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!
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!
And finally some AirTags and a new wallet, so hopefully no more losing the wallet when I need it!
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!
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?
Templar Brethren x 10, Land Raider Proteus & Sicaran Battle Tank x 2
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 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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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?
Warhammer Quest Heroes
Blood Angels Repulsor
Templar Brethren x 10
Hobgrot Slittaz x 20
Leagues of Votann Kâhl & Einhyr Champion
The Crimson Court
Ultramarines Lieutenants x 8
Battle Sisters Squad x 10
Ogroid Thaumaturge
Killaboss x 2 & Stab Grot
What I Am Reading
I listened to The Holy Terror by Robert Shearman, which was pretty good if a bit surreal, I forgot the time when the Doctors companion was a talking penguin!
After that I churned through the audiobook of Cthonia’s Reckoning, I have read the book, but needed something to listen to whilst painting and this was on the list.
Not the best Horus Heresy book, but not the worst.
After that my continuing journey into Doctor Who lead me to Storm Warning by Alan Barnes, the first 8th Doctor audio!
Plus I got Space Wolf: Special Edition from Fanatical which had a bunch of the DLC for just £1, code for the main game was given the a friend and I kept the DLC codes,
Having seen it on sale for £3 I decided to keep expanding my Doom collection with the 2016 Doom game, along with Micro Machines World Series.
I redeemed them because in the future I hope to get a Steam Deck and I can’t ever see GOG, Amazon or Epic offering their launchers on that device whilst still maintaining things like cloud saves, so if it’s possible, I am trying to only buy games on Steam now to future proof as it were.
I grabbed a sticker bomb pack of Sonic stickers, I only really wanted a couple to add to my task lamp, but it was cheaper to buy a big pack, but whatever!
I saw Taco, Hat, Gift, Cake, Pizza in Aldi the other day, so I grabbed it cause Lindsay was keen on a copy.
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.