Tag: Solar Auxilia Page 1 of 3

The Early War Germans Are Coming Along Nicely, But An Arms Race Has Begun

By

On 16th July 2026

In Blog

At the start of the year, one of my hobby goals was to develop my early war Germans for Bolt Action to a nice point where I had a nice collection that allowed me to play a variety of game play styles.

And I am getting closer and closer to that and I think I am basically at the point where the final plan is is place.

The above embedded Google Doc is what I have currently and my current development plans.

The army is supposed to cover 1939-1942, going from the Bzura, to the Meuse and then the Volga.

I think my plans work and will cover up to late 1942, very early 1943 meaning I may, may add a Tiger Ausf H to this list.

I am really enjoying working on this army but realistically with Graham and the other guys playing mostly late war stuff, I am gonna have to develop a later war army, probably sticking with Germans.

But I really want to explore more early war, so I can see myself expanding the French to 1250pts and perhaps some BEF.

I really wanted my next project to be Afrika Korps, but my most regular opponent is Graham and he has gone with a late war British list, and to be fair a lot of players, play late war.

This leaves me at a significant disadvantage with the early war army, so I am having to pivot to building a later war force to stand a chance in these games.

The difference in what you can take in the early war, and what you can take in later war is just unreal.

The above YouTube short demonstrates this issue for me, although the Centurion came into service just after the end of the war, you get my meaning, I hope!

So whilst I have Panzer Is and maybe a Panzer III Ausf H, Graham is rocking in with a Churchill, Sherman Firefly, Matilda II and a Cromwell in his arsenal, and that’s just not something I will be able to easily deal with.

So I have some Fallschirmjäger STLs from RKX and Colonel Muller, and I am gonna get some of them printed off, alongside a few vehicles.

I already have a Stug III, Luchs and Sd. Kfz 222 painted up for it, thinking of adding a Panzer IV Ausf H, Panther and Sd. Kfz 234/2.

But yeah, it is what it is, and next time I have some resin I will start printing them!

What I Am Modelling

I started out with a test model for an English themed New Antioch army

And a French WWII test model

After that I came to WWII French and finished off this Infantry Squad

I rebased some of my Orks to match the new base sizes from Armageddon

Then I painted a Command Squad for the Cadians

Alongside the Cadia Unbroken Castellan

Plus Ursula Creed

Following this I finished off a Warwolf to replace the one I broke

And a Leman Russ Battletank

And finally a Panzer III Ausf H

I also finished off some weapons for my Deff Dreads and Killa-Kanz

And fixed the Stahlhelms of the riders of this Opel Blitz, they were painted dark green when they really should be dunklegrau!

After that I painted up an Araknae Quad Accelerator Platform for the Ultramarines

And finally for this post, a pair of PAK 38s for the Germans, takes them to Operation Barbarossa

These particular models are form the Empire of Iron and Rust Kickstarter by Studio Historica

This one is a bit different, but I needed a 107mm x 105mm oval base for a Flak 36 for my Germans, but there was no STL for a plain one in the style of Warlord Games, so I kinda modelled it myself.

Its not going to be the start of a career in 3D modelling, that is not something I feel capable of, but its something, anyway you can download it yourself on Cult3D

So what’s up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Ultramarines Saturnine Terminators x 6
  3. Neophyte Hybrids x 10, Primus & Magus x 2
  4. Rat Ogres x 3
  5. Deffkoptas x 3 & Kustom Boosta-Blasta
  6. World Eaters Daemon Prince
  7. Grundstock Thunderers x 5 & Torrk Lennsen
  8. Ultramarines Saturnine Command Squad x 3
  9. Einhyr Heathguard x 5
  10. Skywardens x 3

What I Am Reading

I finally, finally finished Dropsite Massacre by John French, I dunno why the headaches keep coming back, but it is what it is, I enjoyed it, but it did feel, I dunno, not rushed, but there wasn’t a lot of the betrayal in there which was a bit disappointing, but it’s a solid addition to the series.

I listened to Armageddon: Season of Fire by Jude Reid which was very good and a very good concept, I strongly recommend people give it a read, compared to the last new edition launch novel, this was a big improvement.

After that I listened to Memory Lane by Eddie Robson, which was a good concept, but it didn’t quite hit the landing, but a good listen.

Then I hit Butchers Nails by Aaron Denali-Bowden, an audio drama I have listened to before, but a long time ago when it first came out, and it was still really good. I miss Black Library audio dramas 🙁

I am now listening to Genefather by Guy Haley, and am about to start on Traitor General by Dan Abnett

I also got Kavita working when it comes to sending book via email to my Kindle, which is handy as hell, no more having to go upstairs, and as long as I am sensible and make sure to keep Kavita up to date with my books, it will work

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I played Brian in my first game of 11th Edition and it was a massacre!

And I had a game of Bolt Action with Graham, where his 5 man SAS squad massacred a fair few units of mine and almost destroyed a StuG III!!!

This was the list I took

Order Dice: 11

Platoon #1 - Rifle Platoon (489pts)
  Platoon Commander (Leutnant, Oberleutnant) (Regular) (50pts)
    Composition: 1 Officer + 2 Soldiers
    - Additional men x 2 (20pts)
  Heer Infantry Squad (Regular) (119pts)
    Composition: 1 NCO + 9 Soldiers
    - Additional men x 5 (50pts)
    - NCO: Submachine gun (SMG) (4pts)
    - Squad: German light machine gun (LMG) (15pts)
  Heer Infantry Squad (Regular) (119pts)
    Composition: 1 NCO + 9 Soldiers
    - Additional men x 5 (50pts)
    - NCO: Submachine gun (SMG) (4pts)
    - Squad: German light machine gun (LMG) (15pts)
  Heer Infantry Squad (Regular) (119pts)
    Composition: 1 NCO + 9 Soldiers
    - Additional men x 5 (50pts)
    - NCO: Submachine gun (SMG) (4pts)
    - Squad: German light machine gun (LMG) (15pts)
  Sniper Team (Regular) (52pts)
    Composition: 2 Soldiers
  Light Mortar Team (Regular) (30pts)
    Composition: 2 Soldiers

Platoon #2 - Armoured Platoon (360pts)
  Panzer 38(t) and 35(t) (Regular) (145pts)
    - Command Vehicle (10pts)
  StuG III Ausf F, G, H, and StuG IV (Regular) (215pts)

Platoon #3 - Artillery Platoon (150pts)
  Platoon Commander (Leutnant, Oberleutnant) (Regular) (30pts)
    Composition: 1 Officer
  50MM Pak 38 (Regular) (70pts)
    Composition: 3 Soldiers
  Light Artillery (Regular) (50pts)
    Composition: 3 Soldiers

Total: 999pts

We also ran a demo day at Gamers-At-Hart and I was demonstrating Bolt Action with some early war French and Germans, whilst others demoed Blood Red Skies, Warhammer 40k, Blood Bowl, Barons War and Trench Crusade

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finished Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster and have now started out on Easy Red 2

What Achievements I Have Unlocked

Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster

To the Moon

Obtained the Lunar Whale and landed on the moon		23/06/2026
Rematch

Defeated the four elemental lords again		26/06/2026
Summon Master

Learned all non-secret summon magic		26/06/2026
Item Detector

Obtained all hidden items		26/06/2026
Adventurous Wayfarer

Traveled to all the map locations		26/06/2026
Legendary Treasure Hunter

Collected treasure from 100% of the chests		27/06/2026
Power Unleashed

Obtained all sealed equipment.		27/06/2026
Field Research- Professional

Completed 100% of the Bestiary entries		27/06/2026
To the Blue Planet

Defeated Zeromus and restored peace to the world		27/06/2026

Easy Red 2

Wasteful Gunner

Empty all your magazines		11/07/2026
Radio Boy

Use radio HQ to request support		11/07/2026
A Clear Path

Destroy a tank using an AT gun		11/07/2026

What I Am Creating

A new episode of Edge of Empire is in editing, and in the meantime here is a video about my Bolt Action Escalation League 750pts List

What I Am Backing

The Heavy Transporters of WW2 (Volume 2) delivered, and I have already printed out a Hippo for Graham, cause trucks in Bolt Action are cool

Prelude to fear: Early WW2 armed civilians, has delivered a few bits

The Blessed Militia of the Martyred Saints has successfully funded and I have paid for that, looks like a really interesting set of minis for either Trench Pilgrims or New Antioch

Paintpal Studio XP successfully funded, I have the other STLs, and this made sense, one day I will actually get round to printing some of it to better store my paints

The Epic Sector – Frontline Project funded, I really want to play some Legions Imperialis, but it needs terrain, I already have the other two Epic Sector projects, so again it’s a one day I will get round to it!

To give me some more options for British Airborne, I backed both Join or Die Airborne Volume 2 and Merville Battery, with the first one also giving me some Folgore

For some reason, I really fancy the idea of painting some Joseon Koreans, so I have backed the Imjin War Koreans: Part 1 project

I have backed STL Printable Terrain WW2 Desert Collection Vol 2 to go with the stuff for the first one, so eventually I can create a North Africa terrain box

Cause I need more scenery still, I am backing WoWBuildings Does Bastogne

I am backing the Pirate Borg minis project because they look cool and it might be the RPG I run for the group!

The MakerPlot 2.0 looks like it might be an interesting project, so I have backed that

Motorcycle troops in Bolt Actions seem interesting, so I have backed WW2 Motorcycles & Riders: Volume 1

How could I not be backing Victoria Miniatures Grimdark Empire project???

And finally I am backing No Man’s Land: War Train, cause who does’t love an Armoured Train for Trench Crusade

What I Am Spending

I bought a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour!

I bought myself Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and United Penguin Kingdom

Doubles with Megan

By

On 6th April 2026

In Blog

Bit late with this post due to illness 🙁

A couple of Sundays ago, myself and Megan played in a doubles tournament at Games-at-Hart, and it was for Megan their first time playing against someone other than me

We took this list, the rules were two armies of 1000pts so we took this list. With me playing the Guard and Megan the Blood Angels

Our first game was against a very serious pair playing Orks and Death Guard with both Mortarian and a Gorkanaught

It was a hard game and I felt I had to be a bit strict with the pair as they tried to control the game in ways that were not friendly such as picking our cards in the app for us, something which is a real faux par and extremely rude

I could not have imagined a worst game for Megan to start with and was a very much we went through the motions to just get through it

The second game was much better, sadly Megan fell ill and had to leave 🙁

But I played a Death Guard and Astra Militarium combo which was a lot of fun to play against and a decent amount of cool banter

Massive loss again but well worth it for the game

My third game was a force of Daemons of Khorne and World Eaters, a bit closer but not by much

Another excellent game and at the end we were 3 losses down, but that’s fine with me as fun was had

The event was brilliant, but there was a degree of the issue I dislike about 10th edition, and that is the problem of armies being built around the best most destructive units with the lists not resembling an army you would see in “reality”

Hopefully something that changes in 11th

What I Am Modelling

I started out with an Anointed with an Anti-Material Gun for the Heretic Legions to use in Trench Crusade

Then I painted up a Nemesis Dreadknight for the Grey Knights to finish up their Combat Patrol

After that I painted a War Wolf for the Heretic Legions, model that reminded me a lot of a rat!

This was followed by a Leman Russ Demolisher for the Solar Auxila and Astra Militarium

For the Cadians I then painted a pair of Field Ordnance Batteries with Bombast Field Guns

And for the Orks Combat Patrol, two units of 10 Boyz

And finally a unit of Word Bearers Tactical Marines

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWVK5RCiJR1/?igsh=dnd3cG1mZXBkMDlu

And an Apothecary as well

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWVLQeLCIpZ/?igsh=MTRvZ21ydWZ6NTB3cw==

I painted up a second Hellhound for the Guard

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWiAJhciKs3IB1aN6xCvLB38Mrg8gMF-972cWA0/?igsh=MWo1cjNmZnZta29kcg==

Then rebased a few Orks to modern base sizes

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWiDTipiCL-DvhAhy1qyHcgo1-79d8VR4k188A0/?igsh=MWt4bGIyNWRzNTh2OA==

Plus a Panzer 38 (t) for my early war Germans

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWmBSWgiPAGLP57MgqactNgCeTwjLQGT3EFGCs0/?igsh=d2IweHFnNjh1NXFj

And a SD.Kfz 222

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWmBppWiBkPH_HBlrM8NCY8gKQbTJP63sah4Uo0/?igsh=bjJjaWgybHF4OHBy

I also painted a Warsmith for the Iron Warriors, but he was really a bit too grimy!

I then painted a couple of models for the Skaven from Spearhead, a Warlock Engineer

And a Grey Seer

And a couple of units of Howling Banshees for the Aeldari

As well as Zodgrod Wortsnagga for the Orks

And a couple of random Grots I found half painted in the Orks box!

So what’s up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Heretic Legion Warband
  3. Black Templar Intercessor Squad x 5 & Marshall
  4. Hearthkyn Warriors x 10
  5. Acolyte Hybrids x 5 & Acolyte Iconward
  6. Death Korps Squad x 10
  7. Cadian Shock Troopers x 20
  8. Chaos Legionaries x 10
  9. Combat Engineers x 10
  10. Brôkhyr Thunderkyn x 3

What I Am Reading

I finished Soul Music by Terry Pratchett, which was very very good, but I have been displeased to hear that weirdly some schools have been banning it.

I then listened to Vainglorious by Sandy Mitchell, sad to have have finished the main series of Cain books.

Then I listened to Death Rider by Rhuairidh James which was really good, just as good as his previous shorts which are also really good.

After that it was The Nowhere Place by Nicholas Briggs which was a good idea, but badly executed.

Following that I listened to The Devil You Know by Sandy Mitchell which was a great deal of fun to listen to again.

And then it was Dead in the Water by Sandy Mitchell, again another great audio drama.

Currently I am listening the Ciaphas Cain: The Anthology by Sandy Mitchell, which I am rather enjoying

What Video Games I Am Playing

Been playing some more Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster

And we tried out the demo for Burglin’ Gnomes which was a lot of fun

Assassins Creed Origins got played a little too, but nowhere near enough

What Achievements I Have Unlocked

Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster (Steam)

Reforged Love

Defeated Barbariccia, the Lord of Wind		13/03/2026
Field Research- Advanced

Completed 50% of the Bestiary entries		14/03/2026
To the Depths

Arrived in the underworld		14/03/2026
Veteran Treasure Hunter

Collected treasure from 50% of the chests		15/03/2026
Inflamed Anger

Defeated Rubicante, the Lord of Fire		16/03/2026
Moneybags

Obtained 500,000 gil		16/03/2026

Assassin’s Creed Origins (XBox)

Elementary, My Dear Bayek

Solve a papyrus mystery		30G13/03/2026
Raider of the Lost Tomb

Complete a tomb		20G13/03/2026

What I Am Backing

I joined a group buy for Over There Part 2 for the Afrika Korps infantry

And the first part of From Meuse to Volga, 1940-1942 was delivered, that being the HQs, Infantry Squads, HMG and LMG Teams.

What I Am Creating

We published the latest episode of Edge of Empire

What I Am Spending

Managed to get two copies of issue 79 of Combat Patrol to start off a couple of Sentinels

Plus issue 80 to complete them, along with an Issue 2 of Stormbringer

And issues 81 and 82 for the Lord on Juggernaught

And we did a 3D printing materials restock, resin and filament, plus some oil for lubing the Y-Axis on the A1 and magnets to magnetise minis

Humble Choice netted me

3D Printing Really Is The Future

By

On 6th February 2026

In Blog

Lindsay and Megan will take the Mick out of me for this, but I really do think that within the next 10 years, most homes will have an FDM 3D printer.

When I was at school we saw an advert from the early 60s which had a family sitting down to eat breakfast, and the dad tried to have some cereal, but the milk was off, then he tried to have toast but the butter was rotten, and his daughter just says “dad, don’t you think we should get a fridge!”

And that stuck because the fridge is such a ubiquitous thing that everyone owns and I have always wondered what other things might fit the same narrative, and so far computers and mobile phones have fitted that

I think it’s going to need a model similar to the Bambu A1 Mini to hit the £99 mark for it to happen, but I really can see that coming soon.

The A1 Mini currently sells for £149.99 and I have seen it regularly on sale for £129.99, and it’s a really decent little printer that does what you want really well, and can be upgraded with the AMS Lite for 4 different filament colours/materials.

But why do I think they are going to become so common, well it comes down to the fact I think they are just so helpful, especially the FDM stuff.

So yeah with the above Instagram post, Megan wanted a Skadis door for their Kalax unit, but Ikea stopped making that, so I printed off a couple of bits in PETG to allow a normal Skadis board to be hung on the side of it

Or where we replaced pegs on the Socktopus instead of buying a new one

And of course for gaming and modelling, I have my resin printer, which is fantastic at making some amazing models.

That said I highly doubt resin will become more common, given the extra stuff needed for that with its cleaning and post processing.

But yeah, when it comes down to it, it’s not going to take much, but I am convinced they will become an essential device for most households

Stormcast Sorting

I completed one of the aims of this year, and sorted out my Stormcast Eternals army into what can be used in 4th editon and it turned out to be a lot more than I though!

Here is the doc!

What I Am Modelling

I started out with painting a Hellhound, an Artemia Pattern one, of which I still have another to paint

Love this model, so much cooler than the plastic version , but after I built it, I saw how much they sell for online and almost cried!

So much plastic could be bought for that!!!

After that I started work on 20

Lasriflemen for my Solar Auxilia to take away to Warhammer World this weekend

Along with a Command Section

A Lord Marshall

And a Couple of 3D printed Lord Marhslls too

And finally I painted up a couple of Death Korps of Krieg Heavy Support Squads up

So what’s coming up next?

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  2. Heretic Legion Warband
  3. Tech Thralls x 20
  4. Hearthkyn Pioneers x 3
  5. True Soms Havocs x 10
  6. Einhyr Hearthguard x 5
  7. Guardian Defenders x 11
  8. Myrmidon Destructors x 6
  9. Nemesis Dreadknight
  10. Opel Blitz

What I Am Reading

I finished up The Emperors Finest by Sandy Mitchell, which yeah, I know it’s the weakest of the series

I then listened to The Settling by Simon Guerrier, which was pretty good, nice to see something that actually portrays Cromwell as the villain he actually was

Then I listened to The Last Ditch by Sandy Mitchell, which was extremely good.

I am currently listening to Angron: The Red Angel by David Guymer, and so far it’s fairly interesting

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

It was the February tournament at Gamer-At-Hart and I took along the Astra Militarium with this list, using the Hellhound for the first time!

Bridgehead (1990 Points)

Astra Militarum
Bridgehead Strike
Strike Force (2,000 Points)

CHARACTERS

Commissar (30 Points)
  • 1x Plasma pistol
  • 1x Power weapon

Leman Russ Commander (235 Points)
  • 1x Armoured tracks
  • 1x Lascannon
  • 1x Leman Russ battle cannon

Militarum Tempestus Command Squad (85 Points)
  • 4x Tempestus Scion
     ◦ 4x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 2x Hot-shot lasgun
     ◦ 2x Hot-shot laspistol
     ◦ 1x Master Vox
     ◦ 1x Medi-pack
     ◦ 1x Plasma gun
     ◦ 1x Regimental Standard
  • 1x Tempestor Prime
     • Warlord
     ◦ 1x Command Rod
     ◦ 1x Tempestus dagger

BATTLELINE

Tempestus Scions (140 Points)
  • 1x Tempestor
     ◦ 1x Chainsword
     ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol
  • 9x Tempestus Scion
     ◦ 9x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 4x Hot-shot lasgun
     ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol
     ◦ 2x Hot-shot volley gun
     ◦ 2x Plasma gun
     ◦ 1x Vox-caster

Tempestus Scions (140 Points)
  • 1x Tempestor
     ◦ 1x Chainsword
     ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol
  • 9x Tempestus Scion
     ◦ 9x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 4x Hot-shot lasgun
     ◦ 1x Hot-shot laspistol
     ◦ 2x Meltagun
     ◦ 2x Plasma gun
     ◦ 1x Vox-caster

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Taurox Prime (90 Points)
  • 1x Armoured tracks
  • 1x Storm bolter
  • 1x Taurox battle cannon
  • 1x Twin Taurox hot-shot volley gun

Taurox Prime (90 Points)
  • 1x Armoured tracks
  • 1x Storm bolter
  • 1x Taurox missile launcher
  • 1x Twin autocannon

Taurox Prime (90 Points)
  • 1x Armoured tracks
  • 1x Storm bolter
  • 1x Taurox gatling cannon
  • 1x Twin Taurox hot-shot volley gun

OTHER DATASHEETS

Hellhound (125 Points)
  • 1x Armoured tracks
  • 1x Heavy flamer
  • 1x Inferno cannon

Leman Russ Demolisher (190 Points)
  • 1x Armoured tracks
  • 1x Demolisher battle cannon
  • 1x Lascannon

Leman Russ Vanquisher (145 Points)
  • 1x Armoured tracks
  • 1x Heavy bolter
  • 1x Heavy stubber
  • 1x Vanquisher battle cannon

Leman Russ Vanquisher (145 Points)
  • 1x Armoured tracks
  • 1x Heavy bolter
  • 1x Heavy stubber
  • 1x Vanquisher battle cannon

Tempestus Aquilons (100 Points)
  • 1x Tempestor Aquilon
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 1x Hot-shot lascarbine
     ◦ 1x Sentry flamer
  • 8x Tempestus Aquilon
     ◦ 8x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 6x Hot-shot lascarbine
     ◦ 1x Hot‐shot long‐las
     ◦ 1x Melta carbine
  • 1x Gunfighter
     ◦ 1x Close combat weapon
     ◦ 1x Hot-shot lascarbine

ALLIED UNITS

Knight Crusader (385 Points)
  • 1x Avenger gatling cannon
  • 1x Heavy flamer
  • 1x Meltagun
  • 1x Thermal cannon
  • 1x Titanic feet

Game one and I played Sean and his Dark Angels, a very elite list with Lion, and he tore me a new one

My Scions really do die very easily for how much they cost!

My second game against Ryan’s White Scars, who also absolutely beasted me!

The White Scars are just so fast!

And my final game was against Leon, a good friend and his T’au Empire army, I did much better in this game, but my dice let me down, a lot, but I felt it was more even

The points don’t agree with that, but I felt like I was doing some damage!

What I Am Spending

An unglamourous purchase, but we had to get a new washing machine!

I bought a few games on Steam

For The Love Of Hot Chocolate

By

On 19th January 2026

In Blog

This week, I have been doing my best to stay positive and trying to focus on the things that have been positive for me, instead of focusing on the bad in the wider world

So this well, I have been super happy with hot chocolate, sounds silly, but since my doctor was a bit serious with me about my diabetes I have worked to really cut down my sugar and whilst I am imperfect at it, I am doing better, and part of that is replacing my chocolate hit with hot chocolate, which is better than the sugar bomb of say a penguin

And cause we have some sugar free syrups, I like to add a shot of chocolate (bear with me) and a shot of vanilla, which is a really nice Yule Log flavour.

And in my studio I have a Dolce Gusto machine, which I use to make some Galaxy Light which is super nice and lower in sugar.

What I Am Modelling

I started out the week by painting a Luchs I had 3D printed for my future Late War German force to play Bolt Action with

And I finished off the Stormhammer that Graham gave me for my birthday

After that I painted some Cthonian Beserks for the Leagues of Votann Combat Patrol

I also painted this random arse Liberator sent to me as part of a little gift from Hachette for signing up to Stormbringer early

After that I painted up those Prosecutors

Finished the Prosecutors for my Celestial Vindicators Stormcast EternalsI much prefer the older models however#WarhammerCommunity #WarhammerAoS #StormcastEternals #CelestialVindicators

— Michael Botterill (@biggeordiegeek.uk) 2026-01-18T02:52:58.643Z

And then finally Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos, the Thunderborn himself

I don’t play Hammers of Sigmar, but I got him with Stormbringer, so figured why not paint him up just for fun!

So what’s coming up next for me?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Heretic Legions Warband
  3. Tech-Thralls x 20
  4. Lord-Terminos, Reculsions x 3 & Memorians x 2
  5. Hearthkyn Pioneers x 3
  6. Death Korps of Krieg Heavy Weapons Teams x 8
  7. True Sons Havocs x 10
  8. Einhyr Hearthyguard
  9. Guardian Defenders x 10
  10. Myrmidon Destructors x 6

What I Am Reading

I finished Demolisher by Andy Clark, which was very very good

I also listened to The Kingmaker by Nev Fountain, which was a long run with a cool little twist regarding the villain

I am now listening to the next Cain book, The Emperor’s Finest by Sandy Mitchell.

And I have made a bit of progress with Dropsite Massacre by John French, but I am finding it hard to concentrate with the headaches I am getting of late (related to the brain injury, perfectly normal for me, worse in the cold)

What Tabletop Games I am Playing

I played a 3k game against Graham with this list I am taking to Warhammer World in February

Cohort Doctrine - Mechanised Pattern

Crusade Primary Detachment 

Legatine Command Section
Auxilia Vexilla, Augury Scanner, Command Vox
Marshall - Power Sword & Volkite Serpentia

Armoured Command Section
Battlecannon, Lascannon, Dozer Blade, Flare Shield, Mulit/Laser

Tactical Command Section
Auxilia Vexilla, Augury Scanner, Command Vox
Captain - Charnabal Savre & Laspistol

Lasrifle Section x 20
Blast Chargers, Auxilia Vexilla, Vox Interlock
Logistical Benefit - Heavy Transport

Arvus Lighter

Dracosan, Demolisher Cannon

Armour Tercio

Leman Russ, Vanquisher Cannon

Leman Russ, Vanquisher Cannon

Leman Russ, Vanquisher Cannon

Armour Tercio

Leman Russ, Demolisher Cannon

Malcador, Vanquisher Cannon, Demolisher Cannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Mulit-Laser

Malcador, Vanquisher Cannon, Demolisher Cannon, Lascannon Sponsons, Mulit-Laser

Infantry Tercio

Lasrifle Section x 20
Blast Chargers, Auxilia Vexilla, Vox Interlock

Lasrifle Section x 20
Blast Chargers, Auxilia Vexilla, Vox Interlock

Dracosan

Dracosan

Lord of War Detachment

Stormhammer

Graham brought his Sons of Horus and it was a very good game, but damn man, those Vanquishers really have gotten so much worse in this edition!

Just really struggled to land hits, one of my Leman Russ’s didn’t land a single hit all game!

We also played a little game of Just One on Thursday when Paul came over for tea

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finished Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which was a really fun game, although a bit is preventing me from 100%ing it 🙁

What Achievements I Unlocked

Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Steam)

Thread the Past

Restore 5 vestige outfit pieces
11/01/2019
Good Samaritan

Complete 8 Side Missions		11/01/2019
The Chosen One

Find the Silver Box of Ix Chel		12/01/2019
Chain Gang

Perform the Serpent’s Fury 3 times		12/01/2019
Back to Where We Started

Return to Paititi		12/01/2019
To the Nines

Restore and equip a matching vestige outfit		12/01/2019
Specialized

Earn all skills in one category		12/01/2019
Legendary Hunter

Hunt and loot 5 rare animals		12/01/2019
Hydro Power

Complete the Slayer’s Gauntlet Challenge Tomb		12/01/2019
Whole World Blind

Complete the Two Graves Side Mission		12/01/2019
That Was A Breeze

Complete the Path of Huracan Challenge Tomb		12/01/2019
Sixth Sense

Hunt and kill 10 enemies while Perception is active		12/01/2019
Go With The Flow

Complete The Age Makers Side Mission		12/01/2019
Last Known Position

Lose the enemy 10 times		12/01/2019
Como Te Llama

Pet 5 llamas		12/01/2019
Caiman Conquered

Complete the Zipacna’s Craving Challenge Tomb		12/01/2019
Leaping Lizards

Complete The Wrathful God Side Mission		12/01/2019
Bleeding Edge

Obtain the Grenadier Skill, equip the Umbrage 3-80 Shade weapon, and Brocken Shadow outfit		13/01/2019
Eyes Of The Storm

Obtain A Thousand Eyes skill, equip elite versions of Oathtaker’s Bow and Sinchi Chiqa Battle Dress		13/01/2019
Spoiled For Choice

Obtain Divine Bounty skill, equip Serpent Lash Godslayer weapon and Dragon Scales Legend outfit		13/01/2019
Ready To Rumble

Obtain the Volcano Skill, equip Whispering Scourge Pandemic weapon and Reptile Hide Leviathan outfit		13/01/2019
Mushroom With A View

Complete The Sixth Seal Challenge Tomb		14/01/2019
He Ain’t Heavy

Complete The Dragon and the Prince Side Mission		14/01/2019
Beast of Legend

Defeat the Nahual		14/01/2019
Tomb Raider

Complete all main game Challenge Tombs		14/01/2019
Dressed For Success

Obtain the Raptor’s Eye skill, equip the Silent Sting Scorpion weapon and Hunter’s Array Apex outfit		15/01/2019
Monkey Do

Complete the Howl of the Monkey Gods Challenge Tomb		15/01/2019
Harmony

Complete the Path of Fear Side Mission		15/01/2019
Creature Comforts

Obtain White Breath skill, equip Grip of Fear White Knuckle and Scales of Q Feathered Serpent		15/01/2019
Treasure Hunter

Find and open all the main game Conquistador treasure chests		15/01/2019
Queen of the Damned

Make an unlikely ally		16/01/2019
Dr. Croft

Complete all Artifact Collections		16/01/2019
Surprise!

Perform 5 Eagle’s Talon Takedowns		16/01/2019
Quite the Adventure

Finish the main storyline		16/01/2019
Rite of Passage

Complete Shadow of the Tomb Raider on Rite of Passage difficulty		16/01/2019
Smart and Resourceful

Complete Shadow of the Tomb Raider on Smart and Resourceful difficulty		16/01/2019
Total Party Kill

Kill 5 enemies with friendly fire		16/01/2019
In the Moment

Kill 10 enemies while Focus is active		16/01/2019
Put Herself Together

Complete the Mother Protector Challenge Tomb		16/01/2019
Moonlight Sonata

Complete the Eternal Reward Side Mission		16/01/2019
Seasoned Pro

Complete all 7 downloadable content missions and receive the Tunic of the Shorn One		16/01/2019
Moonlit Knight

Obtain Magic Touch Skill, equip Silver Strike Moonbeam weapon and Midnight Sentinel Farseer outfit		16/01/2019

Hell Let Loose (Steam)

Ding!

Kill 100 players with headshots		12/01/2019

What I Am Creating

Published the latest waited of Edge of Empire which marks the beginning of year 10 of the show

What I Am Spending

It was time for Humble Choice and from that I got

An Upgrade To The A1

By

On 9th November 2025

In Blog

With it being the Black Friday sale on Bambu Labs, Megan and Lindsay decided to pay for an upgrade to the printer with an AMS Lite.

The AMS Lite is a system that allows the A1 to print with up to 4 different reels of filament, so this can be either the same filament so you don’t need to reload when you run out, or four different colours for multi-colour printing.

Given the space constraints, we opted to mount it above the printer, which meant I had to first print the materials for that. I do find it cool that instead of selling you the top mount with moulded plastics, they just sell you the screws and give you the STL to print it yourself, we opted for white to match the printers overall look

The AMS arrived on Thursday, we also ordered a cool plate for better adhesion when printing PLA, which is the material we most commonly print with, and a stick of glue to give that a try.

But alas that package was delayed until Friday, one of the few times DPD has delivered a parcel later than promised to us.

So we set it up temporarily next to the printer

The Cool Plate and glue are pretty decent, so that should help with some adhesion issues we occasionally have

Paul took advantage of our order and got a new hot end and a textured plate in the order to save on postage costs for him

My first real test of the AMS was something for the Christmas box that I cannot show off, yet

The screws eventually arrived

So we were able to get the AMS top mounted at last and the machine now looks the part

Also printed off a few other upgrades for it as well

What I Am Modelling

I started out by painting a Command Section for the Solar Auxilia, which as per usual contains an extra Legate Marshall

Then I painted Terminator Librarian of the Grey Knights for Combat Patrol

And some Brotherhood Terminators to accompany him

And I followed that up squad of Death Korps of Krieg Lascannon Heavy Weapons Teams

After that I painted up a squad of Eradicators to add to the Dark Angels

I then did some work on some more members of the Red Brigade

Starting with the most important unit of the army, a Trench Dog

Followed by a couple of models I will be using as Lieutenants

Then a Shocktrooper

And a Combat Medic

A Sniper Priest

And Sniper Prioress

And finally three Yeomen

And finally for now, I rebased my Tempestus Scions to merge together my two Astra Militarium armies

Until now I have had a Krieg force and a Scions force both with a different basing scheme, but now I have merged the armies together and the Scions basing has been changed to match the Krieg

So what’s up next!

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Heretic Legion Warband
  3. Imperial Fists Macharius
  4. Ardboyz x 10
  5. Tzzangors x 20
  6. Guardian Defenders x 10
  7. Lord Vigilant on Gryph-Stalker
  8. Endrinmaster with Dirigible Suit
  9. Imperial Fists Veteran Breachers x 10
  10. Hearthkyn Warriors x 10

What I Am Reading

I finished Death or Glory by Sandy Mitchell which was incredible and then I listened to Duty Calls as an immediate follow up which is also incredible

After that I listened to Night Thoughts by Edward Young, which was very creepy

I also read Gorechosen by Andy Clark and The Eighth Victory by Grahame Lyon both of which were great little reads

What I Am Cooking

I am cooking Christmas dinner this year, but alas the family are uncertain as to my proposed menu

So we had to trot up to my sisters in law to prepare the dishes for people to try on a Sunday dinner

I am making garlic roast potatoes (been asked to change these to bigger potatoes from my preferred new potatoes), spiced roast carrot, parsnip, onion and leeks, honey glazed red cabbage (normally I would add sultanas but the family hate them, to be fair so do I), and buttered sprouts with chestnuts and almonds

Thankfully it all went down a treat, although I am being strong-armed into serving broccoli and Yorkshire Puddings !

What I Am Spending

I picked up this pot of Vallejo Thick Mud European Mud to try and replace Stirland Battlemire/Mud, it’s not a great match.

But with a coat of Brigadene Brown it will pass

Will still need Stirland Mud for tank treads however for the Astra Militarium

I managed to get hold of a copy of issue 60 of Combat Patrol for some

And to add to my video games library, I bought a Humble Bundle to aid the Trevor Project that got me Life is Strange Remastered and Life is Strange: Before the Storm Remastered

I also bought What Remains of Edith Finch, cause it’s a great little game!

It was Humble Choice this week and that got me

Must Do More

By

On 29th October 2025

In Blog

I have gotten back on track, but I do need to do more with my life!

The photo of Cassius is just cause I wasn’t sure what to use here and he is a very handsome boy!

I have been asked to do some more Combat Patrol Battle Reports, so perhaps that is on the table!

But that is about it this week, oh and needing to do more does include housework!

What I Am Modelling

I started off painting a Ratling which was Octobers mini of the month!

I followed that up with these Firestrike Servo Turrets for my Dark Angels, both armed with Lastalons

Then I painted these Krieg Heavy Weapons Teams with Autocannons (though in game they will count as Cadian Heavy Weapons Teams)

And then I painted up this Dracosan

And an Arvus Lighter to go along with it!

So what’s up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Red Brigade Warband
  3. Grey Knights Terminator Librarian & Brotherhood Terminators x 5
  4. Heretic Legion Warband
  5. Imperial Fiats Macharius
  6. Dark Angels Eradicators x 3
  7. Ardboyz x 10
  8. Tzzangors x 20
  9. Guardian Defenders x 10
  10. Lord Vigilant on Gryph-Stalker

What I am Reading

I finished Manflayer by Josh Reynolds which was quite good, but I get the feeling that he had more places to go with the series, shame he no longer works with Black Library.

I read The Prodigal by David Annadale, which was short sweet and very bloody!

Then I read A Song for the Lost by Robbie MacNiven which was very good, it was a really interesting approach to take.

I am now listening to Death or Glory by Sandy Mitchell, which is as I remembered very good so far!

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I played Dale in our Combat Patrol league game, of course he beat me, he is one of the best players I have ever encountered in the game

Last Sunday I played a couple of games with Megan, first up Pandemic: Hot Zone – North America, which was a game that went very well as we got it sorted pretty simply and won

Then we played Ticket to Ride: Berlin, and I beat Megan in that game!

What Video Games I Am Playing

Not much this week, a bit of Ticket to Ride and I have started a Baldur’s Gate III campaign with Chris & Graham

What Achievements I Have Unlocked

Ticket to Ride (Steam)

Exclusive Loop

Win on the India map while stopping all opponents from scoring a Mandala bonus		28/10/2025
Mandala Apprentice

Form your first Mandala		28/10/2025
Mandala Maharaja

Win on the India map while earning a 40 point Mandala bonus		28/10/2025
Coastal Circle

Form a Mandala that uses at least two ferry routes		28/10/2025

What I Am Creating

I tested out my hobby desk streaming setup with a stream in which I built a StuG III for Bolt Action Ausf. G

What I Am Spending

Saved some money for Warhammer Day so that I could get that fancy leather dice pouch, and bought myself the Legions Imperialis Starter Set

I also picked up Battle Sister on Steam given that it was under £5 on sale

A Bit of a Break & Heresy Camp

By

On 4th July 2025

In Blog

I haven’t been posting for a while, alas a lot of it comes down to going through my usual summer slump and a bit of depression I have been battling, but I am trying to turn myself around.

Giving myself some projects to do, and things to try and keep me occupied, I really think I am missing Company of Legends, it gave me something to focus on, something to look forward to and these last couple of years without it, well I have been doing a bit badly.

But let’s crack on and update you on my last few months, so let’s get into it!

Heresy Camp

This other weekend, I attended Heresy Camp, run by some amazing friends of mine, and how did a not “Company of Legends” weekender go?

On Friday I met up with James at Gamers-at-Hart and we played a warm up game with our armies, my Solar Auxilia and his Sisters of Silence

To remind you, this is the list I have taken.

LI - Solar Auxilia - Solar For Camp - [3000 Pts]

## HQ [437 Pts]

Armoured Fist - Leman Russ Command Tank [270 Pts]: Leman Russ Command Tank (Armoured Fist Pattern Cohorts (Check Limitations manually), Battle Cannon, Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Warlord, Lascannon, Multi-Laser, Cognis-Signum, Dozer Blade, Flare Shield)

Tactical Command Tercio [167 Pts]:
• 1x Tactical Command Section [167 Pts]: Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Meltabombs, Refractor Field, Augury Scanner, Command Vox, Cohorts Vexilla
  • 1x Auxilia Captain [2 Pts]: Void Armour, Auxilia Captain, Pistol and Combat weapon (Sub-menu) (Close Combat Weapon, Needle Pistol)
  • 4x Auxilia Companion [12 Pts]: Void Armour, Lasrifle
    Aurox Transport (Smoke Launchers)

## 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 [1118 Pts]

Armoured Fist - Leman Russ Strike Squadron [160 Pts]:
• 1x Leman Russ Strike Squadron [160 Pts]:
  • 1x Leman Russ Battle Tank [140 Pts]: Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Heavy Bolter, Dozer Blade
    Turret Mounted Vanquisher Battle Cannon and Co-axial Mounted Autocannon (Co-axial Mounted Autocannon, Vanquisher Battle Cannon)

Armoured Fist - Leman Russ Strike Squadron [160 Pts]:
• 1x Leman Russ Strike Squadron [160 Pts]:
  • 1x Leman Russ Battle Tank [140 Pts]: Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Heavy Bolter, Dozer Blade
    Turret Mounted Vanquisher Battle Cannon and Co-axial Mounted Autocannon (Co-axial Mounted Autocannon, Vanquisher Battle Cannon)

Armoured Fist - Leman Russ Strike Squadron [160 Pts]:
• 1x Leman Russ Strike Squadron [160 Pts]:
  • 1x Leman Russ Battle Tank [140 Pts]: Searchlights, Smoke Launchers, Heavy Bolter, Dozer Blade
    Turret Mounted Vanquisher Battle Cannon and Co-axial Mounted Autocannon (Co-axial Mounted Autocannon, Vanquisher Battle Cannon)

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

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

## Fast Attack [200 Pts]

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

## Heavy Support [900 Pts]

Aethon Heavy Sentinel Squadron [200 Pts]:
• 3x Aethon Heavy Sentinel [65 Pts]: Aethon Missile Battery, Multi-Laser

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

The game was fine, I was punished for not being more aggressive with taking objectives and thus lost the game, but damn the Sisters move very fast!

After the game myself and James made our way to Moorhouse Adventure Centre where we hung out for a bit, I was going to play Zone Mortalis, but decided to come home that night cause I wanted us to pick up Graham the next morning, but there were some great games being played

On Saturday after returning with Graham, I played on Table 5 against Nick Hall and his Emperors Children including a Deamon Prince Fulgrim

The missions and environment rules were fairly punishing with vehicles and dreadnoughts moving within 3” of terrain having to fire on the nearest United friend or foe, which saw me destroy one of own Carnadons and Nick wipe out a Recon Squad of his

Deamon Fulgrim is a beast and basically ate two squads of Lasmen and my Command squad, in the end I lost by a lot!

Game 2 was on table 3 vs Johns Death Guard, which was a mostly infantry list, but damn Death Guard are tough

Combination of Mortaion, who kept healing the wounds I put on him, and a trio of Dreadnoughts just ripped apart my tanks and I was tabled again

Game 3 was against Chris’s World Eaters on Table 4 and I wasn’t tabled, which was a bonus, but his fast troops, and awesome advanced reaction made short work of my tanks.

After the game I had my tea, a lovely Chinese takeaway of chips and fried rice in curry sauce and salt and pepper chicken, after which we had a Heresy Quiz, which I did respectably in.

The next day I played Matthew and his traitor White Scars, which was tough game, the rules were a bit complicated and I was forced to keep my men out of their transports to carry the objective.

But Matthew had a pair of Whirlwind Scorpius, which just deleted all of my infantry as they tried to take the objective to the target area.

The last game, I was grudged by Mark Frost, and he is a very good player with his Daemons of the Ruinstorm, and he doesn’t use lube!

So yeah that was a horrible loss, but a very very fun game and I loved it.

Overall the traitors won the weekend, which was a shame for my side, but it was a really great weekend

I was given a little something for Edge of Empire having pioneered these events, I got some dice, Death Guard Heads and a Harlequin Shadowseer!

The award winners were all very deserving, especially Keith’s Space Wolves which won best hobby.

The guys did an amazing job, and I am looking forward to returning should they run it again!

My Own Event

I ran my own little Heresy event at Durham Raiders, and I think it went well.

We had two games of 3500pts, with some very simple missions, the whole idea of the day was for it to be chilled out and easy going.

It was a nice way to say goodbye to 2.0 and I think I would love to run some similar events for 3.0.

What I Am Modelling

I did prior to the even paint up some tokens for me and Graham to use at the event, to show us what the various status of our stuff was

There are simply primed in black, dry brushed with Leadbelcher and then washed with Nazdreg Yellow

The first models I painted afterwards were some Deathshroud for the Death Guard to complete the new Combat Patrol.

I then painted some Thousand Sons Scarab Occult Terminators for their Combat Patrol.

Alongside an Infernal Master.

Then I painted up a test piece for a new terrain project, this one is going to be for a no man’s land board for Trench Crusade, but is also going to be generic enough that it won’t look out of place in Bolt Action or Warhammer Fantasy Battle

Kind of an old worldie European looking set

I then painted up a Helbrute for the World Eaters, armed with a fist and and hammer

And then some Dark Angels Incursors

Then I painted up this Dark Apostle, who will be seeing use as a Chaplin or perhaps even a Praetor in my Word Bearers

And another Helbrute for the World Eaters followed, this time armed with a fist and Power Scourge

I then added a Knight Magaera to the forces of House Taranis

This year I want to finally play some Legions Imperialis, so I painted up the bases to make my Aeronautica models usable, went for a sandstone type scheme

And then to make my way to a fully painted Blood Angels Combat Patrol, I finished up this Impulsor for them

After that I painted a Praetor for my Ultramarines

I then painted a Gondola for Carnivale, a game I really want to play at some point soon!

And after that I finished up this Leman Russ Demolisher for the Solar Auxilia and Astra Militarium

So what’s next on the agenda?

  1. Blood Angels Land Speeders
  2. Stormdrake Guard x 4 and Knight Draconis
  3. Imperial Fists Breachers x 10
  4. Armiger Helverin x 2
  5. Blood Angels Intercessors x 5
  6. Ultramarines Tactical Squad x 10
  7. Myari’s Purifiers
  8. Tempestus Aquilons x 10
  9. The Red Brigade
  10. Ork Warboss in Mega Armour

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Myself, Lindsay and Graham played some Firefly at Durham Raiders, Grahams first time playing and he won!

My Knights had a game against the Necrons

I basically wiped out his army, but alas he won on points

My Solar Auxilia had a run out against Graham and Andrew, anothe loss for me!

I played Dale and his Disciples of Tzeentch in AoS, and he throughly demolished my army!

I played Craig’s Space Wolves with my Knights again

And weirdly, I actually won a game!

I also finished off the AoS League with a game against Andrews Skaven

Of course I lost!

And finally, myself and Graham had an intro game of Bolt Action in which I played the Germans (because I already have a German army) and Graham the British, I think he won, but really we were just figuring the game out

Neil who took us though it was champion

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finished Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster, still got a couple of achievements to pick up however

I also started playing Cyberpunk 2077, at long last.

I originally bought it on GOG a few days after release, despite my system at the time only having a 1660 Ti, which wouldn’t have run it well, but I got it for under a tenner due to the very poor reviews of the state it was in at launch.

But my experience with GOG Galaxy and its cloud saves ended up having me buy it on Steam in a sale earlier this year, alongside Phantom Liberty.

I even bought Phantom Liberty on GOG, but losing all my saves in Control when GOG Galaxy crashed, has put me off GOG for anything I really want to invest time in.

So the reason I am only now just playing it now is cause with these kinds of games, I tend to wait until all the expansion are out, and then have a massive big playthough then, and well it took a bit for Phantom Liberty to come out and I was busy with other stuff.

I have still been playing some Hell Let Loose most Mondays at least and often a game on Wednesday nights as well, and the other week we had this score which was incredible!

What I Am Creating

I have started a new YouTube painting series Just About Tabletop Standard, in which I am going to paint a Marine from each of the 18 Legions from Horus Heresy.

We started out with an episode on the Dark Angels, followed by an episode on the Emperor’s Children

What I Am Spending

The grown up purchase the past few months was a new vacuum cleaner, we ended up getting a GTech AirRam Mk2 K9, and Lindsay is very happy with it, she always gets excited for new vacuum cleaners!

Our new car was also delivered, we got a Renault Mégane E-Tech which is a really nice car, quite a bit more range than our last and a few extra niceties as well, like a pair of USB-C sockets in the back and dual zone air-con

I bought some dice for my Blood Angels & Tyranids

And my Warhammer + model of Inquisitor Ostromandeus arrived

And I picked up a cheap desk mat from Temu to replace the one that Cassius has shredded up

Plus a poster for the studio

I also picked up a business card holder, specifically for use with the Firefly Board Game.

I managed to get all of the issues of Combat Oatrol I wanted, issues 37, 38, 39 and 40, to get me a Helbrute, some Chaos Terminators and some Wraithguard

To add to my pile of Combat Pattols I need to paint, I bought the Black Templars box

Which means other than Deathwatch I have all of the 9th Edition ones that can be in 10th

I upgraded the server with a couple of SSDs, one to host my websites, including this blog, and one to back up the VM images and the websites

Whilst at UK Games Expo, I did pick up the Battletech Beginner Box, I really want to play some of this game again, played it as a teenager, and want to relive my youth!

I bought Zodgrod Wortsnagga off my friend James, and I am really looking forward to getting this hairy git in the table

I also stocked up on resin

And finally a Leman Russ Assault Tank to add to the Solar Auxilia/Astra Militarium

We had three lots of Humble Choice , so I got out of that

And I also bought the Xbox Games Studio Bundle to net me

I also bought over the past couple of months

The New Server

By

On 9th May 2025

In Blog

I have finally gotten around to sorting out a new server for the house.

Gone for a Fujitsu TX1310-M1 with a Xenon E3-1226V3 with 32GB Ram and even comes with a 512gb SSD and a pair of 3TB HDDs.

Got it for £130 which I don’t think is a terrible price, but when they went to ship it to me, they found they had lost the side panel and they contacted me to offer a discount of £26, which is accepted, I can always pop a Perspex cover on it.

It came on the Thursday and was delivered by DHL, coming at lunchtime.

So the planning started as soon as I hit buy on as to how best implement this and get it up and running and that started with the decision to run Proxmox on bare metal.

So that was installed and I created a ZFS pool with the two 3TB drives.

The first container I set up was for Casa OS, which would be hosting most of the media stuff, starting with the basics of PLEX and AudioBookShelf.

Once that was setup, I started setting stuff up, but I soon realised that I had a fatal issue, my hard drives with the media on were formatted in NTFS which docker doesn’t play nice with 😭

So I had to transfer data to drives that were being formatted in EXT4 or the ZFS pool, starting with the movies library, and then the slow process of the TV shows which would take some time annoyingly.

In the meantime I set up a second VM running Foundry VTT that me and Chris are going to play around with to see if it will prove a decent replacement for Roll20.

The data transfer took a good long while, there was a lot to transfer.

But alas, in my attempts to be clever I managed to delete the audiobooks and movies meaning I have to restore them from the offsite backups, and that could take at least a month to do that and sort out the metadata properly

But now it’s in place in what’s its permanent home, it takes up a lot less space and is significantly more powerful that what it replaced, I am quite happy with it and in the next few weeks we are going to set up Mealie

What I Am Painting

I spent the weekend at my sister in law’s and painted up the terrain that came in the £75 pack from Combat Patrol

I got the Stockades finished first

Then the Vox Antenna

And then the Landing Pad

Followed by the Auspex Shrine

Then finally a pair of Hab-Bunkers

After that I painted a squad of Ogryn Charonites for the Solar Auxilia

Followe by a squad of Phallax Warders for my Imperial Fists

And finally a trio of Rapiers for the Solar Auxilia

So what’s coming up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Scarab Occult Terminators & Infernal Master
  3. Dark Angels Incursors x 5
  4. Blood Angels Impulsor
  5. Imperial Knight Magara
  6. Carnivale Gondola
  7. Stormdrake Guard x 4 & Knight Draconis
  8. Imperial Fists Breacher Squad x 10
  9. Armiger Helverin x 2
  10. Deathshroud x 3

What I Am Reading

I listened to Leontus: Lord Solar by Rob Young whilst painting the terrain and that was really good

Right now I am listenting to Terror Firma by Joseph Lidster and Fulgrim: The Perfect Son by Jude Reid.

I also read We Were Brothers by Richard Fox which was pretty decent

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I played a game of Heresy with Graham at Durham Raiders, where I tried out Artillery with the Solar Auxilia, it did not go well, my positioning was terrible and his summoned Daemons ripped me apart

But it was fun and that’s what counts

I then played Dave at Hartlepool Gamers, where I lost, badly, but I could have won in turn 2 when all his reserves failed to arrive, but I am lot a dick so didn’t do that

When his reserves did arrive, the Gal Vorbak tore my ranks apart panel by panel

And again at Durham Raiders, I played a simple doubles game with Andrew where we took on Paul’s Iron Warriors and thanks to Andrew’s nasty plasma guns we won!

And finally I played 40K with Chris and took my Imperial Knights, we didn’t do too badly but it was still a loss

But I really felt like I held my own!

And when CJ came over one Saturday we played DnD with Megan DMing

What I Am Spending

I bought a controller holder for my peg board from eBay

IKEA discontinued these, annoyingly and I needed one more to hold my Duchess

I also grabbed some Deathshroud to complete the Death Guard Combat Patrol

And some Tempestus Aquilons for my Astra Militarum

Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag went on sale on Steam, so I picked that up, and it also included Freedom Cry, and I managed to grab Assassins Creed Unity as well.

And I finally bought Grand Theft Auto V!

I also picked up in various bundles and sales

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

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.

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