The second bout of Covid has really messed up my sleep, when I want/need to be awake, I am sleepy, when I want to be asleep, I am wide awake, and no matter what I do I am really struggling to return my day/night cycle to normal.
Tonight I am gonna stay awake until bed time on Wednesday again, to try and shock my system back into a normal pattern.
I have tried it already but it didn’t work, but lets give it another go.
What I Am Modelling
I finished off my Blood Warriors for the Blades of Khorne army, which I think finished off all the mortal units I have for the army.
I then had a weekend cat sitting for my sister in law so I took a few models to build, specifically the heroes from Shadows Under Hammerhall, which I built on Saturday night.
I have been making great progress through the campaign for Halo Infinite, mostly working on the side missions like killing the High Value Targets, FOBs etc.
I played a couple of hours of Horizon Zero Dawn on Thursday which you can see below.
I had an ad hoc session on Sunday night Ti test some improvements I have made to the setup to improve quality of the recording and I hope this looks better!
And my Monday painting stream became another Horizon Zero Dawn session cause my hands were shaking a lot!
What Tabletop Games I Am Playing
On Sunday me and Megan played a game of Assassins Creed Valhalla Orlog, which of course Megan won.
My Stadia Controller arrived. It was awful it stank to high heaven of cigarettes, I mean the guy I bought it off must be a very heavy smoker, and honestly, that’s something that I cannot stand the smell off.
When I opened a return he became abusive to the point where eBay stepped in, suspended his account and refunded me right away.
But a different one I bought did turn up, along with a Chromecast Ultra for mine and Megan’s bedroom TV.
I did buy an Adeptus Soriatias Codex and Datacards to allow me to run that army again, it’s an army I have a great love for and need to expand to 2000pts from the current 500 or so points.
I did pick up a hair drier, I need one for working with resin and Lindsay complains when I pinch hers from our bedroom, so this means I have one in the studio, which I am sure Lindsay will use when she needs it.
So Covid had lasted a while in this house, me and Megan are now testing negative and Lindsay is too, but swears she sees a very faint line in her test.
The law says we didn’t have to isolate, but we chose to until we tested negative, why, because it was the right thing to do.
My first bout of the disease utterly destroyed my lungs, the second bout has messed up my sleep and left me very fatigued.
Inflicting this virus on others, just cause I fancy a pizza is unacceptable, and I did crave a pizza all week.
We have to be responsible, I know most of us have been sensible and gotten vaccinated, but many have not done so, some of those because they medically cannot.
I think that from this point forward we all should be more responsible for health and keeping others well. So when you feel a bit crummy and under the weather, reach for a face mask and wear it when out, because it’s not just Covid that can kill, but things like the flu as well.
What I Am Modelling
Started the week by painting the Weirdnob Shaman for my Orruk Warclans.
I am currently watching a few auctions of some Stadia controllers on eBay, whilst it’s not exactly a controller that is particularly associated with any game, I am reliably told that at least two publishers use this when developing some AAA games, which has me curious as to see if those games actually feel better with a Stadia controller.
I also managed to finally get Neo Geo games running in Retroarch, which I am super happy about!
I published the latest episode of Edge of Empire on Wednesday.
On Wednesday night I published the 25th Imperium Battle Report.
On Saturday I filmed and published the issue 26 battle report.
The Wednesday report is also in the can and ready to publish too.
What I Am Spending
I bought myself a new controller, you know for the emulation joy, this time it’s a Neo-Geo controller, well not the amazing joystick from the AES console but the one from the Neo Geo CD, which is still a great controller.
Of course cause it’s a USB-C controller I had to grab some USB-C female to USB-A male adaptors, which is fine, I guess it’s probably something I should have lying around for future use as USB-C becomes more prevalent.
I also grabbed a couple of USB-A to USB-C cables to make sure I could plug in my Elite controllers charging dock permanently and still have one spare to charge the mouse when needed.
And finally, finally, my Hyperkin Duke arrived, I ordered this months ago and it’s taken this long for it to come!
So happy to have this as it’s a controller I remember very fondly!
And I did buy Lindsay a new keyboard, simply because the sound of her current keyboard, something that her work got that costs according to Amazon £7.99!
The sound just hurts the ears and she goes through keyboard so quickly because she just wears down the print on the keys in a few months, so I also grabbed her some pink double shot PBT pudding keycaps.
Oh and I won an auction on eBay for a Stadia controller and it’s only cost me £7!
I also got asked to do some game play testing for which the publisher wants me to use a DualSense alongside the Xbox controller, so they sent me one today.
A couple of week I was offered the chance to go to Insomnia and show off some board and card games, so I leapt at the chance.
I have registered with the DWP to do this as permitted work, and work within the rules allowed by my ESA.
The reason I do this, is because one day, I want to return to work, be it part time or full time, and whilst I cannot manage it today, I like to keep myself busy and doing very casual occasional work helps me with that.
That night back at the hotel, the dreadful Birmingham Jury’s Inn, I got stuck in the lift for 5 minutes had a Five Guys burger and then hit the hay after building a couple of models.
Sunday I spent the day demoing Dobble and Cobra Paw on the Special Effects stand, which is awesome cause I love that charity and the awesome cause they support.
It left me exhausted but I am so glad I did it, although I wish I had taken some photos at the event
The Warhound Scout Titan
All my efforts right now are on building and painting the Warhound.
Then I washed the metals with Agrax Earthshade and gave the whole thing a drybrush with Runefang Steel Air (I have found that thinned down paints are great for drybrushing with)
The areas to be good were then airbrushed with Vallejo Polished Gold, followed by a Angron Red Clear, which ended up with three layers of it.
The next step was finishing the skeleton, where I basically got the decorative parts done in gold and then painted Runefang Steel on the pistons and added some Seraphim Sepia to give it an oily effect.
The trim was Retributor Armour then washed with Agrax Earthshade and then highlighted with Liberator Gold. I then added the basing material which is a mixture of Bird Sand and Bird Grit from Wilkos, which I then airbrushed with Mournfang Brown Air, using a brush to get the parts near the actual Titan.
So Friday night I just went right though the night and got the bad boy finished and and put together, so I am very super happy about the whole thing.
The name I am giving it for now is Ignis Volare, which is “High Gothic” for Firefly.
Gonna try and give it a spin with my Mechanicum next week when the current issue is overcome.
Covid!!!
Covid has reared its ugly head again, on Friday afternoon my eyes started getting sore and my nose was runny as hell, I believed it was hayfever, so thought nowt of it.
I did have an LSA meeting that night and so took an LFT to be safe as some of my fellow members are getting on and may not be able to handle it as well as some others, plus mixing with people, its just plain sensible. Anyway the test was negative.
I stayed up Friday night working on my Warhound and slowly started developing a nasty cough and by morning I was the walking dead, so I decided after a short nap to take an LFT and this time it was positive and it developed positively very quickly.
Anyway so very quickly Lindsay and Megan both came down with it, and Megans mum tested positive too. We think that we picked it up at the pub on Tuesday when we went for dinner, the barman was coughing, not a lot, so he probably wasn’t that unwell.
Ah it sucks and the doctors can’t give me anything but I have just made it clear I have to depend on my CPAP and Lemsip, which sucks. They did say if I had gotten in touch on Friday I could have had some antivirals, but they don’t prescribe them after three days.
So I am, stuck at home for now and really struggling to breath.
What I am Modelling
Well most of it was taken up by the Warhound but I have modelled a few other bits.
First up I got a bunch of stuff built and now primed so I have a ton of stuff to paint now thats ready to go.
Yesterday we took a trip down to Nottingham in our new BEV car, to test out how it works on a long journey.
We took our friend Chrissy with us as she fancied a day trip to Warhammer World, so we set out at 6am and picked her up from Newcastle, then went through the Tyne Tunnel to Tim Hortons where the girls insisted on getting breakfast.
It was then a break at Weatherby where we charged up the car to 80%, took a little while as we had to ring Gridserve to get them to reset the charger as it was stuck, which was annoying.
We got to Warhammer World at 11:30 a bit later than planned cause Lindsay missed a junction on the A1 which added 20 minutes to the journey.
On arrival we took a walk round the hall of miniatures, which was a lot of fun, a few new awesome additions since I was last there, not so much in Heresy, but elsewhere there was, including a great Bonereapers display.
We then had lunch, I had a chicken burger and dirty fries, once again, Bugmans makes great food, a little expensive but very nice.
After that we played a game of Gorechosen, which Lindsay won, and then they went to Nottingham city centre, where they visited Bird and Blend, leaving me in Warhammer World to do some shopping and to watch some games being played.
When they picked me up, we went to Woodhall Services, where again we had to ring Gridserve to have them reset the charger, and we got the car back up to 80%.
Because we knew we would need a boost to get Chrissy back to Newcastle and then us home, we stopped at Weatherby again and gave the car a 20 minute charge back up to 80%.
We arrived back at not long after 9pm with about 35 miles range left on the car.
So the journey went well, we spent a total of 1hr 30 minutes waiting for charges, but that could have been cut down if the Gridserve chargers could dual charge (they need a software update to do so) and didn’t need resetting twice.
Though to be honest, having a slightly extended break made the journey feel a bit more relaxed, as in, we just chilled with a cup of tea and chatted shit, it really did feel more pleasant as a way of travelling.
Ideally I would like another 50miles range on the battery, but that’s probably the next car.
Cost of power was roughly 30% of the equivalent cost of petrol, perhaps a bit less, yes we had to stop to charge 3 times, but if Warhammer World had an EV charging point, we may not have needed to make the stop at Woodhall.
I think that right now, the BEV car was the best choice for us and it does lengthen journeys, but lets not beat around the bush, we are big people and I think for the most part the strops and chance to stretch our legs was in fact a real benefit to us.
The Warhound, At Long Last
It’s been some time since I bought the Warhound Scout Titan from Forge World and I am at last going to build it!
Not a lot this week, so much paper work to sort out!
But I did get painted some reinforcements for the Blood Angels I share with Megan. I painted a squad of 8 Assault Intercessors, a Primaris Lieutenant and a Librarian in Phobos Armour.
This week I have been doing a lot of research about Battle Reports, I am trying to branch out a bit from Imperium ones.
I am hoping to do a Blood Bowl Sevens or Heresy one tomorrow, but it’s dependent on what’s happening overall in the day.
Me and Lindsay are thinking of joining Skillshare so I can try and figure out some ways to take photos better and get an easier way to produce the reports.
But let’s see what we can do!
What I Am Modelling
I started off by painting Morg ‘n’ Thorg, which means I have no more Blood Bowl left to paint 🙁
I am currently working on some Assault Intercessors for the Blood Angels army I share with Megan.
So what’s coming up next week?
Blood Angels Assault Intercessors x 8, Primaris Lieutenant & Librarian in Phobos Armour
Orruk Weirdnob Shaman
Death Korps of Krieg Medusa x 2
T’au Breacher Squad x 10
Ork Terrain
Khorne Blood Warriors x 10
Ork Burna Boyz
Sicaran Infiltrators x 5
T’au Fire Warriors x 10
Ork Nobz x 5
What I Am Reading
Not made much progress on my book, but I have listened to a couple of audiobooks, first was the Bookkeeper’s Skull by Justin Hill which was very good, and just a little bit creepy.
Paint the Primaris Ultramarines to 2000 Points – 25% Complete
The first 500 points are painted, we now have a combat patrol led by Uriel Ventris, and consisting of an Intercessor Squad, Redemptor Dreadnought and a Suppressor Squad.
My next game was the first main game of the day which I played against Ozzie and his Emperors Children and Mechanicum, I lost that but at least wasn’t my tabled!
My third game of the weekend saw me face Mark Frost and his daemons at long last, allowing him to claim the grand slam of beating all four Edge of Empire hosts with the army.
The traitors won the weekend, probably because I was playing for the loyalists.
It was an awesome weekend and I cannot wait for September.
What I Am Modelling
With Company of Legends, not a lot got done!
I did have a build session on Tuesday night and got a bunch of terrain for my 15th table built. This is stuff from the Charadon which is going to supplement the Imperium terrain to make a full tables worth.
And late last night I finished off a Deredeo Dreadnought I bought at Ardhammer in January, although I think the guns are recasts, the actual Dreadnought seems fine, but the guns are just not quite right.
I am gonna keep it, I only paid £10 for it, but I need to keep a closer eye on things I buy at secondhand sales.
So what’s coming up next week?
Corpse Grinder Cult x 15
Blood Angels Primaris Lieutenant, Librarian in Phobos Armour & Assault Intercessors x 8
Orruk Weirdnob Shaman
Death Korps of Krieg Medusa x 2
Morg N Thorg
T’au Empire Breacher Squad x 10
Fafnir Rann
Ork Terrain
Khorne Blood Warriors x 10
Sicarian Infiltrators x 10
What I Am Reading
I have yet to pick up a book this week 🙁
But I have been listening to The Wolftime by Gav Thorpe which is really good.
What Video Games I Am Playing
Not a great deal just a daily game of Halo Infinite for the most part to get the points.
What Tabletop Games Am I Playing
Other than those at Company of Legends, none.
What I Am Creating
Two more battle reports were published, issues 22 and 23!
Now that all the tutorial missions are done, I am going to be moving to a new schedule, Wednesday will be Imperium and Saturday will be something else.
I am kinda thinking the first something else will be a Horus Heresy very small Zone Mortalis game.
What I Am Spending
I did manage to pick up Watchmen: Ultimate Cut in 4K from the Microsoft Store for £3.99 which is awesome!
Also when at the North East Model Centre on Thursday, I bought another Painting Handle!
So I am gonna write about something, controversial, well I don’t think it’s controversial personally.
I want to write about the US swimmer Lia Thomas, whom you may have seen featured in hate filed articles arguing that as a biological male, she has no right to compete against cis women.
I saw a meme that made a big deal about the fact that in the 2020-21 season, she ranked 462nd amongst males.
But you see that got me wondering, she had to be on oestrogen for a full 12 months before she could compete as a woman. So that means in the 2020-21 season she was competing against cis men whilst on oestrogen.
Oestrogens biggest impact on a person assigned male at birth, is the extremely quick reduction in muscle mass, it drops off you very quickly.
What this means is that you have a denser bone structure that you need to work harder to make work, so against cis men, and even against cis women, you would find yourself at a disadvantage.
So how did Lia perform in the last season she competed in, prior to oestrogen treatment.
Well the answer is available for all to see, she was in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle events, number 1, not simply good, she was the best amongst men in the entire US.
Her times when she swam before her transition were exceptional, I mean they were incredible.
She was an exceptional swimmer when competing as a man, and is an exceptional swimmer when competing as a woman.
What this says to me is that it’s not about her being a mediocre man who changed sex to win medal, but that she is simply a good swimmer no matter how she competes.
It reminded me of a US army study that looked at trans women in training. After being on oestrogen, they did have an advantage over the average cis woman, 12% to be precise.
However, the average elite level female runner is 29% better than the average cis woman, and none of the studies participants even reached that level.
Now I conceded, the research done into trans woman’s participation in sport is limited, and the conclusions are not quite conclusive either way.
But so far the evidence suggests that trans women are less likely to be as good as other cis athletes in their ability level.
But contrary to what people say, trans women aren’t dominating woman’s sport, far from it.
Lia Thomas is simply an exceptionally good swimmer, she has demonstrated it in both gender categories by dominating them.
So frankly I think it’s more likely that like Michael Phelps, she may have genetic differences that simply make her better at swimming.
I did grab a Thermo-Exchanger Shrine to add to one of the Company of Legends table, one of the Sector Mechanicum probably.
I bought the Itch.io Ukraine bundle, it’s an awful lot of stuff, but the donation is the best but about that.
To help with the vlogging for Company of Legends I grabbed a Mini LED video light.
I wanted the one recommended by Randomfrankp, but that particular model isn’t available in the UK, so I grabbed this one as it’s pretty much the same thing.
We finally got a new car, a year after we initially ordered one, and it’s a bit of a tale.
We first ordered a Vauxhall Combo Life Diesel in March 2021, we were told a six month wait due to chip shortages.
I was told that the car was built, it just needed chips a few weeks later.
In October I chased it up, oh the chip shortage means it will be March or May when it’s ready.
So anyway, I was browsing the Vauxhall website to check some details about the car only to notice, it was no longer listed, turns out that model was discontinued in September, before I last spoke to them.
So I called them on Wednesday, and was told that the order would still be honoured, sometime in the next 12 to 24 months!!!
So we said we would select an alternative and were assured that we would have to wait no longer than 12 weeks, maybe a few more depending on trim.
Checking the website, that actually said 19 weeks, so we were already a bit suspicious of their promises.
On Thursday me and Megan decided to make some backup plans in case the Mokka we were looking at, didn’t work out, and we decided to give Hyundai a call.
They told us if we were okay to have it in white, we could have a Ioniq Electric, in 4 days time as it had literally just been delivered from the factory to go in general sale.
And even if we wanted another colour, they said it was just a 6 week wait, 8 depending on sea conditions to get another car. Unlike the ICE versions, it’s not subject to the same chip issues as it uses a pair of SoCs like many other electric cars to control everything that other cars have over 100 chips control.
So we rushed up, and spoke with the salesman, Matt, who was a great guy, and he showed us round the one in the showroom, let us sit in the actual car we would be driving away, although it was totally covered in protective plastic, and then it’s a test drive.
Okay, it ain’t the worlds most exciting car to look at, or drive, but it’s economical, it’s a nice drive and it has air conditioning that isn’t winding the window down!
So we did all the paperwork, paid the £199 advance fee, and arranged to pick it up on Tuesday. Motability need 4 days to set up the agreement with the DWP, start the insurance and send the PIN number.
In the meantime the dealers got it fully detailed and charged up, and although we already have a home charging point, it’s not a type 2 port so will need to be replaced, but that’s covered under the Motability scheme.
Given that it’s white and fancy, the girls have decided that it will be called Enterprise, cause as you probably know, we are massive Trekkies.
What I Am Modelling
I started by finishing up the four Zone Mortalis tiles I bought last week.
Blood Angels Assault Intercessors x 8, Primaris Lieutenant & Librarian in Phobos Armour
Skitarii Rangers x 10
Orruk Weirdnob Shaman
Death Korps of Krieg Medusa x 3
Morg n’ Thorg
T’au Breacher Team x 10
What I Am Reading
School of X was finished today and a review should be published tomorrow.
What Video Games Am I Playing
For my relaxing game, I have been playing Townscaper, which really is very very chilled out, I think I am done with it now as I have 100% of the achievements.
I have been playing some Forza Horizon 5 most days, which is lots of fun, and the occasional match of Halo Infinite.
I am doing okay with Far Cry 3, but after the girls watched me skin a tapier, I am banned from playing it when they are in the room!
What Tabletop Games Am I Playing
Sadly none 🙁
What I Am Creating
The next two battle reports from the Imperium series were published, issues 17, 18 and 19.
