Not too long ago, I decided to eliminate the idea of having spare money from my life entirely by taking up Warhammer 40,000. Warhammer, for those of you who don't know, is an incredibly fun game where two or more players pit armies of ridiculously overpriced plastic models against each other in massive battles. It's very enjoyable, but definitely has a bit of a barrier to entry in regards to price. If you can afford it, it's a great way to spend your time. The lore and background of the Warhammer world is, quite simply, incredible. The tabletop battles themselves are incredibly fun. And, of course, there's the matter of building and painting models, which I found (quite surprisingly) to be perhaps my favorite aspect of the game.

Let me preface this by telling you outright: I am not an artistic person. In school, any assignments requiring drawing skills are terrifying for me. Said assignments nearly always end up at the bottom of a trash bin at the first available opportunity. Art has generally been the bane of my existence since time immemorial. And yet, at least when it comes to little plastic models, I'm not a half bad painter! Not only am I not bad at it, it's also quite enjoyable! That's not to say it's easy, however. Far from it. Assembling and painting Warhammer miniatures requires decisiveness, patience, and an endless wallet. (Seriously. Citadel brand paint pots run around five bucks each. They're a little bigger than a thimble.) So, how exactly does it work? How do these models get assembled? How, quite simply, does one Warhammer? The answers - right here, actually.

So. Let's put ourselves in a theoretical position here. You've decided to get into Warhammer 40K with a simple purchase. In this case, let's use the example of the Space Marine Start Collecting box - a pretty big starter pack that's going to cost about eighty-five bucks. Well now, hypothetically, you've bought the box, now what? Well, my hypothetical friend now comes the fun part! You open the box, and you'll see a sheet of plastic with little pieces - known as "bits" - all over it. These are called sprues, and these sprues are the source of all things Warhammer. Now, you take a crafting knife or a pair of plastic cutters that you wisely purchased ahead of time, and you begin cutting out the parts you wish to build with. But wait! There are so many choices! "Does this bit go here, or here?" "Is this a sword, or a chainsaw?" "What am I even doing?" All fair questions. And the answer to all three (except the second - that ones' both) is, simply, whatever you want! One of the greatest things about miniature assembly is that pretty much every miniature can be made in different ways, with different gear or different poses. The different gear has an effect on the tabletop game, but if you're anything like me, you'll forget all about those and obey the "Rule of Cool" - that is, if it looks cool, build it.

Now, you've got a model built (or at least planned out - I tend to paint things before gluing them together) and now it's time to paint. How should you paint? The answer here, as before, is pretty much however you want. The Warhammer 40,000 lore has a number of established "Chapters" of Space Marines whose designs you can use, but there's nothing stopping you from putting together your own custom chapter with your own custom color scheme. Paint however you want. Once again, the great thing about Warhammer is that you can do just about anything you want with your models. Buy, assemble, paint, and have fun!