Feels Good To Be A Punk Loser

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Feels Good To Be A Punk Loser

Back in the day, whatever I was into was a niche hobby or interest, be it computer games, heavy metal, skateboarding or Warhammer. When I say niche hobby, I mean you and the other few social pariahs into it took pelters at school for being squares and were left feeling like a piece of shit for not toeing the party line. Fast forward 20 years and the landscape has changed. Pretty much every household has a console, computer and tablet, and grown men are bickering over the upcoming XBox One v PS4 showdown. Heavy music has never been more popular. Admittedly, most of this popular stuff is utter gash, but it raises an eyebrow when people you went to school with, who looked down at you for trying to put Pantera or Sepultura on the 6th form common room stereo, are now gushing over the latest Queens Of The Stone Age and Alice In Chains albums, or this year’s Reading festival line-up.

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My first love

Warhammer? The dirtiest secret of all is still considered taboo though. Nobody really admits to being a fan, and a few of us were resigned to painting and gaming in a mate’s garage, as the closest GW store was 100 miles away. Sunshine was neglected in favour of weekends and school holidays devouring White Dwarf magazines and Citadel mail order catalogues (which you can find here for nostalgia purposes http://www.solegends.com/citadel/ ) whilst listening to grunge, metal and gangsta rap. I then moved to Nottingham to go to Uni, but jacked it in after 18 months and landed a job in the GW factory. It was a good few years, buying armies at cost for a pittance, helping build the very first Warhammer World museum and the Games Day dioramas, even attending new release meetings and playing Mordheim in the studio. Then I got got made redundant, disobeyed the Codex Astartes or something for being a dick, and sent into exile. Fuck the hobby, fuck GW, off I went to play in bands, and that was the end of all that.

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Siege Of The Emperor’s Palace

Or was it? Despite my exile, being happily married with 2 kids, I still kept my toe in the water, dabbling with Dawn Of War on the PC and reading some Black Library novels, but that was the extent of my involvement in the hobby. I think I mentioned reading a Horus Heresy novel on Twitter a couple of years back, and a few people piped up, respected dudes I’d known from bands I’d played with or been listening to. Then I noticed a couple of record label forums each had a dedicated Warhammer thread, more people were crawling out of the woodwork and coming clean, and I started to get that buzz again.
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Fast forward, and it culminated in a visit to Warhammer World with some UKHC veterans, an email list was started, knowledge and wisdom shared, and now this awesome blog is here. Turns out plenty of cool dudes are into it, it’s not such a dirty secret after all, and I’m enjoying the hobby again like I did 20 years ago. Being a bitter cynic who’s taken for granted, I’ve naturally started an Iron Warriors 40K army, and thanks to eBay, independent webstores and other companies that make acrylic paints, I don’t really have to set foot in a GW store, and if I do, I bring my 3 year old son with me, who’s special attribute is keeping the staff at least 12 feet away from me with his Death Glare.
First thing I've painted in 13 years, and still not finished

First thing I’ve painted in 13 years, and still not finished

Is there a point to this? Absolutely! If you’re passionate about something, stick to your guns, reach out to like-minded folk, embrace it and don’t feel the need to sweep it under the carpet. Besides, if it ever gets too popular, you can always ditch it, claim the moral high ground knowing you were OG and sneer at all those with a late pass like a true punk.
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About Chris

Husband, father, procrastinator and record label mug. Living in Nottingham, but originally from Milford Haven. Back in the hobby after a decade of self-enforced exile, thanks to my fellow Corehammer punks. Sharp-minded, cynical, bitter and taken for granted. A true Iron Warrior

1 thought on “Feels Good To Be A Punk Loser”

  1. I bought WD the other day on my lunch hour, when asked what it was I simply replied “oh, just a music mag.” I work in IT and I hide my hobby from even the weirdest nerds for fear of being an outcast. Hope it changes soon.

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