Tag: UCM

Getting on Top of Things

Stuff is getting better and I feel a lot more in control the past couple of weeks, but there is still more to do.

I need to be a bit more forthright about asking Lindsay and Megan for help and assistance.

Currently waiting on some work being done on the house and this is sort of creating a limbo situation for me, so a few bits are on hold, but I think I might be able to end this year feeling a lot better.

But lets keep up the progress and see what happens.

What I Am Modelling

I started with Evander Garrius for the Imperial Fists

Along with the obligatory Lascannon Squad for them too.

After that it was some Apothecaries for the Ultramarines, so thats a Primaris Apothecary and an Apothecary Biologis

Followed by some Vienna Class Escort Frigates for my UCM fleet.

And finally Gardus Steel Soul from Stormbringer

And finally a Heavy Support Squad for my Death Guard, also armed with Lascannons, given that its obligatory now!


So what’s coming up next week?

  1. Blood Angels Infiltrators x 10
  2. Blood Ravens Balistus Dreadnought
  3. Ork Boyz x 10 & Nob
  4. Marshcrawllla Sloghoth x 2
  5. Dialogus
  6. Imperial Fists Rotor Cannon Squad x 10
  7. Death Guard Spartan
  8. Termagants with Devourers x 20
  9. Grots x 10 & Runtherd
  10. Chaos Familiars

What I Am Reading

I finished listening to Blood of Iax by Robbie MacNiven, which was fine, just kinda generic really, but ok.

And I finally finished Secrets in Scarlet so expect a review soon.

I am now reading The Prisoner of Tartarus by Richard Lee Byers which is good so far.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I had a game of Heresy with Graham the other

What Video Games I Am Playing

Got a couple of sessions of Assassin’s Creed Revelations in on stream, and finished the game, so I will be starting Assassin’s Creed III on Tuesday!

I have also been playing a bit more of Starfield.

And some Bayonetta along with a bit of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

What I Am Cooking

I managed to cook for the first time in forever and I made some beans and sausage wraps, which were quite nice.

And a serving of dirty rice for myself and Lindsay too

What I Am Spending

Bought a couple of Humble Bundles, the Cities: Skylines Build Today, Plan for Tomorrow bundle and the Control the Narrative bundle.

Plus I bought Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2.

I also bought for myself as a birthday treat, the Hyperkin Xenon controller, which so far has been amazing to use, feels so much like playing games in 2005 again!

And after a bit of hunting I found some nice cables to use for my controllers, these nice chunky rubber ones are just right, very dieselpunk and feel really substantial, I love them!

I also had to buy a pack of Heavy Weapons with Volkite Culverins, Lascannons and Autocannons for the Horus Heresy to build the Death Guard Lascannon squad, I got them from Element Games of course!

And finally some AirTags and a new wallet, so hopefully no more losing the wallet when I need it!


My Knee Hurts

The other week, I hurt my knee, I feel down the stairs and my knee went through the wall.

Its healing, and I can now move it, but any weight I put on it, results in excruciating pain.

I ended up going back to hospital, only to be told, that I am just old and don’t heal up as well as I used to.

I have exercises to do, and have a referral to physiotherapy, very annoying but it is what it is I guess.

What I Am Modellng

I started the week by painting a trio of Istanbul Monitors for my UCM fleet.

Then some units for my Orruk Warclans, starting with a unit of Gutrippas.

Plus Da Kunnin’ Krew.

And a unit of Man-Skewer Boltboyz

Then came a Terminator Librarian for the Blood Ravens

After that it was a tactical squad for the Imperial Fists.


So what’s up next?

  1. Deffkilla Wartrike
  2. Big Mek with Shokk Attack Gun
  3. Stealth Team x 3
  4. Canoptek Wraiths x 3
  5. Gutrippas x 10
  6. Elathain’s Soulraid
  7. Tzaangors x 6
  8. Strike Team x 10
  9. Termagants with Spine Fists x 20
  10. Mandrakes x 5

What I Am Reading

I pushed through the headaches that were stopping me from concentrating and finished Sisters of Sorcery, and you can read a review here.

