Author: michael Page 2 of 58

Blood Ravens vs Necrons – Warhammer 40,000 Combat Patrol Battle Report

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On 12th January 2024

In Battle Reports

Battle Reports are back, but now with a focus on Combat Patrol

Here the sinister Necrons take on the secretive Blood Ravens, who will win?

Resolutions for 2024

By

On 1st January 2024

In Blog

I will be honest, I did really badly in 2023 and I just feel too depressed to go over them

So lets try and look forwards with some new plans for 2024!

Complete 6 Combat Patrols

This one is gonna be a fun one, and a bit easier, because I have three in progress!

Tyranids are half built, Sisters just need a Rhino, which is waiting to prime and the Chaos Space Marines is on the shelf needing to be built.

My plans were set, but then Hachette came out with the news for Warhammer 40,000 Combat Patrol, which will contain NINE different combat patrols, probably coming in late September I would imagine!

So my focus for adding will be stuff not included in that, so the the three I will add to my collection will likely be the new Ad Mech one, Grey Knights, Chaos Deamons (only need one pack of Bloodletters).

Bring My Gloomspite Gitz to 2000 Point

Should be relatively easy thanks to Stormbringer, I already have 640 points painted that I completed in the last few weeks, and I am adding two units of Stabbas and a Fungoid Cave-Shaman next.

Get My Drukhari To 2000 Points

This is a carry over from last year, I am more than halfway there with 1285 points, and hopefully can finish that in 2024

Complete My Video Game Geek Hardcore 10!

I got 7 of 10 done last year, so lets try and get the full 10 this year!

I have currently got the following in the core list, that you can see here!

Yakuza 0 (Steam)
Death Stranding (Steam)
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Xbox)
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag – Freedom Cry (Xbox)
Assassin’s Creed: Rogue (Xbox)
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Steam)
Stray (2022) (Steam)
Unpacking (Steam)
God of War (2018) (PlayStation)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Steam)

And the following are an alternative 3

Marvel’s Avengers (PlayStation)
Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster (Steam)
HλLF-LIFE (Steam)

Read 40 Books

That’s it, just read 40 books, and yeah I include shorts!

Start the Combat Patrol Battle Reports

Thats what I really want to focus on this year, battle reports with the Combat Patrol format!

I currently have painted and ready to play:-

  • Original Adeptus Mechanicus
  • Necrons
  • Space Marines (Blood Ravens)
  • Drukhari
  • Death Guard
  • T’au

As previously said, sitting on my shelf waiting to be added are a Tyranid and Chaos Space Marines Combat Patrol and the Sisters just need a Rhino which is waiting to be primed.

I also am just a few units short of the Adeptus Custodes (need a single squad of Sisters of Silence), Chaos Deamons (need a single squad of Bloodletters)

The gaming table is going up in the studio tonight or tomorrow to record the first battle report which will be, Necrons vs Space Marines!!!

Christmas & New Year 2023

By

On 1st January 2024

In Blog

Hope you all had a good Christmas, mine was fine, but I was ill for most of it and for one point over 72 hours was awake for less than 10 of them!

But other than that, it was good, we went to my sister in laws for the dinner, which was nice, and we had a great time with Megan’s family.

Me and Lindsay kept up our tradition of a Chinese takeaway for Christmas Eve and a movie, this year it was Super Mario Bros. And Christmas morning it was turkey bacon stotties with mushrooms, and the egg that Lindsay has been adding recently and Tymbark Apple & Cherry juice.

We didn’t do much in the way of gifts, we limited ourselves to £25 each, so I got Megan a book and a rainbow Stich controller holder. Lindsay got a book as well, plus a bunch of Steam games, as she has decided that she wants a Steam Deck in 2024.

My favourite present was a Moopsy toy that Karen made for me, its adorable, I just need to find a place to put it in the studio!

New Years was quiet, me and the otters went to Pauls for a few hours, then returned home and they went to bed, whilst I had a chicken wrap and chips and played the last of Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered.

Hopefully 2024 is gonna be a better year, because 2023 has been challenging.

What I Am Modelling

I started off with a big batch of Ultramarines, starting with a squad of Aggressors

Followed by some Inceptors

And Finally a squad of Infiltrators

After this I turned my attention to a squad of Battle Sisters

Alongside a Repentia Superior

As well as Sister Superior Tariana Palos

And then some Shootas for my Gloomspite Gitz

I also painted some Grot Scuttlings for Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower at the same time

I then painted up Gordrakk, the Fist of Gork over Christmas as a main centrepiece for the Orruk army!

And painted up the Gaunt Summoner for Silver Tower which completed that boxset.

Plus Mollogs Mob

And finally I painted a Whirlwind Scorpius for my Imperial Fists!

So what’s coming up next?

  1. Blood Ravens Sternguard Veterans & Phobos Lt
  2. Hobgrot Slittaz x 10
  3. Termagants x 20
  4. Gutrippas x 10
  5. Fungoid Cave Shaman
  6. Arch-Revenant & Ylthari’s Guardians
  7. Space Wolves Supressors x 3
  8. Bloodreavers x 10
  9. Screamer Killer
  10. Stabbas x 40

What I Am Reading

I finished Krieg by Steve Lyons, and that was a very very good audio book!

After that I moved on to Witchbringer by Steven B Fischer, which was ok, but the lack of Cadian accents threw me. Doctor Who and the Pirates was a lot of fun from Jacqueline Rayner and Creatures of Beauty by Nicholas Briggs was a great mind trip of a story.

And finally I listened to Gloomspite by Andy Clark, which was grim as fuck!

I have now started listening to Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Wings of Fury by Brittney Morris, before I play the game.

I read Sammael: Lord of the Eternal Hunt by Ben Counter, which was ok, followed by Astorath the Grim: Redeemer of the Lost by Andy Smille which was really good. Then I read The Sanguinor: Exemplar of the Host by James Swallow which was actually pretty good.

I also read The Nine by Justin D Hill which was pretty good, nice look at a character we have had a lot of time with but not much background on. The Last Loyalist by David Guymer was also excellent.

Then I picked up a few more shorts, Bjorn: The Fell-Handed by Chris Wraight, Marneus Calgar: Lord of Ultramar by Graham McNeill, Abaddon: Chosen of Chaos by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Cato Sicarius: Master of the Watch by Nick Kyme, Pedro Kantor: The Vengeful Fist by Steve Parker, Gabriel Seth: The Flesh Tearer by Andy Smillie, Dante: Lord of the Host by James Swallow, Helbrecht: The Crusader by Guy Haley, Vulkan He’stan: Forgefather by Nick Kyme, Lysander: The Fist of Dorn by Anthony Reynolds, Typhus: Herald of the Plague God by David Annadale, Logan Grimnar: Defender of Honour by Cavan Scott, Kaldor Draigo: Knight of Titan by L.J. Goulding, Kayvaan Shrike: Shadow Stalker by Gav Thorpe, Azrael: Protector of Secrets by C.Z. Dunn, Kor’sarro Khan: Huntmaster by Graeme Lyon, Torias Telion: The Eye of Vengeance by Graham McNeil and Ahriman: Hand of Dust by John French.

I also read The Staff of Asclepius by Graham McNeill which was pretty class.

What Video Games I Am Playing

I got my VideoGameGeek.com Secret Santa gift, and my super generous Santa gifted me, Stray, Yakuza: Like A Dragon and Crysis: Remastered, all games that have been high on my wish list!

Continued on with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.

I also completed Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered, total of 33 hours played and it was a lot of fun.

I have started to play The City That Never Sleeps DLC also on the Steam Deck and intend to finish it over Christmas.

Its one of those annoying episodic DLCs, which I hate, so obviously I started with The Heist, which was finished late on Christmas Day.

And yesterday I finished Turf War, which was ok, but felt less that The Heist.

And then I finished off Silver Linings just as the bell struck midnight, which I was happy with, great game, but the DLC felt disjointed because of the episodic nature.

What I Am Winning

I won a voucher from Maltesers which I combined with a voucher from some market research I did for KFC in order to buy a copy of Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, which made me very happy, as everyone knows I am a massive fan of the series.

What I Am Spending

I grabbed myself a few bits on payday, as a treat.

I got myself a Chaos Space Marines Combat Patrol, Necron Datacards, a brush and a few paints.

I also bought a few video games

Nerdy Musical Advent 2023 – 12th – 24th December

By

On 24th December 2023

In Uncategorised

Ok I will be honest, the death of our dear Douggie hit me hard and sent me down a huge depression spiral and the past twelve days have been a haze, and everything in my life has been kind of neglected.

But I want to finish this, so how about a big lot of 12 wonderful songs!

December 12th – The Avocado Song – Marian Call

We are starting with the amazing Marian Call, that typewrite musician from Alaska and The Avocado Song, a song that’s just great with a nice bit of aggression!

December 13th – Power-Ups – SΔMMUS

We love SΔMMUS, the amazing rapper with a PHD in Science and Technology, and this video is just mint.

Great song that I think you will all love!

December 14th – Walk Into Mordor – TeamHeadKick

First time for this rap group that have been making music about video games since 2007, and this song is about the classic game Shadow of Mordor from their album Legend.

December 15th – I Wanna Waa – CG5

CG5 has been making songs about video games and pop culture for about a decade now, and this is my favourite song of his, about a charcter Nintendo seem to be content to ignore Waluigi, who really needs his Taco Stand!

December 16th – She Doesn’t Like Firefly – Mikey Mason

The perfect girl loves Firefly, nuff said!

December 17th – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – MC Lars

Good old MC Lars, teaming up here with the amazing Mega Ran to give us this great spooky Halloween track.

December 18th – Burger Rain – The Aquabats

We all know I love The Aquabats, they are a crazy bunch, and this one is as crazy as it gets with a giant Crash making it rain tasty burgers!

December 19th – God of War – Gunblade X

God of War is a great game, that I really need to finish, and Gunblade X agrees, and wrote a song about the series!

December 20th – Lamentations of a War Machine – The Megas

I am a big fan of Mega Man and a big fan of The Megas, and this is from their concept album based on Mega Man 2, Get Equipped!

December 21st – It’s Me – Tryhardninja

Tryhardninja is another one of those amazing artists that sings songs about video games, and this one is about Five Nights At Freddys.

Not my favourite franchise, but my nephew Max is a big fan and asked me to include this!

December 22nd – Talk Nerdy To Me – K-Face Rules

Nerd music has a long history of parodying the popular songs, and this is a good example of that.

Taking a so called popular song, and twisting the lyrics to make it more relatable to geeks and also better!

December 23rd – All About That Base (No Acid) – A Capella Science

My degree is chemistry and its the best of the sciences, I will die on that hill.

So of course I love this song, it really does speak my language!

December 24th – Roll A D6 – Assorted Intricacies

And finally here is the last song for 2023, Roll A D6 by Assorted Intricacies a great parody and one of my favourite DnD themed songs, hope you enjoy it too!

Weirdly no socials I can find 🙁

Hopefully next year will be less stressful!

Goodbye Douggie

By

On 12th December 2023

In Blog

Our beautiful boy Sir Douglas T Cat has today crossed the Rainbow Bridge after a short battle with cancer.

We first adopted Doug two and a half years ago from the amazing Yarm Cat Rescue, he was a special cat who had first been found with a shattered pelvis, so bad they thought he might be best off being put to sleep.

But Becky worked hard and helped him heal and learn to walk again, which he did not with a wobble, but a swagger.

He was the kindest, most gentle boy, who as soon as he met someone, would make them his best friend, he loved children, and other animals especially.

He was such a force of nature, with a tail that made him a disaster, but he was always wanting to be with people and hugging them, then demanding fuds!

He was a little lamb, and I am going to miss his scruffy face so much, he was just a perfect little cat, who helped his brother Lord Barrington come out of his shell and become a more friendly cat.

Sleep well my champion lad.

What I Am Modelling

We started out with some reinforcements for my Blood Ravens Infernus Squad

And both versions of Minka Lesk, both as a Sgt/Lt and as a Captain

Followed by the Putrid Blightkings for Warhammer Quest

After which I painted Lilith for my Drukhari

And a Rhino for Legions Imperialis in Ultramarines colours

Then a couple of Ork Trukks for Waaagh Lindskull

Plan is currently very flexible as I need a paint restock so stuff is delayed until then

  1. Ultramarines Infiltrators x 10
  2. Battle Sisters x 11 & Repentia Superior
  3. Shootas x 40
  4. Blood Ravens Sternguard Veterans x 5 & Lieutenant in Phobos Armour
  5. Imperial Fists Whirlwind Scorpius
  6. Hobgrot Slittaz x 10
  7. Termagants x 20
  8. Ultramarines Aggressors x 3
  9. Gutrippas x 10
  10. Fungoid Cave Shaman

What I Am Reading

I listened to Jubilee by Robert Shearman and finished Sea of Souls by Chris Wraight.

I then moved on to Nekromanteia by Austen Atkinson, which was, after which I hit up The Dark Flame by Trevor Baxendale, now I am listening to Krieg by Steve Lyons.

I also read Visage by Rich McCormick, which was actually really good, then I read Hidden Treasures by Cavan Scott, followed by the Astra Millitarium Quick Reads series which was:

I also read The Desert Threat by Yan Leisheng, which sadly shares most of the faults of its predecessor.

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finished Assassin’s Creed: Liberation HD.

And I started on Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag!

What I Am Spending

Not much, but I did buy a couple of bits of DLC in preparation of playing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

It was also Humble Choice, and that got me

And I got a few games on the cheap too to add to the Steam Library

I also had to replace my phone, I had hoped to make my iPhone 12 last 4 years, but its Wi-Fi module on the SOC failed on Friday and it could no longer do any kind of network connectivity at all.

So I ordered an iPhone 15 Pro, the big advantage is that I can now get rid of my Lighting cables and move to just USB-C for everything but my power bank.

I intend to replace the power bank next year with a USB-C one, so once that’s done, I am a totally USB-C man for charging my personal electronics, other than the MagSafe for my watch.

Nerdy Musical Advent 2023 – 11th December – Honeybee – Steam Powered Giraffe

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On 11th December 2023

In Nerdy Music Advent

This is a wonderful song, that really hits me at times of sadness and happiness, its weird how it just fits those two moods exactly the same.

Steam Powered Giraffe are a great Steampunk band that have been around since 2008 and have a fantastic mythology for the bands backstory that has been expanded into comic books written by Isabella Bunny Bennett one of the bands founders.

Right now I am feeling very sad, one of our cats Douggie is booked in at the vets for his last trip tomorrow and this is helping me process my feelings about it

Nerdy Musical Advent 2023 – 10th December – Flash – Queen

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On 10th December 2023

In Nerdy Music Advent

Another mainstream one today (I promise not to make a habit of it), and this is from Lindsay’s favourite movie, Flash Gordon.

Obviously its by the incredible Queen and its the title song, and lets be honest, this is a massive banger and the whole album is in fact!

Nerdy Musical Advent 2023 – 9th December – Take On Me – Weezer

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On 9th December 2023

In Nerdy Music Advent

The first mainstream band of this year, Weezer are one of those bands that wear their geekiness on their sleeve!

This song is a cover of the A-Ha classic, from the Teal Album and accompanied by an amazing 80s inspired video, which has loads of cool 80s pop culture nods!

Nerdy Musical Advent 2023 – 8th December – Laser Printed Hero – The Mary Sues

By

On 8th December 2023

In Nerdy Music Advent

I am a big fan of The Mary Sues, an excellent trio who mix Irish bouzouki and keytar which is pretty cool!

Anywhere here is a really cool song about a DnD character that most players can relate to!

Nerdy Musical Advent 2023 – 7th December – Noise Marine – D-Rok

By

On 7th December 2023

In Nerdy Music Advent

A sound of my childhood here with D-Rok a Warhammer Records band that made songs about 40k that were championed by Brian May of all people!

Brian May even contributed to two of their songs too, after meeting them in a Games Workshop store with his son.

But yeah even though they only released one album, it was a banger, and this is the opening track!

Its not really avaiable anywhere right now, but I am sure you can hunt down a copy of Oblivion somewhere, I am surprised it hasn’t been rereleased after being used in the Boltgun game this year!

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