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!
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!!!
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!
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.
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
Ultramarines Infiltrators x 10
Battle Sisters x 11 & Repentia Superior
Shootas x 40
Blood Ravens Sternguard Veterans x 5 & Lieutenant in Phobos Armour
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.
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
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!
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!
The Doubleclicks are frequent features on the Advent, probably cause I really, really like their music.
This one, well its not my favourite, but it is Lindsay’s, the first time she heard it, at the 77th WorldCon, Dublin 2o19, she cried her eyes out and then played it again and again for months (she still insists that she isn’t an autist).
And well, I have been meaning to include it, but it always got displaced by something else, but this time, I am sticking to my guns and its staying put here!
This one is older than me, and really captures the very early days of video gaming when Pac-Man swept the world!
And lets face it Pac-Man is a fantastic game that has stood the test of time and its no wonder that Buckner & Garcia scored a hit with this one in 1981!
Interestingly they pioneered rerecording an album when the masters ownership was denied to them, and they rerecorded the whole Pac-Man Fever album (yes there is an album, and its worth a listen/download)