A tribute

I saw an article on BOLS earlier in the week talking about Outriders, the now legendary tabletop gurus or games-workshop. In it the author spoke about his fond memories of his local outrider and the impact they had had on the local gaming. I have to admit reading this got me a little teary eyed for the good old days. So i have decided to tell the story of the legendary Outrider John.

Back in the early days of the 2000s I walked into Omniverse hobbies in Ft. Myers for the first time. There I saw a man jumping up and down whooping with his arms over his head. "What is going on here?" I asked myself. Immediately wondering what could have a grown man acting this way i went over to the table they were playing on. There I saw what looked like a version of the russian army taking on something called 'corn berzerkers?' I must have looked a little lost because immediately the man I saw making the commotion earlier looked over at me and said. "stick around this is going to be a good one."So I pulled up a chair and watched as the red armored dudes assaulted up a hill held by the russians and all the while this guy was screaming 'Blood for the Blood god!'

After the game was over and all the 'corn berzerkers' were standing in a pile or twisted steel and broken bodies the guy started to talk to me. I was a little shy as I had never been here before and didn't know anyone.

"Hi I'm John, you play 40k?"
"nope but I think I am going to."
"Let me tell you about it."

That's all it took. John talked with me for hours about the fluff and history of the 41st millenium. He spoke with a passion I have rarely seen since. He loved this game. He even went out to his car and brought back in all of his different armies to show how each was different and explained their back story.
He had his bitz box there and I didn't realise what he had until many years later. In there he had a full armorcast reaver titan in parts just sitting on the top. (Who does that?)

After that day I went back home and told all my friends about John and Omniverse hobbies. From that point on he took us under his wing and taught us how to paint, how to play, and how to win. He guided our growth in the hobby that he loved, not for money, or competitiveness, he did it because he wanted to see the hobby grow and mature in us.

I never forgot the last game I played with him. My imperial guard against his chaos. It was a blood bath and I had lost 90% of my army but when the smoke cleared I still had one commissar with a single wound left holding onto the one objective in the middle of the board. I had finally beat the master. He wasn't bitter about the loss. He was happy for me and shook my hand and said "now you are ready, go forth and conquer." The next week I left for college and when I came back Outrider John was gone. The Outrider program had been scrapped and Omniverse hobbies had moved to a new building.

I never saw that man again.

So Outrider John I don't know where you are or what army you are playing but this one is for you my friend.

*SALUTE*