MANY moons ago, when I first was starting Orks, I was looking online to Ork conversions and such to get me into the spirit of my soon to be Ork army. I stumbled upon Jamsessionein's thread on his Warboss
Link to thread
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/139987.page
That was my very first time on DAKKADAKKA and I havnt left since. October of 2008.
My first thread
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/219324.page
In that time Ive learned many handy tricks for painting and modeling. Good ideas on how to scratch build, and found many very talented users here to draw inspiration from. I also learned how to use 5th edition like a pro thanks to the
YMDC section. Using the rules and banging my head against others heads in the tactics forum, learned how best to use my new found love of
40k. I started when I was 16 officially, I was going to buy Orks, but was strongly suggested to do otherwise as back then, Orks were apparently total gak. So went with Chaos Space Marines instead. They were my first army, but I always longed to be an Ork player, and this site helped greatly in that transition. I owe a lot to DAKKA, there are people on here I would honestly call friend, Ive met a few fellow members in person as well, and always feel a connection thanks to this site.
So I thought I would share where I was when I first joined DAKKA, and show the progress from then, till now. Where Ive improved painting and modeling, how I became a better player, what Ive done to help the community that is
40k. Just to share what DAKKA has had a part in doing, in 20k posts.
Painting/Modeling
Firstly, Ill show what my boyz looked liked when I joined. The center boy is how I painted years ago. It was very basic, and fairly quick. At the time it was just enough to have some green on and add in a touch of rust and call it good.
Now the boyz on either side show where I paint my boy now. I add depth to the skin tone, theres 3 colors in the rust alone, I fade my yellows to add depth as well. It takes a lot longer, but the end result looks many times better. Heres a close up of the boy with the longest name in my entire army *clears throat* "The boy that can get gak done" is what I call him, thats his name. He has killed a terminator and a termie Sgt in a single killteam match. Has been the last survivor in many a mob, and always seems to get past space marine armor.
Same with my
HQ models. When I started. Its not terrible, but its pretty bland.
To my blob of
HQ models now
*left to right*
SAG Mek, GrotNob,BikerBoss,BigMek Whirrlygig and my MegaBoss.
I actually paint lenses that look good now as well
My scratchbuilding/kitbashing has improved greatly as well. There are SOOoooo many talented builders on DAKKA you either get discouraged from them, or do like I did, and push yourself to do better and better. Case in point, my very first vehicle
*this was actually featured on DAKKAs front page once upon a time. Ive got a screen shot of it somewhere.
Its simple and really, is only a gun swap. Nothing crazy. From that, to these
These are made from very little
GW parts and are mostly scratch built, some came from just random junk (In true Orky Fashion)
Accomplishments
During my time on DAKKA, Ive also been involved in many things, mostly just random everyday DAKKA goings on, but occasionally, Ive taken part in things that seemed to make the hobby better, weather that be simply more fun, or going out and actually doing something to try and improve the hobby. Ive been seen mostly in the Tactics Forums helping others learn how to use Orks to kick teef in, as well as be a glutton for pain, and help generals learn how best to beat up on the Orks. Ive helped members from brand new beginners, all the way up to spitting out a good idea to an old pro, and everything in between. Ive also taken part in some great pranks played on the DAKKA masses. Shortly after becoming a
DCM, I started a thread in the holiest of places here on DAKKA, dedicated to pranking the masses. First, was a minor success that seemed to go over most peoples heads, was a pretend Battle Report between myself and Soladrin.
*link
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/409236.page
Sadly the pics were taken down. But the jist of it was, Soldarin flew from his country of origin, and we played a game against one another using bolts, and screws and match sticks for boyz and bottles and drinks for vehicles. Things got crazy, Sol was cheating, I went nuts. Sadly, most users thought it was for real. So next, we planned for months to prank DAKKA on Valentines day. Any and all
DCM's taking part, changed our avatars to lovely MattWard pics and proclaimed our love for Mat Ward. Going so far as to say
DCM stood for DAKKA CHOOSES
MAT. That pissed many people off, and we politely took it down about half way through the day. But it shows that Mat Ward, love him or hate him, has an affect on people
I also took the mantle of head badass, in a fight to get
GW to finally put an
FAQ on exactly how the deffrolla worked against units. As during the time, some rules lawyers caused a great stir and the simple mention of "Deffrolla" would cause a flamebait so bad that the threads would always be locked from the arguing. Not only that, but apparently there were tournies that were so confused on how to approach it, that they would change their rulings on it mid way through matches, causing Ork players to completely rethink their army, for the simple fact that they didnt want to get hoed. So I started an online petition, and set out on not only DAKKA, but any other forum to get the message out. This actually showed me, just how solid DAKKA is as a forum, and how well the MODs actually do their jobs. Because in trying to get the petition out there, I was banned from 5 forums, perma banned from 3 (2 of which are REALLY well known) and one forum I even received a pretty personal insult from a MOD on said site.
I was just shocked at how little the community abroad seemed to want to get something DONE, and get a rule fixed. Yet here on DAKKA, the cause was welcomed with open arms, and a few MODs even signed the petition. We never got an official announcement weather we had anything to do with
GW FINALLY putting a
FAQ on the Deffrolla, but I can tell you with certainty, that when the petition time ran out, myself and a handfull of other members would email, and post on the
GW Facebook page, and any other way we could get the petition to them, daily, they very quickly through a
FAQ up. So I like to believe we had at least a small part in getting that done. It was a small victory and ever since then has made me feel pretty good, that I had a hand in getting something done in a hobby that not only takes up so much of my time, but also the bulk of my spare cash as well.
*link to petition thread if you want a good read
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/262234.page
And lastly, DAKKA, like other sites, decided to make a DAKKAarmy, made of Orks. Where you basically let the big guys know, what you would be, if you were tranported to the universe of
40k, as an Ork. Rules aside, I decided "Hell yea! Im jumping into this with both feet" And so I became the leader of DAKKAs very own FlashGitz unit. I became, KC da Kustom Killa. This was just for fun, and gave DAKKAnaughts something to do with the spare time Im sure we all really have. It was fun, and I still hold out hope, that it will someday be finished. So heres a little plug for it, hoping that maybe some of you reading this for the first time will like it and join in the fun.
Me as KC da Kustom Killa
And link for info to WAAAAGH! DAKKA
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Waaagh_Dakka
So there you have it, from 2008, to 2012, in 20k posts, thats basically what Ive been up to on DAKKA. Ive joined painting comps, and scratchbuild comps, Ive made friends, Ive met other members in person, Ive improved my painting skills and modeling skills, Ive become a thinker and tinkerer IE a real BigMek, Ive helped the hobby progress, Ive wasted time, Ive rarely trolled, Ive never been banned, and I can honestly say, that in my 20k+ posts, Ive only ever used the quick reply once.....and it made me feel dirty.
So thank you DAKKA for having me, Ive enjoyed the ride so far, and I still say that DAKKA is as popular as it is, because I joined. Go ahead, look at the stats of members joining, right around the time I showed up, this place went nuts. Youre welcome DAKKA, youre welcome
.
