Category: Uncategorised Page 1 of 2

Some Minor Studio Upgrades

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On 6th November 2023

In Uncategorised

Following the insulation work I have made a few small changes to the studio, mostly cosmetic, but they do make it far more comfortable.

First up, I have moved my collection of badges to a set of banners that Megan made for me in the polycule sewing room.

Really happy with how these turned out, and they fill a bit of a hole in the room.

I also hung a Man Cave sign that Mary got me before she passed away, and it looks pretty nice.

And I took the fabric Avatar world map we got with the Avatar Legends Kickstarter, and put that into a frame and hung it on the staircase

I also ordered a 3D printed stand for my Echo Dot to hang on my pegboard, its been a bit of a chew on to get it, and when I eventually did two weeks after it should have come, it was in entirely the wrong colour!

Next steps are going to be something to store the hot chocolate pods in, and a couple more Ikea controller holders for the pegboard.

And of course I do need to do some painting still!

What I Am Modelling

I started off my finishing the Ork Boyz

Plus a Runtherd for some Grots

And then followed up that with a pair of Marshcrawlla Sloghoths

Then some more greenskins, this time in the shape of 10 Grots!

I finally painted the Lord Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos, good old Kyria Draxus!

And then a Sister Dialogues for my Sisters of Battle

So what’s up next?

  1. Imperial Fists Rotor Cannon Squad x 10
  2. Death Guard Spartan
  3. Termagants with Devourers x 20
  4. Chaos Familiar’s x 8
  5. Loonboss & Zatbags Gitz
  6. Ultramarines Infiltrators x 10
  7. Battle Sisters Squad x 10
  8. Baal Predator
  9. Lilith
  10. Trukks x 2

What I Am Reading

I read a few short stories to try and get me reading again, starting with The Long and Hungry Road by Adrian Tchaikovsky, then Devilhunter by Nicholas Wolf and finally Blood Harvest by Richard Swan.

I have now started on The End and The Death Volume II by Dan Abnett.

What Video Games I Am Playing

Continued to play some more Assassin’s Creed III Remastered, and I am getting to grips with the ways its different to the previous 3 games.

What I Am Creating

I published the latest episode of Edge of Empire!

What I Am Backing

My first project in a while, but I am backing the Car Wars Companion for Sixth Edition, cause, you know, Car Wars!

What I Am Spending

Not much, but I did buy The Ancestor’s Wrath, cause why not, new Votann models are gonna be cool!

We also upgrade our broadband, from 350mbps to 1130mbps, for only a few quid a month more!

Nerdy Musical Advent 2022 – 11th December – The Girl Who Waited – PDX Broadsides

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On 11th December 2022

In Uncategorised

This lovely little ditty by the PDX Broadsides has some nice Doctor Who influences, but never struck me as being about Doctor Who.

But it’s always seemed to be to be a song about, knowing your own worth, but let me know what you think!

Nerdy Musical Advent 2022 – 4th December – I’m The One That’s Cool – The Guild

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On 4th December 2022

In Uncategorised

The Guild, was a brilliant web series from a few years back written by Felica Day, one of geekdoms favourite actors.

To promote the show, which was about a guild in an MMORPG, they released the occasional song, the very first song in the first advent, in 2019 was their first song, so it’s been a while since they have featured.

Anyway, here is their third and last single

Warhammer 40,000 Imperium – Issue 32 Battle Report

By

On 24th October 2022

In Battle Reports, Uncategorised

Trying a proper camera this time instead of just using my phone, so sorry for any issues with slight blur, focus and aspect ratio!

The 32nd part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series.

In this episode, we play the next Scout Mission!

Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the Adeptus Mechanicus!

You can buy your own Task Lamp here

You can support what I do by doing any of the following:-

Watch Dogs Legion: Day Zero

By

On 21st July 2022

In Book Reviews, Uncategorised

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Watch Dogs Legion novel Day Zero by Josh Reynolds and James Swallow, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am also friend with Josh on Facebook, however I am sure for him that’s more about connecting with fans rather than being one of my best buds, that said he is actually a really nice guy.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Watch Dogs

Watch Dogs is an action-adventure game franchise, published by Ubisoft, and there have been three games published since 2014, the most recent being Watch Dogs Legion, published in late 2020.

Watch Dogs feature protagonists who are hackers working against criminal underworlds, corrupt companies and rival hackers.

Watch Dogs Legion, takes place in a post Brexit London, in which Britain has rapidly declined, and a hacker collective known as DedSec works to clear their name after being blamed for a series of terrorist bombings.

Their main opponents are the PMC Albion, who they try to liberate London from, Clan Kelly, an east end crime family, and Zero Day, a cyber terrorism group.

The Story

Day Zero takes place a over a few days and features several characters who find themselves drawn into a murderous conspiracy, that they must get to the bottom of, or risk London falling into control of a private military contractor who have their own designs on the city.

Our cast of characters is Olly, a new DedSec recruit and bike messenger, Sarah, an ambitious young Labour MP who has an eye on the advancement of her own career, Danny, a former soldier, and now Albion employee, being lead down a dark path, and his sister, Ro, a former MMA fighter and enforcer with Clan Kelly.

A series of assassinations across the city drag our protagonists into a mystery and things are starting to spiral out of control, requiring the killer to be tracked down.

Conclusion

Ok I have yet to play the game, I did buy the Ultimate Edition when it was on sale after reading this novel, but I am aware that this is a prequel, and the game protagonists and antagonists only feature briefly.

But as I said I haven’t played it, so for me, its very much a cool intro to the universe, as I have yet to play the first two games either, but they are on my purchase list!

The book was very enjoyable to read, it took me a little longer than I would have like to read, but I have some personal stuff going on in my life right now which is reducing my reading abilities.

I personally think, this not being a retelling is actually a positive thing, because the plot didn’t feel like a video game plot, sometimes when tie-ins are a retelling, it just doesn’t work.

This book is a perfect meld of the two writers style, James Swallow, writes very tight, very ordered plots, and Josh Reynolds is a master of witty dialogue and unlike many books with two authors, you never really see where ones work begins and the others ends. It feels like the two authors have merged Tuvix style and created a work that takes the best of both of their talent.

My only criticism is that with so many characters, the development of those characters is not the best, and I would like to learn more about them. So I do hope that they return to the setting and what Olly, Ro and Danny in particular do next.

I find myself very excited to play Watch Dogs Legion, and I am very much considering buying the first two games first.

This is a very solid 4 out of 5 Stars.

Day Zero is out now in both ePub, paperback and as an audiobook from all good booksellers!

If buying online, I recommend the below, but if you have a local indie bookstore and like the physical books, go take your custom to them!

The Car Is Dead

By

On 6th December 2021

In Uncategorised

Yep our beloved SEAT Alhambra has come to the end of its life, sadly the gearbox has gone and the replacement cost is just far too much.

So we are forced to scrap it altogether.

Now this has thrown a cat amongst the pigeons as we are due to go to my brothers wedding next week, in Cornwall.

So Megan is staying home, and looking after the cats and bunny, whilst me and Lindsay hire a car.

Its a bit annoying but it is what it is.

We don’t know when the new car will be ready but we are told May is the earliest, so we are likely going to have to buy another cheap car for now.

What Am I Modelling

It’s been a slow week, but the weekend was much better.

I painted up a Munitorium Armoured Container I got from Imperium.

And then I finished off a squad of Adeptus Custodes Wardens.

So how does that leave the list looking?

  1. Death Korps of Krieg Heavy Support Team x 3
  2. Ork Flash Gitz x 5
  3. Grand Army if the Republic BARC Speeder
  4. Necron Warriors x 10 & Lord Hasmoteph the Resplendent
  5. House Taranis Imperial Knight Warden
  6. Ork Bikes x 3
  7. Dacian Anvil & Vindictor
  8. Constantine Valdor
  9. The Confederacy of Independent Systems B1 Battledroids x 18
  10. Skitarii Vanguard x 10

What Am I Reading

Not a sausage 🙁

What Video Games Am I Playing

I have completed Halo 5: Guardians and am thus ready for Halo Infinites campaign when it arrives!

I also finished Far Cry, and that was a pretty good game, very very tough, but very good.

I am getting a game of Halo Infinite in each night, because the Xbox app gives me nearly 250 Microsoft Reward points each day!

What Tabletop Games Am I Playing

Nowt 🙁

What Am I Creating

Just an Imperium Battle Report, which you can see below.

What I Am Backing

No new projects, but Rawr! Velociraptor! sent us a free bonus of live songs by The Doubleclicks!

What I Am Spending

Cyber Monday deals were good, so I picked up the Far Cry games that I don’t own, Far Cry 4 and Far Cry Primal.

And the Batman Humble Bundle deal looked awesome, I once owned Batman Arkham Asylum in Xbox 360, my brother in law borrowed it, and I never saw it again.

I already have Lego Batman 2 and Lego Batman 3, I have offered them to my nephews, but if they don’t want them, a friend is hunting some codes down for a charity thing.

And a couple of movies got bought too, digital copies of 300, Warewolves Within and Snowpiercer They were all on sale and I fancied having them in the collection to watch.

I also bought a camera bag for my Sony ZV-1 to take to the wedding.

Resolutions Update July 2021

By

On 24th July 2021

In Uncategorised

This month has been slow going, a mixture of depression and the heat has really slowed my painting to a crawl.

I am currently at 835 models painted for the year.

Paint 2000 Points of Necrons for Warhammer 40,000 – 78.75%

This number has actually gone down thanks to points changes in Chapter Approved, so I may be revisiting this to work out a new list.

But sadly no work done on models for the list this month.

But I was able to paint a unit of Lychguard armed with Warscythes.

Paint 2000 Points of Flesh-Eater Courts for Warhammer Age of Sigmar – 46.5% Complete

The new editor of Age of Sigmar means a new Generals Handbook and new points, so here is my revised army list.

Core Battalion: Warlord

+ Leader +

Abhorrant Archregent: Warlord - 1-2 Commanders

Abhorrant Ghoul King on Royal Terrorgheist: Warlord - 1-2 Commanders

Crypt Haunter Courtier: Warlord - 2-4 Sub-Commanders

Crypt Infernal Courtier: Warlord - 2-4 Sub-Commanders

+ Battleline +

Crypt Ghouls: 20 Crypt Ghouls, Reinforced, Warlord - 1-2 Troops

Crypt Ghouls: 20 Crypt Ghouls, Reinforced, Warlord - 1-2 Troops

Crypt Ghouls: 20 Crypt Ghouls, Reinforced

+ Other +

Crypt Flayers: 3 Crypt Flayers

Crypt Flayers: 3 Crypt Flayers

Crypt Horrors: 3 Crypt Horrors

This month I got the first unit of Crypt Flayers painted.

Bring My Mechanicum to 3000 Points for Horus Heresy, Including The Warhound Titan – 37.99% Complete

No progress on this resolution this month.

Paint Blackstone Fortress And It’s Expansions – 15% Complete

This month I painted the Ur-Ghuls!

So what’s coming up for me next?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Stormcast Eternals Judicators with Boltstorm Crossbows x 10
  3. Necron Night Scythe
  4. Blackstone Fortress Beastmen x 6
  5. Sylas Beastbane, Leena Stormspire, Asteria Solbright & Berek the Indomitable
  6. Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Squad x 10
  7. Stormcast Eternals Vindictors x 10
  8. Blood Ravens Primaris Chaplain on a Bike
  9. Kurdoss Valentian
  10. Legio Custodes Pallas Grav-Attack x 2

An Early Post

By

On 9th October 2020

In Blog, Uncategorised

Having an early post this week as I am headed off for a short weekend holiday for my birthday.

I will put out a post about the trip away once I am back and recovered, rather than trying to squeeze everything into one long post.

For my birthday I did get a few nice little things from loved ones.

Megan and Lindsay paid for the trip away, and Megan made me this amazing Carcassonne cross-stitch which is now hanging up in the studio.

Paul and Mary bought me this awesome little modelling tool kit, which is very timely as my hobby knife is on its last legs!

And Jane and Geoff gave me some cash, so I have added that to my graphics card fund.

What I Am Modelling

I started off the week by continuing with the Stormcast Eternals Vanguard-Hunters, this completes the four units of Vanguard-Hunters I own, and gives me two each units armed with either a Shock Handaxe or Storm Sabre.

Whilst doing those I also painted some Spirit Hosts I got from Mortal Realms on the side, these were super easy to do so I just kind got one with them.

I then built and primed a T’au Stealth Suit Team and Strike Team, along with the rest of the models for the next 10 projects.

I then painted a base coat of XV-88 by airbrushing the T’au Strike Team, Stealth Team and the XV86 Commander. I also airbrushed on the main red armour colour of the Blood Ravens Hellblasters.

After that, whilst waiting for the dishwasher to finish, I knocked out the last of my UCM ships for Dropfleet Commander.

For the weekend away, I took with me the Palanite Enforcers for Necromunda. The paint scheme I have come up with for them is heavy in use of Contrast, but I think it works quite well.

So what does my painting queue look like now?

  1. Zone Mortalis Terrain
  2. Palanite Enforcers x 10
  3. T’au Stealth Suit Team x 3
  4. Blood Ravens Hellblasters x 15
  5. Grashrak’s Ravagers & Skaeth’s Wild Hunt x 6
  6. T’au Strike Team x 10 & Sniper Drone Team
  7. Death Korps of Krieg Engineers & Hades Breaching Drill
  8. Secret Heresy Project Unit
  9. T’au Commander in XV86 Coldstar Battlesuit
  10. Nighthaunt Dreadscythe Harridans x 10

What I Am Reading

Not much chance to get more than a few little bits read here and there, must do better.

What I Am Playing

Mostly been playing Star Wars Squadron, high has been a lot of fun, although I kinda wish I got more options to play as the Empire in Story Mode, although to be fair I have just finished the second mission.

Nowt played Tabletop wise but this weekend should see plenty played.

What I Am Backing

Not backing anything right now and no updates on existing projects.

What I Am Cooking

On Wednesday night I made my attempt at Posh Dogs.

I took some normal bockwust, in a part baked roll, in which I spread Dijon mustard, and packed in some caramelised onions.

On top of the bockwurst I then melted some Gruyère and we served them with some red potato wedges made by Megan.

What I Am Spending

For my birthday I treated myself to Star Wars Squadrons. I was torn about getting it for Xbox or PC, but it was in Argos on a great deal, so I spent my Nectar points on it.

With Lindsay moving upstairs we decided to grab another Dolce Gusto machine, the new one is a Lumio and was half price at Curry’s PC World and has an auto shut-off function and a slightly bigger tank.

It means the one I grabbed her last month is moving upstairs to her office, so she doesn’t have to go up and down the stairs every time she wants a coffee.

Because I got a refund from a few things I had to send back to Amazon as a gift card, I decided to spend it on a new power brick for my Xbox One.

I want to do some streaming from it and realistically that means I need it downstairs So rather than pulling a power brick out from behind the TV each time I want to use it, I bought an extra one to keep downstairs in the studio.

Feeling Much Better

By

On 21st October 2019

In Uncategorised

This weekend I was at EGX showing video gamers how to play some brilliant tabletop games with Asmodee.

I am currently headed to the Tottenham Court Road Warhammer store to kill some time before I head off home.

I took the train down on Wednesday and stayed overnight in a hostel near Kings Cross, but annoyingly despite telling them well in advance that I needed a bottom bunk I was assigned a top bunk, which gave me a lot of pain trying to get in and out.

Because of the Extinction Rebellion protests I planned to give myself loads of time to get to the ExCeL, but that was barely enough time as I got caught up in two different actions, one in which some people chained themselves across a bus lane, and another where someone go on top on a tube. I wasn’t present for the last one, but it caused huge delays on the line.

I just got to ExCeL on time to finish helping set up our demo area, and get myself together for the 10am opening.

Overall the weekend was brilliant and I learnt a number of new games including Moon-Bots, Plague Inc, Don’t Mess with Cthulhu, and Keyforge, so quite happy with that.

The only downside was that Thursday night I was quite ill, and spent a couple of hours throwing up, but was only 30 minutes late for the show due to sleeping in as a result.

Great experience, and a great weekend, and I can’t wait for my next big event!

In this next week I am headed to Megan’s nanas for a bit via home, and will be visiting my sister in Woking on Wednesday.

What I am Modelling

Last week I didn’t do any modelling at all other than to prime some stuff to take away with me to Megan’s Anna’s, specifically a Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Squad and Command Squad.

What I am Reading

Making slow progress through The Lost and the Dammed, I have just been so tired at night it’s hard to read, currently I am 21% of the way through the book.

What I am Playing

I have played a lot this weekend, showing people how to play some great games, but standouts for me are Keyforge, which as a game I really enjoy, and think I am hooked.

I also helped a visually impaired guy play Ticket to Ride and Pandemic, both of which were very rewarding experiences and has made me think about what kind of games could be good for visually impaired people.

What I am Backing

I am in for the Zombicide 2nd Editon Nostalgia pledge right now, but I am humming and barring about it.

My Ember package still hasn’t arrived but apparently there have been issues at the post office, so hopefully soon.

Alhambra was meant to be delivered Saturday but no one was in, so it’s been rearranged to Tuesday, but I am nervous because apparently the stickers needed for a dice are missing from all pledges.

What I am Cooking

I have been away so no cooking for me!

What I am Spending

Other than food needed to survive whilst away, I have bought a couple of games, specifically the Keyforge Age of Ascension Starter Set, I know it’s soon to be replaced with Worlds Collide, but it was going for £20 which is an absolute bargain, and I picked up Moon-Bots because it’s a great game and I am pretty sure Megan and Lindsay will love it.

I didn’t buy these but was given by Asmodee for demoing purposes, Who Did It?, Dice Academy and Dobble.

DnDice also gave us Asmodee lot a rectangular dice tray, the ones that they had been using to show people how good they are, I got one in Dryad Green.

Dublin and WorldCon

By

On 16th August 2019

In Blog, Uncategorised

Me and Lindsay flew out to Dublin on Tuesday for WorldCon, which is the convention of the World Science Fiction Society, and is a pretty big deal, it’s also where the Hugo Awards are handed out.

So Paul kindly dropped us off for our flight on Tuesday morning and the first thing we do is grab a bottle of Rock Shandy each, which is a Dublin favourite of ours, it’s a combo of lemon and orange pop, the only issue is that lemon and me don’t get on, it causes a reaction in me that whilst not quite an allergy, raises my temperature, makes me feel sick and makes my temper fray, but damn that stuff tastes good!

We then went straight to Bewleys for lunch, which is an amazing tea house on Grafton Street, we had mushroom and tarragon soup, I had mine with an open sandwich and Lindsay had here with a scone and it was a most delicious lunch when paired with a cup of Irish Afternoon tea.

We then headed to our hotel, well it’s actually just some student accommodation but it’s nice enough, but warm and the bed isn’t quite a double, but comfortable.

We had a pizza for tea, a large one with sausage, egg, bacon and mushrooms on it, after popping into Lidl for some supplies to make sarnies with.

The next day we headed into Dublin in the later morning where we registered for the Con at the CCD, then we took a slow walk into the city, with lots of stops for me, and we called Megan to have a chat with her and take a photo of a DART for Paul.

When we reached O’Connell street we went to Supermacs for our lunch, we both had 5oz bacon and cheese burgers, Lindsay had hers with curry cheese fries, I had mine with garlic cheese fries, and it was really nice, much nicer than a McDonalds.

We then walked to Games Workshop via Forbidden Planet, because you know, we have to find a Games Workshop wherever we go!

The we walked down to Bewleys for an afternoon tea and then to Dunnes to pick up some Rock Shandy, Taytos and Cadbury’s Mint Crisp to take home to the UK, then back to the hotel where we chilled out, even popping up to the roof top terrace where Lindsay attempted to do some of her daily exercises and we had nesi goreng from Lidl for tea.

The next day we made our way to the CCD by bus and began the day with some Accessible Star Trek Yoga, which is a lot harder than it sounds. After that we attended a panel on Liking Problematic Tings and then a workshop on an Introduction to Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, which I have yet to play properly.

Then we had a little break where Lindsay went to the quiet room because she had a developing migraine and I did an hour on the Glasgow 2024 Fan Table signing up people as pre-supporters and even a few friends too.

After that I went to the gaming room and talked with my Asmodee friends who are there doing some demoing and playing of games, and pretty much all of them I have worked with before, so that’s cool.

And I also got to playtest the next edition of Cthulhu Dice with Steve Jackson, who also signed my autograph book and copy of Munchkin Warhammer 40,000, so I squeed a bit at that!!!

At this point Lindsay is very unwell and she decided to remain in the quiet room, I then attended a Podcasting panel, at which one of the panellists recognised my voice from Edge of Empire and complimented our shows quality, and considering that he is a pro-podcaster, that made me blush a lot!

After that we headed back to the hotel, Lindsay was really unwell and needed to sleep, it’s a little trek for the bus stop back so I didn’t want her doing it alone.

She then zonked out, so I went and grabbed us some bits for lunch the next day, had Lidl nesi goreng again and then read for a bit.

She is feeling a lot better today as we sit on the bus on the way back to Con, so hopefully today she will last longer.

I am having a great time in Dublin!

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