This is a Taylor Story…

Hi, I’m Taylor (exittheparade) and wanted to share how I got into tabletop war gaming. My first experience was in 5th grade. I had just graduated and was given The Lord of the Rings trilogy (books, not movies). This inspired me to get a couple of The Lord of the Rings strategy battle game starter boxes (now known as MESBG). There was only one other person I knew who played, but that was enough. Then I moved the next year and started playing Heroclix. I even won a local tournament in 8th grade. Once I began high school though, I stopped playing and didn’t pick it back up until years later. 

In late 2020 I needed some boxes for my comic books. I went with my mom into a local game store and interestingly enough found a few Middle Earth and Warhammer minis. I asked her if we still had my old LotR miniatures at home and she quickly said, “Yes!” So after watching a Squidmar video on YouTube I decided to paint them (or “repaint” them). I got a starter paint set and some spray paint. The first few models were a little rough but I was enjoying it nonetheless. After a few weeks, I went back to that comic book shop for more supplies and learned about Star Wars legion. 

I started playing SWL in January of 2021. My very first game was the traditional core set battle from the civil war era. I played against our local store event organizer and he graciously let me win. After that I bought my own core set along with a few other goodies. The first couple of minis I painted up were Boba Fett and some Stormtroopers. A couple weeks later I went back and was able to play a friend in a skirmish game. It was a Rouge One rematch with Orson Krennic against Jyn Erso. I lost, not fully understanding the rules yet. I have to say the change from pure elimination to choosing battle cards took a while to adjust (then of course the next set of battle cards with the 800 point game). 

Later that week I painted an entire Imperial Army so I could play a full game. It was Krennic and Boba vs Leia, Chewy and Wookiees. I asked our store organizer to not go easy and I got smoked (he literally brought smoke grenades and Wookiees). Also, I can’t forget to thank my parents who stayed up with me the night before so I could have everything finished. Within the next month I had played a few more games and entered my first skirmish tournament. I played Commander Vader, Scout Troopers and dewbacks losing all 3 rounds. Afterwards I had a friend encourage me to play Rebels and he bought me a box of Taun Taun Riders. 

The tournament also marked the beginning of our summer Star Wars league at the FLGS. I wanted to know everything about SW Legion so I joined the discord and followed a few content creators. This encouraged me to get as many minis painted as I could. I worked through my Rebels backlog and participated once again in our monthly Legion skirmish tournament. I brought Rebels this time and went 2-1. I did get a bye the first round because my opponent didn’t show up, then unfortunately lost my second game missing out on the finals. Luckily, I won my third game and felt confident about playing Rebels as my main faction for the foreseeable future. 

That summer some of the local gamers asked me to paint their minis. It was really nice to do commissions and have people like my work. I had one person even ask me to experiment and try new techniques like different water effects and weathering for his Shoretroopers. I also started playing at other stores around my area and met a lot of cool people. In July, I began playing a Lando, Sabine, AA-5 list (inspired by Bobby Sapphire from the Hyperloops). All together, I played over 40 games throughout the course of the league and actually won it based on overall points (not wins). I went 5-6 the first month, but thankfully finished 25-15 with almost 1500 points. After the league we had an auction using our points as “credits”. I got plenty of desert terrain and a couple new minis.

Over the next few months I started playing more Clones with the Grand Army of the Republic, fully buying into that faction (I now have 4 factions or as some would say 3 factions and a battle force). I did eventually get a new job and had to move. Even with that, I got to play at the 2021 SoCal Open and had my ticket for LVO 2022. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the Las Vegas Open, but was able to give my ticket to a friend. I really enjoyed watching the streams by Endless (Yavinbase) and it definitely made me want to attend LVO 2023. Speaking of, that leads us into the next article in which I talk about my preparation for the 2023 Las Vegas Open.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope this inspires some to dust off their old minis and start to paint or even play. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to message me on the contact page. 

Sincerely,

Taylor (exittheparade)