I also ordered a 3D printed stand for my Echo Dot to hang on my pegboard, its been a bit of a chew on to get it, and when I eventually did two weeks after it should have come, it was in entirely the wrong colour!
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!
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!
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 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
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.
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!
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
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!
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
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
Ultramarines Sternguard Veterans x 5 & Victrix Honour Guard x 4
T’au Fire Warriors x 10
Termagants with Spine Fists x 20
Stormstrike Charriot
Blood Ravens Terminators x 5 & Terminator Captain
Mandrakes x 5
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 🙁
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 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!
