# February 2012 Member of the Month



## darkreever

Member of the Month








February 2012 

February 2012 and it's Member of the Month time yet again.

I gotta say, had this one ready to go for a few days and still managed to mess it up and post after the month ended. Doh!









*Dave T Hobbit

*Dave has been a member of the community since December 3rd of 2009. Since joining he has won the 2011 Heresy painting challenge in addition to sharing a number of his battle reports with the community. Most recently Dave was nominated for a position on the Heresy staff by you, Heresy Online's community, and here he is now.

As always, we try to vary up how the Member of the Month is determined; and this time around there was no nominating or voting. Dave T Hobbit is the choice of Jez himself. So congratulations Dave, and for everyone else's enjoyment here are the answers to the quizette you answered.​


> *Real name: *Dave*
> Heresy Online user name: *Dave T Hobbit*
> Main Army: *Warriors of Chaos*
> Location: *Bristol, UK*
> Personal Website: *Most of my web presence is Heresy-Online*
> 
> What motivates you when choosing to buy or build an army? *As with many people I started with Marines and returning to the hobby in 3rd Edition stayed with them because they were what I had and the box had more. However ever since I first encountered Chaos I have been drawn to Tzeentch, so when I decided to try painting something for the pure sake of painting Thousand Sons seemed a natural step; of course I ended up playing them as well.
> 
> These days, a combination of fluff and the hobby potential of the common models in the army. For example, I really like vampire mythology so I did wonder about Vampire Counts but found the idea of painting large numbers of skeletons or ghouls off-putting.*
> 
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> What motivates you to keep playing or participating in the hobby? *Like most people, I have days when I cannot face painting or modelling or I cannot be bothered to pack up models and go and stand at a table for hours. However I like most aspects of it enough that if I am bored with modelling/painting I will discuss rules or read fluff and be inspired again.
> 
> My focus has definitely changed over the years: as my hobby skill level has risen and the quality of models has improved I have spent more and more time on painting rather than playing.*
> 
> 
> Do you play for fun or victory? *Definitely fun. My 40K army of choice is Thousand Sons with several Spawn and no Obliterators, so the fluff or models come before picking the best tabletop army for me. Even my attempts to be less self-restricted with my Warriors of Chaos has only moved me as far as picking the more competitive of two aesthetically pleasing choices.*
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> What is your all time favourite Game System? *The only wargames I have played more than once or twice in the last decade are various editions of WHFB and WH40K, so for tabletop it would be GW – although that is at least partially due to background and models rather than the system.In terms of any game, my favourite mechanically is probably White Wolf: it makes it easier to tweak difficulties or combine traits than a straight percentage system.*
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> What are your thoughts on the Grand Tournament scene? Is it good for the hobby?* At its most basic, some people view victory as a large part of the game and others do not, so having somewhere that competitive play is the norm gives people a chance to use their optimised lists and vicious tactics against similar players, resulting in casual games being more likely to be actually for the fun of playing with toy soldiers.
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> At a deeper level everyone who plays the game wants their army (however they picked it) to not be wiped away in a single turn so reports on tournaments provide a series of examples of how units or tactics might work that are more accessible than Von Clauswitz or hardcore statistical modelling.*
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> What are your plans for the future? *I have always written for my own entertainment (mostly poetry) but I have never written a proper Warhammer tale. So this year I promised myself I would try to turn some of my ideas into proper stories instead of dashing off fluff. I am currently at about 9000 words (hopefully more by the time this is posted) into a 40K novella that might end up a novel, so I am keeping at it so far. As I write filling in scenes throughout the story, depending on what I feel like writing, the first chapter is not a complete draft yet; depending on how long it takes to get it in shape and how confident I feel I will either start inflicting it on Heresy or actually submit it to BL.
> 
> In the longer term my wife and I would like to own our own house so we can keep cats and be crazy old people together.*
> 
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> What gaming clubs do you belong to or have you been a member of? *I was in the Wargaming Society at school and Gamesoc at the University of Bristol. I am currently not part of any clubs, although I do attend the occasional event run by the Bristol Vanguard.*
> 
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> Which Race is your toughest opponent to face on the game table?* I always find it harder to face a race I have never fought before as, even if I read the books repeatedly, I do not really develop heuristics until I have seen something perform on the table.
> 
> My consistently hardest opponent would be my friend Paul who can defeat me using my own army list.
> 
> *What do you do when you're not online?*Maybe paint and convert, although my computer is on the same desk as my tools and paints, and I have it on to listen to music so I am usually on and off while waiting for glue or paint to dry.
> 
> When I am away from my computer I read a lot. There are books in every room of our flat apart from the bathroom. Most of the time I read either science fiction, fantasy, or crime although I am also usually studying at least one branch of philosophy or theology.
> 
> I roleplay when enough of my group are available: as we have jobs and such it is sometimes hard to find a free day. I am also several long-running NPCs in a friend’s Firefly LRP.
> 
> I enjoy cooking: at the moment I am working on improving my Southern Indian cuisine.
> 
> 
> *Favourite sports team?* Nominally the England Cricket team. I do not really follow sport; cricket is the only sport I have ever chosen to watch as opposed to watching because someone else wanted to watch it.
> 
> 
> *What armies do you play?* At the moment most of my games are with Warriors of Chaos.
> 
> I have a Thousand Sons army; however I have not bought any models for over a year, and have only used it recently when Vanir wanted practice for a 40K tournament.
> 
> 
> *Which system do you prefer and why?* Both main GW systems are mechanically enjoyable. I slightly prefer Fantasy Battle because - although they are rules wise the same thing - I prefer the idea of magic to psychic powers and technology.
> 
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> *How long have you been playing GW games?* I was introduced to the games by some friends enthusing about a new game called Rogue Trader, so it would be almost dead on 25 years.
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> *What's your favourite movie, book and song?* I collect Hammer Horror films, so my favourite film would be something with Christopher Lee; probably Dracula: Prince of Darkness as he dominates the entire film without speaking, or the Wicker Man for subtlety of the menace.
> 
> I read several books in an average week so I could not narrow it down to ten let alone one.
> 
> I wandered into Goth many years ago so most of favourite songs are dark and odd. I also own two different versions of Wagner's Ring Cycle, so classical opera creeps in there too. However, the songs I have always returned to are "The Wife of Usher's Well" and "Matty Groves", so I might be a little Folk under the black.
> 
> 
> *Occupation?* At the moment I am unemployed, so I do a lot of cleaning.
> 
> I originally trained to be a lawyer and have worked in various areas of law for many years on and off although mainly litigation. I have also worked in IT undertaking business analysis, programming, and testing; last November I qualified as a PRINCE2 Practioner. So, depending on why I am explaining my experience I either call myself a paralegal or a legal business analyst.
> 
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> *Any pictures you'd like to share? (40k, family, work etc)*
> 
> My friend Chris at a Halloween party as my "evil" twin:
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> I am the one with the real goatee. My wife thinks this photograph proves I do not look like my user icon as I do not have horns; she does not mention the lack of halo though.
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> My wife and I laying siege to our wedding cake:
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> *What is your greatest achievement that you're proud of?* It would be easy to say it was getting married or getting my degree but they are more the result of ongoing behaviours than an achievement. I am also proud of the times a client has found my work good enough to want me out to represent them again or a poster on Heresy has found my suggestions useful, and the Modship is a real buzz; however I have real difficulty picking just one.
> 
> Overall suppose it was my case that changed the legal map just a little bit. Some people might remember the people who leapt out in shopping centres in the UK asking if you had had an accident. I did one of the first court cases to challenge the way one of the leading companies gathered business so I was quite proud when my argument was upheld on appeal.
> 
> 
> *How did you come up with your username?* When I went to University there were several Daves involved in wargaming, so they were all Dave the Something. As I was at the time fresh-faced, curly haired, and hungry I became Dave the Hobbit. By the time the Daves and the people who needed to distinguish us were gone I had been introduced that way so many times it was how everyone knew me. After years it was shortened to Dave T Hobbit.
> 
> *How did you find out about Heresy? What made you stay?* In September 2009 the Solicitor's firm I worked for decided to close down so we went into 90 days consultation to discuss redundancy &c. I was part of the team who stayed on to deal with the last cases but towards the end there was not enough work to keep us busy all day, so - apart from being there to cover the telephones - we were told to relax. To avoid reading all the books in the world I started searching the Internet for Thousand Sons ideas and Heresy came up. The images I wanted to view were attachments on a post instead of embedded so, as I had plenty of time, I decided I had no reason not to join. Having joined I asked some questions and commented on a few posts. Some people were interested in my Tzeentchian concepts so asked for photographs; I managed to get some photographs of my models that people liked and when I decided to start Warriors of Chaos it was natural to create a Project Log.
> 
> I believe the strongest factor that made me stay with Heresy was the atmosphere: as a lawyer I have spent plenty of time in debates where the participants really push their points without actually disliking the other side so I usually avoid internet fora because they are either full of posters attacking the person not the premise or had moderators who closed out differing viewpoints; despite being in very strong debates on rules and receiving some really unsweetened statements about how I am wrong or could improve my painting I cannot remember ever being insulted or Modhammered on Heresy.
> 
> 
> *You can take three things with you to a deserted island, name them?* A lawyer's answer: it would depend why I was going there, and what deserted means in context. Assuming I am shipwrecked I would want survival gear (is that a single item or several?), a radio with a long enough range to reach help, and a large crate of books. If I was intending to go then I would have a way back so would swap the radio for a computer with a connection to the Internet.
> 
> 
> *Other Usernames we may know you by?* Nothing relevant springs to mind; I am on some professional sites using variations on my real name.
> 
> 
> *If you could change something about heresy what would it be?* I am very happy with Heresy as it is so it would have to be the boring but sensible wish for sustainable growth.
> 
> 
> * Favourite mini of any range ever? (pic if possible.)* Very tricky. My desire for certain models grows until I buy them and start to paint them, whereupon they become my least favourite model ever at least once during the painting process.
> 
> If I had to pick one I would choose the Dragon Ogre Shaggoth as I loved painting all of it:
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> * What was the first ever model you bought or were given?* A first edition metal Assault Marines blister. I was buying a present for a friend who played 40K and decided to pick up a blister for myself as well.


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## Djinn24

Grats Dave, well deserved!


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## arumichic

Congratulations!!!!


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## jonileth

Congrats! Well deserved!


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## Dusty's Corner

Congrats Dave, Well deserved! Cool quizette!


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## Shogun_Nate

Excellent choice, I say. Mr. Hobbit is friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Congratulations Dave T Hobbit! It is well-deserved!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Midge913

Congrats Dave! Well deserved indeed!


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## Serpion5

Aye! Congrats to Mr. T Hobbit. :good:


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## Red Corsairs

Congratulations Dave, well deserving of the award!


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## Disciple_of_Ezekiel

Awesome dude, well deserved, congratz!


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## andygorn

Congratulations, Mr Hobbit!


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## stephen.w.langdon

Congratulations :grin:


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## Otis The Barbarian

oorah!! well deserved.


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## spanner94ezekiel

Congratulations Dave


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## bitsandkits

Awww not Dave!!!! He will start using words to baffle us again i almost got him to swear last week! :biggrin:


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## Tossidin

Congratulation man, you definitely deserve it!


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## Zodd

Congratulations Dave k:


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## OIIIIIIO

Congrats Dave .... well deserved.


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## docgeo

Congrats!!


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## yanlou

Congrates and well done.


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## 18827

Nice one Dave, you deserve it. congratulations!


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## Skari

Congrats there! Love those pics and best of luck on your future endeavours.


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## DeathKlokk

Congrats, DTH! Very cool reading a bit about you as well. LOVE the wedding cake. I thought my wedding was cool because my Groom's cake was 40K themed, but the main cake being a castle is AWESOME!


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## KjellThorngaard

Congrats Mr. Hobbit!


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## KarnalBloodfist

Congrats Dave! A well deserved reward!


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## Dave T Hobbit

Thank you all for your kind words.

I think BK deserves a special mention:



bitsandkits said:


> Awww not Dave!!!! He will start using words to baffle us again i almost got him to swear last week! :biggrin:


I am touched by his facile attempt at dyspeptic persiflage.


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## TheKingElessar

A worthy recipient of this prize.


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## Serpion5

Dave T Hobbit said:


> I think BK deserves a special mention:
> 
> I am touched by his facile attempt at dyspeptic persiflage.


 ... :scratchhead: ... :dunno: :fool: ... :headbutt: ... :hang1: 


I give up.


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## Haskanael

Congratulations mr. hobbit 
well deserved indeed.


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