When I was about 12 years old I got given Hero Quest for christmas. It was the most amazing game I had ever seen.
I had loved board games from a very early age and was fascinated with the miniature playing pieces and tiny characters. I was also very into fantasy and Si-Fi and read a lot of Fighting Fantasy books and I was always building models with my dad, spitfires and airfix kits.
Hero Quest Blew Me Away !!!
It was incredible, the artwork was exquisite, the pieces were amazing and for a young boy with a good imagination anyway, it was a doorway to another world.
Ok, so that sounds a little ott, but seriously OMG !!!
Started painting the models with whatever paint I had laying around and soon decided I needed some more chaos knights and skeletons to paint. So I sent a letter to GW asking for details on how I could buy more of the figures.
GW replied with a catalog and information on my nearest GW store in Harrow.
I couldn't wait to go to the store I was about 13 at the time and walking in the shop for the first time. It was packed with all sorts of interesting people. Goths and Metalheads hanging out playing weird and wonderful games, with great music playing and a real buzz of excitement in the air. I would head up to Harrow at weekends and spend all day in the shop. I loved it.

At age 14 I got caught shop lifting from Game in the Harlequin Center. I was caught trying to steal about £50 worth of miniatures. I'm not proud of this, but it did teach me a valuable lesson. Don't steal from shops with security tagged merchandise.

My passion for GW grew.

GW store opened in Watford. It is awesome.

At age 19 I got a job in the Watford GW Store.

The store manager at the time was Lawrence Widdicombe. A total Legend and master painter. I worked with my very good friends Dave Gordon and Craig and it is to this day one of the best jobs I have ever had. It was at a time with GW where things were very relaxed. We played whatever music we wanted to play (mainly Whitezombie, ICP or Korn) It was before the strict rules on how stores should be run and what music is played and GW was one of the fastest growing companies in the world.

Necromunda came out as a proper game and to this day is in my opinion the best game GW ever made and would love to see them re-release it with a large range of plastic miniatures. (If your out there GW

I did my Scout training at GWHQ and went to the miniatures room to buy lead... lots of lead

Created a few small 40k armies including Space Wolves and my own undead marine Chapter.    

Unfortunately, the Boss left and the New Boss was just not the same.

I left GW and started working at night clubs in London.

I moved into a shared flat in Forest Gate east London with some friends. I had a huge wooden box that I kept all the gaming stuff that I had collected over the years, all my books, pictures, everything and after living there for a while I went home to Watford to see my parents and when I returned a few days later I discovered that we had all been kicked out of the flat and that all my belongings were round one of our friends houses. I never saw that box again.

I stopped collecting GW stuff for a while, though I kept a keen interest.

At age 29 I moved from London back to my home town of Watford, I met a bunch of new friends and discovered that they all played GW games. This made me re-discover my passion for GW and the 40k universe and decided to build my dream army.

For me it had to be a Marine Army and an army that truly personifies all that it is to be a Space Marine.
I have always loved the look of the Imperial Fists, there is just something about their Yellow and Black armor that makes them really stand out and it's also the Watford Football Club colours. Not that I'm a massive football fan, but I do like the connection.

I got the Space Marine Codex first and then started buying my army. I wanted to buy everything that I wanted in the army and all the extras that I wanted to add from Forge World before I started building anything, just so I could mix up the building process as much as possible and give each marine its own identity.

Then I built them all, this was epic.
Tried to use as may of the pieces from all the sets I had bought as I could, adding grenades, pouches and other details to all of them. I even to managed to build two extra squads out of the spare parts and I did some nice conversions and special characters. Including an Iron Clad Dreadnaught that I built literally just weeks before GW released the actual model, a Grand Master, a High Chaplin, a Master of the Forge, a 1st Company Command Squad, a 10th Company Command Squad, as well as a Scout Chaplain and Scout Librarian.

All finished being built I sprayed them all black.

YELLLOW !!!

Then I pained lots and lots and lots of Yellow.

I wasn't to worried about making them to neat at first, just slap it on as quick as possible just to get some colour on them all.
That done I started painting the Scouts.
When they were up to a fairly decent standard (they still need markings painted and to be inked) I moved on to my Tactical Marine Squads.
I have finished 25 of them and I have 10 more to do, then I have 20 Assault Marines to finish and then 20 Devastators. Then a whole lot more after that.

Will update you on the progress as I go.

RECYCLED MODELS

One of my favorite things about playing GW games is the Scenery and I love the detail and Imagination that goes into building it. Building the models that are produced by GW is great and they are the best toy soldiers in the world, but building something that is part of that and totally your own creation. Is frickin awesome. While I worked for GW there was less inclination to only use GW sanctioned scenery, so we made our own amazing creations out of whatever we could get our hands on. White Dwarf Magazine would regularly do articles on how to build a verity of great looking war machines and scenery out of stuff found laying about at home. I think a bit of Blue Peter in my childhood in there as well.

Not long after I had started collecting my new army I thought about building some new epic scenery and I started hoarding bit like a squirrel.

I think it was shaped polystyrene pieces that made me snap. I couldn't help but imagine some sort of mega fortress every time I was one.

It wasn't long before I was up to my eyeballs in Polystyrene and cardboard tubes.

I built loads of stuff from mountains to sewers and mighty spires all out of junk.

Then one day I woke up and had this idea in my head to build an Imperial Knight out of junk. Imperial Knights are the smallest class of Titan and Titans are just buildings on legs, so I thought I'd give it a go. I jotted down a few ideas and set to work.

It came out looking awesome and I started on the next.

As my first one had been an Imperial version of the Knight I thought for my next on I would do a Nurgle one and go all out with the details. As I have an Imperial Fist army and a Nurgle Knight doesn't really fit in with that I decided that I would see if I can sell it.
I have put the pictures of the finished model online and the picture of the model with the stages of how it was built got over 500 views on the first day of being online.

Will update further on this as it happens.

So that is that, my history with Games Workshop.
It is a very important part of my life and I love it.

Cant wait for the 40k movie

UPDATE-------UPDATE-------UPDATE-------UPDATE-------UPDATE-------UPDATE-------UPDATE-------UPDATE-------UPDATE-------UPDATE-------

Plague Knight Model has just toped 1,000 views on DA 17/1/13 and this has 100.


UPDATE 11/5/13           PK views 1,310 This Journal Entry 358

Hello again,

haven't been using DA very much recently and have been concentrating on getting more models painted. I am painting my last Assault squad now and have also finished a Land Raider a couple of Chaplains, a Librarian, a Dreadnaught, a Tech Marine, a Tech Marine on a Bike, built some new mega Servitors out of some Ogre Bits I got given by a friend and I have added 2 new Marine Bike Squads to the Army and used some of the Ogre Bits to make them look like medieval Knights and they fit in nicely to the style of my Army.

I have also finished painting my Nurgle Plague Knight. I am very proud of him, I think he looks great andthe paint job really brings the model to life.

I have just put the pictures of Nurgle up on DA and will be putting him up for sale on ebay in the next few days.

UPDATE 12/5/13           PK views 1,343 This Journal Entry 379

I have been invited to be an Admin on the DA GW Group and I feel very honored to be asked