A Week Later

Greetings friends!

So it's been roughly one week since my last post and it really feels strange.

First I would like to both thank and apologise to my good friend And, who in response to my last post edited our Cryptside Chat complete with music. So thank you for getting that done for me! Of course you have my apologies for not uploading it.

So what have I been up to this past week? What with having 10 days away from the office?

It's simple really. So the first weekend was spent feeling sorry for myself with tooth ache.

Monday to Wednesday the wife and I went to Camden to celebrate our 7th Wedding Anniversary including watching The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (which I have to be honest, was a really good film! A lot better than I though).

We also learned how to play the card game Tentacle Bento by Sodapop Miniatures - a really strategic game disguised as silly fun.

We also ate far too much junk food including a fantastic meal at the Gilgamesh restaurant in Camden which was fantastic (even if I struggled to eat everything - no lunch next time).

Did a bit of shopping as is customary and then made our way home.

Thursday and Friday was spent feeling exhausted after the travelling and a little bit of sickness (plus Thursday involved some more tooth pain with another dentist trip on Friday to add to my need to wallow).

Saturday and Sunday were your typical weekend, shopping, a trip to the lakes to show my daughter the baby ducks, that sort of thing.

All of which was of course overshadowed by the looming of my new job which officially started today.

This job is with the same company as before, it's mostly doing the same work, just with a largely new team as it's post-restructure.

I know it was silly, but all week this job was playing on my mind, how the rest of the teams first day would have been last week and so I was artificially distancing myself by having the week away from the office, but despite telling myself how it was all in my head blah blah blah, that didn't stop it ringing around in there.

Of course today went fine, better than fine as I was able to consult I policies and strategy and it felt like my opinion, while not always popular and in one case was rules against, it was valued and respected.

I was also able to surprise my new team mates by showing them my efficiency of working. It's a dangerous game to play, as showing up a team of workers as not only inefficient but also potentially slacking or lazy can backfire, but this was not me trying to brown-nose or deliberately show up the other workers, instead the aim was to do what I have always done at work; my hardest and best work, to the best of my abilities all the while trying to find the perfect balance between speed and accuracy.

Luckily my line manager seems to appreciate what I'm doing, however it's early days and paranoia or not, I need to ensure that I protect myself as much as possible from being screwed over.

I just know that my morals and work ethic will not allow that protection to come at the expense of my work output.

************

Anyway, this has been a really boring article for you to read so I'll bring this to a close.

Hope you are all well, that you stay safe and that I see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

When life gives you lemons, you clone those lemons and make SUPER lemons!

Greetings friends!

Been a few days since you've received an update from me. In that time a lot of 'real life' stuff has been going on.

First I recorded the first ever Cryptside chat! Hoping to upload that by the end of the week. I was hoping to be joined by my good friend Jon, but unfortunately I've been unable to reach him - so Jon, if you're reading this, hope you're ok.

Next I moved office for work. This turned out to be a lot better than I thought it would and now I have a lovely new desk located near Victoria in London.

After this I was hoping to do the edit of the Cryptside chat, but then things took a turn for the worse as my computer's C drive began to fail and so began the slow and long process of installing Windows on another drive (which is now my new C drive) and copying all my personal files from my old drive to the new one before it failed completely. Now I can't find out how to remove it from bios, or how to unplug it without my computer telling me there are errors and no suitable boots etc - I have a feeling it has something about resetting the pins from master to slave, but honestly I don't know anything about that.

Well that was on Good Friday and I spent most of the evening updating my drivers etc but there is still a lot to do including installing my sound editing software and MS Office for word editing. Until this is done I can't edit my recording for New Fairbank Radio (sound editing) or do the edits needed for my CRYPTS rules (word and photoshop).

Yesterday was good, we went shopping and had fun playing in the garden. Unfortunately though I developed a bit of a bad tummy and so spent the evening feeling sorry for myself watching Pan's Labyrinth (which I felt was less about a Labyrinth and more about the Spanish Civil War. Really didn't live up to its hype).

Then I woke up his morning at 4am with tooth ache... Yeah as if the stress of an office move, a dying computer and an upset tummy wasn't enough, I then developed tooth ache.

Queue an emergency trip to Stevenage where they drilled open a tooth, scraped out an infection and put in some anti-biotic stuff which should kill the infection along with the tooth's root requiring me to get a root canal in about a week's time.

And so now I'm sat in a bath, half my face still feeling swollen from the sheer volume of anaesthetic they had to inject into my jaw to stop me screaming like a little girl.

But things are not all bad! I got to have an Easter Egg hunt with my little one which she really enjoyed


And to top it all off tomorrow the wife and I are going to London for 3 days for our 7th year anniversary! It's the highlight of our year, the hotel is booked, the Monday plans are in place as is Gilgamesh booked for Tuesday! Super glad about this!

I've stocked up on painkillers (nothing serious, just paracetamol and ibuprofen) so if my jaw/tooth starts playing up I should be able to medicate, plus I'll be in London. If I can't find a dentist to sort me out there, then something is really wrong with he world.

Anyway, that's all from me for now. So take care, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

Reality Sucks! (Emo)

Greetings friends!

So on Saturday I went to 2014.

As you know I was super psyched to go to this, but the reality turned out to be very different from what I envisioned...

Ok so this was the third I had been to, the first in 2012; where the majority of stalls were covering historical games, most of the game tables were for historicals but there was still some other stuff that was of an interest to me.

Next was 2013. That year there was a lot of new stuff that was interesting. It was the first year Infamy were there, first year of Timeline 300 (I think that was it's name) and the first year for Sphere Wars.

Now we're at 2014. I'll be honest, it was an eye opening experience for me.

I can see for a lot of people the event would have been the best yet, as there were loads of other brand new games there including Warzone Resurrection, Spy or Die Trying and Dead Man's Hand. Of course there were the old classics such as Drop Zone Commander and Mantic had a stronger presence than previous years.

The issue for me is that none of these games interested me...

We spent a while at the Prodos stall (makers of Warzone Resurrection and the upcoming AvP game) this was largely because Andrey who I was there with loved the Warzone stuff and wanted to arrange an interview with them.

I have to admit, their models are dynamic and highly detailed etc. they are also made from digital sculpts.

I haven't talked about this before, but I've been secretly holding a dislike for digital sculpts. It took me a while to realise, but that is why I am not a fan of the recent games we're seeing for the past year or so.

I know what people say, how it let's you put so much more detail and create poses not previously possible, BUT!! to me these sculpts appear 'soulless'.

That's a hard word to try and describe as to what I mean. Ultimately though it comes down to the generic look of the sculpts. I find that while digital sculpts often look suitable and fitting for the game they are made for, but other that they look very similar, there is very little 'visual signature' behind the sculpts.

This is the thing for me. I like models to have a visual signature behind them allowing you to look at them with a glance and seeing who sculpted them.

Now however, I can put almost all digital sculpts next to each other and to me I would honestly say that they looked like the same sculptor made them.

Of course there are still hand sculpted games out there who had a presence at Salute, including Bushido, Sphere Wars and Eden, but these were largely games I have no interest in.

Eden looked interesting, however their stall was so poorly constructed to show case what the differences were between factions etc (plus by the time we got there it was super crowded and I was feeling pissed off, so I left it to check out on my own time).

- last but not least, I learned something: I don't give a crap about looking at other people's painted models. I don't know if it's attention span or what, but for me it's a lot like going around an art gallery (my idea of hell). I know this makes me a philistine but I can't help that.

Anyway, butch mode: turn off!

Stay safe everyone and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

Swinging outside your weight (Salute 2014 buildup)

Good Friday friends!

Today brings us to the day before Salute 2014!

Now for those of you who don't know Salute 2014 is the UK's largest wargaming convention and every year it is held at the Excel Centre in London.

But you know what? To me and many more it's more than that. It's an opportunity for Geeks, dORks and nerDs to get together and be GORDs together as we shy away from direct sunlight, squeeze into our not-very slimming trousers and trim our neck beards.

It is almost irony that it is also the same day and place as the London Marathon sign up place every year. As if we didn't need any more fitness nuts looking at is like the weirdos we truly are.

But this is not what I'm going to talk about today. Instead today I bring you info on my own plans for Salute; plans that transcends the usual spend, spend, spend and instead into organise & hope.

You see this time last year things were very different. I was looking to move into podcasting but hadn't 'really' made the leap at all. I was still a Wyrd Henchman and was super excited to go to Salute2013 to meet other Wyrd players.

Now things are different, I am a lot more confident in my ability as a podcaster (and thanks go out to a certain few people for sticking with me over that) and I am going this year under the cover of Hobby Sofa.

Yup, this year I have no plans for recording anything particular, only meeting some guys from the twitterverse, recording maybe 5-10 minute bites with them and having a laugh.

I also have a plan for the queue...

You see last year I arrived early and as such got a great spot near the front of the queue. I want that again this year!

Of course this also means I have a long wait ahead of me, and how else is best to fill that gap?

Well a sing along of Toby Turner's Depressing Song the parody of Say Something by A Great Big World.

So if you are reading this, and if you are coming to Salute2014, please please please watch that video, learn the few lines of audio, come and find me and join me in a sing along of the silliest song of 2014!

Remember, you can find me by looking for the cowboy hat with goggles!!



So until tomorrow; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

Last Light - A CRYPTS Short Story

Frank Hodges was not a young man when he received his summons. Already in his early thirties and if his family history was anything to go by; only a matter of months away from contracting consumption.

Growing up Frank had heard his father scoff at the idea; the Hodges curse, but just as had happened to his father before him, and his father before him, Frank's father had passed away on his thirty fifth birthday. Perhaps this was the reason for Frank's recent behaviour. It didn't matter what he did, he knew he would end up dead in a few years.

With an attitude unbecoming of a man his age, Frank led a fast and reckless last few years. When he wanted money he would take it, the same with women. When he had money he threw it away at the gambling houses and lavishing his latest young lady with sparkles and baubles.

Deep down however Frank always knew that he was far from happy. He longed for something quieter, something slower and something much longer.

Frank didn't know which part of him was the part that rode to Capital City to meet his mysterious benefactor. Maybe it was the part of him that liked the gamble and danger, not knowing if this man who gave him the pile of gold with instructions to meet at a certain time and place would kill him before the night was out. Maybe it was the part that longed for a family and to break the Hodges curse with the promise of a new life in the gold mines down south.

Regardless Frank rode his horse hard, it was only a matter of hours before their proposed meeting time at the Grande Hotel.

When Frank arrived with mere minutes to spare he recognised the man he was supposed to meet instantly.

The man was tall, that was obvious even with him sitting at one of the hotel's fanciest tables. He had also seen combat and did not shy from getting his hands dirty; both literally and figuratively.

Frank noticed that as the man sat at his table he was rolling something between his fingers. Frank paused for a moment studying the object and it's movement. He expected a coin or perhaps a sliver of gold, but instead this thing was red, blood red. Frank approached the man.

"Frank Hodges" Frank stated tipping his hat at the man.

"My pleasure" the man replied "take a seat" and he gestured to the only other chair at the table. His voice was gruff and he sounded both older and more tired than he had the other day when he made his proposition to Frank.

"So what's this about'a job friend?" Asked Frank slightly abrupt. He was used to being looked down on by others, but not by one scruffier than himself.

The man looked up at Frank, the man's brimmed hat casting a dark shadow across his face that lit up brightly as he puffed on a chunky cigar that glowed with each puff.

"It's quite simple kid" the man replied, Frank taking note of the tone of the word 'kid'. This man clearly saw himself as Frank's elder and more experienced. "I own a town down south" the man smiled to himself revealing surprisingly clean teeth "this town has trade interests all over the dus' bowl, north, south" he paused and laughed slightly "deep... south".

The man paused and looked Frank in they eyes before removing his hat revealing long black hair with a shock of white, it clinged to his face as if trying to conceal it from the additional light.

"I need someone to tend bar dow' there" the man continued before sliding a large purse across the table. "Think you're up to it? The bar itself and that there purse are yours if so."

Frank reached for the purse and opened it slightly. Inside was more gold like the chunk he had been given before, only this time there was more, a lot more.

Frank gulped and looked at the man straight in his dark brown eyes "sure thing Mr..?" Frank replied.

"Folks just call me The Sheriff" the man replied flicking a metal star from under his jacket. The star lingered just long enough for Frank to notice that it was indeed a lawman's badge before the man palmed it just inches from Frank's face, replacing the badge with what appeared to be the same red sliver he was playing with previously.

With that The Sheriff stood and walked away from the table, pausing momentarily long enough to slip a piece of folded paper out from inside his jacket and leave it on the table. He firmly placed his hat on his head once more and skimmed the brim with his fingers.
"Nice meeting you properly Mr Hodges" The Sheriff ended before confidently striding out of the hotel.

Frank picked up the paper and unfolded it. The paper was dirty with scrawled ink across it's face. It took Frank a while to read, but as he expected it was instructions on how to get to this town he was supposed to arrive.

Frank studied the paper for a whole, committing every line to memory before leaving the hotel and making his way to the instructed coach house. He mused on the name of the town in the note; "New Fairbank" he thought to himself "good enough name as anywhere for a new life".

As Frank walked with a slight smile on his face as the possibilities to come he felt a sudden thud against his back, turning he saw a man about ten years his junior holding a small child. The man apologised for stumbling into him and gestured that he would be on his way. This man was thin and very dirty, he was clearly living rough on the streets of Capital City. The baby in his arms was the spitting image of the man except for he was clean and substantially more nourished. The man had spoken in a French accent and Frank wondered if like so many he had come to this land seeking a new life only to end up down on his luck.

Frank gestured for the man to join him in a nearby sidewalk away from the bustle of the main streets. The man looked worried and gripped the child in his arms tightly. This made Frank smile, he could see the man's priorities were in the right place and so he gave him the warmest smile he could and gestured for the sidewalk again.

The man revealed that his name was Anton and that he had indeed arrived looking for a new life. There was something about this story that tugged on Frank, he couldn't put it into words, but he knew he needed to bring this man; Anton, with him.

Frank explained the situation, telling him about the bar he recently came into ownership of a bar in this town called New Fairbank and that he could use the help setting it up and running the bar. Frank paused before continuing to tell him that there would be full room and board for him and his little one if he agreed. Frank smiled as Anton agreed and together they met with a coach destined for their new home.

After what felt impossibly like months of travel Frank and Anton finally arrived at New Fairbank. Their coach had failed days before and the two had taken the horses themselves riding with what little they could carry and the new town looked before them covered in a fine dust.

Frank looked puzzled as they rode through the town. He expected townspeople and shops, but all he saw was boarded up homes and dirt encrusted signs revealing general stores.

At the centre of the town Frank noticed one building that looked clean and well looked after. It was the town sheriff's office and Frank smiled to see The Sheriff sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of the office, his wide brimmed hat pulled low over his eyes.

As Frank approached the Sheriff stopped rocking and without looking at Frank directly he pointed to the first building they had passed as they entered the town. It stood on the corner of the main street with large saloon doors, a dusty and unwashed sign swung above the front door that read 'Last Light' complete with what looked like an old painting of a candle on a black background.

Frank smiled to himself, this would do nicely, as he and Anton walked inside. The building was well maintained all things considered, the floors were covered in a thin layer of sand and the bar itself was covered in a dark lacquer underneath layers of dust. It was clear no one had used this place in a few years.

As Frank and Anton walked around the building inspecting it's many rooms and large storage they heard a sudden cough from the front door. Turning to face the sound they were greeted by the Sheriff who patted down a chair before taking the weight off his feet with an audible sigh.

The Sheriff had already arranged for many crates of bourbon to be shipped to the venue and as promised they had arrived prior to Frank and Anton. Over the course of that night the Sheriff assessed not only the men's integrity and mettle.

Just before turning in for the night the Sheriff turned to his new recruits and smiled a brilliant white smile.

"I hope you realise though" the Sheriff remarked with a smirk on his face "all of this is relying on one thing..." The Sheriff smiled knowingly before bowing out of the Last Light.

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

When plans adjust

Greetings friends!

So it's Tuesday and I'm awaiting a train into work after taking my youngling to the dentist.

My first little announcement is that I had my exam on the weekend. Unfortunately it didn't go so well, so I will need to resit.

But enough of that!

Unfortunately the friend of New Fairbank who Hobby Sofa was hoping to meet with at Salute has had a bit if an accident with a dick-car-driver. Thankfully he's ok just needs to stay off his feet for a few months.

This means a few things:

1). I know of a Salute ticket not going to be used. If you would be interested in purchasing it please let me know and I will pass your details onto the person in question.

2). We're going to have to switch our plans.

Now Andrey and I will still be there, and I'll still be wearing my silly hat so whatever you do make sure to stop us, say hi and maybe grab a quick 5 min chat, that way you too can join us on our very comfy , very long hobby-sofa!

So friends, are you going to the UK's largest wargaming convention? It promises to be very fun!

Until next time; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

CRYPTS: Models?

Greetings friends!

So by now you have probably seen me mention on many occasions how one of the selling points of CRYPTS is that it allows you to use any models you want as long as they are roughly the same scale (28mm vs 32mm is fine, but 54mm vs 10mm is just weird!).

So yeah we get that, but what should these creatures look like? What images or monsters did I have in mind when I envisioned them crawling through the crypts of New Fairbank?

What about if you don't have anything suitable? Well I should be able to help you there...

I should probably say these are all internet pictures and not my own.

Well let's start shall we?

Vermin
Giant Rats
Giant Rats have always been what they are, rats that are giant!


Otherworld Miniatures have these great little dudes! They are characterful without being mutated like many giant rats end up.

If however you are looking for something a little cheaper, then there's always old Warhammer plastics:



Giant Spiders
Now like the Giant Rats, Giant Spiders have little special about them other than their size. For me the perfect model is the GW plastic goblin spider rider without it's rider




Skin Walker
Now these are difficult for me as they have different forms. When it's undiscovered a skin walker looks like a normal human, but when challenged it mutates and shifts.

If you are after something imposing then maybe Black Hat is for you




Perhaps however you would rather go down the fleshy route, in which case you have the Hell Dorado Flesh Demon




Or if you are more interested in the vermin side of things, there's Wormpile also by Hell Dorado





Rach'Noir
Who can forget everyone's favourite Spider Queen?

For her there is always G49's Lolth




Now she is a superb miniature but a little pricey! If you're after something a little cheaper then you may instead be interested in Reaper Bones:




Demons
Imps
Now imps are the mischievous little devils that are used by the Demons as slave labour.

I scoured high and low looking for something suitable and believe the best option is again going to Reaper




The Pathfinder Goblin Warriors are fantastic models that I find encompass the look and feel of Imps really well.

Lesser Demons
Now we come to the Demon rank and file.

Obviously how you see demons is going to be different to everyone. For me they are feral creatures of low intelligence that are thrown at the front line by their commanders.

For my games I've gone back to Hell Dorado again and using the Infernal Horde




This is a WiP of my own model.

Greater Demons
Greater Demons are Lesser Demons that have been force fed Blood Crystals and Shards. They are hulking brutes of models that have an unstoppable desire to hurt the enemies of Infernis.

For these I have gone again to Hell Dorado who have two models perfect for this:




First up is Zaxxan a large creature holding a massive blade. Another great choice would be the Infernal Crusher




Damned
Next up is the Damned, humans corrupted by the energies of the Dark Below that now serve the will of Infernis.

These are humans that are shown as the ultimate shock trooper, enjoying both inflicting pain and having it inflicted on them.

For these I've gone back to Hell Dorado for the Damned of Wrath




The Butcher
Last but not least for the Demons is their General: The Butcher.

Now this is a character that for a long time I struggled on before finding two suitable models that are very different in styles.

First sticking with my Hell Dorado lists is the Greater Damned of Wrath




A beautifully gory model that screams of rage and anger.

The other choice is by Raging Heroes called Gluttony




That's it for Demons, onto:

Undead
Now these are on the whole very generic, but none the less I will show you my model choices.

Zombies
Now Zombies are such a fodder item, it must be rare finding gamers without pre existing Zombie models. I was one such unusual gamer.

So onto Reaper I went where I found these guys:




Models I think you will agree are more than suitable for your zombie needs.

Skeletons
Next up were Skeletons, the foot soldiers of the Undead legion.

For me it was back to Reaper again where among other varieties (spears, bows etc) there were these generic beauties:




Wretched
Like the Damned, the Wretched are humans corrupted by the energies of the Dark Below forced to work with the Undead monsters.

For these it's back to Reaper again for their Undead Outlaw!




The Skeleton King
Now for this boss you are going to want to find yourself a model that's actually quite rare. Something that is both 'undead lord' but not the usual sort of 'Lich lord' that companies like GW are quick to sell.

Funnily enough like all the other Undead, Reaper are here to save the day!

Enter Dragoth the Defiler:







Supplied with 4 heads; human, skeleton, helmed and ghoul this guy is more than perfect to represent the powerful boss who's specialty is his undead influence and not his speed.

The Brood
Now The Brood are the mix match of the factions with monsters that don't really fit under any other faction banner.

Shifter
The Shifter is CRYPTS' answer to Werebeasts. What better to represent this than Privateer Press' Circle range




Doppelgänger
Now the Doppelgänger is a Beasty that has yet to even reach the planning board and is due to 'ship' with CRYPTS: Trinity; the game's first optional expansion.

This is a model who's abilities are based on it being able to react to outside stimuli. So unlike the Shifter which changes based on what it wants to do, the Doppelgänger changes based on who attacks it!

Currently I have no plans on model selection, but I wanted to include a mention of the creature for completeness.

The Lost
Like the Damned & Wretched the Lost are humans who have been warped and twisted by the corrupting energies of the Dark Below.

Their touch burns with fire and their steps echo with thunder.

For these I can see no better model than Hell Dorado's Efrit warriors




The Demon Seed & Nanny
Bringing the model selection to a close we have the boss of The Brood, a pairing of The Demon Seed & Nanny, a monstrous child and it's care taker.

These models were created in reverse. I knew I wanted to make use of the model I use for The Demon Seed, the Little Lord from Smog 1888




This monstrous child is always guarded and protected by Nanny, the Brood's answer to Mary Poppins. For her I knew of only one model that would do it justice; Wyrd Miniatures' Weaver Widow





************

And after all that we finally draw ourselves to a close!

I hope you've enjoyed getting a glimpse at how I see the monsters of CRYPTS and I would love it if you would share your own visions.

On that note; stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

Cryptside Chats

Greetings friends!

So I dropped a hint about something being planned in my last post, and I would like to share with you guys the rough plans for that plan.
- mainly because with my exam tomorrow I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else right now and so need to write about something!

So the idea was suggested by a friend of New Fairbank, this suggestion was what will be called for the time being The Cryptside Chats.

The concept is simple; get a number of friends together either in person or via Skype it doesn't really matter. And we use this time to talk about the game.

The discussions can be long or short, it doesn't really matter and can be about something really broad "I think the difficulty of encounters is off" to fine small examples "this individual mechanic is too powerful".

We can talk about rules, about our own experiences and even about the fluff.

You see we've reached where we are because of the involvement of a lot of people, from those who have coined terms and entire mechanics, to monster and ability suggestions. Hell, even suggestions that I/We have massively disagreed with have been helpful in directing us away from aspects we want to avoid.

*************

So why write this post? Why record these chats for public consumption?

It's simple really. Now that the basic mechanics of the game have begun to iron out, the usual test games are slowly feeling less and less relevant. With this in mind it's time for the podcast to take a slightly different direction but by keeping it public allows for all of those who have been a part of the game since the beginning to continue your involvement.

It also allows for a more active form of discussion which at the moment has never really gone beyond the '1 to 1' discussion levels.

***********

So what can you do? Again it's simple! If you want to take part in one of these chats just let me know, send me an email at doctorloxley@hotmail.co.uk or via twitter @doctorloxley and let me know of your interest.

Obviously we can't have everyone there for every chat, but between 4-6 people? I don't see why not!

It's also important to remember that the current open rules are out of date. Many changes have been made through discussion and revision that have yet to be added to the digital rules. After tomorrow once my exam is done and dusted I'll be adding/amending these rules and notifications will be sent out so you are all familiar with these changes.

**********

So what do you think? Is this something that would interest you?

At the very least it should be a fun chat between friends and that is something I very much look forward to.

There are no plans as to when this will officially start, after all I need to get this damned exam out of the way first followed by updating the game files, but with hope the imbedded player at the top of this blog (viewable in web mode) will soon be updated with this new type of episode.

So on that note; take care, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

Conventions & Planning

Greetings friends!

So do you know what day is Saturday? No not that!

It's the date of my next exam! With hope it will also be (if I pass) the last exam of my Level 2 AAT course so that I can have that qualification and get started on Level 3!

But this date is more than just that, it marks the end of my gaming embargo where I can get started on compiling the next phase of the CRYPTS beta but also start having some (related) fun!

You see I've got a mini project on the side related to CRYPTS that I am hoping to do, without giving too much away it is essentially about taking New Fairbank Radio in a slightly different direction. There will be games being played on it, but it will also involve other sorts of recordings.
- More on this as it develops.

But what else? Well it's also podcast related...

It is the week before Salute 2014!

Yup, the UK's largest wargaming convention is finally on us and for a third year in a row I shall be attending.

I am hoping to make use of my portable recording tools (iPhone with a headset microphone attached) and while there I hope to record some chats for Hobby Sofa!

So who will be there for the show? We're looking at myself of course! Andrey will be there no doubt entering his latest piece into the show's painting contest and I have it on good faith that some of the Soulstone Train podcast crew will be there as well!

So what about you? Will you be popping along to what looks to be a great show with plenty of great companies turning up?

If so be sure to grab us and say hi! Need to find us? Just look for the awesome cowboy hat with a bearded idiot attached!



On that note there is little left to say other than stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley