The sixth part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series.
Each issue I will bring you a fully painted White Dwarf style battle report. In this sixth episode, we see the Blood Ravens Aggressors attempt to destroy a Necron Royal Warden.
Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the noble warriors of the Imperium of Mankind.
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This now completes that army to 2000 points and completes my resolution for 2021 for Age of Sigmar.
I then built models to ensure my next 20 projects were ready to go and I got that lot finished on Saturday night.
Annoyingly I had to 3D print a couple of bits for this, first off I managed to lose the back of a head for a B1 Bartledroid for Star Wars Legion, so I basically printed off a droids head to harvest the back of it.
And when building an Imperial Knight, I got a miscast part, luckily it was a part that’s very commonly available as an STL because it allows you to magnetise a weapon, so i printed that and now my Warden has a choice of either the chainsword or the fist!
I then painted up a bust that I printed last month of a Death Korps of Krieg Infantryman.
I am currently working on a Shokkjump Dragsta for the Orks, the buggy is finished, just working on the crew now.
Macrotek Enginseer & Servo Automata x 4
Ork Shokkjump Dragsta
Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear & Celestant Prime
Obi Wan Kenobi
Necron Skorpekh Destroyers x 6, Canoptek Plasmacytes x 2 & Warriors x 3
Blackstone Fortress the Archivist
Adeptus Custodes Wardens x 5
Death Korps of Krieg Heavy Bolter Team x 3
Blackstone Fortress Ambull & Borewyrm Infestations x 2
Ork Flash Gitz x 5
What I Am Reading
Not a sausage, sleep problems are making it a real issue.
What Video Games Am I Playing
A little bit of Forza Horizon 4 started the week to get me in the mood for 5!
I also decided it’s time to use my Oculus Quest seriously, and I got it up and running with my PC properly, playing some Project Cars and Star Wars Squadrons.
I also played Sonic the Hedgehog for the Mega Drive for a play through video which uploaded yesterday.
Of course with Forza Horizon 5 landing on Friday, I played an awful lot of that!
Most of the past fortnight I have been quite unwell, a tummy bug that just refused to budge.
Spent a few days in bed unable to do much of anything including one day where I basically slept for 20 hours.
Emulation
So the emulation game needs improving, and I have tried to do that by turning my Raspberry Pi kit that I got earlier this week into an emulation console.
Originally when I ordered it, I was thinking of making it a server to run Home Assistant, but I am not quite ready to do that yet, but it is high on the list.
Anyway at first I installed Recallbox, but I couldn’t get on with it and it refused to recognise the DualShock 3 controller I am using temporarily, well I was and then an Xbox controller was freed up, and I much preferthe layout of the Xbox pad.
So I ended up putting Batocera on there, but that refused to connect to the houses Wi-Fi, which was really annoying as Batocera was my first choice to run the system.
So I ended up going with RetroPie, which is a fantastic bit of software and very user configurable, but it’s as user friendly as I wanted it to be.
At the moment I have emulators for the Master System, Mega Drive, Game Gear, Mega CD, 32X, Dreamcast, NES, SNES, Game Boy Advance, Amstrad CPC and PlayStation running and still figuring out to get Amiga CD32 and Neo Geo games running.
The primary intended use is for my nephews to enjoy use of it and play some amazing games from my childhood.
But I am looking forward to being able to play some of these games myself.
Meanwhile downstairs I took a photo of my family of controllers that I have right now!
I have now started on Halo 4, which I never got very far in the last time I played, and I am now further than that.
I found it frustrating and dark, and at the time my setup wasn’t that great. Much more enjoyable to play now, but the Forerunner level was a bit of a chew on.
Also played a few games of Street Fighter Alpha, I seem to be incapable of pulling off the special moves or defeating the final opponent 🙁
I played a lot of Forza Horizon 4, managing to go on an Achievement hunting run on Friday, getting myself a total of 150G in a couple of hours.
I am kind of wanting to get to 32000G by Christmas, so need a few more days like that.
What Tabletop Games Am I Playing
Adeptus Titanicus was played a couple of weeks ago at the club, mostly as an intro game for Graham.
Myself, Lindsay and Megan also played a game off Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese Pizza, which I won, and a game of Love Letter, which Lindsay won on a Friday night.
What I Am Creating
I have been quite ill these past weeks so things have been slow.
I have made a video that’s going out Monday about a couple of odd games for the Master System from Brazil, more because I though that they were weird.
And the next Imperium Battle Report went out as well!
What I Am Backing
Actually noting right now.
What I Am Cooking
Another week with nowt at all.
What I Am Spending
Probably too much, I bought a couple of movies to watch on the Xbox, I had some vouchers going spare from the rewards program.
I bought Ultra Street Fighter IV just cause I fancied playing it and I didn’t own it, only cost me £3.99 and I was happy paying it. I want Street Fighter V but I am gonna wait until next month for that.
I did also pick up Aeon’s End because it came on sale at the right price.
And I umm, well I bought an Xbox Series X, managed to get it from EE with a pair of extra Controllers and Assassins Creed Valhalla as an Add to Plan item, which is fantastic.
It’s going to live in the den and will also be used as the households 4k Blu Ray Player, so I picked up a couple of 4K UHD Blu-Rays, The Little Mermaid and Mulan, cause it’s Lindsay and Megan I need to win over to this new format!
The second part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series Each issue I will bring you a fully painted White Dwarf style battle report.
In this fourth episode, we see the Blood Ravens Assault Intercessors & Primaris Lieutenant attempt to prevent a Canoptek Plasmacyte from awakening more of the devastating Destroyer Cult.
But standing in thier way are a trio of rage filled Skorpekh Destroyers.
Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the noble warriors of the Imperium
You can support what I do by doing any of the following:-
I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Zombicide book Last Resort by Josh Reynolds, 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.
So let’s crack on with a review then!
What is Zombicide
Zombicide is a co-op adventure game set in a post zombie apocalyptic world, created by Guillotine Games and published by CMON.
Its someone of a Kickstarter success story and is now in its 2nd edition. Each player controls a survivors, as they look to complete a narrative objective before being overrun by zombies, who come in various different forms, such as walkers, crawlers, brutes etc.
Its also been spun off into both a Fantasy and Sci-Fi theme.
I personally own most of whats been published for the 1st edition with all of the major expansions and a good deal of minor ones too, but I am still struggling to find Dave the Geek to complete my “not The Big Bang Theory” survivours.
The Story
The story begins in the very opening stages of the apocalypse as the main protagonist Westlake escapes from a mob assassination, and then it picks up some months later with his being on the hunt for a mountain mob hideaway known only as “The Villa”.
Running into a former FBI agent who he previously escaped from, Westlake puts together a crew of her, a masked Mexican Wrestler, a college student who has been studying the zombies, a wannabe cowboy, and a conspiracy theorist to head up into the mountains and claim The Villa for a community of survivors to move in and make secure.
However treachery from within the survivor’s camp causes the expedition to go awry and forces Westlake’s “crew” to head off ahead of time and make some challenging decisions.
Conclusion
I warn you that this book is not for the squeamish, its very bloody, very gory and filled with plenty of gross moments.
That’s a good thing, its a zombie novel that doesn’t pull any punches and just lives up to the idea of what it is.
Westlakes crew is extraordinarily well developed and despite not having huge amount’s of page time, they actually get it right and show off their background and character traits in a way that means when they face danger, you feel stress because you have become close to them.
For me everything else is a bonus, Josh has created a book that really explores the characters so well that its absolutely riveting, it started off strong with an amazing opening chapter and never let up in its intensity nor quality.
my only criticism is that the secondary antagonist’s seemed a little cliché and cookie cutter, but that’s a stretch as their character wasn’t that important to the story.
Its a great book filled with grossness, natural and very well written flowing dialogue and leaves you craving more.
Absolutly 5 out of 5 stars.
Last Resort is out now as an eBook and the paperback will be out on November 25th.
I am following the advice the doctor gave me, so no being in bed unless it’s for sleep, staying up until I am actually tired, no caffeine after 4pm (I am actually quite bad at that one) e and getting up at a set time etc.
The biggest issue I am having is that I love reading in bed, it’s my safe space to read and it’s where I feel most comfortable reading, so my reading has plunged to a record low.
But I am struggling to be asleep before 4am and it’s making my days awful, even when I am so tired I just can’t get to sleep.
I don’t want to end up on sleeping tablets, so I am doing my best to avoid that, but something has to give.
What I Am Modelling
I started the week by painting two units of Stromcast Eternals Judicators armed with Skybolt Bows.
This actually completes all the Stormcast Eternals I have right now, other than Yndrasta, the Celestial Spear, and the Celestant Prime should also be delivered and day now.
I then painted some Orks, specifically five Nobz, a Painboy, Warboss, Gorzag Gitatompa and Nikkit.
And whilst painting those, I also knocked out the Spindle Drones and Guardian Drones for Blackstone Fortress, which actually completes the original games and the Ascension expansion.
Started that late Monday night, with very frequent saves. I had intended to play a level a night but due to a shitty sleep cycle, I only got a chance ti play again on Friday night.
I also started streaming again, and had a very early morning Bioshock Infinite stream on Thursday, which was uploaded to YouTube on Friday.
I have got the old PC that used to belong to Geoff set up to run some old games via emulation, it is however a lot lot older than we thought it was and the GPU is not the GTX 750 that Geoff was told it was, but rather a GT210, which is significantly worse.
I have also played a little bit of Back 4 Blood, which has been rather enjoyable, and I am continuing to play Halo Reach.
What Tabletop Games Am I Playing
Sadly none, but I am playing Adeptus Titanicus tonight with Graham for an Intro game!
In regards to the YouTube stuff, I made it to 75 subscribers on Monday, which is amazing cause I was on like 30 something a few months ago, and at time of writing, I am now at 88 subscribers which is mind blowing!
I am not trying to become some kind of popular content creator, I just feel like there is stuff I want to do for my own enjoyment. I have zero interest in appeasing the algorithm, I just want to make content that I personally want to see myself.
So my current focus is on the battle reports in the casual narrative style, and retro video game playthroughs. And any Twitch video game playthroughs will get added to that as well.
What I Am Backing
Sadly Munchkin Mayhem was cancelled, so right now I am not backing anything.
What I Am Cooking
Not a good week, other than beans on toast, nowt.
What I Am Spending
I feel like I am finally in a place where I can restore this section of the blog, but I may not share any hauls quite as frequently.
This week was subdued in terms of spending initially, I bought myself the Play Pink Bundle on Humble Bundle, I had most of what’s in the bundle, but what I didn’t have saved me plenty of money still.
And Steam Codes for most other stuff is being given to friends, who don’t have them.
I also bought a couple of video games in addition to the bundle.
I bought Far Cry 6, well I got it dirt cheap from a friend who works at Ubisoft. I also grabbed Alan Wake Remastered with a voucher for the Epic Games Store and the Premium Add-Ons Bundle for Forza Horizon 5.
I also kinda spent some money on a Raspberry Pi kit, I am enjoying old games and I want to add a emulation machine in the den, that’s easily transported around. Along with a USB Bluetooth dongle so I can link the DualShock 3 Controllers to it.
