The Long Drought

Four months is far too long to go without a post. Much of the purpose in this blog was to get into the habit of writing in a more creative manner, as oppose to the more business and investigational oriented writing I do a work. In a sense this has been a failure due to not successfully making it habitual. However I refuse to give up. I’ve recently faced some let downs at employment and as much as my mind would rather for me to give into hopelessness I want to press on with things I enjoy and bettering myself.

All that being told I have much catching up to do. So much I wondered where to start. So I figure now might be a good time to look at goals as we approach the end of the year. With two months left, what can be realistically accomplished. Thus far much of my focus has been on painting miniatures, which humourously has not been very focused. Currently I am painting up a mob of Ork Boyz in honour of Orktober. The only event I have scheduled is Da Boyz in two weeks. I’m finally participating in a paper and pencil RPG. Otherwise I continue to enjoy a few video games as time permits. Really these next two months are pretty open to many possibilities.

Painting

First up will be finishing a small mob of Boyz to go with my a trukk I had finished earlier which is pictured below. Will this turn into an army? Perhaps. At least a small Kult of Speed. Those new buggies are out of this world. And appropriately, they’re Evil Suns.

Also on the docket has been some Harlequins that I started on a whim. These have been a real disgrace and need to be finished before the end of the year at least a squad and a Starweaver.

Last has been another project I started which I’m call “All My Chapters”. It’s soap opera meets Astrates! Well actually it is an excuse to paint up as many of the Chapter colours which I love but will never have the time to do an entire army of. I have slew of kits floating around that I’ve organized into various Chapters to be done.

So far I’ve completed one squad and a transport. I suppose the goal is a vehicle and infantry Squad but not always…

So I’d like to finish another Squad and Vehicle combination for that project before the end of the year. I also have some almost done Astra Militarum vehicles I’d like to finish along with a nearly done Knight Errant.

Gryphonne Pattern Chimera

Stygies Pattern Thunderer

Manticore

Wyverns

Oh and then there is my Age of Sigmar Death army. Originally planned for Da Boyz, I was not able to even assemble them. So that’s something I’d like to get up to table top stand for Goldensprue in January.

Video Games

It seems odd to make goals around video games. However there are some things I would really like to do this year. First would be Extra Life, which is only a few days away. In it I could maybe finally get my World of Warcraft main, a Dwarf Rogue, up to the new level cap. I barely play anymore so it’s not so much a big deal. Lastly as an effort to work on creative writing would be to pick a game coming out, avoid any sort of editorial coverage and do up a review to post here on the blog. Making this a more regular feature has definitely been a goal of mine.

Computers

Really it should say “Programming”. There’s been a couple of things I wanted to focus on first has to been to find an older functioning computer to learn how to program on in an older ecosystem. Mostly my focus has been on finding either an Apple IIC or a Commodore 64. No luck though I have a lead for a C64 in London. We’ll see. The second is complete a free online course for introduction to Python. Very exciting no?

If the woman don’t find you handsome…

…they should at leas find you handy. Perhaps this is too personal for this blog however work around the house has been something I’ve been slacking on. Whether it’s a bench/storage for the front porch, a cover for the septic tank or shelving in my bedroom, I have a ton of little projects and perhaps they wouldn’t be terrible to share.

That’s not all but this post is rambling and long enough. As they come, I will try to include my future endeavours.

Spring Hobby Wrap Up

We’re into Summer now and it’s high time I gave a report on the status of Hobby. Since Adepticon I hadn’t had much time to attend any events other then wonderfully casual tournament at Flipside Gaming in Albany. I did make it up with much painting.

March/April – A Deluge of Blood Angels

Back in March I gave a bit of hint with my Captain Slamginius on what I was working. Technically it was for a run with a competitive list. Thankfully though, they were all units I wanted anyways. Otherwise I might have been really disappointed at the big FAQ and the beta change to deep striking on the first turn. I am reminded why it is the narrative and hobby aspects of this game I love so much. With that, saw hello to reinforcements to my Blood Angels 2nd Company, Dante’s Sanguinary Guard, and additional characters.

Captain_Slamginius01 — Captain Slamginius, the old Captain of 2nd Company that fell to the Black Rage on Baal during the Tyranid invasion.

BA_Sanguinary_Priest01 — Another addition to the Angel’s Priestly order. Basically I needed a guy with a jump pack and a chainsword.

BA_Librarians01 — The Terminator I’d had sitting around for more then a year half finished. The Jump Pack Librarian was built in April.

BA_Primaris_Ancient01 — Primaris Ancient, a model I wish that was available outside the Starter Box. I’d paint one up for every Chapter if I could.

BA_Sanguinary_Guard&Ancient01 — Five additional Sanguinary Guard with a Sanguinary Ancient

Three new Primaris Marine Squads for my 2nd Company. I’m missing several transfers because I couldn’t find my transfer sheet.

BA_Scouts01 — 10th Company also received some love.

img_4348-1 — Lemartes needs some Death Company, done to his standard.

I also painted up some random other models I had sitting around in April.

Cataphractii Terminators for my Horus Heresy Ultramarines. I’m definitely not a fan of the bare sergeant head. I plan to replace it in the future.

Though most of these were started in March, the bulk was done in April. Definitely a productive month.

May/June – The Guard Ride Again

On to May and into June. Technically the first week of May was finishing up the above models. Then I decided to go back to a model that had been sitting primed for sometime…

It’s still not done, needing some details painted and transfers. But I’m happy with it thus far.

Then my actual commitment for the month.

My Shadowsword! This is a super heavy I’ve been wanting for some time. And I painted up just in time for a big Apoc game occurring this weekend (more on that later).

For the event, I was also trying to crank out some of my remaining Guard vehicles.

Wyverns

Manticore

Stygies Pattern Thunderer

Gryphonne Pattern Chimera

Unfortunately I did not completely finish them, but very close.

So what’s up next? Well this weekend is a giant Apocalypse game with friends in Albany. Then its time for something completely different.

Lemon Meringue Pie? No, Harlequins.

Hobby Goals for 2018 and Current Hobby Progress

It had not been my intention for such a gap between posts, but with recent lost in the family my time has been split between family and work and leaving little for my hobbies.

That being said I’ve also pushed back plans I had for another retrospective look back into 2017 in Video Games. Look for that shortly.

Last year I attempted to complete a “Closet of Shame” Challenge over on the One Hour a Night Facebook group. I did not reach my goal, only about 2/3rds of it. Thus I’m still staring at my closest, full of shame.

Look at all that shame. And it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

A promise I have made to my significant other is that I would really reduce the number of uncompleted kits in my possession. Either through actually completing them or selling them off. Ideally I’d rather complete them as selling them always just seems like losing money. That being said, sanity and happiness in the home is more important then money.

Rather then just list every single thing I have, I’m going to break it down into the project I want to contribute to this year. The big theme this year is “Outside the Comfort Zone”. In addition to specific projects, there’s two major goals I have.

Goal #1 – Use my airbrush. I’ve taken the CK Studio course, I’ve been to Aaron Lovejoy’s panel. I don’t expect myself to do everything with it, but I know it will speed the process up. It’s just a matter of getting a set up in my rather smallish office that I share with my significant other.

Goal #2 – Play more games! I purchased that silly battle journal and I’m determined to use it! Honestly though, if I hadn’t attend a hand full of tournaments, I would have played three or four games at most. Part of it means getting out of my comfort zone to play with people I don’t know as well locally since my good friends who I usually play with do not have the free time to play.

Goal #3 – Go on MiniWargaming. I live like 45 minutes from them. What am I doing?

On to the projects, these are NOT listed in order of priority:

First up is my Horus Hersey Ultramarines.

This army has a 1000 points already completed. My goal is to get this up to 3000 points. I’m signed up for Zone Mortalis at Adepticon, so that will be 750 points right there. I have Breacher Squad and Contemptor Dreadnought to complete for this among a few other things. The biggest item will be my Legion Glaive. It was such a disappointment to not get this thing done last year. But being the centre piece of this army, I want it to be magnificent. To date, all models have been done with rattle cans and brush work. My goal is to start doing base coats with airbrush but nothing fancy as I want it to match the current stuff. So no fades or modulation.

My second goal is a new army. Novamarines!

My current efforts on a Novamarines Tactical Squad this month.

Can I gush a moment at how much I love the background and the Chapters of the Badab War? I feel like with the passing of Alan Bligh and the out of print status of the books has only increased my desire. A discussion went on a discord channel for the Masters of the Forge people about doing something similar to the “Tales of Four Warlords” from White Dwarf, however it would be done with a Badab twist. Renamed something like “Warlords of Badab” (since it will have more then four people), people started claiming their chapters of choice. Funny thing for me is there’s at least five if not more Chapters I would happily do, but I landed on Novamarines for this. I really need to lay out a plan of exactly what I’m going to paint up for this army, rather then the just seemly random nature I tend to go with. All that I’ve done is buy a ton of minis off a friend. Its something I need to think about. And quarter scheme? Totally outside my comfort zone.

3rd is a Xenos army! I don’t have a Xenos army. I’ve love Eldar since the beginning. I had a small force in 2nd Edition that I sold off. Over the last year or so I’ve picked up both Craftworld and Dark Eldar kits I’ve wanted to do up. But right now this is really on the back burner as I have some higher priorities.

4th will be my first Age of Sigmar army, to potentially be done in conjunction with some friends from Albany. I’ll be focusing on Death, though not specifically which faction. I currently have some Death Rattles and Vampires Counts.

5th Complete two Blood Bowl teams. Humans and Dwarves.

Sadly nothing exciting to add to that last one. So that’s my broad hobby goals for 2018. Age of Sigmar and Ultramarines are expected to be focus on up front.

Thanks for reading.

Mike.