Big Geordie Geek

Stars & Stripes

On 8th January 2023

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Watch Dogs novel Stars & Stripes by Sean Grigsby and Stewart Hotston, 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 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.

The Story

Stars & Strips follows the protagonist of the original game and is set between the events of that game and Watch Dogs Legion.

Whilst completing a job in Baltimore, Adrian Pierce is forcibly recruited by a shadowy government agent to investigate the hijacking of a transport full of transhuman augmentations!

Forced to work with Jordi Chin, he quickly finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy, that reaches all the way to the White House, as the mysterious Stripes, a white supremacist group look to seize power and enforce their racist xenophobic and backwards agenda on the country.

Conclusion

Well, what can I say the book has lots of character, and the character development of Pierce, is way more than was in the original game!

The book has a very uncomfortable plot as it is basically very much an examination of the culture wars and racism that has seized US politics, as the villains are a group that’s very familiar, they are “patriots” with more in common with groups like the Proud Boys, KKK, Britain First, and the Oath Keepers.

So yeah lots of examination of racism and hatred as a form of patriotism, and I am not gonna lie, it was delightful to see them get what they deserved.

This is a great book, its pacing was just right, I mean its one of the best paced books I have read in a long time, and I really couldn’t put it down and read it very quickly!

I am gonna have to give this wild of a book, an easy 5 out of 5 stars!

Stars & Stripes is available now as a paperback, eBook and audiobook!

The Siege of X-41

By michael

On 3rd January 2023

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new School of X book The Siege of X-41, written by Tristan Palmgren, and 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 going to try my best to not let these things cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Marvel

Look at this point I would bore you with a bit of background to the game/universe, but lets not, you all know the Marvel Universe, if you don’t have you been living under a rock!

The School of X novel series is focused on the heroes that attend Xavier’s Institute and their adventures and the books in the series thus far have focuses on what would very much be considered b-list heroes, which is good because it allows the authors to do a lot more with the characters than they would be able to do with more established heroes.

The Stories

This story picks up a few threads from previous books, specifically, Liberty & Justice for All by Carrie Harris (still need to read this, missed it on Netgallery, but I have bought it since), First Team by Robbie MacNiven, and Outlaw: Relentless by Tristan Palmgren (interestingly part of the Heroines series instead of School of X/Xavier’s Institue, so a nice shared universe being built up).

So this is kind of the culmination of those stories, with things like Anole adjusting to his new arm, and Josh, now known as Elixir, dealing with his fellow students knowing that before he discovered his powers, he was an anti-mutant thug.

These two are the main characters, and to be honest, there is a huge acknowledgement of the fact that their experiences in the previous stories, has left them with mental trauma and struggling to deal with the emotional fallout of kidnapped family members and being held as a slave.

The story sees a team of students, being sent down to X-41, a deep-sea outpost built to assist in the relationship between the Atlanteans of Namor, and the mutants under Charles Xavier. The outpost has been out of use for a while and needs maintenance.

Shortly after arrival, they find themselves under attack by a group of vampiric Atlanteans who relentlessly attack the station, eventually leaving them stranded and trapped at the bottom of the sea, with no way to return to the surface, or communicate with the X-Men.

But things start to go wrong, and it seems like the team is being sabotaged from within!

Conclusion

There is a great continuity in the Aconyte Marvel novels, and I think that good planning and excellent editing, has created a tight, consistent feel to the universe that Aconytes, sadly now former, publicity referred to as Earth 616-Aconyte, just slightly removed from the main Earth 616 with a few differences to make the novels work as a series.

So I am gonna hope that this level of attention of detail is kept up and maintained, because something that Marvel has failed at over the decades, is prose novels, and I really think they are on to a good thing here.

I just listened to The Extinction Key and now listening to Hostile Takeover, and if I am frank, the quality of these video game tie-in novels, is a huge world apart from the Aconyte books.

So turning to this specific book, and its a really cool idea, take two characters, who, frankly hate each other, force them into a small confided space, and throw in some horror!

This story, reminded me greatly of The Thing, in the way the isolation and hostile environment play such a major part in the story, its a really good mix.

The protagonists start off as fairly unlikable, Josh in particular was hard to sympathise with, and Anoles deep hatred of Josh combined with his trauma made him difficult to understand, but as the story wore on, and the situation became more dire, they are both forced to work together and overcome their mutual hatred.

I am gonna give the story 5 stars, its a really good plot and an awesome reward if you have been reading the other novels!

The Siege of X-41 is out now as a paperback and eBook!

Resolutions for 2023

By michael

On 31st December 2022

In Blog

Well my resolutions for 2022 were a disaster because of stuff in my personal life so let’s do 2023 and do it right!

For all my painting resolutions, I will be using the Paintslam 2023 Hobby Log, I have used this before, but because of the disaster that was 2022, I kinda lost track.

You can download the log here!

So here are my resolutions

Build & Paint a 2000 Points Army of Drukhari
Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Genestealer Cultists
Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Tyranids
Bring my Primaris Ultramarines to 2000 Points
Bring my Orruk Warclans to 2000 Points
Build & Paint Two Gangs for Carnivale
Get my Weight to Under 100kg & Sustain it Below That
Publish One Battle Report a Month
Stream Twice a Week
Complete my 2023 VideoGameGeek Video Game Challenge
Read 40 Books
Get Edge of Empire Running Like a Well Oiled Machine
A Bimonthly RPG Night With the Polycule

Build & Paint a 2000 Points Army of Drukhari

This was gonna be a 500 points combat patrol, but I was just gifted a box with a fair few Drukhari models in it, so yeah, it’s gonna be a full army now.

Start with a Wych Cult, and build from there.

That I know right now, I have 10 Wyches and a Succubus unbuilt in the sprue, so let’s build them and see where we go!

Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Genestealer Cultists

I have a bunch of Genestealer Cultists from various box sets, starting with a set of Neophyte Hybrids, two sets of Acolyte Hybrids, a Kelermorph and a Acolyte Iconward.

So they are going to be made into a 500 point combat patrol to do Battle Reports with

Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Tyranids

I also have some Tyranids lying around, specifically, a Lictor, two Termagant Broods, two Broodlords, and two Genestealer Broods.

So out of that I should be able to build a basic 500 point combat patrol for battle reports.

Bring my Primaris Ultramarines to 2000 points

I already have 500 points painted, so looking to add 1500 points to the army.

Starting this week with a Squad of Intercessors, well 5 plus a random 2 and the 30th Anniversary Primaris Sgt.

Bring my Orruk Warclans to 2000 Points

I already have a few Ironjawaz done, and one mob of Gutrippas, so looking to add to those.

Next on the table are two mobs of Hobgrot Slittaz!

Build & Paint two Gangs for Carnivale

Rather simple, already have the models, just got to build and paint them!

The two gangs will be The Guild and Rashaar from the 2 player starter set, but I also plan to add the models from Escape from San Canciano, with a plan to do at least one Carnivale battle report this year!

Get My Weight to Under 100kg & Sustain it Below That

A rare physical resolution for me, just want to get a little weight off is all, and keep it off, right now I am kinda between 111kg & 114kg.

Publish One Battle Report a Month

I enjoy doing Battle Reports, and I want to try and get properly focused on doing them regularly, probably initially at Combat Patrol sized.

Kinda thinking if aiming for 20th of the month or so to publish and I am busy planning the first one, which will be Ultramarines vs T’au Empire at 500 points.

Stream twice a week

I enjoy streaming, and I need to do it regularly and more often, so I am gonna get this sorted, with at least one video games, and one painting stream a week.

I will be carrying out some upgrades to the setup this year, the ones that are top of the list are to replace the Logitech C920, with a better camera, the favourite for that is the Elgato Facecam, its expensive, but considering the sheer amount of other Elgato stuff I have, it makes sense as its all designed to work together.

The second upgrade will be a third Elgato Keylight Air because that way I can have a hair light in every single one my configurations.

Complete my 2023 VideoGameGeek Video Game Challenge

I want to hjardcore 10 games this year as part of the 2023 VideoGameGeek Video Game Challenge, which means getting them all completed, and you can see my list here.

The list is :-

I have three alternatives, and they are:-

Read 40 Books

Quite simple, read 40 books, but I am struggling if I should include audio books in this, I am conflicted.

With my brain damage, reading has proven difficult these past 18 months and I am way behind on my reading, and audio books are way way easier for me to process when the pain is bad, but I am admit to a degree of snobbery and I expect more of myself.

Get Edge of Empire Running Like a Well Oiled Machine

Sounds silly, but my disaster of a year has lead to Edge of Empire, not being run as smoothly, its taking me far too long to edit and publish.

And I need to sort out a proper social media policy and guidelines for the guys so we deliver a consistent message, and I get promo for each episode done right.

And actually talk to the guys about a couple of content requests we have had from Patreon.

A Bimonthly RPG Night With the Polycule

Simple enough, get us sat down together round a table once every other month at a minimum to play an RPG, not sure which way to go, Star Trek Adventures, D&D One (when it comes out), Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, Avatar Legends or Warhammer Age of Sigmer: Soulbound.

Either way we have agreed as a polycule to buy the Dungeons & Dragons Adventurer partworks to build up a way of getting us all back into RPGs slowly and competently.

There being 4 of us, it means we will be buying one issue each a month, and I will pay the additional cost per issue for the premium stuff, cause minis are cool!

Anyway that’s the plan, other things I am considering doing in the year, but these are more purchases I would like to make mostly.

Get my tool bag up to scratch and buy a new ratcheting screwdriver (the favourites for this are MegaPro Ratcheting 13-In-1 Multibit or the LTT Screwdriver) and a set of iFixt equipment to make repairs to electronics
Upgrade the home media server, which is currently a Raspberry Pi, to a an x64 based system and get Home Assistant up and running in the house to better link together our smart home stuff
Make the PLEX and AudioBookShelf services better organised and easier to use when away from home
Budget up and begin saving for a good NAS for the house
Upgrade my monitor to at least 1440p
Rearrange my budget to allow a subscription to PS+
Get under the desk and actually cable manage that disaster area properly!

Christmas!

By michael

On 30th December 2022

In Blog

Well Christmas happened, and I spent most of it ill, which wasn’t fun.

This cold/flu is kicking my arse and I just can’t shake it, it’s got my sleep cycle all to pot and taking away any pep I have.

Anyway I did enjoy Christmas, me and Lindsay went to Paul’s for Christmas dinner which was lovely.

Present wise, Megan got me a Lord Veritant for my Stormcast Eternals and Lindsay got me some Death Maidens and Wyld Runners for my Escher gang. I also got some tools off Paul which will come in lots of help, alongside a £15 Xbox voucher.

But alas most of it was spent dying in bed 🙁

What I Am Modelling

First up I painted up a Scout Squad for my Imperial Fists.

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I then painted the T’au Cris Suit Team, and a Commander, all armed with lots of Plasma.

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So what’s up next?

Imperial Fists Contemptor Dreadnought
Ultramarines Intercessors x 5
Silver Tower Heroes
Blood Angels Repulsor
Templar Brethren x 10 & Sigismund
Hobgrot Slittaz x 20
Leagues of Votann Kâhl and Einhyr Champion
The Crimson Court
Ultramaines Lieutenants x 8
Battle Sisters Squad x 10

What I Am Reading

I published a review of Shadow Avengers by Carrie Harris that you can read here.

I also consumed Planet Havoc by Tim Waggoner in more or less a single session, really really good book, my review is here.

I then started on Sword of the White Horse by Elsa Sjunneson, an Assassins Creed novel, and I demolished that as well, the review is here.

I then read some short stories starting with Harrowhand by Evan Dicken, which was a fun little story.

I then turned to Warhammer Horror and read Pain Engine by Chris Thursten which was a little predictable but still very creepy.

After that I hit up Somewhere Sister by Jeremy Lambert, which was fairly unsettling.

Next up was The Fields of Abundance by David Annandale, which was a lot of fun!

Then I read The Stacks by Chris Winterton which was quite scary and horrific!

Moving on, I read Sacred Hate by David Annandale, a fantastic little Word Bearers story, for a Legion I love so much!

After than It Bleeds by David Guymer was an interesting little story, very interesting World Eaters story that shows how hate can consume you and turn you into that which you loath.

Then it was A More Perfect Union by Rich McCormick, which was an interesting Emperors Childrens short.

Then it was The Shel’Tain Affair by Jude Reid, which was a really good story!

After that I started a full book with The Siege of X-41 by Tristan Palmgren, which I got finished fairly quickly, review coming next week.

Then I moved on to Stars & Stripes by Sean Grigsby and Stewart Hotson, review coming next week!

And then I started on Age of the Undead by C. L.Werner.

What I Am Creating

The final (probably) Edge of Empire episode of our 6th year was published and we delved into the Liber Imperium.

What I Am Winning

I won a copy of Warhammer 40,000 Darktide for Steam which was cool, alas I already owned it, so I gifted it to a member of the Edge of Empire Listeners Community in a contest of my own!

I also won a copy of Night of the Scissors on Steam too, which was really cool.

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I also won a code for Cubic Parking for PS4, but the code was for Japan (sad face, make sure to read T&Cs) but I have a friend in Japan so the code was passed to her.

To continue the prize winning, I won a Steam code for Euro Truck Simulator 2.

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Continuing a great streak, I won ForeVR Cornhole for my Meta Quest!

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I also won a Flexipot BS9 chair on Twitter which turned up on Thursday.

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What I Am Spending

I did but myself the final Far Cry 6 DLC, Lost Between Worlds for the Xbox.

And I also bought Grand Theft Auto IV: The Complete Edition in the Steam sale.

Mood:- So Ill
Caffeinated Beverages Consumed:- 4
In My Ears:- I Want A Dog – Weezer
Tabletop Game Last Played:- Just One
Video Game Last Played:- Warhammer 40,000 Darktide
Book Last Read:- Age of the Undead – C. L. Werner
Movie Last Watched:- Enola Holmes
TV Show Last Watched:- Ms. Marvell
Current State of Projects:- Bunch of Stuff Just Primed

Sword of the White Horse

By michael

On 30th December 2022

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Assassins Creed book Sword of the White Horse by the amazing Elsa Sjunneson , 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 going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

I also think I may have met Elsa at the Dublin WorldCon, but I met a lot of people that week and my memory is still addled by the curse of brain damage!

So let’s crack on with a review then!

What is Assassin Creed

Assassins Creed is an adventure game franchise published by Ubisoft (One of my Edge of Empire Co-hosts used to work there as well I should probably mention), and depicts a millennia-old conflict between the Assassins, who fight to preserve free will, and the Templars who desire to bring around peace by controlling people.

The games take place throughout various historical periods, the original 2007 game being set in the era of the 3rd Crusades, and the latest game Assassins Creed Valhalla, set in the Viking Invasion of Britain, and that is the setting of this book.

The Story

This book is set after the events of the main Assassins Creed Valhalla game, and before any of the DLC in 878.

Niamh, a witch-warrior of Avalon and her clan, the Women of the Mist finds herself given a mission by The Lady, the leader of Avalon, to respond to a letter sent by The Hidden Ones, and infiltrate the organisation to find out what their plan is.

Travelling from Argyll beyond Hadrian’s Wall to the city of Lunden in Mercia, she finds herself drawn into the conflict between the Hidden Ones and the Order of the Ancients, as she works to uncover the threat the latter poses to the people of her faith, and the Women of the Mist.

Challenged in her preconceptions, she has to put aside prejudice to work with Northmen, Romans and those from further afield, as she seeks to find an ancient relic, which if acquired by the Order of Ancients, could lead the islands into darkness.

Conclusion

I have yet to play Assassins Creed Valhalla, but the stuff I do know fit in quite well with the book, and it was rather enjoyable.

I devoured it, in two sittings, finding myself unable to put it down until I was literally too sleepy to concentrate.

I was kinda hoping for a bit more of her learning the trade of the Hidden Ones, and ascending the ranks to become an Assassin, but the story didn’t need it, if anything, I would have loved this book to be twice as long.

A lot of excellent world building and the sights, sounds and smells of Mercia felt so real, its a very descriptive story.

There was a lot of great stuff that forced Niamh to overcome prejudices, especially towards Christians and Northmen, as she found herself working to save and work with people from those backgrounds, whilst keeping her true motives hidden, despite knowing the two groups should be natural allies.

I was really excited by this book, and was looking forward to it, but I really wish it was longer.

My only real criticism, is that character development felt, shallow, which I think was a compromise between fitting so much story in and keeping its length down. But I could never really get a good grasp on Niamhs character, was she a planner or did she go by the seat of her pants, cause she kinda never seemed to fit into either, and I struggled to understand her personality.

Also it did feel like the novelisation of a game, with distances and time being a bit wishy washy, but that’s just nitpicking.

I am giving it 4 out of 5 stars, which feels stingy for how much I enjoyed it, but I really think the faults it did have, really could have been resolved with more pages.

Sword of the White Horse is out now as a paperback, ebook and audiobook.

Planet Havoc

By michael

On 26th December 2022

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Zombicide Invader book Planet Havoc by Tim Waggoner, 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 going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

So let’s crack on with a review then!

What is Zombicide

Zombicide Invader is a co-op adventure game set in a post zombie apocalyptic world, created by Guillotine Games and published by CMON.

Each player controls a survivor, as they look to complete a narrative objective before being overrun by Xenos, who come in various different forms, the more you kill, the more skilled you get and the more Xenos you can kill.

Its a spin off of the popular Zombicide games.

The Story

The story sees a mercenary crew, employed by a new Guild, Leviathan, who aim to plunder the planet of a mysterious new source of fuel.

Upon landing on the planet they discover the neighboring planet was devastated by a vicious race of aliens called the Xenos, potentially linked to the new fuel.

But pursuing the mercenaries is a quarantine ship, who aim to stop them landing on this quarantined world, and preventing them from finding out its secrets.

Conclusion

Right off the bat, I read one chapter, went to sleep, the next night I picked it up intending to read a little bit more and couldn’t put it down and read it until its conclusion.

Its an amazing, well written and fantastic book, filled with wonderful characters, ok the aliens aren’t really zombies, but close enough, they kind of remind me of Tyranids.

The mercenaries have the more colourful variety of characters, but the military aren’t completely without charm.

Look I am not sure what else I can say, its a great book, go buy it and read it, you won’t regret it.

Oh and Tim, sequel???

5 out of 5 stars!

Planet Havoc is out now as a paperback, eBook and audiobook!

Nerdy Musical Advent 2022 – 23rd December – Dancing Baby Groot – Kirby Krackle

By michael

On 24th December 2022

In Nerdy Music Advent

Its been a long time since we featured Kirby Krackle and what better way to do so than we this song about dancing baby Groot!

Lets face it, it was the best MCU post credit scene thus far!

Shadow Avengers

By michael

On 24th December 2022

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Marvel Crisis Protocol book Shadow Avengers by Carrie Harris, 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 going to try my best to not let this cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

What is Marvel

Look at this point I would bore you with a bit of background to the game/universe, but lets not, you all know the Marvel Universe, if you don’t have you been living under a rock!

Marvel Crisis Protocol is a tabletop skirmish miniatures game from Atomic Mass Games based on the Marvel comic characters, with its starter set conations five of the Avengers (Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Spider-Man and Black Widow) and five of the Kabel (Barron Zemo, Red Skull, Crossbones, Doctor Octopus and Ultron).

I own the core set and its well worth investing into, if you fancy it you can purchase it from my Element Games affiliate link!

The Story

This novel starts up a few months following the first book in the series Target Kree by Stuart Moore with Doctor Strange having kept a group of heroes, he calls the Shadow Avengers, to investigate and deal with ongoing threat of Dormammu, a mystical being who desires to bring the entire multiverse under his control, and the Aconyte universe is now square in his sights.

The story kicks off with Spider-Man finding Loki and Venom battling around an OSCORP chemical tanker, pumping a strange green goo down into the water supply.

This leads Doctor Strange, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Black Panther, Wong, and She-Hulk going up against Loki, Venom and the Green Goblin as they investigate a series of mysterious portals opening in Wakonda and New York City, and figure out what these have to do with Dormammu and his sinister plans!

Conclusion

The last book in the series was difficult to review, but as a result it makes this book easier to review, it feels in many ways like the kind of campaign you yourself could play at home, and at the same time, is a really enjoyable story.

Yes, its rather obvious where the story was going, it wasn’t exactly filled with unexpected twists, other than the origin of the stories Asgardians.

But it was very fund to read, very cinematic in nature, and I could easily see this being the novelisation of an animated film, the locations were very well described and I felt like the locations were very real and you could almost feel being in a crocodile filled swamp at one point!

The heart of this book is Ms Marvel, and she really brings out the best aspects of all the charcters, even managing to break through Doctor Strange’s arrogance, and I found using her inexperience in the Avengers as a place for us to sit in her shoes, to be really good and very similar to the introduction of Kitty Pryde to the X-Men.

And the relationship between her and Spider-Man was fantastic, a teacher/student relationship slash big brother/little sister.

I really enjoyed this book and actually went out and bought the physical book as a Christmas present for one of my nibblings about halfway through reading it!

4.5 out of 5 stars!

Shadow Avengers is out now as an ebook and paperback!

Nerdy Musical Advent 2022 – 23rd December – Desolation Row – My Chemical Romance

By michael

On 23rd December 2022

In Nerdy Music Advent

This is a rather mainstream cover of one of Bob Dylans greatest hit, but its a song which features a lot in Alan Moore’s Watchmen with the title of the first chapter “At Midnight All the Agents” being ripped from the lyrics.

Watchmen was one of the first serious comic I was introduced to, probably way way too young, but I still love it, my mum less so when I asked what a whore was on Christmas morning when I opened it!

Anyway, My Chemical Romance covered the song for the soundtrack to Zack Snyder’s film version of the story, which I enjoyed, but I know was controversial.