Month: August 2016

Headaches and Diabetes

By

On 27th August 2016

In Blog

It’s been a slow week, not much has happened at all and I haven’t done very much at all. The weather can’t make up its mind, one day it’s miserable and raining cats and dogs, the next it’s far too hot for me to do anything.

But the one constant thing about this week has been a stabbing constant headache, they started Tuesday and have continued since, I would go and see the doctor, but they will probably blame it on my diabetes.

It’s quite annoying really, every little thing I need medical assistance with, the doctors blame on diabetes, I know it’s a serious disease and I ought to take it far more seriously than I do, but when everything that can go wrong is said to be because of diabetes it’s gets a bit dull.

“Doctor I have been stabbed”, “Well that could be your diabetes” “Doctor I have been throwing up after eating some questionable meat yesterday” “Probably the diabetes” “Doctor my foot fell off”, well actually the last one could be diabetes, but you get my point. Given that I had a head injury when I got run over a couple of years ago, it’s quite irritating when they ignore that as a possible cause of any of my neurological issues.

I did actually get some success with the doctors when my new one decided that the last doctor diagnosing me with CFS could have been premature, so she ordered more blood tests and found I had undetectable levels of Vitamin D, which is probably because I am usually in too much pain to go out much and the sun kinda burns, when I go outside, plus there is nature and stuff. Anyway I now get monthly injections of something and a lovely tasting Vitamin D pill three times a week that honestly doesn’t taste like old feet.

So back to the headaches, and yeah I am not sure what I am gonna do about them, it could be a caffeine related. I haven’t had a cup of tea in about a month, but that caffeine has been replaced with that from cans of Pepsi Max, so I tried having a caffeine free day (so long as Tango Sugar Free doesn’t have caffeine in it), and was I wrong, the headache was just as bad, but then j got hit by a headache of caffeine withdrawal, something I haven’t experienced since the last Nineteen Day Fast I actually participated in, diabetes means I don’t take part in the fast!

Anyway so I currently have no idea why I am getting these headaches or what to do about them, if they are still here on Tuesday I will reluctantly make an appointment to see the doctor, even though it know they will try and blame them on diabetes.

What I am Modelling

Currently I have a few too many projects on my desk, the headache means that it’s been rather difficult for me to do much work, though I have managed to do a little work on a Contemptor Dreadnought for my Word Bearers, it’s going to be armed with two twin linked Volkite Culverins, simply because I think they are such a cool weapon. I airbrushed the majority of the model Mephiston Red, then washed it with Nuln Oil, then doing a little tidying up with Mephiston Red again. After this I dry brushed it with Astorath Red, Ryza Rust and finally Hexos Palesun, which I think has given a nice set of red armour, and this is a scheme I will replicate for the rest of my Word Bearers vehicles.

What I am Reading

I finished Angels of Caliban, which I quite enjoyed as it reached it conclusion, it had the civil war really come to Macragge and showed that Lion El-Johnson really is a ruthless general. The focus on the Dreadwing of the Dark Angels was also pretty cool and got me wondering how this could be represented in the game, but I had to stop myself there because I am not starting another army, I don’t have the room!

I then digested two short stories, Blackshield by Chris Wraght which was very cool and introduced to the fiction an interesting character from Betrayal, as well as giving us an insight to why some Astartes would become Blackshields.

The other story, Myriad by Rob Sanders, which followed up the novella Cybernetica and picked up a thread from that which was left hanging. This story I felt was more like classic more serious sci-if, despite being a Warhammer 40k story, and it really felt extremely fun as the characters were almost strong armed into breaking their own moral code for the greater good. As well as that it had characters straight from the Skitarii codex, giving me hope that maybe we will see the Skitarii become usable units in Heresy games.

I haven’t really listened to any audio books this week because it’s been hard to concentrate, so I have mostly been listening to pod casts instead.

What I am Playing

The headache has jet me from playing much, I was going to play Forbidden Island with Megan on Tuesday but the headaches started that day and I wasn’t much good that day at all. I have played some more Pokemon Go, though less than most weeks due to a mixture of headache and few Pokeballs, though last night it was mine and Lindsay’s monthly date night, so we went to the Metrocentre, ate at Ed’s Diner and then went Pokemon hunting. I currently have saved up candies to perform about 20 evolutions, so plan to camp on a Pokestop and put a lucky egg on to do all those evolutions tomorrow.

My aim for next week however is to play at least two games of something.

What I am Backing

At the moment noting new, although the new edition of Braggart looks very tempting, it really depends on money, my hobby budget this month is going to the extremely talented, Golden Demon finalist Harry Welsh of Mackem Productions for him to paint the Harlequins from Death Masque for me, and I also need to put £50 into the conventions account, so money is tight again. Doesn’t help that I bought a 4 months supply of deodorant from Costco today either.

But it looks like my copy of Secret Hitler is being delivered to me on Tuesday, a game which I am really looking forward to get it. The production quality on it looks phenomenal, and of course I got it in the wooden box, in the few games I have played, it’s been brilliant, it’s a hidden identities game which solved issues that games like The Resistance had that I didn’t even realise they had. And even the print and play version was very nice, though it probably helps that Drew (from The Boardroom podcast) did a great job with his printing and mounting of it on good quality cardboard.

What I am Spending

Ok I bought a Dominos work lunch for me Megan and Lindsay on Thursday as the kitchen was a mess and neither me or Megan was in any state to tidy it up, but it has been a good week for not spending. I did buy two pots of paint, Fenrisian Grey and Evil Suns Scarlet because I had run out of them, and I picked up my available comic subscriptions, that being the August edition of the Munchkin Comic and the next two issues of the Marvel Ultimate Graphic Novel Collection. Oh and I got a brand new sealed copy of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on 3D Blu-Ray from eBay for £2.99, for various reasons, I haven’t seen it yet, I know it’s going to be terrible, but hey it was a bargain!

I did see a few games in Travelling Man I am very interested in, The Networks from Formal Ferret Games and Moops Monster Mashup from Steve Jackson Games, but like with comics the price of Brexit has really set in and games that would have been £20 for example, before the referendum, are now £24 or £25 which might not seem a lot, but when your budget is limited like mine, it can be the difference between getting it or not.

Cooking Fat

By

On 22nd August 2016

In Blog

Moving on from yesterday post about my being down and depressed, how about something a bit more positive for today!

So here is Cookie and Megan, Cookie was my Nana’s cat, but since she had to move into sheltered accommodation, Cookie now lives with us, he used to live with us about 10 years ago, but my Nana kind of stole him off us. 

So we already have 3 cats, Sweep Misty and Jenny, when Cookie came to live we use, we were told he had been done, this was it turned out, a lie. Cookie went on to have kittens with both Sweep and Misty, who are mother and daughter, one of those kittens was Maggie who is also currently living with us. Jenny is Mistys kitten from a few years later, so we have 5 related cats living with is right now.

Cookie and Megan have grown so close that we can’t separate them, at night Cookie sleeps wrapped around Megan’s head and he spends as much time as he can with her. Maggie however doesn’t like other cats too much so we are currently searching, without much luck thus-far for a new home for her, but Cookie won’t be going anywhere due to his bond with Megan.

One little tidbit about Cookie, his real name is Cooking Fat, my idiot uncle was his first owner and called him that, you just swap the first letters around, needless to say he just gets Cookie, or sometine Mr. Fat!

Anyway if anyone fancies a black 10 year old female cat who likes the outside a lot and is a bit of hard work, let me know!

What I am Modelling

At the moment I am modelling mostly Age of Sigmar models from the Storm of Sigmar set, I finished the Blood Warriors up and have moved onto the Liberators whom I am doing as Celestial Vindicators cause I love the colour scheme, not sure if I will stick with it for my final Stormcast colour scheme but this far I like it.

I am also working on some initial Word Bearers and you can see here on my painting table a Legion Champion/ Veteran, kitbashed from the Legion Champion kit, Wors Bearers heads and plastic MKIV Marines. Not pictured is a jump pack Chaplin I am working on.

What I am Reading

Books are still proving a chore for me at the moment and I am still working my way through Angels of Caliban from my Librarium membership in June. So far the book is quite good, I am halfway through it now, but I am finding the change in Zahariels motivation from the previous two Dark Angels books in the serious to be a bit hard to swallow.

I know it’s not serious Sci-Fi and just glorified bolter porn, but I do quite enjoy the Horus Heresy novels, probably because I enjoy the game so much, but it feels like the last vestige of action Sci-Fi novels that hasn’t been polluted by Vox Day and his awful followers.

Audiobook wise I just finished the Outcast Dead and Wolf Hunt. The first one is just a mess of continuity errors and a plot that makes little sense at times, in fact at one point when asked their motivation, one of the main characters replies “Just Because”. 

It’s a shame as it could have offered some interesting insights into the life for ordinary citizens of the Imperium and the political ongoings in the Imperial House and with the Astra Telepathica, but instead we got this mess, but it does have a Samurai Witch Hunter which is kinda cool. Too many characters without any real development time for them, a final fight that just leaves you feeling empty because characters are there and then suddenly not there, and a real anti-climax.

Wolf Hunt is a lot better and sets up a later novel a little bit as well, which is cool and I will eventually pick up that plot strand in time. It really should have been part of the Outcast Dead as it resolves the huge continuity error and ties up all the loose ends, but I suppose a short story to tie it all up is better than noting.

What I am Playing

I meant to have a game of Forbidden Island with Megan today, but my head has been hurting something rotten and it’s really hot, so I ended up having a three hour nap instead. Was a bit disappointed in that to be honest as its been a while since I have played a game.

I am also playing some Pokemon Go, I just reached Level 20 yesterday. It’s a hard game to play when you are stuck in the sticks, my village has just one Pokestop and it’s a bit of a walk away for me, so I frequently run out of Pokeballs to catch all those Weedles and Rattatas

What I am Backing

At the moment on Kickstarter I am backing Cognition #1 Mirror, Mirror. It’s a comic written by the amazingly talented Ken Reynolds, an old school friend of mine and illustrated by Sam Bentley. I backed the Issue #0 and quite enjoyed these steampunk stories of a steam powered robot with a human soul and a demoniacally possessed mouse from Victorian England.

Go ahead and give it a look, plenty of the pledge levels allow you to get issue #0 as well and the artwork is sublime.

What I am Spending

Not much this month, I have been a bit short on money having overspent in Cardiff when the good folks at Firestorm Games had a price too good to ignore for a deal with both Deathwatch Overkill, Death Masque and the Deathwatch Data Cards!

WorldCon and My Dark Place

By

On 22nd August 2016

In Blog

This weekend was MidAmericon II, this years WorldCon and I really wish I could have been there. Next year it comes closer to home, to Helsinki in fact, but I still can’t get there.

Since I feel ill and had the accident, well I haven’t been able to work beyond the occasional day demoing games, and that doesn’t really pay the bills. I am left dependent on ESA and PIP, I am in a pretty bad way, so I do get the maximum amount of money I am entitled to, and Lindsay is on a decent wage for the North East. But I am still left with very little at the end of it, and things like WorldCon are simply so far out of my budget, even when they are in Finland that it’s unreal.Despite a year of planning, I tearfully had to accept that I was never going to get to Helsinki, it was a hard decision to make, but even if I saved like a trooper, stopped buying books and models, I would struggle to afford to eat or get membership and enjoy myself after transport and lodgings were paid for

It lead me to a dark place, which was one reason I gave up blogging for a while. That coming on top of my Nana’s health deteriorating rapidly, Kings of the North collapsing and the resulting fallout, and my needing to take my diabetes a lot more seriously, left me so very low. I don’t think I let on to the world too much, but I spent a lot of time crying over what a disaster my life was.

Thankfully I have the love of two amazing women in my life and Lindsay and Megan pulled me out of the pit, they cleaned me up and got me through the darkness for my sisters wedding, which I was still not mentally prepared for how difficult it was going to be. When I left home my sister was barely 12 and I guess I have never really accepted that she grew up, despite her having a child, until her wedding day. She looked radiant and has become an amazing young woman, and that kinda knocked me back a bit, I just wasn’t ready for it, but she is all grown up and married now. I just wish we were closer, I love her and all, but we have lived a long way from each other for so many years, that our relationship is just not as close as I would like it to be.

After that I had the UK Games Expo, which I was only able to attend for 2 days this year, and I loved every minute of it. I worked one day and I was a plain punter the next, I wish I had been there for the whole time, but I had to transport my Nana back to Newcastle after my sisters wedding. Being there was amazing and I really wish I got to do more events like it, I saw people who I rarely get to see, and Lindsay always wonders why I somehow being the social butterfly with lots of friends at gaming events, when it’s usually her. I guess it comes from my time as an MiB where I did a lot of networking and volunteering at events, normally I am very shy and socially awkward but games people are my people.

Anyway when we returned from Birmingham, via Warhammer World of course, the three of us sat down and decided that we needed to get to conventions more, especially seeing how much I come alive at them. And we weren’t talking about the glorified market places that make up the majority of conventions in the UK, such as those ran by Showmasters or MCM, we wanted to do proper conventions. So we of course had to keep the UK Games Expo on the list, and we decided to add on EasterCon, the British SciFi convention, something I had not been to for 15 years now. There are others I would have like to have gone to such as Novacon, but my budget will only stretch so far.

It means putting £50 a month away into savings which will really stretch my budget a lot, but it will be worth it in the end, I know it’s not WorldCon, but it’s still the kind of event I love, discussing and enjoying the kind of literature that makes me so happy, it’s by no means a consolidation prize.

I guess things got dark for me because Helsinki was something I had my heart set on every since they launched their bid, I went to LonCon3 as a games demonstrator and it’s probably one of the great highlights of my life, so I was hoping to replicate that joy and fun in Finland. But I have to learn to live within my means more, I am no longer and MiB so those doors no longer open to me as they once did, so I have to be more domestic in my ambitions and desires. 

But that said there is the bid to bring WorldCon to Dublin, I am on the volunteer list, and I should really help make that happen by getting the word out in the north east more, we have plenty of Sci-Fi fans here after all!

But in general the past few months have been a bit of a wake up call for me, I need to essentially reboot my life, I need to get out more, despite my mobility issues (though Pokemon Go has helped with this a little), I need to read more, I used to devour 2 or 3 books a week, now it takes me 3 weeks to read a single novel. I need to create more, I am not a good writer but it does get the juices flowing and I enjoyed my initial steps in podcasting, I need to look after my body more and try and get a bit of the weight shifted. But most important of all I need to get my head properly in a place where I can handle life and the stuff it’s been throwing my way of late, I want to think my health situation will improve, but I have to stop getting so down and self-destructive when it doesn’t happen. 

So that’s me, signing off and that’s where I am at, I am better than I was, but still not 100%.

First Steps in Airbrushing

By

On 14th August 2016

In Blog

Well I got my airbrush stuff delivered this week, so today I gave it a go.

I had planned to go to a long gaming day at Heaton Game Society, but sadly Megan was not doing so good today after a bit of a nasty shock yesterday, so I stayed home to help her with her day.

And of course I used the time to wisely try out the airbrush. It’s not as easy as it looks on YouTube, I just stuck to the basic airbrush that came with the compressor, before I break out the expensive Iwata Neo I bought.

I base coated five Ultramarine Breachers, three Celestial Vindicator Liberators and Ragnar Blackmane and Njal Stormcaller in Power Armour. I discovered why airbrush painters prefer dropper bottles, some have been ordered, and that Russ Grey in the Citadel Air range is a completely different colour to Russ Grey in the layer range!

Tomorrow I plan to try out the primer and will be priming a Word Bearers Contemptor Dreadnouth and an Airdid European Fountain.

Second Day at Takaan-Reva: Drowned in Flames

By

On 12th August 2016

In Blog

Last few days I have been a little ill, I picked up a bit of a bug in Cardiff and simply have been unable to shake it.

Anyway here is a summery of my last two games at Takaan-Reva: Drowned in Flames

Game Four
In game four I was assigned good old Graham Mills, whom I had travelled down with before. Well I had been assigned someone who else, but Graham and his opponent had already played so we swapped. We were playing mission one.

Graham’s list was Iron Warriors using the Armoured Breakthrough Rite of War, with a Fellblade, three Sicarans, a Sicaran Venator, two troop choices of Predators and a couple of Medusas.

In turn one the Venator destroyed one of Medusas, and the Sicaran which was the Master of Armour shoot one of my Rhino up and killed it. My Spartan came under fire from Graham’s Medusas taking off a hull point, and then his other two Sicarans fired at and took two hull points from my Fellblade. 

I retaliated by having my Volkite Caliver Tactical Support Squad kill a Rhino, as does my two Rapier Squads. My Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought then fired at one of the squads disembarking from a destroyed Rhino. My Medusas then immobilise the Sicaran Venator, and my Fellblade takes a Sicaran and Predator off the table.

Turn two began with Graham’s Lightning coming on and taking to hull points off a Medusa and a Predator destroying my last Rhino and pinning the squad inside. His Fellblade then destroyed a Medusa and reduced the last one to just a single hull point, his Medusas then destroyed my Spartan leaving the Terminators stuck in no mans land.

Shady I was rolling very badly and all I could do was kill all but two of a tactical squad with my Rapiers, Volkite Squad and Mortis Contemptor , and my Fellblade immobilised a Sicaran.

Graham then called down his Master of Signals Orbital Bombardment at the start of turn three, killing two of my Volkite Squad Ho were then further thinned out by Heavy Bolter shoots from the Fellblade. He then threw everything at my last Medusa, but miraculously it made all of its cover saves. The special mission geysers then actually did something in the game and destroyed a Sicaran and a Venator.

My Rapiers then took out a Tactical Squad, followed by my Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought and Medusa take a few more hull points off his Fellblade.

I’m In turn four, the Lightning finally takes out my last Medusa, and his Sicaran and Medusas kill three of my Terminators, his Fellblade then turns its attention to my Rapiers, but only manage to kill a single member of the crew, thank goodness for toughness 7 eh!

My Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought then takes a couple more hull points from the Fellblade and I then try to take out the Lightning with my Volkite Caliver Support Squad and Rapiers, but sadly for me he makes all his jink saves. I decided to now call down my Orbital Bombardment to try and take out a couple of Predators, but it only takes a hull point off each of them.

Turn five saw Graham concentration on killing troops so he could take my deployment zone, but he failed to kill any squads, however in his deployment zone he killed my Warlord and two more Terminators with his Sicaran

Graham then points out that I could still win the game by taking No Mans Land, by moving my Terminator back and killing his last two marines. So using indirect fire from my Rapier Quad Launcher Support Battery’s, I give it and try, and as expected, fail. I also failed to take out a Predator which was the only thing my Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought could see to shoot at.

And at that point we ran out of time and I lost the game 7-1, but regardless of it being a loss it was still an exciting and enjoyable game.

Game Five

After lunch I had the pleasure of playing Luke Grant and his Alpha Legion with Alpharius and two Leviathan Seige Dreadnoughts in Drop Pods.

I castle up in the corner, but he is able to infiltrate some Rapier Laser Destroyers, and then successfully seized the initiative. So on comes Alpharius and a squad of Veterans in a Dreadclaw Drop Pod landing next to my Spartan and right in my kill box, and a Leviathan drops right next to my Fellblade. His Orbital Bombardment then destroys a Medusa and his Vetrans with Alpharius take off two hull points from my Spartan. The Leviathan throws it’s Grav Fluxx Into my lines, killing a Rapier Quad Launcher and two crew men, before turning its Phosphex Lanucher on my Volkite Support Squad killing a few of them off.

I then turn everything I have on Alpharius and manage to just about kill him and his unit of Veterans, but also taking out three of my own Terminators who had gotten out of the Spartan, I was also able to immobilise a Rhino with my Rapiers.

In turn two, his second Leviathan dropped in, which then used its Grav Fluxx and Phosphex to take out the rest of my Volkite Support Squad. His first Leviathan then leaves it’s Drop Pod and charges my Fellblade taking it down to 1 hull point.

I then turn everything I have at the Leviathan to try and destroy it, before it can finish off my Fellblade, but miserably fail to do even a single hull point of damage, I do however manage to destroy both Drop Pods, forcing out the second Leviathan. My Warlord and last remaining Terminators then charge the Leviathan but fail to do any damage. 

Turn three begins with my Fellblade falling to a Rapier Laser Destroyers fire. A Leviathan then changes and kills my Spartan, in the combat between the Leviathan and Terminators, they all just flail around failing to hit each other.

I then get some revenge agains the Rapier Laser Destroyers and kill one of them. And then despite hitting it with a Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought, Medusa and Rapier Quad Launcher, am only able to take a single hull point from the Leviathan. The combat again fails to have anything happen

In turn four, his Rapier Quad Launcher Support Battery destroys my Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought and his Rapier Laser Destroyer take out a Medusa. His free Leviathan then shoots a Tactical Squad with its Grav cannon, killing half of it. The combat finally has something happen, sadly for me that’s my Warlord dying!

I then charged a Tactical Squad into combat with each Leviathan, but one failed to make it, the other manages to hit the Leviathan with a Melta Bomb, but it fails to damage it. My Medusa and Rapier Quad Launcher tried to take out the other Leviathan, but both failed to hit it, but they did manage to take a hull point off the Dreadclaw.

Turn five started with Luke’s Plasma Support Squad coming into play, they jumped out of their Rhino and killed several of a Tactical Squad. In the combat, I lost combat and my Terminator fled, while the Tactical Squad stayed locked I there. 

Turn six saw one of my Tactical Squads charged by the Leviathan not locked in combat, but my Sgt did manage to take off a hull point with his Power Fist, my sole fleeing Terminator was gunned down by the Plasma Support Squad.

My turn six was pretty poor, my Rapier Quad Launcher and remaining Medusa attacked the Plasma Support Squad, but we’re only able to kill two of them. My Rapiers killed two men from one of his Veteran Squads. The two combats were resolved pretty quickly when the first Leviathan killed both men in that combat and in the other combat a single one of my men died, but they did manage to stay in the combat instead of fleeing.

When we rolled to see if the game continued, the dice gods were merciful and a 1 came up, ending the game, but saw me lose 4-11.

Thoughts About The Weekend

I had a lot of fun at the weekend, the whole event was very well run and the games were very enjoyable, even the ones I lost. My only real criticism would be how the games were arranged, we had playing cards that were placed on the table for us, but if I have to be honest, it was a real faff-on to find our cards. 

I get that the idea was that the team captains would assign us games that made the best use of our individual armies, but I didn’t really know my team captain and I don’t think they knew my army, so it felt like my games were randomly assigned, and in truth they probably were. I personally use a Swiss style system to assign games so that opponents that are at appropriate power level for them. And at the same time allow players to find their tables with minimum of fuss.

But other than that minor issue I think Greg ran an amazing weekend, and I cannot wait until next year. 

First Day of Takaan-Reva: Drowned in Flames

By

On 7th August 2016

In Blog

Cardiff is nice what we have seen of it, we arrived quite late so didn’t get to the airbrush worships which was a shame.

We ended up eating at a Falming Grill Pub where we all attempted the challenge burger, and we all failed. Upon mentioning this burgers existence to the Raiders, our November road trip now includes a visit to a Flaming Grill pub so we all experience the meat sweats!After our meal we went and saw Jason Bourne, which was a rather enjoyable, if a little predictable at times.

Today we arrived nice and promptly at Firestorm Games, which I have to say is an amazing venue, the shop is really well stocked and has lots of choice and the gaming area is simply fantastic. It’s everything I dreamed a gaming centre should be.

Game One

My first game was against Dan Williams from Wales and his Night Lords an army with two Leviathans and Cruze, and the rest was infantry, just the type of army my list will excel against. We played scenario five from the mission pack.

In the first turn not a lot happened, but indirect fire from my Quad Launchers and Medusas killed a few guys from his Terror Squads and took a wound off Cruze.

In turn two he infiltrated a Volkite Charger squad in next to my encampment, and then killed 7 of my 10 man Volkite Caliver Support Squad, I just couldn’t roll saves for the life of me. But my Fellblade did manage to take out a Leviathan.

In turn three, Dans terminators deep struck into my lines and ended up mishaping, and ended up back in ongoing reserves. But Cruze managed to get into assault range and killed a Rhino, and the other Rhino was killed by the second Leviathan. But I managed to kill Cruze by firing my Medusas, a tactical squad using Fury of the Legion, Mortis Contemptor and Quad Launchers. This did result in me killing a squad of tactical marines which had just gotten out a destroyed Rhino.

Turn four saw the last terror squad and the deep striking terminators take 6 hull points off the Fellblade, before it retaliated and and killed all but two of the terminators and all but one of the last of the Terror Squad. 

In turn five those last two terminators went on to finish off my Fellblade, and in turn my Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought finished them off with some rending shoots. The enemy Contemptor was taken out from behind by my Spartans Lascannons, which then turned its heavy bolters on the Terror Squad reducing that to squad to one Marine who was then finished off by the Master of Signals Orbital Bombardment.

I won that game, 22 points to 8.

Game Two

For my second game I played Jason Barlow of Wolverhampton and his Emperors Children, an army I had never faced before. They had in there Eidolon in a jump squad of Palatine Blades with a Chaplin and a Primus Medicae, two Vindicators and two Sicaran Venators. We played mission 4.

Before the game I managed to lose both roll offs, which did not bode well for me, and lo and behold, I lose the main gun off one Medusa to a Venator, and the other hits my Fellblade neutralising my main guns. The Vindicators then strip four more hull points from the Fellblade and a couple of Volkite guys.

Then my Medusas killed one of the Vindicators and took out the others gun, removing it from the game. My Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought then destroyed a Rhino and the Raper Quad Launcher Batteries killed a few of the Kakophoni that got out of it. My Terminators also charged up in their Spartan and destroyed another Rhino. And because I had troops in the right places I scored three points.

Turn two saw Jason immobilise one of his own Rhinos by rolling it over some debris, and the Venator failed to hit my Fellblade bringing it back into play. His other Veator proceeded to destroy the gunless Medusa with his Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought shaking another.

He then destroyed one of my Rhinos, forcing the Marines out to be fired upon by the Kakophoni who killed everyone but the squads Sargent. On the other side of the table Eidolon singlehandedly took out three of my Terminators, before his squad and a squad of veterans charged into them. Of course Eidolon issued a challenge, of course I accepted, and of course my Warlord died, along with the rest of his squad.

I then took out a squad of Kakophoni by firing my Rapier Quad Laucher Battery, Volkite Caliver Support Squad and the Demolisher and Accelerator cannons of my Fellblade. This allowed then my Rhino with a Tactical Squad in it to roll in and take the objective, giving me a running total of seven victory points to Jason’s 3.

In turn three, his Vetran Squad used Melta Guns kill my last Rhino, forcing the tactical squad out. The remainder of my Volkite Squad were then killed by a squad of Kakophoni and his Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought.

Eidolon and his Paletine Blades then charged my remaining Tactical Squad and wiped them off the table before they even had a chance to hit back. All my scoring units were dead so I couldn’t score anymore points, but neither did he, leaving it at 7 – 3.

Turn four started with Eidolon killing one of my Rapier Quad Launchers, and Jason moved his troops into objectives. Eidolon and his remaining Paletine Blades then disorderly charged into my Fellblade and remaining Rapier Quad Laucher, destroying the Rapier and reducing the Fellblade to 2 hull points.

The Fellblade then disengaged fro the assault and fired everything it had at Eidolon and his squad, killing them all with ease and getting me Slay the Warlord. My remaining Medusa which only had a heavy bolter left, killed a couple of Kakophoni and my Mortis Contemtor Dreadnought killed a Veteran Squad, thereby taking them off objectives and securing me a victory of 8 – 6.

It was a difficult and hard fought game, at times frustrating, but very enjoyable.

Game Three

Game three saw me take on Sam Perkins from Bristol and his Sons of Horus, with the Warmaster himself, in a Stormeage with some Justaerin, a deployment for Horus I had never seen before. We were playing mission one from the rules pack and with a mostly static list a scenario I knew I would struggle with.

Sam started with four veteran squads on the table in Rhinos, I destroyed all of his Rhinos and wiped out two of the Veteran Squads, I felt bad after that. But any bad feeling was quickly lifted when in his dying moment, a Sargent with a power its killed my Warlord!

In turn two the Stormeagle came on and immediately took two hull points off the Mortis Contemptor Dreadnought, the only thing that could really threaten it. A talon of Cortus Contemptor Dreadnoughts then came on next to my Spartan and Terminators, one armed with a Kheres Assault Cannon killing three of them. A Veteran Squad then walked up to my Fellblade and reduced it to three hull points with Melta Bombs.

My Fellblade then destroys on Veteran Squad and reduces another to one man and my Terminators come to a bloody end at the fist of a Cortus Contemptor Dreadnought.

Turn three saw the arrival of a Sicaran Venator and some Javelin Attack Speeders with Missile Lauchers, arriving by outflank right in front of my Fellblade which they promptly killed. But at the cost of destroying one Attack Speeder, immobilising another and immobilising the Venator. Amid then a close combat Cortus Contemtor Dreadnought got into my lines and destroyed all my Medusas.

Turn four is where I lost the game, instead of driving up for points like I should have done, I decided that killing stuff was more fun, so I disembarked both my Tactical Squads from their Rhinos and set them to work. One squad teamed up with the Spartan and shot the close combat Cortus Contemptor Dreadnought in the back destroying it, the other began to make their way towards the Venator, with their Rhino killing a straggling single Veteran. I also fired my Mortis Contemptor a Dreadnought, my Rapier Quad Launcher Support Batteries and Volkite Caliver Squad at the Stormeagle to try and make it crash and burn to kill Horus, sadly Sam made so many Jink saves and it remained in the air.

As a result I only claimed my deployment zone and scored 1 point, whereas Sam scored 2. If I had forgot about killing stuff knowing that there no time for another turn, I could have driven the two Rhinos up the field and claimed No Mans Land and win the game, I didn’t and that cost me the game in the end, still it was bloody good fun.

A Long But Enjoyable Day

Me, Gragam and Christian were absolutely shattered after the day, so we hopped in a taxi back to the hotel and I introduced the boys to Five Guys which they loved, after which we walked along to the bay and enjoyed the fresh air, and had a cup of tea at Starbucks. There I was nicely sat in between four Pokestops all with lure modules attached and I caught myself a fair few decent Pokemon. After which we headed back to the hotel and sleep.

I really enjoyed myself today and once again, the venue is brilliant, it’s the type of place I dream of running myself one day, store, bar and gaming venue with food served all under one roof, just brilliant.

Here is hoping that tomorrow I can have two more games just as enjoyable as todays games. 

Here We Go

By

On 5th August 2016

In Blog

I got picked up at an godly hour this morning by Christian before picked up Graham and we headed off to Cardiff for Takaan-Reva – Drowned in Flame, The Imperial Truths summer Horus Heresy event.

Yesterday I managed to get all of the little bits and bobs I needed to do, done, the only thing I need now is some superglue for spot repairs, but I am sure I can pick that up from the venue, Firestorm Games, I still have a pot of Army Painter superglue unopened, but I have always found that particular brand prone to blocking and the lid tends to become hard to put on very quickly.

Anyway here is my army in all its glory

Managed to get both of my full MKIII tactical squads shoulder pads sorted with Lahman Medium, leaving me with a few squads still left to sort out in my legion force overall. They do look a lot better now that’s been done mind.

Really looking forward to the weekend, now I am gonna kick back and enjoy a good book, Angels of Caliban by Gav Thorpe, which I have really been getting into.

Oh and I may have finished this off last night, take a look and tell me what you think!

Company of Legends – Horus Heresy Weekender Event Pack

 

Back From A Long Break

By

On 4th August 2016

In Blog

Well its been a long time since I last posted, well time just got away from me and before I know it, here we are.

While I have been silent, I have been building a new version of my Ultramarines to take away to Takaan-Reva: Drowned in Flames, an event being run by the excellent The Imperial Truth podcast.

13567435_10153628296911860_4756901149768420236_nThe list I am building is inspired by the event only Praetor in Cataphractii Terminator Armour from Warhammer Fest whom is armed with a Combi-Volkite and thunderhammer. As soon as I saw him, I figured he would make an excellent Siege Breaker Consul, which is what I intend him to be.

The idea of my list is a siege gunline, designed to create a killing box directly in front of it behind an Aegis Defence Line, with a squad of three Legion Medusas killing high strength units and heavy armour combined with a Volkite Caliver Tactical Support Squad and Legion Rapier Quad Heavy Bolters to deal with infantry and light armour. I have also thrown my Fellblade in there, because I love the model and its awesome to use it. Anyway here is my list.

Faction: Loyalist
Army: Ultramarines

HQ — Legion Centurion, Consul – Master of Signal – 95
HQ — Legion Centurion, Cataphractii Terminator Armour, Combi-Weapon, Thunderhammer 102 (Warlord)

Elite — Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought, Havoc Launcher, Two Kheres Pattern Assault Cannons 195
Elite — Legion Rapier Weapons Battery x 3 120
Elite — Legion Rapier Weapons Battery x 2, Quad Launcher Support Battery, Shatter Shells 140
Elite — Legion Terminator Squad, Cataphractii Terminator Armour, Chainfist, Heavy Flamer, 3 x Powerfist, Legion Spartan Armoured Assault Tank, Armoured Ceremite, Flare Shield 590

Troops — Legion Tactical Squad, Legion Rhino Armoured Carrier, Legion Vexilla, Take an additional Chainsword or Combat Blade, Artificer Armour (Sergeant Only), Plasma Pistol (Sergeant Only) 205
Troops — Legion Tactical Squad, Legion Rhino Armoured Carrier, Legion Vexilla, Take an additional Chainsword or Combat Blade, Artificer Armour (Sergeant Only), Powerfist (Sergeant Only) 205
Troops — Legion Tactical Support Squad, Volkite Calivers 225

Heavy Support — Legion Artillery Tank Squadron, Legion Medusa x 3 465

Lord of War — Legion Fellblade, Armoured Ceramite, Space Marine Legion Crew, Pintle-Mounted Heavy Bolter 580

Fortification — Aegis Defence Line, Ammunition Dump 70

Total Points – 2997

Yeah I dropped the Siege Breaker upgrade for the Terminator Centurion, but I did so to fit in Shatter Shells for the Legion Rapier Quad Launcher Support Battery, but still I think it fits the theme I am going for. I playtested it against Aidan’s Sons of Horus where it destroyed him by turn 3, but against Christian’s Dark Mechaniucm and Arran’s Salamanders, it was simply OK but losing, so I think I have hit the right level, good enough to not be bottom of the pack, but not overpowered as to be up there with the Mechanicum.

Today I have to put some Lahmian Medium on some shoulder pads to take the shine of the gloss varnish away, pop some transfers on the Legion Rapier Quad Launcher Support Battery crews, and drill and pin a Bolt pistol to the Sgt in the Fellblade.

Word Bearers

All I ever wanted was the truth. Remember those words as you read the ones that follow.

word_bearers_emblem_by_steel_serpent-d3acj5nWith my Ultramarine nearing completion, I have decided to start a small force of Word Bearers up, based around either the Primarch’s Chosen or Pride of the Legion Rites of War. It all kinda started when I swapped a bunch of Millitarium Tempestus Scions with Aidan for an unbuilt Spartan, so I decided, why not, I had a spare Betrayal at Calth lying around!

So I have got the following kits and bits with which to build my Word Bearers:

  • Betrayal at Calth
  • Mark IV Space Marines
  • Legion MKIV Heavy Support Squad
  • Legion Missile Launcher Set
  • Telerace Pattern Volkite Culverins Set
  • Contemptor Pattern Volkite Culverin x 2
  • Contemptor Pattern Kheres Assault Cannon x 2
  • Lorgar Primarch of the Word Bearers
  • Word Bearers Legion Gal Vorbak
  • Word Bearers Legion Ashen Circle
  • Word Bearers Legion Contemptor Dreadnought x 2
  • Word Bearers Legion Transfer Sheet
  • Word Bearers MKIV Upgrade Set – Torsos x 4
  • Word Bearers MKIV Upgrade Pack – Heads x 2
  • Word Bearers Land Raider Doors
  • Word Bearers Rhino Doors x 3
  • Leviathan Cyclonic Melta Lance
  • Leviathan Pattern Siege Dreadnought
  • Leviathan Siege Drill
  • Contemptor Cyclone Missile Launcher
  • Legion Plasma Gun Set

I still need to grab three Mars Pattern Rhinos and a Dreadnought Drop Pod, but I am pretty happy with what I have got and see it going towards a very assault based elite army towards the future. Anyway I am going to see about getting these done in the last quarter of the year, after I have tackled my road trip Tyranids first.

Painting Upgrade

For painting the Word Bearers, I am going to try something a bit different, I am going to airbrush them!

I have the airbrush, an Iwata Neo on order and in the meantime the accessories have all arrived bar the Airbrush Thinner as you can see in the below Instagram post. I am looking forward to getting this all set up and giving it a go, in fact if we arrive in Cardiff on time tomorrow, there are some airbrush tutorials going on, so hopefully I can pick up some hints and tips so I can do more than prime and base coat.

Looking quite forward to this because I have seen some of the amazing smooth coats that can be achieved with an Airbrush and frankly that is something I need help with when it comes to my Tyranids.

Other Projects

I have had the Age of Sigmar starter set since it went on sale, but other than test painting the free Stormcast Eternal that came with the launch White Dwarf, I have yet to actually do anything with it, but the Storm of Sigmar set has really got me very interested in getting these done.

I kinda went a bit out that day and have added these to my Starter Set and a Grand Alliance Order book that I picked up at Warhammer Fest, when they were offering £5 off any of them.

So I have started painting up the three Khorne Blood Warriors that come with the set, which is the first time I am using some new brushes, my Army Painter ones have come to the end of their life and with my FLGS no longer stocking them I needed a new regular brush, so I have decided to give the new Citadel range a try. I have to say so far, I am quite impressed, although mostly I am have only used the Small Layer Brush and the Small Drybrush so far as I found an unopened and unused Standard brush in my drawer.

IMG_8146I already have my Tyranids which are moving very very very slowly, I have kinda stopped them to finish my Ultramarines army for this weekend, but my first Hive Tyrant is mostly finished, I think I have just the base, and tongue left to do on it.

I have all the stuff from the Start Collecting Tyranids box built, and have played one game with them against Phil’s Tau, and the Hive Tyrant, basically wiped out his whole army on its own, its a fairly brutal unit.

Anyway, I think that is me done for now, I plan to be a lot better at posting, I am annoyed at what I have missed sharing, especially my trip to the UK Games Expo.

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén