The First Toast

Ok my story for February is one I have been working on for about a year now, its set quite bit prior to The Midwatch, and introduces some two characters who have been forming a bit part of the universe I have been creating.

I think I need to figure out a way to keep all the background in order and making sense though cause currently its all in my head.

Anyway, please enjoy this short story.


Lieutenant Katie Ó Treasaigh was nervous as all hell as the steward placed her plate in front of her; she felt physically sick.

The Chicken Kyiv looked wonderful, with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables it would be delicious, but she was far too nervous to eat.

As she looked to the head of the table, Captain Hardeep Singh was chatting away to Lieutenant Commander Hadžić, his logistics department head. He noticed her looking at him, and he smiled at her with one of those disarming smiles he was famous for, the type that said it was all going to be alright.

Her nerves made it difficult to believe that, but she took a deep breath and asked Lieutenant Altyn Gurbanguly for the cheese sauce.

As she ate, her mind wandered back to the meeting with Captain Singh just a few days ago in his Day Cabin. He was filling in the paperwork for her Bridge Watchkeeping Certificate following her successful completion of the final exam a few weeks previously.

In his typical fashion, he also took the opportunity to go over her annual evaluation which was coming up. He was going over the milestones she had hit and asked her what she felt her weaknesses were.

She answered honestly; she worried about her ability to talk to the crew in a way that commanded the room; she always felt like a meek mouse.

“Just remember what it was like when you first gave the toast, I felt the same and it took a bit of practice, but I got there in the end.” He stood up and took down a picture from one of the shelves on the bookcase behind him.

It was a photo of a crew in a wardroom, and he handed it to her, she immediately recognised her Captain, he looked so young, but he wore his dastar, just the same way, and his smile hadn’t changed.

“That’s from the day of my first toast on the Trincomalee” he smiled, clearly remembering the day and thinking fondly of it.

”Commanding a ship is a lot of responsibility, but I miss the simplicity of those days, back when I was a midshipman.” as he sat back down in his chair as the leather creaked like a tired old sigh

He always came across kindly, like a teacher rather than the commanding officer of the CAS Frobisher, one of the Accords newer and most powerful cruisers.

And that’s when she said it, without thinking. “Actually sir, I have never given the toast before.”

He leaned back in his chair and nodded, “We best get that fixed then, Lieutenant,” he said, steepling his fingers as he thought for a moment. “You can give the toast on Thursday.”

She had wished the earth would swallow her up; she still didn’t feel like she should be an officer; she still felt like that girl from Benbulbin that opted to enlist rather than head off for the factories to work.

She never wanted to be an officer; a shortage of officer candidates had the Petty Officer supervising her, push her forward for the officer’s exam, and just a few weeks later she found herself at the Accords Naval College for 28 weeks, then another year at the Stellar Warfare School learning her trade as an electronics warfare officer, an EWO.

Throughout her year on the Frobisher, she had absorbed invaluable lessons, deeply appreciating Captain Singh’s mentorship. Like many of his young officers, she felt fortunate to have him guide her with such dedication and generosity of time.

The only reason she realised why she had never had to give the toast was that to serve as an EWO, you had to hold the rank of Lieutenant, and she never spent time on an active ship as a Midshipman or a Sub-Lieutenant; she was promoted to full Lieutenant on completion of her training.

They were currently undergoing a Freedom of Navigation Operation, a FONOP, in a group of neutral systems that had seceded from the Terran Confederation during the Liberation War a little over 300 years ago, but had not joined the Pan Colonial Accord.

These systems maintained relations with both sides, trading with both and upholding a strict neutrality. But that neutrality made them a hotbed for espionage and intrigue, as representatives from both sides would hold clandestine meetings and covert exchanges, weaving a complex web of double agents and hidden alliances that subtly influenced the course of the three centuries old Cold War.

And with them making their space open to all, both the Accord and Confederation made regular FONOPs, reminding each other that they could, and both sides used these operations to show off their ships and make sure they knew that they were a threat.

During a FONOP, the EWOs roles were nothing short of critical. Amid the quiet hum of the sensor arrays, they vigilantly scanned the electromagnetic spectrum for any hint of hostile activity. Every fluctuation in radiation, every stray signal burst, and every anomalous telemetry was scrutinized and cross-referenced against known enemy profiles. 

The EWOs continuously parsed data from the ship’s sensors, tracking the subtle signatures of passing vessels from the Confederation and deciphering patterns that might indicate an attempt at electronic reconnaissance. Simultaneously, they coordinated with the CIC to adjust countermeasures, ensuring that any enemy data-gathering efforts were met with swift, calculated responses. 

In essence, the EWOs engaged in a silent battle of observation and subterfuge, one that was as much about safeguarding their own ship’s systems as it was about piecing together the enemy’s capabilities from the faint whispers of their electronic signals.

In the wardroom, the officers chatted among themselves; she found herself relaxing somewhat. She couldn’t tell if the chicken was real or biofabricated; the longer she spent away from her families farm, the harder it became to distinguish genuine meat from that which was synthesized from printed protein. They had docked in port for a few days, and had taken in fresh food, the lasagna last night had been made with real beef, she was sure of that.

Just as she relaxed and started to forget what was coming, the stewards began to top up the glasses for the toast. Most of the officers chose the traditional rum; being an Irish girl, she preferred whiskey, not that she drank much at all, but today she needed it.

The toast was an ancient tradition, dating back to the times when ships were made of wood and sailed on oceans of water. At the evening meal in the wardroom, the youngest officer present would raise their glass, and give a toast, a different one for each day of the week.

Today’s toast was one with a bit of dark humour to it, in which the officers hoped for circumstances that would allow for rapid promotions.

The captain tapped his spoon to his glass, and the room hushed; he stood and raised his glass of apple juice, “Officers and ship’s company, I ask you to join me in a toast to the Accord and our Commander-in-Chief, the Chancellor”

The crew all raised their glasses and responded with “The Chancellor.”

This was it, her turn, her duty, her embarrassment. She stood, every eye on her. Her palms were slick with sweat, and for a moment, she feared the glass would slip from her grip. The weight of the moment pressed down on her, as if the gravity plating had suddenly increased tenfold.

She cleared her throat and said in as clear a voice as she could “A bloody war or a sickly season,” and the crew raised their glasses and then drank.

There was a raucous noise, and her fellow officer banged the table and cheered her; Gurbanguly slapped her back, and she smiled. It wasn’t so bad; she did it; her face felt red and warm, perhaps that was the whiskey, or perhaps it was relief from it being over.

She had spent the past two days dreading this moment, but now it was over, it really didn’t feel that it had been a big deal, it was just another one of the steps in her career in this grand navy.

Singh was smiling; his kind eyes made her feel like he knew she could do it, as always, he never doubted her for a second.

Perhaps this farmer’s daughter from Benbulin did belong in the officers wardroom; the room slowly started to calm; the stewards had almost finished clearing up the dinner plates, and jam roly-poly with custard was being served, with the tea being poured; the conversation returned, and soon she found herself chatting with Gurbanguly about the mundanity of life on a FONOP.

When she got back to her quarters, she fell on her bed and stared at the bulkhead and wondered what all the fuss and nerves were about.

But for now she needed to sleep, she was on morning watch starting at 0400, so she only had a few hours to sleep before she needed to be in the CIC.

My Biggest Prints So Far

Since I got the 3D printer in August, most of my prints have been infantry, with a few Rhino sized tanks

But this project is the biggest print so far, and required 3 full to the brim plates done!

It’s a proxy for the Macharius Heavy Tank called the Lupercal, and it’s a beautiful model.

The first plate which had on the turret, sponsons and part of the tracks, took just shy of 9 hours to print

The second which had on the sides and engine block was a chew on to print. The first attempt failed at 77% done, which was fine for the engine block, but the sides were partly completed. The printer appeared to have crashed, which was annoying.

The second attempt was just the sides, plus the Heavy Stubber Sponsons which I had forgotten was the only configuration the Solar Auxilia version could take, and that didn’t print at all.

The third attempt was successful and took just under 9 1/2 hours .

And finally the third plate, containing the front hull, rest of the tracks and the Vulcan Mega Bolter parts took 5 1/2 hours.

Once it was all printed cleaned and cured, it was then time to put it together, as you can tell I decided to print the parts for all three weapons that can be swapped in and out,

Those being the standard Battlecannons, Vanquisher Cannons and a Rotary Bolt Cannon (used to be a Vulcan Mega Bolter and that was much cooler)

With it all assembled, I then primed it in Poundlands grey primer spray paint, which is an excellent can for just £2.50!

And this where the problem was, it just look too much like a Soace Marine tank, so as much as I loved it, it’s going to be joining the Imperial Fists

So back to the drawing board and look what I found on the Purple Site, a version that has more rivets and it far more Solar Auxilia looking!

So then this was primed in that very same Poundland Grey

And then painted up in my urban camo scheme I am using for the Solar/Guard to allow vehicles to be used across armies.

This has a base of Mechanicus Standard Grey (AP Deep Grey), then the camo pattern using Thunderhawk Blue and Abbadon Black, with a recess wash of Agrax Earthshade then a Dawnstone dry brush

When it was finished I coated the tracks in Stirland Mud and added some static grass for texture after which I drybrushed it with Gothor Brown and then Screaming Skull.

I am pretty happy with how this turned out and it’s adding a decent big tank to the Solar Auxilia even though it’s pretty pointless for its cost, and a Leman Russ Vanquisher is far more points efficient.

So what have I learned from this project, well if I want to tackle anything bigger, I will need a wash and cure station, a Stormhammer is something I want to do, but would have issues with the processing of it due to size

And to be honest, it’s given me a lot more confidence to run longer prints, which is something I have tried to avoid in the past cause I didn’t like being unable to monitor them.

But here is the thing when it comes to my 3D printing and Warhammer, I don’t want to be the guy who 3D prints everything. For the Solar Auxilia, so much stuff is still in very expensive resin, or just not in production, even in resin, that I found myself needing to 3D print a good ton of models.

I want to support my FLGSs, but at the same time, I enjoy the hobby of 3D printing, especially tanks, for my Krieg I want to print some Chimeras and Hellhounds for example.

I guess I am just trying to find that middle ground, where I am trying to 3D print some stuff but also making sure to buy actual plastic models for others.

It’s an interesting balancing act.

Website Update

I have added a new page to this website, its a list of the armies I own and a link to a Google Doc for each of them, listing what I have painted and ready to play with.

Its only partial, I am expanding it slowly as I catalogue what I have and get NFC tags attached to the boxes, which allows me to pull up the lists easily if I want to know what in the boxes.

What I Am Modelling

I started out with the Terminators for the Ultramarines Combat Patrol

Followed by the same squad, but this time for the Dark Angels

After that I had some Allarus Custodians to complete the new Custodes Combat Patrol

And I am starting a rebuild of my Aeldari army, starting with the Farseer from the Combat Patrol

And I also painted two Chaplains on a Bike, one for the Ultramarines

And another for the Dark Angels

Then I turned to the Tyranids and painted up some Barbgaunts

Followed by some Termagants

And a Ripper Swarm

This was followed by a pair of Ammo Monks for Trench Crusade

Finally I painted Skragrot the Loonking

With a Rabble Rowza


So what’s up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Ardboyz x 10
  3. Rockgut Troggoths x 3
  4. Atheon Heavy Sentinels x 3
  5. Rettributes x 5
  6. Malcador Heavy Tank & Dracosan
  7. Swampboss Skumdrekk
  8. Ultramarines Brutalis Dreadnought
  9. Imperial Fists Command Squad
  10. The Ancestors’ Wrath Einhyr Champion & Kâhl Yôht Grendok

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

It was the monthly Hartlepool 40K tournament on Sunday and I went along with Necrons.

I had originally planned to take Guard, but with the new codex seemingly deleting the Imperial Armour units, I was left well short of having a list.

So this is what I took

Tournament Necrons (1995 Points)

Necrons
Starshatter Arsenal
Strike Force (2000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Catacomb Command Barge (135 Points)
• Warlord
• 1x Gauss cannon
• 1x Staff of light
• Enhancements: Miniaturised Nebuloscope

Hexmark Destroyer (75 Points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 1x Enmitic disintegrator pistols

Overlord (85 Points)
• 1x Overlord’s blade
• 1x Tachyon arrow

Royal Warden (50 Points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 1x Relic gauss blaster

Skorpekh Lord (80 Points)
• 1x Enmitic annihilator
• 1x Flensing claw
• 1x Hyperphase harvester

BATTLELINE

Immortals (70 Points)
• 5x Immortal
◦ 5x Close combat weapon
◦ 5x Gauss blaster

Immortals (70 Points)
• 5x Immortal
◦ 5x Close combat weapon
◦ 5x Gauss blaster

Necron Warriors (90 Points)
• 10x Necron Warrior
◦ 10x Close combat weapon
◦ 10x Gauss reaper

Necron Warriors (90 Points)
• 10x Necron Warrior
◦ 10x Close combat weapon
◦ 10x Gauss flayer

Necron Warriors (90 Points)
• 10x Necron Warrior
◦ 10x Close combat weapon
◦ 10x Gauss flayer

OTHER DATASHEETS

Annihilation Barge (105 Points)
• 1x Armoured bulk
• 1x Gauss cannon
• 1x Twin tesla destructor

Annihilation Barge (105 Points)
• 1x Armoured bulk
• 1x Tesla cannon
• 1x Twin tesla destructor

Canoptek Doomstalker (145 Points)
• 1x Doomsday blaster
• 1x Doomstalker limbs
• 1x Twin gauss flayer

Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (55 Points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 1x Gauss destructor

Lokhust Heavy Destroyers (55 Points)
• 1x Close combat weapon
• 1x Enmitic exterminator

Night Scythe (145 Points)
• 1x Armoured bulk
• 1x Twin tesla destructor

Skorpekh Destroyers (180 Points)
• 6x Skorpekh Destroyer
◦ 6x Skorpekh hyperphase weapons

Tomb Blades (75 Points)
• 3x Tomb Blade
◦ 3x Close combat weapon
◦ 3x Twin gauss blaster

Tomb Blades (75 Points)
• 3x Tomb Blade
◦ 3x Close combat weapon
◦ 3x Twin tesla carbine

Triarch Stalker (110 Points)
• 1x Heavy gauss cannon array
• 1x Stalker’s forelimbs

Triarch Stalker (110 Points)
• 1x Heat ray
• 1x Stalker’s forelimbs

So my first game was against Leon and his T’au Empire army, which was battlesuit heavy

He had a very good opening round of shooting taking out my Canoptek Doomstalker, and Annihilation Barge and Lokhust Heavy Destroyer.

By the end of turn 3 I was pretty much gone with just a few troops left, but they survived until the end of turn 5 which was good

For my second game I faced Christophers Space Wolves with an allied Armiger Warglaive

It was a much closer match, but I struggled to score in the primary mission because the Necrons are quite slow, I think I really need some transports for them

And finally I went up against the Chaos Space Marines of Ian, and for the first couple of turns it was reasonably equal, and I thought I might stand a chance at a close loss

But losing a couple of my heavy hitters really turned the tide, as the much faster Chaos Space Marines utterly trounced me

So what have I learnt, well the biggest is that my Necrons need transport, so I think I need to invest in some Ghost Arks at some point soon, because I am finding they struggle to get Warriors on to objectives

But regardless of the outcome, I had fun and well, the wooden spoon is what I live for!

On Tuesday I played a game of Age of Sigmar for the start of a local escalation league, with the first games at 750pts

I am using this list

750 740/1000 pts
-----
Orruk Warclans | Ironjawz | Ironfist
Drops: 1
-----
General’s Regiment
Megaboss on Maw-Krusha (360)
• General
Ardboyz (180)
Brutes (200)

My first game was against Michaels Nighthaunt and oh it went badly, the buffs and rebuffs from his characters just really stopped my Ironjawz from getting enough attacks to hit home and as a result they crumpled pretty easily

Ah it is what it is, but it was none the less a fun game!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Still plodding away at Assassin’s Creed: Unity, starting off by concentrating on collectables and clearing stuff area by area

What I Am Spending

I got some Tempestus Scions to add some of the models I need to get myself to have the new Scions based Kill Team, I need some Tempestors and Scions with Grenade Launchers

I still need another box to make the command squad guys with and another Tempestor, but will get that next month

I managed to finally pick up a Pariah Nexus deck, the stars never have seemed to quite align on this!

Gamers@Hart had a deck in on Sunday, during the tournament in which we were supposed to be using it, so I picked it up!

I needed a can of Wight Bone for priming Tyranids, I wanted to get it from Gamers@Hart but alas they didn’t have it in stock, so had to go to Amazon!

And a top up in paints from Element Games, alongside the Thousand Sons Combat Patrol

Video game wise, I picked up Red Dead Redemption 2 on sale at its lowest ever price on Steam, and Rogue Trader too, based mostly on the recommendation of Graham

I also added Fates Divided to Total War: Three Kingdoms

I indulged in a mystery bundle from Fanatical and got myself these

And with it being Humble Choice week, I got that and gained me the following


The Midwatch

Something I want to do more of is jot down some fiction writing and this year I am trying to write a little short story a month, and well this is the effort for January, but I am nervous about publishing it, so its taken me till now to do so.

Let me know what you think guys, I am open to critique and comments, especially around grammar and editing which are my weakest areas of writing.


The CAS Cusco, a second-rate Peru Class light cruiser of the Pan-Colonial Accord, sailed though the void on the edge of the Torngat Rift, a nebula that formed a major part of the border with the Terran Confederation.

The Cusco was no vessel of renown, she was one of many ships that patrolled the borders of the Accords domain and kept them in check. But to her crew, she was more than just meta and firepower, she was their home

Lieutenant Minh Vu had to stifle a yawn as he made his rounds, the Cusco was very quiet on the midwatch, a long tedious stretch of night duty, when much of the ships functions slowed and its rhythms relaxed but didn’t actually stop.

The corridors still hummed with life, but it was quiet enough that you could hear the distant thrumming of the ship’s reactors, occasionally disrupted by the occasional murmurs of low voices.

Vu stepped into the Wardroom where a young Steward was ready with two steaming mugs of tea for him to collect, he was always sure to radio ahead. A couple of Sub-Lieutenants sat at one of the tables playing a game of cards with what looked to be a well worn deck.

He then made his way to the bridge, where Lieutenant Commander Jaan Tamm had the deck. Tamm was a grizzled veteran of 3rd Harmony Border War, and had been a Sub-Lieutenant on the Sovereign, the then flagship, when it was destroyed in one of the war’s earliest battles.

Tamm’s uniform was impeccable, and he was as steady as bedrock, as he ordered the helmsman to adjust the engine a fraction of a degree, his voice was as steady as could be. 

“Sir” Vu said in a quiet greeting, which Tamm acknowledged with a brief nod.

“Have you ever been out this way before Mr Vu?” He asked, as he punched a few keys on his control panel.

Vu shook his head, as he saw the brilliant blue of the Torngat Rift appear in the largest part of the command display wall, surrounded by various sensor readings and telemetry data.

“It’s rather beautiful isn’t it” Tamm mused, “Despite the ancien régime being just beyond it”

Vu had to admit that it was

Below them on the port Gun Deck, Gunner Layla Davlatova was inspecting the plasma batteries magnetic containment fields for their stability. They had not been fired in some months and, that made her nervous, it was a gunners superstition that guns that went unused, tended to misbehave.

The main firepower in the Cusco was contained in its two railguns mounted at the bottom of the ship, its medium range plasma broadsides could still pack a hefty punch.

The crew moved around the massive batteries and their power banks, polishing the burnished metal, whispering quiet prayers to whatever higher power they believed in and asking for any luck that could be spared.

There wasn’t much to do at the moment, and even in the age of plasma weapons and gravity mines, sailors were still an extremely superstitious bunch

Davlatova chuckled as she passed by Warrant Officer 1st Class Ngueto, he was telling a wide eyed Able Rating about the time he saw a ship split in half by a misfire. The Able Rating swallowed hard and then doubled his efforts on cleaning the focusing lenses he was working on.

In the ships infirmary, Surgeon-Lieutenant Mariana López was finishing up a minor surgery, an Engineering Technician had thought it wise to try and pull apart a coolant valve by hand.

The wounded crewman winced as López worked on the gash in his arm, whilst the ships Chaplain Omar al-Farouq reassured the young man as the smell of antiseptics and that metallic tang of blood filled the air

“You are going to live boy” said López with that sarcastic tone of hers, she had little time for young crewmen who hurt themselves cutting corners in procedure 

al-Farouq couldn’t help but add “and next time we are in port, you are going to have quite the scar to impress the girls with”

The young crewman chuckled weakly and that, and López rolled her eyes

Sat in his cabin, Captain Étienne Leclerc was half reading a book, an actual paper book, not a digital one. In this day and age, books made of paper were a luxury, and with each new promotion and command, he had indulged in purchasing a new book from a specialist boutique on Ramada. They cost a fair bit of money, but he felt they were worth it.

This particular book was an old naval memoir, written over a thousand years ago during the golden age of piracy back on Terra when ships sailed in water. It was written by a Spanish captain and documented his journeys across the Atlantic Ocean and his battles in the Caribbean with British and French vessels as well as pirates.

And it was pirates that weighed most in his mind, that and fuel reserves and the state of the crew.

The Confederation and the Accord had been in any serious conflict for nearly a century now, but pirates were a major concern here, as they preyed on ships crossing the rift as they smuggled goods between the border worlds.

He took a sip of the brandy he had, he only indulged a single glass during the midwatch, and he listened to the sounds of the ship, the slight creaking of the metal, the low hum of the gravity plating and the distant voices of the crew

The Cusco was a living thing, a home and a duty both.

And tomorrow, the routine will begin again.

My Video Game Challenge 2025

The past couple of years I have been participating in the VideoGameGeek.com challenge to beat a list of 10 video games.

I did ok last year and managed to get through 9 of them and a back up.

This year I have picked a reasonable mix of games that I am going to try and beat, and this is them

  1. Horizon Forbidden West – PS5
  2. Cyberpunk 2077 – Steam
  3. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate – Xbox
  4. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China – Xbox
  5. Resident Evil HD – Steam
  6. Lego Batman – Steam – Completed
  7. Final Fantasy III – Pixel Remaster – Steam
  8. Borderlands – Steam
  9. Shadow of the Tomb Raider – Steam
  10. HλLF-LIFE – Steam

And the three on my backup list are

  1. Marvel’s Avengers – PS5
  2. Yakuza Kiwami – Steam
  3. High on Life – Steam

I am currently working on Resident Evil HD, and once I am done with Assassin’s Creed: Unity I will be moving to Horizon Forbidden West on stream.

I am already regretting Resident Evil HD, but I do plan on pushing through that next week a considerable chunk.

As for the rest, lets see!

What I Am Modelling

I got my next Lasrifle Section painted up for the Solar Auxilia

Pretty simple, just 20 guys all armed with Lasrifles, along with a Vox Interlock and Vexellia

Then I painted a trio of Medicae that I printed for them as well

These will accompany each of the Lasrifle Sections in my list plus the Command Squad

To carry them, I painted a Dracosan transport

I also painted up a couple of artillery carriage batteries for the Solar Auxilia that I printed, with both Earthshaker and Medusa Cannons available to it with a simple swap

I still need to sort out some crew for them however.

But I did get crew sorted for the Cyclops Demolition Vehicles, these are from the Grimguard Bomb Squads

And an Impulsor for the Dark Angels


So what’s coming up next?

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeder
  2. Ardboyz x 10
  3. Skragrot the Loonking and Rabble-Rowza
  4. Allurus Custodians x 3
  5. Rockgut Troggoth x 3
  6. Atheon Heavy Sentienls x 3
  7. Sisters Retributors x 5
  8. Ultramarines Terminators x 5
  9. Malcador Heavy Tank
  10. Swampboss Skumdrekk

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Myself, Lindsay and Megan played a game of Ticket to Ride: Berlin on last Thursday and I won my second game in a row with 49 points.

It was tight as Megan was only 2 points behind me, but I got lucky and had tickets worth 8 and 5 points, which required a long route to complete.

And last night we played DnD with Megan GMing for a change

What Video Games I Am Playing

Played a bit more Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Been playing Hell Let Loose with Graham and Chris on Monday nights which is a lot of fun

And continued with Resident Evil

What I Am Creating

The issue 5 Combat Patrol battle report was published

And the issue 6 one is already done too, which goes live on the 31st!

I published a shortform video, the first of many I hope Edge of Empire will publish, this one was mostly to learn techniques, and I must emphasise that I love Graham, he is amazing and whilst he plays powerful lists, he is far far from a WAAC player

hat I Am Spending

I saved up and put the money aside for the Death Korps of Krieg starter set to add to my existing Death Korps army

Looking forward to getting these painted up to give my army a few more options

I also picked up Combat Patrol Issue 20 with a Chaplain on a Bike


A Very Basic Driving Sim Rig, Very Basic

I have been wanting to get a wheel for playing racing games for quite a while, and identified the Logitech G920 as what would be ideal for me a while back, but alas at £200-£230 it’s still relatively expensive despite being a rather entry level device.

So I was keeping an eye out on eBay and Facebook Marketplace, I post a few auctions on eBay, and Facebook Marketplace has an issue with people listing things for a stupidly low price and having no intention of selling it for that, or being a straight up scammer saying they will ship it from a warehouse in the EU if I PayPal them the money as Friends and Family.

But I kept at it, and in mid November I managed to secure a deal on Facebook Marketplace, which involved a back alley knife fight (I jest), the G920 for £90, and the seller even threw in a Playseat Challenge PlayStation Edition which was supposed to cost £200 on its own!

So I was over the moon with that, we met the fella in the car park of the Burger King at Teeside Park at 10pm, and he pulled up in a dodgy looking Transit, I handed over the cash and he gave me the stuff, which we had to stuff into the back seat of our car, whilst fitting me in at the same time!

I got to use it quite a lot initially upstairs, and it was a heck of a learning curve, I am great on controller but this is gonna take a lot of learning!

To add to the experience, Lindsay and Megan got me the Logitech Driving Force Shifter for Christmas, to add the manual gear shift to make it a bit cooler and more realistic.

I haven’t had a lot of chance to play with it, but I got it setup with the Playseat after Christmas and did some driving round in Forza Horizon 5, which was so much fun!

And before publication I got it all set up in Euro Truck Simulator 2 as part of my plans to regularly stream some of that.

Started the training for the game, and will be getting ready to start streaming a week Wednesday

What I Am Modelling

I started by painting the first Malcador for my Solar Auxilia

And finally Karazai the Scarred for my Stormcast Eternals

After that I painted some Heavy Intercessors that I had 3D printed

Plus a Lieutenant for them as well, armed with a Plasma Pistol and Power Sword

Alongside a Librarian in Terminator Armour from Combat Patrol

And another Librarian in Terminator Armour, but this one was joining the Ultramarines

After that I finished my Paragon Warsuits for the Sister of Battle, with these Heavy Flamer armed ones

I am now currently working on a 20 man Lasrifle Section for my Solar Auxilia


So what’s up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Lasrifle Section x 20 & Medicae x 3
  3. Dark Angels Impulsor
  4. Ardboyz x 10
  5. Skragrot the Loonking & Rabble-Rowza
  6. Allarus Custodians x 3
  7. Rockgut Troggoths x 3
  8. Atheon Heavy Sentinels x 3
  9. Retributors x 5
  10. Ultramarines Terminators x 5

What I Am Reading

I finished Fabius Bile: Primogenitor by Josh Reynolds, an interesting listen, and I will be tackling the next two in short order!

I then listened to some Doctor Who audios, starting with Caerdroia by Lloyd Rose, and The Next Life by Alan Barnes, which finished off the whole universe without time arc, which I am very glad of, because that wasn’t all that enjoyable.

And finally The Juggernauts by Scott Alan Woodward, which was a lot of fun, 6 and Mel are very good together!

I am also currently slowly making my way through Eidolon: The Auric Hammer by Marc Collins.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

On Tuesday night I played a game of Ticket to Ride Paris with Megan and Lindsay

And I won with 33 points, just 1 point ahead of Megan!

I was supposed to play a game with Paul of Warhammer 40K, I debting my Deatg Korps of Krieg with this list from the Astra Militarium index

Krieg (2000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Cadian Command Squad (65 Points)
• 1x Cadian Commander
• Warlord
◦ 1x Laspistol
◦ 1x Power weapon
• 1x Cadian Veteran Guardsman
◦ 1x Laspistol
◦ 1x Plasma gun
• 1x Cadian Veteran Guardsman with Master Vox
◦ 1x Close combat weapon
◦ 1x Lasgun
◦ 1x Master Vox
• 1x Cadian Veteran Guardsman with Medi-pack
◦ 1x Close combat weapon
◦ 1x Lasgun
◦ 1x Medi-pack
• 1x Cadian Veteran Guardsman with Regimental Standard
◦ 1x Close combat weapon
◦ 1x Lasgun
◦ 1x Regimental Standard

Commissar (30 Points)
• 1x Bolt pistol
• 1x Chainsword

Tank Commander (225 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 1x Lascannon
• 1x Leman Russ battle cannon

Tech-Priest Enginseer (45 Points)
• 1x Archeotech pistol
• 1x Enginseer axe
• 1x Servo-arm

BATTLELINE

Death Korps of Krieg (65 Points)
• 1x Death Korps Watchmaster
◦ 1x Chainsword
◦ 1x Laspistol
• 9x Death Korps Trooper
◦ 9x Close combat weapon
◦ 1x Grenade launcher
◦ 8x Lasgun
◦ 1x Vox-caster

Death Korps of Krieg (65 Points)
• 1x Death Korps Watchmaster
◦ 1x Chainsword
◦ 1x Laspistol
• 9x Death Korps Trooper
◦ 9x Close combat weapon
◦ 1x Grenade launcher
◦ 8x Lasgun
◦ 1x Vox-caster

Death Korps of Krieg (65 Points)
• 1x Death Korps Watchmaster
◦ 1x Chainsword
◦ 1x Laspistol
• 9x Death Korps Trooper
◦ 9x Close combat weapon
◦ 9x Lasgun
◦ 1x Vox-caster

OTHER DATASHEETS

Carnodon (160 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 2x Volkite caliver
• 1x Volkite culverin

Carnodon (160 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 2x Volkite caliver
• 1x Volkite culverin

Carnodon (160 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 2x Volkite caliver
• 1x Volkite culverin

Cyclops Demolition Vehicle (25 Points)

Leman Russ Vanquisher (145 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 1x Heavy bolter
• 1x Vanquisher battle cannon

Leman Russ Vanquisher (145 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 1x Heavy bolter
• 1x Vanquisher battle cannon

Leman Russ Vanquisher (145 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 1x Heavy bolter
• 1x Vanquisher battle cannon

Malcador (250 Points)
• 1x Armoured tracks
• 2x Lascannon
• 1x Lascannon
• 1x Malcador battle cannon

Medusa Carriage Battery (125 Points)
• 1x Battery close combat weapons
• 1x Medusa siege cannon

Medusa Carriage Battery (125 Points)
• 1x Battery close combat weapons
• 1x Medusa siege cannon

Not quite WYSIWYG because the Malcador has a Demolisher Cannon instead of a Lascannon, but otherwise it’s good.

Alas Lindsay was very ill so I had to cancel 🙁

But rescheduled for this coming Friday.

What Video Games I Am Playing

I completed LEGO Batman: The Videogame on the Steam Deck, which was ok, but I think I the lack of achievements didn’t serve my ADHD or need for constant validation any good!

Played some more Assassin’s Creed: Unity on stream.

And started on Resident Evil (2002)

I also spent a bit of time in the Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II Pixel Remasters, just clearing up the last of the achievements, getting them to 100%

What I Am Spending

I ordered 3KG of Resin for the printer, although it’s been a bit too cold to print at the minute

And because of the cold, Lindsay leant me the money to buy the mini heater for the printer, which has been amazing and is allowing me to print again!

I am now printing off some Earthshaker Carriage Batteries for my Solar Auxilia.

We also upgraded our DakBoard to a touchscreen, which is a lot easier to use than the old one.

I had to reinstall the DakBoard operating system on the Raspberry Pis MicroSD card, which was annoying, but other than that, its worked like a charm!

Still need to cable manage it however!

In the last days of the Steam sale, I picked up

And it was also Humble Choice so I got the following


Our Christmas

Below is our living room Christmas tree this year, one thing that myself, Lindsay and Megan have been doing, well ever since I moved out of my parents, is to have no repeated baubles. My mum was always one for uniformity on the tree and I have found that to be super bland.

So for years, me and Lindsay, and later Megan when she moved in with us, have been buying unique ornaments and baubles each year, and we have now such a decent selection of ornaments that we have no duplicates.

This tree is the one we have in our living room and is usually reffered to as the geeky tree as it contains all our ornaments from various fandoms and stuff. These baubles have come from a variety of places, from the Disney Store, Debenhams, Primark, Etsy and right down to Poundland. And of recent some 3D printing, this year we added a Tardis and an Eldar Scrolls ornament that I printed. We also have a small selection of Warhammer models which got painted gold and a bit of string put through them to turn them into baubles!

There is also a large amount of Disney decorations too, most of which were inherited from Lindsay and Megan’s family collections, these are beautiful, I must admit I would prefer the tree without them, but hey I am just one of three. But we do have enough Disney decorations that we could genuinely have a tree of just Disney stuff!

The dining room is host to a more grown up tree with the traditional style of decorations, which is lovely and exactly the same with unique non-repeating baubles, but its far less fun!


I got a few nice presents, to add to the driving rig, I got a Logitech Driving Force Shifter, which was purchased on Prime Day for me!

I also got a couple of board games, Ticket to Ride Paris from Paul, Unlock Adventures, which includes scenarios from Ticket to Ride, Pandemic and Mysterium from Emma, also from Paul a box, some dice and a notepad for RPG playing and a sign about my Dumbfuckery, Jane and Geoff got me a new desk mat, a Warhammer 4ok one, and from Lindsay’s father I got a hat and gloves.

Of course the best present was my Lynx Africa set!

In my stocking I also got the servo skull palette which on reflection is actually pretty cool!

My VideoGameGeek Secret Santa got me a nice £20 worth of vouchers for Steam, so I was able to grab a few cool things from my wish list, those being

But pretty much as soon as Christmas was done, I was out for the count with a nasty lergy and spent most of a week and a bit in bed feeling very sorry for myself!

What I Am Modelling

I got finished the Dread Pageant at long last for Direchasm

Plus the third Leman Russ Vanquisher

And a Leman Russ Command Tank


So whats next?

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  2. Karazai
  3. Paragon Warsuits with Heavy Flamers x 3
  4. Lasrifle Section x 20
  5. Dark Angles Impulsor
  6. Ardboyz x 10
  7. Skragrot the Loonking & Rabble-Rowza
  8. Allarus Custodians x 3
  9. Rockgut Troggoths x 3
  10. Atheon Heavy Sentinels x 3

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

At the Durham Raiders long gaming day, I played two games of Heresy, one against Sam’s Iron Warriors

And another in a doubles game, where I paired up with Sam to take on some Sons of Horus and World Eaters

What Video Games I Am Playing]

Quite a bit of Hell Let Loose with Graham and Chris which is a lot of fun!

And I have started playing Lego Batman!

What I Am Creating

I published the Issue 04 Combat Patrol Magazine Battle Report

We got a new epsiode of Edge of Empire out, using a totally new workflow

What I Am Spending

I bought with Christmas money vouchers, both of the Malcadors I needed for my Solar Auxilia list

Got the Sci-Fi Shooters Humble Bundle which bagged me

And of course it was Humble Choice, which got me

I also added


Finally Made It To Suffolk

On our fourth attempt, myself and Lindsay actually made it to Suffolk to visit my family.

We went at the beginning of the month, stopping at Nottingham so that Lindsay could do a days work in her office, she hasn’t gotten down there since the Pandemic.

So I was dumped in Warhammer World for the day, where I spent it working on the Solar Auxilia Army Focus article for the Edge of Empire website.

Luckily Lindsay’s office has free BEV charging points so she took advantage and charged the car to 100% getting us 250km of range, which is decent for the time of year.

We were about an hour later than planned due to a number of accidents that took us off the motorway, but made it with 14 miles left in the tank. Had some lasagna then off to bed.

After spending the morning with my mum and dad, we nipped out to charge the car, and have a bite to eat in McDonalds, before picking up three of the nibblings.

We then took them to Wendy’s in Colchester for lunch and played some mini golf in Hollywood Bowl.

After which we returned them home, and went to my parents where we enjoyed some fajitas!

And on Sunday we headed him, it was a super short trip, but we really needed to see my mum and I am really glad I did

What I Am Modelling

It’s been a tough few weeks due to the cold, and personal stuff, so not gotten a lot done

I started out with the Dwarf Fleet for Kings of War Armada

Then I painted up a squad of Phalax Warders for the Imperial Fists, this squad being fully 3D printed

I also painted up a table for Megan to decorate the Christmas cake with

And a character for my Word Bearers who can act as a Librarian, Diabolist or Esoterist

Next up I painted another Christmas Decoration, a Skyrim one!

Then my first Trench Crusade models, a pair of Communicants!

Then it was back to Christmas decorations with a The Luggage ornament for my sister-in-laws Christmas tree.

Then I expanded my UCM fleet for Dropfleet Commander with these Lysander Stealth Lighters

Followed by some Malcadors for my Legions Imperialis Solar Auxilia, the previous ones were to be frank, shit, so these were printed to replace those, its a much better set of STLs

And for the larger Solar Auxilia, some Cyclops Demolition Vehicles that I printed off, I really liked this STL, and think they will be super cool, if massively ineffective on the table!

After losing Smokey, I wanted to paint this STL I got from a Kickstarter last year in tribute to him, so I did, and we ended up with CyberSmokey, which is being put on the Christmas Tree.

I also painted a third Carnodon Tank for my Solar Auxilia to give me a full squadron for them!

After that I turned my attention to to a Snatchaboss on Sludgeraker Beast got it finished up.


So what’s next in my Painting list

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  2. Karazai
  3. Paragon Warsuits with Heavy Flamers
  4. The Dread Pageant
  5. Calth High Guard Lasrifle Section x 10 & Command Section x 4
  6. Dark Angels Impulsor
  7. Ardboyz x 10
  8. Skragrot the Loonking & Rabble-Rowza
  9. Allarus Custodians x 3
  10. Rockguy Troggoth x 3

What Video Games I Am Playing

Been playing more Assassin’s Creed Unity

What I Am Creating

We published the latest episode of Edge of Empire, the last for the year.

What I Am Spending

At Warhammer World, I bought myself a Rabble-Rowza for the Gloomspite Gitz

To convert some mini planes to Legions Imperialis, I bought two packs of Flying Bases from Warhammer World

A big purchase was buying Grahams old telly, a 65” LG Nanocell TV and boy is it amazing, best TV I have ever owned and it makes all sorts of media just look so bloody good!

We also got an LED strip to run round the back of it to use as bias lights

I also bought Lieutenant Titus for my Ultramarines, which came with a £10 voucher, which I will be putting towards a Malcador for my Solar Auxilia

Speaking of the Solar Auxilia, I ordered a Leman Russ Strike Tank, which will be built as a Command Tank with a Battlecannon, I also got a pit of Fanatic Matt White, which I desperately needed, and to make it up tit he free postage, I got a MKIII Command Squad for the Imperial Fists

Also for the Solar Auxilia I got an Aethon Heavy Sentinel to make up a full squad of three of them, plus a drybrush

And I topped up my resin supply with another 4kg of Sunlu ABS like in Dark Grey

I got a few little bits in the Steam sale


Nerdy Musical Advent 2024 – 5th December – Write Like the Wind (George R. R. Martin) – Paul & Storm

How long has it been since we got a Song of Ice and Fire book, and will George R. R. Martin complete the series in his lifetime, and will it wipe out the disappointment of the last season of Game of Thrones!

That is exactly what Paul & Storm are asking here


Nerdy Musical Advent 2024 – 4th December – BiTrektual – Aurelio Voltaire

Its been a couple of years since our good friend Aurelio Voltaire was featured and still, he is hard to classify, he really does transcend genres!

Oh and Paul likes him after I introduced him!


Nerdy Musical Advent 2024 – 3rd December – Robots – Flight of the Conchords

STUPIDLY FORGOT TO HIT THE PUBLISH BUTTON SO THIS IS A DAY LATE

Flight of the Conchords, formally New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo, somehow have managed to not be featured here before, and I am rectifying this today!

This song Robots imagines a future in which all the humans are dead and the robots have taken over the world, and well with the development of AI, this might really happen sooner rather than later!


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