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!
This is a long delayed battle report, and I am very sorry its taken so long, was a bit of a case of lining things up and developing a new workflow that didn’t need days to edit a single report!
Figured it out now, so I have to catch up in order to meet my resolution requirements!
Anyway, enjoy!
Fleet Lists
United Colonies of Mankind
Line Battlegroup
Strategy Rating: 5
1 X Rio
Vanguard Battlegroup
Strategy Rating: 12
1 X Moscow
2 X New Orleans
Pathfinder Battlegroup
Strategy Rating: 7
2 X Toulon
1 X Berlin
The Scourge
Pathfinder Battlegroup 1
Strategy Rating: 7
1 X Ifrit
2 X Harpy
Line Battlegroup 1
Strategy Rating: 5
1 X Wyvern
Vanguard Battlegroup 1
Strategy Rating: 12
2 X Gargoyle
1 X Shenlong
These two fleets are made up of models you can find in the Dropfleet Commander boxset from TT Combat, and you can get yourself a copy from Element Games for just £54 and start playing with everything you need!
Alternatively, my old Air Cadet buddy runs Extra Fox Games on eBay where he sells it for £54.49 and helps him out, plus has free postage!
Last weekend, we took a flying visit to my parents in Suffolk.
We hadn’t been in nearly 3 1/2 years as a result of the Pandemic and it was nice to head down again, even if it was only brief.
It coincided with my brothers birthday, and he wanted to go to Cambridge for the day, so thats what we did, and we ate at an all you can eat buffet, which was interesting whilst on my current medication!
But it was a nice trip and I am looking forward to my next visit for my brothers wedding in April.
What I Am Modelling
I finished up the Ultramarines Lieutenants, all eight of them!
Megan spoke to me and Lindsay the other week about how she has been feeling since we moved, anyway long and short we are adopting a pair of rabbits!
Currently known as Harvey and Hudson, they are being renamed Perrigrin Took and Angron Eater of Cables!
So this past week and a bit has been taken up with the task of rabbit proofing, rabbits are utter hoodlums and will chew any fucking thing.
So all the cables are being sheathed in protective coverings, the board game units are getting doors for the bottom shelves and a couple of extension cables are going into boxes.
Tomorrow Megans mum is coming round and the cage will be built!
I like bunnies, but they are pains in the bum, just so bloody naughty!
What I Am Modelling
I started the week by painting the Lord Castellan for Shadows Over Hammerhal and his trusty Gryph-Hound.
Followed by the Darkoath Warchief, I love the whole Darkoath aesthetic and I tell you, if they ever made a whole army of Darkoath, I would be on it like a tramp on chips!
Played a game of Horus Heresy against Graham on Tuesday, it was a close game and I must admit my Dreadnought killing his Sicaran Punishers was beautiful!
This shouldn’t be controversial, but I know some people will choose to unfollow/unfriend me for this, but it needs to be said.
No one should buy or play Hogwarts Legacy, if you claim to be an LGBTQ+ ally.
If you buy the game, or play it, then please, stop describing yourself as an ally, because when it comes down to brass tacks, you ain’t.
JK Rowling has a verifiable and blatant history of transphobia and she uses her money and influences to spread hate and bigotry against our trans friends.
If you are asking for examples, well I am gonna be honest, fuck off, they are super clear, there are numerous articles and examples and if you can’t see that, then most likely you are a piece of shit yourself.
Any purchases or streaming of the game, only benefits her, it makes her richer and allows her to do more evil.
And no, donating money to charity doesn’t make it ok, because you still give her publicity and money.
Listen to your trans and queer friends, do not buy the fucking wizard game!
You might wonder why I care, given that I am not trans, well simple I have a lot of trans friends, and I care about them.
Also, if you take Joke Rolling and her dreadful GC posses proposals, that makes me not a man.
My sez chromosomes are not XY, they are XYY, I am, to be blunt, not a standard cis male
And under the arguments put forward by the GC lunatics, I wouldn’t be allowed to use men’s toilets, because my DNA isn’t “normal”.
But there are a lot of bodies out there that don’t fit the XY/XX binary, not all of our DNA matches what we feel we are, it know ourselves to be.
If we were to mandate ridiculous DNA based classifications of gender, what happens to women with Turner Syndrome (XY) or Swyer Syndrome?
Or if we start down the inspection of peoples gender characteristics, where does a lass with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia go to take a leak?
The truth is, that there are no perverts wanting to go through the process of attaining a GRC to assault anyone, why, that’s an utterly ridiculous idea.
If a sexual predator is going to attack you, they don’t need a GRC to enter the women’s toilets, this isn’t Hogwarts where men will be magically blocked from entering without a GRC.
Just give you head a wobble, either be an ally, or don’t be.
Don’t try and dress up your decision to buy a game which contributes to transphobia and helps the creator of the IP work to against LGBTQ+ rights.
Oh and the other argument, the devs got paid a salary, they aren’t waiting hungry having worked for years with no pay, they got paid.A
And frankly, if they are happy having their name in the credits of this game, knowing the harm that she does, well, I have little sympathy for them.
Anyway that’s my take, I understand it’s spicy, but frankly it’s shouldn’t be, this should be the accepted standard, be an ally, don’t be a piece of shit and try to justify making a decision that goes against being an ally.
What I Am Modelling
I started off by painting my UCM Vancouvers for Dropfleet Commander.
On the desk right now is the Lord Castellant, Excelsior Warpreist, Darkoath Chieftain and two Grpyh-Hounds.
So whats coming up next?
Warhammer Quest Heroes
Blood Angels Repulsor
Templar Brethren x 10
Hobgrot Slittaz x 20
Leagues of Votann Kâhl & Einhyr Champion
The Crimson Court
Ultramarines Lieutenants x 8
Battle Sisters Squad x 10
Ogroid Thaumaturge
Killaboss x 2 & Stab Grot
What I Am Reading
I listened to The Holy Terror by Robert Shearman, which was pretty good if a bit surreal, I forgot the time when the Doctors companion was a talking penguin!
After that I churned through the audiobook of Cthonia’s Reckoning, I have read the book, but needed something to listen to whilst painting and this was on the list.
Not the best Horus Heresy book, but not the worst.
After that my continuing journey into Doctor Who lead me to Storm Warning by Alan Barnes, the first 8th Doctor audio!
Plus I got Space Wolf: Special Edition from Fanatical which had a bunch of the DLC for just £1, code for the main game was given the a friend and I kept the DLC codes,
Having seen it on sale for £3 I decided to keep expanding my Doom collection with the 2016 Doom game, along with Micro Machines World Series.
I redeemed them because in the future I hope to get a Steam Deck and I can’t ever see GOG, Amazon or Epic offering their launchers on that device whilst still maintaining things like cloud saves, so if it’s possible, I am trying to only buy games on Steam now to future proof as it were.
I grabbed a sticker bomb pack of Sonic stickers, I only really wanted a couple to add to my task lamp, but it was cheaper to buy a big pack, but whatever!
I saw Taco, Hat, Gift, Cake, Pizza in Aldi the other day, so I grabbed it cause Lindsay was keen on a copy.
Well, Christmas is almost with us, and this year we are doing a quiet one.
With the loss of Mary, having loved house and money being tight due to stupidly high energy bills, it’s going to be a lot more restrained.
The girls are just getting a book and a donation to a local cat rescue, and I expect the same in return.
The biggest thing I think I have been involved in really is three Secret Santas, one for my game demonstrator friends, which was capped at £5, another for Board Game Geek, which was £35 and a third for Video Game Geek which was £15.
I got my GDN Santee a poster of retro game controllers through the years, my BGG one got a Back to the Future dice game, and my VGG target got Horizon Zero Dawn and Nickelodeon All Star Brawl.
I have gotten my BGG gift which was a copy of Arkham Horror, as I posted the other week, but have yet to hear back about the other two yet.
I have reported the issues and hopefully will get a replacement set of books in the new year.
What I Am Cooking
I did manage to cook something for the first time in forever, a batch of my Kansas City BBQ Rocket Sauce, which has been distilled into bottles to give away as Christmas presents to friends and family.
I also bought a pack of UCM Destroyers for Dropfleet Commander, which I plan to build as Vancouver’s I think, the Launch capacity could be rather helpful.
Another serious issue we have had in the house is Wi-Fi coverage, so we bit the bullet and invested in a mesh Wi-Fi system, the heating system is dependent on Wi-Fi and it just so happens that the boiler is in the part of the house with the weakest Wi-Fi.
So we bought this TP-Link Deco S7 system to replace to replace the Wi-Fi network on the Virgin Media provided router which is to be perfectly honest, pretty dreadful.
And yeah it seems to be fixed now and working wonderfully, it also helped that Virgin Media finally replaced the faulty router we have had to put up with for so long, and combined this has made a huge difference.
My current plan with that game is to concentrate on the UCM and get them a bit bigger before focusing on the Scourge for a bit.
I am considering stripping my Scourge and redoing them in a colour shift scheme, but I am not sure.
Anyway, I have added the new ships that TT Combat have sent me to the painting queue along with some I have still got to do from when I bought them previously.
What I Am Modelling
I started the week by building my Zone Mortalis terrain, which was a big job. I even gave myself a blister on my finger using the hobby knife to scrape away mouldlines
I then took out the Blood Ravens Intercessors so I could work on them piecemeal and I started to work on the Death Korps of Krieg Mortar Team, and managed to get them finished on Saturday.
I now have the Blood Ravens Intercessors armour done and hopefully I should get them finished quickly.
So here is my painting queue as it stands right now.
The Zone Mortalis Terrain is top of the list right now but I am waiting for a good chance to get them primed, every time the weather is good, I can’t get it done because I don’t have time, and when I have time the weather is bad.
Zone Mortalis Terrain
Blood Ravens Intercessors x 10
Space Wolves Infiltrators x 10 & Ragnar Blackmane
Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Squad x 10
Secret Heresy Project Unit
T’au Strike Team x 10, Cadre Fireblade & Devilfish
Mortarion x 2
Nighthaunt Knight of Shrouds on Ethereal Steed, Spirit Torment, Lord Executioner & Guardian of Souls
I listened to the audio drama Dredge Runners by Alec Worley and I was really impressed by it, fantastic characters and it really felt like the city came alive in it.
Brilliant character and a wonderfully atmospheric story, want more like this please!
It got me so excited about Warhammer Crime that I jumped right into Bloodlines by Chris Wraight as an audiobook, which i finished and frankly it’s absolutely amazing, really good and very entertaining book.
A week ago Friday I went to the ever amazing Battle Bunker in Sunderland where myself and Graham, played a game of Horus Heresy.
It was a 3500 point game, where my Death Guard faced off against his Salamanders. He brought along a cool list with some stuff I have never played against before, and I brought for the first time my Sabres and my Autocannon Squad.
The game was initially quite close, but losing a squad who were on an objective meant i soon started to fall back in points.
The Sabres died early on, and did make an impression taking out a Rhino and a few Marines.
The Autocannon Squad were the MVPs for me, and they just decimated whatever they fired against, taking out a Leviathan, finishing off a Storm Eagle and destroying two Rhinos. There wasn’t a turn in which they didn’t destroy something.
But I have got the survey for Chai: High Tea, and am considering a couple of add ons.
What I Am Cooking
Not much, I did make a big omelette for lunch one day and then fish fingers and chips for tea, but other than that not much.
What I Am Spending
Hachette finally sent me the missing copy of Conquest Issue 13 I ordered, with its Munitorum Armoured Container, which is going in my Zone Mortalis terrain collection.
My PIP has ended and the Covid-19 stuff means it ain’t getting reviewed anytime soon so in the meantime we have to hand back our lovely Mini.
But to tide us over we bought a SEAT Alhambra, it’s cheap and needs a little bit of cosmetic work, but we are quite happy about it.
Insurance wasn’t terrible either considering Lindsay’s only been driving for four years, anyway the big advantage of this car is that we can fit many four nibbling in it. So when we visit Suffolk or take out Jane’s boys, no need to decide if someone should be left home or get the bus.
However annoyingly not long after getting it, as in within 24 hours the starter motor died, which forced us to arrange for a new one to be fitted, which happened today and now it’s up and running properly.
The dealer we bought the car off split the costs of getting the new starter motor with us, so that was fairly decent of him.
I did but Sons of the Selenar on Audible, it’s taken a little while to reach there but I am glad it has.
On Tuesday, Hawks lovely Talon, Ken travelled all the way up from Hartlepool to show me and Madison the ropes of Dropfleet Commander.
We played the starter scenario straight from the two player box set with those fleets, the UCM and the Scourge. My UCM fleet consisted of three battlegroups one with two Toulons and a Berlin, one with two New Orleans and a Moscow and the last one with just a Seattle. Madisons Scourge fleet also had thee battlegroups, one with two Harpys and an Ifrit, one with two Gargoyles and a Shenlong, and a final one with a Wyvern.
My strategy was to try and take out his cruisers with mine from a distance allowing my strike cruisers to take the ground clusters, well they say a battle plan rarely survives first contact with the enemy and in this case that was 100% accurate.
On the left hand side, I sent in my Berlin and two Toulons to try and stop his Shenlong and Gargoyles, but Madison ran his Shenlong under silent running the whole way, so by the time I had closed in on the centre of the board, I was just out of scan range, which allowed him to open fire on me and send my Berlin hurtling into oblivion, before picking off my Toulons as they pursued his escaping Gargoyles.
On the other side of the table I threw both my other two battlegroups to try and take the clusters on the far right, but Madison threw in both of his two remaining battlegroups. I easily picked off his Harpys, but the devastating close combat attacks of his Wyvern crippled both my Seattle and Moscow, before his Ifrit dealt the final blow to my Moscow which set off a series of explosions which took out my Seattle and his Wyvern.
My New Orleans were able to take the far right clusters and then turned to the centre cluster where Madison was also sending his ships after taking the far left clusters. The game ended with us destroying each other’s ground forces in the centre leaving us in control of one set of clusters each, so the game was decided on kill points, and sadly my ships went down easily and fast to his
The UCM were fun to play, but the key with them against the Scourge is to keep distance, the Scourge are fast and are very lethal up close, despite their lacking in long ranges attacks.
Overall I am really pleased with the game, and I am looking forward to getting some more in. It’s very much like submarine warfare in space with much of the tactics of the game dictated towards keeping your ships from developing spikes and marking them easier to kill.
Like Dropzone Commander it’s a game about combined arms and you can’t simply min/max your lists, they really do have to be balanced in order to win.
