Author: michael Page 46 of 65

9th Edition Inbound

By

On 27th May 2020

In Blog

So it cannot escaped the attention of those of you who care, but Games a Workshop have announced the 9th Edition of Awarhammer 40,000.

I can’t say much about because I know very little, but I do like what I hear about it.

The main thing I like is the rebalancing of Command Points because right now the prevalence of the loyal 32 and armies with multiple detachments is not good.

When I play it’s with one army and one set of rules, I hate seeing armies in which one detachment is from the Raven Guard another from White Scars and a third from Ultramarines in a situation where it seems that those with the most command points is gonna be the winner.

I am not opposed to allies but the soup situation was getting silly. I hope to see a system in which choosing one army is rewarded and you are penalised for trying to take soup or different sets of rules from one Codex.

Unless of course fluff actually permits it, like a detachment of Tempestus Scions with Cadians for example.

I do like 8th but it does have faults and I am glad the guys at GW are looking to address those.

And I have been this month thinking of making Necrons a project for next year and lo and behold, new Necron models are coming!

I am still planning on picking up Start Collecting Necrons so long as it’s still in stock when I get paid, to add to the two sets of Forgebane I have and the extra Immortals and Lychguard I have. Even think I have an Overlord in there as well.

This week I have made a few changes to the site, I started just wanting to tidy it up a little, add an Instagram widget and put up a link to Edge of Empires affiliate link with Element Games, I doubt anyone from the blog would use it, but you never know, it all goes to helping run the show.

Anyway it ended up being a full redesign with a change of theme and lots of behind the scenes stuff. I changed the SEO plugin to one that works better with social media and removed some stuff that wasn’t working too well.

I also added a security certificate, so not this site will use https instead of the not secure http. Not that it matters as I don’t have registered users in the site, nor do I sell anything but I don’t want people looking at the Not Secure bit and wondering if I am up to no good with data.

One thing I am using to motivate me is a new Goodreads sidebar, that way people who aren’t on Goodreads can pester me about my reading progress.

Goodreads is a site I need to use more to get the best out of it and hopefully this will motivate me to do so.

It’s been three years since the site had a major update so hopefully this will keep it looking good for a bit longer.

What I Am Painting

I started the week by painting the Raptoryx from Warcry which was the final thing to do from that box set.

I did them in a scheme influenced by Louise Sugden and I am quite pleased with how they turned out.

I then turned my attention to two squads of Blood Ravens Scouts. I got both squads from Conquest so I got two squads and saved £1.52 compared to buying them from Games Workshop.

The sculpts are very old and a bit static but they still paint up nicely. I built one squad with Bolters and one squad with Shotguns, both have a Heavy Bolter.

I had a unit of Scouts from an old Space Marines Battleforce when I first got back into the hobby, but I attempted some conversions on them and frankly they were unsalvageable, so I ended up getting rid of them.

These mean that I could fulfil the troop requirements of a Battalion detachment with just scouts for 40k, when combined with the Sniper Scouts I repainted a few years ago. I am not sure I would ever do that, but perhaps in a Vanguard themed list perhaps.

Next I moved onto my next Millitarium Tempestus squad and their Taurox Prime. These are some of my favourite models and they are always a treat to paint. I love the colour scheme of the 55th Kappic Eagles.

Whilst working on them I decided to let myself get distracted and build and paint the first Sigmarite Mausoleum for Age of Sigmar seeing as I got the first copy of Issue 25 of Mortal Realms.

So I finished that in Sunday after editing the podcast.

I finally got the Scions finished just before the 9th Edition Q&A.

I also built my Stormhawk Interceptor for the Blood Ravens and built some Swiftclaws for the Space Wolves.

I have literally just started on the Stormcast Eternals Prosecutors tonight.

So how does this leave my painting queue right now, well as you can see below, we have the first T’au units appearing on the plan, which starts on one of my resolutions for 2020.

  1. Blood Ravens Land Speeders x 3
  2. Stormcast Eternals Prosecutors and Knight-Venator
  3. Blood Ravens Intercessors x 5 & Sgt Jovan
  4. Stormcast Eternals Retributors, Knight-Heraldor and Knight- Vexilior
  5. Space Wolves Grey Hunters Pack Leaders and Iron Priest
  6. Blood Ravens Chaplains x 5
  7. Chainrasp Horde x 40
  8. Sons of Horus Contemptor Dreadnought
  9. T’au Ethereal on Hover Drone x 2
  10. Blood Ravens Intercessors x 10

What Am I Reading

I started on Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, not got a lot read but enjoying it so far.

What Am I Playing

Despite wanting to play games I haven’t played any.

What Am I Backing

I am backing Railway Ink Challenge for now, not sure if I will back it all the way but it does look really good and I do fancy having a roll and write game in my collection.

We are also looking quite favourable at Chai: High Tea which looks very pretty.

What I Am Cooking

I made some Be-Ro flapjacks which are some of my favourite baked goods.

They use cornflakes and are familiar and loved by most north eastern folk. First time I was severed a flapjack outside my home I was upset because it had no flapjacks and noting like what I had a home!

What I Am Spending

Not spent anything this week but my copies of Mortal Realms 15 from Forbidden Planet and Conquest 48 from Hachette finally arrived together on Friday.

Moon-Bots Review

By

On 19th May 2020

In Board Games Reviews, Reviews


Warning: simplexml_load_string(): Entity: line 1: parser error : Start tag expected, '<' not found in /var/www/biggeordiegeek/public_html/wp-content/plugins/meeple-like-us-boardgamegeek/bgg.php on line 268

Warning: simplexml_load_string(): Error is in /var/www/biggeordiegeek/public_html/wp-content/plugins/meeple-like-us-boardgamegeek/bgg.php on line 268

Warning: simplexml_load_string(): ^ in /var/www/biggeordiegeek/public_html/wp-content/plugins/meeple-like-us-boardgamegeek/bgg.php on line 268

I first played this game designed by Franz Coudrec and illustrated beautifully by Sylvain Aublin at EGX where I was asked to demonstrate it.

And I loved it so much I walked ground to Firestorm Cards and bought it then and there.

The Jist

The grand annual Moon-Bots tournament sees the galaxy’s most gifted scientists gathering on the moon to build robots to fight one another, upgrading them as they go.

The last robot standing wins the game and you start off with a basic robot which has one attack, and one dice.

The first phase of the game is a card drafting phase in which you salvage parts to make your robot better, these components costing you either 2 energy, 1 energy or being free. This is important and energy is also your robots life, some particularly good components like re-rolls and extra dice cost you an additional energy.

The market place is a grid of six cards in two rows, with the cost rising depending on how high in the grid it is, if a card below another one is picked, the cards above it move down and get cheaper.

There are certain cards which you have no idea what they do, these are never allowed to be feee so if they drop onto the lowest level of the grid they disappear, but these can be really good, like allowing you to scour through the deck to find an upgrade you want for free, or indeed some of them cause you problems.

The parts you salvage are added to your robot, and the art matches up with the robot on the player boards, and enhances your combat ability. Some upgrades, such as extra dice or defences go to the top and side of your player board.

The second phase is the role of your dice, and this is very much like Machi Koro in that your rolls determine what actions you take. Initially the robot will either punch on a roll of 1 or fire a missile on a roll of 6, but as you add more dice you get more possible things you can do, such as a leg which does a rocket attack on a 2, 3 or 4.

You can then attack the player on your right, or your left only, or split the attacks between them and damage their energy levels, once one of the players next to you is eliminated you can then attack the player next to them as if they were next to you.

Components

The box gives you a bunch of upgrade cards, four dice in each player colour, four energy markers and four player boards.

The cards are on a fairly average card stock, nowt to write home about but they do the job well, the player boards are double layers so that the upgrades slot in and fit rather nicely where they should be, and the artwork all matches up perfectly.

The dice are nice and chunky and use Arabic numerals instead of pips, which actually fits the game rather well art wise.

Look

I love the artwork and that drew me in fairly early on, it’s cute and I knew right away that would get Megan and Lindsay to want to play it.

What’s Good

I really enjoy the game and it can be played in around 15-30 minutes, and gives you a good game experience whilst not taking too long.

Lindsay picked it up in a couple of terms without needing to read too much of the instructions, and she did rather well.

Simple, yet lots of fun.

What’s Bad

It’s easy for two players to hang up on the player between them to eliminate them from the game early on, so here is hoping your group is fair and nice.

The instructions aren’t the best however, they just don’t feel the best written.

Final Score

This game is cute, it has a similar vibe to King of Tokyo and a lot of Machi Koro, it’s a very enjoyable little game.

Have to give this 7 out of 10.

I will not lie I have looked at other reviews to get an idea of how to write this, I am no pro, but there is a possibility that I may have been influenced by reading them and some stuff may have filtered through to this review.

If you do spot anything that could be seen as heavily influenced by what someone else has said, let me know and I will be sure to credit and link them.

Waiting for #Cans

By

On 18th May 2020

In Blog

Well earlier in the year I cast doubt on the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United, but now it’s looking like it’s actually going to happen and Mike Ashley will be leaving our club after an awful period under his ownership.

But the takeover is proving to be controversial, with lots of people saying that we fans should object to the takeover for various reasons, from the human rights record of a Saudi Arabia, to their alleged involvement in piracy of Premiership games.

I am not an idiot, I am well aware that Saudi Arabia is hugely problematic, it treats women, LGBTQ+ folk, Shia Muslims and Baha’is dreadfully.

