++Interview with a Chaos Lord++ Andra'Melek p.9

[AlanofAngels]

Thanks dudes!

@Augustus: Thanks, buddy! I love your airbrush work!

@Kierdale: Honestly, I'm really interested in looking more at the World Eaters. I know it's still Chaos, and would seem kind of redundant to have my 2 full armies both be Chaos, but they are definitely the other legion that speaks to me. I have been close a number of times to getting some of the FW bits, combining the FW Berzerker upgrade kit with some of the regular World Eater legion FW bits. Right now, I've decided to hold off in hopes of GW releasing some updated Berzerker kits. We'll see how long I can last, though! That said, the new GW Heresy box release is definitely an awesome way to get a ton of MK IV (my favorite armour mk) and some cool bits too, like the knives and sidearms.

Also, since I jumped the gun, I'll post my second favorite (pair)

Thanks guys! I love answering these questions!

[Khornestar]

You know, this has got to be my favorite thread on the entirety of B&C. So much Chaos. So much awesome.

[Augustus b'Raass]

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, his name is very a propos, as he's kept us waiting for a long time among other sick things (check out his wip), but here's the interview of my co-host of this thread: The Psycho!!

How did you become a Chaos Lord?

I’m actually a fairly recent inductee to 40k and the hobby as a wider field as such things go, but I’ve actually been into Chaos for longer than that, ever since I picked up a few Gotrex and Felix books at a garage sale some 6-7 years back, along with a copy of a quite outdated (read: pre/early Rogue Trader era) book called Heroes for Wargames. Those two books were what first introduced me to the Old World, and though at that time I had very little intention of participating in the hobby side of things, those books were successful in making me fall in love with Chaos. Although I still have a soft spot for the Fantasy Battle universe as these things go, but nowadays most of my time is spent almost entirely 40k.

When did you start to play the Chaos Space Marines/Daemons/Lost&Damned?

Well, a couple years back, I was at church when a friend of mine, knowing that I was a bit of a fantasy/sci-fi nerd, asked me if I wanted her boyfriend’s old Warhammer stuff, seeing as he’d been out of the hobby for several years and at that point was ready to give the stuff away. I said sure, because, well, free stuff, and figured if it was junk I could scrap it. That’s how I got my first 1500 points of Chaos Space Marines, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Which is your favorite traitor legion or Chaos warband, and why?

I’m tempted to say World Eaters, because they were my initial army, and Khorne’s always been my favorite Chaos God, but I have to go with Night Lords. Because, well, they’re Night Lords. They’re basically an army of seven-foot superhuman Ramsay Boltons in space, with an absolutely killer color scheme. Seriously, though, I like all the Legions. Each of them have their own appeal.

What do you like most of the Warhammer 40k hobby?

That’s a hard one. Hmmm… If I had to pick one thing? It would be the people and forum buddies I’ve met through the hobby. Seriously. Here I am, up in Seattle, sitting at a computer doing an interview with a bloke in Amsterdam, reading background written by a madman in Alaska, and looking at pictures of models painted by people from all around the world. In addition to that, I’ve actually met people through this hobby, mostly at the GW store, but in other places. 40k fans are everywhere, and the hobby can provide shared interest that provides fertile ground for new friendships to spring.

I also really, really, like this forum. In a real world that seems to be falling apart under our very feet, this website has provided an escape so many times for me, and I’m sure for many other people too.

What is your play style?

I have to confess, out of all the various aspects of the hobby, gaming is one of my least favorite. I much prefer other things such as painting, modeling, or writing background, the more creative parts of our hobby as it were. As such, it tends to be a rare day when I actually play a game (about once a month usually), but when I do, I tend towards a fast-moving, hard-hitting force. I don’t tend to use Reserves much, except for Heldrakes and such, much preferring to have as much of my force on the table at the beginning of the game as possible.

What was your greatest achievement or favorite memory from your hobby career?

The first time I finished a model to completion is a fond memory, but my absolute favorite achievement was during a game. It was (I think) Turn 4, and the Mechanicus army had managed to wipe out my entire force, with the exception of one solitary Cultist. Next turn, that single Cultist weathered an entire turn of shooting from the opposing army before dying to… something massively overkill, I don’t even remember. But that was a fun game, yes indeedy.

