Hey! I know you...

Due to an unintentional – but nonetheless lengthy – hiatus from the blog, this post will be more of a status check on where I’m at, and what I’m doing. 

• ·   Well got a new job, so that’s been eating away at almost all of my free-time. I know, I know! Pesky, those jobs and financial commitments.
• ·         Owned a pet pig for all of about 48 hours, before I realised I don’t really have the living space she deserves.
• ·         After 4+ hours and 2.6GB of downloading, I went hell for leather on a first playthrough of “Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep” for Borderlands 2. It took me a very long time to warm to it, but once I did… it was epic! The Dwarves and Orcs were particularly impressive.
• ·         Managed to get some painting done: I got the colour scheme in place for my Chaos Dwarves, with a rich purple being the primary colour, and black; started painting my Bioshock: Infinite Necromunda gang; developed a new method of painting silver, by using a base coat of solid grey (may seem obvious, but it was a revelation to me!); started painting one of my Skaven Warlords, which has been a long time coming, seeing as I have been collecting my Skaven army for nigh on 3 years now…
• ·         I also managed to get the theme for my 40k Ork army down pat, which is going to be a post-apocalyptic biker gang. Very Mad Max/Borderlands 2-esque affair, with loads of inspiration drawn from those sources.
• ·         I also have made great headway with making my waterfall scenery piece for my gaming table, using spare lumps of foamboard I had lying around. I’ve got the basic shape and structure in place, and just need to apply filler over a litte bit more of it, to give it the shape I need. Then, I’ve got the water effects and paint ready, so it shouldn’t be long now, till it is finished.
• ·         I made the pleasant mistake of buying Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which has consumed so much of my recent spare time. I am a total new-comer to the franchise, but it has wholly consumed me. It is a fantastic game, that just absorbs all of your attention, and so many times I have picked up the game to play “for a few minutes”, only to find myself harvesting rare fruit hours and hours later. If you haven’t already got it, get it now!
• ·         Supernatural Season 8 premiered on the 3^rd of July, and I have been greedily consuming every episode they air. At present, it’s 4 episodes in, and I really feel as though the redemption of the show, from the lows of Season 6, through the mediocrity of Season 7 to what we’ve seen so far of Season 8, is finally complete.
• ·         Finally, I picked up my PS Vita for the first time pretty much since the opening week of me buying it. The games released specifically for it are a little lacklustre, but there are some really great re-releases of previous generation games for the Vita, that are definitely worth a shot. I downloaded the Jak (& Daxter) Trilogy, that is a remastered triple pack of the original games, and it really was £20 well spent. It’s a nice reminder of the original games – a good nostalgia kick – and a good challenge.

So that’s pretty much where I am at with all things Josh at the moment. A pretty accurate status of my hobby and personal life. I hope to resume regular updates as soon as possible, which should be doable between all of my usual commitments, my moderation of the Ogre Stronghold forums, and my new Cider review blog. For now guys, thanks for reading!

Looking to the future. Again.

The 5 things I am most looking forward to right now...

5. Sony Playstation 4: Yes, this was on my last list, which is testament to how exciting it really is. However, since my lastlist, a lot has changed. The official reveal has occured, the fallout from E3 is still doing the rounds on the internet, and Sony is really rubbing it's corporate-sized hands with glee. Little wonder with their beauty of a NextGen console. Not only will it build on the powerhouse entertainment aspect of the PS3 with improved graphics, amazing processing capabilities, as well as hardware that would scare most computers, but it brings a raft of new features to the party. Not only will you be able to play with a snazzy new 6-axis controller, but you can use your Xperia phone, tablet or PS Vita too! Even game on the go. Smart stuff indeed.

4. Supernatural Season 8: Whilst it's been impossible to avoid spoilers from the US, having been aired there months before the UK (thanks Tumblr, you asshat!), I am still uber-pumped for this season. After the catastrophe that was Season 6, and my dwindling interest and expectation of the show, Season 7 was a surprise turn-up for the books. A great season, against all odds and my expectations. Now, I am hoping this series carries on building on the incline, and we get something truly awesome. That said, the spoilers have already spoilt some really juicy bits (damn you all!), and I am a little irked by odd points in the story-line. Hence it's only ranking at 4th in this list.

3. The Mentalist Season 5 on DVD: I used to watch this show back when it first aired on TV, but lost track of it circa the middle of the third season, only having a casual interest in it. I caught a few episodes late last year, and decided to pick the show back up, having developed a keen interest in the art of cold-reading and the associated practices. I watched the whole of the new season, eagerly devouring the serialised release. I have since bought the first four seasons on DVD, and have been avidly watching them, refreshing my memory of everything that has happened in the show up till now. The completionist in me wants this Season to complete the set - to it's present state of completion at least - whilst the fan of the show in me, wants it so I can watch all 5 seasons in an ill-judged marathon, one weekend in the near future.

2. Ruby, my pet Kune Kune Pig: This is a strange story. I decided two weeks ago that I wanted a pet duck. I then read that they need to be kept in pairs, so I decided they would be called either Patrick and Teresa, or Jane and Lisbon (prizes for anyone who guesses the inspiration for the names)... Long story short, I went with my parents to the place where they'll be buying their chickens (yes, chickens!), and they had baby pigs for sale. 60 of my finest Great British Pounds later, and this little baby was mine. She is the runt of the litter, and is terribly cute. She comes home in just over a week's time. I had a whole raft of names drawn up, including Saffron, Ginger, India, Abigail, and Isabelle, but I ended up plucking for Ruby, named after the beauty in Supernatural. I've included her picture below, just so we're all on the same page...

Oh! Yes, yes. Her.

And, drum roll please! At number one, and this wasn't even close...

1. Samsung ATIV Q Tablet: This beautiful slate of modern technology has it all... Made by Samsung? Check. Brand-spanking new? Check. Tablet/Laptop Hybrid? Check. Cutting edge tech? Most definitely! This thing is a real beaut. I honestly think it is one of the best devices in the mobile technology market's history. It has a dual Operating System! That's just amazing. Best of all, it's the best two OS' on the planet; it can seamlessly switch between Windows 8 and Android (it remains to be seen which version). This little revelation makes me want to weep with joy. On top of that, the hardware is fantastic, the screen is a world-first in pixel density and vibrancy, the battery life is immense, and the ergonomics of it are second to none.This device is a 10/10, and it isn't even ready for general release yet. Wowzers!

A Sign of Things to Come?

Just a quick note to say, that I am very happy with how the 5th Generation of Pokemon is coming along. I was bitterly disappointed with the majority of conceptual designs for the 4th Generation of Pokemon, particularly the monsters themselves... So, having liked all but the two Legendaries of 5Gen so far, I am very please indeed!

Let's hope GameFreak can keep it up!

Something creepy (crawly) this way comes... Well, no, not really. Just Goblins.

One of my favourite pieces of Forest Gobbo artwork ever.

So, with this being my last week working where I currently do, and them having no realistic expectations of me during my remaining tenure of post, I have found myself with copious amounts of time to devote to the more theoretical and fluffy part of my hobby...

And so, I've been thinking about my Night Goblin army quite a bit. I decided almost a year ago that I wanted two or three armies that were regularly playable, and would function as my "gaming armies". It is no secret that I have an obsession for collecting ridiculously large armies, upwards of 10,000pts. And, whilst this hasn't changed, they are rarely usable in a game, and are often a working progress as they span several editions of their respective army books and the BRB itself.

In an effort to sort this out, I bought myself a Chaos Dwarf army to be my power house gaming army (of which I have ceaselessly whittered on about), a Night Goblin army to be my entertainment factor army (to which this post is dedicated) and finally will be assembling a High Elf army using their latest army book (as somewhat of a mainstream, relatively competitive army).

The Night Goblin models have always made me smile, and that is what this army will be all about. Goodbye to the competitive, WAAC style lists I have always aimed for. Hello regular losses and hilarious mishaps! My army is set to be The "Frothing Madcap" Tribe, hailing from The Caustic Caverns, located in The Vaults mountain range (kudos to anyone who can spot the inspiration for the name!)

It'll be a 3,000 point army (small by my standards), with the option to run a 3k and 2.5k gaming list. The constituent units will be included because I like them from either an aesthetic or fluff perspective, and not for power-gaming reasons (which I'm not sure is achievable with an all-Goblin army anyway!)...

I will be sinking a lot of time into this army in the foreseeable future, as it is has captured my imagination a lot more than the Chaos Dwarves - who have, in truth, become a little stale already.

Another weekend passes me by...

Well, another weekend passes me by, and very little progress has been made on the sprue mountain amassing under my bed... Talking of which, in the following photos, please excuse the rather feminine choice of bed spread. I have to manage the expectations of myself and my partner.

Anyway, I say I made no hobby progress over the weekend, which isn't entirely true. I managed to devote an hour or two Sunday night to it, and managed to knock out the following... I managed to convert up the Standard Bearer for my second unit of Infernal Guard, wanting it to be different from the first.

But, that is the sum of my efforts on then Chaos Dwarves over the weekend, because I decided to push in with my Night Goblin army, which I have bought but never worked on. Due to loving both Night Goblins and Forest Goblins, the army will be a hybrid of the two, aesthetically at least.

I managed to secure the crew sprues from the Arachnarok set, for a very tidy trade, and have pressed it into good use. I have managed to get the following...

Which will be either a counts as Rock Lobber or Doom Diver Catapult...

And its lone crewman...

A huge unit filler for my Archer unit, which sits at 60 Gobbos now. This accounts for a quarter of that :)

This guy will be another Shaman, bringing my total to 7...

And another archer, and four spear armed Gobbos :) Not bad from one sprue... Anyway, that's my weekend summed up in hobby terms. Until next time, peace!

JJ

Eisenkern Stormtroopers. An answer to all my IG prayers?

Dreamforge Games Miniatures Review: Eisenkern Stormtroopers

I have to say, I was really excited for these. I did come across them entirely by accident, but instantly recognised in them, a cheap and quick way to expand my Imperial Guard army. Either as a cheap alternative to Troop choice squads (at £2.25 cheaper per ten), or preferably a lot cheaper alternative to Elite choice squads (at £9 cheaper per ten). Whilst my army is composed of squads drawn from various worlds and regiments (Valhalla, Cadia, Vostroya etc), but the majority is made up of Death Korps of Krieg. These guys suit that theme perfectly, and would make a great squad of Grenadiers for said regiment, which means they are £18 cheaper per ten! So, picking up my first box just to test the waters, before diving head first into buying the numbers I actually need (maybe another 5 or 6 boxes), I went straight to putting them together.

I have heard great things about the quality of the models made by Dreamforge Games, and so I must say I was immediately disappointed by the box they come in. It looks cheap and tatty, with the printed artwork and general finish looking amateur and on the whole as though it had been quickly printed off on someone’s home printer. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but when I buy a product, I expect every aspect to be of a decent standard, and totally congruous across the whole thing. Taking the sprues out of the box however, and my opinion was completely reversed; the components have been densely and concisely packed on to two sprues, which is great considering you get 10 multi-part models in the box. The sprues stack gorgeously, thanks to some forward-thinking on the designer’s part, utilising a clever peg and hole system; meaning the sprues take up next to no space, unlike some of the more ungainly GW ones…

The scale of the models look quite out by comparison to GW, when looking at them on the sprue, but once assembled actually make beautiful proxy for the purposes I had in mind. The design is fantastic, and the detail really is spectacular. They knock spots off of their GW counterpart, second only to the FW DKK.

At the initial assembly stage of model number one, I was delighted to see they had very little by means of mold lines. You have no idea how much I loathe mold lines… At times, I contemplate giving up the hobby entirely, due to my lack of patience when dealing with them. If a manufacturer is notorious for mold lines, I will not buy their products, simple as that. Having a very long-standing history with production molding, I know that it isn’t altogether very hard to avoid them. Not to say you can actually perfect the process so that you never get them, but there are steps that can be taken to reduce them significantly. DFG seem to have managed that perfectly, as every component I clipped off the sprue was practically mold line free!

However, this was where the good points on the assembly side ended. The few mold lines they did have were a nightmare to remove! The plastic is a very poor grade, and a lot softer than most plastics of other manufacturers, meaning scraping and slicing the lines away often results in deep gouges of the model also being taken away. This made the models extremely frustrating to put together, coupled with the horrendous design of the way in which the arms and gun were designed to couple.

I like the extremely multi-part nature of their composition, with each model having circa 10 constituent components. It meant uniqueness and poseability were at a high, and it was easy to customise your squad. Not only were there a lot of ways to put the models together, but the number of components never once compromised the ease of which you could assemble the models; with all the pieces going together very simply (except those pesky arms!).

Overall, they are good looking and cheap alternatives to act as stand-ins for your Imperial guard army, looking totally at home alongside GW models, and for only a fraction of the price. However, be prepared to take twice as long when putting them together, and don’t expect premiums when it comes to packaging; it just won’t happen. 

Score: 7/10

Looking to the future. The glossy, glossy future.

The 5 things I am most looking forward to right now.

5.       The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug (or Part 2 as I refer to it) – Whilst I cannot really verbalise how much I loathed this film – and in this, I hope I am not alone – it hasn’t done much to dent my hopes and expectations for the next instalment. If anything, it has done the total reverse; driving me to wish even more, for something better than the steaming pile we were given last December. I maintain that The Hobbit was the more enjoyable book, when compared to the Lord of the Rings, and I had high hopes for the film. Hopefully, Desolation of Smaug can deliver where An Unexpected Journey didn’t. With Benedict Cumberbatch playing the antagonist, I wait with baited breath.

4.       Playstation 4 – Whilst I have in no way tired of my PS3, and I genuinely don’t believe I ever will, I cannot deny my excitement for the new flagship system from Sony. It will cost the Earth, and it will be battered by the ever-Xbox-bias critics, but I really don’t care. It is going to be a powerhouse of a gaming console, and the fully integrated compatability with the slightly maligned PS Vita have really got me excited. See, I bought myself a Vita Q4 last year, and so far has been a little underwhelming. Once the PS4 is out, all of that will change. Playing my favourite PS4 releases on the go? Yes please! Using the Vita as a spare, more interactive controller? Most definitely!

3.       Samsung Galaxy Note 3 – It really is no secret that I am a huge Samsung fanboy. I live and breath Samsung. All but one of the component devices of my home media/entertainment set-up is made my Samsung. So, it is very little surprise that I am so excited for the Note 3, that words don’t really do it justice. I have owned the last two iterations of this beast of a handset, and both have been successively the best phone I have ever had the pleasure of owning and using. With the likelihood of an Octo-core processor, eye-blistering processing speed, retina-caressing 4K screen, metal alloy frame (we can dream!) and running the latest version of Android (hello Key Lime Pie!), the Note 3 will literally wipe the floor with any alternatives.

2.       Bioshock: Infinite DLC – This really was a close call for first place, but it was the sheer geekery of the actual first place that won it. I enjoyed B:I more than I have enjoyed any game for going on for 4 years now. It really was amazing, and anything that adds more content for me to greedily devour, cannot be a bad thing. I only completed the game three days ago, and I am already impatient for them to add DLC. Come on Irrational, get your finger out!

1.       Google Glass – Words cannot express the excitement and anticipation I have felt for these since the very early days of their leak – back when they were simply “Project Glass”. I cannot really identify reasons for my excitement, beyond the future-is-now geekery that wearing omniscient glasses will bestow upon the wearer. Well, don’t get me wrong, the tech behind them is truly out of this universe, with the induction audio alone enough to make me quiver. But, it really is the cool factor that having an eye-mounted HUD brings to the party. January 2014 cannot come quick enough.