Painting At Last

By

On 22nd June 2024

In Blog

Since Insulationgate last October, at least one wall in every room of the house has needed a coat of paint.

And yeah it’s a bit depressing, due to disagreements between the insulation contractors, the landlord and the government, we decided to cut them all out and decorate ourselves.

It’s not that we couldn’t have just waited for them to sort it out, it’s more, we want to avoid massive disruption, so we are doing this ourselves at our own pace.

Megans room is the first to be done, we had to start with a mist coat, which was very runny.

That was done on the Monday, two coats overall.

The on Tuesday, we did three coats of Brilliant White, yeah it’s full, but it’s what the rest of the rooms are painted. When you rent it’s often easier to keep what the landlord had, so we don’t need to redecorate too much when we eventually move out.

It took three coats, but we got there in the end.

The next room getting done is mine and Lindsay’s bedroom and we may at the same time do the ceiling in my studio.

The studio is going to get a bit of a refurb at the same time, we are adding the 3D printer there, so taking the time to change a few things up, especially now that Lindsay works up there and I will never be using the gaming table again as a result.

So yeah that’s about it, gonna do Lindsay’s room next week, and that will be fun!

What I Am Modelling

I started off with the Von Ryan’s Leapers for the Tyranid’s Combat Patrol

All that’s needed for this one now is to finish off the Barbgaunts

Then I painted a Vindicator for the Inperial Fists

After that I started on Krondys, Son of Dracothion

I also painted up this Guardian Idol

And I have a box full of Stormcast stuff that’s never been touched, so I am thinking of painting them up as Hallowed Knights, I already have Gardus Steel Soul painted up.

So I used the Gamer Grass base I got from the UK Game Expo to paint up this test model, which I am rather happy with

I then painted a Hellbrute for the Chaos Soace Marines Combat Patrol

Followed by two units of Sporesplatta Fanatics for the Gloomspite Gitz

So what’s up next for me then?

  1. Deathwing Terminators x 5, Terminator Ancient, Bladeguard Lieutenant & Apothecary Biologis
  2. Chaos Havocs x 5
  3. Paragon Warsuits with Heavy Bolters x 3
  4. Spirit of Durthu
  5. Sisters of Silence x 10
  6. Blade Champion
  7. T’au Commander
  8. Escape From San Canciano Gangs x 8
  9. Dark Angels Assault Intercessors x 10
  10. Genestealers x 20 & Broodlord

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Played my last two league games, first against Neal and his Genestealer Cults

And then I played Leon and his T’au!

Lost both games, and right now I am wondering if I lost the games, or if I won the Wooden Spoon!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Not much this week, but I did get a single session of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag streamed!

What I Am Winning

Won a copy of Football Manager 2024 from a Twitter competition on Twitter, which is nice, especially with Euro 2024 going on!

What I Am Backing

The Colour Forge Signature Series was fully funded, so hopefully soon I will get a nice can of spray paint and some stickers and cards!

What I Am Spending

I went ahead and bought my first Legions Imperialis models that aren’t Titans or Aircraft and grabbed myself a pair of Solar Auxilia Baneblades

Decided to LI that I am gonna go heavy on the Auxilia with only small amounts of Marines in support

I got myself a bargain and bought Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection for Steam.

UK Games Expo 2024

By

On 13th June 2024

In Blog

I spent the other week at the UK Games Expo as a volunteer on IT and it was a knackering but amazing few days.

I really enjoyed it and I will absolutely being doing it again next year if they will have me, but I do have to be more realistic about my physical abilities and perhaps I need a job with more sitting down.

My journey to Birmingham was pretty bad, we got continually stuck in traffic, including being in the middle of a bunch of cars headed to a funeral that were following a marching band.

And finally the bus broke down as we left Manchester, and we had to wait over an hour for a replacement, so all in all it was a typical MegaBus journey!

I didn’t get to play many games, but the one that stood out to me was Samurai, but its long out of print, so I will be buying Pollen instead which is in print, if a little expensive.

There were a few cool things that peaked my interest, the DRPA Case and other stuff from Tabletop Tech, the amazing Colour Forge, TT Combat and their Strike Team Commander, Catalyst had Battletech which had me all nostalgic, and Gamer Grass had some amazing stuff as well.

Next year I need to take more notes to give a fuller report!

What I Am Modelling

On my return I hit the Chaos Space Marine Legionnaires of the True Sons

Alongside a Dark Apostle and friends

Plus an Aspiring Champion

After that a Branchwych

And then I painted a couple of units of Tree-Revenants

Plus I got Captain Karlaen of the Blood Angels finished

I am currently working on some Von Ryan’s Leapers for the Tyranids!

So what’s next?

  1. Imperial Fists Vindicator
  2. Von Ryan’s Leapers x 3
  3. Krondys
  4. Deathwing Terminators x 5, Deathwing Ancient & Bladeguard Lieutenant
  5. Soresplatta Fanatics x 12
  6. Havocs x 5
  7. Paragon Warsuits with Heavy Bolters x 3
  8. Spirit of Durthu
  9. Sisters of Silence x 10
  10. Blade Champion

What I Am Reading

I listened to Arrangements for War by Paul Sutton which was very good, but the ending was really heart breaking!

Now I am listening to Catachan Devil by Justin Woolley, which good, nice insight to the mind of Ork Kommandos

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I got a couple of games of 40K in at the weekend, playing both Dale and Craig in the 40K league, and if I don’t win the wooden spoon I will be peeved!!!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Bit of this and that, mostly God of War, Sonic Origins and I started Death Stranding.

What I Am Backing

I have backed The Colour Forge Signature Series, pretty sure I want the Reliquary Red by Hellstorm Gaming!

What I Am Spending

From UK Games Expo, I bought

Escape from San Canciano for Carnevale

A new cutting mat, clippers, knife, tape measure plus the Fresh Corrosion and Old Rust paints

I was sold a bottle of Sir Coates Steel, as well as the Sir Coates Models from the Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy

I got some Army Painter Fanatic paints and my first Speedpaint 2.0

The Colour Forge gave me a mini Dry Brush Palette

And finally from the UK Games Expo, a Apothecary Biologis and a Bladeguard Lt for my Dark Angels!

We also pulled the trigger and paid for a Elegoo Saturn 4 Ultra.

I had been set for the Saturn 4, but damn the reviews and even Megan, just were clear on how much better the Ultra was over the standard model.

So now just to wait for the postman to deliver it!

It was Humble Choice, so I bagged the following!

And to add to that I also bought

Not so much mine, but Lindsay did get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bundle from Humble Bundle, which I will be reading plenty of!

Off To UK Games Expo

By

On 29th May 2024

In Blog

Posting this weeks post early because today I am off to the UK Games Expo, an event I love to do.

This year, as my Asmodee contract ended, I am volunteering directly with the Expo itself, my job is being split between IT and the Bring and Buy.

Most of my time will be spent setting up the IT equipment to run the expo and a few hours spent helping in the Bring and Buy.

I am going by Megabus from Middlesbrough to Birmingham via Manchester!

Firstly Lindsay took me to ASDA for lunch, would have preferred Tesco, but they don’t go back to normal hours until Monday, but I grabbed a wrap and energy drink, plus a bottle of coke for the coach, and then we drove to Boro where I hopped on to the bus and here we are.

The Megabus is certainly better than I remember, more legroom and even a plug socket for my Steam Deck, not that it worked, but the thought counts right!

What I Am Modelling

I started out with some Blood Angels, painting first a Terminator Captain

Here is a Drop Pod for the scions of Baal

And as a diversion a Dark Angels Lieutenant

A Captain in Gravis Armour

As well as a Lieutenant with Auto Bolt Rifle and one with a Power Sword

And a Captain in Catapractii Terminator Armour

The I painted two sets of Easy to Build Reviers, which gave us a full squads worth of them

And finally a pair of Primaris Captains as well

I still have Captain Karlaen on the desk, but he is about 50% done

So once back from Expo, what awaits me?

  1. Captain Karlaen
  2. Tree Revenants x 10 & Branchwych
  3. Chaos Space Marines x 10 & Dark Apostle
  4. Imperial Fists Vindicator
  5. Von Ryan’s Leapers x 3
  6. Krondys
  7. Dark Angles Terminators x 5 & Terminator Ancient
  8. Sporesplatta Fanatics x 10
  9. Chaos Havocs x 5
  10. Paragon Waitsuits with Heavy Bolters x 3

What I am Reading

I finished The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath and it was so much fun, really awesome story that also shows off the horror of the C’Tan!

I also listened to Arrangements for War by Paul Sutton, but I will have to finish it on the bus.

What Video Games I Am Playing

Not a lot really, been busy getting sorted to go to Expo, and finishing these Blood Angels.

But I had a bit of time in God of War and been doing the fleet stuff in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

What I Am Creating

The latest episode of Edge of Empire has dropped!

And the latest Battle Report is out, this time with Dark Angels (as played by Megan vs the Deamons of Khorne!

What I Am Spending

I bought myself a new battery bank, this one will work brilliantly for the Steam Deck and allows me to only use USB-C for all my charging needs now

And I also got myself a few things from Elements games, some paints, brushes and a T’au Commander and a Custodes Blade Champion for the Combat Patrols

With the Ghost of Tsushima win last week, I was able to trade in my PS5 copy to CEX for £26 and pay £9 to get a copy of God of War Ragnarok for PS5

And Lindsay, the minx plus Megan the badger, were able to grab me a copy of Stormbringer 67 with Vanquihers in it!

I also bought Dave The Diver for Steam and was given a key for Crash Time III.

An Election

By

On 25th May 2024

In Blog

So there is going to be an election, I don’t have much to say on the matter.

But get to know your candidates and vote for the person you think would do best for your area.

But what I would like to say is that right now, the UK is broken, schools are falling apart due to dodgy concrete, the roads are full of potholes, rent is stupidly high, the cost of living is out of control and things are just broken.

So with that in mind, I think we need to make a choice on who we think is best placed to fix whats gone wrong over the past few years.

What I Am Modelling

I started out with a Mega Boss on Maw-Krusha to join my Ironjawz

After that it was a Pshycopage for the Tyranids Combat Patrol

Followed by some Boungrot Bounders for the Gloomspite Gitz

I then painted up some Glaivewraith Stalkers I had sitting in a box, they were in a weird state, a bit of disreppair, no idea how I came into ownership of them, but I didn’t build them, so there was a bit of work involved, but they give me a chance to try out some new rust techniques.

Its my intent to go back to the Nighthaunt and rust up their weapons a bit when they next come out of storage!

I also had some Myrmourn Banshees in a similar state, so I got those painted too,

Both these sets have awesome bases, but I think they are a bit too detailed for what they are, basic stuff for beginners.

And I got the Ultramarines Invader ATVs painted up as well, the first with a Onslaught Gatling Cannon

And a second with Multi-Melta

So what’s up next?

  1. Tree-Revenants x 10 & Branchwych
  2. Chaos Space Mariens x 10 & Dark Apostle
  3. Blood Angels Captains x 6
  4. Imperial Fists Vindicator
  5. Von Ryan’s Leapers x 3
  6. Krondys
  7. Deathwing Terminators x 5 & Terminator Ancient
  8. Sporesplatta Fanatics
  9. Chaos Havoc x 5
  10. Paragon Warsuits with Heavy Bolters x 3

What I Am Reading

I listened to Living Legend by Scott Gray which was a charming bit of fun!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Played some more Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

And some Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, which I finished!

What I Am Backing

CARnage 2 was funded successfully and as I said, I backed at £1 so I get access to the Backerkit afterwards

What I Am Winning

Won a copy of Ghosts of Tsushima on PC from @gameolder2024 on Twitter, so super happy about that!

What I Am Spending

I had an Amazon voucher from a redund, so I grabbed Bayonetta 3 for the Switch, just need to hunt down a copy of the second game without being ripped off now!

And I managed to grab this dock for my Steam Deck for just £5, and it works pretty well!

I also bought on Steam

Managing The PLEX Server Better

By

On 17th May 2024

In Blog

At the minute my servers files are all over the place, we have 13TB of space but the files are spread out randomly with some films and TV series on each drive, audio books split into 3 folders, 8 different book folders and documentaries and kids stuff spread out all over the shop!

So we are struggling with managing what’s where, and thus, we decided to expand with another 4TB of space, by adding this drive from Amazon to it

So right now I have all the films transferring into this, which should mostly fill it, the last folder is currently transferring and will need a little over 20 hours to complete the move!

Then all TV Series will be moved to the 6TB drive, and other stuff, like documentaries, kids, concerts, standup, anime etc, will move on to the original 4TB drive.

Music has already been transferred to its own dedicated 1TB drive which it’s nowhere near filling as I have still transferred barely anything of our music collection over!

That will leave a 2TB drive, which is going to store things like books, comics for which I intend to install Kavita in an attempt to do for books what AudioBookShelf is doing for audio books.

So to summarise what we have right now is

  • 4TB HDD – Movies
  • 6TB HDD & 1TB HDD – TV Series
  • 1TB HDD – Music
  • 4TB HDD – Other Media (Anime/Audiobooks/Documentaries/Kids etc)
  • 2TB – Books/Comics

The last stuff being transferred is the final TV Series stuff from the original 4TB HDD to the 6TB HDD

The process is allowing me to do some long overdue data hygiene as well!

Long term a dedicated device for the server will happen, with bigger hard drives running in RAID and offering NAS functions, but that’s gonna happen after I decide what to do about upgrading my PC next.

I am torn between replacing the mobo, CPU and RAM and moving to an AM5 CPU, or upgrading either the GPU to a 4070 Super or perhaps even just the CPU to a 5800X3D, just got to figure out what’s gonna give the best result for my meagre £s

What I Am Modelling

I started with an Aleguzzler Gargant for the Gloomspite Gitz.

Plus Johann Strehn, the greatest every hero of the Mortal Realms!

I painted up a Lasrifle Section for the Solar Auxilia

Alongside a Command Section

I then painted some Sneaky Snufflers for the Gloomspite Gitz

Followed by some Reinforcements for the Space Wolves, starting with a pair of Battle Leader.

To Accompany a squad of Primaris Infiltrators.

Who are covered by a squad of Eliminators

So what’s up next?

  1. Psychophage
  2. Megaboss on a Maw-Krusha
  3. Boingrot Bounders x 10
  4. Ultramarines Invader ATV x 2
  5. Tree-Revenants x 10 & Branch-Wych
  6. Chaos Space Marines x 10 & Dark Apostle
  7. Blood Angels Primaris Captains x 3
  8. Imperial Fists Vindicator
  9. Von Ryan’s Leapers c 3
  10. Krondys

What I Am Reading

Not had much time or spoons to read, but I did listen to Doctor Who and the Invasion from Space which was wonderfully retro!

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Played a league game against Joshua and his Sisters of Battle, and he tore me apart!

And I played Paul and his Leagues of Votann which beat me, but it was a really fun and fantastic game!

I also went to the November Echo Heresy Tournament in Heaton playing this 2000 points Imperial Fists list

+ HQ: +

Fafnir Rann: Warlord

+ Elites: +

Apothecarion Detachment
. Apothecary: Bolt Pistol, Power Armour
. . Chainsword: Chainsword

Contemptor Dreadnought Talon
. Contemptor Dreadnought: Gravis Autocannon, Gravis Autocannon, Havoc Launcher

Templar Brethren: 9x Brethren, 9x Combat Shield, Legion Vexilla, Meltabombs
. Champion: Bolt Pistol, Combat Shield, Master-craft a weapon, Solarite Power Gauntlet
. Land Raider Proteus Carrier: Twin-linked Heavy Bolter

+ Troops: +

Tactical Squad
. Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolter, Lightning Claw, Meltabombs, Power Armour, Volkite Serpenta
. 8x Legionaries (collective): 8x Bolt Pistol, 8x Bolter, 8x Chain Bayonet
. Legionary w/ Options:: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Chain Bayonet, Legion Vexilla

Tactical Squad
. Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolter, Meltabombs, Plasma Pistol, Power Armour, Solarite Power Gauntlet
. 8x Legionaries (collective): 8x Bolt Pistol, 8x Bolter, 8x Chain Bayonet
. Legionary w/ Options:: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Chain Bayonet, Legion Vexilla

+ Heavy Support: +

Heavy Support Squad: Lascannon
. Legion Support Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Power Armour
. 3x Legionaries (collective): 3x Bolt Pistol
. Legionary w/ Options: Augury Scanner, Bolt Pistol

Kratos Squadron
. Kratos: 2x Heavy Bolters, Hull (Front, Right/Left) Mounted Heavy Bolters
. . Kratos Battlecannon

Sicaran Squadron
. Sicaran: 2x Heavy Bolters, Heavy Bolter

My first game was against Brendan, which was close, but not quite good enough on my part

Then I played Graham and got tabled, as usual

Followed by a game against Gareth’s Solar Auxilia who tore me apart!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Some more Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

I finished Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster which was a lot of fun!

