Real first name: Tim

Age and gender: Born '86, Male

Location: BC, Canada

Occupation: rowing coach, prospective law student.

How did you get into wargaming?
Basically through this site. Dawn of War 2 keyed me into the universe, and I ended up checking out this forum and got hooked on Tau fluff. I finally managed to scrounge the money for minis, and well, here I am.

What’s your interest in wargaming?
I’m mostly interested in painting up an army before I try actually gaming. I do find mathhammer fascinating though. The way it’s traditionally practiced is inadequate. Unless a deeper dataset is provided—something like the statistics so-called “moneyball” uses in the MLB and NBA—then it’s not giving the right information. Given that Warhammer is a series of discrete events, it is ripe for this sort of analysis. The only problem is the huge variability of armies—sports teams are always the same. Still, for tournaments—where lists tend to be more limited—“moneyhammer” metadata seems more achievable, and could provide more predictive probability engines than traditional mathhammer. It would have to come from a massive set of playtesting, and the speed of play would be terrible, but some of the conclusions might be hugely unexpected.

How did you get into Tau?
I was originally into the idea of Ultramarines for their historical Greco-Roman analogues. However, the space-opera storyline is just too much, and everything Imperium is so dreary. The Tau are the only race that has a remotely positive outlook on the future, and that are ideologically committed to developing technologies, (if you believe the fluff anyhow—the Imperium somehow produces a lot of new “ancient” weapons with every new Imperial Armour ). The Tau have a beautiful design aesthetic—I especially love the ForgeWorld XVs—and conversions are less haphazard than with Space Marines. I like their overall strategy: not dependent on larger-than-life, flashy characters, but on orchestrated synergy that is philosophically supported by (naïve?) humanitarian undertones. Who in the 41st millennium recalls a military commander for being too cruel?

What would be your second piece of advice (after "read the freakin' rules") to a new Tau player?
Read codices. Listen. Looky here!

What is your colour scheme?
Now that I'm busier than I ever was, I'm planning an alpine cadre. The idea is a hell of a lot of conversions to outfit the troops for arctic and mountainous conditions. So white, brown, and maybe even some fur. It'll be a long time before the project sees the light of day though.

How did you find this site/the old site, and how long have you been a member?
I found this site snooping around for galleries and came upon Sirath’s Third Sphere Reclamation Force. I ended up liking what I saw and staying. I’ve been a lurking member since March 2009.

What are the origins of your ATT username?
It's a grossly effete reference to the main characters from Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot". They are named Vladimir and Estragon, and their nicknames for each other Didi and Gogo respectively. In French, the play’s original language, it becomes “Didi et Gogo”. I’ve used it on a few unrelated boards before, and it harks back from when I first read the play in secondary school.

Have you reviewed the ATT Primers?
I refresh my memory from time to time.

Where and how often to you usually play?
I don't. I enjoy thinking about the rules when there are disputes, but that interest is basically academic.

Do you have any other armies, for 40K or another system?
Nope.

What does/do your family/significant other/friends think about your 'funny toys'?
Not a lot of people know. One of my best friends is a little weirded out, I guess. So's my family. My other best friend is totally supportive though!

What are some of you other interests?
Rowing and the law. I also enjoy medical ethics, philosophy of mind, evolutionary psychology's impact on ethics and a variety of other topics. I've finally gotten back into rowing races, and so here's a picture of me in a 5km mixed double sculls race:


Do you have any pets?
Had two dogs, but both have now died. Now I have to "borrow" other people's dogs when they bring them to the rowing club.

What is your favourite band?
Hard question. I like TV On the Radio, MIA, and Fiona Apple. Arcade Fire is amazing, though they've never topped their debut album "Funeral". Janelle Monáe's bold afro-futurist concept albums "Metropolis" and "The ArchAndroid" are not the as tight as they could be, but their scope is epic. Recently I've had someone get me a bit into classical music. I'm still learning, but I love "Scheherazade" and anything by Aaron Copland—particularly "Billy the Kid."

Welcome at ATT,

thank you for reading the Primers and for Lurking, as those are the most important thing a recruit should bring.

i know that its hard to find 'the right' Scheme for an army but you will find a lot of help/ideas for your scheme.

for your favourite bands, i know a german Band called MIA but thats propably not the band you mean?

anyways, i am looking forward to see what input you can add to this 'Brainpool'

greetings
- Gue'ui Che Gue'vesa

That is a hit everybody has to take.

I too have only a Tau army and I found it very difficult to find my colour scheme. Finally I went for an urban scheme because most of the games I play are on a table with an urban environment. Maybe you are playing regularly on a specific table too. Otherwise we have a lot of very good painters on board. You will find a lot of inspiration here I hope.

Thanks for taking some time to lurk before posting. Ah, and welcome to ATT!

c.m

Guten Abend! At least here it's evening, anyhow. Danke schön for the kind responses! M.I.A. is a British singer of Sri-Lankan Tamil origin and - well, the easier and more complete way: her Wikipedia article. I encourage anyone else who stumbles on this humble thread to check her stuff out. It's hardcore in unexpected ways.

aah, and i was thinking of this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIA.

well its far of beeing evening (in both ways, the last and the next evening )