Year: 2020 Page 10 of 12

Wrath of N’Kai

By

On 15th May 2020

In Book Reviews, Reviews

After my review of Tales from The Crucible, Aconyte reached out to set me up with a new copy of Wrath if N’Kai by Josh Reynolds.

So here are some disclaimers which are always important to put out there first. I am a friend of Josh on Facebook, and whilst we aren’t beat buds, we do interact with each other and I consider him a class person, and I have very much enjoyed his work with Black Library.

Secondly I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let these things cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

So Arkham Horror is not a game I have actually played, I fancy it, but me and the Cthulhu mythos have never been quite on the same wavelength.

I have never read any H.P. Lovecraft books, my first exposure to them was at a small convention in London when I was about 12, it was actually a convention for Corps of Drums, not even speculative fiction.

Basically an older chap was reading a book and it lead into a discussion lead by a BAME person about the issues of racism in his work, and even the chap reading the book was pretty clear that there was some nasty racism in some of his work.

As I said I have never read any, that discussion put me off, but I have read stuff by other authors, never a novel, usually short stories and played games set in the mythos. I have so many Cthulhu expansions for games that one would think I am a huge fan.

I can play all of Munchkin Cthulhu, get all the references and jokes, but as I said never read a single Lovecraft story.

It’s a gap in my knowledge that I am actually going to try and fill, I was recently gifted an audiobook of the complete fiction of Lovecraft, so am considering giving that a listen, but I will admit the racism is something that I will be on edge about.

What is Arkham Horror

Anyway that put to one side, let’s look at this book, by first looking at the game Arkham Horror which is a cooperative game, originally designed by Richard Launius, and is now in its third edition which was released in 2019.

It’s published by Fantasy Flight Games, a subsidiary of Asmodee, and is set in 1926 in the town of Arkham, Massachusetts. Each player takes on the role of an investigator, who are working to stop the Ancient Ones, eldritch horrors which lurk in the void beyond space and time.

It’s a 1-6 player game and you work together to gather clues and defeat the evil of the Ancient Ones and save the world.

As I said I haven’t actually played Arkham Horror but I do own its spin off Elder Sign the cooperative dice game.

The Story

It’s a 1920 whodunit told mostly from the perspective of master thief Countess Alessandra Zorzi who arrives in the town of Arkham, hired by a mysterious cabal to steal a newly discovered mummy.

The eldritch prologue sets you up for some occult horror, but the book largely steered clear of that, which given that the protagonist is not that familiar with the intricacies of the occult makes sense.

The setting is deep and rich, with gangsters and bootleggers, all speaking with 1920s US slang. It’s a real atmospheric period piece that evokes the days of prohibition, with just a hint of eldritch terror and added tommy guns.

Alessandra herself is a very three dimensional character and extremely well developed beyond the trope of the aristocratic thief. We see her backstory teased out over the book, learning more about her as we go though, and as I said, she is more than just the trope.

Her driver Pepper was actually my favourite character in the story, they have their own secret, although this is revealed early on. They are full of spunk and as mentioned by a gangster they deal with, moxie.

It’s a really fast paced book, that I literally devoured over two sittings, one that got me 20% of the way in and the rest in an evening that kept me reading until 3am! I was just utterly drawn in by the story with its twists and turns.

As I said I haven’t played Arkham Horror, but I have played Elder Sign and I recognised lots of elements of that games story mechanics in this book.

And given my surface knowledge of Lovecrafts work, I did recognise a few little nods to those within the story that will please those who are more familiar.

There is a bit of a creep factor in there, and there were certainly bits that had my skin crawling just a little, but not so much to put me off. It’s very light in terms of horror, which makes it very accessible.

Conclusion

Personally I loved this book, it was a throughly enjoyable story which whilst grounded in the Cthulhu mythos, did not delve into it too deeply, nor did it require me to have more than passing knowledge.

In fact I think if a layperson was to pick up this book and read it, they would get on with it perfectly fine without knowing a thing about the mythos.

This book was great and for me it was a fantastic read. I particularly enjoyed a strong female protagonist who at no point needed any romantic entanglements, and the pulpy 1920s nature of the story was just delightful.

I really hope that the countess and Pepper return to Arkham for some more adventures, this is kind of hinted at, but please Josh, do it!

Tales From The Crucible

By

On 15th May 2020

In Book Reviews, Reviews

Aconyte Books were kind enough to allow me to review a couple of books ahead of their general release and the first one I am doing is the first Keyforge book, Tales from the Crucible.

So couple of things I should get out of the way, I do have a causal work contract for Aconytes parent company Asmodee to demonstrate games, one of which is Keyforge.

I am also friends with three of the authors whose stories are featured in this book, David Guymer, CL Werner and Robbie MacNivan, but I have tried my best to not let those two things cloud my judgement.

I will start by saying that the software that is used to read these time limited books is absolutely awful on the iPhone 11, it’s very buggy, it misses off the top line of every page due to the notch, meaning you have to mess about a bit to read it, and it frequently skips forwards a few pages and very often crashes.

If you are going to buy these, do so in a format that can be read by any other program than Adobe Digital Editions.

Ok so with that out of the way, let’s dive in.

What Is The Crucible?

The Crucible is a giant word larger than the sun, an artificial planet that is constantly under construction by the the Architects.

They gather their materials by transporting them from other planets and worlds, often bringing that worlds inhabitants along for the ride.

The world contains every environment imaginable, from bustling urban sprawls, to deserts, to jungles, to meadows and everything in between.

The Architects communicate through the ethereal Archons who themselves are completely in the dark about the purpose behind the Crucible.

And so they gather bands of followers, to gather Æmber, a psychic substance that can be forged into keys that unlock the vaults if they architects.

Keyforge itself is a unique deck card game, developed by Richard Garfield, the developer best know for Magic: The Gathering and King of Tokyo.

It’s a really good game, you should go check it out, but I am not reviewing the game here, but I will soon.

The Book

Tales from the Crucible is a collection of nine stories from established authors the majority of whom have some experience writing for franchises.

The collection is expertly edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells and I think she deserves a big mention here and the collection flows really well from one story into another with aspects of the universe introduced in earlier stories being built upon in later ones.

It probably does help to have a brief idea of the fluff and lore behind Keyforge, but it’s not exactly required.

So let’s take a look at the stories, we open up with Contract by Tristan Palgren and this is the tale of an elf assassin name Vira, hired to take out an Archon.

The Archons are godlike beings who are believed to be immortal so the story does touch on the contract being more trouble than it’s worth for the bother it might bring on the Shadows.

You get to see two Archons and their retinues battle it out over Æmber and the technology, magics and different cultures that make up the races of the Crucible.

This story is an amazing introduction to the world of Keyforge and the twist in the end is quite good.

I actually hope to see Vira feature in more stories as I rather like the character.

Then we have The Apprentice by Cath Lauria, which features Roz the titular apprentice to a Goblin mechanic.

Her whole purpose in life is to gather the parts and money to fix Tris, the only thing she has left of her parents, only thing is her boss has lost Tris in a bet.

This story follows her efforts to keep Tris by striking a deal with a Saurian, and her journey to get what he wants.

You get a great look at the Crucibles underworld and some of its most downtrodden inhabitants who live in an actual dump.

Personally I found this story to be the richest one in the book, the amount of world building it achieves is incredible and it’s a lovely quirky story and you can’t help but be touched with the ending.

After this we get Extermination Examination by Robbie MacNivan, who as I mentioned, is a friend.

This story follows a pair of students conducting fieldwork with the Martians, who are a fanatical, xenophobic and secretive race.

The Martians I found in the game to be a bit cliche and Robbie plays up all the cliches here, they even have heat rays! And it works, especially as he actually fleshes them out a lot and really digs into their paranoid nature.

The ending to this one caused me to laugh out loud, I was reading it in bed and it caused Megan to wake up frightened!

The Librarians Dual by M K Hutchins is about a librarian funnily enough, but she has a daughter whom is trapped in the walls of her library, and must be given books to read to prevent her from being fully absorbed into the walls.

Out on a journey one day to return some books to the central library, she encounters a gang of giant barbarian warriors and accidentally becomes their leader!

I was reading this and scratched my head as I wasn’t sure where it was leading, but oh my this story is hilarious, absolutely rip roaringly good, it kinda reminds me of Prachett a bit.

The next story, To Catch a Thief by Thomas Parrott concerns Nalea Wysasandoral an elven thief who whilst being excellent at what she does may have bitten off more than she can chew.

A notorious private detective, Talus the Thief-Taker a creature made of stone. Both of these are wonderful characters and despite only being a short story, you get to know a lot about them.

Another insight into the underworld of the Crucible and a twist at the end which was unexpected and very interesting.

The we have Useful Parasites by MK Hutchins which takes place in the Lesser Uncanny Forest and features a Taryx who is a creature a bit like an Ent, who acts as a healer for the creatures of the forest.

The story is about him taking care of a creature that crashes into his vegetable garden , whom he calls Burble, and tending it back to health for it to become a companion and assistant.

But noting on the Crucible is quite what it seems and the assistance that Burble gives him in his work to care for the creatures of the forest comes at a price.

It’s a slow story and the ending is what I would describe as bittersweet, but it’s really well written and very enjoyable all round.

The Perfect Organism is a contribution by CL Werner and this Godzilla inspired tale is about a Martian scientist called Briiilp and his efforts to make Creature 647 the perfect genetically adapted war machine.

Sending him out to face a an abomination known as the Tyrant, this tale really shows off Werners ability to write such horrible creatures and the way they act and battle and also really explores the character of the fanatical Martians.

Wibble and Pplimz, Investigators for Hire from M Darusha Wehm is a delightful story starting with the classification detective story trope of a missing person.

This most unusual story in the collection it sees the protagonist venture into the lawless zone accompanied by a classic odd couple of Wibble and Pplimz, who have some, shall we say erratic personalities.

The ending was a twist I really didn’t see coming and in a way was slightly disturbing.

I am not sure what to say about David Guymers Vaultheads, it was a really entertaining romp which looked at the idea that LARP is something that might also exist in the universes of speculative fictions.

It’s a really engaging story and I saw lots of aspects of role players, LARPers and gamers I know.

To be honest it was practically perfect as a means to end the collection as it’s kinda subversive and I liked that, and I think the ending was actually quite upbeat and emotionally satisfying.

Conclusion

This was a really good collection, I was already reasonably familiar with the lore behind Keyforge and this was a great way to explore the universe a bit further.

But now I want more, there are some characters in there that I really need to read more about, and I think that Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells has frankly done a superb job in getting the right authors to write the right stories.

I will absolutely be buying this as soon as it’s released in September.

The only reasons I took so long to read this was the dreadfulness of the software that I had to use to read it, plus during the reading of it I came down with COVID-19 and struggled to actually concentrate on reading in the way I would have liked to.

This is why I was sadly unable to read Wrath of N’Kai by Josh Reynolds, before my load of the file ran out which is a real shame

Lockdown Hobby Goals

By

On 12th May 2020

In Blog

A few weeks ago Games Workshop put up a series of 10 hobby goals for people to try and hit whilst on lockdown and I have decided to try and give them a go.

The ones in bold I have achieved thus far.

  • Take a picture of your latest painted model and post it online with #WarhammerCommunity
  • Complete the scenic bases for your army
  • Build and paint a Monster
  • Build and paint a Kill Team
  • Listen to a whole Warhammer audiobook while painting
  • Build and paint a Warcry Warband
  • Take a picture of your hobby area and post it on Twitter with #WarhammerCommunity
  • Teach someone new to paint a model!
  • Read a Black Library novel
  • Build and paint a new piece of terrain

They are mostly pretty good and I think I can get most of these done, the only one I am not sure it is painting a Monster, I do have Mortarion to do for Everchosen, just got to fit him into the schedule.

Obviously I have a few times now shared my latest models with #WarhammerCommunity, I don’t have many scenic bases for my armies, but all the ones I have right now for the Nighthaunt are completed.

I just finished listening to Beastgrave whilst painting (more on that below) and I have built and painted two Warcry Warbands, a Stormcast Eternals Vanguard Chamber one and the Untamed Beasts.

And a few weeks ago I did all of my Age of Sigmar terrain so that fulfilled that criteria.

So that’s five down and five to do, and I will be getting the Kill Team done in the next week I think.

What I Am Painting

I started the week off by painting the pair of Tech-Priest Manipulus’s I got when the Theta-7 Acquisitus box was released back in January last year and they have been sitting in my desk every since.

Been a while since I did any Adeptus Mechanicus but these were fairly fun to paint, although I think some subassemblies would have worked better for them.

These will see service in both my Adeptus Mechanicus army for 40k and my Mechanicum army in 30k.

Whilst various washes were drying on these I started and finished an Easy to Build Redemptor Dreadnought that I got from Warhammer 40,000 Conquest, but I decided to give this model to the Space Wolves.

Been a while since I touched my Space Wolves but I am thinking of going back and doing some work on them to bring them into 8th Edition.

I have already kitbashed together 4 Grey Hunters Pack Leaders, as last edition you could replace these with Wolf Guard Pack Leaders, which I always did, but now you need them in 8th.

I also built from various parts I had, 15 Blood Claws as that’s a unit I don’t really have in my Space Wolves.

I then started work on the Celestar Balista and Lord Ordinator for the Stormcast Eternals, these were one Balista from Soul Wars and an Easy To Build one from Warhammer Mortal Realms.

I finished the first Celestar Balista on the Sunday, the other was finished apart from the base and then concentrated on the Sacristan Engineers and the Lord Ordinator.

I did a big burst of painting until 2am to get them finished. It’s been a long time since I got in the zone like that, and it was actually nice, I had Jack Ryan in in the background and I just painted, and before I knew it, all the models were done and I had binged all of season 2!

Next up on the painting table is some Blightlord Terminators and a Tallyman for the Death Guard.

I have decided to paint both the Deloris Strain and the Blightlord Terminators I made from the old version of the Chaos Terminators and the Forge World upgrade kit at the same time.

So let’s take a look at my painting queue.

  1. Blightlord Terminators x 10 & Tallyman
  2. Chaotic Beasts x 12
  3. Dreadblade Harrows x 2
  4. Blood Ravens Scouts x 10
  5. Millitarium Tempestus Meltagun Squad x 10 & Taurox Prime
  6. Blood Ravens Landspeeders x 3
  7. Stormcast Eternals Prosecutor x 3 and Knight-Venator
  8. Blood Ravens Intercessors x 5 & Sgt Jovan
  9. Stormcast Eternals Retributors x 5 & Knight-Vexillor
  10. Space Wolves Grey Hunters Pack Leaders x 4 & Iron Priest

What I Am Reasing

I started with an audiobook, I listened to Beastgrave which was a very good listen, different to what I was expecting by most enjoyable. The ending was a bit anticlimactic but other than that I loved it.

What I Am Playing

On Sunday we played a couple of games I’d Codenames Pictures. In one I was the spymaster for both players and Lindsay won, and in the second Megan was the spymaster for me and Lindsay and I won.

What I Am Backing

I convinced the girls and we are now backing Lords of Vegas at a level to get us the base game and both expansions.

I have been after this game for some time and it keeps being out of print whenever I am looking, so I am very happy to be backing this.

What Am I Cooking

I have cooked anything at all since my last blog post.

What Am I Spending

Not much spent but I did get my first resupply of paints from Games Workshop since they reopened and it was very much needed.

A can of Grey Seer, pots of Grey Seer, Rakarth Flesh, Kabalite Green, Gryph-Charger Grey and Valhallan Blizzard and two paint brushes, an M Layer and S Layer.

Ugh This Virus

By

On 9th May 2020

In Blog

This virus blows, I have gone backwards in recovery a bit, I am more tired, yet have trouble sleeping, and I am really struggling to get up and down stairs.

The doctors put me back on antibiotics and have given me an inhaler, but it’s still left me severely limited in what I am able to do.

I am still figuring out how to properly use the inhaler but it’s surprisingly difficult.

What I Am Modelling

I started the week off by building and priming my next ten projects, this way everything is ready at hand to paint.

Unfortunately the Grey Seer ran out part way though priming the Chainrasps, so they have been put aside to do once I get resupplied and their place in the painting queue has been taken by the Dreadblade Harrows.

I then started on Nikis Death Korps of Krieg special weapons Grenadiers and a Knight Questor for my Stormcast Eternals.

The Grenadiers represent the last of what I can do right now, until lockdown is lifted and I can see Niki to get a couple of parts I need for the last ten Grenadiers.

There are three Plasma Guns, three Meltaguns, three Vox Operators and a Watchmaster in this batch.

The Knight-Questor was finished at the same time, did him between bits of the Grenadiers, absolutely love the model, really cool to paint.

Then I placed onto the painting handles the last of the Khorne models from the original Age of Sigmar Starter Set from 2015, the Blood Warriors and Khorgus Khul the Mighty Lord of Khorne.

Mostly followed the standard painting guide for these, but made a few subtle changes here and there to better suit my personal vision for the Bloodbound.

And at the same time I also painted up Canoness Veridyan too.

I then put the Untamed Beasts from Warcry onto the painting table, a Warband I have been looking forward to painting for some time.

These had a lot of cool textures to work with, stuff I don’t normally get to paint and they were a real joy to get done.

So how does my painting queue look now?

  1. Tech-Priest Manipulus x 2
  2. Stormcast Eternals Celestar Ballista x 2 & Lord Ordinator
  3. Blightlord Terminators x 5 & Tallyman
  4. Chaotic Beasts x 12
  5. Dreadblade Harrows x 2
  6. Blood Ravens Scouts x 10
  7. Millitarium Tempestus Meltagun Squad x 10 & Taurox Prime
  8. Blood Ravens Landspeeders x 3
  9. Stormcast Eternals Prosectors and Knight-Venator
  10. Space Wolves Redemptor Dreadnought

What I Am Reading

I finished Tales From The Crucible and a review will come soon.

Haven’t started a new book yet.

What I Am Playing

My concentration hasn’t been there to play anything on tabletop but I have played a few games of Carcassonne and Warhammer Underworlds on the PC.

What I Am Backing

Nothing but gonna have another crack at convincing the girls we should back Lords of Vegas.

The Forgotten Chapters transfer sheet ran into a hitch, some of the original designs have been rejected as being too close to GW IP so they are being redesigned, but that’s cool, just means a slight delay.

What I Am Cooking

We had a pulled pork feast on Sunday, I couldn’t manage to make the pulled pork myself, but I did, with extensive help make some tangy BBQ Pit Beans.

Want to make a few changes before I put up the recipe however, but they were delicious.

I also mixed up a new batch of Cajun spice mix.

What I Am Spending

Now that GW is open I bought a few paints which got dispatched yesterday, so hopefully they will be with me on Tuesday.

I also bought a copy of Warhammer 40,000 Conquest Issue 48 from Hachette, I had a spare of this sitting around already, so when I have this, three of the bikes will be being used to make a squad of Swiftclaws for my Space Wolves and the spare is likely to one day become a Space Marine Captain for my Blood Ravens on a bike or perhaps as a Wolf Guard Pack Leader.

We also got the Asmodee Digital Play With Friends Humble Bundle which got us a number of awesome board games for Steam and gave some money to charity.

We do have a couple of games that we already own spare however, so if anyone wants Carcassonne, Small World 2 or Splendour, drop us a message.

April Resolutions Update

By

On 1st May 2020

In Blog

It’s the end of the month so let’s see how I did on my resolutions.

Paint 867 Models – 57.90%

I have painted 502 models so far this year, obviously this means I am well ahead of schedule which I am happy with.

A good chunk of this game in the month in the form of terrain. Being ill with Covid-19 has really hampered my hobby efforts this month.

Finish Painting The Blood Ravens I Own on 1st January – 43.58%

Only thing done this month was three Bikes and an Attack Bike, must do better next month.

This next month I hope to paint two units of Scouts, three Landspeeders and a unit of Intercessors.

Finish The Death Guard – 58.33%

No progress but I am ahead of schedule so I am cool with that. Next up at the Blightlord Terminators and a Tallyman.

Complete 2000 Points of Stormcast Eternals – 36.50%

I did a lot for this target this month, so far I have painted 730 points, although I may have to adjust this resolution so it’s a viable list I paint.

This month I painted, six Gryph-Hounds, 5 Vanguard-Hunters, 3 Vanguard Raptors, 6 Aetherwings, a Knight Questor and a Knight Incantor.

Other Resolutions

  • Complete 1750 Points of T’au
  • Complete 1750 Points of Orks
  • Rebase Blood Ravens
  • Rebase Orks

None of these have had any progress made, but the T’au are now appearing in my long term painting plan.

Just need to get the Orks in there too.

Rebasing can go ahead I just need to bring the Blood a Ravens downstairs to start it.

So let’s take a quick look at my painting plan right now.

  1. Death Korps of Krieg Grenadiers Special Weapons Men and Vox Operators x 10
  2. Blood Warriors x 5 & Korgus Khul
  3. Canoness Veridyan
  4. Untamed Beasts x 9
  5. Tech Priest Manipulus x 2
  6. Stormcast Eternals Celestar Balista x 2 & Lord Ordinator
  7. Blightlord Terminators x 5 & Tallyman
  8. Chaotic Beasts x 12
  9. Dreadblade Harrows x 2
  10. Blood Ravens Scouts x 10

More Smartness for the Home

By

On 28th April 2020

In Blog

I like making the home a bit smarter and more connected to the world.

With my disabilities, the Amazon Echo, Ring doorbell and Philips Hue lights have been amazing. When I am in agony they allow me to do things that would put me in more pain to do.

Sadly our 12 year old 3D Plasma TV has had to be replaced, I kinda pulled it down when having a coughing fit, and thus had to claim on the insurance.

We have bought ourselves a JVC LT-40CF890 from Currys PC World, I know my normal advice would be to bug last years model for a better TV spec with the same money but I broke my rule.

The reason we bought this one is that it’s a Fire TV Edition system, so it will integrate nicely with our existing smart ecosystem. We will be able to use the Amazon Echo speakers to turn it in and off again, open streaming services change volume and switch inputs.

It’s also 4K with HDR, and yeah I know for the price I can’t expect the same as buying a £1000 TV, but you cut your cough accordingly and I am not gonna lie and say I am particularly snobby about TVs, as long as it passes muster with me I am happy.

The only thing we will still absolutely have to use a remote for us when using the Sky Q box because that does not have integration with Alexa.

To go alongside it we also bought a JVC TH-D679B soundbar. The speakers in the TV are only 16w and I have noticed that as the trend for TVs is to get thinner, it has meant that their speakers suffer.

Plus I want to have some amazing sound in the house, I won’t like about that!

The reason we went for this one is that it has HDMI with ARC so we can plug things like the Sky Q box, Xbox One and Switch into the TV and not have to then find a way to get the sound into the soundbar as it will be sent automatically via the HDMI with ARC thus saving on wires.

And amazingly our new thermostat arrived on Saturday night, a Google Nest Thermostat E, we got it free when we switched to SSE and hopefully this will help cut down our heating bills especially in the winter.

The package did also include a Google Nest Mini, but as our home uses Alexa instead of Google Assistant we are swapping with Paul and Mary for an air frier.

We still need to get another temperature sensor for it for winter that we can place in the office. Lindsay has shockingly poor internal body heat and I can be sweating like anything bad she is sat covered up in several blankets and jumpers and still be cold.

So we compromised and agreed that she would have a temperature sensor in the office on her desk so that the heating system would kick in if it was detectably cold where she works.

At the time of writing this, we will need to import this bit from the US as they don’t sell them in the U.K.

The biggest advantage is of course with mine and Megan’s disabilities, the heating will now be controlled via voice or our phones which means no more dragging ourselves downstairs to turn it on and the timings for it coming on automatically can be adjusted smartly and it won’t turn in when we are not home.

So on Sunday after our family breakfast which was breakfast quesadillas made by Lindsay I set to fitting the thermostat. That didn’t actually take all that long at all, about 30 minutes in total, the thing that took the longest was figuring out which cable was which as the wiring diagram in the old thermostat was terrible.

Took a couple of attempts to connect the thermostat to the internet, but that was the only problematic thing, the rest of it went quite smoothly.

The initial placement of the Thermostate we decided didn’t work and so it got moved to the other side of the room where it’s more visible.

Later that afternoon the TV arrived and my word it’s very light, Lindsay could lift it with one hand that’s how light it is, the Soundbar is heavier!

I decided to rip everything out and do a full clear out and clean up of the area, hoovering up any dust and crap, and tidying the cables up, as well as removing the PlayStation 3 and Wii which we haven’t used in a long time.

The TV installed really easily and the apps we wanted downloaded without issue, the only disappointment is that Apple TV+ isn’t available on the TV yet, but will be coming soon I am told.

I did have a bit of bother with the integration into the existing Alexa ecosystem we have, but that was because I didn’t realise the Xbox One was linked to the Echo so every time we tried to tune to say BBC One HD it tried to do it in the Xbox, but we got that one figured out in the end.

The Soundbar took zero effort to set up, it was a case of plugging and playing and the ARC handled everything for us without any problem.

The end result is fewer wires, a cleaner set up and fewer things plugged in under the TV. All that’s under there now is the Sky Q, Xbox One, Switch and a NES Mini and SNES Mini, and I’d like to add a Mega Drive Mini as well.

The only other thing we want to do is get a bit of wood cut so that the TV sits slightly higher so that the IR signal from the Sky Q remote will work from all angles, but that said, we can control the volume with voice now.

Earlier in the lockdown we had already changed up the Alexa setup and added some more Hue bulbs. Megan purchased an Echo Show 8 whilst it was on special off to replace the Echo Show in her bedroom. The Echo Show 8 takes up less room in her bedside and it allowed us to move the Echo Show into the Kitchen.

We also added white Hue bulbs in the kitchen at the same time and for mine and Megan’s desk lights.

The next steps to take in the plan is to get a Hue bulb for the spare room and a standard Echo speaker for the office so that the Echo Dot can move in there.

I eventually would also like to add Hue bulbs to the bathrooms but would be combining them with motion sensors so the lights go on when you enter the rooms without needing any voice commands at all.

I know some people might ask why I do this, but a big reason is that I enjoy it, it makes the home easier to live in, and as I said before the advantages of helping myself and Megan cope when we are having bad days can not be overstated.

Although a smart kettle may have been a step too far!

What I Am Modelling

Started the week by hitting the Blood Ravens Bikes and Attack Bike that I got from my second copies of those issues of Conquest.

First thing I finished was the Attack Bike with Multi-Melta.

And this was followed up by the bikes themselves, so now I have the ability to field a unit of six bikes with two Meltaguns.

I then put in the table the Glaivewraith Stalkers and Thorns of the Briar Queen as they use a similar paint scheme, the biggest thing that took time with these was actually the basing the models themselves were pretty easy to paint.

And whilst painting them I also finished off the Ophidian Archway.

I then built the Grenadiers, which took a bit of modelling as I couldn’t do the Vox Operators without modifying the Vox unit, I ended up taking the top part off and glueing the bottom section on.

I also built the 40 Chainrasps, and the stuff I got with Conquest, those being a set of Sigmarite Mausoleums, a Stormcast Eternals Knight Questor and a pair of Dreadblade Harrows.

Tomorrow I intend to do a bit more building before I prime these models. I am going to build the Untamed Beasts and the Chaotic Beasts.

Once that’s done it means that all the next 10 projects are built and primed.

So how does this leave my painting queue, well it looks a bit like this.

  1. Death Korps of Krieg Grenadiers Special Weapons Squad x 10
  2. Blood Warriors x 5 & Korgus Khul
  3. Canoness Veridyan
  4. Untamed Beasts x 9
  5. Tech Priest Manipulus x 2
  6. Stormcast Eternals Celestar Balista x 2 & Lord Ordinator
  7. Blightlord Terminators x 5 & Tallyman
  8. Chaotic Beasts x 12
  9. Chainrasp Horde x 40
  10. Blood Ravens Scouts x 10

The Chainrasp Horde is dependent on my having enough Grey Seer to be able to prime them, if I run out then they won’t be getting done.

What I Am Reading

Reading is still very hard but I am reading as much as I can.

What I Am Playing

We played a quick game of Blank on Monday night which Megan won, and we were even in the finish the game in two minutes rule and she managed to get rid of all her cards!

What I Am Backing

Lords of Vegas looks really interesting and if I can convince the girls I plan to back that.

What I Am Cooking

I did help Megan make Cheesesteak baguettes on Wednesday and they turned out quite nice.

She and I frustrate each other in the kitchen because we cook in very different ways but they turned out pretty nice.

What I Am Spending

Obviously the TV and soundbar!

I also picked up a coax cable to plug the new TV into the antenna we have on the house, our old one was in a bit of a state cause the rabbit likes to eat it!

Recovery is Slow

By

On 21st April 2020

In Blog

It’s been a hard week, think I pushed myself too soon and have struggled to keep doing stuff at even a moderate level.

The lungs still feel heavy and that is very scary and I am told it could be weeks until I recover.

But I am gonna try and think positive, I have been trying to do a bit more in the house and a few more hobby things.

Me and Megan are gonna do some sorting out of the spare room, mostly to make it habitable for our nephews and nieces and also so I can try and make room in the house for a 3D Printer!

Last week I had reinstalled Windows on my PC and annoyingly and update bricked that installation, not sure how but it just wouldn’t start up again despite several attempts at repair.

So I did a bit more and actually hoovered out the dust from inside the case and installed a 2TB HDD I salvaged from a broken Sky + HD box.

What I Am Modelling

I started the week by painting six of the twelve Gryph-Hounds I have. I got these in the Stormcast Eternals Vanguard Brotherhood, not sure I will ever need twelve but I have the option. I meant to paint just one Alpha but managed to grab two Alphas so the next batch won’t have an Alpha as the one form these will do the job.

I also painted the Gryph-Hound from the Easy to Build Castigators, whom I have painted up as Archibald from Roll Models.

On the side I was also working on a bit of terrain, mostly getting them sprayed, given the contrast colour and then drybrushed, mostly getting done between stages of the other stuff.

The first of that stuff to be completed was the pack of Azyrite Ruins I got from Elelment Games, these are super simple as easy to do with my scheme for Esassa, and give me a bit more variety as now I have one if each possible combination of parts for the scenery box.

I then started on the Vanguard-Raptors, I already have three of them painted up with Longstrike Crossbows, so these are armed with Hurricane Crossbows.

At the same time I painted the Mortal Realms exclusive Knight-Incantor Xandria Azurebolt and the store birthday Knight-Questor Larissa Shadowstalker.

The Celestial Vindicators are my Stormhost because I absolutely love the colour scheme. I won’t lie, Hallowed Knights were in contention, but the teal colour of the Celestial Vindicators is just stunning.

Next up I began work on the Vanguard Hunters and a pair of Baleful Realmgates getting the Realmgates finished first.

The Vanguard-Hunters were a lot of fun to paint and that completes the Stormcast Eternals Vanguard Warcry warband.

And whilst they were being painted I finished off a Magewrath Throne.

So how does this leave my painting plan, obviously I am getting back into that after interrupting it for the Warcry Warband.

The Blood a Ravens bikes arrived on the painting desk now and I will be consulting with Niki on how to arm his command squad dudes for his Death Korps of Krieg.

  1. Blood Ravens Bikes x 3 & Attack Bike with Multi-Melta
  2. Death Korps of Krieg Command Squad Special Weapons Men x 10
  3. Glaivewraith Stalkers x 8 & Thorns of the Briar Queen
  4. Blood Warriors x 5 & Korgus Khul
  5. Cannones Veridyan
  6. Death Korps of Krieg Command Squad Special Weapons Men x 10
  7. Untamed Beasts x 9
  8. Tech Priest Manipulus x 2
  9. Stormcast Eternals Celestar Balista x 2 & Lord-Ordinator
  10. The Dolorous Strain & Tallyman

What I Am Reading

I am still struggling to concentrate to read very much.

What I Am Playing

Myself and Megan got a game of the amazing Moon-Bots in one a Sunday night.

We played in the two player variation in which we each control two robots each and I won, although it was by the skin of my teeth as I had a single energy left on my last robot.

I really love this game, it’s a lot of fun, reminds me of King of Tokyo but with a cool card drafting mechanism.

What I Am Backing

The Forgotten Chapter – Purity Seals and Parchment Transfers successfully funded and these are gonna come in handy for my Sisters of Battle.

What I Am Cooking

I am still struggling a lot, but I did help plan this weeks meals, well those from Thursday onwards.

We had Pizza takeaway on Thursday, then on Friday we had chicken wings with cheesy garlic mash and roasted broccoli and green beans with garlic.

Saturday was a lovely chilli that Megan made a few weeks ago and froze, Sunday we had roast beef and tonight we had macaroni cheese with salad.

I have never been a fan of macaroni cheese before, but the girls love it and so we found a recipe that I would hopefully like, and it worked I rather enjoyed it.

Tomorrow we are having Cajun Chicken Burgers and Rice and then on Wednesday we are having Cheesesteak Hot Dogs.

On Sunday for our nice breakfast I attempted to make sausage and egg bagels. I took the sausage meat and formed it into patties which I then fried, but I couldn’t manage much more than that and Megan had to finish them off for me and Lindsay fried the eggs.

What I Am Spending

My order from Magic Madhouse arrived at last, they are understandably running a bit behind so it took a bit over a week for it to be dispatched.

I got in this package a Magewrath Throne, three paints, Gal Vorbak Red, Word Bearers Red and Barak-Nar Burgundy, and two Army Painter paint brushes, a Monster and a Regiment.

I also made a small order from Leodis Games because I noticed they had an Ophidian Archway in stock, and I also got a Knight-Vexillor for my Stormcast Eternals.

And I managed to get hold of a couple of paints I needed from Board in Brum as well which I needed for a few upcoming projects.

Now if you know me well, you know I am a bit of a tea snob, I can’t stand crap tea like Tetleys, PG Tips and Typhoo etc, Yorkshire Tea is the minimum acceptable but even that is at a push.

My favourite tea merchants are Bewleys of Dublin and Ringtons of Newcastle, Pumphrey’s is ok but they are mostly a coffee merchant so thier tea whilst nice is not quite as good as the other two.

Normally we get our tea from Fenwicks in Newcastle but they are understandable closed, so we ordered from Ringtons a preprepared package of goodies called The Monty, which had in it, 200 tea bags, 20 Chocolate Mallows, a jar of instant coffee, ginger snaps, triple chocolate cookies, shortbread and some rocky road bites

Easter and Lindsays Birthday

By

On 13th April 2020

In Blog

My recovery from Covid-19 is going well, the CPAP is helping a lot.

We also had Lindsay birthday today and we had a nice long weekend of doing stuff she enjoys taking into account my current limitations.

We watched The Fellowship of the Ring on Saturday, we had hoped to do all three films in one day, but my inability to go more than a few hours without having to have a nap put paid to that.

Today we had planned to have a BBQ over FaceTime with Lindsays sister Jane, her boyfriend Rob and her three sons, Willem, Brandon and Jonah, because Lindsay would have lived nothing more than to see her nephews and nieces, siblings and grandad today.

But the weather was not good for Jane and Rob so we are doing that on Wednesday but we still had our BBQ food for lunch, only because it was so cold Lindsay and Megan insisted on doing it in the oven because I wasn’t well enough to use the grill.

Our afternoon plans were changed because Willem developed a temperature which put Jane into quarantine and prevented her getting shopping so Lindsay had to rush out and grab some essentials she needed.

So it’s been a bit of a funny day, but we will do something nice to celebrate when the crisis is over.

I finally wiped my PCs hard drive and reinstalled Windows 10, after putting it off for ages.

There were a few little juggling issues with it, VLC refused to load at all, a friend had logged into their iCloud Music Library which meant I couldn’t play any music from mine for 90 days and in general it was running a bit slow.

So I wiped my SSD and reinstalled Windows, and upgraded to Office 2019, Lindsay keeps saying she wants to get Office 365, but I admit I am a bit unsure about software I need to subscribe to use, hence why I still use Adobe CS6 instead of Creative Cloud which is quite expensive for what I need.

I also took the time to install a few games, I don’t play enough games on my PC and I have a fair sized Steam library that I have expanded through the years thanks to Humble Bundle.

What Am I Modelling

Things have been slow, I am slowly getting myself able to sit at the desk for longer and longer periods without having to go back to bed.

I started off by finally finishing up some bits for Niki’s Death Korps of Krieg, specifically his Grenadiers with Heavy Stubber and Meltagun and a Death Riders Ridemaster.

And this was followed by the Quartermaster and a Retinue, these were a little intimidating as I wasn’t sure about how to approach them.

I then turned to some Nighthaunts for myself and painted three sets of Myrmourn Banshees, and at the same time as painting those I also painted the Tomb Banshee and Briar Queen as they both use a similar colour scheme.

I made a change to my painting plan at this point and slotted in the models for a Stormcast Eternals Vanguard Chamber Warcry warband, so that’s some Vanguard Rapters with Hurricane Crossbows, Aetherwings, Vanguard Hunters, and some Gryph Hounds.

So I started by priming them all obviously, the Stormcast with Macragge Blue, half the Gryph Hounds in Grey Seer and the other half and the Aetherwings in Mechanicus Standard Grey, I also had the Gryph Hound from the Easy to Build Castigators already primed in Black.

I also stupidly decided to complete my Edge of Empire hobby pledge and started painting a Predator for my Heresy Death Guard.

Sunday I was able to sit at my desk for three hours, the longest in nearly two weeks, it felt good to have a long undisturbed session of painting.

It allowed me to get the Aetherwings to the stage of having the feathers washed and the tree trunks dove, and the Predator to the point that the hill colours were complete.

And Monday I got them competed, the Predator first.

And then finished off the Aetherwings.

Now on my desk are 6 Gryph-Hounds and the single Gryph-Hound from the Easy to Build Castigators.

My painting plan has changed slightly, due to what I have built I have taken the Chainrasps out of the plan and replaced them with the Glaivewraith Stalkers I have built and the Thorns of the Briar Queen.

  1. Stormcast Eternals Vanguard Chamber Warcry Warband and Death Guard Predator
  2. Blood Ravens Bikes x 3 and Attack Bike with Multi-Melta
  3. Death Korps of Krieg Command Squad Special Weapons Men x 10
  4. Glaivewraith Stalkers x 8 and Thorns of the Briar Queen
  5. Blood Warriors x 5 & Mighty Lord of Khorne
  6. Canniness Veridyan
  7. Death Korps of Krieg Command Squad Special Weapons Men x 10
  8. Untamed Beasts x 9
  9. Tech-Priest Manipulus
  10. Stormcast Eternals Celestar Balista x 2 & Lord Ordinator

What I am Reading

I am still making my way through Tales from the Crucible, it’s hard going because the app is so utterly dreadful on my phone.

What I Am Playing

On Sunday we played a couple of games, we started with Alhambra, the first time we played with the Designers Edition Mega Box, and it was a lot of fun, although I came last and Megan won by a country mile.

Then we played a shirt game of Blank, which Lindsay won despite being forced to mime for the whole game!

What I Am Backing

I backed the Forgotten Chambers project for some Purity Seals and Parchment transfers, which I think will be brilliant for my Sisters of Battle.

It’s down to ship in June, but given the Covid-19 crisis, I don’t expect it to ship until much later as printers are not an essential business.

What I Am Cooking

I did cook something, a sausage stir fry for lunch on Sunday, it was quite nice and is a real comfort food for me.

It’s something my dad used to cook to cheer me up, but his usually had bacon lardons in and used a pack of savoury rice. I didn’t have lardons, and I am hardly gonna send Lindsay it Megan out for them in this crisis, and I used microwave rice instead of savoury rice.

What I Am Spending

I needed some paint so I hit up Jus at Battle Bunker and got a Rukkatruck Squigbuggy at the same time, which means me and Megan have all six Ork buggies to paint up at some point.

Some stuff I had ordered from Element Games was finally delivered, on Easter Monday, which is weird, but I got some Azyrite Ruins, Baleful Realmgates and Nurgle Daemon Card’s for Warcry.

Esasa – City of Silversmiths

By

On 9th April 2020

In Blog

Megan has agreed to play a bit of Warcry and Age of Sigmar whilst I am restricted to the indoors for 12 weeks, and Lindsay said she might try some too.

Hence why I am looking to complete all of my Warcry/Age of Sigmar terrain as quickly as possible.

In my head I often give stories to the stuff I am painting and so I think we are going to be giving a background to the setting these games will be played on, and thus I give birth to Esasa, the city of Silversmiths.

The Terrain

The terrain right now consists of the Ruined City from the Warcry core box, a Shattered Stormvault and a Defiled Ruins.

I plan to add to this the terrain from Mortal Realms, a set of Azyrite Ruins, Baleful Realmgates, Magewrath Throne and Timeworn Ruins, and if room and the budget allow an Ophidian Archway.

I already have the first scenery sprues from Mortal Realms, the first copy of issue 11 with the three small mausoleums. I have doubled up in these issues so I have the equivalent of a Sigmarite Mausoleum.

The colour scheme for the buildings is from the December 2019 edition of Whote Dwarf, with a few minor modifications.

The buildings are primed in Grey Seer, then painted with Gryph-Charger Grey, and then drybrushed with Corax White. The sandstone is Aggaros Dunes over Grey Seer then drybrushed Screaming Skull.

Weathering is stippled on Stirland Mud, then drybrushed with Steel Legion Drab and Ushabti Bone, followed by some patches of Athonian Camoshade to represent algae growth.

The wood is Wyldwood, then drybrushed Baneblade Brown, with sharpened points being Aggaros Dunes. Skulls, bones and skeletons are Morghast Bone then Skeleton Horde.

The silver metals are mostly Iron Warriors washed with Nuln Oil and golds are Retributor Armour washed with Agrax Earthshade. Some of the statues are Balthasar Gold, then covered with Nihilakh Oxide and drybrushed with Brass Scorpion.

Here Goes

Esasa was once in the Age of Myth a city of great renown in the realm of Chamon, the land of metal, located not far from the Silver Road Realmgate which connected it to Ghyran. The city was able to trade its ample supplies of refined and precious metals with the peoples of the realm of life in exchange for crops which were difficult to grow in the region.

The abundance of precious metals meant that the city became rich, and was well defended. It gained its nickname from the large number of artisans working with the regions near perfect silver to create items of jewellery in demand across the mortal realms.

The demands of its mines meant that soon it attracted migrant workers from across the mortal realms, with those from Ghur, the Realm of Beasts being seen as the most valuable and hard working. But these people never gained full citizenship of the city and existed as a permanent underclass to the cities indigenous inhabitants.

The cities rulers were held in high esteem by Sigmar and its artisans crafted many wonders, not only of jewellery but also of war, some of which were built using the magics of the cities sorcerers and mages.

Many of these wonders were put to use in Esasa’s wars, but some were considered far too dreadful to be used and so Sigmar ordered the construction of Stormvaults in the city to contain these arcane wonders and the knowledge to create them. Hidden from people thoughts by the Penumbral Engines they soon were lost to all, even Sigmar himself.

When the Age of Chaos came, the city held out for several decades, but when the city of Oakenhallow on the other side of the Silver Road Realmgate fell to the forces of Nurgle, the city found itself under siege as legions of the plague fathers servants poured through the Realmgate.

The siege lasted nearly three years thanks to powerful wards put in place by the cities sorcerers guild. Although many of the city’s inhabitants succumbed to plagues introduced to the city by trebuchets hurling infected corpses over its walls. But ultimately they were betrayed from within.

The recovery from plague of the Vyrus, an apprentice sorcerer from one of the cities ruling families, was seen as a moment of joy for his family, but in truth he had let grandfather Nurgle into his soul and pledged himself to him in exchange for his life and the power he craved above all else.

Working with a small number of other traitors, they worked to undo the wards preventing the manifestation of Deamons within the cities walls. He passed Nurgles contagion to his own wife and slit her throat before pushing her into the cities main water source, contaminating it and spreading the taint to more of the city populous, creating more despair, which in turn weakened the strength of the magical wards.

Nurgles plan was to bring the city and its inhabitants directly into his garden, and with plague spreading amongst the downtrodden underclass in Esasa, Vyrus and his fellow conspirators turned the despair of the people towards the worship of Nurgle. These people had been left with little access to medicine and food during the siege and were ripe for being turned against the cities rulers.

When the cities despair and the number of worshippers of the plague god reached a critical mass, Vyrus began a ritual to transport the city to Nurgles realm, in secret within the sewers they changed profane words and used the despair to channel their power against the magical wards from within.

But he was undone, when Tzeentch took advantage of the weakening of the wards to open a portal to the realm of Chaos, allowing Khorne to send forth an army an army of daemons into the city who proceeded to slaughter the majority of its population before Vyrus could complete his ritual.

Nurgle was furious, instead of being able to infect the rest of the city and bring them to his garden, his prize was snatched from his grasp by his most hated rival.

The cities defenders were unable to counter the attack from within, but one lowly volunteer Elric, a labourer who had come to the city in search of his fortune from his home in Ghur, lead a valiant defence of the cities main house of healing. With his dying breath he vowed vengeance on those that had had betrayed the city and against the ruinous powers, and as the final words crossed his lips, he was whisked away in a plume of light.

Vyrus, who had been promised accession to daemonhood, and the rule of Esasa, was instead banished and sent into service of a Lord of Plagues and took the new name Vyrungus Festerbelly.

Esasa left a ruin, was fought over through the age of chaos by various bands of roving chaos worshippers, whilst a small remaining population eked out a meagre existence among the rubble.

At the coming of the Age of Sigmar, Esasa was largely ignored, although many of its people were reclaimed by the free people’s of Azyr. Esasa lay just 9 days march from Vindicarum, and this is where many of the reclaimed settled, some going on to join the famed Freeguild regiment the Gold Gryphons.

Then came the Necroquake, and a number of Penumbral Engines located in the heart of Esasa faltered unveiling entrances to extensive catacombs below the remains of the city and the Stormvaults contained within.

Now various groups have moved towards the city, a rabid band of Khorne worshippers, destructive Ironjawz, a procession of Nighthaunts, and Signars champions the Celestial Vindicators if the Stormcast Eternals led by Elric, now reborn as the Lord-Aquilor Elden Wolfforged.

But, there is one returning to the city who may have knowledge of what is contained within the Stormvaults, the traitor Vyrungus Festerbelly who is returning to his place of birth and rebirth in an attempt to regain the favour of his patron god.

Corona, Oh My Corona!!!

By

On 8th April 2020

In Blog

This past week and a bit I have been quite unwell with Covid-19. I first fell ill a week ago Sunday and it since developed into mild pneumonia.

It was a horrible cough and my fever was only slight and only for a very short period, but my lungs have taken a beating and I am now on antibiotics. The doctor said under normal circumstances that I would be admitted to hospital, but that’s the last place they want to send me right now.

So I am at home being looked after by Megan and Lindsay, the CPAP machine helps a lot and they moved a TV and Sky Q mini box into mine and Megan’s bedroom so that I can watch TV in bed, because sitting up is really hard.

I understand now why I am supposed to be shielded, and annoyingly because without testing me they can’t be sure it’s Covid-19, I still have to do the whole 12 weeks.

I really don’t want anyone I love getting this, it really did a number on Megan with her asthma, Lindsay was mostly better in a couple of days, but I dread to think what would happen if this ended up in Geoff or my nana.

Anyway guys, stay safe!

What I Am Modelling

I did get some painting done, specifically the Age of Sigmar and Warcry terrain.

I started with a few test pieces, specifically the bell tower and a few bits of small pieces from the Warcry core box.

Then I finished off the rest of the scatter terrain and two of the core box ruins.

Then I finished off the ruined city and the statues form the two other sets of terrain, as well as the first bit of the Stormvault terrain.

Then I finished the Defiled Ruins buildings and the columns for the Shattered Stormvault.

And finally I painted the two Stormvaults.

I have been slowly working my way through a few bits of Death Korps of Krieg for Niki and hope to have those finished tomorrow.

My current painting plan looks like this.

  1. Death Korps of Krieg Special Weapons Grenadiers x 4, Death Riders Ride Master, Quartermaster and Retinue
  2. Myrmourn Banshees x 12 & Tomb Banshee
  3. Blood Ravens Bikes x 3 and Attack Bike with Multi-Melta
  4. Death Korps of Krieg Command Squad Special Weapons Men x 10
  5. Chainrasp Horde x 40
  6. Blood Warriors x 5 & Mighty Lord of Khorne
  7. Canoness Veridyan
  8. Death Korps of Krieg Command Squad Special Weapons Men x 10
  9. Untamed Beasts x 10
  10. Tech Priest Manipulus x 2

What I Am Reading

Reading has been very hard but I have read a couple more short stories from Tales from the Crucible.

What I Am Playing

I managed an hour on Fallout 4 this week before I had to return to bed.

What I Am Backing

Sadly nowt

What I Am Cooking

I haven’t been in any state to cook 🙁

What I Am Spending

I did treat myself to a few new paints that I needed, some from Magic Madhouse and some from Battle Bunker, and a few other small bits and bobs, just waiting for them to arrive now.

Page 10 of 12

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén