Combined Aspects Tale of Collective Hobbyists... or CATCH for short...

So, I have frequently run Tale of Four Gamer style events over the years, and some have gone better than others if I am absolutely honest.

The first was marvellous, four of us all really got into it and had a great time... subsequent ones, because lots of people wanted in and I wanted to be inclusive, I made more relaxed... which had the downside of being less focussed, the extra bodies my relaxing had allowed to take part dropped out anyway, and those that stuck it out didn't have as much fun anyway.

The Original and Best...

So I have always wanted to return to the purity of the first one. And one of the things I felt made that first one such a success was that we all joined in exploring the narrative side of it. We all had protagonists within our armies that our development revolved around. It wasn't just that I needed to add more transports to my army, it was that Bugrit had kicked those puny Tau backsides and was celebrating by putting some nice new rims on his battlewagon.

So I plan to run another tale. But as the title of this post suggests, it will combine the various aspects of the hobby. I will be awarding points for painting (as always) and there will be bonus points available for gaming, as per usual, although I will make these more consistent throughout. Finally, I shall also be offering points for developing a narrative. I want to fully embrace the whole gory of 40k - background, painting and gaming. All aspects will be covered by this challenge. Hence why it is a tale of hobbyists rather than gamers - hobbyists is more inclusive of the other aspects, plus it makes for a better acronym ;)



My Second Tale, inspired by someone elses third...

Now when I have run previous Tales I have usually included a friend who lives a distance away from us and it has always been difficult for him as I always included a local competition between the gamers, which was a struggle for him to get down to, and as life has gone on and given him even more commitments (wife/child/mortgage... the usual guff) this hasn't got any easier. So this time I plan to do away with local competition. Any gamer aspects to the hobby will be entirely down to hobbyists to play against whoever they have in their local area. If they can get a game in against a fellow CATCH competitor, great, it'll help develop both your storylines. If not, hey it's a big galaxy we'll all come across unknown assailants as our stories develop. The advantage of doing this is that I can allow people I have never met in real life to join in over the blogosphere.



The third tale fizzled out, although on the bright side once it did I completed my army well ahead of Tale schedule

As for the background lore? Well you can follow your leader, or someone else. Doesn't have to be the guy in charge. Could be the kingmaker. Could be a lowly grot giving his take on life, I've done that before. Ereyou has been through two different Tales for me, however since leading his Orktober Revolution I think his time at the mercy of Orks is over, he has his own path now. I have another plan in mind for how to follow my protagonists, and I think it will be interesting to write and hopefully, interesting to read as well.

Ereyou isn't here, but he is somewhere among his comrades enjoing a well earned break from the cosh of tyranny...

Anyway, the plan for the lore will be based on making a character or two, and allowing your tale to follow them as your army develops. There will be bonus points for keeping the story up to date, for including references to battles fought, even to any real world events that are relevant (my first and probably best still being my Stormboyz testing their rokkit packs on Guy Fawkes Night, and my entire encampment being enraptured by the ensuing entertainment)

I shall be looking at starting the Tale in the new year, so you all have chance to get the busy Christmas period out of the way, and to add items that you may want to put into the tale onto your Christmas list. The goal is, as always, a 2000 point 40k army by the end of it. I am currently musing on whether to try to achieve this goal in 4 months like the first one or give people a more relaxed 6 months (however I will NOT be doing an 8 month one again, that went on way too long)

In the meantime, let me know if you're interested in joining in... so far have four interested parties, myself included, so I reckon I will be able to get this going. Rules for the challenge will be put out in due course, but this should be enough for now to get those cogs turning, plots moving, and lists drafting...