Firstly, I would like to introduce myself to the dakka community. I've been reading through the forums now for a couple weeks / months now, though I haven't really had anything to contribute. So a little about me. I've been playing
40k since 4th edition towards the end. Took a break, and then jumped back into 5th edition during a deployment to Afghanistan. I wanted a small army that I could transport / mail home easily, so I went with
DA to play Deathwing. I didn't paint because I didn't have any of my supplies, and frankly I just cannot find a way to stay motivated to paint. So when I got back to the states, I could never convince myself to sit down and paint my army. It seemed like such a daunting task to paint over 2000+ points of models. So I never did. Before my second deployment (current) I decided I was going to send all my tools / paints / models for a chaos army to me after I deployed, and spend the next 9 months just enjoying the painting, since I wont have anyone to play. It would seem fate had other plans. I found my time severely lacking compared to my last deployment, and never had the opportunity to model / paint, so I never had my things sent. The last few months have seemed to slow down for a bit, so I found myself going through Warhammer withdrawls, which is a serious condition. I found myself playing risk when I had the opportunity, just so I could roll some dice! Thankfully, I stumbled upon the dakka forums. And going through some other
WIP threads, I felt like I finally found what I needed to keep myself motivated to paint! A
WIP thread! What better way to keep myself motivated then the
40k community themselves! If I set a timeline for myself, with a goal that's attainable, I think I can do it! Then, to make matters better, the new Eldar Codex was released! I've always wanted to play Eldar, since the first time I layed eyes on
40k. I have plenty of models sitting at home waiting for me, I just never put them together because I saw the trouble Eldar was having in 5th, and I decided that I would wait for them to get re-done before diving into that project. So I figured now was a wonderful time to dive in, get (and more importantly STAY) motivated, AND PAINT!
More about myself: I've been in the US Army for about 5 years now, currently stationed at
Ft. Campbell. I've deployed twice as a UAV operator. I've been married for almost 4 years to my amazing, wonderfully supportive wife. She understands the vice that
40k has had on my life (though she mocked the first time she saw me play) and not only goes to almost every game I play at our
FLGS, but is starting her own army as well!
The plan/goal: My ultimate goal is make the shift to Eldar has my primary army, with every miniature I own for them completely painted to my liking. The short term, hopefully manageable goal, is to have ATLEAST 1,000 points fully painted and ready to go by time I go on post deployment leave. If I can get 1,500 points, all the better! I will be doing a custom army, and though I haven't really came up with a back story quite yet, I do wish to have them desert themed. Desert bases, with primary colors of tans/browns with blue for contrast. I think they'll look great when they're done.
Now, as I am still currently deployed, I don't have the option to start this imediately, however, I will be back VERY SOON! And upon my arrival to the US, I will be hitting the ground running. I plan on doing updates every weekend or so, possibly more frequently if major groud has been covered. I realize this is quite the long post, and if you took the time to read it, your time is greatly appreciated it! I'll be in and around the forums until I'm back in the states, and when I'm on US soil, I'll be sure to check in, and hopefully, have something to post!

Thanks!