A Big Bunch of Stuff

By

On 27th October 2023

In Blog

This is a big update, life has been a bit all over the place and its taken this long to sort out putting out a new blog post, sorry

My dad turned 60 earlier this month so we buggered off to Suffolk for a birthday meal, we were in the county for less than 24 hours which felt too brief as I was unable to get any quality time.

Would have liked to have spent more time with the nibblings, but it was nice nonetheless.

It was a Sunday dinner at the pub and I had lamb, cause I love lamb and so rarely get to have it.

I turned 41 as well, which was fine, but my birthday plans failed and it’s left me somewhat deflated.

I am on the verge of giving up any attempt at celebrating it from now.

I did get a pair of AirPod Pros for my birthday, mostly cause I needed the ANC

This weekend I went to Stirling for a Horus Heresy event runs by some friends of ours, an event with lots of Conpany of Legends DNA, which is really cool cause we never get to play in our own event!

That’s not me saying they ripped us off, we love that they have taken our concept and turned it into their own thing, it’s absolutely brilliant, although we did provide them with Chris’s scoring/pairing spreadsheet.

I am gonna put up a vide with my list next week.

It’s been a really fun event, my first game was against Matts Whit Scars, a beautiful army that I was able to really push and give it a hard time.

The game went rather well for me, I did lose in the end, but it largely came down to a mixture of great tactics by Matt, poor decision making on my part and of course rolling double 1s on Plasma Pistol Chainfire on my Moritat resulting in him dying in his first turn out of the Rhino!

The second game on Saturday was against Chris’s Custodes, and yeah at 3.5k points, Custodes really get to shine as they can take a lot of the nicer toys that 3k kind of stops them taking

I got hammered in this game, my list just struggled to handle the sheer amount of 2+ Armour

Wonderful guy as well and a beautifully painted army, makes me want to get my Custodes out the box!

On Sunday I faced Mark and his Ultramarines, in a very challenging game, for a good part of the game, I was dominant on one flank, distracting him with stuff on the other, but once he had taken care of those units, he quickly wiped out my whole army!

And my final game was against Michael and his Space Wolves, a great army with a Thunderhawk, my first time facing one of those bad boys!

I did okay, but eventually folded and was tabled, a mix of poor choices on my part and great tactics on Michaels.

A great weekend and the lads put on an amazing event, really good, absolutely loved my time there.

Insullationgate

Not my name, but it seems apt, on my return Stirling, we were having some insulation work done by the landlord, the contractors said, it was all external, but when they arrived, we were told its actually all internal!

So we had a chaotic week, with every room in the house being torn apart, and it ended my #HobbyStreak 🙁

It is what it is, but we are only just getting the place back together, and it still needs painting.

In other news, I am back into therapy and mental health treatment, I need it, and the waiting period was awful.

Initially my medication has been adjusted as they build an idea on how to help sort me out.

What I Am Modelling

I started off painting some Blood Angels but got bored partway though so got painted up my Questoris Knight Styrix for House Taranis

Then I finished the Phobos Lieutenant for the Blood Angels

Followed by the Suppressors

And the a squad of Infiltrators

After that a Ballistus Dreadnought for the Blood Ravens

As a result of the insulation, I found a DOOM box of abandoned Warhammer projects and decided to finish as many of them as I could, starting with a resin Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun, who mostly just needed a few bits and bobs finishing

Then it was a Praetor for the Death Guard armed with a Thunder Hammer!

Then I finished up some Marines that Chris gave me ages ago to supplement my Word Bearers who needed a couple of Marines per Squad to allow me to take them as Tactical Squads instead of Veteran Squads and allow me to build some non Pride of the Legion lists

And then some Tyranid Warriors that I originally got with Deathstorm, a very very long time ago!

And finally I painted a squad of Assault Terminators for my Ultramarines from the DOOM box

So what’s up next?

  1. Ork Boyz x 10 & Nob
  2. Marshcrawlla Sluggoth
  3. Sororitas Dialogus
  4. Imperial Fists Rotor Cannon Squad x 10
  5. Death Guard Spartan
  6. Termagants with Devourers x 20
  7. Grots x 10 & Runtherd
  8. Chaos Familiars
  9. Loonboss & Zarbags Gitz
  10. Ultramarines Infiltrators x 10

What I Am Reading

I finished The Prisoner of Tartarus bu Richard Lee Byers, so expect a review of that soonish!

I also read The Devouring Void by Danie Ware, which was ok, the twist was kind of sudden which didn’t work for me, but otherwise was good.

Audiobook wise, I listened to Blood of the Emperor, and The Sandman by Simon A Forward, and I am currently listening to The Church and the Crown by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I got a game of Sone Mortalis in with Paul at Durham Raiders

I did ok, my list is suboptimal, Paul’s is much better and he played really well, very smart choice made by him.

But it was a close run thing!

And we also had a game of Alhambra, on my birthday which I did not win, of course Megan did.

But it was close!

What Video Games I Am Playing

I have started on Assassin’s Creed III Remastered and been doing so on stream.

I also played and completed Assassin’s Creed Bloodlines, emulated using Retroarch, and I uploaded the playthrough to YouTube

Other than that, I finished Bayonetta.

And I am now playing through Spider-Man Remastered.

What I Am Creating

I did finally get round to making that Ork Skin video!

What I Am Spending

I bought this Neo Geo CD controller made by 8BitDo a month ago and it’s only just arrived, the best thing about, MICROSWITCHES!

So yeah 8BitDo got right what SNK couldn’t

I also had a couple of bits printed up for my controller board, some black hooks to hang cables and a shelf, to hold a few little bits.

I also finally bought a new monitor for the studio, I just really needed some more screen real-estate for editing Edge of Empire podcasts, cause the setup I had was a bit weird in composition.

Its a Cooler Master GA271 and is really good for the £130 I paid for it, and I mean, really good, far better than it has any right to be, with some HDR and FreeSync too.

Resolutions Update July/August/September 2023

By

On 1st October 2023

In Blog

So I am once again a massive failure and haven’t been updating my resolutions so let’s go!

Build & Paint a 2000 Points Army of Drukhari – 63% Complete

We added the Kabalite Combat Patrol box and that means we now have 1220 points along with Drazhar!

And I also added some Mandrakes too!

Build & Paint a 500 Points Combat Patrol of Genestealer Cultists – o% Complete

No progress

Build & Paint a 2000 Points Combat Patrol of Tyranids – 29% Complete

We added some Spinegaunts to the army plus a swarm of Rippers

Bring my Primaris Ultramarines to 2000 Points – 93.25% Complete

This month we added the Bladeguard Veterans and the Bladeguard Anicent to the list, along with a Ballistus Dreadnought, Firestrike Servo Turret, the Apothecaries and a squad of Sternguard Veterans!

Bring my Orruk Warclans to 2000 Points – Completed

This resolution is now complete with the addition of a unit of Gutrippaz and some Man-Skewer Boltboyz or Da Kunnin’ Krew!

Build & Paint Two Gangs for Carnivale – Completed

The Rashaar were painted this month, so this pledge is complete!

Get My Weight to Under 100KG and Sustain It Below That

Yeah medication changes means that this isn’t going to happen

Publish One Battle Report a Month

Lets try and do this in the last three months eh!

Stream Twice A Week

Managing to get this done

Complete My 2023 VideoGameGeek Challenge – 25% Complete

I finished The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, so thats done!

I also started and finished Tomb Raider, so thats 2 down, 8 to go!

I also finished Control and Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection.

I am now onto Assassin’s Creed III and making my way though Bayonetta

Completed Resolutions

  • Bring my Orruk Warclans to 2000 Points
  • Build & Paint Two Gangs for Carnivale

Getting on Top of Things

By

On 25th September 2023

In Blog

Stuff is getting better and I feel a lot more in control the past couple of weeks, but there is still more to do.

I need to be a bit more forthright about asking Lindsay and Megan for help and assistance.

