Mike is feeling all nostalgic this week….

This week I've been painting Warzone models again. Why? Besides the fact I have enough Warzone and Chronopia models in my house to put any hobby shop from the late 90s to shame…it was my first real non Games Workshop obsession. 

I had encountered Warzone at Gencon in 96 whilst walking the floor looking for trades. While I didn't end up trading for any Warzone stuff (I did manage to trade for a bunch of Legions of Steel and Heavy Gear models)…the game intrigued me. The models were some of the best I'd seen outside of Games Workshop at the time…and in 1996 that was a real accomplishment.

Fast forward to 1997 and I was working for Liberty Hobby Supply. Lo and behold they had Warzone…and all the miniatures for it….and a 60% discount for employees (we basically bought at cost…hence why my miniature collection is as impressive as it is). So I picked up the core book…an assortment of Dark Legion and Imperial models and haven't really looked back.

As of right now, I'm sitting on probably 4 complete armies for Warzone…Imperial, Capital, Bauhaus, and probably Cybertronic. I also have smatterings of models from the other Corporations, the Brotherhood, and Dark Legion. Just tons of unpainted lead…a casualty of 20 years of mercenary painting and ebay auctions. To be honest, Warzone stuff never really heated up the painted market for me, so I mainly painted Reaper from 2002 to 2009 with the occasional GW or Rackham model.

So why am I painting them now? I'm done with painting stuff simply for the intent of selling it one day. Screw that. Again, I've been painting for 20 years this year…and I have maybe 35 painted models in my possession. All my "masterpieces"? Sold on eBay or painted on commission. Sure I made some good $$$ in my day…but kinda sucks to look back have nothing to really show for a hobby you love.

Hence, I'm painting a 20 year old model from a company that hasn't existed in probably 13 years…simply because I want to and I love their models. I don't care that I can't sell it or that it isn't an investment. I don't care if it's something the whippersnappers on CMoN deem worthy of a 7. I don't care if I still paint like the mid 2000's Eavy Metal Team (although my favorite era is late 90s). I'm painting for me now.