Good Monday everyone,
So today I'm a little strapped for time, so I'm going to do a small post now and write up another later on.
For starters my game went well, I lost against Levi and had a great time doing so.
Both of us made a load of mistakes, and Chompy really let me down with some bad cards failing to even kill a crooked man! (forgetting that his claws were paired did not help with that)
However one thing I did learn, I need a third Night Terror! As it currently stands their reach with 2 was incredible, what with the usual deployment, the Dreamer's 7" fly, then a 6" placement (and both of them coming out with an All My Friends trigger) then a good 18" max range move with Flock Together.
That's a potential 43" range, throw in one more and that's 43" range plus one action, essentially in turn 1 the opponent can kiss any objective counter goodbye.
As it went however, I only had 2 terrors, and instead they flew up Chapel Hill, one of them got shot at by Levi and died.
The second was still useful however in that it flew into the enemy crew, dropped it's darkness and reduced their range and WP, which is always good.
So I need to do something about getting another Terror.
I'll probably just get another clamshell, as having the possibility of fielding 4 is always good, but in the meantime I can't really justify the spend after spending far too much at Salute.
Then it struck me, my Mali-Raptor from my Austringer was still going spare! Putty up some legs, maybe a replacement head and bam! One 'bird-man'. Sure it's supposed to be a 'bat-man' but at least this is based off an official Wyrd model, will look a little freaky and gives me something to try my hand at.
I'll maybe give it a try tonight and will let you know.
- anyway I'm late for work as I had to give blood prior to my operation tomorrow, and my train is nearly at the station. Catch up soon!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Monday, 30 April 2012
Saturday, 28 April 2012
No rest for the wicked
Afternoon all!
So today's an interesting one, it's Saturday, but I'm at work.
Nothing major, we just have some cleaners in doing a job that I have to supervise, but anyway, having a quick break so thought I'd give you all an update on things.
The first is that after nearly a year of continuous pressure, my wife has finally agreed to give Malifaux a go, so I've ordered her the Collette crew and I'm looking forward to duking it out across New Fairbank.
Next up, tonight I'm having a game against my regular sparring partner, not sure who he's taking, I guess probably Levi. Should be fun as I intend to put my Hooded Rider to use along with Night Terrors.
It's a shame however that I'm going to have to field unfinished minus, as while most of them are at least at a gaming standard, the rider still needs a LOT of work, to the extent I've only really done base coat on the mount, and that's it.
But it should be an interesting game, one that I hope will be fun.
So, other thoughts and feelings? Well yesterday saw the launch of Prototype 2 on 360 and PS3. Unfortunately I'm going to have to wait another 3 months before playing as i'd rather have it on PC.
I've also been spending a lot of time on The Secret War http://secretwar.thesecretworld.com/
Essentially it's a meta game to increase attention for The Secret World and the better you do the more stuff you unlock for when the game goes live.
Currently I've nabbed a katana, dual pistols, some clothing and some xp boosts!
It's not much, but in a game where customising your appearance is just as big a component as beating on monsters, I'll take every option I can get.
Anyway, that's it from me for today, tomorrow I'll probably post an update on how the game goes.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So today's an interesting one, it's Saturday, but I'm at work.
Nothing major, we just have some cleaners in doing a job that I have to supervise, but anyway, having a quick break so thought I'd give you all an update on things.
The first is that after nearly a year of continuous pressure, my wife has finally agreed to give Malifaux a go, so I've ordered her the Collette crew and I'm looking forward to duking it out across New Fairbank.
Next up, tonight I'm having a game against my regular sparring partner, not sure who he's taking, I guess probably Levi. Should be fun as I intend to put my Hooded Rider to use along with Night Terrors.
It's a shame however that I'm going to have to field unfinished minus, as while most of them are at least at a gaming standard, the rider still needs a LOT of work, to the extent I've only really done base coat on the mount, and that's it.
But it should be an interesting game, one that I hope will be fun.
So, other thoughts and feelings? Well yesterday saw the launch of Prototype 2 on 360 and PS3. Unfortunately I'm going to have to wait another 3 months before playing as i'd rather have it on PC.
I've also been spending a lot of time on The Secret War http://secretwar.thesecretworld.com/
Essentially it's a meta game to increase attention for The Secret World and the better you do the more stuff you unlock for when the game goes live.
Currently I've nabbed a katana, dual pistols, some clothing and some xp boosts!
It's not much, but in a game where customising your appearance is just as big a component as beating on monsters, I'll take every option I can get.
Anyway, that's it from me for today, tomorrow I'll probably post an update on how the game goes.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Thursday, 26 April 2012
The Adventures of Geek Dad: Part 11
Happy Thursday everyone!
So usually I would be over the moon about today, as it's the day before Friday, but this week that excitement is slightly muted due to a shift I have to work on Saturday. Sure I get to have a Rest Day in Lieu because of it, but it's not quite the same.
Some good news however! Yesterday the wife and Mini Moo returned home from visiting relatives!
If you had told me 6 months ago that I would be so excited about seeing my daughter after only 2 nights absence, I'd have said that you knew nothing of me and given a mock sucker punch. But there I was for two nights in a row, sat in front of the TV and feeling lost without them both there.
But I did not let that time go to waste, oh no!
Rather than wallow in loneliness I picked up my Salute purchases and got working. (please excuse the photos, the room I took them in was dark so I had to use a flash, will take better photos when they're done)
First off we have my Night Terrors:
These dudes are standard objective grabbers for either The Dreamer or any Resser Crew. It took me a while to decide on how to base them because of a number of factors:
1). The models themselves are sculpted onto a large rock and removing them from said rock would be more tricky than is worth.
2). I want to allow for the chance that if I wanted to pick up a Resser crew, that i don't have Night Terrors looking totally out of place.
So I based them up as you can see. Sure it doesn't match the cobblestone theme of my Dreamer, but that's ok - I think of my Dreamer crew as more on 'Victorian' bases than anything, so in this instance, the Terrors are just on some rocky grassland.
Next up are my Alps:
The models themselves are pretty much unpainted at present, but instead I wanted to try making some more cobblestone bases but have them look better than my other ones. I think these came out very well.
Next up we have my modified Insidious Madness:
You'll notice the additional tentacles around the base of the model. I can't speak for everyone, but one thing I've always disliked about this model was how 2D it looked, which it what these tentacles are supposed to reduce. I can't say I'm 100% happy with the result, but if I want another one I can always proxy. Still have a few touch ups needed on the model mind.
Last but not least is The Hooded Rider:
Again this dude is largely unpainted, but his resin base is coming along nicely.
- the thing I like about this guy is that his base acts as a bridge between the rest of my crew and the Terrors.
So what's next? Well I'm going to finish all the lesser minions over the next couple of days, and then once they're all done and varnished I'm going to get started on the rider - you see he is such a detailed model that I want to make sure I give him the attention he deserves.
After all of that, I'll probably look to painting my Sulaco model I built the other week.
However how all of this will tie in to my available time I have no idea, this is largely due to next Tuesday when I am finally having my Gall Bladder out.
- fingers crossed it will be a nice simple operation with only a couple of days bed rest needed, but I have to allow for the possibility of things going wrong.
Speaking of hospitals: a big shout out to my fellow mali-blogger and twitterer Richard Smith who by now should have his little bundle of joy, hope everything goes well man!
And that's it for now, as always thanks for reading, and see you through the breach!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So usually I would be over the moon about today, as it's the day before Friday, but this week that excitement is slightly muted due to a shift I have to work on Saturday. Sure I get to have a Rest Day in Lieu because of it, but it's not quite the same.
Some good news however! Yesterday the wife and Mini Moo returned home from visiting relatives!
If you had told me 6 months ago that I would be so excited about seeing my daughter after only 2 nights absence, I'd have said that you knew nothing of me and given a mock sucker punch. But there I was for two nights in a row, sat in front of the TV and feeling lost without them both there.
But I did not let that time go to waste, oh no!
Rather than wallow in loneliness I picked up my Salute purchases and got working. (please excuse the photos, the room I took them in was dark so I had to use a flash, will take better photos when they're done)
First off we have my Night Terrors:
These dudes are standard objective grabbers for either The Dreamer or any Resser Crew. It took me a while to decide on how to base them because of a number of factors:
1). The models themselves are sculpted onto a large rock and removing them from said rock would be more tricky than is worth.
2). I want to allow for the chance that if I wanted to pick up a Resser crew, that i don't have Night Terrors looking totally out of place.
So I based them up as you can see. Sure it doesn't match the cobblestone theme of my Dreamer, but that's ok - I think of my Dreamer crew as more on 'Victorian' bases than anything, so in this instance, the Terrors are just on some rocky grassland.
Next up are my Alps:
The models themselves are pretty much unpainted at present, but instead I wanted to try making some more cobblestone bases but have them look better than my other ones. I think these came out very well.
Next up we have my modified Insidious Madness:
You'll notice the additional tentacles around the base of the model. I can't speak for everyone, but one thing I've always disliked about this model was how 2D it looked, which it what these tentacles are supposed to reduce. I can't say I'm 100% happy with the result, but if I want another one I can always proxy. Still have a few touch ups needed on the model mind.
Last but not least is The Hooded Rider:
Again this dude is largely unpainted, but his resin base is coming along nicely.
- the thing I like about this guy is that his base acts as a bridge between the rest of my crew and the Terrors.
So what's next? Well I'm going to finish all the lesser minions over the next couple of days, and then once they're all done and varnished I'm going to get started on the rider - you see he is such a detailed model that I want to make sure I give him the attention he deserves.
After all of that, I'll probably look to painting my Sulaco model I built the other week.
However how all of this will tie in to my available time I have no idea, this is largely due to next Tuesday when I am finally having my Gall Bladder out.
- fingers crossed it will be a nice simple operation with only a couple of days bed rest needed, but I have to allow for the possibility of things going wrong.
Speaking of hospitals: a big shout out to my fellow mali-blogger and twitterer Richard Smith who by now should have his little bundle of joy, hope everything goes well man!
And that's it for now, as always thanks for reading, and see you through the breach!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
He who is without sin
Good Tuesday everyone!
Today's post is a little different to normal, some may say it's a rant, others may say that it's a bitch, personally I say it's something that must be said:
So yesterday on the train ride home I was reading Kotaku.com when I came across this article: http://m.kotaku.com/5904285/i-am-one-of-those-horrible-neglectful-mmo+playing-parents
Now I need to say, it's rare that I publicly criticise someone, but this person had this coming.
Never before have I ever read something so disgusting in my whole life.
In previous articles this man has publicly attacked fathers who have injured their kids, calling them all names under the sun and doing so claiming it's video game news... The last article I read about this sort of thing by this writer was about a father who in a stupor of exhaustion had shaken his child to death while shouting "go to £&@$ing sleep!" and this writer branded this man a monster for doing it.
I can understand why someone who had never had kids would say something like this, as they would never experienced the 3 o'clock shuffle. That time when your child has something wrong with them, probably hungry, but possibly wet, possibly over heating, possibly sick/teething/grumpy etc, your brain is 3/4 asleep and everything is on auto pilot.
It's during these times that so many people admit to indirectly hurting their child; maybe they drop them, they feed them formula too hot, they fall asleep on the sofa, etc
The fact that this man can outright ridicule people who simply need help is disgusting, and leads me to think that perhaps he didn't actually help out with night feeds or similar, maybe to him these sort of things are the responsibility of the mother, so while she's walking around like a zombie with bags under her eyes from getting at most 2 hrs sleep a night, he's getting his 8 hrs plus and effing off to work during the day!
You see, I've read lots of cases about parents who shake their babies, and 9 times out of 10 the cause is literally temporary insanity. People want someone to blame and with a sensationalist media it's very easy to lay the blame at the feet of the parent(s). But more often then not they are simply not coping well with the struggles of parenthood. They don't tell people or ask for help because they're terrified of being branded a bad parent.
In these situations, the state is supposed to step in and help out, but I can tell you from first hand experience, the state has no interest. In my case we were supposed to have a home visit at 3 months in, we never had that visit, and I suspect our 6 month visit will also go by.
But for me the icing of the cake, the thing that boiled my blood, that ground my gears, that made me froth at the mouth, it was this line from his article yesterday:
"I quickly gathered them up, brought them inside and made sure the door was shut and locked, something their mother forgot on the way to work."
That's right, this man actually attempts to lay the blame for his accident on his wife, because when she left for work she forgot to lock their front door - now tell me, who here locks their front door while someone is still in their house? No one! Because it's a fire hazard! And he has the cheek, the audacity and disgusting attitude to imply that the potential injury and/or death of their kids is the fault of the mother, while he was being negligent.
Don't get me wrong, i don't blame him for making a mistake and allowing his kids to crawl off. I'm lucky, my Mini Moo can't crawl yet and I know when she can all sorts of things can happen, and when she starts walking its just a matter of time before the inevitable fall down the stairs, but I know when this happens it will be largely my fault, and it's just something you learn from.
But what sickens me more than anything else, more than any part of the actual article itself, he doesn't once apologise for attacking other fathers who like him made a mistake and were unlucky in that the mistake caused the death of their child.
So this is me calling out to that writer (who'll never read this blog) to think twice next time he ridicules another parent, as his next accident may not be so harmless.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Today's post is a little different to normal, some may say it's a rant, others may say that it's a bitch, personally I say it's something that must be said:
So yesterday on the train ride home I was reading Kotaku.com when I came across this article: http://m.kotaku.com/5904285/i-am-one-of-those-horrible-neglectful-mmo+playing-parents
Now I need to say, it's rare that I publicly criticise someone, but this person had this coming.
Never before have I ever read something so disgusting in my whole life.
In previous articles this man has publicly attacked fathers who have injured their kids, calling them all names under the sun and doing so claiming it's video game news... The last article I read about this sort of thing by this writer was about a father who in a stupor of exhaustion had shaken his child to death while shouting "go to £&@$ing sleep!" and this writer branded this man a monster for doing it.
I can understand why someone who had never had kids would say something like this, as they would never experienced the 3 o'clock shuffle. That time when your child has something wrong with them, probably hungry, but possibly wet, possibly over heating, possibly sick/teething/grumpy etc, your brain is 3/4 asleep and everything is on auto pilot.
It's during these times that so many people admit to indirectly hurting their child; maybe they drop them, they feed them formula too hot, they fall asleep on the sofa, etc
The fact that this man can outright ridicule people who simply need help is disgusting, and leads me to think that perhaps he didn't actually help out with night feeds or similar, maybe to him these sort of things are the responsibility of the mother, so while she's walking around like a zombie with bags under her eyes from getting at most 2 hrs sleep a night, he's getting his 8 hrs plus and effing off to work during the day!
You see, I've read lots of cases about parents who shake their babies, and 9 times out of 10 the cause is literally temporary insanity. People want someone to blame and with a sensationalist media it's very easy to lay the blame at the feet of the parent(s). But more often then not they are simply not coping well with the struggles of parenthood. They don't tell people or ask for help because they're terrified of being branded a bad parent.
In these situations, the state is supposed to step in and help out, but I can tell you from first hand experience, the state has no interest. In my case we were supposed to have a home visit at 3 months in, we never had that visit, and I suspect our 6 month visit will also go by.
But for me the icing of the cake, the thing that boiled my blood, that ground my gears, that made me froth at the mouth, it was this line from his article yesterday:
"I quickly gathered them up, brought them inside and made sure the door was shut and locked, something their mother forgot on the way to work."
That's right, this man actually attempts to lay the blame for his accident on his wife, because when she left for work she forgot to lock their front door - now tell me, who here locks their front door while someone is still in their house? No one! Because it's a fire hazard! And he has the cheek, the audacity and disgusting attitude to imply that the potential injury and/or death of their kids is the fault of the mother, while he was being negligent.
Don't get me wrong, i don't blame him for making a mistake and allowing his kids to crawl off. I'm lucky, my Mini Moo can't crawl yet and I know when she can all sorts of things can happen, and when she starts walking its just a matter of time before the inevitable fall down the stairs, but I know when this happens it will be largely my fault, and it's just something you learn from.
But what sickens me more than anything else, more than any part of the actual article itself, he doesn't once apologise for attacking other fathers who like him made a mistake and were unlucky in that the mistake caused the death of their child.
So this is me calling out to that writer (who'll never read this blog) to think twice next time he ridicules another parent, as his next accident may not be so harmless.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Monday, 23 April 2012
The Adventures of Geek Dad: Part 10
Good Monday all,
So my week off is finally over and I now have to go back to work (not for long mind, as next week I have my gall bladder op, so I should be off work for most if not all of that week).
The latter part of last week was an interesting one:
Saturday was my wife and my anniversary, and we spent the morning at Salute 2012.
We got there at 11.30 and were greeted with the news that they had run out of grab bags. It was actually a real shame as I still have no idea what was in those bags.
There is one thing I feel must be mentioned; now I've been to plenty of conventions in my time, but Oh My God I have never been around so many smelly people in my time. And it was that unmistakable smell you can never miss, that of a person who hasn't washed in at least a week, uurgh!
The good news is that I stopped off at the stalls I intended to, I looked at Sarissa Precision (who had left their sign in their van so it was quite hard to find them) but decided against buying anything. I love their work, but I wanted to keep my money for other stalls. I'll probably place an Internet order instead.
Next up was a wooden laser cut cart from 4Ground
Sadly this is far too big to use as a supply wagon in Malifaux (requiring it to fit on a 50mm base), but it will still make some nice scenery for New Fairbank.
Straight after I popped to Renedra where I grabbed me some gravestones
And some great looking wooden fencing:
The only issue with these fences, they're actually quite annoying to assemble as they only seem to work in straight lines, no right angles.
After this I stopped off at the Malifaux demo tables, had a little chat with Spiku the Gremlin enthusiast and was thankfully sent in the direction of another stall I wanted to visit but couldn't remember the name of Simple Miniature Games where I picked up a number of Malufaux things as part of their Buy 4 get the cheapest free.
Of these purchases I grabbed:
Night Terrors
Insidious Madness
Alps
And the Hooded Rider.
Following on from this I wanted to pick up a nice base to show off The Rider so visited Kerr and King where I nabbed these set of 3 bases
After that it was time to head off and make our way to the hotel for check in. On route we passed through Baker Street Station, now if you've never done so, I'd advise that you visit this underground station as it has given me a great idea for a new fixed gaming board.
After check in, a quick shower and a change it was on to Gilgamesh for pan Asian cooking and the best meal I have ever tasted!
One thing I will admit, it may have only been roughly 24 hrs away from the house and all the child care duties involved, but it was a fantastic weekend.
That said however, as of today, mother and daughter are visiting grandparents/great grandparents in Liverpool until Wednesday - one night away from the baby is refreshing, but having a further 2 nights is actually depressing.
Still, gives me more time to model and paint!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So my week off is finally over and I now have to go back to work (not for long mind, as next week I have my gall bladder op, so I should be off work for most if not all of that week).
The latter part of last week was an interesting one:
Saturday was my wife and my anniversary, and we spent the morning at Salute 2012.
We got there at 11.30 and were greeted with the news that they had run out of grab bags. It was actually a real shame as I still have no idea what was in those bags.
There is one thing I feel must be mentioned; now I've been to plenty of conventions in my time, but Oh My God I have never been around so many smelly people in my time. And it was that unmistakable smell you can never miss, that of a person who hasn't washed in at least a week, uurgh!
The good news is that I stopped off at the stalls I intended to, I looked at Sarissa Precision (who had left their sign in their van so it was quite hard to find them) but decided against buying anything. I love their work, but I wanted to keep my money for other stalls. I'll probably place an Internet order instead.
Next up was a wooden laser cut cart from 4Ground
Sadly this is far too big to use as a supply wagon in Malifaux (requiring it to fit on a 50mm base), but it will still make some nice scenery for New Fairbank.
Straight after I popped to Renedra where I grabbed me some gravestones
And some great looking wooden fencing:
The only issue with these fences, they're actually quite annoying to assemble as they only seem to work in straight lines, no right angles.
After this I stopped off at the Malifaux demo tables, had a little chat with Spiku the Gremlin enthusiast and was thankfully sent in the direction of another stall I wanted to visit but couldn't remember the name of Simple Miniature Games where I picked up a number of Malufaux things as part of their Buy 4 get the cheapest free.
Of these purchases I grabbed:
Night Terrors
Insidious Madness
Alps
And the Hooded Rider.
Following on from this I wanted to pick up a nice base to show off The Rider so visited Kerr and King where I nabbed these set of 3 bases
After that it was time to head off and make our way to the hotel for check in. On route we passed through Baker Street Station, now if you've never done so, I'd advise that you visit this underground station as it has given me a great idea for a new fixed gaming board.
After check in, a quick shower and a change it was on to Gilgamesh for pan Asian cooking and the best meal I have ever tasted!
One thing I will admit, it may have only been roughly 24 hrs away from the house and all the child care duties involved, but it was a fantastic weekend.
That said however, as of today, mother and daughter are visiting grandparents/great grandparents in Liverpool until Wednesday - one night away from the baby is refreshing, but having a further 2 nights is actually depressing.
Still, gives me more time to model and paint!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Friday, 20 April 2012
The Adventures of Geek Dad: Part Nine
Morning all!
Well it's Friday, which means the weekend is drawing close. Of course that also means my week off is nearly over.
But no matter, as tomorrow is one day I am looking forward to a hell of a lot!
Not only am I going to Salute 2012 with my significant other, but the two of us are following that with a meal in Gilgamesh Camden, followed by a hotel stay in Central to celebrate 5 years of marriage!
So how has this weekend been for me?
Let me tell you, this week off was just what I needed, my afternoons were spent with the wife and girl, with the occasional nap here and there (and what man doesn't love a mid afternoon nap?) followed by some tv and some evening/night time gaming.
I'll be honest here, my Sulaco I show cased on Monday, that's exactly as I left it, instead my evenings have been spent playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution for a second play through (I can not stress just how much everyone NEEDS to, playing a little of Darksiders for a second run (I've been feeling very Horsemen of the Apocalypse recently, but more on that in due course) and last night, me, my wife and 2 Guildies did a run at the Black Temple in WoW:
Now for those who don't know, this is a raid in WoW which was released a good (4?) years ago and even now is still quite a challenge if you only have a few people in your group, especially one boss who can in theory stun a whole small team until their all dead, not fun.
Thankfully the adventure was a success and we came away with the knowledge that most of the encounters are quite simple for us now, which is very good as the boss of the raid has some things that I want!
In parenting news, the MiniMoo is finally beginning to master rolling onto her tummy and then back onto her back, this is really good news as its one of the first steps on the way to her being able to crawl.
So as I mentioned earlier, tomorrow is Salute, and after reading through some pages I know of some deals I'm defiantly going to be taking advantage of (4 for the price of 3, that sort of thing) and a chance to win a foam bag too! Thankfully for the latter I'll be getting my wife's entry do that's 2 entries! Whoop!
So I mentioned earlier that I've been very much in a horseman mood recently, and this is manifested in playing Darksiders:
Part of the reason behind this is that I've been thinking of experimenting with my Dreamer crew and picking up a Hooded Rider:
This is for a number of reasons, 1 I like the model, 2 I really want to try and convert him to look more like War from the above picture and 3, the idea of using a semi fast, semi tough non nightmare opens up a lot of possibilities for my crew:
You see at the moment my crew feels like its very vapoured for the first turn or two. There's very little I can do other than move day dreams and the dreamer so that I can unleash hell in later turns. So far this is find, I love that my opponent doesn't know what my plans are and that I can adapt my plans at the last minute, what I don't like is how boring it makes the first turn of two.
This is where the hooded rider comes in! He is relatively speedy, can move to grab objectives and or fill gaps in the board but he can also be used as an added distraction.
You see in theory he can cause a nuisance and will need to be dealt with, but in theory he should force the opponent to think twice, do they send a decent model or two to deal with him, or instead hold back for the Nightmare assault. Either way there is a gamble but I think it should make things more fun for both me and the opponent.
Anyway I'd love to hear your thoughts, have you ever used something similar? Did it work out for you? If not, any advice?
Anyway that's enough from me, I'll be sure to try and run some tweets tomorrow from the show and will be writing a full report in a few days time.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Well it's Friday, which means the weekend is drawing close. Of course that also means my week off is nearly over.
But no matter, as tomorrow is one day I am looking forward to a hell of a lot!
Not only am I going to Salute 2012 with my significant other, but the two of us are following that with a meal in Gilgamesh Camden, followed by a hotel stay in Central to celebrate 5 years of marriage!
So how has this weekend been for me?
Let me tell you, this week off was just what I needed, my afternoons were spent with the wife and girl, with the occasional nap here and there (and what man doesn't love a mid afternoon nap?) followed by some tv and some evening/night time gaming.
I'll be honest here, my Sulaco I show cased on Monday, that's exactly as I left it, instead my evenings have been spent playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution for a second play through (I can not stress just how much everyone NEEDS to, playing a little of Darksiders for a second run (I've been feeling very Horsemen of the Apocalypse recently, but more on that in due course) and last night, me, my wife and 2 Guildies did a run at the Black Temple in WoW:
Now for those who don't know, this is a raid in WoW which was released a good (4?) years ago and even now is still quite a challenge if you only have a few people in your group, especially one boss who can in theory stun a whole small team until their all dead, not fun.
Thankfully the adventure was a success and we came away with the knowledge that most of the encounters are quite simple for us now, which is very good as the boss of the raid has some things that I want!
In parenting news, the MiniMoo is finally beginning to master rolling onto her tummy and then back onto her back, this is really good news as its one of the first steps on the way to her being able to crawl.
So as I mentioned earlier, tomorrow is Salute, and after reading through some pages I know of some deals I'm defiantly going to be taking advantage of (4 for the price of 3, that sort of thing) and a chance to win a foam bag too! Thankfully for the latter I'll be getting my wife's entry do that's 2 entries! Whoop!
So I mentioned earlier that I've been very much in a horseman mood recently, and this is manifested in playing Darksiders:
Part of the reason behind this is that I've been thinking of experimenting with my Dreamer crew and picking up a Hooded Rider:
This is for a number of reasons, 1 I like the model, 2 I really want to try and convert him to look more like War from the above picture and 3, the idea of using a semi fast, semi tough non nightmare opens up a lot of possibilities for my crew:
You see at the moment my crew feels like its very vapoured for the first turn or two. There's very little I can do other than move day dreams and the dreamer so that I can unleash hell in later turns. So far this is find, I love that my opponent doesn't know what my plans are and that I can adapt my plans at the last minute, what I don't like is how boring it makes the first turn of two.
This is where the hooded rider comes in! He is relatively speedy, can move to grab objectives and or fill gaps in the board but he can also be used as an added distraction.
You see in theory he can cause a nuisance and will need to be dealt with, but in theory he should force the opponent to think twice, do they send a decent model or two to deal with him, or instead hold back for the Nightmare assault. Either way there is a gamble but I think it should make things more fun for both me and the opponent.
Anyway I'd love to hear your thoughts, have you ever used something similar? Did it work out for you? If not, any advice?
Anyway that's enough from me, I'll be sure to try and run some tweets tomorrow from the show and will be writing a full report in a few days time.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Monday, 16 April 2012
The Adventures of Geek Dad: Part Eight
Good Monday all!
So we're only a few days away from Salute 2012 and I am super psyched.
But not even a room full of mega geeks, Wayland Games and Sarissa Precision can compare to the joy I felt when I collected this from the post depot this morning:
For those who don't fully know, this is the 1992 Halcyon kit model of the USCM Conestoga-class ship made famous by the USS Sulaco in Aliens.
Now I would just like to reiterate the date on this model, 1992, that's 20 years old, so it's understandable why finding one is not the easiest of things, at least for less than £150 like eBay has.
That was until I randomly stumbled across a box on a second hand model website. It had been opened and was missing the transfer decals, but other than that in mint condition and only £40!
Naturally this was a sure purchase and so I was over joyed to pick it up today and peek inside
So then, after about an hour of assembly later, I now have a constructed version:
It even comes with a scale model UD4 Cheyenne Utility Dropship:
Over the next few days/weeks this will be my next project, I want it to look beautiful including a home made sprayed on decal print just as the movie intended.
This is nearly the holy grail for me, and thankfully as I currently have the rest of the week off from work I should have some time to work more on it.
Tomorrow however is a day of pure baby organising. In the morning were getting her weighed and then I'm taking her to a day centre to see if we can be put on their books and what their pricing is like.
It looks like we're entering a new chapter here, my wife and I have a regular amount of free time and were looking for her to return to work in a few months.
My how time flys...
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So we're only a few days away from Salute 2012 and I am super psyched.
But not even a room full of mega geeks, Wayland Games and Sarissa Precision can compare to the joy I felt when I collected this from the post depot this morning:
For those who don't fully know, this is the 1992 Halcyon kit model of the USCM Conestoga-class ship made famous by the USS Sulaco in Aliens.
Now I would just like to reiterate the date on this model, 1992, that's 20 years old, so it's understandable why finding one is not the easiest of things, at least for less than £150 like eBay has.
That was until I randomly stumbled across a box on a second hand model website. It had been opened and was missing the transfer decals, but other than that in mint condition and only £40!
Naturally this was a sure purchase and so I was over joyed to pick it up today and peek inside
So then, after about an hour of assembly later, I now have a constructed version:
It even comes with a scale model UD4 Cheyenne Utility Dropship:
Over the next few days/weeks this will be my next project, I want it to look beautiful including a home made sprayed on decal print just as the movie intended.
This is nearly the holy grail for me, and thankfully as I currently have the rest of the week off from work I should have some time to work more on it.
Tomorrow however is a day of pure baby organising. In the morning were getting her weighed and then I'm taking her to a day centre to see if we can be put on their books and what their pricing is like.
It looks like we're entering a new chapter here, my wife and I have a regular amount of free time and were looking for her to return to work in a few months.
My how time flys...
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
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