Currently waiting on some work being done on the house and this is sort of creating a limbo situation for me, so a few bits are on hold, but I think I might be able to end this year feeling a lot better.

But lets keep up the progress and see what happens.

What I Am Modelling

I started with Evander Garrius for the Imperial Fists

Along with the obligatory Lascannon Squad for them too.

After that it was some Apothecaries for the Ultramarines, so thats a Primaris Apothecary and an Apothecary Biologis

Followed by some Vienna Class Escort Frigates for my UCM fleet.

And finally Gardus Steel Soul from Stormbringer

And finally a Heavy Support Squad for my Death Guard, also armed with Lascannons, given that its obligatory now!

So what’s coming up next week?

  1. Blood Angels Infiltrators x 10
  2. Blood Ravens Balistus Dreadnought
  3. Ork Boyz x 10 & Nob
  4. Marshcrawllla Sloghoth x 2
  5. Dialogus
  6. Imperial Fists Rotor Cannon Squad x 10
  7. Death Guard Spartan
  8. Termagants with Devourers x 20
  9. Grots x 10 & Runtherd
  10. Chaos Familiars

What I Am Reading

I finished listening to Blood of Iax by Robbie MacNiven, which was fine, just kinda generic really, but ok.

And I finally finished Secrets in Scarlet so expect a review soon.

I am now reading The Prisoner of Tartarus by Richard Lee Byers which is good so far.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I had a game of Heresy with Graham the other

What Video Games I Am Playing

Got a couple of sessions of Assassin’s Creed Revelations in on stream, and finished the game, so I will be starting Assassin’s Creed III on Tuesday!

I have also been playing a bit more of Starfield.

And some Bayonetta along with a bit of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

What I Am Cooking

I managed to cook for the first time in forever and I made some beans and sausage wraps, which were quite nice.

And a serving of dirty rice for myself and Lindsay too

What I Am Spending

Bought a couple of Humble Bundles, the Cities: Skylines Build Today, Plan for Tomorrow bundle and the Control the Narrative bundle.

Plus I bought Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2.

I also bought for myself as a birthday treat, the Hyperkin Xenon controller, which so far has been amazing to use, feels so much like playing games in 2005 again!

And after a bit of hunting I found some nice cables to use for my controllers, these nice chunky rubber ones are just right, very dieselpunk and feel really substantial, I love them!

I also had to buy a pack of Heavy Weapons with Volkite Culverins, Lascannons and Autocannons for the Horus Heresy to build the Death Guard Lascannon squad, I got them from Element Games of course!

And finally some AirTags and a new wallet, so hopefully no more losing the wallet when I need it!

Stuck In A Rut

By

On 12th September 2023

In Blog

So I am in the middle of a doctor imposed period of rest and relaxation, not that I can do that much more, and I don’t think I have achieved any of what I was expected to do.

Its been four weeks of the six I was told to take, and I am struggling to center myself and sort out the things I am meant to do, and I think I need to sit and sort that out in the next two weeks.

So I am setting myself some targets over the next couple of weeks, lets say three weeks.

  • Finish Bayonetta
  • Get my studio into a constant state of tidiness
  • Sort out my desk (Its a huge mess)
  • Film a Battle Report
  • Cook something
  • Finish a book
  • Sort out my 3D Printer
  • Paint that Lascannon Squad for the Death Guard you forgot you needed

So here is what I need to do

Finish Bayonetta

Just sit and play on my Steam Deck for at least 30 minutes a day

Get My Studio into a Constant State of Tidiness

The big things are to get some stuff into the eaves, clean up the bookcase and take some old Codexes and rulebooks to a charity shop.

I also need to put this unexpected terrain into a box, so a trip to ASDA or Ikea is needed (so I need to ask Lindsay for help, or perhaps Paul) and put the new PLEX server in its permanent home, which may also involve setting up a KDM using a Pi.

Sort Out My Desk

Linked to the above but its a bit of an issue with the left side being a huge issue

Film a Battle Report

I think I have a workflow figured out, so I am gonna try and do this next week, and perhaps do an overview of one or two of my armies.

