Tag: Iron Sultanate

Do I Eat My Hat Now?

By

On 28th March 2025

In Blog

So a few years ago when the Saudi takeover was first rumoured I said if it happened I would eat my hat!

Well it happened and Graham and Chris who both said they would hold me to it, let me off, and well I am wondering if I should now.

Under the dark ages of Mike Ashley’s reign, I always said that the only expectations I desired from Newcastle United, were that we have a decent cup run, and we challenge for a place in Europe.

That’s it, I never wanted anything more than that, because in these days of billionaires bankrolling teams, the UKs other clubs don’t get a look in.

And realistically I think that’s all any football fan should want, winning the league should never be guaranteed, I want a competitive league, something that we haven’t had for a long time.

Anyway, let’s be honest, the past three seasons, we have had that, last season was a little bit less, but we were hampered by injuries, which happens.

But yeah, in three years , we have consistently challenged for a place in Europe, and had decent cup runs, it’s not been doom and gloom and I am happy with that.

Winning the League Cup might seem like noting to some people, but for us, it was a first domestic honour in nearly 70 years, and for a club the size of Newcastle that’s a big deal. In my lifetime we have ever been the bridesmaid and never the bride.

I am not expecting this to begin constant cup wins, I don’t ever want to be a jaded fan like this of Man City and Liverpool, for whom another trophy is not a big deal.

But I hope that this win is the beginning of Newcastle returning to a point where it’s not a question of if we can win something again, but when we win something again.

So should I eat my hat?

What I Am Modelling

I started out with some more bits for my Iron Sultanate warband for Trench Crusade

I painted up the Yüzbaşı Captain to lead the warband

A Jabirean Alchemists was added as well

I also added a Sultanate Assassin

And finally a Lion of Jabir

I also painted up a trio of Aethon Heavy Sentinels for my Solar Auxilia completing the army for Heresy Camp

The Chaos Knights recently got a Combat Patrol and so I printed up a couple of War Dogs to make that, and painted them up to belong to House Herpetrax.

First up was a Stalker

And then a Brigand

Outside of Combat Patrol these will be used as Allies for my Chaos Space Marines

And finally I painted a Primaris Company Champion for my Dark Angels

I then completed the Imperial Knights Combat Patrol, having printed a couple of Armigers for this, starting with a Warglaive

And then my first Helverin

And this was followed by Jokkob Bugmasson XI, a model I have no idea how it will be used, but it’s cool

And finally a unit of 10 Ardboyz for the Orruks

So what’s coming up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Sisters Retributors
  3. Swampboss Skumdrekk
  4. Ultramarines Brutalis Dreadnought
  5. Imperial Fists Command Squad
  6. The Ancestors’ Wrath Einhyr Champion & Kâhl Yôht Grendok
  7. Kellermorph & Neophyte Hybrids x 10
  8. Ogryn Charonite Squad x 3
  9. Dankhold Trogboss
  10. Phallax Warders x 10

What I Am Reading

Been a while since I updated this, but I have been slowly making my way through Straight Silver in The Saint by Dan Abnett

I also listened to Verminslayer by David Guymer, which was very cool, I liked the new companion for Gotrex, but I hope we get a short about his falling out with the last one.

And I listened to Hell’s Last by Justin Hill which was really good, but then I did Stan Minka Lesk!

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Played another game of Warhammer Age of Sigmar the other week, this time against Alex with the Idoenth Deepkin and we increased the points to 1000

I took this list

Big Waaagh! (990 points) - General's Handbook 2024-25

Ironjawz - Big Waaagh!
Auxiliaries: 2
Drops: 3

Regiment 1
Megaboss on Maw-krusha (360)
Ardboyz (180)
• 1x Champion
• 1x Standard Bearer
Brutes (200)
• 1x Champion
• 1x Gore-choppa

Auxiliary 
Hobgrot Slittaz (90)
• 1x Champion
• 1x Musician
• 1x Standard Bearer
Beast-skewer Killbow (160)

Created with New Recruit
Data Version: v1

I had wanted to take some Man-Skewer Boltboyz, but they were 10 points too much, so I took some Hobgrot Slittaz for some cheap bodies instead

Regardless, Alex absolutely hammered me, his Deepkin just wore me down over the game,.

This week I played George and his Blades of Khorne

I did ok, and scored some points, but again, the Orruks just don’t have the ability to hit that they really need, 4+ to hit is really harsh man!

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finished up with Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China which was a lot of fun

What I Am Spending

I managed to grab the only copy of Combat Patrol Issue 26, I felt terrible as there was another fella behind me who wanted a copy, but I was there first and patiently waited for it

I hope he manages to get sorted out elsewhere

I also grabbed myself another box of Tempestus Scions, to build myself the rest of the Combat Patrol, these guys are going to be a Tempestor, three Command Squad guys with Hotshot Lasguns and a Tempestor Prime with a Bolt Pistol

I am also a big Minka Lesk Stan, so of course I had to grab Hells Last to get her command squad, ok as they are, they are only for use in Legends, but I am sure I can do something with them

This means I now have three Minka Lesk models, one as a Sgt, one as a Lieutenant and now a Captain too

I got a few bits and bobs in for other hobby stuff, starting with these NFT tags, they get used to link to Google Docs of whats in my army boxes to allow for easier figuring out of what I have

I also topped up on resin, with another 3KG of Sunlu ABS like grey, and plenty of super glue, I find these little 1g packs the best value for money.

I had bought a 12TB HDD, but alas it was dead on arrival, so it was sent back, really irritating cause we really needed it.

But with the changes to PLEX we kinda needed to get a PLEX Pass, so we used the refund to grab that before it more than doubles in price.

I did need a new external caddy, so I got a dependable Ugreen one, that I have used before without any issue, which was handy as I had a 1TB drive I could pop in to expand our TV library to 9TB.

It was time for Humble Choice, and that got me:-

Plus for EA

I grabbed the Indie Allies 2025 Bundle and got

I also picked up a mystery bundle and got

And separately I bought

As part of the long term move from console to PC, there are certain games I want to still have in my collection, and as the Assassin’s Creed series is my favourite, I intend to add the whole series to Steam over the next year or so.

It’s Ayyám-i-Há, But Not A Good One

By

On 6th March 2025

In Blog

This week has been well, crap, with family stuff happening that has prevented us from celebrating Ayyám-i-Há or Megans Birthday which really sucks.

Megan and Lindsay did get me an Elegoo Mercury Plus V3.0 to help with the 3D Printing, so gonna order 5L of IPA on Monday!

Plan is to keep my pickling jars for dirty washes and use the Mercury for the clean wash.

The first prints washed and cured are markedly better than with the old system, that’s not the say what I had was pants, but this, is so so much better!

I printed some Ogryns for my Solar Auxilia, and yeah, they are a lot smoother and easier to get clean with the new system.

Website Updates

This week the My Armies page was updated with army listings for the Necrons, Adeptus Mechanicus for 40K and Mechanicum for 30K and Knights for both.

What I Am Modelling

I started out by finishing up my Malcador Heavy Tank for the Solar Auxilia

Followed by a trio of Rockgut Troggoths for the Gloomspite Gitz

After that I moved on to the Tyranids from Combat Patrol, starting with the second lot of Termagants

Alongside a Ripper Swarm

And a Parasite of Mortrex

Then I turned my attention to some Trench Crusade and painted some Azebs for the Iron Sultanate

Alongside a Sapper

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

On Friday I played Russel and his Alpha Legion with this list of Solar Auxilia and some allied Imperial Fists

Solar Auxilia

## HQ [375 Pts]
Armoured Fist - Leman Russ Command Tank [200 Pts]: Leman Russ Command Tank (Armoured Fist Pattern Cohorts (Check Limitations manually), Battle Cannon, Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Warlord, Heavy Bolter)

Tactical Command Tercio [175 Pts]:
• 1x Tactical Command Section [175 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Meltabombs, Refractor Field, Aurox Transport (Smoke Launchers), Augury Scanner, Command Vox, Cohorts Vexilla
  • 1x Auxilia Captain [10 Pts]: Void Armour, Pistol and Combat weapon (Sub-menu) (Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol), Auxilia Marshall
  • 4x Auxilia Companion [12 Pts]: Void Armour, Lasrifle

## Elites [45 Pts]

Medicae Section [45 Pts]:
• 3x Auxilia Medicae [15 Pts]: Auto-medicus, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Void Armour, Close Combat Weapon, Laspistol

## Troops [1103 Pts]

Armoured Fist - Leman Russ Strike Squadron [155 Pts]:
• 1x Leman Russ Strike Squadron [155 Pts]: Turret Mounted Vanquisher Battle Cannon and Co-axial Mounted Autocannon (Co-axial Mounted Autocannon, Vanquisher Battle Cannon)
  • 1x Leman Russ Battle Tank [135 Pts]: Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Heavy Bolter

Armoured Fist - Leman Russ Strike Squadron [155 Pts]:
• 1x Leman Russ Strike Squadron [155 Pts]: Turret Mounted Vanquisher Battle Cannon and Co-axial Mounted Autocannon (Co-axial Mounted Autocannon, Vanquisher Battle Cannon)
  • 1x Leman Russ Battle Tank [135 Pts]: Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Heavy Bolter

Armoured Fist - Leman Russ Strike Squadron [155 Pts]:
• 1x Leman Russ Strike Squadron [155 Pts]: Turret Mounted Vanquisher Battle Cannon and Co-axial Mounted Autocannon (Co-axial Mounted Autocannon, Vanquisher Battle Cannon)
  • 1x Leman Russ Battle Tank [135 Pts]: Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Heavy Bolter

Infantry Tercio [319 Pts]:
• 1x Rifle Sections [319 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Void Armour, Dracosan Armoured Transport (Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Gravis Lascannon), Augury Scanner, Auxilia Vexilla, Vox Interlock
  • 1x Auxilia Sergeant: Lasrifle
  • 19x Auxilia w/ Lasrifle and Bayonet [6 Pts]: Bayonet, Lasrifle

Infantry Tercio [319 Pts]:
• 1x Rifle Sections [319 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Void Armour, Dracosan Armoured Transport (Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Gravis Lascannon), Augury Scanner, Auxilia Vexilla, Vox Interlock
  • 1x Auxilia Sergeant: Lasrifle
  • 19x Auxilia w/ Lasrifle and Bayonet [6 Pts]: Bayonet, Lasrifle

## Fast Attack [200 Pts]

Carnodon Strike Squadron [200 Pts]: Two Sponson Mounted Volkite Caliver (Two Sponson Mounted Volkite Caliver), Turret Mounted Volkite Culverin (Volkite Culverin)
• 3x Solar Auxilia Carnodon [65 Pts]: Smoke Launchers

## Heavy Support [700 Pts]

Malcador Heavy Tank Squadron [350 Pts]:
• 1x Malcador Heavy Tank [350 Pts]: Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Vanquisher Battle Cannon, Demolisher Cannon, Hull (Left) & Hull (Right) Mounted Lascannon, Pintle Mounted Multi-Laser, Dozer Blade, Flare Shield

Malcador Heavy Tank Squadron [350 Pts]:
• 1x Malcador Heavy Tank [350 Pts]: Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Vanquisher Battle Cannon, Demolisher Cannon, Hull (Left) & Hull (Right) Mounted Lascannon, Pintle Mounted Multi-Laser, Dozer Blade, Flare Shield

## Lords of War [300 Pts]

Macharius Heavy Tank Squadron [300 Pts]: Macharius Vanquisher Cannon
• 1x Macharius Heavy Tank [280 Pts]: Two Sponson Mounted heavy stubbers, Hull (Front) Mounted twin-linked heavy stubber, Smoke Launchers

Imperial Fists - ++ Allied Detachment +

## Rite of War
Rite of War: The Stone Gauntlet (IF)

## HQ [175 Pts]

Fafnir Rann [175 Pts]: Artificer Armour, Boarding Shield, Bolt Pistol, Frag Grenades, Iron Halo, Krak Grenades, Master of the Legion, 2x The Headsman and The Hunter

## Elites [45 Pts]

Apothecarion Detachment [45 Pts]: Legiones Astartes (X)
• 1x Apothecary [45 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Narthecium, Bolt Pistol, Chainsword (Chainsword), Power Armour

## Troops [540 Pts]

Phalanx Warder Squad [540 Pts]: Boarding Shield, Breacher Charge, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Power Armour, Legion Vexilla, Meltabombs, Land Raider Proteus Carrier (2x Sponson Mounted Gravis Lascannon, Legiones Astartes (X), Smoke Launchers, Twin-linked Heavy Bolter)
• 1x Warder Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Power Axe
• 7x Phalanx Warder [20 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Bolter, Power Axe
• 2x Phalanx Warder w/Special Weapon (1 in 5) [35 Pts]: Bolt Pistol, Power Axe, Thunder Hammer

We played a Blood Feud mission and I was utterly decimated, I only managed to take out the Kytan

It was my first time paying an all tank army and it’s a bit of a learning curve and I made a fair few tactical mistakes

Let’s be perfectly honest, the Malcadors and Macharius are such a worse choice compared to the Leman Russ Vanquisher, but I hate the idea of just taking the most efficient unit

The biggest mistake I made was moving forward, what I should have done was stay back and fire from distance, and concentrate on the Contemprors with Multi-Meltas.

I also played a game of Age of Sigmar with Keith at Hartlepool Friday Night games and yeah I was tabled by end of turn 2.

His Ogor Mawtribes were very very effective and just wiped out everything I had on the table with ease!

What Video Games I Am Playing

I completed Assassin’s Creed: Unity and Dead Kings.

There are things like some Co-Op Missions etc that I still have to do, so I will probably have a few more sessions on Twitch with it.

And started on Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China

What I Am Buying

I bought the House Flipper and Friends Humble Bundle, which netted me

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