Ave Imperator!
After having occasionally browsed these forums for quite some time content with lurking and reading, I finally registered. From what I've seen so far, there seem to be lots of cool people here, so I hope I'll be able to participate in a lot of discussions about topics of relevance to my interests.
Said interests involve, of course,
40k - I've long been in love with the setting, regarding it as "refreshingly" (grim)dark in stark contrast to the vast majority of more utopian ideas. Its graphical design, the weird mixture of gothic, steampunk, sci-fi and fantasy elements that somehow still manages to form a seamless universe, only adds to the appeal. Due to work-related time constraints and a relative shortage of local players (though the latter has improved drastically since moving from Germany to Ireland) as well as me being way more of a reader than a painter (I love to draw, but only with pencils), I'm more into the background than actually playing the
TT. Though of course I do have miniatures as well, I have invested way more time into hunting down fluff articles of all editions in order to learn every detail of the setting and form a consistent image of the various snippets.
Like many others, my first contact with
40k was with the Space Marines - Ultramarines, of all sorts. My attention later switched to the Black Templars, as I grew to like both their dystopian colours, insignia and "personality" as well as their overall quite gothic theme. From there it was just a small step to the faction that has now been my favorite for many years, the Sisters of Battle. I made this change both because the constant hype started to become a bit too much for my taste as well as because (despite not following any religion myself) I've always held a big adoration for the historical figure of Jeanne d'Arc, so an army of them was bound to attract my attention!
I've always had a soft spot for the role of the tragic underdog, too, which translates into a preference for "ordinary humans" in
40k, in contrast to the genetically engineered supersoldiers which, to me, have become a tad bland due to the way they have been played up in recent years. This is also why my second-favorite faction is the Imperial Guard, which, in addition to the aforementioned role of the underdog, also manages to hold my favor due to the cool vehicles, the image of vast infantry formations and unparalleled options for customization.
Other factions I like as well (though not as much as the aforementioned two) would be the Dark Eldar and the Tau, the former because I've got a soft spot for drow (having played one for almost a decade, first on an UO freeshard then an NWN1
PW), and the latter due to their unique designs and philosophy (creepy hidden agenda as opposed to the usual openly evil/tyrannic so common to the setting).
In addition to all the reading and, less often, playing the
TT, I'm also playing the
40k RPG, specifically Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader. Though I have criticized
BL/
FFG in the past for violating aspects of
GW canon on multiple accounts (be it in favor of balancing or due to personal preferences of individual writers), the
RPG retains its attraction due to the extremely intuitive system as well as the lovingly detailed and creative descriptions of locations and personalities, and I can only recommend it to others to try as well.
As far as hobbies outside of
40k are concerned, I'm generally reading a lot of novels (currently finishing volume 2 of Song of Ice and Fire), occasionally drawing or writing stuff myself ("creative development"), computer games (at the moment often playing APB) and doing airsoft. Ah, and I dig some of the older movies - you know, stuff like Total Recall, Robocop, Mad Max, ... Most of the junk Hollywood churns out these days makes me nerdrage.
Well, I guess that's about it!
~1200 
