so deceiving) embrace of the GW staff, and purchased some stuff. And it's never a one time thing.

That sounds like a very similar experience to the one obtained from whor...oh wait...from... professional caressers.

Started to get intertested in painting up airfix models in about 1998 when I was 11 ish, encouraged by my Mum as it wasn't TV. Soon built up a few models in my collection, I remember the first one I got was a Land Rover, and then a Messerschmitt Jet. Noticed a few people at my Fencing club reading the 1998 Citadel Catalogue, looked into it some more and finally decided to go halves on the 3rd Edition 40K starter set with my friend some time later. I took Space Marines, he took the DE, and we learnt together. He soon fell out of hobby love and moved onto other pursuits, but I stuck with it. When the Lord of the Rings game first came out I was obsessed, I collected every faction, it was also the time when my 40K armies had grown to include the new Tau race and Imperial Guard.
In 2005 I went to uni and abandoned the hobby completely, as I hear a lot of people do. In 2008 I sold off pretty much my entire collection, limited editions, games day exclusives, long OOP stuff, the lot. "I'll never play this again" I said as my eBay sales racked up.
A year later back at uni doing my MSc, I wanted a hobby. Picked up the AoBR box. I've flitted about amongst armies in my second age of hobby love, but have settled on Dark Elves for Fantasy, and Tyranids for 40K, recently I've also been buying up most of the models I used to have in my collection on eBay, selling them is the biggest mistake I've ever made, at least I learnt from it!

I'm now at the point where I swear I'll stop buying until I paint what I have, feel pretty proud about reaching this milestone.