Cook Something

I have been struggling so much with the electric hobs, so on Sunday, I am going to cook a meal for the otters.

Finish a Book

The brain damage is an issue here, causing concentration to really suck, but I just need to sit down and read, force myself if I have to.

Sort Out My 3D Printer

I have yet to use it since I moved here, and its been over a year!

Paint that Lascannon Squad for the Death Guard You Forgot You Needed

I forgot I didn’t have a Lascannon squad for my Death Guard and I put it in a list, so yeah, I need to build one, I have the marines, just need to buy the weapons on pay day!

I know I will need the assistance of Lindsay and Megan, but I am gonna really try to sort this out

What I Am Modelling

I started out with the Praetor for the Death Guard I got a few months ago

Then it was a pair of Azyrite Fountains I got from Stormbringer

Then I painted the Azrakh the Annihilator model I got from Warhammer+

Then I painted a T’au Strike Team

Along with an Ethereal

And a Cadre Fireblade

Plus six Shield Drones and a pair of Marker Drones!

After that it was some Mandrakes for my Drukhari

So what’s up next?

  1. Imperial Fists Lascannon Squad x 10 & Evander Garrius
  2. Gardus Steel Soul
  3. Blood Angels Infiltrators x 10
  4. Blood Ravens Ballistis Dreadnought
  5. Ork Boyz x 10
  6. Ultramarines Apothecaries x 2
  7. Marshcrawlla Sloggoth
  8. Dialogus
  9. Imperial Fists Rotor Cannon Squad x 10
  10. Death Guard Land Raider Spartan

What I Am Reading

I finished The Great Clans of Rokugan Volume 2 which was a good listen.

And I listened to The Rapture by Joseph Lidster, and I forgot the mad lads at Big Finish did an audio in which the 7th Doctor went clubbing with Tony Blackburn in Ibiza.

I am currently listening to Blood of Iax by Robbie MacNiven.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I had a game of Horus Heresy vs Graham on Tuesday at Durham Raiders.

We played a 3500pts game using a Siege of Cthonia mission, and needless to say, of course Graham won!

What Video Games I Am Playing

A bit more Starfield is getting played and I am making progress on the main storyline,

And I am playing a bit more of Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun on stream

And a couple of session of Assassin’s Creed Revelations.

I am also playing a bit of Bayonetta on the Steam Deck, and wow, I forgot what a horny game this was!

What I Am Creating

We got the latest episode of Edge of Empire published, thanks to an improved workflow on my end.

What I Am Spending

I bought Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth for Steam, its been on my wishlist for a while and it was £1.69 so why not!

Trip To Brighton

By

On 5th September 2023

In Blog

My Edge of Empire co-host Chris got married this past weekend so myself, Megan and Lindsay travelled to Brighton for it!

We started with a stop at Warhammer World where me and Megan played a game of Combat Patrol.

And then we hit Suffolk and stayed over at my parents.

We then travelled to Brighton so Lindsay and Megan could visit a bad tea shop, so I wandered around and visited CEX looking for some DVDs Megan wants added to PLEX.

We had a Wendys which was really nice, really nice and I really want them to expand to the north, and soon!

I also visited the tiniest Warhammer store I have seen outside of Sunderland, and made a trip to the very cool Dice Saloon!

After that we went to our AirBnB which is actually really nice and very comfortable.

We watched Spin Me Round, which was funny and a bit irrelevant, which I enjoy!

The next day was Chris’s wedding which was beautiful and amazing and we are all so happy for Chris and Ani!

The next day was a long 8 hour drive back home, made worse by the bank holiday traffic, but we got to Megan’s mum and dads and had a very nice tea, and then made our way home.

A short trip, but very fun and enjoyable.

What I Am Modelling

I finished off the Ultramaines Victix Honour Guard

Followed by the Primaris Champion

And the Sternguard Veterans

This was followed up with Elathain’s Soulraid

Then a Ripper swarm for the Tyranids

And finally some Spinegaunts!

So what’s up next

  1. Strike Team x 10 & Cadre Fireblade
  2. Mandrakes x 5
  3. Imperial Fists Heavy Support Squad x 10
  4. Gardus Steelsoul
  5. Blood Angels Infiltrators x 10
  6. Blood Ravens Ballistis Dreadnought
  7. Ork Boyz x 10
  8. Ultramarines Apothecaries x 2
  9. Marshcrawlla Sloghoth x 2
  10. Sororitas Dialogus

What I Am Reading

A bit of progress on Secrets in Scarlet.

And I have been listening to The Great Clans of Rokugan Volume 2, which is pretty good!

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Myself anf Megan played a game of Combat Patrol won our trip, Drukhari vs Space Marines, and she won 50-25!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Not much other than a bit of Starfield!

What I Am Spending

I did buy myself the 4 Item bundle for the Humble Bundle Dino Fever offering, which netted me Animal Revolt Battle Simulator, Primal Carnage: Extinction, but most importantly, Turok and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil which have been on my wishlist for some time!

Media Server Transition

By

On 26th August 2023

In Blog

The Raspberry Pi I have been running my server on for the last 2 years has basically become insufficient to handle what I am asking it to do, getting a few failures and slowdowns.

So Paul has lent me Mary’s old HP All-In-One PC so we can transition the server to an X64 system until my plan to build a dedicated server that can also do transcoding can be realised.

The transfer went well, well 69 audiobooks somehow got lost, but I had local backups, so restoration of them was easy enough.

At first I was quite worried as it turned out the system was struggling to run AudioBookShelf as well, but it just took a bit of time for the new installs to verify the files and rebuild some of the metadata.

The machine only has 8GB of memory, 2GB which has been pinched by the integrated GPU, but alas it only has a single SODIMM slot, so when I upgrade the RAM it will have to be a replacement of the existing SODIMM.

So far it’s running pretty well, I am away in Brighton right now and watching a movie that’s streaming from my studio!

What I Am Modelling

I started the week by finishing Illuminor Szeras for my Necrons, which completes the army for now.

Might do a whole army over view at some point!

After that came a trio of Gondola Poles for Carnevale.

Then a Ogor Mawtribes Tyrant that I got with Stormbringer.

And a Stormstrike Charriot for my Celestial Vindicators.

Followed by the Tzaangors for Warhammer Quest, getting close to finishing Silver Tower!

After that it was a Ultramarines Ballistus Dreadnought!

Then a Terminator Captain for my Blood Ravens.

Alongside a Terminator Squad

And finally a Phobos Lieutenant for the Ultramarines, armed with a Combi-Weapon

So whats up next week?

  1. Elathain’s Soulraid
  2. Ultramarines Sternguard Veterans x 5, Victrix Honour Guard x 4 & Champion
  3. Strike Team x 10
  4. Termagants with Spine Fists x 20
  5. Mandrakes x 5
  6. Imperial Fists Heavy Support Squad with Lascannons x 10
  7. Gardus Steel Soul
  8. Blood Angels Infiltrators x 10
  9. Blood Ravens Balistus Dreadnought
  10. Ork Boyz x 10

What I Am Reading

I listened to Shadow of the Eighth by Justin D. Hill, always love a bit of Mika Lesk!

I also listened to …ish by Philip Pascoe which was ok, but not amazing.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I got a game of Horus Heresy at Hartlepool Gamers last week, but I returned to my losing ways!

And my rats lost another Blood Bowl game too!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Played a bit more Assassins Creed Revelations which have been uploaded to YouTube on BigGeordieGeek Plays.

Played a bit of Boltgun too!

And I started playing Driver: Parallel Lines on the Steam Deck

What I Am Creating

Did another TikTok, this time on basing!

@biggeordiegeek Basic Grassy Base How I do my super basic Games Workshop style grassy base! #Warmongers #WarhammerCommunity #WarHamFam #WarhammerBases #Base #Basing #WarhammerBasing ♬ original sound biggeordiegeek

What I am Spending

Not much, my order of Minka Lesk x 2 and a Sisters of Battle Rhino finally arrived!

I did buy a Humble Bundle, the Spaced Out Bundle, that got me

I also bought a couple of other mini bundles

I Wish the Weather Would Make Its Mind Up

By

On 15th August 2023

In Blog

Its consistently hot, I am spending most of my time sweating hard!

In my studio its really hard due to being in an attic with a ton of tech and the weather keeps raining hard, so I can’t even have the window open to relive myself with some fresh air and have to have two fans on all the time!

I can’t wait for the coolness of autumn!

What I Am Modelling

I started off with a Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun for my Ork, really lovely model to stand beside my resin one.

And I also painted up a Deffkilla Wartrike for the Orks as well, a really really fun model!

Followed by a trip of Canoptek Wraiths for the Necrons

And a Hexmark Destroyer for them too

After that I moved onto a T’au Stealth Team for my Tau Sept army

After that I finished off some Firestrike Servo Turrets for the Ultramarines which have been sitting on my desk for a while.

And finally I finished some more Gutrippas for the Oruuks!

So whats coming up next?

  1. Illuminor Sezras
  2. Elathain’s Soulraid
  3. Tzaangors x 6
  4. Ultramarines Sternguard Veterans x 5 & Victrix Honour Guard x 4
  5. T’au Fire Warriors x 10
  6. Termagants with Spine Fists x 20
  7. Stormstrike Charriot
  8. Blood Ravens Terminators x 5 & Terminator Captain
  9. Mandrakes x 5
  10. Ultramarines Ballistus Dreadnought

What I Am Reading

I finished The Martyrs Tomb by Marc Collins, which was a fun story, felt a bit disconnected from the rest of the series, but still good.

I then listened to Spare Parts by Marc Platt, a fantastic Doctor Who audio drama about the genesis of the Cybermen, and is one the best stories that Big Finish have done.

I am slowly making my way through Secrets in Scarlet, slowly but surely.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I played Blood Bowl on Saturday, against Black Orcs, and yeah, I lost, and lost a couple of players 🙁

What Video Games I Am Playing

Back to Control Ultimate, and I started on The Foundation!

But this is the last gameplay I will have as a crash corrupted my save and there is no way to recover it 🙁

So I am done with it for the foreseeable future.

I Did as a result start on Assassin’s Creed Revelations on Monday.

I also finished Disney’s Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, the last boss was fiendishly difficult, but it was a fun little game overall.

What I Am Creating

The latest episode of Edge of Empire is out, and on YouTube and iTunes now!

What I Am Spending

A few more games were added to the library, starting with Bully, cause it was 99p, plus I got Quake Live and Crumble in a £1 mystery bundle on Fanatical!

I got a couple of bundles, first off Humble Choice, which got me

I also got a Train Simulator Classic Bundle from Fanatical which got me the base game and 17 pieces of DLC!

I also picked up in the QuakeCon sale

And a I picked up very cheaply, Kerbal Space Program, Lamentum, Dust to the End, Steamworld Dig and American Truck Simulator

My Knee Hurts

By

On 2nd August 2023

In Blog

The other week, I hurt my knee, I feel down the stairs and my knee went through the wall.

Its healing, and I can now move it, but any weight I put on it, results in excruciating pain.

I ended up going back to hospital, only to be told, that I am just old and don’t heal up as well as I used to.

I have exercises to do, and have a referral to physiotherapy, very annoying but it is what it is I guess.

What I Am Modellng

I started the week by painting a trio of Istanbul Monitors for my UCM fleet.

Then some units for my Orruk Warclans, starting with a unit of Gutrippas.

Plus Da Kunnin’ Krew.

And a unit of Man-Skewer Boltboyz

Then came a Terminator Librarian for the Blood Ravens

After that it was a tactical squad for the Imperial Fists.

So what’s up next?

  1. Deffkilla Wartrike
  2. Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun
  3. Stealth Team x 3
  4. Canoptek Wraiths x 3
  5. Gutrippas x 10
  6. Elathain’s Soulraid
  7. Tzaangors x 6
  8. Strike Team x 10
  9. Termagants with Spine Fists x 20
  10. Mandrakes x 5

What I Am Reading

I pushed through the headaches that were stopping me from concentrating and finished Sisters of Sorcery, and you can read a review here.

I then started on Secrets in Scarlet, an Arkham Horror anthology edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells.

I am still listening to The Martyr’s Tomb by Marc Collins.

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finished the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt after 181.8 hours of gameplay and well, that’s a very very good game isn’t it!

On Steam Deck I started playing Tomb Raider, which is a very nice game with an interesting story.

And I managed to finish it as well, which is cool!

I have now started on Disney’s Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, only done the first level or so in, but its good so far.

What I Am Creating

Another episode of Edge of Empire is in production, but in the meantime, here is a little Tik Tok video on painting Burgundy Leather!

@biggeordiegeek

Burgandy Leather Painting! Warmongers WarhammerCommunity WarHamFam PaintSlam23 Painting PaintingWarhammer PaintingGamesWorkshop PaintingLeather MiniturePainting MiniturePaintingTips

♬ original sound – biggeordiegeek – biggeordiegeek

What I Am Winning

I won a water filter and some cartridges for it too!

What I Am Spending

Bought a few games,

I also preordered the Starfield Premium Edition Upgrade, which will give me all of the premium features with my Gamepass subscription.

I got the Baldur’s Gate & Beyond Humble Bundle which netted me

I got a few games I already own, so I donated them to friends!

I got a Ballistus Dreadnought for my Ultramarines.

And a trio of Monitors for my UCM Fleet

Sisters of Sorcery

By

On 26th July 2023

In Book Reviews

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Marvel Untold book Sisters of Sorcery by Marsheila Rockwell 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.

Also, I won’t lie, I have looked at other reviews to see what others think, so there may be some influences from them in this book review. If I am going to quote them, I will attribute them. But if I forget to, or something is highly influenced by them, and you think I ought to attribute someone, let me know so that I can.

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.

This particular book focus on the character Clea, a character who was introduced to the Marvel universe in 1964, and is the Sorceress Supreme of the Dark Dimension, and the wife of Doctor Strange.

She was introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the post credits scenes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and played by Charlize Theron.

The Story

The book does a lot to explain the background of the characters, so I would say that you don’t need to know that much about the characters in advance, especially as they are mostly, side characters in many ways.

In this story, the Dark Dimension is currently ruled by the vile tyrant, Umar the Unrelenting, who just happens to be the mother of Clea, and she has kidnapped the cosmic being, Ardina, who as the female analog of the Silver Surfer is able to access the Power Cosmic.

Planning to use Ardina as a source of energy, Umar has made plans to conquer all of the splinter realms, but Clea becomes aware of her plans and gathers a team of powerful sorceresses, to travel to the Dark Dimension, join with Cleas rebels and stop Umar in her tracks.

Working with a ghostly Agatha Harkness, Clea recruits Elizabeth Twoyoungmen, the Talisman, Margali Szardos, the Sorcererses Supreme of The Winding Way and Agatha’s student and ward Holly LaDonna, but the quartet find themselves unable to travel directly to the Dark Dimension due to Umars use of the Power Cosmic to cast a spell to prevent teleportation to her realm.

So the team is forced to travel across various dimensions, facing family and rivals as they attempt to save all dimensions from the tyrant.

Conclusion

This book was fairly fast, it started fast and did not slow down or allow you any time to recover, which was good.

I am struggling to read at the minute due to headaches from my brain injury stopping me concentrating on text, but when I was able to read, I couldn’t put this book down.

We have four major characters here, although Clea is the clear focus, but they all got a good look in and were given a chance to shine, I wasn’t that familiar with some of them, the magical side of Marvel has never been my favourite, but I have come away and gone to Marvel Unlimited and downloaded a few issues featuring Margali and Talisman in particular to read a bit more of their stories.

I really enjoyed this book, I am not sure what else to say, but I really want to see more of Holly, she was very much my favourite character in the book, and she hasn’t featured much in the comics, but this version of her, was really cool.

This book gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars from me, and I strongly recommend you go buy it!

Sisters of Sorcery is out now as an eBook and paperback!

The Steam Deck!

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On 24th July 2023

In Blog

I have worked really hard at a few events and managed to earn the money to buy a Steam Deck, a device I have been planning to buy in August, but well the Summer sale price was just too good!

I absolutely love it, the ability to play my PC games natively on a handheld device is amazing!

The first thing I did with it was to okay Aperture Desk Job to get it tested out and make sure everything was hunky dorey!

After that I took it apart, well, I took the back cover off, unplugged the battery and replaced the SSD with a 1TB Corsair MP600 Mini, after which I installed SteamOS on to it!

And then began the process of installing the games I want to play right now.

I also set up a 256GB MicroSD card with Windows 11 on it, so that I can have the ability to play games on Windows natively as well, via the Epic, Xbox, GOG, Ubisoft, EA and Amazon apps.

I also installed a screen protector, to add some anti-glare and keep the screen protected from scratches and stuff.

I used it to play through 80’s Overdrive (review here) and I am currently pushing my way through The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Overall I am really impressed with the device, its super cool, but I do want to sort out eventually dual booting with Windows, so I can play things like the Ubisoft titles, I have the Heroic Launcher setup for Epic and GOG already and they are mostly working.

I have been having a lot of fun with the device, and its helping me game a lot more, cause I can hang out with Megan and Lindsay whilst I am gaming, rather than having to exile myself to the studio!

What I Am Modelling

I started off by painting up the horrors for Warhammer Quest, so that’s 2 Pink Horrors, 4 Blue Horrors and 4 bases of Brimstone Horrors.

Then I painted the Blood Ravens Infernus Squad for the Space Marine Combat Patrol

After that it was The Rashaar for Carnivale

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And a Skitarii Marshall

Followed by the Palatine for the Sisters of Battle

Then a Primal Lair from Stormbringer for my AoS scenery!

And finally some additions to the Ultramarines, starting with a squad of Bladeguard Veterans.

Then a Bladeguard Ancient.

And finally a Primaris Ancient

So what’s up next?

  1. Gutrippas x 10
  2. Imperial Fists Tactical Squad x 10
  3. Defkilla Wartrike
  4. Ultramarines Bladeguard Veterans, x 3 Bladeguard Ancient and Ancient
  5. Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun
  6. Stealth Team x 3
  7. Canoptek Wraiths & Hexmark Destroyer
  8. Gutrippas x 10
  9. Elathain’s Soulraid
  10. Tazaangors x 6

What I Am Reading

No physical reading done, which is annoying, just can’t manage to do it!

But I have finished listening to Leviathan by Darius Hinks, the story is good, but the narrator was kind of meh!

I also listened to Neverland by Alan Barnes which was pretty good, nice to see Romanadvoratrelundars return!

I have now started on The Martyr’s Tomb by Marc Collins.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Had a catch up game of Blood Bowl and it went very very badly.

I had two Clanrats murdered, ended up with seven players knocked out and just three Clanrats left on the field, and I lost the game 1-0

I had a game of Heresy with Graham at Durham Raiders, and, I won, which is weird!

And finally I played a game of Warhammer 40k Combat Patrol with my Drukhari and I got utterly tabled by the Dark Angels!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Played a bit more Boltgun!

But mostly played through 80’s Overdrive and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

What I Am Spending

I bought a few more games in the Steam sale, specifically the Valve Complete Pack, which got me

I also purchased, The Witcher Adventure Game as well, plus the Window Flags and Volvo Construction Equipment for Euro Truck Simulator 2, a few bits of Lego Marvel DLC for a few different titles and Lego Indiana Jones The Original Adventures.

I grabbed a couple of bargains on Prime Days, I bought a new kettle, as our one was having issues.

A 65w USB C controller to give myself a second charger for the Steam Deck, this is gonna live in the living room and will allow Lindsay to power her MacBook or work laptop as well.

And the Luna Controller was going for a song, so I picked one of them up for the collection, and its now on the peg board!

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