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Musical Advent – 6th December

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On 6th December 2019

In Blog, Nerdy Music Advent

When a show does a musical episode , they can often bring us some classics, and its safe to say that this particular musical episode is legendary.

Once More With Feeling is generally considered one of the best episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and given that there are so many amazing episodes, this is no mean feat.

There were a couple of songs I wanted to pick for this, but I think this one edges out the others as being the standout, Rest in Peace sung by James Marsters really get across the feeling of love from a soulless vampire and digs into the character a lot more than might have otherwise been expected.

Musical Advent – 5th December

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On 5th December 2019

In Blog, Nerdy Music Advent

This is a song that I hum a lot, and I mean a lot!

It’s Baby Get Me A Tardis by Meri Amber who is an absolutely insane geeky musician from Australia, and I utterly adore her!

This song is from her album Pop Goes The TARDIS which is a whole Doctor Who themed album and it’s an absolute joy to listen to, because she loves the show so much and it shows.

If you aren’t familiar with her music, I really suggest that you go check her out, you won’t regret it.

https://youtu.be/7qgF6Rm6djM

Musical Advent – 4th December

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On 4th December 2019

In Blog, Nerdy Music Advent

I do want to avoid too many cliches in this nerdy musical Advent, but there are some songs that just have to be mentioned, and this is one of them.

In The Garage by nerd rock superstars Weezer is from their debut album and talks about the interests of Rivers Cuomo, specifically his love of D&D and superheroes.

It’s kind of an ode to the safe space that a lot of us nerds have growing up, usually our bedrooms, but other people have other spaces.

Mine was a cupboard in my bedroom growing up, I shared with two brother, who as much as I love them, are muggles and didn’t really get my interest.

So I hid a lot of stuff in there and could alway just sit in it when I needed space and to be around my stuff, like my Lego and Warhammer, and of course a poster of Kitty Pryde!

Musical Advent – 3rd December

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On 3rd December 2019

In Blog, Nerdy Music Advent

The next song pretty much sums up my feelings about parties, especially Christmas one, and it’s by a band that I really love, The Doubleclicks a folk pop nerd sibling duo consisting of Laser Malena-Webber and Aubrey Turner from Portland.

Most famous for their song Nothing to Prove, which is about the acceptance of women in geek culture and came at a very pivotal time and was much needed. For Lindsay and Megan is a very important anthem.

But rather than go with their most well know song I picked one which talks about my feelings, it’s Cats at Parties, and trust me, I have done this exact thing, a lot!

Musical Advent – 2nd December

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On 2nd December 2019

In Blog, Nerdy Music Advent

Today for advent I am picking a classic by geek legend Jonathan Coulton known affectionately as JoCo and is best know for his classics Still Alive and Want You Gone from Portal and Portal 2.

Its a great song and really does hit on how doing an office job really can make you feel like a Zombie sometimes, and is full of so much colourful imagery.

Musical Advent – 1st December

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On 1st December 2019

In Nerdy Music Advent

In discussion with Graham and Chris earlier this year, my love of music of the nerdy variety came up, so I decided to share some of it this advent.

So each day I will share an awesome piece of nerdy music for you guys to love.

For day one I decided to go with one of the most well known songs, Do You Want To Date My Avatar by the cast of The Guild.

It’s a great song and has loads of nods to MMORPGs and was a great promo for the show.

Turned Out To Be Harder Than Planned

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On 30th November 2019

In Blog

My week started with the shifting of my desk, which was a lot harder than it sounds.

Megan was sitting right next to the radiator and we were, now winter is upon us, putting the clothes horse where her chair normally goes.

Next to my side of the desk is a chest of drawers with my laser printer on it, so what we did was swap the side this goes on so that there is an area for the clothes horse to go that doesn’t require Megan to not be able to sit on her side of the desk when clothes need to dry.

This did however require that I unplug all my computer stuff, and remount my monitor on the wall, and rearrange where the router goes, and that took the best part of the day.

Anyway, now it’s done, the office looks a lot better and Megan will he able to paint more often.

My painting queue has had progress made on it, so I am now planning what’s next after that, this is what it looks like now.

  1. Ghazghkull Thraka
  2. Death Korps of Krieg Death Riders x 5
  3. Tempestus Scions and Taurox Prime
  4. Death Korps of Krieg Death Riders x 5
  5. Lords of Contagion
  6. Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Squad
  7. Poxwalkers from Warhammer 40,000 Conquest
  8. Undecided Underworlds Warband
  9. Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Squad
  10. Plague Marine Icon Beaer

What I am Moddelling

Sticking to my plan I started with the Acastus Knight Porphyrions for Adeptus Titanicus, which I have painted up in the colours of House Taranis.

These are really nice models and I can’t wait to get a chance to play with them, although I will probably only take one at a time as they are very powerful.

I did also find behind the desk when I moved it, a rogue piece of Promethium Relay Pipe from Scottish Graham’s scenery, so I quickly painted this up so I can get it added to the box.

I then started on the secret project, one day I will be able to share what it is, but not just yet!

I decided to move the schedule a bit, because the secret project, well I decided to take a bit more time over it, so I decided to work on the Poxwalkers, which was something easily done because they are mostly done with Contrast paint.

Next I started work on some Death Riders for the Death Korps of Krieg, but I am splitting these into two batches of five, I have gotten the Ridemaster done as a sort of test piece and the next four have gotten the first colour for the greatcoats done.

I am also working on, Ghazghkull Thraka but I am taking him a bit more slowly, here are some work in progress photos, thus far I have done one arm, one leg and his base.

What I am Reading

Continuing stories about the Sisters of Battle, I started the week with Repentia by Alec Worley which was a really enjoyable read, if a little bit difficult to believe because no way a single Repentia could handle a pack of Flesh Hounds and then a Chaos Space Marine, still entertaining tale.

Then I read it’s sequel Martyrs End, which again was good because it very much felt like a continuation of the protagonists journey and how she never felt forgiven, great tale and showed how she cares little for her own life.

Then I moved into Danie Wares Bloodied Rose series, starting with Mercy, which serves as a good introduction to Sister Superior Augusta and her way of doing things.

I then moved onto The Bloodied Rose which is the next in the series, and it was a rather exciting read, I very much enjoyed it, so much so that I read the next story, Forsaken straight afterward for a look at an early Augusta adventure.

I also listened to the audiobook of The Wicked and the Damned, I enjoyed it, but I think the stories would have worked better on their own, the linking narrative was predictable and cliche and just not all that interesting, which is a real shame.

What I am Playing

I played a session of Cogs, Cakes and Swordsticks on Tuesday, which was a lot of fun, Megan is a really good GM, but she really doesn’t get that I am a chaotic player!

We followed this up with two games of Just One, which I have been given to demo by Asmodee. It’s a brilliant game and a very worthy winner of the Spiel Des Jahres, we got 4 in our first game and 7 in our second game.

What I am Backing

I am backing Car Wars Sixth Edition of course and I am backing it at the Black Friday $139 level, which gets me the core game box, Miniatures Set 1, Playmat 1 and Uncle Al’s Upgrade Pack, and unlocked through stretch goals I am also getting the Armoury Pack, Road Tiles, Dropped Weapon Pack and three additional minis!

Car Wars holds a special place in my heart and I cannot wait to get this in my hands to play it in early 2021!

On Monday I had three projects from Steve Jackson Games fulfil, which were all a total surprise as GamesQuest didn’t even have them on their blog as future projects to get round to sorting out yet.

First one to arrive was three mini expansions for Munchkin which consisted of expansions for Star Munchkin, Munchkin Cthulhu and Munchkin Zombies, along with the promo cards from the sleeves promotion and the coin machine which never got to the UK.

I am a huge Munchkin fan so this was very much looked forward to.