And yes it’s not exactly been the most surgical of combatants in Yemen, and it’s actions have killed many innocent people, but the scary thing in that conflict is that they are the good guys. The opposition in that war are particularly nasty Iranian backed rebels. But yeah, their record of collateral damage is absolutely appalling, and they should be held to account for that.

And the Crown Princes involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is something that can’t be overlooked, his fiancée has even written a letter begging fans to object to the takeover.

But let’s be honest, we fans don’t get a say in the matter, we have seen the club drained dry over the past 14 years, relegated twice, our home used as an advertising board, our stadium renamed, players discriminated against, the training ground and stadium neglected to the point where they need lots of investment to fix problems that should never have been allowed to develop, and ticket prices going up well above what other clubs pay.

Mike Ashley will do what’s best for him, and him alone, he cares not for the opinion of the fans, he doesn’t give us a say nor does he even communicate with us.

And so 97% of fans are behind the takeover, despite some very loud complaints by the MP who represents the stadium and some fans who turn out to work for NGOs who campaign against Saudi Arabia.

I can’t comment on the rights and wrongs of the takeover, because I don’t get a say, but I would hope that if the Saudi PIF do takeover the club, we might see positive changes in Saudi itself, in which women get to take part in football a lot more, in the same way that women’s participation in football took off in the UAE after the Man City takeover.

But there is a part of me, that it’s still convinced it will never happen, I am prepared for Mike Ashley to spit out his dummy and continue his destructive ownership of the club.

But if and when the takeover is announced, I will crack open the #cans and enjoy a drink in celebration of being rid of Ashley. I will be cautious about the future, I am gonna try and be optimistic, and hope that we Geordies can convince the Saudis to be better people.

I guess it’s a sad place to be in when ownership by a not very nice non-democratic regime is the preferred option.

What I Am Modelling

At the start of the week, I was quite pleased to be featured on the Warhammer Mortal Realms Facebook page with some of my Myrmourn Banshees, they didn’t tell me in advance but I am happy enough to have been featured.

I started the weeks painting by putting the Tallyman and Blightlord Terminators into the painting handles and figured I would also do my Ultramarines Javelin Attack Speeders at the same time.

The Javelins got finished first, I wanted them done to fulfil my hobby goals for Edge of Empire this month.

I was lucky enough with these to get in a trade from Heresy Trading last year, a set of Predator Lascannon Sponson, which are identical to the ones used for these, so I bought two of the ones with Cyclone Missile Launchers and magnetised them, giving me both options.

I finished off the old Forge World Terminators on the Saturday night whilst watching Life on Mars with Megan. I got the newer ones and the Tallyman a good chunk of the way there but at the end of season 1 we decided to go to bed, I thought about going downstairs to paint some more but figured that I should get to bed at a reasonable time.

The newer Blightlord were finished on Sunday morning, much bigger and bulkier models than the older ones and with a lot more character than the older ones with elements of Heresy era armour.

The Tallyman was also finished on Sunday, which is the last of my Conquest subscription models.

I then started on a combination of the Chaos Furies and the Dreadblade Harrows, and got the Dreadblade Harrows finished quite quickly.

The Furies followed soon after, not my best work but I like them.

I also started work in rebasing some Blood Ravens with a Tactical Squad, cutting off the old bases was a bit nerve racking but well worth it as they look so much better now.

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

The Chainrasp Horde is now back on the list thanks to the Grey Seer I got delivered.

  1. Raptoryx x 6
  2. Blood Ravens Scouts x 10
  3. Millitarium Tempestus Meltagun Squad and Taurox Prime
  4. Blood Ravens Landspeeders x 3
  5. Stormcast Eternals Prosecutors x 3 and Knight-Venator
  6. Blood Ravens Intercessors x 5 & Sgt Jovan
  7. Stormcast Eternals Retributors x 5, Knight-Heraldor and Knight-Vexillor
  8. Space Wolves Grey Hunters Pack Leaders x 4 & Iron Priest
  9. Blood Ravens Chaplains x 4
  10. Chainrasp Horde x 40

What I Am Reading

After my review of Tales from the Crucible, Aconyte reached out to me and sent me a copy of Wrath of N’Kai by Josh Reynolds so I could give it a read and review it.

It was extremely enjoyable and I have written a review that you can read here.

What I Am Playing

Haven’t played anything this week, I had hoped to convince Megan to play a game with me today, but she was very tired.

What I Am Backing

Nothing this week, but I do have my eye on Railway Ink Challenge which looks really good.

What Am I Cooking

Noting this week, been a tough week physically, at one point I was in hospital with the Covid legacy.

What Am I Spending

Not a lot really, I did buy a copy of Mortal Realms Issue 15 to add to the issue 11 I already have to combine with those in my subscription to give me a full Sigmarite Mausoleum.

Annoyingly I am still waiting for these and Conquest 48, but the postal service is rammed right now so I guess that’s understandable.

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

Page 46 of 65

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén