Santa’s Secret Space Raid - 2011

Santa’s Secret Space Raid - 2011

Please make sure you read all the rules thoroughly! Twice!

Hear ye, hear ye! Lords and ladies, slaves and fiends – denizens, one and all.

In view of the success of our great forum and to help get more people actively involved in The Dark City’s online community, we will be celebrating the holiday season by generously taking with one hand and giving with the other, in true Archon-manner.

Having first borrowed ruthlessly looted this entire idea from our fellow xenos over at The Waaagh!

A global gift exchange will ensue, which all of you are welcome to pursue.


What are the rules, prey tell?
This is a True Kin event. Your gift may be from Warhammer 40K, Fantasy, LoTR, Epic, BFG, or even some other line of miniatures, but it must be Dark Eldar-related. A Dark Eldar model, or something else converted or themed for Dark Eldar.

And it is a gift exchange, something fun to do, and not a competition.

I will take names of participants until November 1st, after which no further names will be accepted. I will then select names randomly and assign them to other participants, with one name per entrant. I will loosely sort the names by geographic region first to help keep shipping costs to a minimum.

One week after November 1st, you will be told the name of the person you will be gifting. Based on the preferences that your recipient will post when they register to be a part of the event, you will then be prompted buy/convert/paint/whatever you deem suitable as a gift for them. The deadline for your recipient to then get his/her gift is January 1st, 2012 , so that leaves you with plenty of time to put together whatever your gift is and get it sent out. December 15th would be a very good mailing date to aim for, but earlier would obviously be better.

Do not wait too long to get busy or to mail it out. Real life happens. Place your bitz/kit orders sooner rather than later so you don't get screwed by some shipping disaster.

Do not let your naked ambition exceed your means – you may have a great idea, but also limited time and/or funds. Make sure that whatever you attempt is achievable within the timeframe.

And remember, the whole point of this event is that you are a SECRET santa, so don’t blab about it to anyone else. If you wish, you can post your project in the Haemonculi Workshop sub-forum, but DO NOT mention who it is for, or even that it is meant to be a secret santa gift.

Or else!


Who can enter, prey tell?
Anyone, anywhere. Even lurkers. But be aware that, while lurkers are welcome to participate, I reserve the right to use discretion in ruling people out of entering. This may seem completely arbitrary and unfair, especially in our first year with so many members not having established much of a presence yet, but if you are a completely unknown quantity here and I have misgivings for any reason, then I may choose not to let you participate (after I first contact you).

I do not want to see this exchange get abused by anybody, to take advantage of it just to try and get free stuff.

WARNING - If you do not participate in a reasonable manner and timeframe, you will be banned from future events. And just like in the Bad Traders Report in the Barter Port, your forum name will be publicly listed as being a bad santa.


What will this cost you, prey tell?
Obviously, this is very subjective, but common sense would suggest approximately US$10 (say $15-ish with shipping) as a minimum. This is intended to prevent someone from sending something like a single warrior or wyche from a box set, for example. Single miniatures are more than welcome and might actually be preferred in some senses, so long as they meet the $10 minimum requirement.

You can also send some older models if the person you are gifting has expressed a preference for some of those, provided they are in good condition and are sufficient in number to make a good gift.

You will basically be held to the honour system to ensure that the person who you are gifting does not feel cheated. Or else you can expect a visit from some very evil little elves!

I do encourage everyone to go beyond the $10 mark if possible, but only if it is within your means. When you sign up, please put some money aside for the gift right then. If you do not have sufficient funds, do not sign up. It makes no sense to sign up for an event that you cannot afford. You won't know at the time of sign-up who you're getting, or what you're going to be gifting, or even where you will be sending it to, but it's not unreasonable to put $20-ish dollars aside before you even start.

You should only gift based on what you're capable of. Even if you aren't that good with converting or painting models, you can definitely still participate - a single mini or a boxed set is still a nice and simple gift. Remember, it is not a competition.


What would be a suitable gift, prey tell?
Some examples of what might constitute a good gift:

A boxed set or single miniature?




A nicely converted miniature?



A nicely painted character or squad?




What would be a bad gift?
Hmmm ……..



How do you sign up, prey tell?
First of all, go away and think about whether or not you really want to participate in this exchange and will be able to meet the deadline. Then, send me a PM before November 1st.

PLEASE NOTE - entries are not considered official until I (Archon Santa) receive a PM from you containing the following:
1. Your full name
2. Your complete address, including the country
3. Your Dark Eldar preferences, if you have any, for what you collect or play, or would like a gift from. Are you a ground-pounder, or a deep-striker? Kabal, Wyche, Coven, other? Other systems such asWarhammer Fantasy, Epic, etc.

Don’t be too specific, these are just some basic clues that will be passed on to your secret santa to help give them an idea of where to start - what to make and send you.

And keep your requests reasonable, your secret santa may not have many funds or other resources available to them. Clawed Fiend = OK. Tantalus = not OK.

***If you do not send this PM, you will not be entered in the event***

DO NOT SEND ME A PM JUST SAYING "I'M IN". If you do, I will reach out and ‘touch’ you via the webway.

The information in your PM is very important because when your santa gets your information, they receive it in the form of THE SAME MESSAGE YOU SEND ME. I literally just forward your information direct to the person giving you your gift, so please make sure it is complete.

Secondly, after you have sent me your PM, you should also post a message in this thread containing the following:
1. A simple note that you are participating.
2. A copy of your Dark Eldar preferences, [edit] but only if you want to. Some people find that a bit awkward and prefer that only their gifter sees their suggestions.


What happens next, prey tell?
After November 1st, I will sort all of the participants into loose geographic regions to try and help you save on shipping costs and time. Beware that you may still be asked to send your gift to the other side of the planet.

I will then steal borrow my kids’ cookie jar and put each group of names in it, and shake it vigorously whilst trying not to drop it on my nice tile floor. I will then loosen the shackles on a couple of my slaves just enough to allow them to reach in the jar and randomly pick out names.

I may get the dog to help, as well.

Once I have paired up all of the names, I will forward you a copy of your victim’s giftees PM containing their real name, address and Dark Eldar preferences.


What do you do when you send/receive your gift, prey tell?
Here are a few suggestions for sending your gift:
• Include your forum name (and real name if you want) so people have some idea of who is sending them this mystery box! Just write it on a piece of paper and throw it in the package with the gift.
• If possible, consider using a Delivery Confirmation service so that you can track your package and make sure it gets there.
• PM me when you have sent it, so I can let your victim recipient know that it’s on the way.
• Check in with your recipient via PM a week or so after sending the gift to confirm they have received it, if you don't hear anything.

And, some guidelines for receiving a gift:
• Let your santa know via PM that it arrived, as soon as it arrives! People get very worried about this sort of thing!
• IMPORTANT:also post in this thread that your gift arrived, again, as soon as it does. Otherwise I may not be able to call off the Khymeras in time.
• And include some pics, you lazy git! Your santa probably worked very hard on the gift and wouldn’t mind it being displayed, plus, we all want to see what you got as well!
• If you know that your gift is on its way and you think that too much time has passed and you haven’t received it, PM me and I will apply the Agoniser ask the sender to check on it, if they can.

Remember to give it a good amount of time to arrive before you start worrying, it’s Christmas, the post is often much slower than normal.


What if you cannot complete the exchange, prey tell?
You should try and complete your gift and send it, even if it is going to be quite late. Most people will not mind, so long as a) they know that it will be late but it is at least on it’s way, and b) they do eventually get it.
Real life happens, we all recognize that. If circumstances outside of your control force you to be late, or even pull out in extreme circumstances, PM me and let me know immediately!

But understand that lame excuses will absolutely not be tolerated and names will be published.


Last Word
Santa (me) would like to set up the Deep Space Raid Aide Committee, in case a participant does not receive a gift for whatever reason. Joining this committee is entirely voluntary, and open to any forum member (even if you are not participating in the secret santa exchange). PM me if you are willing to help out, should the need arise.

The success of this raid, and the viability of future raids like it, rest in your hands.

BLeh stick me down

PM sent... Count me in.

PM is in.

Oh goody, we're off to a nice start everyone, keep 'em coming, we love the smell of fresh meat participants.

Sorrowshard, I still need a PM from you.

Everyone - don't forget to 1) PM me with your name, address and preferences,

AND

2) post in this thread that you are participating. You can also include your preferences when you post here, but you don't have to. If you only want your gifter to see your hints or suggestions then that's fine.

If you lose my PM ask, and I'll re-send it.

Basically I listed a bunch of potential options from Coven stuff, to terrain, to objective markers, to an Ork. No vehicles - I have those already

Yeah, I suppose I can post the preferences if I must, but I have a bit similar opinion to Thor on that...

OK, if any of you don't want to publicly post your preferences, that's absolutely fine. I will change the rules to reflect that.

As Thor says, if something does happen to the PM I can just ask for it to be re-sent before I fwd it to to your giftee.

Archon Claus wrote:

OK, if any of you don't want to publicly post your preferences, that's absolutely fine. I will change the rules to reflect that.

As Thor says, if something does happen to the PM I can just ask for it to be re-sent before I fwd it to to your giftee.

Excellent.

Count me in...
Oh... my preferences... well, around christmas it is coven-time, so anything in that direction or Jetbiker-Heads That goes in the same direction...

I'm in!

Wrote a big fat wishlist but forgot one of the most important things.
I do not want anything painted, as I always want to do all my painting myself.

Sent PM

Really don't want anything painted like Speedfreek but if you don't want to put something togather that is ok because building the kit is half the fun.

'kay, I'm in as well.

I'm happy just to get anything, but I really do have more than enough Warriors, Wyches, Incubi, Scourges, Reavers and Grotesques already.

Cheers.

/In

Quote :

Really don't want anything painted like Speedfreek but if you don't want to put something togather that is ok because building the kit is half the fun.

I agree. I think some pain tokens/objective would be nice (these could be painted!) In terms of kits Hellions, scourges or venoms would be useful as the bitz in the first two are great and the latter is always useful! For something smaller This dark elf would make a great Slicius!



PS:
I think it's important to go for things that you wouldn't normally get but would find useful. Eg a 'non essential' (as far as miniatures can be 'essential')

I'm in!
I somewhat became kind of a lurker in the past few weeks, but I will become more active around here. You can also see some of my converted stuff in the Haemonculi Workshop (which should be called 'HaemonculUS Workshop'; why do even the admins of this site write that name wrong? ).

This is going to be great!

Because there are a lot of Haemonculi working together, not just a single Haemonculus?

I'd be looking for anyhing that can serve in my coven, or converted "standard" Dark Eldar units (Kabalites, Wyches) that fit my Haemonculi-enhanced theme.... One can NEVER have enough Wracks...

Well, I don't mind if it's painted or not, but if painted, in the colors of my Coven would be nice...

I'm in!

Anything dark eldar, barring perhaps wracks, grotesques, talos (kit, that is), and old models, which Í find hideous quite frankly.
Encouraged are nicely converted objectives, pain tokens or any kit/character non painted of course .

I've sent a pm, so fingers crossed.


I'm a firebase Kabal, using Venoms and trueborn to get the job done. Speed is the key so Helions, Raiders and Razorwings. I could also do with bits to do a conversion or two.
Will be happy with anythin though : ) With further thought as above, nicely converted objectives or pain tokens would be fantastic as well.

Very interesting indeed...I'll take a stab at this!

I'm just hoping a couple of the people signing up are located in North America other than Canada since I'm about as far away from Canada as you can get and not be in Central America - if I get a guy from Sweden prepare for a very lightweight gift

Edit: Hmmm....Finecast might have a purpose after all...

Archon Claus wrote:

Who can enter, prey tell?
Anyone, anywhere. Even lurkers. But be aware that, while lurkers are welcome to participate, I reserve the right to use discretion in ruling people out of entering. This may seem completely arbitrary and unfair, especially in our first year with so many members not having established much of a presence yet, but if you are a completely unknown quantity here and I have misgivings for any reason, then I may choose not to let you participate (after I first contact you).

I do not want to see this exchange get abused by anybody, to take advantage of it just to try and get free stuff.

3D wrote:

I've sent a pm, so fingers crossed.

Don't worry, you're definitely in young fella!


I meant it when I said that lurkers - and noobs - are more than welcome to join and participate. The above warning is fully meant to act as a deterrent, but you need to have done something first to have brought attention to yourself. If you are not on my radar, and that's pretty much every denizen at the moment, then don't be shy about joining in.

And don't let your skill-level stop you from participating, either. If you are really worried, you can just buy something rather than build it, you can supply the unbuilt parts for a conversion, or you can prime something but not paint it. There's plenty of ways to participate.

Remember - it's not a competition. It's something fun and thoughtful to do for a fellow denizen.