Author: michael Page 11 of 63

Flying the ‘Verse

By

On 20th May 2023

In Blog

The other weekend we had our friend Iain, a fellow games demonstrator, down from Scotland to play Firefly: The Game, which is one of our favourite board games!

So we took the whole day had snacks planned out and we laid out our Whole Damn ‘Verse Mat, and set up all the contact and supply decks and just played a very basic game, in which the aim was to raise $12,000!

We love this game so much, we actually have pretty much everything made for it that’s not a cosmetic upgrade, so we were playing with the Card Pack, Pirates & Bounty Hunters, Breakin’ Atmo, Blue Sun and Kalidasa. The only expansion we didn’t use was Crime & Punishment cause we wanted an easy bit of misbehavin’.

For ships, Iain took the Artful Dodger, Lindsay captained Jetwash, Megan sailed on the Emeralda and I was lugging around the S.S. Walden from Pirates & Bounty Hunters.

So there were some interesting differences in our tactics, I went for slow and steady with lots of space for cargo and passengers, Iain went for speed and more crew space, Lindsay wanted a fast ship with some tricks and Megan opted for a ship that could carry people who didn’t want any Alliance entanglements.

We had a great time and played for a good number of hours, but in the end, of course Megan won, me and Iain were quite close with just $200 between us, and Lindsay ended up with no meney!

One more turn and I would have won 🙁

It was a great day and I really want to get the game out again for some solo play sometime.

What I Am Modelling

I started out by painting my Dwarf Fleet for Kings of War Armada.

Followed by The Guild for Carnivale

And then I moved onto the Ultramarines Repulsor.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CsFJQC4NtWV/?igshid=MTIyMzRjYmRlZg==

Then it was a pair of Invader ATVs for my Blood Ravens.

And then the Annihilation Barge for the Necrons.

Along with the Overlord!

After that I painted up Xandire’s Truthseekers from Stormbringer.

Alongside a Stormstrike Chariot.

I am now working on the remaining scenery for the Imperium table

So what’s up next

  1. Kairic Acolytes x 18
  2. Hedkrakka’s Mob
  3. Skaven Deathrunners x 2
  4. Catacomb Command Barge
  5. Swampcalla Shaman x 3 & Pot Grot x 2
  6. Ultramarines Outriders x 3
  7. The Rashaar
  8. Gutrippas x 10
  9. Kabalite Warriors x 10 & Archon
  10. Beast-Skewer Killbow

What I Am Reading

I finished up In the Coils of the Labyrinth by David Annadale and expect a review shortly.

I am now fully dedicating myself to Necropolis by Dan Abnett.

I am listened to Blood of Asaheim by Chris Wraight, which was ok, but you can tell it was some of Chris’s early work.

I have now started on The Lion: Son of the Forest by Mike Brooks as an audiobook.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

When we had Iain over, as well as playing Firefly: The Game, we also played Firefly: Misbehavin’

We also played Firefly Fluxx, a few games of Just One and a game of Say Anything too!

And guess what, I didn’t win a single game all weekend!

I got to play a game of Warhammer 40K last night against some Eldar, and or course I lost!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Managed to finish the main game for Control: Ultimate Edition, which you can see on YouTube now!

I will be playing the rest of the side missions and the DLC in ad hoc streams over the next few weeks.

What I Am Creating

The latest Edge of Empire episode was published, and you can listen to it as an audio as usual, but now as a YouTube video as well!

And I made a vertical video thing on TikTok!

@biggeordiegeek Simple Light Leather Painting! #Warmongers #WarhammerCommunity #WarHamFam #PaintSlam23 #Painting #PaintingWarhammer #PaintingGamesWorkshop #PaintingLeather #MiniturePainting ♬ original sound – biggeordiegeek

The Assassin’s Creed II videos have now moved to BigGeordieGeek Plays now, so have been removed from my main YouTube channel.

And whilst I was at it, I uploaded the original game as well, so there is no more Assassin’s Creed left on the main YouTube channel!

What I Am Backing

My TTCombat Paints & Washes pledge arrived, which was a pair of paints to try out and a new painting mat.

What I Am Buying

I bought the Capcom Hero Collection at the £8 level and got myself:-

I also bought the Retro Rampage Bundle from Fanatical, which got me:-

I also grabbed the Bioware Mega Collection from the EA Steam sale, which got me:-

And I grabbed myself some objective tokens for my Drukhari!

Warhammer Fest & Pegboard

By

On 7th May 2023

In Blog

So Warhammer Fest, where do I start?

Well let’s be honest, there were a lot of issues, huge numbers of them, and let me be frank about the biggest issue, the shop.

The shop is something that GW should be able to and can do well, at the UK Games Expo last year they had a far bigger presence and more stock, what they had in Manchester was small and focused on a few stands.

The queue to pay was 90 minutes long, there was very very little third party licenced stuff, a few McFarlane and JoyToy figures, a small selection of the Cubicle 7 RPGs and a limited number of art prints.

So no board games, clothing, dice bags, posters, phone cases, mugs, notebooks etc

It felt very lacking in terms of that stuff.

There were a few gaming stalls and credit to them, they put on an amazing show, but because they were one of the few things there, the queues were mental.

Never got a chance to try Boltgun, but I am gonna preorder it anyway, the community lass from Tacticus convinced me to give it a go, and it’s actually pretty good.

Warpforge seems a lot of fun and Horus Heresy Legions is as good as ever.

There was one set of painted models on display for 10th edition 40K, in between the queue for the shop and the queue to try 10th edition, so you could barely get to take a gander at them.

There were 5 tables to try 10th on and a lad I know queued for 4 hours to get a turn at trying it, which if I am honest was ridiculous and a bit of stupid decision, at the Fest when 8th launched there were 20 or 30 tables if I remember correctly.

Its sad cause the last event was so good, and this was just a real let down.

But I still had lots of fun, but that’s cause I got to meet up with people I rarely get to see and play with and in that respect it was good, but still it shouldn’t have been so lacking in content.

Will I go again, depends, if I can get a tournament to play in sure, but if not, perhaps I won’t.

My Haul

So I got a bit from Warhammer Fest!

Here is the total lot!

It’s broken down into, the event exclusive Commissar!

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Some dice for my Imperial Knights and *ahem* Kharadron Overlords 🙄

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A Homunculus and some Mandrakes for my Drukhari

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Lelith Hesperax and Drazhar for them

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A Combat Patrol for them too

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A Deimos Pattern Whirlwind Scorpius for my Imperial Fists

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A Rat Ogre for Blood Bowl

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And some general swag, which includes some Warhammer Fest objective markers, some badges, patches, a few paints, and a mousemat!

View post on imgur.com

Pegboard

I went and got the Skådis Pegboard from IKEA, well I had them delivered to a local shop, IKEA want 20 notes to deliver to the house, but only £2 to send it to a shop 5 minutes away!!!

First up I had to remove all the controller mounts from the wall, then fill in the holes and paint over them.

This meant the girls insisted that I sort out the cupboard under the stairs, and I will have to take a trip to B&Q to get colour matched paint.

So I started with the cuboard sort, then filled in the holes with the filler and the put the boards up, the bits of filled wall need painting still, but B&Q in Hartlepool is now closed so it’s a trip to Stockton for that!

The pegboard went up pretty easily, I went with the black Skådis, I did consider the Uppspel board with the ROG branding, but that would have been an extra £20 I didn’t fancy spending!

The controllers are now all up, I went with the Skådis hooks to mount them, because it works, mostly.

I did get an Uppspel accessory kit, mostly for the magnetic strip, but the straps are great for holding the NES and SNES controllers, and I plan to get a couple more to hold the PC Engine, CD32, Neo Geo CD and SN30 Pro controllers.

Also, my future Steam Deck may be stored in the board using these straps!

The magnetic strip currently holds a pair of nice braided cables to connect the controllers to the PC directly, one cable is USB C and the other is Micro USB. The WaveBird receiver is also held on it too!

What I Am Modelling

I started out by painting the Imagifier for the Sisters of Battle!

And a Abhorrant Ghoul King for the Flesh-Eater Courts!

Followed by the Drukhari Raider for the Wyches.

So what’s up next?

  1. Kairic Acolytes x 18
  2. The Guild
  3. Ultramarines Repulsor
  4. Hedkrakka’s Mob
  5. Skaven Deathrunners x 2
  6. Blood Ravens Invader ATV x 2
  7. Catacomb Command Barge & Overlord
  8. Swampcalla Shaman x 2 & Pot Grot
  9. Ultramarines Outriders x 3
  10. Rashaar

What I Am Reading

No books read, but I have finished listening to Lukas the Trickster by Josh Reynolds.

And I listened to Embrace the Darkness by Nicholas Briggs.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Myself, Graham, Rob and Niall had a game of 30K at Element Games, which was a hell of a lot of fun, and my first time visiting Element in person, and its a really fun place.

What Video Games I Am Playing

A couple of hours of The Witcher 3 but that’s it!

What I Am Spending

Bought a few more video games!

Plus this months Humble Choice that got me

And I bought a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection for the Switch too

Resolutions Update – April 2023

By

On 6th May 2023

In Blog

Build & Paint a 2000 Points Army of Drukhari – 18.5% Complete

I added the Reavers and Helions to the army this month, which almost competes the Wyches detachment for now.

Just a Raider to go and that’s almost finished!

The next detachment will be a Kabal, and for that I have bought the Combat Patrol!

Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Genestealer Cultists – o% Complete

No progress here 🙁

Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Tyranids – 38% Complete

This is still on pause until Leviathan comes out, but I have bought some 28mm bases as I think my Guants will need them.

Bring my Primaris Ultramarines to 2000 Points – 50% Complete

This month I added the Assault Intercessors to the army!

This means I still need to add

  • Repulsor
  • Bladeguard Ancient
  • Bladeguard Veterans x 3
  • Outriders x 3

The Repulsor is next getting painted for this list!

Bring my Orruk Warclans to 2000 Points – 53.05

I added some Manskewer Boltboyz to this list this month, two units of them, and I purchased a Beastskewer Killbow.

I need to make a proper list for this and at the minute this is gonna be it!

+ Leader +

Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof

Orruk Megaboss

Orruk Weirdnob Shaman

Swampcalla Shaman and Pot-grot

+ Battleline +

Gutrippaz: 10 Gutrippaz, Musician, Standard Bearer, Wicked Hakka

Gutrippaz: 10 Gutrippaz, Wicked Stikka

Gutrippaz: 10 Gutrippaz, Wicked Stikka

Hobgrot Slittaz: 10 Hobgrot Slittaz, Musician, Standard Bearer

Hobgrot Slittaz: 10 Hobgrot Slittaz, Musician, Standard Bearer

Orruk Brutes: 5 Brutes, Boss Choppa, Gore-choppa, Jagged Gore-hacka

+ Other +

Man-skewer Boltboyz: 3 Man-skewer Boltboyz

Man-skewer Boltboyz: 3 Man-skewer Boltboyz

Man-skewer Boltboyz: 3 Man-skewer Boltboyz

Orruk Gore-Gruntas: 3 Gore-Gruntas, Pig-iron Choppa

+ Artillery +

Beast-skewer Killbow

Beast-skewer Killbow

Build & Paint two Gangs for Carnivale

The Guild are now build they are getting painted this month.

Need to buy some more bases before I can build the Rashaar!

Get My Weight to Under 100kg & Sustain it Below That

I am currently 115kg so gone a little backwards

Publish One Battle Report a Month

My aim to get caught up in April was spoiled by April being super busy!

Stream Twice a Week

Failed due to a busy April

Complete my 2023 VideoGameGeek Video Game Challenge

None finished yet, but I hope this is the month I get some added to the complete list!

Read 40 Books – 25% Complete

Currently at a total of 10 books read!

Get Edge of Empire Running Like a Well Oiled Machine

Yeah this is going well, no real issues here

A Bimonthly RPG Night With the Polycule

Every time I mention it, the subject is changed so it ain’t happening

Abi’s Wedding (and Pauls too I Suppose!)

By

On 29th April 2023

In Blog

Last weekend we went to my beautiful sister-in-laws wedding to my brother Paul.

It was a wonderful day and much joy was had.

The ceremony was lovely and the food was divine, and my nibblings were all little terrors!

It was held at Kersy Mill, near Haverhill in Suffolk and the surroundings were really nice, the building was a converted mill and was pretty nice.

It was just a really awesome day all round to be frank.

On the Sunday we popped into Ipswich, had dinner at Prezzo and saw Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, but we missed the last 5-10 minutes as there was a fire alarm and the cinema was evacuated.

The long stairs out of the cinema left be too exhausted to return to the screen, so we kinda gave up and went back to my parents, curse my lack of spoons!

Film was awesome though!

What I Am Modelling

I started out with the Necron Triarch Stalkers

Followed by some Triarch Praetorians

After that I painted up my Helions for the Drukhari, two units of them!

So what’s coming up next?

  1. Kairic Acolytes x 18
  2. Imagifier
  3. The Guild x 8
  4. Ultramarines Repulsor
  5. Hedkrakka’s Madmob
  6. Drukhari Raider
  7. Skaven Deathrunners x 2
  8. Blood Ravens Invader ATV x 2
  9. Necron Catacomb Command Barge
  10. Swampcalla Shaman x 2 & Pot Grot

What I Am Reading

I finished Squirrel Girl: Universe and you can see my review here.

I have now started on David Annadale’s, In the Coils of the Labyrinth which is so far pretty good.

Still listening to Lukas the Trickster by Josh Reynolds, about 4 hours into that now.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I had a game of Munchkin Warhammer 40,000 at Warhammer World, which was won by Lindsay!

And on Wednesday my DnD group met and Graham tried to knock someone out, by throwing a knife in their neck and rolling a nat 20!

What Video Games I Am Playing

More Witcher 3 is being played, currently working on side missions and Witcher Contracts to level up!

And my playthrough of Control: Ultimate Edition has seen me upload the videos from the week

What I Am Backing

I backed the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game Monster Seeds project by Steve Jackson Games, I would have loved to be able to back it at the physical level, but alas they are no longer doing any physical rewards for people outside of the US, which is sad.

What I Am Winning

I won a copy of The Curator by Owen King, so that’s going on the TBR pile.

What I Am Spending

I did add a small package of Star Wars games to my collection with a little bundle, those being:

I also got a PS5 controller charger, the PS5 is gonna move downstairs so we need an easier way to charge the two DualSense controllers that are moving with it.

I won a £25 voucher for Amazon from a KFC competition so I used that to buy a £15 PlayStation voucher to get Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores, and some LED lights for the pegboard I am planning on buying next week. Still awaiting delivery of the LEDS.

I ordered the Abhorant Ghoul King with Crown of Delusion from Warhammer Middlesbrough on Boxing Day (or the day after) and he finally arrived, and of course he is now built and ready to paint!

Squirrel Girl: Universe

By

On 19th April 2023

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Marvel Heroines book Squirrel Girl: Universe by Tristan Palmgren and published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. 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.

Also, I won’t lie, I have looked at other reviews to see what others think, so there may be some influences from them in this book review. If I am going to quote them, I will attribute them. But if I forget to, or something is highly influenced by them, and you think I ought to attribute someone, let me know so that I can.

What is Marvel

Look at this point I would bore you with a bit of background to the game/universe, but lets not, you all know the Marvel Universe, if you don’t have you been living under a rock!

The Marvel Heroines series focuses on the female hero’s of the Marvel universe, the other books in the series so far have all be very very good!

The Story

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl aka Doreen Green, the heroine with the powers of a squirrel AND a girl, is one of Marvels most beloved modern characters, she is quirky, bubbly and fun, something which Tristan captures so well.

And above all else, she is a selfless hero who puts others before herself, and that’s where this story begins, as the Mad Thinker tries to relocate her adopted home of New York to the other side of the universe!

Taking action to prevent the entire city being moved, she takes action, but this ends up moving herself along with her trusty side squirrel Tippy Toe, fellow heroes Chipmunk Hunk, Koi Boy and Brain Drain, along with friends Nancy and Mary to a strange new world along with the Mad Thinker!

Hitching a ride on a passing Space Whale, turns out Koi Boy can communicate with stellar aquatic lifeforms too, and head to an alien space station, where they find themselves taken hostage on the frontline of a looming interstellar war that could claim the lives of trillions!

So just a perfectly normal week for THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL!!!!

Conclusion

This book took me ages to read, but that’s largely down to my brain injury giving me issues, but over the past couple of days I utterly devoured it, its an amazing book and captures the spirit of Squirrel Girl just right, as she sets out to prevent the war that to most seems inevitable.

That Squirrel Girl will stop this war against all odds, is never in question, its what she does, but how she gets there is fun!

The book is boisterous, fun and chaotic as well as super wholesome, and part of me wonders if this would be better targeted at young adults, but its juts as awesome for humans and squirrels of all ages!

There is literally nothing wrong with this book, its perfect, it has captured the spirit of the character perfectly and is a great example of what prose can do that comics can’t, especially in its beautiful descriptions of black holes and other stellar phenomena!

Also the Warhammer 40,000 and other sci-fi references are just *chefs kiss*!

I already bought the eBook to read again and Megan has gotten the paperback!

5 out of 5

Squirrel Girl: Universe is available now as an eBook and paperback.

Star Wars Celebration

By

On 18th April 2023

In Blog

I spent the other weekend in London at Star Wars Celebration, where I demoed Star Wars Legion, and the upcoming Star Wars Shatterpoint!

I didn’t get to see all that much as I was busy working, but I have uploaded a few photos to Instagram you can see.

The hall did go kinda mental when the Ashoka trailer dropped with a lot of cheers when Chopper appeared on screen.

The weekend was utterly exhausting and the autistic train geek in me was super happy as I got to ride on the Elizabeth Line!

Shatterpoint is an amazing game and the only thing holding me back is the price tag, because its very very high!

What I Am Modelling

Whilst away in the hotel I built a couple of Warhammer Underworld’s warbands.

When I got home, I painted some Assault Intercessors for my Ultramarines

And then I painted the Man-Skewer Bolt-Boyz for my Kruleboyz!

So what’s up next?

  1. Triarch Stalker x 3 & Triarch Praetorians x 5
  2. Kairic Acolytes x 18
  3. Helions x 10
  4. Imagifier
  5. The Guild x 8
  6. Ultramarines Repulsor
  7. Hedkrakka’s Mob
  8. Drukhari Raider
  9. Skaven Deathrunners x 2
  10. Blood Ravens Invader ATV x 2

What I Am Reading

Slowly making my way through Squirrel Girl: Universe by Tristan Palmgren, need to make sure I pick up the Kindle over my phone when in bed!

I listened to The Chimes of Midnight by Robert Shearman and Seasons of Fear by Paul Cornell and Caroline Symcox as part of my Doctor Who Monthly Adventures relisten.

They are two particularly good 8th Doctor audio dramas.

I am now listening to Lukas the Trickster by Josh Reynolds!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Played a lot of The Witcher 3, really want to try and get that done.

Got a couple of hours in on Control, and I am gonna try and get a few more in before we go so I can start on Assassins Creed Revelations.

I was having a few issues with OBS, seems to have been the last version update that was the issue, so I rolled back to 29.0.2 and that resolved the issues I was having.

What I Am Winning

Won a competition on Twitter for a copy of Star Wars Rouge Squadron 3D and Shadows of the Empire on Steam to celebrate the Star Wars Celebrationz

Played these games a lot as a nipper so will be nice to play it as an adult on a much better system!

What I Am Spending

I bought myself the Star Wars Deckbuilding Game at Star Wars Celebration, and got with it Star Wars Storycubes, the GameGenic sleeves, and a pin for Fennec Shand.

I also had a second Fennec Shand pin, that I swapped with Forbidden Planet for Chopper!

And although I didn’t spend the money, I did get a poster for the “Strike Me Down” promo along with a shiny promo card for Shatterpoint from Atomic Mass Games.

Also the Nvidia Shield Controller I was potentially getting was sorted and arrived, all I had to do was pay postage!

So all that’s left on my to buy list of controllers is a Luna and the Hyperkin Xeneon and the collection I am after is completed for now, although I must say a DualShock 4 is tempting!

My copies of issue 83 of Imperium turned up, which is great as that now gives me two full squads of Paragon Warsuits!

Now this is a funny one as I didn’t actually spend anything!

I have a Dwarf fleet for Mantic Armada game, it’s part of a project for the Tall Ships coming to Hartlepool in the summer.

Given that most of the ships, are in face tall sailing ships, the plan is to build a community of players and paint up our ships, displaying them in June publicly!

The T’au Objective markers I ordered also finally arrived, and will look great when used with that army!

London Calling

By

On 7th April 2023

In Blog

This will be a short one, I am in London spending the weekend showing people how to play Shatterpoint and Legion.

We woke on Monday to find the leader of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition outside, which was weird!

But my sleep has been all over the shop so I expect this weekend to be difficult.

Some Studio Remodel Plans

Ok the controller holders look pants, mostly cause I put them up so badly, so they are gonna come down next month and I am replacing them with some pegboards from IKEA so the controllers can be mounted and look great.

At the moment the controllers I want displayed are:-

  • PC Engine
  • Stadia
  • CD32
  • GameCube
  • Xbox 360 (Gonna replace this with a Xenon when that comes out in the summer)
  • Switch Pro
  • SNES
  • NES
  • Wavebird
  • Xbox Duke
  • Saturn
  • Tribute 64
  • Neo Geo CD
  • Dualshock 3
  • PlayStation Controller
  • Mega Drive
  • Mega Drive 6 Button
  • Steam Controller
  • Xbox Core
  • DualSense

Plus I think I have found a cheap NVIDIA Shield Controller, and I hope to have this in my hands by late next week, meaning all I want beyond that is a Luna controller. Actually I am not sure on that, it looks cool, but it doesn’t seem to have even the same interestingness as the Stadia controller.

I’d also like to display one of my SN30 as well if I can, that’s currently away in a drawer, its place having been taken by the Steam Controller.

I am thinking of getting two black Skâdis boards and mounting them one on top of the other above my desk, which should get me enough space to store the controllers, and hopefully eventually my Switch JoyCons and Wiimotes.

Plus I am gonna get a nice braided pair of USB A-C and USB A-Micro B cables to hang up there for use with the controllers when I want to use normally wireless controllers (I prefer to use controllers in wired mode for the lowest latency possible)

I am going to mount a RGB strip around the border of the whole thing to make it really gamery!

That said, its more expensive, but there are the Uppspel boards which whilst £10 more expensive, do look quite a bit cooler with that ROG branding. Either way the Uppsepel accessory kits will be getting used for some stuff as they are compatible with the Skâdis boards, and the magnetic strip would absolutely have some uses.

Thinking the straps might be a good way to store/display the Steam Deck when I get it.

Also I am hoping my Govee prize will come soon which could add some more coolness.

And finally, I am considering a clock, I know I have one on the PC, but I think I want a physical one, oh and a couple more fake plants.

What I Am Modelling

I started out by painting the second Firestrike Servo Turret for the Space Wolves.

After this I painted a pair of Lokhust Heavy Destroyers for my Necrons.

A bit of scenery followed with a set of Thermic Plasma Conduits that I got from Imperium to add to the house scenery box.

Then a Praetor Prime for the Strormcast Eternals.

Followed by a Knight-Arcanium for that army.

And finally some Reavers for my Drukhari.

So what will be up to paint once I am, back from London!

  1. Ultramarines Assault Intercessors x 10
  2. Man-Skewer Bolt-Boyz x 6
  3. Necron Triarch Stalkers x 3 & Triarch Praetorians x 5
  4. Kairic Acolytes x 18
  5. Drukhari Helions x 10
  6. Imagifier
  7. The Guild x 8
  8. Ultramarines Repulsor
  9. Hedkrakka’s Madmob
  10. Skaven Deathrunners x 2

What I Am Reading

I finished Echoes of Eternity as an audiobook, and yeah, what a story, really blows my mind away!

I listened to The Eye of the Scorpion by Iain McLaughlin, which was fairly good, would have been great if it had been made into a TV serial, but alas. Anyway that brought me 2 years into the Monthly Adventures series!

I then listened to Colditz by Steve Lyons, which as well as being an interesting story of growth for Ace, is also the Doctor Who debut of David Tennant, in a villainous role, which in my opinion is just as insidious as his portrayal of The Purple Man!

Then I moved on to Primeval by Lance Parkin, a bit of a sequel/prequel to the first Nyssa story, The Keeper of Traken. Very good story and I loved how it expanded on that story and established a deeper understanding of the culture and history of Traken.

After that it was The One Doctor by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman, which was an awful lot of fun, Christoper Biggins really made that a fun listen!

After that it was Invaders from Mars by Mark Gattiss, which was very good, especially with Simon Pegg camping it up as the gangster!

I finally finished processing my Big Finish Doctor Who audio stuff on to the audio book server, and oh wow that was a slog that has taken over six months to get sorted!

Mind you its a complete collection dating back 25 years, so yeah its a lot of stuff to sort out, would be easier if the software could scrape data from Big Finish, but sadly it can’t so I have to enter the data in manually!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Played a bit more of The Witcher 3, have transitioned to using the Steam Controller, just to really give it a go.

But alas the game still has major crashing issues, and I get maybe an hour and then it crashes to the desktop 🙁

I tried to play Control on stream on Tuesday night only for OBS to keep crashing so I gave up, edited what videos I had together, and then uploaded them.

I have now transferred the gameplay videos for Horizon Zero Dawn over to the Big Geordie Geek Plays channel, so you can find them there, if you want mind-numbingly bad game play videos!

What I Am Spending

I bought Vampire Survivors, it looked alright for a few quid and well, it did win the BAFTA, the bundle I got also came with its expansion, Legacy of the Moonspell.

I also bought a few bits of DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2, the Wheel Tuning Pack, Heavy Cargo Pack, Special Transports, Vive la France!, Beyond the Baltic Sea and the High Power Cargo Pack.

For a £1.46 I bought a LucasArts Adventure Pack, which came with The Dig, Loom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, all classics from my childhood!

And cause it was super cheap, and I really fancy playing it again after having last done so on the Sega Saturn, I bought Resident Evil HD which came with Resident Evil 0 HD.

My Humble Choice also came out this week for April, and that got me:-

Resolutions Update – March 2023

By

On 3rd April 2023

In Blog

I will be honest, I have been pants this month, but next month probably won’t be that much better as it’s ram packed!

Build & Paint a 2000 Points Army of Drukhari – 10.25% Complete

We got the Wyches painted up, next month I intend to compete the Wych cult combat patrol.

Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Genestealer Cultists – o% Complete

No further progress made, need to pick a colour scheme I think first, then prime them!

Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Tyranids – 38% Complete

This is now on hold, I want to see if the units I have will be changing base size before I even think of building them.

Heard a rumour that Genestealers are moving to 32mm and Gaunts to 28mm.

Bring my Primaris Ultramarines to 2000 Points – 27.75%

This month I painted up the Eliminators and Eradicators!

I have left to paint for this list

  • Bladeguard Ancient
  • Bladeguard Veterans x 3
  • Outriders x 3
  • Repulsor
  • Assault Intercessors x 10

Get my Weight to Under 100kg & Sustain it Below That

I am at 112kg, which means I need to do some exercise!

Publish One Battle Report a Month – 8.33% Complete

Blah, I need to get this dealt with promptly!

Stream Twice a Week

I need to create a proper schedule for this to keep it on track!

But it’s mostly going ok.

Complete my 2023 VideoGameGeek Video Game Challenge – 0% Complete

No games completed yet, but here is the current stats!

Read 40 Books – 22% Complete

This month I haven’t finished any books, so boo hiss!

Get Edge of Empire Running Like a Well Oiled Machine

Still going good, but something else is in the works!

A Bimonthly RPG Night With the Polycule

I think this isn’t going anywhere sadly 🙁

A Busy April

By

On 2nd April 2023

In Blog

April is going to be a very very very busy month!

Next weekend I am off to London for Star Wars Celebration to show people how to play Shatterpoint, and I am really looking forward to that!

Then its Lindsay’s 40th birthday, so that is gonna be fun, especially when the dread of turning 40 hits her as it did me!

After that its my brothers wedding, for which I am serving as Master of Ceremonies.

And finally Warhammer Fest!

So I am gonna have a lot of time travelling and doing stuff over the next few weeks, I shall be exhausted at the end!

What I Am Modelling

I started by painting my first Ultramarines for #MarchForMacragge with a squad of Eliminators.

Then a Squad of Eradicators.

I then turned my attention to some Firestrike Sevo Turrents, and painted two for the Blood Ravens.

And one for the Space Wolves.

After that I painted Kainan’s Reapers, my first Bonereapers models

So whats coming up next week?

  1. Drukhari Reavers
  2. Ultramarines Assault Intercessors
  3. Man-Skewer Bolt Boyz x 6
  4. Triarch Stalkers x 3 & Triarch Praetorians x 5
  5. Kairic Acolytes x 18
  6. Drukhari Helions x 10
  7. Imagifier
  8. The Guild x 8
  9. Ultramarines Repulsor
  10. Hedkrakka’s Madmob

What I Am Reading

I listened to Project Twilight by Cavin Scott and Mark Bright, a great little audio which starts off a little bit of a larger story.

And then I started listening to Echoes of Eternity by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and I have about 3 hours left to go on that!

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

We made our very last visit to Meeple Perk before it closes due to ridiculous energy prices, and we played three games.

We started with Luchador! Mexican Wrestling Dice which I easily won!

Followed by The Tea Dragon Society, won by Megan, and she loved the game so much, she bought it!

And finally a game of Ticket to Ride San Francisco which was won by Lindsay.

What Video Games I Am Playing

Played a bit more The Witcher 3 this week, not much but a bit.

And I also streamed some Control Ultimate Edition as well!

What I Am Creating

The latest episode of Edge of Empire was published in which myself, Rob and Chris all talk mini Titans!

What I Am Winning

I won a copy of The Button Be Mizzle on PlayStation.

And for Steam I won a copy of King of the Castle!

What I Am Spending

I have been after a Steam Controller for a while now, they took them off sale literally the day I was gonna buy one, grrrr!

I managed to grab this one for £15 which is a super bargain considering what they often end up going for!

In terms of controllers, I am still after a Shield Controller and Amazon finally brought Luna to the UK so one of them would be great!

I also picked up a cheap copy of Fallout 4 on CDKeys in preperation for getting a Steam Deck later in the year!

An Assault On Eternity

By

On 25th March 2023

In Blog

Last Saturday I attended The Mighty Dice Wargaming clubs first Horus Heresy event, An Assault on Eternity, a Siege of Terra themed event!

Played over three games, the first two were played at 2000 points, a bit unusual for Heresy, but this is the list I took for that.

Rite of War: Templar Assault (IF)

+ HQ: +

Centurion
. Champion: Artificer Armour
. . Bolt Pistol
. . Chainsword: Chainsword
. Champion

Sigismund: Warlord

+ Elites: +

Apothecarion Detachment
. Apothecary: Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol
. . Chainsword: Chainsword
. Apothecary: Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol
. . Chainsword: Chainsword

+ Troops: +

Templar Brethren: 9x Brethren, 9x Combat Shield, Legion Vexilla, Meltabombs
. Champion: Bolt Pistol, Combat Shield, Master-craft a weapon, Solarite Power Gauntlet
. Land Raider Proteus Carrier: Twin-linked Bolter, Twin-linked Heavy Bolter

Templar Brethren: 9x Brethren, 9x Combat Shield, Legion Vexilla, Meltabombs
. Champion: Bolt Pistol, Combat Shield, Master-craft a weapon, Solarite Power Gauntlet
. Land Raider Proteus Carrier: Twin-linked Bolter, Twin-linked Heavy Bolter

+ Heavy Support: +

Kratos Squadron
. Kratos: 2x Heavy Bolters, Flare Shield, Hull (Front, Right/Left) Mounted Heavy Bolters, Pintle Mounted Havoc Launcher
. . Kratos Battlecannon

The final game was a big 3500 point list and for that I took my 2k list replacing the Champion with Fafnir Rann, and adding a Warhound Scout Titan and a few other bits!

Rite of War: Templar Assault (IF)

+ HQ: +

Fafnir Rann

Sigismund: Warlord

+ Elites: +

Apothecarion Detachment
. Apothecary: Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol
. . Chainsword: Chainsword
. Apothecary: Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol
. . Chainsword: Chainsword

Contemptor Dreadnought Talon
. Contemptor Dreadnought: Gravis Autocannon, Gravis Autocannon, Havoc Launcher

+ Troops: +

Scout Squad
.  Legion Scout Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Nemesis Bolter
. Legion Scout: Bolt Pistol, Nemesis Bolter
. Legion Scout: Bolt Pistol, Nemesis Bolter
. Legion Scout: Bolt Pistol, Nemesis Bolter
. Legion Scout: Bolt Pistol, Nemesis Bolter

Templar Brethren: 9x Brethren, 9x Combat Shield, Legion Vexilla, Meltabombs
. Champion: Archaeotech Pistol, Combat Shield, Master-craft a weapon, Solarite Power Gauntlet
. Land Raider Proteus Carrier: Twin-linked Bolter, Twin-linked Heavy Bolter

Templar Brethren: 9x Brethren, 9x Combat Shield, Legion Vexilla, Meltabombs
. Champion: Bolt Pistol, Combat Shield, Master-craft a weapon, Solarite Power Gauntlet
. Land Raider Proteus Carrier: Twin-linked Bolter, Twin-linked Heavy Bolter

+ Heavy Support: +

Kratos Squadron
. Kratos: 2x Heavy Bolters, Flare Shield, Hull (Front, Right/Left) Mounted Heavy Bolters
. . Kratos Battlecannon

Sicaran Squadron
. Sicaran : 2x Heavy Bolters, Heavy Bolter
. Sicaran : 2x Heavy Bolters, Heavy Bolter

+ Lords of War: +

Warhound Scout Titan
. Warhound Scout Titan: Plasma Blastgun, Vulcan Mega-Bolter

Game 1 – Damian

I played Damian’s World Eaters in game one, and my lack of weapons that could intercept was a flaw that allowed a Leviathan to drop down and kill my Kratos.

The Contemptors were a bugger to deal with, but I managed to take them out, but at the end of the game I just had 5 Templar Brethren and a Champion plus Apothecary left!

Game 2 – Richard

The second game, I had to take in more World Eaters, the Melta Predator Squadron took out my Kratos in turn 1 before it got to fire anything.

But my Templar Brethren ate through his infantry and at the end he was left with two Contemptors and the Predator Squadron, but I got tabled!

Game 3 – Vs Jacob

Game 3 saw us take on the Heretics as the defenders on the wall, and it was a pretty epic set of scenery!

I played against Jacobs Sons of Horus, and the addition of a pair of Sicarans, and a Warhound Titan really changed things up for me!

The Sicaran is, if I am honest, a bit more effective than the Kratos, but the Kratos actually did get to shine a bit here, until it was taken out by a Terminator!

Sadly however, my bane was a pair of Leviathan Siege Dreadnoughts which over 4 or 5 rounds of combat took out my Warhound, but it was only able to do 6 wounds in response, I just couldn’t hurt them.

In the end I won, destroying everything in the table apart from the Leviathans and a couple of straggling Veterans.

