Tag: Iyanden

It’s Coming Together, Now To Upgrade

By

On 22nd December 2025

In Blog

My sim racing setup really has coming together nicely!

It’s taken a year if small upgrades to get it to this point, one of the most game changing, yet silly was getting some shoes for it, a cheap pair that stay in the studio only to be used for this, not going outside so they stay clean, they were a massive upgrade.

The 9070XT was a pretty sweet upgrade and got me amazing frame rates in Forza Motorsport, and the shifter is great, even if just being used as a handbrake.

I 3D printed a couple of upgrades, the first was just some clips to help keep the Playseat Challenge together when not in use.

A little stand to sit on top of the wheel, to hold my phone that can be used as a screen for SimHub, which is super helpful.

I then wanted to print some fittings to allow me to mount the pedals on the frame properly, they tend to slip off when stored cause the Velcro isn’t great.

But, the first ones were a failure because the description was utterly wrong, and misleading, and didn’t support the Logitech pedals at all, which was very very annoying, wasted a lot of time and a bit of money on that!

Thankfully I did find an alternative STL which worked with the bolts I had bought, but I needed to wait until I got paid to get the velcro this one needed.

Next upgrade that I am printing is going to be a mount for the shifter, but I am thinking if printing that in PTEG for strength rather than PLA, I have bought some PTEG to print some Christmas presents with, so should have some left over for that. The only issue seems to be finding a left-hand drive STL, especially one that won’t require a ton of other hardware to fit it.

I also upgraded the springs in the pedals, buying a set to get them to be a bit more responsive!

I got those fitted and they really do make a big difference

But yeah its all coming together very nicely, just in time for me to start planning some upgrades!

I am planning on getting some new pedals in the new year, got my eye on the RS Pedals, which look to be wicked value for what they offer!

What I Am Modelling

I started out by painting these flying bases for my Aeronautica Imperialis planes to use them in Legions Imperialis

Then a 3D printed fallen Warhound Scout Titan head for my current terrain box project

After that I finished up a Master of Executions for the World Eaters Combat Patrol

I then turned my attention to the Arldari by painting some Windriders

And then a unit of Storm Guardians

Also a random Fire Dragon that was a model of the month a while back

After this I painted an Endrinmaster in Dirigible Suit for the Kharadron Overlords

I then painted up another fallen Titan head, this time a Warlord!

What’s next then?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Heretic Legion Warband
  3. Tzzangors x 20
  4. Lord Vigilant on Gryph-Stalker
  5. Imperial Fists Veteran Breachers x 10
  6. Hearthkyn Warriors x 10 & Kâhl x 2
  7. Grey Knights Strike Squadron x 5
  8. Cthonian Beserks x 5
  9. Tech-Thralls x 20
  10. Lord-Terminos, Reclusians x 3 & Memorians x 2 

What I Am Reading

I am slowly making my way through Dropsite Massacre by John French

And I finished up The Relentless Dead by Steve Lyon, which was really good, actually gave some personality to the Krieg

I also listened to Time Works. also by Steve Lyons, and that was pretty good, very enjoyable 8th Doctor story!

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

This Friday we played a Christmas Apocalypse game at the Hartlepool Club, and I came along as an NPC with my Warhound Titan attacking both sides!

What Video Games I Am Planning

I finished up Assassin’s Creed Syndicate Jack the Ripper

Played quite a bit more Hell Let Loose, some Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Peak!

What Achievements I Have Unlocked

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Xbox)

Are you scared yet?

Frighten 200 enemies		30/11/202530G
A well-kept secret

Jack is dead and his identity will remain hidden forever		30/11/202575G

Hell Let Loose (Steam)

No “I” in Team

Place your first OP/Garrison		16/12/2025
A Piece of Perfection

Build 30 objects in one match		17/12/2025
2nd Lieutenant

Reach Career Level 80		17/12/2025
Stocking Up

Drop 10000 Supplies		18/12/2025
Veteran Commander

Reach Commander Level 5		18/12/2025
1st Lieutenant

Reach Career Level 90		18/12/2025

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Steam)

Día de Muertos

Remove the dagger from the Temple of the Moon		21/12/2025
Recipe for Disaster

Survive the flood		21/12/2025
First Steps

Purchase a Skill		22/12/2025

Ticket to Ride (Steam)

Cross-Country

On Switzerland, win while connecting all four surrounding countries		22/12/2025

Peak (Steam)

Beachcomber Badge

Climb past the SHORE.		22/12/2025
Trailblazer Badge

Climb past the TROPICS.		22/12/2025

I Am Creating

We published the latest epsiode of Edge of Empire

And I finally got round to publishing the Legion Focus article on the Sisters of Silence

What I Am Spending

I picked up the Krieg Battleforce, which will be getting painted up to be my main 40K army next year

I did pick up a 1920×480 display to use as a sensor panel, but decided to return it because it’s just not what I was looking for at the time

I also bought a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro, I used to have one but it got lost in a house move

It was in a terrible state, it absolutely stunk and needed a ton of isopropyl alcohol to clean up and get looking good, with so much stuff needing fixing, but it was a fun project!

It’s Humble Choice week, and this month I got

I also added to the library the following

Changing Broadband

By

On 19th April 2025

In Blog

It’s now been 3 years since we moved to Hartlepool and since then we have had Virgin Media, which has been extremely reliable and much better than what we used to have in Pelton.

But with our current deal coming to an end, we were being offered a price of £78, which is much higher than the £36 we have been paying for the same deal, which got up 1Gbps.

We thought we had sorted out a new deal with them, but Virgin never bothered sending us any confirmation of the deal, so we handed in our notice, and decided to move to Grain, an altnet, who had installed their infrastructure on our street last year.

We are paying £34, which is getting us 900mbps both up and down, which is perfect for the server, which is running PLEX and AudioBookShelf.

The router is wall mounted, and it’s quite interesting, does WiFi 6

And we have a Wi-Fi booster as well which we hope will solve kitchen connectivity issues

And we also have a static IP address which is very handy and will hopefully let me sort out a proper web address for my AudioBookShelf server

So far, really happy with the service and it’s been amazing being able to upload videos to YouTube so quickly!

What I Am Modelling

I started off by doing some weathering to my 3D printed artillery carriages using some Contrast paints, and I am rather happy with how that turned out.

Afterwards I turned my attention to a pair of Wraithlords

Followed by Neophyte Hybrids

And a Kellermorph for the Genestealer Cults

Then a trio of Charonite Ogryns

So what’s up next for me?

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  2. Phallax Warders x 10
  3. Scarab Occult Terminators x 5 & Infernal Master
  4. Dark Angels Incursors
  5. Ogryn Charonite Squad x 3
  6. Blood Angels Impulsor
  7. Imperial Knight Magaera
  8. Carnivale Gondola
  9. Stormdrake Guard x 4 & Knight Draconis
  10. Imperial Fists Breachers x 10

What I Am Reading

I listened to Unregenerate! by David A McIntee which was an interesting concept, but not executed the best.

I then listened to For the Emperor by Sandy Mitchell, been a long time since I read the book, and it was good to go back to the Cain stories.

After that I listened to Council of Nicaea by Caroline Symcox, which was a really good listen.

I read Perfection and Pride by Jude Reid which was a very cool little Emperors Children story, which some nice Dark Eldar side characters

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I played Joshua in the AoS League with his Ossiarch Bonereapers, and whilst I lost, I did alright

I did a lot of damage to his army, but failure to secure some objectives and Battle Tactics early on, cost me the game!

What Video Games I Am Playing

I have started playing the Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster, I am a couple of hours in and it’s quite different to the previous two with managing my magic being quite difficult so far

What I Am Creating

I published the latest episode of Edge of Empire

What I Am Spending

I bought Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones and Prince of Persia on Steam

Not Exactly Impressed

By

On 14th April 2025

In Blog

So the Switch 2 Direct happened, and I am gonna be frank, not entirely impressed.

First off, whilst it was expected that it was going to use older technology, it’s quite a bit older than I would like, but I mean it’s still PS4/Xbox One level.

I mean it’s decent tech, but it’s gonna have to rely on DLSS a lot to hit that 4k, but then again, it might actually be capable of running Breath of the Wild without dropping to like 15fps in busy scenes.

Then there is the battery life, it’s worse than the original Switch, which isn’t exactly the best in the first place.

I get why they haven’t gone with an OLED screen given the already increased price, more on that in a bit, but it’s still a disappointment to not have there there.

As well as the lack of Hall Effect sticks, because the stick drift issues with the original JoyCons are huge and I am massively disappointed that they haven’t been bothered to give us JoyCons which would have avoided these issues.

And then that takes us to the cost.

The actual cost of the console, I get it, the bill of materials isn’t going to be cheap, TSMC have been raising wafer prices like crazy since 2020.

But the tutorial being paid, the paid upgrades for OG Switch games being quite high and the cost of new games is just crazy.

Nintendo have always charged as much as they can for games and it’s very irritating that Switch launch titles are now just as expensive as they were when they first came out.

Look if you work it out, pound for pound gaming, even on the Switch is going to be not that bad value if you play for a couple hours a week and have the console for say six years.

But man it’s rough, I get it, devs need to be paid, and being a poor person, I usually wait for a game to go on sale a few years later, I rarely buy the latest games because I just cannot afford it.

But I feel like this time, the lack of first party titles, which has always been Nintendos strength, most of the third party titles being older titles that run better on my other gaming devices, it’s just not doing it for me.

Oh and out of principle, I will never subscribe to Nintendo Online, I am sorry but putting the backup of saves behind a paywall if frankly ridiculous, especially on handheld device which is more likely to be lost, broken or even stolen, I mean it has an Micro SD card slot, why can I not backup my own saves.

Look maybe in a couple of years, when decent first party titles start filtering through, I will feel different, but right now I can’t see myself getting one.

What I Am Modelling

I started off the week with Swampboss Skumdrekk for the Kruleboyz

And that actually finishes off all my Kruleboyz for now

Then a Dankhold Trogboss for the Gloomspite Gitz

Which also completes all my current models for the Gitz

Followed an Imperial Fists Command Squad, this one is seven man, cause I 3D printed up some extra bodies to take advantage of the bits on the Command Squad sprue

Plus another Herald made with a 3D printed body and spare part from the Command Squad sprue

And I also painted up The Ancestors’ Wrath Einhyr Champion for the Leagues of Votann

As well as Kâhl Yôht Grendok

And a unit of Aeldari Guardians

And for Lindsay’s birthday I made some Otter Earrings

So what’s next in the queue

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Kellermorph & Neophyte Hybrids x 10
  3. Ogryn Charonite Squad x 3
  4. Phallax Warders x 10
  5. Thousand Sons Terminators & Infernal Master
  6. Dark Angels Incursors x 5
  7. Ogryn Charonite Squad x 3
  8. Blood Angels Impulsor
  9. Imperial Knight Magaaera
  10. Carnivale Gondola

What I Am Reading

I finished Straight Silver by Dan Abnett in The Saint, and yeah that was a good one, it felt like it was going quite slow, and woah, it sped up and didn’t stop.

I listened to Assassinorum: Kingmaker by Robert Rath, which not only was the best Officio Assassinorum novel thus far, it’s also the best Imperial Knights novel so far.

I also listened to Three’s A Crowd by Colin Brake which was rather fun and as someone with a bit of agoraphobia, I really understood how the characters felt.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Had a game with Graham at Durham Raiders on Tuesday, in which we both tested out our Heresy Camp lists.

My Solar Auxilia did ok, but BS3 combined with my dice rolling was pretty frustrating when in turn 3 I just couldn’t hit anything for toffee.

As expected for me it was defeat, but I think I learned some lessons and long term now know the army needs more scoring units

And perhaps leave the Macharius and Malcadors behind and take more Leman Russ Vanquishers instead!

On Thursday I played another escalation league game of Age of Sigmar this time against Adam, and his Seraphon

That game went the typical way and I lost badly, but I did have a lor of fun removing my Orruks from the table!

On Sunday I played a game of Flamecraft with Lindsay & Megan

What Video Games I Am Playing

I started out with Horizon Forbidden West on PS5, which I am playing on Stream

What I Am Spending

We bought ourselves Avatar: The Last Airbender – Aang’s Destiny to replace Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle.

We enjoyed the mechanics of Hogwarts Battle, but sadly the IP is tainted beyond redemption by the bigot that created it.

Avatar is far nicer and far more wholesome.

And it only cost me 70p and its worth it for the LOLs, but I got The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which I am sure may be hilarious to play given its many many issues!

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