And I have started God of War (2018) again, and enjoying it so far!

What I Am Creating

The next battle report has been published, so please go check it out!

What I Am Backing

I am backing CARnage 2 – STL Cars, weapons and more for auto combat games but just at the $1 level for access to the pledge manager at the end cause I cannot afford the main pledge level right now!

What I Am Spending

Lindsay and Megan wanted a better way to use Apple Fitness +, so we got an old and cheap, Apple TV HD, in cosmetically bad condition (but works great) from CEX

It’s now been attached to the back of the TV, and will also allow me to play Fantasian I guess!

I also got a Space Wolves Combat Patrol

And I used my Warhammer+ discount code to grab a couple of t-shirts from Warhammer Merch, an Imperial Fists one and a Sisters of Battle one.

And a couple more video games.

And of course it was Humble Choice time so I got

Resolutions Update – April 2024

By

On 8th May 2024

In Blog

Ok its been a bad month, lets get this over with!

Complete 6 Combat Patrols – 33% Complete

No real updates here, but I have now got the Sisters of Silence I need for the original Custodes Patrol

The Chaos Daemons and Death Guard Combat Patrols are now at home too!

Bring My Gloomspite Gitz to 2000 Point – 85.5% Complete

Noting to report here, but right now the Aleguzzler Gargant has been finished and Sneaky Snufflers are on the painting desk

Get My Drukhari To 2000 Points – 58% Complete

The Haemonculus was finished

Complete My Video Game Geek Hardcore 10! – 50% Complete

So this is where we stand now

Alternative Three

I have recently started Final Fantasy II and am currently about halfway through it

Read 40 Books – 57% Complete

This month I have read/listened to

Start the Combat Patrol Battle Reports

OK these aren’t going so well, but two are in production as we speak, taking into account feedback from viewers etc.

DAKboard

By

On 6th May 2024

In Blog

As many of you know, I am a diagnosed AuDHD person and one of the things that benefits me, is a visual list of what I need to do, but well, paper isn’t working and we have been looking for a more techy solution for a while.

We were looking at a screen just showing a .txt file for my to do list, and I spoke to Paul about it on Friday, but thinking, hey someone must have done this before, so I googled it and found a few things that would do the job.

I saw the MagicMirror 2 software, but it just wasn’t going to work due to the issues adding modules, needing to be done via terminal and I just don’t have the spoons for it right now.

So instead we are going with DAKboard, which isn’t open source and less customisable, but does the job really well.

Initially I was going to use a TV we had lying around, but well, there was an accident 🙁

So I turned to the old monitor I used for my second screen, and well, its not as good, but its done ok.

So I downloaded the DAKboard software and installed it to the SD card, after a few false starts due to the issues with a counterfeit card I got from Amazon.

I then had to wire up some new extension cables to power it, plus move a set of sockets from behind the bookcase to use with the hoover!

But inserted into my Raspberry Pi and it worked like a dream!

Had to order some specific length cables for the monitor power and the Micro HDMI to DVI needs, but now they are in, it looks a lot cleaner and is perfect for our use case

If this works, we will be buying a touchscreen screen better in the year to allow for dismissing of tasks on the DAKboard interface directly

In the meantime, this has the local weather, our calendars, and both the household and my to do list!

Here is hoping it does the job!

What I Am Modelling

Most was building stuff, but I did get a few things painted, starting with some Thermic Plasma Conduits for Zone Mortalis

And some random stuff, plus a set of Alcomite Stacks for the board too

I also finally painted the Arbite Arbitratror from the Model of the Month a while back.

And some Hobgrot Slittaz were painted too

And Dryca Hamadreth was painted too!

And after that it was a set of Arco-Flaggents for my Sisters

Plus some Sisters Repentia

Then came a Dark Angels Intercessor Squad

Followed by a Dark Angels Ancient

For the Blood Angels, I got a Squad of Eliminators painted

Plus Radukar the Wolf which I got with Stormbringer

And an Assassins from the Cities of Sigmar, also from Stormbringer

So whats up next?

  1. Sneaky Snufflers x 12
  2. Lasrifle Section x 20
  3. Space Wolves Infiltrators x 10, Eliminators x 3 & Battle Leader in Phobos Armour
  4. Psychophage
  5. Megaboss on Maw-Krusha
  6. Boingrot Bounders x 10
  7. Ultramarines Invader ATV x 2
  8. Tree-Revenants x 10 & Branchwych
  9. Chaos Space Marines x 10 & Dark Apostle
  10. Blood Angels Primaris Captains x 4

What I Am Reading

I have been listening to The Infinite and the Divine by Robert Rath.

And before that is was The Twilight Kingdom by Will Shindler.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Got a few league games in, the first was against Matthews Space Marines, which was a loss, but not so bad that I felt outmatched

Then I took on George’s Tyranids, and yeah that was a bloodbath for me!

I was also able to get in a game of Heresy against Paul, and was able to try out Knights in Heresy for the first time in 2.0

What Video Games I Am Playing

Got a couple of sessions of Assassins’s Creed IV: Black Flag in on Stream

I am also playing Final Fantasy II on my Steam Deck, which is a very different game to the first one I played a few months ago

What I Am Backing

I backed a 3D Printing project, the Sci-Fi Outpost – PAY WHAT YOU WANT, which has now completed its funding cycle, and will hopefully soon deliver me some cool STLs!

What I Am Spending

I bought the Sisters of Silence I need for the first Custodes Combat Patrol, along with some paints

And a new microphone to help with Battle Reports, now that they have to be done on Lindsay’s MacBook

And Leon bought a fourth Kroot launch box, so I bought the Codex and Data Cards off him for the T’au

And I bought a few games too for my PC, these were:-

For The Love of the Phantom Menace

By

On 5th May 2024

In Blog

Last night myself, Lindsay & Megan went to the cinema to see Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and I loved it.

Look I know it gets a lot of hated but it has always had, and always will, held a special place for me.

First up, it was the very first “new” Star Wars I ever saw in the cinema, ok I saw the Special Editions when they were released, but they don’t count cause they weren’t “new”.

And sitting in the cinema in Ipswich with my friends all cosplaying characters, the moment the fanfare hits, was a special moment, and it was so exciting, we waited months, counting down the days, consuming as much as the early Internet reported about it, and frankly we weren’t disappointed.

I know it’s not the strongest of the movies, but if you see it for what it is, a kids film, a film made for kids to enjoy then it’s far better and more enjoyable.

It just feels like everything about it worked for me, the soundtrack is beyond epic, literally one of my favourite movie soundtracks of all time, the slow transformation of Anakins theme into the slow tease of the Imperial March, and of course Dual of the Fates, just hits hard!

The special effects might have the odd bit of roughness these days, just in one or two areas where stuff is composited, but they still hold up, the CGI is of a very high standard and the brilliance of the physical effects works so well.

The costumes are all amazing, Queen Amidala’s outfits are so extra, so extravagant and over the top, they just make her character feel so regal. Also a fun game is trying to guess when she is Kiera Knightly playing Sabé pretending to be her, and when it’s Natalie Portman. Also in the comics, Sabé has an interesting story after the Revenge of the Sith.

My favourite part though is how the lightsaber fights were improved upon, in the original trilogy, they were kind of static and a bit stiff, but since The Phantom Menace they have been elevated into real feats of athleticism with jumps and intense fighting.

Look I know it’s not a popular film in the series, but I will always enjoy watching it, and 25 years has not made it less special, if anything it’s made it more special, because I will always have a massive grin on my face when Darth Maul activates his dual bladed lightsabers.

Plus let’s not forget, the prequel era has given us some of Star Wars best media, The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Bad Batch are some of the best stuff ever made for the franchise.

Anyway, don’t at me, cause I am not gonna change my mind on this one!

Grifters & Gamergate 2.0

By

On 24th April 2024

In Blog

Gamergate was an utter debacle; it was horrific, disgusting, and merely an excuse to abuse and harass women and minorities in the gaming industry.

It was never about ethics in gaming journalism. If you believe it was, you’re seriously mistaken and need to reconsider, basically take several seats.

At its core, it was a jilted ex-boyfriend’s revenge plot that spiralled out of control.

Following events like Race Fail and the Sad/Rabid Puppies controversies, it was a dreadful time for enthusiasts like me. All my passions, including gaming, sci-fi, and fantasy literature, felt under attack by far-right zealots.

It took me years to regain my enthusiasm for gaming as my love for it waned alongside my interest in literature.

Now, there are opportunists attempting to ignite a new Gamergate to make themselves relevant again or simply to stir up anger for profit. I refuse to let this happen again.

Take Mark Kern, for example, a once-prominent figure now irrelevant since being ousted from his company in 2013 due to his egregious behaviour.

And it’s disheartening to see creators I once admired, like Lady Decade, getting involved, which really stings.

Yet they persist, desperately seeking to spark a new “scandal”. Their efforts with Sweet Baby, who actually advised for widely praised changes in games, have failed.

They’ve targeted Stellar Blade, lauding it as “Game of the Year” material solely for its characters tits and arse and ‘jiggle physics’, blatantly ignoring the story and gameplay, they never mention that at all, so I have no idea if the game is actually any good.

Now, they’re criticising a tabletop RPG adaptation of Tomb Raider because it focuses on uncovering historical truths rather than grave-robbing. Clearly, they’ve never engaged with the Survivor Trilogy, which explores similar themes.

Furthermore, there’s constant griping about the portrayal of women in games, claiming they all should look like porn stars with heavy makeup.

Take Aloy, for example; they call her ugly when in fact, she’s stunning and lives in a post-apocalyptic world devoid of beauty salons. And Mary Jane in Spider-Man is portrayed beautifully in a realistic way.

So, if you see me confronting these chuds, know that I’m not backing down this time. This is my hobby, and these ignoramuses need to understand it’s not just a space for cis-het white men!

What I Am Modelling

Started the week with some Tyranids, specifically the Neurolictor

Then the Neurotyrant and its Neuroloids

As well as rebasing my Lictor on to the new 50mm base size

I then painted some Thermic Plasma Regilatoes for Zone Mortalis

And a Haemotrope Reactor too

After that I worked on some Wulfen for my Space Wolves

After that I turned to the Flesh Eater Courts and painted the Royal Beastflayers

Then a couple of Teleport Homers for the Blood Angels

And a squad of Seraphim for my Sister of Battle

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Aa20RI99h/?igsh=OHk4aDU2YW00czY=

The Boarding Actions Terrain was finished up as well. This stuff is going to be used for my Zone Mortalis table mostly, the idea being it’s going to be the neglected and horrible service corridors of my hive

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5_H27rNeyy/?igsh=MXZjb2g5c3ZpdTFrZw==

I still want to add the marketplace stuff, a gang stronghold and some promethium containers, perhaps another set of shipping containers, but for now, I am quite happy with this!

And these Dark Angels Aggressors were finished as well!

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6C9y6qI-dA

So what’s next?

  1. Sisters Repentia x 4
  2. Hobgrot Slittaz x 10
  3. Drycha Hamadreth
  4. Sneaky Snufflers x 12
  5. Lasrifle Section c 20
  6. Arco-Flaggents
  7. Dark Angels Intercessors x 10
  8. Space Wolves Infiltrators x 10 and Battle Leader in Phobos Armour
  9. Paychophage
  10. Mega Boss on a Maw-Krusha

What I Am Reading To

I listened to Mort by Terry Pratchett my first of the new Discworld audiobooks, a real classic story and a hell of an update with a stellar cast!

I weirdly find it far easier to listen to the Discworld books than read them, dunno what it is, but the structure just seems to work better in audio, for myself that is!

Then I moved onto The Natural History of Fear by Jim Mortimer which was fairly interesting, but depressing, but a really cool twist at the end!

I have now started on Deathworlder by Victoria Hayward and am almost through it!

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I played Alex and his Tyranids in the 40K League on Thursday

https://www.instagram.com/p/C58zbCNNUk8/?igsh=MTN1Zm4yanMxZ2R1Mw==

The game went ok until it started and then my army was dismembered, I did ok on objectives, but it was a solid loss

Then on Friday I played Edward and his Aeldari, also for the league

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5_KInENPnH/?igsh=MWFkNnN3N285cGd6cw==

And that was a game in which we both thought I would be tabled by turn 3, but I managed to keep it going and survived the whole game, still a major loss!

Think I am gonna win the leagues wooden spoon!!!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Not much this week, Megan is anxiously waiting on something so I have leant them my Steam Deck to help distract them, they are mostly using it to play Disney Dreamlight Valley, on my Xbox profile I might add!

But I did play some Boltgun

What I Am Creating

We published a new episode of Edge of Empire, this one was a Solar Auxilia special!

What I Am Spending

Not really anything this week, I grabbed a HDD caddy to add a further 2TB for the PLEX server

From a mystery bundle on Fanatical, I got Internet Cafe Simulator 2 and GRIP, and also purchased Oddworld: Soulstorm Enhanced Edition.

I also bought the Train Sim 4: Top Up Your Timetable bundle from Humble Bundle, which scored me

  • West Somerset Railway Route Add-On
  • Southern BR Class 313 EMU Add-On
  • Hamilton – Oakville Add-On
  • Hagen – Finnentrop Route Add-On
  • Duisburg – Bochum Route Add-On
  • Aschaffenberg – Gemunden Route Add-On
  • Marseille – Avignon Route Add-On
  • Boston – Providence Route Add-On
  • Brighton – Eastbourne & Seaford Route Add-On
  • Mainz – Koblenz Route Add-On
  • DB BR 101 Loco Add-On
  • Cheyenne – Laramie Route Add-On
  • DB BR 363 Loco Add-On
  • Ambergate – Chinley & Buxton Route Add-On

And my Saints Row IV key from a previous Humble Bundle finally landed in my account!

A Bit Bummed About The Stormcast

By

On 15th April 2024

In Blog

I love my Stormcast Eternals army, I mean its really fun to play with and I actually love the theme of the army, especially as I play Celestial Vindicators and their colour scheme is amazing.

My favourite chamber, is Sacrosanct and well, GW have announced that 80% of my army is being squatted, which is a real bummer.

Ok the old school Liberators look like they will be fine with the new rules, but so much of my army, seemingly isn’t going to have a Thunderstrike replacement, so yeah pretty bummed out.

It just is quite dishartneing that an army I put my heart and soul into, has lasted barly 6 years before being yeeted.

Its got me feeling really down about AoS 4.0, like I am probably gonna skip the launch box, cause honestly, I am not sure if I buy it, how long those models will be useable for.

I mean I get it, I have argued for a long time that the Stormcast range is bloated, but yeah, that was a pretty extreme solution.

So yeah, I just don’t know if I still have the passion for the game anymore, I just don’t know.

What I Am Modelling

I started the week by painting the Homunculus for my Drukhari army

After which I moved onto a batch of Blood Angels, starting with a Rhino for the Death Company

Then a few Chaplins, starting with one in Terminator Armour

Then a Primaris Chaplain

Followed by one in MKIV Armour

And finally one with a Jump Pack

After that I painted a squad of Death Company, although I left one in the storage box so I will need to get him and paint him to complete the squad

I also painted Saint Celestine and her Geminae Superia

And finally I painted the Expeditionary Navigator for my Solar Auxilia

So what’s up next

  1. Wulfen x 5
  2. Seraphim x 5
  3. Royal Beastflayers
  4. Sisters Repentia x 4
  5. Dark Angels Aggressors x 3
  6. Hobgrot Slittaz x 10
  7. Dryca Hamadreth
  8. Neurotyrant
  9. Sneaky Snuffles x 12
  10. Arco-Flaggents x 4

What I Am Reading

I listened to Grim Investigations and finished it this month!

And now I have started on Terry Pratchett’s Mort!

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Had a game of Horus Heresy with Russel on Friday night, we played Strike and Fade, and I lost 7-3, could have gotten a draw but alas my Terminators just failed to get to the objective in the last turn!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Got back to some Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

What I Am Backing

Our copy of the Firefly The Board Game 10th Anniversary Collectors Edition arrived last Friday and its amazingly huge and I love it!

Cannot wait to play it!

What I Am Spending

It was Humble Choice, so I grabbed that and got

I also bought myself Ghost of Tsushima for PS5, I have been hunting for it, at a reasonable price for a while, and it was on sale at the local Argos, so I leapt on it!

Next on my want list for PS5 is God of War Ragnarok

I also grabbed a couple of extra bottles for our Sodastream, cause ours always need washing and I figure a couple extra will be helpful

I also picked up the mat for my Zone Mortalis board, it’s a 4×4 Undehive Mat from Deep Cut Studios that I ordered from Entoyment

And I also bought these Grundstock Thunderers for my Kharadron Overlord force!

I picked up some Assault Intercessors from a trade on Facebook, no bases, but I have plenty spare

And a second Solar Auxilia Battlegroup was aquired

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