I then started on Secrets in Scarlet, an Arkham Horror anthology edited by Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells.

I am still listening to The Martyr’s Tomb by Marc Collins.

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finished the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt after 181.8 hours of gameplay and well, that’s a very very good game isn’t it!

On Steam Deck I started playing Tomb Raider, which is a very nice game with an interesting story.

And I managed to finish it as well, which is cool!

I have now started on Disney’s Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, only done the first level or so in, but its good so far.

What I Am Creating

Another episode of Edge of Empire is in production, but in the meantime, here is a little Tik Tok video on painting Burgundy Leather!

@biggeordiegeek

Burgandy Leather Painting! Warmongers WarhammerCommunity WarHamFam PaintSlam23 Painting PaintingWarhammer PaintingGamesWorkshop PaintingLeather MiniturePainting MiniturePaintingTips

♬ original sound – biggeordiegeek – biggeordiegeek

What I Am Winning

I won a water filter and some cartridges for it too!

What I Am Spending

Bought a few games,

I also preordered the Starfield Premium Edition Upgrade, which will give me all of the premium features with my Gamepass subscription.

I got the Baldur’s Gate & Beyond Humble Bundle which netted me

I got a few games I already own, so I donated them to friends!

I got a Ballistus Dreadnought for my Ultramarines.

And a trio of Monitors for my UCM Fleet


Dropfleet Commander Battle Report – UCM vs Scourge

This is a long delayed battle report, and I am very sorry its taken so long, was a bit of a case of lining things up and developing a new workflow that didn’t need days to edit a single report!

Figured it out now, so I have to catch up in order to meet my resolution requirements!

Anyway, enjoy!

Fleet Lists

United Colonies of Mankind

Line Battlegroup 

Strategy Rating: 5

1 X Rio

Vanguard Battlegroup

Strategy Rating: 12

1 X Moscow
2 X New Orleans

Pathfinder Battlegroup

Strategy Rating: 7

2 X Toulon
1 X Berlin

The Scourge

Pathfinder Battlegroup 1

Strategy Rating: 7

1 X Ifrit
2 X Harpy

Line Battlegroup 1

Strategy Rating: 5

1 X Wyvern

Vanguard Battlegroup 1

Strategy Rating: 12

2 X Gargoyle
1 X Shenlong

These two fleets are made up of models you can find in the Dropfleet Commander boxset from TT Combat, and you can get yourself a copy from Element Games for just £54 and start playing with everything you need!

Alternatively, my old Air Cadet buddy runs Extra Fox Games on eBay where he sells it for £54.49 and helps him out, plus has free postage!

Airecon

This past weekend, I got to work at Airecon, a wonderful little board game convention in Harrrogate.

I spent the weekend showing people how to play Star Wars Legion, using a capture the flag scenario that gave people a very very basic taste of the game, to tempt them to join the Dark Side and crush the rebels!

Got to stay at the Crown Plaza, which was nice, until they nicked my pizza, but that’s another story!

Really nice breakfast though and I got to have Eggs Benedict on Sunday, weirdly served with bacon, and I ate probably very badly, existing on pizza, burgers and Coke Zero!

I showed off Star Wars Legion to a total of 77 individuals, which I feel was good going.

Lindsay and Megan came as punters on Sunday and I think they had a good time, Paul did have them pick up a Zatu mystery box for him.

Hopefully we will be back in 2024!

I started the week by painting the Imperial Fists Kratos, it’s less than a month until the event, so I need to get the fists done!

What I Am Modelling

After that I painted up the Drukhari Succubus.

Followed by some Tomb Blades for my Necrons

And then Some frigates for my UCM fleet, a pair of Limas and Taipeis


So what’s in the painting plan for next week?

  1. Templar Brethren x 10, Land Raider Proteus & Sicaran Battle Tank x 2
  2. Drukhari Wyches x 10
  3. Inquisitors x 3
  4. Kainan’s Reapers
  5. Blood Ravens Firestrike Servo Turret x 2
  6. Drukhari Reavers x 6
  7. Ultramarines Assault Intercessors x 10
  8. Man-Skewer Bolt-Boyz x 6
  9. Necron Triarch Stalkers x 3
  10. Kairic Acolytes x 18
  11. Drukhari Helions x 10

What I Am Reading

I listened to the Garro: Knight of Grey by James Swallow audiobook, which was great, after that I listened to Loups-Garoux by Marc Platt, a fun 5th Doctor story.

I read Primacy by Marc Collins, you can see a review on Edge of Empire here.

And I finished The End and the Death Volume I by Dan Abnett, and you can read a review on Edge of Empire soon!

I am now listening to The Iron Kingdom by Nick Kyme.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

We played Gorechosen at Warhammer World on Monday, of course Megan knocked me into a pit early on and of course she went on to win as usual!

What Video Games I Am Playing

I have completed Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood!

I now streaming Control Ultimate Edition, which I am playing on GOG.

I have also been playing some Borderlands on Switch, and PC Building Simulator and Portal with RTX on PC.

What I Am Spending

At Warhammer World, Megan bought me a Raider for my Drukhari, which will complete my Wych Combat Patrol!

And I needed to hook up the Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5 and printer to the network physically, so I bought 3 Amazon Basics Cat 6 ethernet cables to do this.

So they now connect to the network switch under Megan’s desk.

And my copy of Imperium 78 arrived, so I have what I need for the Command Barge!

I bought myself the Türkiye-Syria Earthquake Relief Bundle from Humble Bundle.

It’s for a good cause and it get me a fair few new games for Steam, which were:-

I saw Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown on sale on the PlayStation store, and being a huge fan of the game, I ended up buying it!

I also grabbed a couple of DLC for Euro Truck Simulator 2, Cabin Accessories and Scandinavia.

I grabbed Fallout 2, Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition and Fallout Tactics for Steam, kinda decided I am going to buy a Steam Deck at some point in the next 12 months, so grabbing a bunch of games I really enjoy that are cheap specifically for Steam.

And finally I bought Model Builder, along with the The Witcher & Cyberpunk 2077 DLC and Into The Stars DLC.

What I Am Winning

I won a £50 voucher for Revl, which was really nice, and we spent it right away and bought for ourselves:-

  • Tango 330ml Can x 6
  • Rekorderlig Mango-Raspberry Cider 330ml Can x 15
  • Pepsi Max 330ml Cans x 40
  • Gordon’s 0% Alcohol Free Gin 70ml Bottle

I mist admit I was tempted to get 100 cans of Pepsi Max, cause I don’t drink, but Lindsay wanted some alcohol free gin and cider, so I ordered that for her, and then made up the remainder with soft drinks, total cost to us was £1.75!!!

I won another game in the form of Row of Numbers for the PlayStation.

I also won Quiz Thiz Spain from a Twitter competition for the PlayStation.

And the next day I won Quiz Thiz France!


Went To Suffolk

Last weekend, we took a flying visit to my parents in Suffolk.

We hadn’t been in nearly 3 1/2 years as a result of the Pandemic and it was nice to head down again, even if it was only brief.

It coincided with my brothers birthday, and he wanted to go to Cambridge for the day, so thats what we did, and we ate at an all you can eat buffet, which was interesting whilst on my current medication!

But it was a nice trip and I am looking forward to my next visit for my brothers wedding in April.

What I Am Modelling

I finished up the Ultramarines Lieutenants, all eight of them!

And then I painted up the Kâhl for the Leagues of Votann.

Plus an Einhyr Champuon too.

I then finished up a Broodlord for 2023 Resolutions Combat Patrol

Followed by a Lictor

After that I painted a Burnaby Battlestar Carrier for my UCM Fleet.

Plus the Titania Cruisers from the starter set!

Then I painted the Skink Priest for Warhammer Quest, which completes the heroes!

Alongside the Starblood Stalkers.


So what’s up next!

  1. Battle Sisters Squad x 10
  2. Ogroid Thaumaturge
  3. Killaboss x 2 & Stabgrot
  4. Drukhari Succubus & Wyches x 10
  5. Necron Tomb Blades x 6
  6. Imperial Fists Kratos
  7. Imperial Inquisitors x 3
  8. Kainan’s Reapers
  9. Blood Ravens Firestrike Servo Turret x 2
  10. Drukhari Reavers x 6

What I Am Reading

Making slow progress in Daybreak Legacy by Stewart Hotston still should have it finished in a day or two.

I listened to The Stones of Venice by Paul Magrs which is a great little story, and its always fun to hear Eight and Charley having lots of fun!

I am currently listening to Apocalypse by Josh Reynolds.

What Video Games I Am Playing

I completed Assassin’s Creed 2 in Assassin’s Creed: The Ezio Collection

https://youtu.be/xfXDu78wPNc

And now I am working on Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, which was a game I really enjoyed when I first played it!

https://youtu.be/zifo-JQrwXk
https://youtu.be/iZ_fEy0KzU0
https://youtu.be/lzPlgSkfFn4
https://youtu.be/chKW3LOJZYc

I played a little bit of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, not much but a bit.

What I Am Creating

I published an unboxing video of the new Dropfleet Commander 2 Player Starter Set.

What I Am Winning

Won a copy of Dodge the Ball for PlayStation on Sunday

I also won a Parker pen from Octopus Office Supplies

And I won a copy of 11-11 Memories Retold from Bandi Namco.

And some cross stitch pafter a from The World of Cross Stitching, which have been given to my sister in law!

What I Am Buying

I bought a copy of the new Dropfleet Commander Stater Set from an old ATC friend who now sells models on eBay, as Extra Fox Games!

At Warhammer World I got a top up of paints and an Ultramarines dice bag!

And my missing Firestrike Servo Turrets from Forbidden Planet arrived!

I also bought myself the Celebrating Black Creators and Characters Humble Bundle, which snagged me Mafia III: Definitive Edition, Shadow Man Remastered, Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn, Jay and Silent Bob: Mall Brawl, An Airport for Aliens Run by Dogs, Swimsanity, Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death and Semblance.

I also purchased Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Mafia II: Definitive Edition as it was super cheap on Green Man Games.

And ew my AirPods were so dirty, I ordered a tool to help clean them, and the amount of earwax I pulled out almost made me throw up!

I also purchased the last Land Raider Proteus I needed for my Imperial Fists list for the March event!

I also grabbed some Invader ATVs from Forbidden Planet, some for my Blood Ravens and the others for my Ultramarines.

Prepping for Rabbits

Megan spoke to me and Lindsay the other week about how she has been feeling since we moved, anyway long and short we are adopting a pair of rabbits!

Currently known as Harvey and Hudson, they are being renamed Perrigrin Took and Angron Eater of Cables!

So this past week and a bit has been taken up with the task of rabbit proofing, rabbits are utter hoodlums and will chew any fucking thing.

So all the cables are being sheathed in protective coverings, the board game units are getting doors for the bottom shelves and a couple of extension cables are going into boxes.

Tomorrow Megans mum is coming round and the cage will be built!

I like bunnies, but they are pains in the bum, just so bloody naughty!

What I Am Modelling

I started the week by painting the Lord Castellan for Shadows Over Hammerhal and his trusty Gryph-Hound.

Followed by the Darkoath Warchief, I love the whole Darkoath aesthetic and I tell you, if they ever made a whole army of Darkoath, I would be on it like a tramp on chips!

After this it was the Excelsior Warpriest and his mini Gryph-Hound.

After that came a trio of Aelves, a Loremaster, Sorceress and a Black Ark Fleetmaster.

After this came the last two Silver Tower heroes, the Mistweaver Siah and the Tenebrael Shard.

And I got the Grey Seer painted up!

All I am left with now for Warhammer Quest in terms of Heroes is a Skink Priest, but I need a few paints for that, so it’s gonna wait a week or too.

I then quickly painted up a trio of Havana Destroyers for the UCM fleet.

And finally I got finished a Blood Angels Repulsor!


So what’s coming up next week?

  1. WHQ Skink Priest
  2. Templar Brethren x 10 & Land Raider Proteus
  3. Hobgrot Slittaz x 20
  4. Leagues of Votann Kâhl and Einhyr Champion
  5. The Crimson Court
  6. Ultramarines Lieutenants x 8
  7. Battle Sisters Squad x 10
  8. Ogroid Thaumaturge
  9. Killaboss x 2 & Stab Grot
  10. Drukhari Wyches x 10 & Succubus

What I Am Reading

Finished up The Veiled Masters by Tim Pratt, expect a review in the next couple of days.

I also read and finished Garro: Knight of Grey by Jim Swallow which was really good, if a bit bittersweet, a review will come this week!

And now I am onto The Flower Path by Josh Reynolds, a book I have been looking forward to for a while!

In terms of audiobooks, I listened to Sanguinius: The Great Angel by Chris Wraight.

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Played a game of Horus Heresy against Graham on Tuesday, it was a close game and I must admit my Dreadnought killing his Sicaran Punishers was beautiful!

A lot of it came down to my army having a lot of units which just gave up kill points and Graham managing to grab First Blood.

What Video Games Am I Playing

A little bit of The Witcher 3 and that’s it.

What I Am Winning

Another piece of shovelware, I know they are crap but the dopamine hit from winning is cool, anyway now I have The Jumping Muffin for PlayStation.

I also won a copy of Assetto Corsa Competizione for the PS5, which was nice, and certainly not shovelware!

And on Friday I won a copy of Eternal Threads on Steam!

Won my first book since the return to comping, My (Extra) Ordinary Life by Rebecca Ryan.

Not my cup of tea, but right up Megan’s street!


A Spicy Take That Shouldn’t Be Spicy

This shouldn’t be controversial, but I know some people will choose to unfollow/unfriend me for this, but it needs to be said.

No one should buy or play Hogwarts Legacy, if you claim to be an LGBTQ+ ally.

If you buy the game, or play it, then please, stop describing yourself as an ally, because when it comes down to brass tacks, you ain’t.

JK Rowling has a verifiable and blatant history of transphobia and she uses her money and influences to spread hate and bigotry against our trans friends.

If you are asking for examples, well I am gonna be honest, fuck off, they are super clear, there are numerous articles and examples and if you can’t see that, then most likely you are a piece of shit yourself.

Any purchases or streaming of the game, only benefits her, it makes her richer and allows her to do more evil.

And no, donating money to charity doesn’t make it ok, because you still give her publicity and money.

Listen to your trans and queer friends, do not buy the fucking wizard game!

You might wonder why I care, given that I am not trans, well simple I have a lot of trans friends, and I care about them.

Also, if you take Joke Rolling and her dreadful GC posses proposals, that makes me not a man.

My sez chromosomes are not XY, they are XYY, I am, to be blunt, not a standard cis male

And under the arguments put forward by the GC lunatics, I wouldn’t be allowed to use men’s toilets, because my DNA isn’t “normal”.

But there are a lot of bodies out there that don’t fit the XY/XX binary, not all of our DNA matches what we feel we are, it know ourselves to be.

If we were to mandate ridiculous DNA based classifications of gender, what happens to women with Turner Syndrome (XY) or Swyer Syndrome?

Or if we start down the inspection of peoples gender characteristics, where does a lass with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia go to take a leak?

The truth is, that there are no perverts wanting to go through the process of attaining a GRC to assault anyone, why, that’s an utterly ridiculous idea.

If a sexual predator is going to attack you, they don’t need a GRC to enter the women’s toilets, this isn’t Hogwarts where men will be magically blocked from entering without a GRC.

Just give you head a wobble, either be an ally, or don’t be.

Don’t try and dress up your decision to buy a game which contributes to transphobia and helps the creator of the IP work to against LGBTQ+ rights.

Oh and the other argument, the devs got paid a salary, they aren’t waiting hungry having worked for years with no pay, they got paid.A

And frankly, if they are happy having their name in the credits of this game, knowing the harm that she does, well, I have little sympathy for them.

Anyway that’s my take, I understand it’s spicy, but frankly it’s shouldn’t be, this should be the accepted standard, be an ally, don’t be a piece of shit and try to justify making a decision that goes against being an ally.

What I Am Modelling

I started off by painting my UCM Vancouvers for Dropfleet Commander.

And then painted up a squad of Intercessors plus a few spares for my Ultramarines.

I then started on the Heroes for Warhammer Quest, with the Knight-Questor being finished first.

A pair of Chaos Sorcerer Lords came next, one from Shadows Over Hammerhall and one from the Silver Tower Arcane Heroes.

After that came a quartet of Duardin, the Auric Runemaster, Doomseeker, Cogsmith and Grombrindal.

And finally I completed the Magistar

On the desk right now is the Lord Castellant, Excelsior Warpreist, Darkoath Chieftain and two Grpyh-Hounds.


So whats coming up next?

  1. Warhammer Quest Heroes
  2. Blood Angels Repulsor
  3. Templar Brethren x 10
  4. Hobgrot Slittaz x 20
  5. Leagues of Votann Kâhl & Einhyr Champion
  6. The Crimson Court
  7. Ultramarines Lieutenants x 8
  8. Battle Sisters Squad x 10
  9. Ogroid Thaumaturge
  10. Killaboss x 2 & Stab Grot

What I Am Reading

I listened to The Holy Terror by Robert Shearman, which was pretty good if a bit surreal, I forgot the time when the Doctors companion was a talking penguin!

I then listened to The Mutant Phase by Nicholas Briggs which was pretty good, an interesting take on a time paradox.

After that I churned through the audiobook of Cthonia’s Reckoning, I have read the book, but needed something to listen to whilst painting and this was on the list.

Not the best Horus Heresy book, but not the worst.

After that my continuing journey into Doctor Who lead me to Storm Warning by Alan Barnes, the first 8th Doctor audio!

I am now listening to Sanguinius: The Great Angel by Chris Wraight.

I reviewed Age of the Undead by C.L. Werner, which you can read here.

I spent time reading The Veiled Masters by Tim Pratt and I am not making as much progress as I’d like, but I am getting there!

What Video Games I Am Playing

A but if time playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and a game of Carcassonne on the Switch is about all I did this week!

What I Am Winning

Won a copy of Dolmen before Christmas in a Twitter competition, and it turned up on Tuesday.

I also won Crazy Athletics for Steam as well, so that could be fun.

I also won a €5 credit for Steam on Twitter.

And on Saturday I won, The Jumping Salad, honestly sounds like crap, but hey, I’ll take it!

I also won a copy of Doom Eternal, but I had already gotten a copy of that in my library from Humble Choice, so that was donated to my brother in law.

What I Am Spending

I bought myself a Land Raider Proteus for my Imperial Fists, I need two of these, so one this month and one next month.

I also purchased a trio of Havana Destroyers to add to my UCM fleets, which will actually be built as Havannas.

Bought myself a few games, this months Humble Choice came with Doom Eternal, Tribes of Midgard, Encased, OlliOlli World, Grow: Song of the Evertree, Conan Chop Chop, Hokko Life and The Serpent Rogue.

Plus I got Space Wolf: Special Edition from Fanatical which had a bunch of the DLC for just £1, code for the main game was given the a friend and I kept the DLC codes,

And cause I am a sucker, I paid £1.89 and got two mystery keys, got two games I already had, but not on Steam, Doom 64 and Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel without a Pulse.

Having seen it on sale for £3 I decided to keep expanding my Doom collection with the 2016 Doom game, along with Micro Machines World Series.

I redeemed them because in the future I hope to get a Steam Deck and I can’t ever see GOG, Amazon or Epic offering their launchers on that device whilst still maintaining things like cloud saves, so if it’s possible, I am trying to only buy games on Steam now to future proof as it were.

I grabbed a sticker bomb pack of Sonic stickers, I only really wanted a couple to add to my task lamp, but it was cheaper to buy a big pack, but whatever!

I saw Taco, Hat, Gift, Cake, Pizza in Aldi the other day, so I grabbed it cause Lindsay was keen on a copy.

And I added to the studios greenery with a third fake plant for the little bit on the stairs, which the girls lovingly went to IKEA to pick up for me.


Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén