My new (old) Valhallans in all their glory(yes there are actually ten, but the others are waiting their paint..)
As the New Year rolls by, my birthday follows on quite quickly. The combination of a third consequtive 'Christmas discovery' this year and my increasing age (and subsequent dementia) has me harking back to 1992.
Now for many wargamers, 1992 is an important year (especially if you happen to be 18!), but for relative veterans, 1992 was a watershed year for me. It was the year I 'stopped' 40k and started chasing girls/working for A'levels and playing computer games big-time ... here's why.
FILMS
1992 saw the launch of Quentin Tarantino onto the main scene, Reservior Dogs wasn't as groundbreakingly influnential over me as 'Pulp Fiction' - but it issued in a new era in film (and the deathknell of the 80's style hero movie). This era would eventually be swallowed up by the special effects monsters following Jurrassic Park ... but sassy, intelligent movies dotted the 90's thanks to this.
1992 also saw the resurrection of a hollywood god. Like a pheonix from the flames, Clint Eastwood turned director for 'Unforgiven' ... times they are achanging... back again.
1992 saw the arrival also of 'The Player' - hollywood poking serious fun at itself, and of course Malcolm X ...
And finally, Sarah Stone made the world gasp in Basic Instinct (yes, it really was 18 years ago!) ... remember this is pre-interweb, so that kinda porn was hard to come by...
COMPUTER GAMES
The Amiga, Atari ST and Super Nintendo were pumping out games ten to the dozen. By 1992 turned me into a PC game player forever more... a watershed year when the following genres were invented:
RTS (Real Time Strategy) games - Dune 2: Battle for Arrakis (1992)
FPS (First Person Shooter) games - Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
... and the hugely influential Starwars beast rolled into the gaming arena with X-wing (1992)...
GAMES WORKSHOP
1992 was also the year when Games Workshop started to seriously rethink their models. Outside the Space Marines, many of the modelling was amateurish and a little (read lot) kooky! The modelling for th model below says it all ... may I present Commissar Yarrick:
I actually have this model ... rediscovered in the 1992 horde - and I can say that it is one of the most ugly, silly and fanciful models going. Unfortunately for GW, this model reflected a great deal of their 'old-school' stock... but things were about to change. The Commissar hats were ALL enormous - twice the size of their heads! The uniforms were stupid too, with big sleeves and scarfs about their waists ... who designed these monstrosities?
Thanks to the Guard a new era of 'realism' was incoming. Yes the Mordian's were silly and the Catachans are a bit daft. But the other soldiers were dynamic, realistic and well designed. My personal favourite were (and thanks to Ciaphas Cain) and still are the Valhallans.
I'd completely forgotten they were still knocking about in this box. Complete with a copyright 1992 on the bottom. The level of detail on the models is goregous, their packs are practical and well fitted and their clothes have a real dynamism and movement to them. All in all, I'm proud to have them on board with my Imperial Guard.
The RoughRiders less so...
Old School Commissar Yarrick ... not much.
And the Squats? What the hell does one do with Squats? Answers on a postcard...
