Every fortnight (or so) I will be contacting a member of the 40K community and ask them to be subjected to my 20 nail bitting, edge of your seat questions. Some of the answers I get probe the deep dark recesses of the human condition whilst others will astonish you in their wisdom or lack thereof…
I seem to be attracting more and more celebrities to my
crazy little quest to fill the interwebs with pointlessness. We have another
Overlord to boot! I introduce to you the always upbeat Ciaran Dachtler. A lively
member of The Overloads team, he’s been known to relax beside fire places partaking
in expressive alcoholic beverages whilst listening to the enthralling sounds of
The Overlords intro jingles. Also rumour has is he currently owns more than 87%
of the Hellions in the universe!
So here are Ciaran’s 20 answers:
1. What got you into the hobby?
Initially it was my friends in
Primary school. When I was about 9 or 10, I was introduced to Space Crusade
(which I didn’t understand but thought was great because you could assemble
your own dreadnoughts). I never owned any Space Crusade stuff though. I was
below the recommended age and my Mum wouldn’t buy any of it! When I hit 14, my
parents gave in and bought me the starter box for Warhammer Fantasy. I had been
budding them for 40k, but in a surprisingly astute move for a small kid, I
didn’t complain and just got on with painting plastic High Elves incredibly
poorly. I went on to 40k the next year, back in the days of cardboard
Dreadnoughts and a still-breathing Makari. Good times…
2. Favourite army of all time? Do you currently pay it? If not why Not?
On balance, I would say it was
probably my Dark Eldar Hellion army. It was one of those armies that really
clicked for me, looked cool on the table and could handle nearly anything. Games
were rarely a pushover, because the DE are just so brittle and movement-based. One
failed Leadership test could cost me an entire game. I don’t really play much
anymore, but I did dig it out for a competition a couple of months ago. It did
well; two wins and one loss. It’s nowhere near as good as it was though; 6th
edition took away a lot of the tricks I could use and reduced the effectiveness
of a lot of the Hellion’s prior strengths. I mainly stopped playing because I
was getting to the point where I expected to win, and that would turn me into a
poor loser. I realise that sounds kind of smug, but it’s the truth. Just
switching to a new army entirely means I can start further down the curve and
enjoy losing games! Or at least become less of a dick when I do…
3. Favourite 40k fluff and why?
The Dark Eldar Codex has a host
of darkly funny backstories and events and has some of my favourite fluff in
it. I love tricks and con-games, so the various stories relating to the rise of
Vect are all fun. My favourite story in that book is just a brief paragraph
about the Dark Eldar helping out the Iyanden in their hour of greatest need
(shortly after repulsing the Tyranids), not for any greater purpose other than
they were enjoying the angst of the craftworlders too much to let them be
killed yet. Wonderful stuff.
4. Favourite 40K quote?
Bit of an odd one here. Probably
from Soul Hunter by ADB. A Terminator called Vraal goes to butcher First Claw. He
announces his presence perfectly: “Brothers!” he called joyously into the vox.
“Everyone is this room is going to die!”
Now THAT is an entrance! The
build-up to the quote is what really sets it up. If you know the book, you'll
get it. If not, read the book!
5. If you could invite any character from 40K fluff to dinner who would
it be? And what would you serve him/her for dinner?
Harlon Nayl. Steak and chips.
6. Favourite film?
Too many to count, but I’ll
single out Thank You For Smoking. Again, fast talking rhetoric tricks, moral
grey areas and comedy. One of my favourite combos.
7. Favourite TV series?
Again, far too many to name
without making a mockery of the question. Let’s say you have to go pretty far
to beat Futurama.
8. If your life was a movie, who'd play you?
Dunno really. Who’s a fat
sarcastic guy? Yeah, him. Why not?
9. Favourite comic book superhero?
Not really much of a comics
reader. I’ll cheat a little. My favourite comic book character is probably
Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan. Awesome series. As far as superhero
stuff goes, then probably Nightcrawler. I really like his benign, soulful
nature of contrasting with the awesome demon-appearance. It's also good to have
a devout religious character without that faith just being obfuscation for an
arsehole.
10. If you could live in any period of human history when would it be
and why?
Last week so I could get the
lottery numbers.
11. If you could use any 40k Universal Special Rules or Codex Special
Rule in day to day life what would it be? Why?
Don’t need any. I already have
Bulky. Seriously, I’d probably plump for Relentless, just so if I focussed on
something, I'd keep going until it gets done.
12. Biggest 40K regret?
Being a bad loser. I hate it when
I’m arsehole. It’s something that I’m always working on getting better at
because I never want to be the reason why someone has a bad game.
13. Strangest “food” you’ve eaten?
Nothing that unusual. I’ve eaten
crocodile, ostrich, kangaroo, horse, zebra. But none of them were that unusual
or weird, just not regional to Britain. I once ate king prawns with the shell
on because I didn’t realise you were meant to shell them first. Eyes, antennae,
the lot. Let’s go for that.
14. Fantasy job for a day?
Oligarch? Benevolent dictator? I
dunno. I’m not a work person. Provided the job was something I was comfortable
doing and would fund the rest of my life, I’d be fine.
15. Top 5 favourite songs?
Ugh. Difficult. Let’s go for (in
no particular order):
Sacred Worlds by Blind Guardian –
possibly the most epic single song ever made by man.
Nausea by Trophy Scars – Best
described as an interview with the Antichrist at the end of the world. With JAZZ.
Halo by Porcupine Tree – One of
the best bands in the world, and one of their best songs. Arrogant and full of
threat with an awesome bassline.
Cult Leader by Tech N9ne – Dark,
twisted and very eloquent. Tech has an awesome flow.
Industrial Disease by Dire
Straits – Slightly odd, but DS always were. One of the first songs I ever
remembered all the lyrics to.
16. If $1million mysteriously turned up in your bank account, what
would you spend it on?
I’d be really boring and stick it
in a saving account, dipping in whenever I needed to buy crap. Probably use it
for a house with a decent gaming room.
17. If you were offered a place amongst the 1st humans to colonize
Mars, would you accept it?
God, no. That stuff’s hard work!
18. If you could, what would be the one thing in the hobby you would
get rid of?
The cliquishness and exclusionary
nature of the hobby. The hobby needs more different people than purely straight
white nerds. I have no problem with straight white nerds, but damn, we can make
it difficult for other people!
19. Most Epic 40k moment?
One I was on the wrong side of! Lysander
had just finished grinding an entire guard platoon and a Russ squadron under
heel (unwounded by the way) and was closing on one of my mate’s last units, a
veteran squad in a ruin and a volley of lasfire flares out. Four wounds caused,
four 2+ saves to make, four 1s rolled. I couldn’t hate those vets. I could only
slow-clap their marksmanship.
20. If you could “Grudge Match” anyone on the planet to a game of 40K
who would it be and why?
Phil Kelly. I respect his work a
tonne (my favourite of the rules guys) and it would be great just to talk hobby
with him while we kill each other’s plastic dudesmen. Although I'd have to
raise some questions about the Space Wolves...
So there you have it, we've delved deep into the subconscious of Ciaran from The Overlords! If you would like to answer my twenty questions or have
questions of your own leave a comment or email me personally at
impguard2012@gmail.com. I'll bring you another victim some time soonish...
