Tag: Dark Angels Page 1 of 2

Second Half Slump

By

On 15th October 2024

In Blog

Since the pandemic I have noticed that in the middle of the year, I seem to keep have a slump, just all my plans, motivation and drive drops off come the heat of the summer.

I dunno what it is, this year was no different, other than a nice bump for WorldCon, I have lost all my vroom, and I don’t know why.

In the day it feels like time just gets away from me and I don’t have the capacity to fit things in, perhaps it not having a proper schedule or just never quite recovering from Covid, I just don’t have a clue.

I know Lindsay’s moving anger workspace into the studio and then out again did really throw me and screw up my flow, but given that this has been happening for the past four years, I can’t blame that.

I know that there are things I wanna do with life, I am just bad at figuring them out and sorting out what I am doing with my time and life.

Maybe now that the house is settled into its shape for what I hope is a bit more long term I can kinda sort that out.

My plan is to sit down and hopefully convince Megan and Lindsay to help me sort out some sort of reasonable schedule to help get me back on track.

What I Am Modelling

Started out with a couple of Leman Russ Vanquishers for the Solar Auxilia, these are going to be getting a lot of use at Heresy Camp in May, but I do need a 3rd one

Then I painted a couple of Squig Herds and their Hearders

Followed by a few additions to the Deathwing, starting with a Company Master from Combat Patrol

And a squad of Deathwing Terminators, the majority here were 3D printed but the Cyclone Missile Launcher is from the old plastic kit

Alongside a couple of Dreadnoughts, a Redemptor of the Deathwing

And a Ballistus Dreadnought that I 3D printed, joining the 5th Company

Finally for the Dark Angels, a 3D printed Judicator

And I also painted a random Infection Marker I found on the floor

So yeah 3D printing is starting to really reap some rewards with me being able to print some fantastic models that I am really happy with.

But I am very wary because at the same time, I don’t want to be the guy that prints everything, I like the models that companies make.

But damn the process of pouring the resin in the vat, sending the file from your PC to the printer, and seeing these amazing models come out, it’s kind of addictive!

So what’s next?

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  2. Domicile Shells x 2
  3. Space Wolves Intercessors x 10
  4. Karazai
  5. Ultramarines Terminator Captain & Aggressors x 3
  6. Dankhold Triggoth
  7. Imperial Fists Dispoiler Squad x 10
  8. Paragon Warsuits with Heavy Flamers x 3
  9. Von Ryan’s Leapers x 3 & Winged Prime
  10. Ultramarines Assault Squad x 10 & Sgts x 2

What I Am Reading

Still making my way through The Saint by Dan Abnett, and Hand of Abaddon by Nick Kyme.

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finally finished Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun on Exterminatus mode, and collected all the secrets, 100% all the original games achievements!

Alas, I do have Forges of Corruption to complete still, so will stream that next week.

Also started playing the Operations on Stream for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.

Also been playing Stampede Racing Royale, a game that Graham helped develop!

What I Am Spending

I have been saving for a platform upgrade for my PC and in the Prime sale, bought myself this nice little B650 board to allow me to go to an AM5 processor

Also bought a few games.

Birthday, Cassius and a Tournament

By

On 9th October 2024

In Blog

It was my birthday on Saturday, my 42nd, we had originally planned something grand because my 40th was a disaster, but sadly due to various personal things happening we had to make it much more well, not a lot at all.

We had a lovely breakfast of stottie filled with Lincolnshire sausages and mushrooms, and I opened my cards and a present from Megan and Lindsay, which was a Dieselpunk RPG called Age of Steel!

We headed up to my home city of Newcastle, and I headed straight to Forbidden Planet in the hope of getting a copy of Combat Patrol Issue 5.

Thankfully Forbidden Planet had a copy, so grabbed that, so I can add an Infernus Sgt to my Blood Ravens!

After this we headed to Middlesbrough, where we had a Wendy’s for lunch, followed by a visit to the Renault dealership, where we checked out the Megane, which is currently the favourite to be out next car come March.

Then we headed home, where I had a little nap!

Cassius

At 5pm we went and picked up a cat, Cassius

We hadn’t planned on adopting a new cat, but we had a bunch of spare rescue food we had bought for Jenny, and when we dropped it off at the rescue, well, Cassius convinced us he should come home with us.

So after a short couple of weeks whilst he had his vaccines, we were able to pick him up, and bring him home. He is a one eyed boy, having lost it in a fight when he was on the streets.

He is a beautiful boy, and really has made himself right at home, sleeping in the bed with us on night one!

Hopefully this cat will actually like me, unlike the other three who barely tolerate me!

Tournament

I played in Leon’s first monthly 40K tournament on Sunday, and I took my Ultramarines for their first ever games with this list!

Space Marines
Ultramarines
Gladius Task Force
Strike Force (2000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Bladeguard Ancient (45 Points)
  • 1x Close combat weapon
  • 1x Heavy bolt pistol

Chaplain (60 Points)
  • 1x Absolvor bolt pistol
  • 1x Crozius arcanum

Lieutenant (65 Points)
  • 1x Bolt Pistol
  • 1x Close combat weapon
  • 1x Master-crafted bolter

Lieutenant with Combi-weapon (70 Points)
  • 1x Combi-weapon
  • 1x Paired combat blades

Uriel Ventris (75 Points)
  • Warlord
  • 1x Bolt Pistol
  • 1x Invictus
  • 1x Sword of Idaeus

BATTLELINE

Assault Intercessor Squad (75 Points)
  • 1x Assault Intercessor Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Astartes chainsword
     ◦ 1x Plasma Pistol
  • 4x Assault Intercessor
     ◦ 4x Astartes chainsword
     ◦ 4x Heavy bolt pistol

Intercessor Squad (80 Points)
  • 1x Intercessor Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 1x Bolt rifle
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
  • 4x Intercessor
     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 4x Bolt rifle
     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon

Intercessor Squad (80 Points)
  • 1x Intercessor Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 1x Bolt rifle
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
  • 4x Intercessor
     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 4x Bolt rifle
     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon

Intercessor Squad (80 Points)
  • 1x Intercessor Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 1x Bolt rifle
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
  • 4x Intercessor
     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 4x Bolt rifle
     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon

OTHER DATASHEETS

Aggressor Squad (120 Points)
  • 1x Aggressor Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Flamestorm gauntlets
     ◦ 1x Twin power fists
  • 2x Aggressor
     ◦ 2x Flamestorm gauntlets
     ◦ 2x Twin power fists

Ballistus Dreadnought (140 Points)
  • 1x Armoured feet
  • 1x Ballistus lascannon
  • 1x Ballistus missile launcher
  • 1x Twin storm bolter

Bladeguard Veteran Squad (90 Points)
  • 1x Bladeguard Veteran Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Heavy bolt pistol
     ◦ 1x Master-crafted power weapon
  • 2x Bladeguard Veteran
     ◦ 2x Heavy bolt pistol
     ◦ 2x Master-crafted power weapon

Eliminator Squad (85 Points)
  • 1x Eliminator Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 1x Bolt sniper rifle
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
  • 2x Eliminator
     ◦ 2x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 2x Bolt sniper rifle
     ◦ 2x Close combat weapon

Firestrike Servo-turrets (75 Points)
  • 1x Close combat weapon
  • 1x Twin Firestrike autocannon

Firestrike Servo-turrets (75 Points)
  • 1x Close combat weapon
  • 1x Twin Firestrike las-talon

Inceptor Squad (130 Points)
  • 1x Inceptor Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Assault bolters
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
  • 2x Inceptor
     ◦ 2x Assault bolters
     ◦ 2x Close combat weapon

Infernus Squad (80 Points)
  • 1x Infernus Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 1x Pyreblaster
  • 4x Infernus Marine
     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 4x Pyreblaster

Infiltrator Squad (100 Points)
  • 1x Infiltrator Sergeant
     ◦ 1x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 1x Marksman bolt carbine
  • 4x Infiltrator
     ◦ 4x Bolt pistol
     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 4x Marksman bolt carbine

Invader ATV (70 Points)
  • 1x Bolt pistol
  • 1x Close combat weapon
  • 1x Multi-melta
  • 1x Twin bolt rifle

Redemptor Dreadnought (210 Points)
  • 1x Heavy flamer
  • 1x Heavy onslaught gatling cannon
  • 1x Redemptor fist
  • 1x Twin fragstorm grenade launcher

Repulsor (180 Points)
  • 1x Armoured hull
  • 1x Heavy onslaught gatling cannon
  • 1x Hunter-slayer missile
  • 1x Repulsor defensive array
  • 1x Twin lascannon

My first game was against Luke and his Leagues of Votann, which is an army I really fancy collecting someday

The game went very badly for me, and by the end of turn 2 I had very little left on the table and had killed very little!

We made it to turn 4 but I was basically wiped out, and lost 66 to 23

For my second game I played with Matthew and his Adeptus Mechanicus, which was a very enjoyable game in which I wasn’t totally humiliated

I mean I still lost but in the game it didn’t feel too bad

And in the third and final game I played against Adam and his Tyranids, which was a much more even game, with me actually scoring stuff

Still lost but it was fun

I won myself the wooden spoon, sadly no actual physical one, but it was a great day

And it’s being run monthly, so paying for my ticket for next one when I get paid!

What I Am Modelling

I started the week with a Guardian Idol for my Age of Sigmar terrain box

And followed that up with a Warchanter

And Ironskullz Boyz from Warhammer Underworlds

After that I painted a pair of Invader ATVs for the Dark Angels, the first additions to the Ravenwing, starting with one armed with a Multi-Melta

Followed by one armed with an Onslaught Gatling Cannon

Then I turned back to the Ironjawz with a unit of Arrboyz for the Ironsunz

And a Treelord Ancient for the Sylvaneth

I also painted a pair of Sgts for my Heresy Ultramarines that I need for Heresy Camp

Plus the Combat Patrol issue 5 Infernus Marine Sgt for the Blood Ravens

So what’s up next?

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  2. Domicile Shell x 2
  3. Leman Russ Vanquishers x 2
  4. Squig Herd x 20 & Squig Herders x 4
  5. Dark Angels Redemptor Dreadnought, Deathwing Terminators x 5 & Company Master in Terminator Armour
  6. Space Wolves Intercessors x 10
  7. Karazai
  8. Ultramarines Terminator Captain & Aggressors x 3
  9. Dankhold Troggoth
  10. Imperial Fists Despoiler Squad x 10

What I Am Reading

I finished listening to Reaper Man by Sir Terry Pratchett which is a great story, and the new recording is fantastic.

I also listened to Faith Stealer by Graham Duff to get back on track with my Doctor Who Monthly Range relisten.

I am currently listening to the latest Dawn of Fire novel, Hand of Abaddon by Nick Kyme.

And I am still working on The Saint by Dan Abnett, I finished Honour Guard and am now on to The Guns of Tanith.

What Video Games I Am Playing

Finished playing through Space Marine 2 on stream and that is being a lot of fun!

Myself Graham and Chris have started our Co-Op playthrough, which will be uploaded to the Edge of Empire YouTube channel.

What I Am Creating

I published the latest episode of Edge of Empire

And the latest Combat Patrol Battle Report

What I Am Backing

Got the Reliquary Red spray paint can from The Colour Forge Signature Series Kickstarter, which is gonna be perfect for my Blood Ravens

What I Am Spending

It’s Humble Choice week, so with that I got

Getting Back Into The Swing

By

On 29th September 2024

In Blog

After a few weeks in which I really haven’t been doing terribly well, a mixture of illness, the black dog and fatigue, I am really trying to get back into the swing of life, and actually do some stuff.

So lets try to get stuff done and not simply be depressed and sleep my life away!

Heresy Camp

Some cool lads led by Scottish Graham are running a Heresy Camp next May, and this is the list I am think of taking, bringing the Ultramarines out of Storage, and using some Legiones Auxilia.

XIII: Ultramarines

+ Rite of War: +

Rite of War: The Logos Lectora (UM)

+ HQ: +

Centurion
. Master of Signals: Artificer Armour
. . Bolt Pistol
. . Chainsword: Chainsword
. Master of Signals

Praetor: Warlord
. Legion Praetor: Argyrum-pattern Boarding Shield, Artificer Armour, Master-craft one weapon, Thunder Hammer, Volkite Serpenta

+ Elites: +

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

+ Troops: +

Assault Squad
. Legion Assault Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Heavy Chainsword, Power Armour
. 7x Legionary: 7x Bolt Pistol, 7x Chainsword
. Legionary w/ Options: Bolt Pistol, Power Axe
. Legionary w/ Options: Bolt Pistol, Power Axe

Tactical Squad
. Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Power Armour, Power Fist
. 17x Legionary: 17x Bolt Pistol, 17x Bolter, 17x Chainsword
. Legionary w/ Options:: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Legion Vexilla
. . Chainsword: Chainsword
. Legionary w/ Options:: Augury Scanner, Bolt Pistol, Bolter
. . Chainsword: Chainsword

Tactical Squad
. Legion Tactical Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Power Armour, Power Fist
. 17x Legionary: 17x Bolt Pistol, 17x Bolter, 17x Chainsword
. Legionary w/ Options:: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Legion Vexilla
. . Chainsword: Chainsword
. Legionary w/ Options:: Augury Scanner, Bolt Pistol, Bolter
. . Chainsword: Chainsword

+ Fast Attack: +

Storm Eagle Gunship: Twin-linked Heavy Bolter
. Two Hull (Front) Mounted twin-linked lascannon

Storm Eagle Gunship: Twin-linked Heavy Bolter
. Two Hull (Front) Mounted twin-linked lascannon

+ Heavy Support: +

Fire Raptor Gunship: Four Hull (Front) Mounted Tempest Rockets, Two Sponson Mounted Gravis Heavy Bolter Batteries:

—————-

Allied Detachment

Legiones Auxilia (Ultramarines)

+ HQ: +

Tactical Command Tercio
. Tactical Command Section: Auxilia Vexilla, Command Vox
. . Aurox Transport
. . Auxilia Captain: Auxilia Captain, Heavy Void Armour
. . . Pistol and Combat weapon (Sub-menu): Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
. . Auxilia Companion: Lasrifle
. . Auxilia Companion: Lasrifle
. . Auxilia Companion: Lasrifle
. . Auxilia Companion: Lasrifle

+ Troops: +

Infantry Tercio
. Line Command Section: Auxilia Vexilla, Command Vox
. . Auxilia Troop Master
. . . Pistol and Combat weapon (Sub-menu): Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol
. . 4x Auxilia Veteran w/ Lasrifle: 4x Lasrifle
. Rifle Sections: Augury Scanner, Auxilia Vexilla, Vox Interlock
. . Auxilia Sergeant: Lasrifle
. . 19x Auxilia w/ Lasrifle: 19x Lasrifle
. Rifle Sections: Augury Scanner, Auxilia Vexilla, Vox Interlock
. . Auxilia Sergeant: Lasrifle
. . 19x Auxilia w/ Lasrifle: 19x Lasrifle

+ Fast Attack: +

Carnodon Strike Squadron: Solar Auxilia Carnodon, Solar Auxilia Carnodon
. Turret Mounted Volkite Culverin
. Two Sponson Mounted Volkite Caliver

+ Heavy Support: +

Armoured Tercio
. Leman Russ Strike Squadron
. . Leman Russ Battle Tank: Heavy Bolter
. . Leman Russ Battle Tank: Heavy Bolter
. . Leman Russ Battle Tank: Heavy Bolter
. . Turret Mounted Vanquisher Battle Cannon and Co-axial Mounted Autocannon

I am going to be printing the Solar Auxilia dudes, as they are going to be specifically for only use with the Ultramarines.

I have printed the Assault Squad, alongside two new Sgts for the Tactical Squads, and I will be printing a second Carnodon.

I will need to buy a new Vanquisher however.

But I am planning on getting most of this ready by the end of January.

What I Am Modelling

I started out the week with a bunch of stuff to add to the Dark Angels, starting with a Company Master.

Then a Lieutenant armed with a Power Sword

And to finish this trip of officers, a Librarian of the Deathwing

Plus a unit of Aggressors

And here is a unit of Space Wolves Reavers for their Combat Patrol

I then painted up a unit of Neurogaunts for the Tyranids, which completes all the models from Leviathan

I needed a palette cleanser so I started work on my Aurox for the Solar Auxilia, painting with an Urban Camo scheme, that I am quite happy with

As well as a test model for the Ultramarines Auxilia allies, who will be the Calth High Guard 105th Regiment

After that I painted these Paragon Warsuits for my Argent Shroud, all armed with Multi-Meltas

And finally some Rockgut Troggoths to complete my Gloomspite Gitz Spearhead!

So what’s up next

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  2. Domicile Shell x 2 & Guardian Idol
  3. Dark Angels Invader ATV x 2
  4. Ardboyz x 10, Itonskulz Boyz & Warchanter
  5. Treelord Ancient
  6. Leman Russ Vanquishers x 2
  7. Squig Herd x 20 & Herders x 4
  8. Dark Angels Redemptor Dreadnought and Deathwing Company Master
  9. Space Wolves Intercessors x 10
  10. Karazai

What I Am Reading

Currently listening to Reaper Man by Sir Terry Pratchett and I have to say the new recordings are exemplary, really something just so good about them.

Also enjoying The Saint by Dan Abnett, its a big book though and will take me some time I think.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Had my first game of Spearhead against Paul, using the Orruk Warclans Kruleboyz Spearhead

As per usual I lost, but not terribly so

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finally finished God of War (2018), I will still be going back to clear up some collectables, and overall it was a decent game.

Not gonna lie, tempted to add it to Steam if I can get a good deal sometime.

I also started playing Space Marine 2 on Stream, got two campaigns going, one on my own as a single player!

And a second one I am starting with Chris and Graham!

I also started a playthrough of Marvel’s The Avengers on PlayStation 5

Originally I was gonna play it on the Steam Deck, but it only had a Silver rating on there from ProtonDB, and apparently the PS5 version has Spider-Man and the Steam version doesn’t, so yeah, no brainer

I picked up the disc for £5 when the live service side shit down a while back

What I Am Creating

The second Combat Patrol Magazine Battle Report got published, and it included the debut of my new intro video!

What I Am Spending

I got issue 3 of Combat Patrol to add a squad of Infernus Marines to the Dark Angels

I also treat myself for my birthday in a few weeks to the Hyperkin DuchesS, a controller release I have been looking forward to a lot!

I also got a few more Army Painter Fanatics paints, mostly replacing very well used Citadel ones

And I added to my Steam games library

Studio Refurbishment

By

On 4th August 2024

In Blog

Its been a while since my last post, but I have been very busy with the studio refurbishment!

My studio is a bit of a mess, it’s awful to work in due to it being such a state.

And after insulation gate and the fact we need to repaint, why not refurb the place and make it better.

Now we rent this place so I am limited in what I can do, so it’s limited to better furniture, better storage, better cable management etc

Painting

This has taken place over a few times, but we had two slanted walls on the roof to paint plus a patch on the ceiling and the feature wall

I started off by painting the ceiling at the same time as we did mine and Lindsay’s bedroom as that was super simple to do

I did the two sloped ceilings on my own in two stages so that it was fine and ready for the feature wall, which was gonna be the big one!

For the feature wall the first thing we had to do was remove my desk and some of my storage and basically take everything off the walls!

We had some bits that were filled in and then sanded down to give a smooth finish, more than I liked.

After that we painted it a slightly darker grey than had been on there because we couldn’t colour match what was there.

Networking

Right now in the studio, we have a Powerline brining in a connection from the modem downstairs, when we started this project, it exclusively provides a connection for the server

We also have a TP-Link Deco S7 Mesh access point which most other stuff connects to, which provides a faster connection than the Powerline.

But the server, for some reason doesn’t like working through the Mesh.

Regardless, the connection to the server desk started out on the floor, crossing over it and creating a major trip hazard.

To provide power, I had to route an extension cord around the room, and that’s what we did with the network cable.

I got a 20m Cat 8 cable, and just wrapped it up with the power cable using zip ties and then took it around the room, and into a new switch under the desk.

It still needs clipping to the door frame to the eave, but I am doing that tomorrow

But alas, Lindsay decided to move out of the studio and as a result the switch is now no longer required, but I guess better to have, than have not

We also added a Wi-Fi card to Megan’s PC, not so much for the Wi-Fi, but more for the Bluetooth capabilities, that way she can use a wireless controller.

Yeah I know a USB dongle would have been cheaper and easier, but I have always found their performance to be so so.

And this kind of gives them another option for connecting their PC to the network.

Power

It might sound silly, but phone charging has always been a bit haphazard, I normally just plug the phone into the PC, but look I want convenience.

So I grabbed a cheap MagSafe charger, I did have a Qi charger, but I have found Qi to be annoying as it’s just a chew in to perfectly align the coils and it’s slower, and quite inefficient.

MagSafe solves that issue, thankfully! And you know what’s cool, Qi2 is basically MagSafe and should start being common very soon!

I also upgraded the plug socket, well, not so much upgraded as just added an extra two sockets removing the need for as many extension cords.

I get no more power from it, but I feel more comfortable with the load spread across 4 sockets than 2.

Paint Storage

We were using a deep set of drawers to store paint, that I have been using for the better part of a decade.

But we decided to move to paint racks/shelves from TT Combat, because we wanted get more desk space back for Megan.

So we bought two paint shelves to store 72 Citadel paints each for a total of 216 pots, plus a 72 dropper bottle rack, as I expand into ranges such as Two Thin Coats, Army Painter and TT Combat.

And my wonderful friend Paul gave me this shelf he had and was no longer using to give me 3 in total!

3D Printing,

We replaced my cheap Monoprice Mini, with a Saturn 4 Ultra, which takes up quite a bit more room.

So this now lives where the old printer, cure chamber and PS5 used to go.

We also grabbed a few accessories to help with this, we grabbed a funnel for popping resin back into a bottle, plus a few things like scrappers and a restock of nitrile gloves!

Mounting Hardware

One thing we decided pretty early on, is a desire for dual monitor arms for both mine and Lindsay’s setup

We started off with Lindsay’s setup straight away, cause she needed it for work.

But of course she moved downstairs, so this moved with her, and I have this same one on my desk

I had purchased some time ago a bunch of Elgato Wallmounts and was only using one of them, but with the 3D Printer and paint racks, I now needed to use these for real.

So now these hold both my Keylight Airs, my Overhead camera for the painting table and my FaceCam for use when painting

Other

We also got an Ultrasonic Cleaner to put in the studio to do a mix of things, partly for cleaning my airbrush, Megan & Lindsay’s jewellery, our glasses and resin models etc

In order to accommodate the 3D Printer, we wall mounted the PS5 with this

It allows me to take the PS5 off the desk, and also charges two of the controllers too, meaning I no longer need the controller charging station sat on the desk

What Next

So what’s the plan for the future, well I need a new Besta unit to store more board games as a good chunk of those have now moved to the studio where Lindsay’s desk used to be.

And I need to sort out a lot of cable management, for my PC setup and Megan’s, but that’s probably a job for the winter.

The rest of it is just gonna be sorting out what’s in the room and how I can better organise the storage.

What I Am Modelling

I started off with a couple of squads of Assault Intercessors for the Dark Angels.

And followed that up with the gangs from The Carnevale, Escape from San Canciano mini starter box, starting with the Rashaar.

Then followed up with the Guild

After that I painted a Domicile Shell for Age of Sigmar

So whats next up on the desk?

  1. Genestealers x 20 & Broodlord
  2. Ultramarines Infernus Squad x 5
  3. Squig Hoppers x 10
  4. Guilliman x 2
  5. Barbgaunts x 5
  6. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  7. Calgar x 2
  8. Mega Boss on Maw-Krusha
  9. Paragon Warsuits with Mult-Meltas x 3
  10. Domicile Shell x 2

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Played a board game after a long gap, with Ticket to Ride: Berlin with Lindsay and Megan

I love the mini Ticket to Ride games and this one is a really good one, the subway mechanic is really fun!

I had a game of Warhammer 40K with my Necrons vs a combined force of Space Wolves which won!

And a game of Heresy against Graham to try out a new mission he wrote for an event we were running

What Video Games I Am Playing

Continued playing Assassin’s Creed: Rogue Remastered on Stream

What I Am Winning

A few weeks ago I won a bottle of resin from Elegoo on Twitter and that got delivered this week, a nice bottle of 8k water washable space grey, perfect for the Saturn 4 Ultra when it arrives in a few weeks hopefully!

I also won a copy of Chorlton and the Wheelies on DVD from HeyYouGuys

And a book, but no idea from whom this is from

What I Am Spending

Grabbed a couple of issues of Stormbringer 73 to add two units of Ardboyz to my Ironjawz, and along with the issue coming with my Subscription will give me an awesome three units of them to form a nice core of the Orruk Warclans army.

I won a voucher from a competition for Amazon, which allowed me to purchase a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth PCIe card for Megans PC, mostly for the Bluetooth for her to be able to use a wireless controller.

Yes I know I could have gotten a cheap USB dongle, but I think the extra reliability of the card is better, plus Wi-Fi is a nice backup to have.

Initially we bought a cheap Chinese one, but the card was a dud, the chipset wasn’t the MediaTek one described and was a far inferior RealTek one, plus the driver site appeared to be filled with malware, so that got sent back to Amazon.

And yeah replaced it with the far more trusted TP-Link!

And we got the next paint rack from TTCombat, this time for my dropper bottle paints, which consist of some Vallejo, TTCombat, Turbo Dork and Army Painter, plus a single Two Thin Coats bottle

The reason we have gone for this, despite only having around 30 dropper bottles, is that I have decided for many basic colours, I am shifting to Army Painter Fanatics, with some select Two Thin Coats plus a few others from various other ranges.

Also got myself a couple more Elgato Wall Mounts, which will be used to mount my Keylight Airs, given the desk space currently used for the stands will be taken up by the paint racks, and the new 3D printer.

Then came the last paint rack and some ships for Dropfleet Commander

And another Stormbringer issue, this time 76 for some extra Stormdrake Guard!

Not Much Going On

By

On 2nd July 2024

In Blog

This week has been much of a muchness, there isn’t much going on at all

Just waiting for WorldCon I guess and a the Heresy event

Got to get a shift on with a few things, but this week has just been meh

My depression is getting kinda bad, but I have a project of refurbing the studio to get on with

What I Am Modelling

I started out with the Blade Champion for the Custodes, who will do double duty, being in both the 40K Combat Patrol and being a Shield Captain in Heresy.

I then painted an Apothecary Biologis for the Dark Angels.

I also painted a Bladeguard Lieutenant for the Dark Angels

Plus a Deathwing Ancient

And a squad of Deathwing Terminators

Also a couple of Watchers in the Dark to join the Terminators

And then it was some Paragon Warsuits for the Sisters of Battle, all armed with Heavy Bolters.

After which I turned my attention to these Havocs for the True Sons, completing the old Chaos Space Marines Combat Patrol

So what’s next

  1. Spirit of Durthu
  2. Sisters of Silence x 10
  3. T’au Enforcer Comanger
  4. Escape from San Canciano Gangs
  5. Dark Angels Assault Intercessors x 10
  6. Genestealers x 20 & Broodlord
  7. Squig Hoppers x 10
  8. Ultramarines Infernus Squad x 5
  9. Treelord
  10. Gulliman x 2

What I Am Reading

I listened to Longshot by Rob Young which has been kinda amazing

What Video Games I Am Playing

Playing Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag again on stream and completed it late Friday night/early Saturday Morning!

What I Am Creating

A new episode of Edge of Empire dropped on Sunday!

What I Am Winning

We won a Polaroid instant camera from a competition with Heart Radio

What I Am Spending

I grabbed a new painting handle, I knows it’s mad, but I am trying to build these up to 21 owned in total

That would allow me to paint full units of 20, of which I do more often than I’d like, plus a HQ

I also bought a box of Allarus Custodians to complete the new Custodes Combat Patrol

To start a long awaited studio refurbishment project, I bought the first of a few paint racks we are going to need from TT Combat, this is a rack to hold 72 Citadel pots.

The plan is to have 3 of these plus a rack for 72 dropper bottles.

I also bought a 20m Cat 8 cable to route data to the server and Lindsay’s desk without creating a trip hazard!

And a MagSafe charger for my desk, to make charging my phone a lot easier

Now because this was delayed by 24 hours, Amazon gave me a £10 gift card to compensate me, it was like £8.

So I used this to buy a network switch for the studio, this will go on the end of the 20m cable and then be split into Lindsay work laptop and the server.

Hers is being fitted now, mine will be after the painting work and along side the cable management improvements.

I bought the IGN Live At Home Humble Bundle which netted me

I also bought the Tiny Build Himble Bundle which got me

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.

Its Been A Tough Month

By

On 1st April 2024

In Blog

Its been a tough few weeks, we have had a death in the family and some other stuff that’s caused some challenges

I have been feeling my depression quite deep and its really doing a number on my life, I am really finding it very hard to even leave the house.

I know I need to try harder, so I am going to try and have a better month in April now that the worst is behind us, I mean that is all I can do right, just keep going and try to be better.

I had a particularly bad instance of doing my normal rushing ahead last week, and it hurt some of my friends, so I need to watch myself and keep an eye on my tendency to just rush ahead and not stop to check things are sound.

I am organising a Heresy event as part of my getting back on top of things, and tickets sold out right away, gonna try and have my Zone Mortalis table finished by then so I can set it up and try and convince someone to come play on it with me whilst I EO.

I finally finished sorting out all the metadata on the Audio Book Shelf server, and oh my word, that was a lot of stuff to deal with!

I still have to sort out the authors and series, but we will get there!

I am currently uploading my BBC Doctor Who audio books, which is a sizable pile, still need to buy The Church on Ruby Road by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson, which is the latest release, might spend my next Audible token on it!

What I Am Modelling

Its been a bit of a weird period of time, but I have painted up two squads of Vigilors for my Celestial Vindicators.

After that I painted a Nexus Syphon and Domicile Shell for my new Age of Sigmar terrain box

Then I painted some 40K stuff, starting with a Dark Angels Primaris Librarian,

Followed by the same model for the Ultramarines

Then some Hellblasters, also for the Ultramarines.

Plus Chief Librarian Tigurius of the Ultramarines

Then I painted up the Legate Marshal for my new Solar Auxilia force

And finally a unit of Bloodletters of Khorne which finishes up the Chaos Daemons Combat Patrol

And right at the end of the month, so they count towards the resolutions, I painted two units of Gitz Stabbas

And a couple of units of Loonsmasha Fanatics

So whats next for me to paint!

  1. Homonculus
  2. Celestine
  3. Death Company x 10, Chaplain x 2 & Rhino
  4. Wulfen x 5
  5. Seraphim x 5
  6. Royal Beastflayers
  7. Sisters Repentia x 4
  8. Dark Angels Aggressors x 3
  9. Hobgrot Slittaz x 10
  10. Drycha Hamadreth

What I Am Reading

I listened to The Wormery by Stephen Cole and Paul Magrs, which was a lot of fun, and I then moved on to Scherzo by Robert Shearman which was kinda trippy and fairly interesting given that there were only two cast members.

I also listened to Lazarus: Enmity’s Edge by Gary Kloster which was pretty good, but I kinda expected the bad guy to turn out to be a Fallen, but it wasn’t and that was still cool. It actually humanised the Dark Angels quite a bit.

What Video Games I Am Playing

Finished up with Yakuza 0, and I have to admit, the story was phenomenal, really good.

I started playing through Spider-Man: Miles Morales

And I finished it as well!

And I am currently playing through a bit of Helldivers II

What I Am Creating

I did an unboxing video for the Solar Auxilia Battlegroup.

Its shite, cause I fucked up my audio levels

Also the next episode of Edge of Empire was published too!

Oh and this too!

What I Am Spending

I used some saved up Steam credit to buy some games in the sale, some that I have been wanting to get for a while, just waiting for the price to fall

So I picked up, Star Wars: Battlefront II, FlatOut, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, Flatout and Helldivers.

I also sold my old iPhone 12 and was able to afford to buy the Solar Auxilia Battlegroup as a result, which you would have seen the unboxing for video earlier.

Really happy with this and its going to make me a nice allied force!

I also bought a few games, first was the Plaion: The Hits Bundle that netted me:-

Plus I bought Helldivers II!

Resolutions Update – February 2024

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On 2nd March 2024

In Blog

An update of where I am at now for this years resolutions!

Complete 6 Combat Patrols – 33% Complete

This month we completed the Dark Angels Combat Patrol, which will make its channel debut in April!