Category: Blog Page 39 of 50

A Troubling Weekend

By

On 19th October 2019

In Blog

My weekend was, well it was troubling, basically I ended up in a situation which was out of my control and it was extremely uncomfortable.

I will do a post of it when I get back from holiday, but needless to say as a result I have left certain Facebook groups and found myself quite upset at the lengths some people will go to, in order to defend certain repugnant people.

I would like to thank my colleagues who rallied together and dealt with the unpleasantness in the best way we could.

The photo for this blog post is Megan’s cat Cookie, who has done his best to keep my spirits up.

What I am Modelling

I did get a few things cleared from the pile, firstly I finished off the two remaining members of my Ultramarines Sky Hunters Squad.

Then I did some little pieces for Adeptus Titanicus, the Warp Missile Rack and Vulcan Mega Bolter for the Reavers and a Macro Gattling Blaster for the Warlord.

And finally I painted my first Custodes, a Shield Captain for the Adeptus Terra Zone Mortalis Challenge.

Whilst I am away I am taking with me for the Death Korps of Krieg I am painting for Nikki, an Infantry Squad, Lascannon Teams and Command Squad, plus some Plague Marines from Dark Imperium and the two Lords of Contagion.

What I am Reading

I finished all of the Severina Raine stuff and it’s amazing, very disappointed that Honourbound isn’t getting an audio adaptation but in general it’s a great book.

Rachel has built up a rich background for the Antari Rifles, they are a really interesting group of characters, and I will admit to be being tempted to build an army based on them.

Now onto Lost and the Dammned!

What I am Playing

I played a lot at the event that I hated!

Few games of Catan which are always a lot of fun, plus lots of Dobble and Cobra Paw.

I learned to play Brainbox, Concept Kids Animals, Bad Bones, Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, Dice Academy and I sort of learned Who Did It?

And on Monday, I got Megan, Lindsay and Paul to sit down with me and play Game 1 of Hogwarts Battle, which as a game, I love!

What I am Backing

Lindsay is backing Calico still and I have put in for the Zombicide 2nd Edition upgrade kit, although I am confused as to if it comes with the rule book or not.

I have finally gotten a tracking number the Alhambra Designers Edition Mega Box, took me basically emailing and commenting every day to remind them that us Brits are on a ticking clock as far as getting stuff goes due to Brexit, so hopefully I will have that to review soon.

I am still awaiting delivery of Ember, no sign of it so far.

What I am Cooking

Just some Sausages this morning, they were burnt.

What I am Spending

I bought a new t-shirt from Genki Gear that I quite like, but that’s it.

  • Mood: Excited
  • Caffeinated Beverages Consumed: 7
  • Current State of Projects: Death Korps of Kreig Infantry Squad and Command Squad and Death Guard Plague Marine Squad and Lords of Contagion in the Hobby Box

Painting Plan For The Next Few Weeks

By

On 12th October 2019

In Blog

I am headed down to Warhammer World on the 14th November to play Megan and I have set myself the challenge of taking some Death a Guard instead of my usual Adeptus Mechanicus.

Here is the list I am going to take, I think.

+ HQ +

Daemon Prince of Nurgle: Hellforged sword

Malignant Plaguecaster

Typhus

+ Troops +

Plague Marines: Icon of Despair
. Plague Champion
. . Plague knife, Plasma gun, Power fist
. 4x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Blight launcher

Plague Marines
. Plague Champion
. . Codex: Boltgun, Plaguesword, Power fist
. 5x Plague Marine w/ boltgun
. Plague Marine w/ Special Weapon: Plasma gun

Poxwalkers: 10x Poxwalker

Poxwalkers: 10x Poxwalker

+ Elites +

Blightlord Terminators
. Blightlord Champion: Balesword, Combi-flamer
. Blightlord Terminator: Bubotic Axe, Plague spewer
. Blightlord Terminator: Flail of Corruption
. Blightlord Terminator: Balesword, Combi-bolter
. Blightlord Terminator: Bubotic Axe, Combi-bolter

Helbrute: Power scourge, Twin lascannon

Noxious Blightbringer: Plasma pistol

Plague Surgeon: Balesword

+ Fast Attack +

Foetid Bloat-drone: 2x Plaguespitters, Plague probe

Myphitic Blight-haulers
. Myphitic Blight-hauler: Missile launcher, Multi-melta
. Myphitic Blight-hauler: Missile launcher, Multi-melta
. Myphitic Blight-hauler: Missile launcher, Multi-melta

+ Heavy Support +

Plagueburst Crawler: 2x Plaguespitter, Heavy slugger

Those in italics are already painted, so that gives me a list to paint of

  • Deamon Prince of Nurgle
  • Typhus
  • Plague Marines x 7
  • Poxwalkers x 10
  • Blightlord Terminators x 5
  • Foetid Bloat Dtobe
  • Plagueburst Crawler

But I do want to crack on with Niki’s Death Korps of Keieg, so in that same period I also want to do as a minimum.

  • Infantry Squad x 10
  • Infantry Squad x 10
  • Commissar x 2
  • Command HQ Squad
  • Lascannon Team x 3

Now I am away from home for 13 out of 32 days, so that’s a lot of time eaten up, but for 7 of those days I will be taking a hobby box with me, so I can work on a couple of bits whilst I am away, probably the DKK Infantry Squads and the Plague Marines.

But this is my plan for the next couple of weeks, so here is hoping I can stick to it!

A Busy Month Ahead

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On 9th October 2019

In Blog

October is going to be a very busy month for me, with not a single weekend at home!

The past weekend I was away on holiday in Cumbria which was really nice, we stayed in a barn conversion with a hot tub not too far from Aspatria.

Was lovely, we played some games had some nice food and an all round good time with Lindsay, Megan and Megan’s parents Jane and Geoff.

This coming weekend, I am off to Edinburgh to help out at Comic Con Scotland and then the weekend afterwards I will be in London at EGX

But from there I will be going to Oxfordshire to spend a week with Megan and her parents at her nanny’s, which will fingers crossed, allow me to fit in a trip to see my sister and her beautiful children in Woking.

And then the weekend after that, I am at Blood and Glory in Derby, so the last time I was actually home for the weekend was the 21st September and I won’t be again until 9th October!

What I am Modelling

I haven’t done much but I have finished off the Chaos Cultists I got with Warhammer 40,000 Conquest. These were an interesting set of guys to paint, their primary role will be for my Death Guard army, but they will see service in Heresy.

Anyway colour wise I wanted some dark dirty leather, so the coats are painted that way, but other fabrics I have looked at other things I have done and want to do for influence, for example, I know the scheme I want to do for my Traitor Guard from Blackstone Fortress, so the trousers are all done that way and the uniform colour I plan to do for some tops. I also wanted to give the impression that these came from the same group of people who eventually became Poxwalkers, so again elements of the fabrics used there have been used.

And as they are working with the Death Guard, the cowls are in the purple and pink fabrics normally associated with the Legion and the few armour panels are done in Death Guard Green.

I am currently working on a few things to try and finish before I go away Friday, those being the Ultramarines Scimitar Jetbikes I need for Blood and Glory, for which I have given the Sgt a Power Fist.

I am also doing a few bits for Titanicus, a Macro Gatling Cannon for the Warlords and a Vulcan Mega Bolter and Warp Missile Rack for the Reavers.

Plus I have a Shield Captain on my desk who has his armour done, and I have now started on the rest of him.

What I am Reading

I finished Legends of the Dark Millennium: The Tau Empire, and overall I enjoyed it, the stories were pretty good and gave me a good insight into the T’au and plenty of influences for my army of them.

I then started on the Severina Raine series by Rachel Harrison, working my way through the shorts Execution, A Company of Shadows, Fire and Thunder and then Trials before moving into Honourbound.

Regardless I am now hooked and need to own her model!

I have also been listening to Ghoulslayer by Darius Hinks and that so far is really good, ok so Jonathan Keeble isn’t quite Brian Blessed, but he does do a pretty good job of it.

What I am Playing

I played quite a bit this past weekend, not as much as I would have liked, but a bit.

We started with Munchkin Warhammer 40,000 which was won by Megan, and it makes me crack up every time, such a good version of the game.

Then we moved on to a few rounds of Bananagrams before a game of Star Trek Fluxx and Love Letter.

We then finished up the night with a couple of games of One Night Ultimate Vampire and Catch the Moon.

On Sunday we played Port Royal which is always a favourite of mine, then Patchwork Doodle which I love, and finally a nice game of Thunderbirds.

I really wanted to play more, but we just didn’t get to do so, but hopefully we will play more games soon.

What I am Backing

I am not backing anything, but Lindsay is backing Calico which looks pretty good, the only concern we have is what will shipping costs and customs charges be like post Brexit.

I am expecting the Alhambra Designer’s Edition Mega Box at some point soon, but the shipping date for that keeps creeping backwards which has got me worried that I might end up with a hefty customs bill if it hits the UK after the 31st.

And I am also expecting Ember Trick or Treat which has had a torrid time in development and is now over a year late, but that can’t be helped, my order turned out to be a complex tone so I will be amongst the last to get my copy.

What I am Cooking

Does a Pot Noodle count?

What I am Spending

During my visit to Carlisle, I did pop into Warhammer, where I got chatting to one of the staff members who is a huge Adepta Sororitas fan, and like me his favourite is the Order or the Ardent Shroud.

Anyway, it just so happened that someone had returned Amalia Novena and well, I ended up walking out with her, and I plan on using her as a Canoness.

Still Recovering

By

On 5th October 2019

In Blog

I am still recovering from Company of Legends, so expect a fuller report on that soon, in the meantime, I am recovering on holiday for my birthday in Cumbria.

What I am Modelling

Well it’s been a while so I have gotten a bit done, I started up with finishing off the Manufactorum, Adminstratium and Ruins for Sector Slytherin.

Then I did two sets of Sector Sanctoris Ruins fir Sector Slytherin.

I also took a day and quickly painted up the Sector Mechanicus Killzone that came with the new Kill Team Starter Set.

Myself and Megan then finished two of the Imperial Sector buildings and I did some Imperial Objectives from Urban Conquest to go with them.

I also painted up Andrew Newtons Sector Munitorium Killzone and the last Imperial Sector Building.

And finally I painted up a single Scimitar Jetbike for my Ultramarines.

Since Company of Legends I have gone a bit butterfly like, I have built and primed, two more Scimitar Jetbikes, the Reaver Mega Bolter and Warp Missile Rack, Acastus Knights and Warlord Macro Gatling Cannon for Adeptus Titanicus and some Scouts and a Lieutenant in Phobos Armour for my Blood Ravens.

I have also built 20 Warriors of the Dead and The Three Hunters for Middle Earth SBG.

I am currently painting 10 Chaos Cultists I got with Conquest and hope to have them finished off probably Monday night or early Tuesday when I get back from holiday.

What I am Reading

I am currently reading Legends of the Dark Millenium: The Tau Empire, which is very interesting, I have already read some of the stories, but there are others I haven’t read and thus far I am enjoying them.

I am 90% thorough the book so far, and it’s really giving me a taste for the T’au.

What I am Playing

Since last I blogged I have played a few games of One Night Ultimate Werewolf and Blank, reviews of which are currently being written.

My birthday weekend trip has seen us take a lot of games away with us to play so will have a lot more to report on next time!

What I am Backing

I backed project 100, which was the CMON Time Machine, from which I am hoping to get a few figures for Zombicide to complete my Big Bang Theory characters. If I don’t, it was only $1 and I get some soundtracks and art books.

I have a few which are due to deliver soon so hopefully I will be able to talk about them soon.

What I am Cooking

I finally was capable of cooking and I made breakfast pizza, it was really simple and all I did was take store bought pizza bases, make my own tomato sauce with passata. Italian herbs and garlic granules, put on the base, mushrooms, bacon and cooked sausage with cheese and cook it for a little bit.

I want to try it again but add some hash browns and scrambled egg and throw on some black pudding to Lindsays.

What I am Spending

It’s been a few weeks and I got paid so probably too much, plus I have been treating myself a bit for my birthday!

I bought myself some datacards for Chaos Space Marines and Space Marines and a Primaris Lieutenant in Phobos Armour.

I have been finally convinced by Phil and James to give the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game a go and have decided to do the Dead of Dunharrow, so I picked up a box of Warriors of the Dead, a couple of Riders of the Dead and the King of the Dead and Heralds, plus the Three Hunters and in Travelling Man, I found the dice for The Three Hunters. I had ordered the dice for the Dead, but the order was cancelled as Games Workshop has oversold them.

For a birthday treat I bought myself Beastgrave plus the counter sheet and the dice for Skaeth’s Wild Hunt and Grashrak’s Despoilers.

And I found a copy of Conquest with the Scouts in it, so I bought them to add some more to my Blood Ravens.

It’s Creeping Close

By

On 17th September 2019

In Blog

Company of Legends is now less than two weeks away, so here is nervous as owt Michael for the next two weeks as he gets everything ready for it and finishes painting the last of the new scenery.

Also I did an interview with The Imperial Truth about it, so expect to see that soon!

What I am Modelling

It’s been a slow week, mostly been dealing with other stuff but I did get one model painted, X-102 from Combat Arena.

I also primed my 1000pts of Legio Custodes for the Adeptus Terra Zone Mortalis Challenge, it’s not a lot of models really, only eight in fact.

Right now I am working on Sector Slytherin with Megan, the Ruins just need a wash on some pipes, the Manufactorum needs its final details and the Adminstratium is about 60% done and should be finished tomorrow.

This leaves two sets of Sector Sanctoris Ruins and the three Imperial Sector buildings to do.

What I am Reading

I finished The Bone Desert and it was a really good book, very enjoyable, so thanks Robbie.

Then I read One, Untended by David Guymer and that was also a pretty good read, lots of action and a great short story.

I have also quite quickly devoured Realmslayer: Blood of the Old World, really loved this, once again Black Library just Knock it out of the part when it comes to audio dramas, plus Brian Blessed just embodies Gotrek.

What I am Playing

I haven’t played anything this week, for shame, but I am playing a game of Adeptus Titanicus at Battle Bunker on Wednesday.

What I am Backing

Nowt right now, but I am looking out for project 100!

What I am Cooking

Still not been capable of cooking, apart from putting sausages in the oven, but I wasn’t able to take them out and finish them 🙁

What I am Spending

I bought a few things for Company of a Legends, but that’s not my money so not a huge great big deal!

We got the chocolate bars, which have been subsidised by one of our generous sponsors, we got Twix Xtras in both milk and white chocolate, and Snickers Duo, I also got the required lanyards, photo frames for the certificates, just got coffee to buy now.

For next year we have purchased some Hive Walls from GameMat.eu, two sets of them so that we can offer Zone Mortalis games on two 4×4 tables, I also got a set of Necromunda Bulkead Doors to compliment these as well.

For myself, I finally ordered Kill Team Elites, also Palanite Enforcers, their dice and cards for Necromunda and a few Space Marine Heroes from Series 2.

Planning A Trip To Warhammer World

By

On 11th September 2019

In Blog

Lindsay’s office is in Nottingham, right behind Warhammer World, and she is not afraid to tell you that working alone at home has some mental health implications.

Earlier this year I gave up my having my own studio room to move downstairs to share what is now the office with Lindsay. There were two reasons for this, firstly it means that the room that used to be my studio is now a spare room for when nephews and nieces want to stay over. And secondly it means that most days for a good part of the day, Lindsay has an office mate in the form of me and sometimes Megan.

But one thing we agreed upon, was that at least once every six months, we would go to Nottingham so that Lindsay could have a couple of days working at her office with people, and me and Megan would go to Warhammer World and play.

Sounds like Lindsay is getting a raw deal, but going to the office does a lot for her mental health and really give her a boost, this year we have been bad and there was too long a gap since our last visit, but this next year we will be better.

We get there Thursday the 14th November, we go that day because Lindsay has a late start, so we get kicked out just before Warhammer World opens and me and Megan will be playing small games, so Combat Arena or Gorechosen, Gretchinz, Lost Patrol, Combat Cards, Kill Team, Underworld etc.

And then on Friday, when we will be getting an Uber over, we are going to play a game of 40k, Megan is gonna take her Blood Angels for which I have challenged us to paint a couple of new units at least, and I will be taking Death Guard, for which I need to paint a bit too.

And then we shall take a slow journey back up on the Saturday. We have a favourite Travelodge, I mean there aren’t many hotels in our price range in Nottingham that can sleep three people in one room, and there is a nice little pub next door that serves a decent breakfast, so we should be ok for that.

So what I need to do after Company of Legends, is prioritise my painting a bit better, I want to get Nikis Death Korps all done by Christmas and I want to paint up a lot of my Death Guard, so I am gonna have to make a good plan to do it all.

What I am Modelling

Scenery was the big thing for most of the end of last week, I painted, with Megan’s help, a second Bastion for Scottish Graham’s box of scenery.

Then I did a few little bits of scatter terrain, some Promthium Barrels, Ammo Crates etc.

This was followed by the last part of Scottish Graham’s terrain, a Sacristan Forgeshrine.

And my final piece of terrain for the week, a final Haemotrope Reactor, this one was for my box of scenery from Conquest and I used some Grey Knights Steel and in general did a bit more with this piece.

I then started work on my characters for Combat Arena, starting with Neyam Shai Murad and Gotfret de Montbard.

My plan with the rest of the week is to finish the Combat Arena fighters and do some work on Sector Slytherin.

What I am Reading

I have been managing to do a little Reading each night, the reading goals on iOS 13 are surprisingly encouraging.

I finished Farsight, and then read Fire and Ice by Peter Fehervai and swiftly moved on to Aun’Shi by Braden Campbell.

All of which I really enjoyed and to get more T’au goodness I have purchased the T’au Empire Legends of the Dark Millennium book, it contains stories I have already read, but the rest I don’t own at all so it’s good.

But because I was no where near my bank card and Black Library still doesn’t take PayPal, I instead started on The Bone Desert by Robbie MacNiven in preparation for the new Gotrek stuff coming out this weekend.

What I am Playing

I have to played anything this week sadly, but I aim to change that in the next couple of days.

What I am Backing

Nothing new, and haven’t had anything arrive this week.

What I am Cooking

Still having trouble with making anything beyond a microwave meal, seriously sad that I haven’t been capable of cooking anything for over a month now.

What I am Spending

I was quite lucky and won an eBay auction for the Horus Heresy Age of Darkness rulebook for £15 and it’s still sealed in its box.

I did place a small Forge World Order, I got some paint that I had ran out of or had dried up, and the Reaver Titan Warp Missile Rack, and Warlord Titan Macro Gattling Blaster for Adeptus Titanicus.

I also put in money towards getting a Now TV stick for Lindsay’s grandad, we are changing to Sky Q and he has been “borrowing” our multiroom box for a number of years now so he can enjoy the sports, and that’s coming to an end, so we have dropped sports from our package and are subscribing to it on Now TV for him.

A Few Things To Listen To

By

On 6th September 2019

In Blog

Seeing how in the recording for the next episode of Edge of Empire, I had my taste in nerdy music revealed, I thought why not share a few of my favourite geeky songs, specifically for Chris and Graham.

https://youtu.be/wL6XdsBFBvM

So yeah this is the kind of stuff I like to listen to a lot!

What I am Modelling

I started by getting some of Nikis Death Korps of Krieg Done in the form of the Thudd Guns and Heavy Mortars and their crew.

I then started to crack on with the scenery we got from Scottish Graham, first up were the Promethium Relay Pipe’s.

Then a pair of Haemotrope Reactors and Thermic Plasma Regulators which went to my Sector Mechanicus Killzone box.

Going back to Scottish Graham’s stuff, I then did some Thermic Plasma Conduits and another pair of Haemotrope Reactors

Then I did a few bits of Aegis Defence Lines, a pair of Vengeance Weapons Batteries, and a Bastion.

For Graham’s tables, all I am left to do is another Bastion, a Sacriston Forgeshrine and a few little bits of scatter terrain.

What I am Reading

I haven’t done much reading this week other than the Nighthaunt Battletome.

What I am Playing

On Sunday I played at the South Tyneside Heresy event, and I had a very good day.

I took Word Bearers and my lists can be read here, it’s a weird setup, you can take a Lord of War, but only in a single game, so very unusual.

My first game was pretty good, was an ambush deployment which is always a nightmare and I managed to roll to not go in the centre, instead my opponent, a lovely Solar Auxilia player was subjected to that.

My Word Bearers did some Deamon summoning and I kinda swamped his deployment zone with wave after wave of Plaguebearers and Bloodletters, which allowed me to nicely win the game, but I struggled against his armour.

The second game was against a Salamanders list, that was tough, I would have got my Glaive out, but the terrain on the board was way too dense to even allow me to think about that.

It was mostly infantry, with some Jetbikes, but no matter what I did I just couldn’t overcome his forces, and he did end up the best loyalist general.

My last game was against Graham, which was a lot of fun, again biggest issue was my lack of anti-armour, and his Firedrakes ripped apart the Glaive.

So overall three good games, but I really need to sort out some reliable anti-armour for the Word Bearers.

On Tuesday I played a game of Adeptus Titanicus against James, I lost, again, but I went in very much the underdog with only 1700pts to his 2000pts.

The Acastus Knights are really powerful, so you won’t be surprised to hear I have myself bought some!

What I am Backing

Fiasco has successfully funded, which is great, and I am backing the Dungeon Fantasy Magic Items 2 quickstarter, which is my 99th backer project.

Also my stuff from Cognition Volume #1 project arrived, and I am very happy with that.

What I am Cooking

Not a sausage

What I am Spending

Probably spent a bit too much!

Popped into Forbidden Planet and bought myself a few issues of Warhammer 40,000 Conquest, specifically an issue containing the Thermic Plasma Regulators and some issues with the Haemotrope Reactors, and then I went to Travelling Man and grabbed my monthly paint restocking, and the Kill-o-Meter for Warhammer 40,000 Munchkin.

I also bought the new Kill Team Starter Set, specifically because I needed five Reivers, and some more Fire Warriors and the terrain is going to join the original Killzone Sector Mechanicum to hopefully make up a full table of that terrain, along with a pair of the Haemotrope Reactors and Thermic Plasma Consuits.

I also bought Combat Arena from Barnes and Noble, I really love Gorechosen and a 40k version is right up my street, plus the models look great too, and that turned up in record time considering it came all the way from the US.

Gah The Heat

By

On 27th August 2019

In Blog

The heat is literally making it impossible to do anything, my body isn’t built for hot weather of any kind, at least not without copious amounts of ice cream (thanks diabetes) and access to a swimming pool!

I have been having a lot of issues sleeping, damn brain weasels keeping me awake and attempting to get again put a story on to paper, I am not good at writing, but I always feel like I want to write a story. Sometimes I consider fan fiction, but I really don’t have the confidence to do that.

And to top it off, I woke up quite ill today and that’s thrown everything into chaos because I have stuff I want to do.

What I am Modelling

This week I finished off the Wall of Martyrs Killzone along with the two extra Defence Lines that came with Advance Team Starpulse and the Exalted Scythe, so that’s another half of a table for Company of Legends done giving us 10 tables we can put out right now.

The club wants to play Warcry today, so I painted up my Iron Golems, but the girls have forbidden me from going because of the ill.

What I am Reading

I have finally finished The Beast Arises, it’s taken me years to get through this series as I have been reading it in a very much on again, off again way, but I am glad I have read it now.

The last book The Beheading was really good, Guy is an excellent and stupidly fast writer, the only thing I disliked about the book was the big time jump, that felt kind of jarring.

I am now going to read some T’au stories to get me in the mood for doing my T’au Empire army eventually, so I have started with Farsight by Phil Kelly.

I also listened to the audiobook of Claws of the Genestealer by Cavan Scott, and that was actually pretty good, the Warhammer Adventures stories are perfect for the audience they are aimed at, and full of excitement. And in this one, the characters have gotten a bit more development which is good, you can only do so much in a kids book, but they really have crammed a load in there. I have now moved on to its sequel, Secrets of the Tau.

What I am Playing

My last game was Catch the Moon, I even wrote a review of it that you can read here, I am thinking of going back through my collection and reviewing everything I have, apart from promotional items.

What I am Backing

I have caved and backed Fiasco, I wanted to go all in and get all four expansions, but money is an issue, so we are only backing on expansion.

Yesterday we worked out my total spend on Kickstarter and it comes to £3602 since 2014 including shipping, which isn’t that bad, I mean it’s only £720 a year, so not terrible right???

The most I have thrown at a single project was £190 and that was on the Alhambra Mega Box Designers Edition, with every expansion ever made, plus a bunch of new modules and the Alhambra Special Big Box, interestingly enough, that’s due for delivery hopefully in the next month!

What I am Cooking

Ready meals don’t count

What I am Spending

I bought myself some paint but other than that not a lot.

Last Day @ WorldCon and the Return to Blighty

By

On 22nd August 2019

In Blog

Day 5 of WorldCon and by this point I was barely functioning!

We decided that we would use the Luas for the last day and it was only a 10 or so minute walk (with frequent eat stops) to the Smithfield station, and we only had a short trip to the CCD, but boy was it packed.

When we got to the CCD we headed straight up for the Library Bards concert and that was amazing, utterly loved it and it was a real highlight of the Con.

After this we had Games for Science with Steve Jackson and Tom Lehmann which was very good, although I was disturbed part was through it because there had been a small fire in our apartment and we were going to have to move room when we got back, thankfully none of our stuff was damaged.

Then I went to a panel on 2000AD the Irish Connection, which I hoped would touch on things like Murphyville, but it mostly just covered Irish artists and writers for 2000AD which was still pretty good.

Then me and Lindsay met up for Holy Forking Shirtballs – The Good Place Panel, and thanks goodness I had an access sticker, because it was a very popular panel, which doesn’t surprise me as the show is brilliant, but me and Lindsay were able to get in which was great.

The we did a two hour shift on the Glasgow 2024 fan table and had many a fan come and offer pre-support or become a friend of the bid, which was great, I have a lot of confidence that Glasgow will win. And I managed to with great difficulty get into the DeLorean for a photo.

And sadly at this point it was time for the closing ceremony, which was very very emotional, amazing speeches and performances and when James handed over the gavel to CoNZealand it put a lump in your throat.

And this we headed away from the CCD for the last time and it felt very sad to leave our home for the past five days and see our little village being dismantled.

We did want to do the Dead Dog Party, but figured we needed to get back and move room plus we couldn’t really afford the drinks.

So instead we headed to O’Connell Street and had a Supermacs for tea, followed by a trip to Dunnes to grab a few bits for people who wanted us to bring them home, specifically Rock Shandy for Paul, Jane and Rob.

Then we jumped back on the Luas and walked back up to Thomas Street, which was very hard and I had to stop a ton of times, but once we got there we saw that the Spar has disappeared during the day, and realised we forgot a present for George, so we walked down to Tesco and grabbed him a bottle of whiskey, before going back to the hotel and moving room, and then we settled down and read before sleeping.

Return to the North East

The next day we managed to sleep in and miss our taxi, but thankfully we were able to get one very quickly, and we getting through security was a breeze, so we had a Burger King for breakfast and then boarded our flight back to Newcastle, which was sadly very uncomfortable for Lindsay.

But we landed safely and were picked up by Paul and Megan, who literally had to be prised off me and Lindsay when she gave us a hug, so we headed home, to find out that there had been a small fire at the BT exchange which means we are without internet again.

I phoned Sky who have agreed to compensate us for a months worth of broadband, plus helped us cut our bill down and moved us onto Sky Q for free as compensation.

So exhausted I headed up and had a bit of a nap, after which we went to the Beefeater for tea before popping into see Megan’s mum who had just had a knee replacement operation.

So action packed few days!

What I am Modelling

Obviously I have been away and my painting had been a struggle before that, but on Wednesday whilst Lindsay was away at Megan’s parents working because we had no broadband at home, I picked up my paintbrushes to try and get myself back in the zone by painting some scenery, these are big chunky bits that’s don’t require detail.

After any long break from painting I find it difficult to get back in the groove because my hands really do get very bad, so stuff like this is helpful.

Anyway I painted a Wall of Martyrs Defence Line and a Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker.

What I am Reading

I have a lot of recommendations of books from WorldCon, but first I want to get through The Beast Arises, and have gotten half way through Shadow of Ullanor by Rob Sanders, which is really good so far.

What I am Playing

I haven’t played much at all this week apart from a play test of Cthulhu Dice 2nd Edition and a couple of games of Timeline Inventions, one of which I won and one of which I lost.

What I am Backing

At the moment I am backing Munchkin Parhfinder 3 – Odd Ventures, but I am having to do it in a way that sees the game shipped to a friend in the US for them to forward it on to me as Steve Jackson Games are stopping supporting international backers, which is sad.

We are taking a good look at backing Fiasco and I will be honest, it’s likely to happen.

What I am Cooking

Nowt since I got back from Dublin.

What I am Spending

Apart from a few presents in Dublin, nowt.

  • Current State of Projects: Rest of Killzone Wall of Martyrs on my desk

Penultimate Day At WorldCon

By

On 19th August 2019

In Blog

Sunday was a wonderful day, absolutely amazing!

We managed to get a bus to the CCD reasonably easily, and made it to our first panel which was How To Start A Podcast, which have me some interesting insights which will hopefully let me make improvements to Edge if Empire.

I then attended a panel on Social Media Marketing Tips And Tools, which I admit was a filler panel, but I did learn some stuff which I can apply to the podcast.

We then got into queue for Polyamory In Theory And Practice which was really good, but it was in a small room and they could have filled it three times over, few little bits I disagreed with, but mostly very good.

Then I went to Game Writing And The Story which was a bit meh, I mean it had some good stuff in it, but it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be.

We then had a wander round the hucksters room and saw the DeLorean kitted out as the one from Back To The Future and had lunch, Lindsay had salmon pho and I had a cheeseburger.

And then we headed up for other panels, I went to The Audio Acting Bug to try and pick up tips to improve CoL audio recordings, and I did learn a lot from it.

After that I went to The Evil of Gaming and got Tom Lehmanns autograph, and well it was obviously a very timely panel!

I then did an hours shift on the Glasgow in 2024 fan table and it was a bit slower than other days but still busy.

Then Lindsay convinced me to join her in a panel called Ships Ahoy, which well, I don’t need to go into in any great detail, but it was hilarious and I ended up very very red after it, and now Megan and Lindsay are threatening to write slash about Edge of Empire!!!

We then went to the France bid party and they had good food there, it was really nice, and the bus seems pretty good, there was however some unpleasantness and we ended up on a table with an extremely racist American lady, and my own microaggressions made the lovely non binary black person were we sad with very upset.

We did catch up with her, I apologised and we sat and chatted for nearly an hour and a half and she opened my eyes to a lot of stuff.

They were an amazing person and I hope to see them today at the con before they head off back to London.

We then went to see The Doubleclicks in concert which was absolutely amazing, I have wanted to see them for years, and I am so so glad that I have finally done so and crosses something off my bucket list.

The whole room loved the songs, and the sing along to Noting To Prove was very moving, and yeah it was a real highlight and on of my favourite concerts of all time ever. Lindsay had some tears over Sensitive Badass.

And then we were able to get a selfie with Laser, and I think I have managed to help convert Lindsay into a fan of theirs.

We then got a taxi home after spending a bit of time in the game room with our friend Clare from the Clockwork Tea Party and had super noodles for tea, before falling into a very deep sleep!

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