Do you collect and play any other armies?

Sort of, yeah. I tend to be a little ADHD when it comes to Warhammer, and so, over the past couple years, I’ve bought miniatures from most of the Imperial armies and quite a few of the Xenos ones. I’ve got a large Tyranid army which to date is my single largest coherent force (it was 3000 points when I started with it, but it’s gotten somewhat bigger) and a bit of Templar together. I’ve also got plans for a Siege of Terra-based Blood Angels force that I’ve got a couple miniatures done for. I also saw the newest Mad Max film quite recently, and the call of the greenskin has gently started becoming stronger, so I’ve had Speed Freeks on the mind the past few days.

Which is your favorite Chaos character?

Don’t really have a particular favorite, but if I had to choose one, it’d probably be Lheorvine “Don’t call me Firefist” Ukris or Uzas of First Claw. I like Khornates

Which is your favorite Black Library publication?

Hmm… either Helreach or Talon of Horus. A D-B is a lovely, lovely writer with an excellent grasp of pacing and an incredible ability to humanize his characters. Both of those give me chills when I read them, chills I tell you.

Any advice for your fellow frater, any parting words of wisdom?

Don’t be afraid to stay in your comfort zone. A lot of people will tell you the opposite, to go out and try new things whenever you can, and while this is excellent advice, I feel that staying within your soft limits is equally important and necessary. For example, I can paint the color red with some modicum of skill. I like painting red, and thus quite a bit of my model collection is red (Khorne Berzerkers, Blood Angels, Evil Sunz Orks, et al.) This goes contrary to the standards set by our small society, which tells us that we should paint our individual armies in different color schemes so that we might be able tell them apart. I’m sorry, but how does this make sense? The differences between our armies should be expressed by something more than a simple pallet swap, they should be apparent in the aesthetic style of the miniatures sculpts themselves, in the larger composition of the army as a whole. While it is true that we do occasionally separate our armies by color, this should not be the deciding factor.

Anyways, I’m sorry about going off on that tangent. It’s an issue I feel rather passionate about, and I tend to rant on such topics.

One last thing, though. Don’t burn yourself out. If you start to get tired of painting your CSM footsloggers, switch it up and paint, say, a Rhino. Have a couple projects you can swap between at any given time. And please, please, paint something other than power armor once in a while. Trust me, you’ll thank yourself later.

But thanks for tolerating me, dudes. Hope to see y’all ‘round the interwebs.

Psycho

[Kierdale]

Another very interesting read.

Particularly your view on painting and comfort zone.

And a good point about the benefits of having multiple projects on the go!

 

I put to you my two usual questions...

I. Can you please show us the model you're most proud of?

II. What's your dream project? (Money/time/skill/bitz/Infernal Powers permitting)

[Soldier of Dorn]

Well, technically not a Chaos model, but it's one of the few models I've actually finished painting:

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/je6UYlK.jpg?1

Zhel Varost, Moritat, Blood Angels 65th Company, called 'Requiem'

 

As for a dream project? I dunno. I've got so many ideas flying around in my head. There are a couple large projects involving xenos I might wanna do, and I would like a Dark Mechanicum force done in the style of John Blanche, but right now, all I really want to do is finish up all the various Space Marine projects that I've started and have never gotten 'round to finishing.

 

Glad my views on painting were interesting. I spent a lot of time thinking how I could include that in a way that wouldn't offend anybody, but nobody seems to be marching upon my house with pitchforks and torches yet, so I assume that's a good sign.

[Augustus b'Raass]

Ha! The bloke from Amsterdam happens to very much agree with your 'stay in your comfort zone' and 'switch unit type' advice, and with your 'BnC is some calm in the storm type of place, as well as a melting pot of different types with the same hobby'. 

 

Nice read, Psycho.

 

Also: I enjoy doing this thread with you. :tu:

[Soldier of Dorn]

Death to the False Emperor! You might not know his name, but you definitely know his Khornate army of beasts and other gribblies is famed around the interwebs. It's McGibs, and today we'll find out what makes the madman tick.
 
1)How did you become a Chaos Lord?
I used to play Imperial Guard for a few years, and I guess the call of chaos was just sort of a reaction to break away from the sameness of painting the umpteenth guardsman or imperial tank. There's also that allure of just playing the baddies.
 
2)When did you start to play the Chaos Space Marines/Daemons/Lost&Damned?
Just after the 6th edition Chaos Space Marine codex was released. 

3)Which is your favorite traitor legion or Chaos warband, and why?
World Eaters, and anything Khornate. I like the raw simplicity of Khorne, and the super-gore outrageousness it has in 40k. Like orks, they draw from the same puritan source of "we fight for the sake of fighting" but there's less outright comedic trappings, so Khorne still has the evil-badguy element. In a sci-fi universe focused wholly around pointless warfare and senseless loss of life on a grandiose scale, Khorne seems to be a really strong distilment of that.
Plus I like the iconography of big angry louts with giant axes who lack all sense of finesse or class. My favorite fight scene in any movie is in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the fight between the Black Knight and the Green Knight (not black knight vs Arthur) because it's so stupidly clumsy and brutal and exhausting to watch. There's no faffing about with fancy moves or witty banter. It's just two dudes in armour beating the snot out of each other with heavy metal objects. And that's the same reason I like Khorne.
 
4)What do you like most of the Warhammer 40k hobby?
Converting the models. It's the same itch that lego scratched when I was younger, except now I've got disposable income and exacto knives.
The lore/universe is also pretty interesting to me as well, but only when viewed through a certain satirical lense. To me, the whole point of 40k is to be this giant parody mashup of every existing thing it can suck from history and pop culture, and just crank it up to 11. It's so big, and so dumb, and it has this awesome "what if" thread that runs through the whole fiction. What if the Holy Roman Empire ruled the galaxy with giant flying cathedral spaceships? What if their police force was just Judge Dredds? What if there was an army of Rambos? What if there was also an army of evil Batmans? Or an army of robot terminator zombies? Gundams? What if the same incompetent bureaucracy that ran the DMV was also running a galaxy wide society? What if every battle was an epic struggle for the fate of billions that, in any other fiction, would be the sole defining conflict, but in 40k it is literally just business as usual, and win or lose the whole party just keeps on trucking regardless. It's ludicrous, and it's awesome. But it can get the wind knocked out of it if people start looking it in the mouth a bit too closely. 
 
5)What is your play style?
In the tenants of Khorne, barrel across the table and blend the enemy into a fine red mist. Or get krumped along the way. Either way, it all works out in the end.
 
6)What was your greatest achievement or favorite memory from your hobby career?
I took home Best Army Appearance in my first big tournament this year, which was pretty cool. I'm not a great painter by any means, but it's nice to have a plaque I can put in my display case.
 
7)Do you collect and play any other armies?
I have a whole lot of Imperial Guard, but I became disillusioned with their gold-plated paintjob (vehicles were a pain, and I had a lot of vehicles). I've also got a mechanicus army in the works in the style of 1950's robots (think fallout). Flailing flexo arms and brains in glass bubbledomes. Should be fun.
 
8)Which is your favorite Chaos character?
I've always been a fan of Ahriman, because I'm a sucker for a good tragic character. Also wizards that can throw a punch in a fight. So he's a double threat.
 
9)Which is your favorite Black Library publication?
I've only read the Eisenhorn series and half of Gaunt's Ghosts. Both are good pulpy reads, though I can't really remember any particular story beats in either of them. One of the ghost books (necropolis?) had some awesome imagery with a hive city being besieged and all the stages of horribleness that ensue. I think I like the ghost books best because they did a pretty good job of painting weird sci-fi screweyness with a more human perspective, and also half the conflict was always against the imperium's own idiotic politics.
 
10)Any advice for your fellow frater, any parting words of wisdom?
Blood for the Blood God is a really good technical paint.

[Augustus b'Raass]

Oh man, the second paragraph of the answer to question three and the whole of answer number four are so incredibly on point. You made me laugh, brought me back to the time when 40K still had humor (frater Res Ipsa Loquitur did the same in my thread yesterday), and it just clicked.

 

Nice read. And please include a link to McGibs awesome, awesome thread. Seriously everyone should see his fantastic creations.

[Kierdale]

I too love your answer to question 4. :tu:

 

 

I put to you my two usual questions...

I. Can you please show us the model you're most proud of?

II. What's your dream project? (Money/time/skill/bitz/Infernal Powers permitting)

[Thedarkprincesnun]

Favorite chaps quote?

[Augustus b'Raass]

His Night Lords are inspired, he's an avid follower and loyal subscriber to many a Chaos Lord that has previously been featured here, and a nice bloke from a weird part of Scandinavia. it's MrBear! Here´s his WIP thread, btw. 

 

1.) How have you become a Chaos Lord?

That's the question isn't it? Am I 'proper' Chaos Lord even? I'd more consider myself ”An Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards” to steal from Pratchett's and Gaiman's 'Good Omens'. Joking aside though, the title 'Lord' feels a bit grand when my warband doesn't consist of more than 33 Marines and a Rhino. It's growing though so I'm getting closer...

 

But everything started somewhere around -97 when I met some friends who were into Warhammer Fantasy and I started a small Bretonnian army. As I went to university it progressed to Orcs & Goblins and (Fantasy) Chaos before 40K got it's teeth in me through a DIY loyalist Chapter. I was contemplating starting a proper 40K Chaos Marines army aswell but finishing my degree and then moving back to the countryside of northern Sweden sort of stopped all hobby activites (very few people here and fewer still with any interest in wargaming. We have plenty of trees though!). I didn't paint more than maybe 15 models in 6-7 years before I got back into the hobby with the help of some new friends who played Fantasy. Then I read ADB's Night Lords trilogy, saw all the inspiring Night Lords blogs online and things just fell into place. I do feel that I need to especially mention Brother Heinrich's 15th Company though, he was my main inspiration when I started.

 

2.) When did you start to play the Chaos Space Marines/Daemons/Lost&Damned?

That one is easy! I never started! Last time I played a game of 40K was sometime during the first half of 2005 and back then I only had loyalists. I guess that the closest I have ever come is Fantasy Chaos and that was just for a 'Path to Glory'-campaign back when White Dwarf was still more or less essential for anyone in the hobby.

 

3.) Which is your favorite traitor legion or Chaos warband, and why?
Night Lords should be pretty obvious I guess... I've always had a, sort of, soft spot for them since the original 'Index Astartes'-article in WD. It's hard to put into writing what it is that I like with them but the fact that you can view them from different perspectives is probably part of it. From one viewpoint you have the Legion that was 'intended' to be the Emperor's terror weapon, that rebelled when they felt that they were going to be discarded. From another viewpoint you have a bunch of nihilistic criminals, led by a madman, running amok and killing without purpose, joining the Heresy just because they felt that it would give them the opportunity to do it on an even grander scale.That no one really knows the full truth is really good from a narrative purpose. There's also the complex struggle between 'puritan' and corrupted members of the Legion to consider, it gives them character in my eyes. All of them are damned by their actions in the end of course but that tragedy doesn't hurt either.

 

There are interesting aspects to all Legions to be honest though, but something about ADB's writing about 10th Company made me join the VIIIth.

 

4.) What do you like most of the Warhammer 40k hobby?

The communtiy and camaraderie online is a pretty big thing for me, considering that my 'hobby situation' would be very desolate otherwise I'm glad for the opportunity to interact with people all over the world through the B&C.

 

When it comes to the acual hobby though... It's coming up with a background for my guys. Sure, modelling is always interesting, and painting is relaxing after a hectic day at work but it's figuring out how to make my Marines into individuals with their own plans and prospects that is the payoff for me. Since I don't game anymore it's the best way for me to maintain the interest in a project.

5.) What is your play style?

A bit tricky since I don't play anymore... Back in the days it used to be 'in character' though. I remember a battle where at the beginning of the last turn I was reduced to four Marines from three different squads and I was facing the lone surviving Chaos Marine and a wounded Bloodthirster. The 'smart' thing to do would have been to scatter the Marines and get a draw, but Space Marines 'know no fear' right? So I charged! I obviously lost but I would have made the same decision today as it was the fitting thing to do. Death or glory!

6.) What was your greatest achievement or favorite memory from your hobby career?

Either winning 'Best Painted Army' with my Orcs & Goblins at a local tournament (very local wth less than 20 people though) or my Chaplain destroying a Chaos Land Raider in a 'Death or Glory' attack and then proceeding to kill the Khornate Terminators that had been onboard in close combat. The latter can still bring a smile to my face when I think about it.

 

7.) Do you collect and play any other armies?

I do have an Empire army for Fantasy, haven't used it much for a year or so but there is a small chance that I might expand it in the future. Not interested in AoS though so it's a very small chance. I have some plans for a Heresy force using the BaC-set, at the moment I think that it's going to be Blood Angels but there is a small chance yet that it will be loyalist Sons of Horus. Time will tell though, it's not something I'm going to start working on until sometime next year anyway.

 

8.) Which is your favorite Chaos character?

That's a tricky one... I don't read that many 40K books like I did back in my most active days so I have a pretty limited pool to choose from. I'd like to say the whole of 'First Claw' from ADB's trilogy but that's probably cheating a bit. If I have to choose one of them though I'll take Mercutian. All the rest of them are great but a cultured, loyal and self-sacrificing Night Lord with a puritan streak? That's someone my Lord would love to have at his side.

9.) Which is your favorite Black Library publication?

Hmmm... The Ciaphas Cain books have made me smile quite a few times and Guant's Ghosts were an early favourite aswell but I'll have to go with the Night Lords trilogy as that was a major part of me getting back into 40K. There are a couple of books I've heard good things about that I'm going to try to find the time to read though so things might change...

 

10.) Any advice for your fellow players, any parting words of wisdom?

It's your hobby, your army, your fun. Don't worry if there is someone out there that's 'better' at modelling, painting or writing, as long as YOU enjoy what you're doing everything is all right. There are plenty of times I've thought that other people does something better than me but I'm fine with that, I can still enjoy what I'm doing and their stuff can serve as an inspiration or as something to aspire towards.

[Kierdale]

Everyone always praises ADB's Night Lords books...they're a legion I've never been interested in but with all this praise I should give them a look at.

 

 

I put to you my two usual questions...

I. Can you please show us the model you're most proud of?

II. What's your dream project? (Money/time/skill/bitz/Infernal Powers permitting)

[MrBear]

An honor to be among those interviewed in this thread.

@ Kierdale

Without spoiling things too much... I think that many people like the books because they show things from slightly different perspectives than many other. A warband that is down on it's luck and the internal struggles between members that wants to go 'full Chaos', members that cling to a past that (maybe) never was and members looking for a third option makes for quite an interesting story.

As for your questions:

1. There are a couple of models that I'm fairly proud of for different reasons so I'll 'cheat' a bit and show three of them.

Hidden Content

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m101/The-Bear-in-the-North/SAM_0721_zpsj4ucqw7b.jpg

The first tank I've painted in over ten years, turned out pretty nice in my own humble opinion.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m101/The-Bear-in-the-North/SAM_0733_zpsurv3pc4l.jpg

Captain Justinian Vorbis of the 33rd Company, Lord of the Mongrels, a.k.a. The Straight Edge.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m101/The-Bear-in-the-North/SAM_0738_zpsklvxif8z.jpg

Condeon, former Techmarine for the 33rd, now it's 'Warpsmith'

Taking photos isn't my strongest talent but these are pretty decent at least.

2. Dream project? Doing a historical version of my Company I'd say, I did a model of one of it's pre-Curze members a few weeks ago and it turned ot really nice. As it was Mk. II it would cost an arm and a leg to do with FW models though so such a thing would have to wait until GW turns out plastic Mk. II in a BaC-like set.

[Soldier of Dorn]

INTERVIEW WITH A CHAOS LORD 2015: A RETROSPECTIVE

Well, as the Interview's first year on the forums draws near its close, it seems only appropriate we should end by looking back at how it has become what it is now, including some statistics (I know y'all love 'em ) and thoughts on what Interview with a Chaos Lord is, or should be, and closing by turning the Interview's concept on it's head and asking you, our captive audience, a question.

As you all know, the Interview was first created on March 11 of this year by Tenebris. Under his reign as Dark Lord of the Throne of Inquiries, he interviewed 15 Chaos Lords over a course of some 3 months. Following his departure from the forums, Augustus b'Raass (who was scheduled to be the next interviewee) posted the interview he had completed before Tenebris' fall from Glory (so to speak) in July, the 16th interview and the final interview in the original thread.

And then it died.

But, then, on the third second month, it rose again, in the form of a new thread (originally entitled Interview with a Chaos II), under the supervision of Augustus (again) and yours truly. Since then, we have interviewed 13 Chaos Lords in this thred, 7 on Augustus' part and 6 on mine, for a total of 29 Chaos Lords interviewed for the two threads combined.

And I can honestly say that it's been awesome (and I know Augustus can too ) This community is entirely supportive of each other, and the way that people's stories are shared through this project only serves to bring the community closer together. It's (in my oh-so-humble opinion) one of the best threads on a forum of quality work because of this, and it wouldn't be possible without any of the people who have taken the time to answer the questions that are put before them. I also feel Kierdale deserves special mention. for his constant contribution to the thread by asking those two questions he asks every week:

I put to you my two usual questions...
I. Can you please show us the model you're most proud of?
II. What's your dream project? (Money/time/skill/bitz/Infernal Powers permitting)

But in any regard, thank you, everyone who's either been interviewed, or has asked questions of an interviewee, or has even just read some of the interviews that have been posted. Without any of you, none of this would have been worthwhile, or even possible. So thank you.

Interview with a Chaos Lord will be taking a break for the next couple weeks so Augustus and I can enjoy the holiday and not pester anyone else with our Spanish Inquisition-style tactics (nobody ever expects us!) We have a few people already lined up for next year, but a few is not enough. So, as I said before, we have a question for you, and it's devilishly hard to answer:

WHO DO WANT TO SEE INTERVIEWED?

That's it. That's all. Who should we interview next year? It's trickier than it looks, so post any of your suggestions for us

Anyways, once again, thank you. You all are a great community to be a part of (I cannot emphasize that enough ) and I wish you all a Merry Christmas! May you all be blessed with piles of plastic and resin this holiday!

Cheers,

Psycho

STATS

Start date of original thread: March 11, 2015

Total interviewed: 16

Under Tenebris

Interviewed : 15

• Uprising
• Insane Psychopath
• The Jeske
• Kol Saresk
• Forte
• Lagrath \
• Scribe
• Chaeron
• Aafresser
• Dragonlover
• Excessus
• Tenebris
• Carrack
• Teetengee
• Iron_Within

Under Augustus b'Raass

• Augustus b'Raass

Start of second thread: September 15, 2015

Under Augustus b'Raass and the Psycho (alternating)

Interviewed: 13

• Flint13
• Vesper
• Kierdale
• Venomlust
• Brother Heinrich
• malisteen
• SlaveToDarkness
• Castigator
• The Prophet
• AlanOfAngels
• The Psycho
• McGibs
• MrBear

Total interviewed thus far (both threads): 29

[Augustus b'Raass]

Dude, this is great. Thanks for taking the time! I'm still very thrilled to do this project with you, and can only add my thanks to all participants, commenters and further question-askers for their commitment. Cheers, and happy holidays!!

[Teetengee]

GuitaRasmus

rednekkbboss

 

are two I can think of off the top of my head, although the first hasn't been around as much these days

also, I don't know a good way of working it, and perhaps it requires a different thread or topic, but it may be interesting to re-interview some people after a period of time, I know some of my answers have changed after working on my chaos rewrite project and I imagine others have had similarly massive projects I would love to hear about

[Augustus b'Raass]

Cheers, Teets. Both good suggestions. I also like your idea of doing a re/interview, but perhaps we should go to that after we run out of Chaos Lords. ;) Or at least wait a couple months before we do that, so as to give the previous interviewees some more time. Sound good?

[Teetengee]

Cheers, Teets. Both good suggestions. I also like your idea of doing a re/interview, but perhaps we should go to that after we run out of Chaos Lords. Or at least wait a couple months before we do that, so as to give the previous interviewees some more time. Sound good?

oh definitely, I imagine it is far to early to do any reinterview with serious intent, I just thought we may want to at some point in the future

[Kierdale]

Those are two good suggestions, Teetengee :tu:

 

And I keep asking my two questions just because you two are too dense to notice I'd rather you made them part of the regular questions! :P

 

Kidding aside, asking them every time gets me to read about that week's Lord, to see others' views and ideas.

And it's a good chance for me to let others show off their best models. :)

[Augustus b'Raass]

Indeed, Kierdale! INdeed, we're so dense, the space-time continuum is distorted in our vicinity. ;)

 

I actually really like it that others ask more general hobby questions than those having to do with the Chaos Lord being a Chaos Lord. I can only encourage others to ask more. :)

[Flint13]

I like Teetengee's suggestions, and the fact you referred to him as "Teets"

 

Likes all around. 

[Darkroy]

Hey guys, I love this series of interviews, great work! I am looking forward to the upcoming subtle discord interview and would like to suggest thamier to go on your hit list as well. It was the work of those two that made me aware of this awesome site.

[Soldier of Dorn]

Hello, and welcome to this, the first Interview with a Chaos Lord of 2016. This week, I pleased to say we have the great KrautScientist gracing these unholy halls with his sparkling wit and unhealthy obsession with all things Khornate. Now, shall we begin?

1)How did you become a Chaos Lord?

I think my soul was eternally lost to chaos once I laid my eyes upon the very first plastic chaos warrior from the fabled HeroQuest box: There was something so cool and sinister about that bulky little guy that I wanted to learn more. GW made this easy for me, as the plastic chaos warriors back then were basically bigger, badder versions of the HeroQuest warriors – and I’ve never looked back since

2)When did you start to play the Chaos Space Marines/Daemons/Lost&Damned?

At first I was mostly interested in Warhammer Fantasy, and both 40k in general as well as the Space Marines in particular seemed like a slightly goofy proposition, like it was merely Warhammer IN SPACE (which, in all fairness, it originally was).

But then I borrowed the 2nd edition Codex Imperialis from a good friend as a lad and blazed through it in one sitting on a Saturday morning in bed, and was frankly blown away by how dark and serious it all was, and I guess I was hooked. It only made sense to take a look at how my beloved followers of chaos fared in the 41st millennium, and since the plastic berzerkers had just been released back then, it was actually a fairly easy transition.

3)Which is your favorite traitor legion or Chaos warband, and why?

I’m a traitor legions man all the way, I suppose, and the World Eaters are my undisputed favourites. Originally, my choice was mostly based on their design, but I think they have really become one of the more compelling traitor legions of late, with a very tragic backstory that really adds a certain gravitas to their fall and the long millennia afterwards. I also instantly fell in love with the World Eaters colour scheme way back when, so there was never really any choice in the matter

I think it ultimately all comes down to telling a story in miniature form, and whatever shape fits that narrative best is the way you have to go: The World Eaters just tick all of the boxes for me.

4)What do you like most of the Warhammer 40k hobby?

The creativity of it has always been the biggest pull, along with the background: While 40k may be an amalgamation of many different literary influences, the result is something quite unlike everything else, and there’s no other setting for me that quite scratches the same itch. Another thing that has become incredibly important and satisfying to me is the generosity and constructivity among hobbyists: I’ve been exchanging ideas and small pieces of plastic with people from all around the world this last couple of years, and it may sound silly, but that has really made me appreciate both the technical options we have today for getting in touch with each other as well as the importance of peace between countries – gah, I’m getting all sappy now, am I not?

5)What is your play style?

I’m a pretty terrible player, to be honest, so if I even have a playstyle, it consists of permanently asking the other player(s) for the correct rules or numbers. I don’t have a mind for the huge backlog of rules that make up 40k today, so I am probably a catastrophe to play against. That said, I do try to play my army in a spirit fitting their background, if at all possible, which usually makes it more fun for everyone involved (while certainly not always guaranteeing a win, to say the least).

6)What was your greatest achievement or favorite memory from your hobby career?

Phew, this is a really tough question to answer, because there have been so many great moments over the last couple of years alone: One of my models being featured in Warhammer:Visions in 2014 was amazing. The generosity and friendliness among bloggers and hobbyists has been a wonderful surprise. Continually trying to step outside my comfort zone and ending up with models that I would never have been able to produce a mere couple of years ago (such as my recent Chaos Knight) has been such a cool process -- all of this has been so very educational and fun, really.

Tell you what, though, since this is a Chaos-related interview, let me give you this nugget: Back in 2011, I had just tackled one of my most involved conversions up to that point, seriously converting a Chaos Defiler. I had never done a model at that size before, and cutting it up was a very daunting experience. As was painting that huge lump of plastic. Then the day of the first day came, and I was already expecting the Defiler to draw a lot of fire and expire fairly fast. My opponent, playing Eldar, had the first turn and chose to make his very first shot in the entire game and didn’t even target the Defiler but something different. His shot went stray, however, and managed to destroy the freshly completed Defiler before it had even made its very first move in the game.

Rats.

I think we all have tales like that, but that’s the one that has stayed with me ever since

7)Do you collect and play any other armies?

Yes. Oh yes. I have a small Traitor Guard force that can serve to supplement my World Eaters, but was mainly started as a bit of a diversion. Then there’s my kitbashed Custodes army, a rather long-running project that I only return to every once in a while and which will probably be made utterly redundant, once FW release their own Custodes. I am also very interested in the world of INQ28 and have quite a few characters for that setting. There’s also a kitbashed Orc Blood Bowl team. And let’s not forget my old Dark Eldar and Warriors of Chaos armies.

Sheesh, written out like that, it actually looks pretty bad…

8)Which is your favorite Chaos character?

Phew, another toughie, as there are so many: The iconic 2nd edition characters (Khârn, Ahriman, Fabius Bile) were incredibly important for teaching me the look and feel of chaos on 40k. I also have to mention though that pretty much every “Khornate” character written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden has become a favourite of mine: That guy just has a knack of writing followers of Khorne that steal every scene they are in, making Angron into an utterly irredeemable but also strangely relatable character or managing to give Uzas from 1st Claw a role as comic relief while also ultimately making him surprisingly tragic.

9)Which is your favorite Black Library publication?

Everything written by Dan Abnett and Aaron Dembski-Bowden is usually great. I especially like Abnett’s Inquisitor-themed models and ADB’s stuff about traitor legions – all of it. If I can make one recommendation, however, go read ADB’s Betrayer ASAP. It will change the way you see both Angron and the World Eaters. Come to think of it, the same could be said about Dan Abnett’s Know No Fear, though, as it completely changed my view of the Ultramarines.

10)Any advice for your fellow frater, any parting words of wisdom?

Maybe the two most useful pieces of advice I can give are these:

One, when building and painting new models, treat every model as a character in their own right and not as a mere gaming piece. It will probably slow you down, but you’ll have a very different rapport with your army, and you’ll make the most of your hobby buck if you spend some time thinking about your little guys and putting them together in a thoughtful way, instead of just going for models that are “good enough”. Personally speaking, considering the amount of money I spend on little plastic men, I want each of them to be cool on their own and not just "good enough".

Two, always try to help other hobbyists, be it through constructive criticism or through sending them a little piece of plastic that they’ve been desperately searching for. It may not make the world a better place in the short run, but both you and your fellow hobbyists will get more fun and friendliness out of their hobby, and that is something we should all aspire to -- dang, there I go again...

[Kierdale]

It's very good to see your interview at last! :tu:

Some good advice in there. I too found Betrayer and Know No Fear changed my views of those legions for the better.

 

 

I put to you my two usual questions...

I. Can you please show us the model you're most proud of?

II. What's your dream project? (Money/time/skill/bitz/Infernal Powers permitting)

[Augustus b'Raass]

Yes! I was looking forward to that interview. Good read, K-Sci. I completely underscore the sappy parts. It´s been a pleasure exchanging bits with you, and it has taught me, for one, exactly the spirit of camaraderie that we need in this hobby. :tu: