The Roost of Turkadactyl

The Roost is one year old with 40K related content.  I’m off the bottle and learning to walk.  I’ll start the celebration with a photo I posted a week ago.  This is me with my nephew who was twenty four hours old in this photo. (I accidentally pressed publish instead of save draft partway through this post. When I returned I found out. Oops)

So how did the Roost start?

Wow, the year sure has gone by fast.  It hasn’t felt like a year at all.  The Roost started out as a travel blog.  My wife and I left our jobs in 2008 to volunteer in Scotland at a youth outdoor camp.  When our fourteen weeks at the camp concluded we visited some of my family in England and then did some traveling in Europe.  I wanted to visit Normandy for the WWII sites, then we spent some time in Italy and concluded our adventure in Austria.  It was a wonderful experience.  I started the Roost for friends and family to see what  up to.  Once we returned home there wasn’t really anything inspiring to write about and my writing stopped.  What could I possibly write about?

Forge World releases The Badab War and suddenly my attitude changes towards Space Marines.  I did not want to start a Space Marines army because “everyone” had one.  Well, Sevrin Loth and Honour Guard are released.  Then Asterion Moloc.  Tyberos the Red Wake.  Okay, I’m sold.  After months of research into chapter backgrounds and fluff my heart settles on the Carcharodons.  I start to save the pennies and bit by bit the Forgeworld parcels arrive.  I ride the wake of the interwebs scouring other Carcharodons projects and I begin the assembly and painting.

There was one project that I couldn’t shake from my head.  The hobbyist was gaining momentum.  They were documented their progress and it was looking good.  Then they stopped and did an abrupt 180.  They lost interest because there was an abundance of Carcharodons players and decided to call it quits.  That was it.  That was my inspiration to convert the Roost to a 40K blog.  It was a project that inspired me and I felt left a void.  I wanted to try fill that void and give back to the community.

Pushed out of the nest

I was inspired to blog again.  I hoped to have an audience of at least one (I have around ten regulars, yeah self-esteem!).  I already had the Roost set-up so the groundwork was laid.  I just had to write.  My biggest motivator was providing a project log on the Carcharodons.  I had a small number of models already painted to provide a base for my posts.  Once those pictures were posted I would move onto work in progress pieces.

I knew I needed more content to keep the Roost rolling.  Well let’s try my luck with battle reports.  It’s been quite the learning process and thanks to everyone who have given their input.  I hope you’ve enjoyed the reports.

Ever heard of an army called Adepta Sororitas?  Sisters of Battle?  Yes, they exist and I have proof.

It’s all been a work in progress and there will be lots more refining in the months to come.  If you’re interested in giving it a whirl just start a blog.  Give it a go.  You’ll never know until you try.  It’s not for everyone but you won’t know until you try.

Birds eye view

The nice thing about writing is meeting more hobbyists.  There are many sites that I never would have visited before.  Thanks to everyone who left a comment or liked a post, which led me to your site.  It’s been a pleasure to see your journey through the hobby as well.  I’ve been sheltered within my little community in Edmomton so it’s refreshing to talk others around the world.

Rear View Mirror

This past year has seen me roll out a lot of Carcharodons infantry models.  I’ve also showcased a lot of Adepta Sororitas models.  I returned to the tournament scene with the goal to win best painted, which I won!  There was another honour I received that I found out a month later and that was winning best sportsmanship.  Since I won best painted, the best sportsmanship was awarded to second place to spread the winnings.  I was stoked to hear that because it is always an honour to be thought of by your peers as a good sport.  Now best general, I don’t think that is an award I will ever achieve.  I put myself in the average general category with a major in stupid mistakes and a minor in bad dice rolls.

The Centurion posts generated my best single day traffic (289 visitors) until the Out Of The Basement tournament that happened in January.  I spread the word around at the event about the Roost and that generated a lot of interest for a couple of days (312 visitors).  I average around forty visitors a day for those who like to know stats.

A thank you to those who have included me on your blogrolls- Faeit 212, Hivemind 40K, Tale Of Painters, Stepping Between Games, WeeMen and How to Lose At 40K.  I’ve had more visitors at the Roost because of you.  See the links to the right to check these sites.

What’s Ahead

More Carcharodons of course.  This is the year for vehicles as my army desperately needs tank support.  I also plan on working on more character models and the Cataphractii Terminators.

Terrain.  My terrain is assembled and needs to be painted.  Playing with unprimed scenery is uninspiring.  Terrain is like a third player.  It is part of the experience.

Adepta Sororitas.  I still have more models to showcase.

Tyranids.  Once I conclude showcasing Adepta Sororitas it is time to move onto the followers of the four armed emperor.  I’ve been collecting this army since third edition so there are a lot of models to get through!  I will be working on Genestealer Cult after my terrain and Carcharodons vehicles are complete.

Army showcase.  I want to take some army shots with all my models.  I’m slowly taking over the loft and once I have fully taken over look for some army showcases.

Badab War YEG.  I am really looking forward to this event.  When I started collecting Carcharodons I wanted to participate in a Badab War campaign.  Sean, Nik and I have been talking about it for a long time.  Right now we are sitting at five participants for each side.  I’m hoping to have seven for each side.  I’m really looking forward to this.  I plan on having every game documented here at the Roost.  I want to participate in Adepticon’s 2017 Badab War and will try drag other Badab War YEG campaigners with me.

What’s A Turkadactyl? (Side note, I pressed publish instead of save draft partway through the first paragraph and walked away for a bit)

Before I say farewell for the day here is the origin behind Turkadactyl.  My wife and I were on a backcountry hike with some friends.  My good friend Tyson and I fall somewhere close to the weird end of the personality spectrum and that trait took over.  Our conversations ranged from who would win in a celebrity dog death battle royale (my pick was the 101 Dalmations) to crossing breeding animals.

Two of the more memorable cross breeds were a penguin and gorilla (pengwilla) and a turkey and pterodactyl.  Turkadactyl was created and it provided a unique online persona.  Birds need a Roost and a home was made.

Thank you

Thank you for visiting whether you are a one time anonymous visitor or regular who posts comments.  I’ve stepped up on the soapbox and you have humoured me this far.  I look forward to another year.  If you happen to visit Edmonton or call Edmonton your home and want to have a game let me know.  But not tonight.  It’s date night and my wife and I are going to see M83 live.

-Alex

P.S. My apologies again for originally posting this article incomplete. I thought I saved the draft and when I returned I saw that I posted it.  There was some bad grammar,  wrong spelling and an incomplete a paragraph. I can’t blame bad dice rolling on this one.