A month out now from NOVA 2018 and I have my work cut out for me. I finished registering for events a couple weeks back, finalizing my convention schedule and my hobby to-do list leading up to the event. I'm excited to be trying out some new things this year!

First event I registered for was Blood Bowl: Darkness Fouls. I've decided to take a new team this year. After much deliberation I finally settled on Elven Union (formerly Pro Elf). I strongly considered Dark Elves and even played with them several times in BB2 on PC. But I just can't ignore those Side Stepping EU Blitzers or better than the average aelf Catchers. When I saw the recently released DE team I was happy with my decision. They aren't terrible or anything, just nothing special in my opinion and they don't stand up to the elegance & motion of the EU sculpts. With that decision made, now all I need is a paint scheme. Here’s my test model so far:




I need to nail down the final details so I can batch paint through the remaining 11 players. This is priority #1 and will require the most hobby effort amongst my projects I must complete before NOVA list.

Something new this year on my NOVA schedule is a Games Workshop: Painting Aeldari Seminar led by Duncan Rhodes! I’ve been meaning to try one of the panels / classes offered at NOVA and am glad this one works out in my schedule.


Next up, and also very new (I picked up my copy a few hours ago), is Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team. On a whim, I decided to register for one of the Kill Team tournaments debuting at NOVA this year. I'm signed up for the Thursday afternoon POD, so I better learn the game quickly. From what I’ve seen so far the game looks fun and the terrain is fantastic! I can’t wait to dive into the rulebook more tonight and start building my own Kill Team. My pre-release leaning was Necrons, but now Dark Eldar / Drukhari are calling to me. I’ll probably start playing with both while I learn the game since I can build teams for both from painted models currently in my display cabinet, although my Dark Eldar are definitely in need of a paint update. Much more on all of this after I’ve spent some more time with the game.

And last but certainly not least, and also new this year — you see, in years past I’ve either attended the NOVA Open... OR, my family has welcomed a new baby to the household. Only exception being NOVA 2011 when my first was born later that Fall. — I’m beyond words, mind-blown, excited to announce that my wife and I are expecting baby #4 around Thanksgiving time!!!!


That’s right folks, I’ll have the minimum 4 teams / coaches needed for a Blood Bowl league all living under my own roof haha! Not even gonna lie, this was something I thought about not long after finding out the good news :) I and the whole family cannot wait to meet them!