Rorschape

If you’ve read through this great site you will no doubt have encountered this great blog post by the good Rev. Dyer:
http://www.heroscapers.com/community/blog.php?b=25
“What your army says about you.”

In it the Rev suggests that the Scape figures one chooses are archetypical and a person chooses them for subconscious reasons- eg. “Many times Jotun is drafted by short people who are trying to overcome their inferiority complexes.”

The Rev’s article is meant to be humorous (unless you’re a Minute Man or Soulberg boy) but I can’t help believe that it is really very true too. You are what you draft.

I’m sure lots of folks will scoff at the idea- after all you can draft whoever you want, whenever you want and sometimes it’s influenced only by how much you’ve had to drink.

When I examine my own army choices certainly there is a wide variety but there is also a pattern. I have my favourites and I return to them over and over again because I know them well, use them well, and understand how they work. But it’s more than that. I like them. Somehow… I feel a connection with them. If I were a figure, I would choose to be one of them.

It should be no surprise that I favor archer heroes. Archer squads are okay but it’s really the heroes I love. My favourite figure is a custom called Stormy- you will come to know him as Brandis Skyhunter. I grew up shooting a bow (can’t now because I live in the city). I despise guns. In the Rev’s article he says “Those who like ranged attacks fear intimacy” and it may well be true in my case, even if I won’t admit it. I have never been part of a group or squad. I don’t like engagement. I like to stand back, apart, separate, and add my arrows carefully. I like this blog thing very much- I read posts and threads but it’s a little too melee for me. I never thought I could blog- I’m much too guarded and private to tell people what I think, and I don’t like talking about myself. But here I can talk about the things dearest to me- my family and my game. I don’t feel like I’m exposing myself at all. I’m shooting arrows.

I’m not sure I fear intimacy- (would I admit it?) – okay, I’ll admit it. It’s not intimacy I fear, I rationalize, it’s being hurt. We all have defense mechanisms- pain- that reminds us “don’t do that again stupid, it hurts”. But each persons defense functions in different ways. I like defending against ranged attacks- arrows not bullets- usually you can see them coming and you can crouch down behind a rock or something and they just pass by. You can ignore them. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

There’s no escape in melee. I’m a single dad with four energetic children and when we’re not Scaping our version of Scape we are melee fighting in the backyard with our homemade foam weapons. It’s a great stress reliever. I’m just an average fighter- but no matter how good you are you take wounds in melee. I used to be a very careful melee fighter, always hesitant, looking for that opening to hit and run- almost like I was trying to be a ranged melee fighter. (it doesn’t work) I guess I have spent most of my life this way- being distant, seeking the heights, and trying to stay clear. And I have suffered the consequences- I sometimes wonder why I haven’t succeeded and gone as far as others I know who have less dedication, skill, talent. You have to engage to get ahead. Archers are never promoted, don’t become leaders and are usually considered auxiliary.

Having children and being a single father has changed me though. My children see me as Sylvano the Wasabus- a not-to-bright berserker who will run into lava to save them. It’s new for me, and even though I’ve been at it for a while now, I still don’t think I’m that good at it.

My new favourite units are my Templar customs. I like the Templars because of their extreme dedication to their cause- they don’t retreat, they don’t surrender, and they are certain in the righteousness of what they are doing. They are a step up from a Wasabus- still possessed with fanatical zeal but a little smarter in its execution. I’d like to think it’s a reflection of my growth as a parent and person and protector of my family.

In his article Rev Dyer says, “examining the armies and figures we like to play with in HeroScape may also tell us something of who we are and how we think”. When I started writing this I hadn’t expected to lay bare so much of myself- but I hadn’t really understood my transformation in progress.

I still like archers. I am an archer. In my mind archers have a higher chance of survival. But archers are also failures. They’re afraid. They’re too careful. And what do you do when your quiver is empty?
I’m becoming a Templar. I know in my Templar army many will fall. Out of my thirty custom Templar figures, only five are ranged, the rest are melee. I am part of an army now, my family. And I’m going to fall. But that’s okay, because in my heart I believe that my comrades-in –arms, my children, will continue on in this struggle called life; they will keep fighting and make their way in the world and hopefully do better than I have.
Having children and struggling in life has given me perspective. The war will last longer than I will. I’m not going to be a great hero. I am the ragged Templar standing beside my Templar children. I will help as much as I can, but much of the battle is going to be passed to them. And I will stand beside them until the day I die.

Thanks for reading folks. And a special thank you to Rev Dyer. I know each person only has so many blog posts in them, but Rev, I hope you still have a couple more.