The second was Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2, which is an expansion for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG set I backed a couple of years ago, and one I really should get round to playing sometime, I used to like GURPS when I was a kid, but haven’t played it in so long.

With this I also got a notebook, six silver eye in pyramid dice and the copy of Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering I had added in BackerKit.

And finally I got Ogre Battlefields and the Ogre Miniatures rules, I am a huge fan of Ogre and it has a certain sentimental value to me, so this was one I was looking forward to.

I managed to get everything away and the new 3D Ogres are at home in the Ogre Designers Edition garage which is now full to capacity!

The missing parts for the Alhambra Designer’s Edition Mega Box also arrived on Friday, so I can now put this particular project to bed and move on from it, can’t wait to play this one!

What I am Cooking

I cooked some chips in the oven, they weren’t burnt too badly.

What I am Spending

Probably too much, I got a bit less money this month than I thought I was going to have.

In the Element Games Black Friday sale, I bought Rippa’s Snarlfangs, their dice and Gotrek Gurnisson.

I also bought from Games Workshop, a new M Layer Brush and a pot of Mordant Earth which I used to paint Ghazghkull Thrakas base with.

As a family we also bought out Christmas present to ourselves, a Nintendo Switch, which is going to be wrapped up and put under the tree until the 28th December. We got it for £293.97 with Lego Jurassic World, Mario Kart 8 and Labo Robot Kit.

Painting Plan For The Next Couple of Weeks

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On 24th November 2019

In Blog

I am being strict with myself when it comes to painting so I am sharing my plans to give me motivation to stick to them.

I had been considering making this a Google Docs file and share it with my hobby friends, but I think I am more likely to update this blog more often.

I have a few projects I am working for some friends, I am not a commission painter, I am not good enough to do that, I don’t work quickly enough to do it, and more importantly, I do this for fun, not for profit and if I made money off it, I wouldn’t find it fun anymore.

  1. Acastus Knight Porphyrions for Adeptus Titanicus
  2. Secret Project
  3. Ghazghull Thraka
  4. Death Riders of Krieg
  5. Tempestus Scions and Taurox Prime
  6. Lords of Contagion from Dark Imperium
  7. Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Squad
  8. Poxwalkers from Dark Imperium

So a few thinks for Niki and one for Alexander and another for a friend who has asked me to keep it secret, but its just one figure and won’t take too long to paint up. I want to get the first phase of the Death Korps of Krieg done by Christmas, after the Death Riders and Infantry Squad are a Quartermaster, two more squads of Infantry and three Commissars.

The Knights have been stuck on my desk for a few weeks, but I just keep putting them off, probably because its not likely that I will actually play with them much given the controversy about their rules.

The Tempestus Scions are for an army idea that I have had for a long time but has been kind of difficult to do until now. The idea is lead by an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor leading a force of Millitarium Tempestus with a small contingent of Adepta Sororitas possibly with an Imperial Knight for heavy support.

And of course the Poxwalkers and Lords of Contagion are to add to the Death Guard army I have.

What I am Modelling

Its not been the most productive week, I have been of a low mood, so I didn’t even go near my painting desk for a few days, but I did get some stuff done.
The first thing were the Galvancic Servohaulers that I got with Warhammer 40,000 Conquest. These were done with Contrast Paint to get the red effect on the body, I am still figuring out how best to use these paints, but I think this worked out ok.

Then I finished off the Hetaeron Guard for the Legio Custodes which will serve as Wardens in 40k. I did seven of them, five armed with Custodian Spears, one with a Pyrithite Spear and one with an Adrasite Spear. 

And finally I finished up a squad of Death Korps of Krieg Infranty, which is made up of a mixture of Advancing Infantrymen and Firing Infantrymen.

What I am Reading

Only three short stories read this week, I finished The Flesh Tithe by Miles A Drake, which I thought was a wonderful story with a nice little twist at the end.

Then I read Soulfuel by Rob Sanders which was a good little read, and very fast paced, fitting a lot into so few words, not my favourite story of what I have been reading so far, but still good.

And last night I read Signal to Noise by CZ Dunn which I enjoyed a lot, it was a really good story with a cool link back to the Heresy and an interesting look at the Orders Dialogus of the Adepta Sororitas.

I am going to continue reading the stories of the Adepta Sororitas over the next few weeks, which I have been really enjoying a lot, because I want inspiration for my Sisters of Battle.

What I am Playing

On Thurdsay night we played a couple of games of Tsuro: Phoenix Rising and Megan won both of these quite easily and then on Friday night, me and Lindsay played a game of Patchwork which she easily won.

What I am Backing

Nowt at the moment, still waiting on Car Wars Sixth Edition to launch.

But Tsuro: Phoenix Rising arrived, which was a surprise as I really wasn’t expecting it until much later on because the fulfilment partner are usually not that great at getting stuff out quickly.

I am expecting on Monday to get three projects from Steve Jackson Games, Three Mini Expansions for Munchkin, Ogre Battlefields, and Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2.

What I am Cooking

Does a Pot Noodle count, cause that’s all I have managed

What I am Spending

Not a lot, but I did manage to buy a Khorne Christmas jumper form Merchoid.

A Trip To Warhammer World

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On 18th November 2019

In Blog

This past Thursday and Friday, myself and Megan made a trip to Warhammer World, whilst Lindsay went to work at her office behind it.

On a Thursday we settled in Bugmans Bar and played a few board games.

We started off with Combat Arena, which Megan convincingly won, I mean I didn’t stand a chance in it.

The we played Lost Patrol, switching sides between games, but needless to say the Scouts won neither game!

We then had lunch, but instead of playing Underworlds as planned we left and did the Hall of Minis which is always great, but the reason we did it early was because of an idiot making rape jokes on the table next to ours.

Sadly he was with a rather well know person in the hobby with a significant following so I am not naming him because I don’t need the blow back, but it’s sad to see that someone like that turns out to be an arse.

Anyway we had a great time in the hall of minis and then we finished off the day with a few games of Combat Cards back in Bugmans.

On Friday we had planned to play a 2000 point game of Death Guard vs Blood Angels, but Megan got a migraine so we couldn’t continue past turn two.

And thus we ended up spending the rest of the day in Bugmans.

Quite upset by that as I had been looking forward to this game for months, but she can’t help it.

We do plan to try playing the game again at Battle Bunker on Wednesday however.

What I am Modelling

I had a bit of a productive run before I headed off the Warhammer World, specifically I finished the last two characters from Combat Arena, Daedalosus and Aradia Madellan.

I also got my Army of the Dead for Middle Earth painted up, but the scheme was super simple, it was primed in Grey Seer, washed with Hexwraith Flame, metal was picked out with Coelia Greenshade and then a dry brush of Gauss Blaster Green.

But it works and I am rather happy with how they look.

Building wise I built the first of my Javelin Attack Speeders, which is so far a rather nice model to work with.

I have started work on some Custodes and hope to have these finished tomorrow.

What I am Reading

I started the week by reading the short story Down Amongst The Dead Men by Steve Lyons, which was ok, but I didn’t think that there was much payoff for the protagonist and the ending felt disconnected from the rest of the story.

I then read Left for Dead by Steve Lyons which was pretty good, an interesting look at the mind of a Death Korpsman, and I followed this up with The Strong Among Us, which was actually really enjoyable and a good look at how neither side in the 40k universe could be considered good guys.

And in my excitement about the Adepta Sororitas I am reading some stories about them, and I started off with Whispers by Alec Worley, which is really good and then I am about halfway through The Flesh Tithe by Miles A Drake and that’s so far pretty good, between these and a novel I read the other week, I may end up ordering some Necron Flayed Ones to paint.

What I am Playing

On Tuesday night we played a game of Mysterium at Megan’s parents, I was the ghost and sadly we lost, because I am rubbish at giving good clues.

What I am Backing

Nowt right now, but I will he backing Car Wars Sixth Editon in some form.

What I am Cooking

Again nowt, I simply am not capable right now 🙁

What I am Spending

I made one big purchase, the Sisters of Battle box, I managed to get my copy at 9:58 on Saturday morning, needless to say I am very happy with this.

    Mood: Down
    Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: 2
    Current State of Projects: Custodes 75% done

A Very Very Brief Report of Blood and Glory

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On 12th November 2019

In Blog

Not gonna have a big long recap of Blood and Glory, but I had a great time, amazing event, only let down really by a couple of slight things.

My games were all great even though I was tabled in 3 of them and lost 4, but two of the those games came down to dice rolls which gave them some drama, one was failing to take off a last hill point from a Land Raider and the other was a a failed charge into a Glaive, not saying if they had gone my way I would have won, but I would have stood a chance.

My opponents were all awesome dudes, and the guy I voted for as my favourite opponent won best traitor so that was really nice.

The Warhammer Studio Preview was good, even if there was nowt for Heresy, it lots of cool stuff regardless.

The negatives were that it was a little less well attended, but that I think comes down to tickets going on sale really late, I didn’t know what side I was on and thus struggled to get engaged with the narrative and my hotel room was right above the function room and was thus very noisy and they had to move me in the second night.

Overall Blood and Glory remains a highlight of my year as usual and I look forward to returning next year.

What I am Modelling

Productive week, I started off with finishing up a set of Death Korps of Krieg Lascannon Teams for Niki.

Then I did four characters for my Death Guard to take to Warhammer World to play with against Megan, these were Typhus, a Biologus Putrifier, Foul Blightspawn and a Deamon Prince of Nurgle.

Then I did a Plagueburst Crawler, which was a lot of fun to paint.

This was then followed by a set of 10 Poxwalkers, which I did mostly with Contrast to see how they would suit that method, they suit it fine and I think this is how I will do the rest of my Poxwalkers, I have another 36 of these to paint after all.

I also did the Alchomite Stack I got with Warhammer 40,000 Conquest.

Then I finished the last model for the Death Guard I am taking ti Nottingham, a humble Rhino.

And to finish of the week, a Death Korps of Krieg Command HQ Squad for Niki.

On the desk now I have my Army of the Dead for Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, which is 20 Warriors of the Dead, 2 Riders of the Dead, 2 Heralds of the Dead and the King of the Dead. These are painted, the bases just need painting.

And I have Daedalosus from Combat Arena on a painting handle with all his base colours done and the first wash on him.

What I am Reading

I finished off Legends of the Dark Millennium: Ultramarines and then moved on to Dead Men Walking by Steve Lyons, which was an amazing book that I managed to finish in two nights.

Was a shame that two of the characters didn’t reunite, but the ending was pretty much what I expected, but it took a good way of getting there.

Think I might read the other Death Korps of Krieg short stories now.

I listened to The Watcher In The Rain which was a really good audio drama which a nice little twist at the end.

What I am Playing

Since last I write I had a game of Moon-Bots where I introduced Lindsay to it, and I was eliminated first, because Lindsay and Megan love to gang up on me.

I also had a quick game of Dice Academy, which I won, but it was more about showing the game to Megan and Lindsay.

What I am Backing

I did end up pulling out of Council of Verona, but it was cancelled about an hour after I did so. Not that surprised as it was looking very unlikely to fund, the art and shipping costs were huge issues.

I did get the first part of Munchkin Pathfinder 3 in the post, that is the Munchkin Pathfinder Hero Pack, hopefully the rest will get to me next month.

I have got confirmation that four projects are now with the UK fulfilment partner, sadly all these projects are with Games Quest, so heavens knows when they will get sent.

What I am Cooking

I managed to cook some chips!

What I am Spending

I am keeping spending low, but I have purchased the Horus Heresy Reusable Mug, which is nice but the insulating rubber is a bit poor.

I also purchased the Citadel Red Painting Handle and the Citadel Spray Stick as I am a sucker for new tools.

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