The Burning Eye - a fresh start

 

Nothing says a fresh start like deleting all your old content, right?

Well, that's what I did this evening.

So, what does that mean for this blog?

Well, for those of you that have followed me over the years, you may know that I'm a bit of a Space Marine fan. That's still the case, and my Swords of Dawn are going from strength to strength (currently 6.5k and rising). I've set up a totally separate blog for them that will contain only narrative stuff, after battle action reports (in a narrative or in-universe style), background for my characters and organisation of the Chapter, that sort of stuff. You can find it at Swords of Dawn.

That leaves this blog free for the more practical, day-to-day type stuff, so this post really needs to catch you all up on where my hobby is at at the moment, because it's been WAY too long.

My armies:

Swords of Dawn: The aforementioned Swords of Dawn are going strong. I've got lots of stuff finished, plenty of stuff half finished and some (mainly bits of Indomitus but also some Infiltrators) not even started yet. With the glut of new marine releases on the horizon I can only see that continuing. I've already re-jigged my organisational spreadsheet to include 4th Company so that I can accommodate those delicious looking new Heavy Intercessors.

Hive Fleet Echidna: One of my first lockdown painting projects was a carnifex I picked up for my Tyranids at the start of the year, though I'm sad to say that because of the more limited availability of Tyranid stuff, they've very much taken a back seat since then. I've got about 1200pts altogether, but I'm really hoping 9th edition sees a range update for the less accessible stuff (by which I mean I hate paying full price for models so if I can get them cheap online I will).

Forge World Exxon Ignis: My latest project, I've only got 3 squads of Skitarii and a couple of Tech Priests, but I'm really happy with the paint scheme I've come up with for them, and am happily tinkering away at them every so often. It's going to be a long term project cos the paint scheme is very detailed with lots of layers and washes, but hopefully we'll start to see them take shape and take their place in my games soon enough.

My hobby: Home life during lockdown has changed things a lot, and we had an extension built on the house last year that has drastically changed both how we use the house and what space I've got available for things. Mainly it means I don't have to have a table in the garage anymore, and whilst a permanent garage table sounds great, it really wasn't very practical because of the limited space around the table. Now we have a large dining room so once I've got myself a foldaway gaming surface built, I can get hold of a gaming mat (6'x4' damn you #smallboardgang) and games will be done in the comfort of a centrally heated room with comfy chairs. 

The next big thing is that I've finally committed myself to a few painting changes that I've been thinking about or wanting to do for ages. 

1. Dropper bottles. My order has been placed, and hopefully over the next month or so I'll be transferring my entire paint collection over to dropper bottles. I figure it'll save me a fortune in wasted paint (I have a tendency to leave the GW pots open while I'm painting and they dry up horribly quickly) and will also force me to use a wet palette more, which can only be a good thing. That smoothly leads me into the next point
2. Wet palette. I've had a DIY one for a little while. It's nice, but it's quite small. So I'm going to order myself the Mastersons one, which comes in at a whopping 16"x12" so will leave me with plenty of space to get those paints thinned properly, which should help with my blending. As will the next item (I'm on fire with these smooth links!)
3. An airbrush. Yes, I've finally got round to it. The better half has been informed that this year the one item on my birthday list for her is a compressor. I'll buy the actual airbrush kit myself but the compressor has always been the main thing stopping me jumping in both feet first.
4. Commissions. I started doing these a few years ago. Whilst I've really enjoyed the opportunity to work on some projects for some great people, I'm a painter motivated by my subject matter, and when taking a commission you just have to paint what you're paid to, and I have to say it doesn't get the juices flowing. I've got a couple of projects still on the go but I won't be taking any more work on. Instead I'll be able to dedicate myself to my own projects, which will make me much happier and content inside.

So, what to expect from this blog going forward?

Simple really, much the same as it ever was, I'll hopefully be doing reviews of new models and units as I get to use them, updating on hobby progress (though my twitter feed is the best place to keep up with that as I post something hobby related on there every day), tactics ideas, army lists and breakdowns.

One of the things I would like to try however is to perhaps start getting some irregular vlogs going, and to that end I've set up my own YouTube channel, Astartes Crusader, where I'll be focusing those efforts, in particular this will relate to my thoughts, plans and games of 40k where I'm using the Crusade system of rules (hence the title - apparently it's not rocket science).

I'm staying out of the gossip and rumour game though, that way madness lies.

So, hopefully I haven't lost too many of my lovely friends made through the blog in the last two and a half years, and you'll join me as I start a new chapter in my hobby life!

See you next time at the battle's red edge.

Triple D