My Thoughts On The Event

Pretty good event, the tables terrain was nice, especially the last games.

A few teething issues, particularly around general admin at the end, but show me an event that doesn’t deal with that, and as an EO myself I thought they did really well.

If they run anymore Heresy events, I will be returning for them, really really fun day!

Imperium Expansion

We have known for quite a while now that Warhammer 40,000 Imperium was being extended by 10 issues, and I thought, why not mention what I think about the contents!

Issues 81 – 83

The Sisters get a hell of an expansion with the Paragon Warsuits, spread over three issues, costing £8.99, that means you get them for £26.97, saving nearly £20 off the RRP!

These are great looking models and I have ordered an additional two of each issue!

Issue 84

A Skitarii Marshall, seems a bit of a let down when compared to the stuff the other factions are getting, yeah it’s a lovely model, but still, would have preferred something else, but to be fair, the Mechanicus range isn’t easy to grab something from for this.

Issue 85

The Hexmark Destroyer is one of the best looking models in the Necron range, ok, a bit pants in game, who cares when it looks like that!

I already have one, but I don’t mind having another!

Issue 86 – 88

The Space Marines get the full multipart Redemptor Dreadnought, which is a great kit and pretty cool to have in here.

Personally I would have preferred the Invictor Tactical Warsuit, but that’s down to my personal collection!

Issue 89

Inquisitor Draxus is a cool looking model, but we subscribers already got an Inquisitor in the form of Katarina Greyfax, so this whilst cool, wasn’t the greatest choice, personally I would have replaced this and the Skitarii Marshall with a two part AdMech kit.

Still great model and I can’t wait to paint her to join the rest of my Inquisitorial forces!

Issue 90

Not only does Illuminator Szeras represent great value, but also, is a wonderful and beautiful model for your collection!

Really over the moon we are getting this amazing character

In Conclusion

We are getting some really nice models, for my personal collection, a couple don’t make sense, but hey, it’s not all about me.

The only thing that I am currently wondering, is where to put the Redemptor Dreadnought.

Not sure any of my Space Marine armies need another one, but it’s likely going with the Ultramarines.

What I Am Modelling

Started off urgently beavering away to finish the bits for the Imperial Fists for the event by painting first up a pair of Sicaran Battle Tanks.

Followed by a squad of 10 Templar Brethren.

And then a Land Raider Proteus for them to ride in!

During the week I was also working on some Inquisitors for my Imperial forces.

I then rebased an old Reiver Squad for my Space Wolves, originally built for Kill Team in the last edition, but on a different basing scheme, when I convinced myself that my Wolves wouldn’t have any Primarise stuff!

Anyway, they now join the Infiltrators, Redemptor Dreadnought, Ragnar, Aggressors and Repulsor that currently comprise the Wolves Primaris forces, and I have more on the way at some point!

Then, the last Tomb Blade was finished for the Necrons!

I painted a few small bits of terrain for my box of scenery I keep at home, just the mini ruins from the Ruined Factorum kits.

After that I turned my attention to a unit of Drukhari Wyches.

So what’s coming up next?

  1. Kainan’s Reapers
  2. Blood Ravens Firestrike Servo Turret x 2
  3. Drukhari Reavers x 6
  4. Ultramarines Assault Intercessors x 10
  5. Man-Skewer Bolt Boyz x 6
  6. Triarch Stalkers x 3
  7. Kairic Acolytes x 18
  8. Drukhari Helions x 10
  9. Imagifier
  10. The Guild x 8

What I Am Reading

I am still reading Squirrel Girl: Universe by Tristan Palmgren!

I finished listening to The Iron Kingdom by Nick Kyme, which has me wishing we got more Indomitus Crusade books.

Also listened to Dust Breeding by Mike Tucker, which was pretty good, makes me wish we had more TV stories with 7 and Ace!

After that it was a return to 6 and Evelyn with Bloodtide by Johnathan Morris, which was pretty good, plenty of great acting.

And I have started on the last of my Space Marine Conquests audiobooks, Fist of the Imperium by Andy Clark.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Played a game of 40K on Friday at Mighty Dice with my T’au.

Got tabled by turn 4!!!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Been trying to play The Witcher 3, but the latest update has caused an issue with random crashes, so I may have to abandon the game for a bit until that’s fixed.

I did get a couple of hours in Control: Ultimate Edition on Tuesday afternoon.

What I Am Winning

I won a copy of Round Rush Invaders on PlayStation

And also a copy of The Closing Walls for PlayStation as well!

I also won a copy of Heroish on Steam, which looks pretty good.

And I won a copy of the Conquerer Edition of Black Desert Online from a Govee completion.

A physical prize will be following, but I will talk about that when it arrives!

What I Am Spending

I used some Steam credit a won a little while ago and purchased Fallout: New Vegas – Ultimate Edition for Steam!

And noticing a decent deal on Fanatical, I got myself The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which completes my Elder Scrolls collection in Steam.

I bought myself some Necron objective markers the other week, which finally arrive!

And my first two Paragon Warsuits from Forbidden Planet arrived, looking forward to getting these built and on the table!

The second issues of Paragon Warsuits also arrived, in extremely quick time!

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