Saturday, November 2, 2024

Weekly Digest #7

PC Gaming

News: Saw an interesting stream about a new sci-fi AAA RPG game tonight. Game is due for release soon. It's called Exodus. Looks interesting to me although I confess I'm not up-to-date with the genre of sci-fi games at all. Storyline has me hooked though. Being a Traveller in search of technology to help your own kind survive in a hostile galaxy will always appeal because it involves exploration.

Farming Simulator 22: Also checked out Farming Simulator 22 as well after watching a YT streamer play it from scratch - no $ and nothing - several days ago. Knew of it already but passed it by. But now I am very interested because I am looking for something more engaging which is a big step up from Stardew Valley. Watched several modded streams and am convinced I will be getting this game soon.

Space Marines 2. Saw this tonight on Steam community (28th) Patch 4.1 released and intends to fix some of the concerns expressed by the players. 

"...Space Marine 2 is all about the power fantasy, and Patch 4.0 negatively impacted it for many of you.

This is why we’re rolling back these changes. Extremis enemies’ spawn rates in Minimal, Average, and Substantial difficulties will revert back to their pre-Patch 4.0 levels and will be significantly reduced in Ruthless difficulty to hopefully strike a balance between how hard the game was at launch and how “easy” it became with Patch 3.0..."

Hopefully they're able to strike the right balance. Maybe I will return and finally knock off that Hive Tyrant.

World of Warships. Devblog posted details regarding Update 13.11. Or the much-looked forward Christmas events. Read through it and noticed some changes.

(1) No longer three type of Santa containers. Eliminated the "middle" one so now it's just the Gift and Mega crates. Included the Golden Gift crate which is available only through the Mega ones.

(2). Event Pass is now in two parts (called Chapters), each three weeks long. Once ended, it's gone forever so incentive is to complete them as they unfold. There are twenty-five stages. It's a continuation of the Explore the North Pole event. The rewards are the two Polar commanders - Li Wei and Olaf Lundgren - and two new ships Tsurugi and Lugdanum. Instead of receiving at the end of the grind, they appear midway through the "Chapter".

(3) Only 145 ships on offer this time around with some new ones included like the Georg Hoffman, Prins van Oranje, Chikuma II - obtainable through the Golden Gift crate. Others include Wiesbaden, Tsurugi, Navarin, and so on. Still some rare ones like Kamikaze, Enterprise, Friesland, and so on. 

(4) Explore the North Pole event concludes in this Update. If you join in this Update, you get a free Tier VIII ship - either North Carolina, Implacable, U-190, Akatsuki - straight off the bat. If you made it to the stage where you've been able to earn 10,000 tokens your free Tier X ship is a choice between Schlieffen, Audacious, Balao, Shimakaze. Note: the two destroyers are speculative and rumoured while the others are confirmed. No cruisers.

(5) Christmas port (Nordlyshavn) has a Christmas tree in need of decorating. Earning decorations rewards you with meh gifts such as Premium days, coal, permanent camo, flags. Yeah....nah!

(6) During the Update period (Dec 1 to 25) daily log in is different. What that entailed is not fully disclosed apart from certainty that you will receive a reward of sorts. Can't be any worse than what's been daily log in for the past five years, can it?

(7) Festive Rewards is back again and echoes the same event during the Ninth Anniversary. The more ships in one's port, the more chances at rewards. Whichever Tier ship is taken out, you have to earn the requisite amount of BASE XP to receive the Festive reward.

What's missing is the information regarding Santa certificates (snowflakes). Maybe it's a given and still confined to just Tier X ships. Not a good feeling so far regarding this approaching Christmas. 

Closer to the current timeline, November is Black Friday time. Or Black Hole Friday as I like to call it now. Black Hole because it's where those with more money than sense splurge wildly. Avoiding this year's current list of Black Friday ships as none appeal apart from a couple: I can wait for those. Plus they're costing a fair bit for their actual worth to be honest. WG knows its market well enough. 

The Smolensk auction is a big definite no-no for me. Wildly over the top haggling for a nerfed ship. Always avoided these auctions as the bidding is super inflated with many fearing they will miss out so they bid exorbitantly.  

Apart from that, sticking to playing the current Event Pass for the resources as I grind to upskill the French Unique commander Auboyneau on the light cruiser Dupliex. I should have used the De Grasse which is a little more robust and reliable but its ship XP is already past the 300+K limit. Dunkerque B as the Event Pass final ship reward does not interest in the least but it's better than nothing. 

And completing the next stage of the Polar Exploration mission chain. One more mission task to complete and that should complete the minimum requirement for the rewards released from December 1.

Noticed the Karl XIV Johan and Anhalt are now Armory ships (former as a doubloon and the latter a coal ship). Contemplating getting both but will see how the rest of the month pans out first. 

Tabletop Gaming

English Civil War. Continuing slow work assembling my New Model army list. 

One of the problems I've been struggling ever since starting this English Civil Wars project has been how to generate cavalry standard bearers (or cornets). The Hinchcliffe retailer I've used does not have specific cornets for cavalry. Without wanting to go to another brand, I found myself stuck figuring out how to adapt existing cavalry figures. 

But in end, as of today (30th), I'm just going to ignore it altogther, create the banner, and stick it to the base. No conversion needed. Problem solved. Move along.











Just one more group of horsemen to assemble; this group is short mounts and riders which I will have to order eventually, but no rush right now. For now, I can live with two units of heavy cav, two units of carabiniers, and one unit of dragoons. Should be sufficient for my campaign needs. The bulk of the New Model Army is very much done now; just final detailing, attaching pikes and flags, then a final wash, and then gluing and flocking the bases. 

Painting

Started bird cards with these initial rough paint sketches. Rusty as heck. Will take me months to fully get back into it because of my stutter approach to painting at the moment. These are the wagtail series gift cards for family and friends. 













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Sunday, October 27, 2024

Weekly Digest #6

21-27 October 2024

A new week. Month nearly over. What's on the agenda this week?

World of Warships (WOWS). Same daily grind with Huanghe and Sa Zenbing. And it will continue until he's at 20-pt. As stated previously, I will eventually wean myself off daily play to fortnightly then eventually permanent monthly in the new year. I have too many other to-do project needing attention at the moment to waste any more time on this obsession. At least I don't do drugs or smoke or drink or sleep around like those with insatiable unchecked appetites. Lol.

Of note this week I managed to finish the last task of the Battle of Leyte Gulf second mission chain and did enough to upskill Zhenbing to 20-pt level. Next week it's the turn of Auboyneau, the French Unique commander. 

Space Marines 2. Returned to the game to see what changes Patch 4.0 has brought to the game. 

At the start of this week my Tactical marine is grinding at Level 12. Not touched the other types - Bulwark, Vanguard, Sniper or Heavy - yet as I want to focus is on maxxing out my "typical grunt" first. 

Despite playing exclusively at Minimal Difficulty, I am finding the threats are anything but minimal. 

Of the four weapon versions available of the same weapon only employing Standard or Master-crafted versions as these are the only versions I've managed to unlock so far. For now I can only dream about wielding Artificer or Relic version weaponry.  

Game is already losing my interest, by the way. And I wonder why...well, not really. 














Yeah, tried the game after Patch 4.0 kicked in today (22nd). And the complaints that it's harder even on Minimal Difficulty are real. Played about 4 or 6 games of the Decapitation mission and found I could not even make it to the Bridge on over two thirds of those attempts playing solo. Wave after wave and boss after boss kept spawning even if I paused as much to scratch my nose. Managed to make it to the bridge struts only once, planted the charges that were there normally but could not Pass Go to the next stage because I could not find the fourth charge. Previous Patches, I found you only needed two charges and once fulfilled that task you were able to access the lift to the bridge itself. Not so this time round.


 












Also got disconnected part way through one of the games which was unexpected. Was actually doing well until the screen suddenly froze, and I was "on the street wondering what the hell happened". Relogged in and then this happened on the first game back.














Can you spot the difference? No? There is no usual Tyranid reception committee waiting with open arms and welcome mat at the front door. Usually, they're in force and ready to do the full hostile airport scanning and screening process. Not this time though. But then once inside, everything went pear-shape real quick. 

Frustrated and annoyed, I logged back out after one more attempt. 

Initial thoughts regarding this new patch job? Not solo casual player friendly at all even at Minimal Difficulty level. It is harder now to play the game as a solo casual. Even with teammates, the missions have become tougher. Despite any so-called "tweaks and improvements made", my opinion is that it's an attempt to make the game even less accessible to those wanting a casual FTP experience, ie. if you want something casual then play games like Stardew Valley. Those fortunate enough to have already maxxed out the various classes are fine, but for those like myself, it's no longer possible or enjoyable. Which is making it even easier to move on from this game. Plus the constant blatting becomes boring - real boring.

Great graphics though. Strain on my gaming PC with the update but so far, apart from the disconnection, she's handling it okay so far.

Tabletop Wargaming. Publicly put myself out there Tuesday with my ECW painting project by posting progress through my local wargaming/hobby forum. Hopefully this will spur me to complete the New Model Army by end of the year. Attempting to complete each of the individual units more quicker than before due to this public display. 

Plans for the rest of this year is to fully complete what's assembled from the New Model army list. Will attempt to playtest the campaign rules purchased earlier this year. Front half of 2025 will see me start and complete the Royalist Army to front up against the Parliamentarians. Will there be other factions such as the Irish and the Scots - both Covenanters and Montrose? Not likely.

















Finished detailing on Waller's Foote today (23rd). Leaving the final flocking of bases for last as I'm not sure which way to go. The muddy wet look sounds appealing given I've used a dark brown basecoat. And it reminds me of my gaming buddy's WW1 Fokker Drei stand from our Canvas Eagle games. He made a very realistic trench looking base.

Anyway, this unit can now join Pilkington's Foote (below right) completed months ago.
















Found the artillery limbers and cannons today (25th) and began assembly. Not sure if I got it right though as the photo below attests. Online references weren't helpful during assembly; anything but. I won't finalise assembly until I get confirmation from reliable sources aka the retailer.


















Everything about the finished effort looks off. For one, the cannon is sitting too high. Also it looks too wide. Or else the wheels look several sizes too small. The cannon itself might be too long but then that's just perspective given the wheels seem too small. Either way, something's not right. It just looks ridiculous like one of those old cheap metal toys from the 50s. As a comparison, below shows the same cannon type (demi-culverin) from another retailer. 

















Going to have to reorder artillery after checking several other stockists of 25mm ECW artillery. Fortunately, I only need three guns. Lesson learned however: always check the item has a photo. Had to drill out the wheel axles on several and there was some filing to ensure a fit. 






















Toned down the sand on my test model to a sloppy grey. Will recolour it even more to make it look "muddier". 

Sunday 27th. Decided to go with the cannons as-is. It is what it is. Besides, it's a solo campaign so only I will be judging by appearance. Can only hope the Royalist guns are much better.














Flocking bases. Comparison between the two. Will make final decision eventually. 






















Vermuyden's Horse above. Start of detailing.






















Montagu's Foote. White lining. Still some more detailing needed before gluing the pieces.

Other Painting projects. There are several painting endeavours that I've been procrastinating upon, and continue to put off. Motivation again proving a convenient excuse. Despite this persistent and often annoying obstacle, I have planned seven A5-sized animal portraitures that I've managed to sketch out so far. I am also hoping to include a long-awaited series of Christmas bird cards. I am figuring around five or six for now. Wishing me luck.

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Sunday, October 20, 2024

Digest #5

14 October 2024

Online PC games: World of Warships

Usual morning WOWS grind with Sansonetti before I finished the morning off with a stint in Star Trek Resurgence. Haven't played the latter in a long while although I do enjoy the storyline. Very reminiscent of those old well written Star Trek tv episodes. SPOILER ALERT: the games features both Spock, now Ambassador Spock, and Captain Will Riker. 

Online PC Games: Star Trek Resurgence

Just who are the Scions of the Flame? Why is bioforming so different from Trill joined symbiosis? What's up with Captain Solano, the weakest character who is more a caricature than someone fleshed-out; will he really go reckless in his pursuit of a final chance at glory as the mission unfolds? He reminds me of someone who's been a Starfleet captain for too long and will never make Admiral, someone who should have retired long ago with his toy trains. Will the real Miranda please step forward!















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16 October 2024

Online PC Games: World of Snoreships

Decided to fast track Sansonetti's skill level as he was well over the 250k mark. Used both Elite Cmdr XP and Free XP to boost him to 20-pt level. Now it's turn of the Pan-Asian Unique commander Sa Zhenbing. Will be running him in the Tier V premium destroyer Anshan. Had to redistribute the skill points to take advantage of the destroyer's strengths and Zhenbing's skill level.

Paintings - Models or otherwise

More detailing work done on Sir Hardress Waller's regiment of Foote. Still trying to figure out the coat lining colour. Got two choices: white or blue? The latter is offered as a suggestion given that west country regiments wore blue; the former because it's a good contrast to the red coats and basic dark clothing I've chosen for this unit.

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17 October 2024

Online PC Games: World of Warships

Compared to the FR25, the Pan-Asia Tier VI premium destroyer Anshan is very light weight. It's an easy kill for just about anybody with good aim. It has enough 8km torps to do some damage but it's low HP (around 12k) makes it very susceptible to dev strikes from gunboats and cruisers. Having smoke helps when YOLO-ing but be prepared to die quick if cap being contested. 

So I switched to the Tier VI premium cruiser Huanghe whose long duration smoke compensates for its paltry two twin-tube torpedoes. Fared slightly better although like the Anshan, it's too lightweight to melee up close. Best farm from a distance. 

Online PC Games: What's Out There At The Moment

Last night saw a listing of the best naval games PC gaming for 2024. Highly recommended but pricey (AUD127) is Gary Grigsby's War in the Pacific: Admiral's edition. Available through Matrix Games online store. Got me interested because it's involved and complex.

















As soon as I saw the hex map, I was virtually in (pun intended). But first I have save up for the purchase: the amount asked is too big an ask for this poor retiree. :(

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18 October 2024

Online PC Games: World of Warships

Playing the Huanghe these past few days has confirmed a few things. Firstly, it's slow and maneouvres sluggishly. She's slower than my fishing boat in Dredge which can go up to 52 knots whereas Huanghe struggles to make 32 knots! So planning is pretty much essential. It can play like a big big destroyer but you need to keep angled in and always use the long-duration smoke in combination with hydro to close for the kill without getting killed yourself. 

The second Leyte Gulf mission chain began today. Similar to the first one. Just two more missions to complete in this chain of five missions. The reward crate (one per mission completed) are like the first mission with a small quantity of economic bonuses. The third mission commences around the end of this month.  

I am ignoring the Red October event because it just like another scam to get you to spend money for no good reason.

Also foregoing the second access level of the upcoming Black Friday event pass (Update 13.10) which again is offering meagre rewards. Normally I fork out the doubloons because I am always XP poor but not this time. Seems the solitary ship reward is one I already have (Dunkerque B). Lots of camo and crates and even a mod that harks back to an earlier trial of some shell effect; cannot remember exactly when that occurred but if that's it, well... The allure of a quantity of Black Friday crates is misleading insofar as you have a chance of winning something other than the original prize offered. Much like their current trend. 

No interest in the Star Trek event either. Why bother when I can simply play Star Trek games instead?

Online PC Games: Dredge - The Iron Rig DLC

Started playing this again last night just to see what's on offer with the DLC bundle purchased recently. Quickly forgot the time and before I knew it dawn was arising. 

I have not played The Pale Reach and Blackstone Key missions yet although I expect they're incorporated into the base game, as you'd anticipate. Skipping the original storyline this time round as I played it already to its dramatic conclusion last time. However I am still chasing up the items desired by the Collector on Blackstone Island. New characters on the Iron Rig as well as different deviant creatures from the deep...and beyond...or beneath!














Above shows a similar setup to the smaller Travelling Merchant floating stores but with new "improvements" like the Factory that boast new improved fishing equipment. Or the Tech Lab that uses its modern technological advancements to improve the operations of your boat such as lights, telescope and so on. Then there's the Generator that uses biomatter to power the rig, so you can sell your catch of the day. And the Undermarket is like your machine shop that fixes broken equipment. The Scientist is like many of the characters in that he's a bit strange and fond of talking evasively. Withholding information is very much a trait in these waters.














He tasks you with fetching samples for his observation and experiments much like the Researcher based at the Old Fortress west of Stellar Reach. 

The rig itself is in several levels of construction. I began last night so still am at Tier 1. Managed to pick loads of the corporation cargo; seems ships like to sink in these waters. Mind you, you see some strange stuff like ghost ships with lights on all the time that somehow disappear all of a sudden then pop up somewhere else. 

Also the first drilling ruptured the surface below and caused spillages to occur mostly around the Marrows. What these are is a mystery but they pose are obstacles as far as I'm concerned therefore worth avoiding although I did get caught in it by accident late at night and had an encounter with the monster of the deep (similar to the one at Stellar Reach and Gale Cliffs) casuing considerable damage to my boat. 

One more thing: I'm pacing this game on very slow mode. No need to rush and finish in 100 days like some streamers do. It's casual fun where I'm well aware of what lurks deep below so am in no mood to antagonise. So no late night fishing jaunts or cruises in the open ocean waters, not with all those lurking eyes, twisters, and almost animated mists that follow you like paranoia. 

Tonight I will venture further south to the ice and see what The Pale Reach reveals. Cheers.

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19 October 2024

Online PC Gaming: Dredge - The Pale Reach

Yeah, not as many options with The Pale Reach as with The Iron Rig (levels of development) but it's interesting enough upon playing last night and into the wee hours. Met the Photographer first visit and she soon vamoosed after realising her much-sought after photo op wasn't being cooperative or playing cutesy. I wonder why. Dealing with a mutated murderous Narwal, finding the icebreaker parts so one can plough through the numerous icy barriers preventing you access to important clues, dealing with ominous warnings of a long-deceased captain frozen in ice, etc., and all that within the inhospitable southern reaches of the map makes for an adventure all its own.















Revisited Stellar Reach as I slowly ventured south. Painfully fond memories of the battles there. Met up again with the Research Scientist stranded at the Old Fortress. Noticed she's still single and still missing her sister who's connected to this story. Brave soul though for sticking it out on her own knowing of the terror lurking in those waters.














Learned the improved telescope allows you to mark spots of interest such as fishes, dredge locations (including what's there). But there is a limit on how many can be spotted otherwise the map will be so cluttered with markers and fishing and dredging locations that you might as well walk everywhere! So I've been marking those spots currently out of range of my fishing equipment or dredge spots of interest to keep it relatively decluttered.














Quickly maxxed out on upgrades. Dredging materials such as cloth, metal and wood are needed to fill the requirements for these upgrades. Research parts improves equipment - fishing rods, nets & crab pots, engines, and lumination; the better the quality, the more research parts needed. You can also tinker with engine combinations to max your speed although it depends on the allocated space (refer to upgrade). 

Remember that the Travelling Merchant who owns and operates the pontoons at each of the four main locations except the Iron Rig where the Foundry guy who runs the Undermarket and is your go-to mechanic and repair specialist. She sometimes has spare parts useful to your Research and Dredging operations - gunpowder (when you unlock that at the Cliffs), decent metal, and research parts - depending on location and quantity. She presents them regularly but it is random so always good to check when you can.














North of the Ironhaven Corporation Rig is a large open and vacant area of ocean. Usually you see the natural giants such as large whales and unnamed monsters and ghost ships. What is out there? Another DLC? Or is it part of Iron Rig DLC narrative? Will have to venture forth some time. Toward far horizons then!

Online PC Gaming: World of Snoreships

Usual captain upskill grind. Different character but same-old same-old stuff! The grind these days solely focuses on completing two requirements for the current Event Pass - firstly, earn 250 Base XP for 10 points, then follow up by earning 1500 Base XP for another 10 points. Amount is cumulative and carries over. The accumulation counts toward a running tally requirement of 25 points before you can receive the bonus rewards which are 1 signals crate full of 12 signals (4 of each) and 1 rare economic bonus crate (3 Blue randomly selected). Once this 25 points is reached, count resets. And the game continues until the Event Pass ends. 

Also within the grind, I am simultaneously completing the second mission chain for the Battle of Leyte Gulf event. Working through the fourth mission task of earning 8000 Base XP which is roughly around 13-14 games in Co-Op mode. About a third of the way through, but couldn't be bothered grinding all day. Still plenty of time left to finish it though which is handy, I suppose. Then it's on to the last mission task which is cause an absurd amount of HP damage. Reward once the mission chain is completed? 5 more Leyte Gulf tokens. WG did say the Tennessee was at the end of a very long and arduous rainbow.

In the background is the German Unification mission chain which is a global contribution effort. Each mission task requires earning well above a billion Base XP. Reward? A crate filled with a few items of supposed value. I received 1 Tile camo, 1 Tokyo Game Show camo, and 500 Free XP as my reward this morning for my contribution in helping to complete the current mission task. There are at least two more global mission tasks to go. The Base XP earned is taken from all the games Mode played. Reward? I don't recall precisely but did dismiss it as worthless in my initial response because it wasn't a ship as a reward.

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19/20 October 2024

World of Yawnships

Just one more mission task to go to complete the second mission chain in the Leyte Gulf event. Halfway there to reaching goal of inflicting 45k damage from starting fires. Then it's 5 more tokens. Yay! 😋

Dredge

Last night freed the four trapped souls in The Pale Reach. Task made easier after fitting the icebreaker to the bow of the fishing vessel. Opened the portal of the Southern Locus that provides direct access to Blackstone Island. Also unlocked the blocks of ice for cargo hold. 














Completed the Research Assistant task and unlocked access to the remaining two rods. 














One of the new characters, the Painter, also set tasks mainly for unlocking new colours to paint your fishing boat.














Another character, the Photographer, has her base on an island between Stellar Basin and Gale Cliffs. Returned her camera case and she rewarded me with a camera. Why? You already have access to screenshotting, but the camera offers more flexible and/or concentrated shots, as shown below, of specific locations. This is the lighthouse tower at Devil's Spine taken from the west as I sail from the Iron Rig.














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20 October 2024

Online PC Games: World of Oarships

Finished fourth mission task finally. Just the final fifth left to complete and that will do for this second Leyte Gulf mission chain. Next one starts at the end of the month. It was therefore a longer grind than usual because 800k Base XP is a lot, especially in Co-Op mode. 

Online PC Games: Dredge - The Iron Rig and the Pale Reach

Got the enchanted trawling net after finding the altar in icy south. Just one small task for the white robed nutter (as with the other four coloured robe nutters). But mostly spent time completing the various tasks at The Iron Rig although I did journey all over. 

Helped to construct to Tier 4  the Factory as well as Tier 2 level for both the Foundry (spare parts) and Tech Lab (mostly improvements to boat and equipment). 

Also set up both the Fleet Services and Defenses. The former yielded a fifth Hull upgrade (more cargo space basically) while the latter sets up a beacon that emits a deterrent signal to any foul creatures about. The Defenses task helps save the platform rig from being totally destroyed by the tentacled beast thanks to the intervention of an even more dangerous leviathan that scares off the tentacle beast before it could completely demolish the rig. 

In the process, however, the Scientist finally went bonkers after he finally turned into a horrible creature himself and then escaped the rig. The Executive too scooted back to his safe plush office shortly after he ordered the rig to resume drilling which eventually led to the sudden assault. 

TLDR: Iron Rig survived the beast attack and the scientist turned into a demon of the deep. 

















The last image shows the ex-Scientist (bottom edge middle) joining his new environment after jumping out his lab. 

This IS really a fishing game. I believe the Iron Rig will be the last DLC for this game. As a horror fishing game though it has more meh moments than you'd expect where you're often wanting something more terrifying to happen. If you fish only during the day, it's fine. But at night, you run into all sorts and manners of weird and interesting events. Storyline is ok but nothing great. History plays a part in creating a backstory but it doesn't add much to what's happening. Avoided replaying the base game as I'd already done it. Like I said from the start I wanted to try out the DLCs. I've yet to engage myself fully with the Blackstone Key DLC as the other two have proven more interesting. 

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Monday, October 14, 2024

13 October 2024

Space Marines 2

Began transforming my Ultramarine into an Omega marine. Slow process. Still unable to kill the Hive Tyrant playing solo. Come close at times but ran out of lives and the will to try again.






































======================

World of Warships

Got hoha (haw-hah, slang for fed up/pissed off/bored) with the grind today, especially the Event Pass, and spent dubs to finish it. Only 3 more levels to go but I couldn't be blowed focusing on them for the next week or so. The "special" premium crate in the penultimate level was a joke - a measley eight Blue economic bonuses. Meanwhile, the final rewards themselves were beyond a joke - a permanent black, red, yellow camo each for P. Rupprecht and Schlieffen. Really? No ship?

The session itself was quick fun; just three games in the FR25. Log in, log out. My kind of sesh. The more I play FR25, the more I'm convinced it served as the prototype for the Paolo Emilio. Similar one-trick pony style of play - sneak in, loose off torps, vamoose or go dark. Anyway, I finally got my revenge on the Ipiranga in the last game but had to close in all the while taking serious damage from those nasty Pan-American secondaries in order to exact my revenge. Take that, you latino snake! 😁 

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English Civil War - Waller's Foote

Spent some quiet time painting up Waller's command stand. Not much as such but it's a pleasant diversion from the grind PC gaming these days. 






























Glued those still loose to base. Will experiment with flocking tomorrow after glue has dried and set properly: using PVA instead of the usual superglue. PVA should be fine because it will be layered over with flocking and more PVA. 

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Paintings

Finally decided to get off my slack arse and do some paintings. First sketched a few subjects that I will painting fully just to get an idea, and also to resurrect what passes for skill. This first piece is taken from a photo and meant as a Christmas gift. Using acrylic pad paper for my sketch - getting the outline that will be coloured in using acrylics over next few days. Depending on which pieces please me, will decide which get moved to a larger final canvas. Cheers.





















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Friday, October 11, 2024

Suss is suss

Online PC Games


World of Warships

Yeah, as someone else pointed out (YT streamer) last night, something odd is up with this Leyte Gulf event. Someone must have been willing to spend the money on the Admiral pack though because in my last game for the day, there was a Tennessee on our team. 








First Mission chain completed. Expect the subsequent mission chains to get increasingly difficult. It would be a WG thing, especially when they're not forthcoming about the subsequent mission chains. What are you hiding, WG?



















Five of the mission chains pertain to the "free" Tennessee, the last mission chain is specifically for those wanting the "free" Enterprise. Becoming worried now.















Completing a mission within the mission chain rewards with a Leyte crate; in the first mission chain completing the first missions rewards with two crates while it's only a single crate for the subsequent missions. Opening them however is a bust because you only get a small amount of economic bonuses. In the images above, this was the last mission reward - five credit boosters. Underwhelming for the effort.

It occurred to me while gaming the FR25 that it might be the prototype to the highly popular and highly dangerous (in skilled hands) Tier IX Italian premium destroyer Paolo Emilio. Which explains why the latter is only available through the Research Bureau. Sadly, I'm gunning for the Vamp Deuce (Vampire II) instead which is Tier X. Maybe Christmas will be generous. No hurry anyway.

==========================

A Glimmer of Light perhaps?

Returned to Space Marines 2 thinking the server maintenance was well and truly done. Not so. Glitch saw me booted from the game due to this server maintenance error. Anyway, relogged back in and everything seemed fine thereafter so picked a mission. Vox Liberatis. First attempt ended in failure as was the next attempt. Third time lucky?

































Levelling up weapons provides access to better versions. 














Omega Marines. Chosen this chapter of Unknown origins because (1) there is no Retributors which is Syama Pedersen's homebrew chapter that featured in his five-part animation masterpiece Astartes, and (2) because I like the split colours, and (3) none of the others (apart from the Salamanders) really stand out to me, and (4) I prefer to go different out of curiosity and personal like.


Already spent any Requisition points that's leftover customizing toward this goal. Paid for the left pauldron and Nuln Oil so far. 3 more items to go to complete the set and I can outfil my first customized eunuch. 

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Thursday, October 10, 2024

Weekly Digest #4

7 October 2024


World of Warships

Just over half an hour's worth of time wasted. Nice hot spring day so good time to wash both cars once I finished the grind. Nothing like some physical exertion after sitting down for too long.

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Space Marines 2: Operation Reliquary

Grinding through the Tactical Marine class in Operations PvE solo. Still on Mission 1 because I've failed to complete it multiple times. Slow learner and probably useless. Odd thing I noticed though is that whenever I logged into Mission 1 it would somehow default between either Inferno (Tyranids) or Reliquary (Thousand Sons). Glitch perhaps? Must be because that's what has happened the several times I've logged in to play the Mission. 

Tonight it was the Thousand Sons version where I eventually got to the cathedral and managed to access the location of the Helldrake. Invoking the rites puzzle (set of 3 random icons) was figured out after the cycle kept repeating after multiple activations and nothing happening apart from occasional blasts from the Helldrake and constant Thousand Sons materializing. Checked later the 40K guides and it confirmed what I soon realised. 














Image above is from my latest defeat. Scene is in the cathedral were we're trying to kill the Helldrake by invoking the correct rites of initiation. Showing it because for me this is one of the best combo to take on this mission - Bulwark and Vanguard. Both are excellent at mid- to close-range combat. When whoever it is plants the standard banner, it allows you to recoup lost HP. And they're also useful distractions while you run around trying to activate the correct sequence of initiation. 

Finding an alternate power source off a dead servitor and then escorting the servo-skull in the catacombs is probably the most intense combat zone where you are constantly assailed from the enemy materialising constantly; all are intent on disrupting as much as destroying your mission. These range from Tzeentch minions (shield and shieldless), corrupted human militia/guardmen with lasrifles through to the big boys - the Thousand Sons marines with flamers as well as bolters, and the occasional pesky Terminator. And then there's the floating sorcerer. But it's the Helldrake that is the big boss. 

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8 October 2024


World of Warship

New Update features the eightieth Anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf (Oct 23-26 1944). The main prize is the long-awaited Tier VIII US battleship Tennessee. Also on offer are other ships as well as the very rare US carrier Enterprise. But my sights are set on the Tennessee

Was planning to simply grind Yamamoto all the way to the necessary 500,000 XP (20-pt). But instead I decided to spend Elite Cmdr XP to complete the grind. 

Tomorrow it will be the turn of Sansonetti (Italian Unique commander) to commence his grind. At least he will have the choice of two premium Italian destroyers - Tier VI Leone and Tier VIII FR25 - to run. Will alternate depending on the ship's performance.

Space Marines 2: Operation Inferno

Still having to deal with the glitch when selecting missions in Operations. Thought I had picked Mission 1 (as shown below) which is the Inferno one. But somehow I ended up playing another which today included the Fall of Atreus mission and then the Ballistic Engine mission. Completed both after several attempts. Currently back at Inferno; Tyranids are more numerous than previously too.  














Tactical marine are the most generic and vanilla of the classes. And the one I've started with for becoming familiar with opponents and game controls. The standard loadouts aren't that varying. Levelling up improves quality of both weaponry and armour and enables customizations.  

English Civil War

Gave the minis a black wash to help with detailing later on. Lots of colour changes to be made.











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9 October 2024


World of Warship

The Italian Tier VI premium destroyer Leone is underwhelming. Great smoke but torps are average to mediocre; it releases a total salvo of four in two twin tubes. One torp does around 14,000+ damage. Its guns are better than average for a DD however but they're nothing to rave about. 

Will opt to run the Tier VIII FR25 tomorrow because its Ship XP is low which means it's only been played a few times unlike the Leone which has clocked over 11K of Ship XP. Hopefully I will enjoy better results.

Space Marines 2: Operation Inferno and then Decapitation















Good to see a win on the Inferno mission...finally!














Did it with the "killa krew" above which was a bit of a surprise. One sniper and one devastator (or heavy as it's known in-game). And me as your vanilla Tactical noob contributor. 

Chose Decapitation as my next mission because, as one reviewer put it when I sought information on the various Operations missions, it's good for gaining rewards quickly. It's basically a race to set the bombs to blow the bridge. Try and ignore the numerous threats in your way or else bowl on through if they come in a vast wave. Don't get tied down dealing to the hordes as you race to your next assembly point. Plant the charges and then await the Hive Tyrant and horde to cross the bridge.

Once the bridge is destroyed then the next part of the mission kicks in: hunt down the Hive Tyrant and execute it. However, dealing to the Hive Tyrant is neither easy nor straightforward. The sneaky git rejuvenates just as it's on its last legs as I soon found out in my first attempt in the arena. A check of the guide afterwards informed me that you have to kill it TWICE. Hot damn!

Best support? At least one of the close-quarter dudes - a Bulwark, Vanguard, or Assault. Playing Tactical, your choice of weapons is important if somewhat hamstrung, especially when starting out. Plasma rifle? The guide suggests using melta bombs which does heavy damage. I get the idea but executing its placement is a different matter altogether. Yet to locate resups in the Arena although I never bothered looking first time as I was often the target of the sneaky git.

Still getting glitches when first choosing a Mission upon log in. But I ignore it and play whatever's there or else press the "U" key to reject and restart. 

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10 October 2024


World of Warships

Playing FR25 today with Sansonetti. Slow start that quickly became fun. Ship has 7 km torp range in two triple tubes with quick reloading (compared to Leone). It has short duration smoke that's handy if things get hot (escape). Hiding behind cover like islands makes perfect sense. It's really works well as an ambush specialist. It has SAP instead AP but its HE is good enough to use most times. Managed to burn down a few low-health big ships like Mackensen, Derfflinger, Fuso, and Nagato. Even took down a Mainz after copping two torps from it. 

Once Sansonetti is up to 20-pt I will then switch to upskilling Honore, a French commander with special skills that I seem to have forgotten about. He is currently sitting at 12-pts. That achievement is not likely to bear fruition at least until late November or early December.

Battle of Leyte Gulf event officially began today. Looking at what's on offer in the Armory, I was interested by the premium crates sequential bundle obtainable only for Leyte Gulf tokens. What surprised and interested me is that these one-off crates offers you a free premium ship. I've outlined those I still lack in my port in red.

Of the number of Tier VI ships on the list available I am missing only the Arizona. Visited the actual physical memorial at Pearl Harbor back in 2005. Quite eerie yet peaceful. 























Of the three Tier IX ships made available, the Karl XIV Johan interests me enough to want because it's a decent ship and would be the only European battleship (for now). The Marco Polo has always been available for coal in the Armoury but one I've always skipped it for some reason. The third ship (not shown) is the Guiseppe Verdi. Don't know much of her but she's reasonably decent, at least compared to the Marco Polo so I've learned since.















Tier VIII has the most ships out of the Tiers that are still available but there are few that really interest me. I can wait until Christmas anyway. Whatever comes my way should I end up spending tokens for the crate however won't be refused to my port although I hearing mooring costs are rising. Of particular interest for me would be the Anhalt and Fenyang. Submarines and carriers don't interest me at all.











































The Tier VII ships list is not shown because I already have all the ships being offered.

As mentioned above these containers are part of a sequential bundle starting at Tier VI and ends at Tier IX. Only one container per Tier is for sale. Cost of a Tier VI is 50 Leyte tokens while a Tier IX costs 150 Leyte tokens. The premium container bundle is only four crates. Only way to earn Leyte tokens is to take part in the Leyte Gulf series of missions. Off memory, I believe there's six missions involved. 

The first phase involves five distinct tasks (or missions). Completing a single task rewards you with one token. As there are five task, that means five tokens. Completing all five rewards another ten tokens. This makes a grand total of fifteen tokens for finishing the first step if my calculations are correct (never are so they're sure to be some amendment later on). Note to self: hoard all tokens earned. Do not spend on credits, event commanders, or economic bonuses. 

Yeah, it looks to be another long grind but it is definitely worth it for at the end of the rainbow is the new US Tier VIII premium battleship, the Tennessee. FOR FREE!

They're also making available the very rare US Tier VIII carrier, the Enterprise. Which now makes it not so unobtainium-like. More like common-rare. Also FOR FREE! Mind you, you can actually buy the Tennessee for cash in the Armoury through its Admiral pack. Yeah, no.

Total cost in Leyte tokens for the four crate sequential bundle? 270 tokens. Is it possible? Most likely but you'll probably have to purchase with doubloons some premium crates where a few Leyte tokens reside. I will wait and see what the first two missions yield by way of tokens. It also depends on how much I really want Karl XIV Johan. Suspect the mission chains will become increasingly difficult; and with WG being secretive about these future mission chains (what's involved, as in a preview), getting the prize may be impossible forcing one to spend dollars to buy her instead. 

Priority though remains the Tennesee for free. And definitely the Arizona with tokens. All else will be a wait-and-see approach. 

Jumped back on later in the day to sort out something with the Seasoned commanders (Honore and Dunkirk and co.) and decided to continue on from the morning session, this time playing both FR25 and the French Tier VII premium battleship Flandre. Reason? To advance myself further along the Leyte Gulf first mission. Finished the short session part way through the fourth mission which is earn spotting damage for the team. 

Previous past voyages with the Flandre weren't overly impressive and I soon forgot about her, especially when you have the likes of Jean Bart and Bourgogne. But today, it seemed to perform pretty well when I plonked Honore on her. Certainly stood up to the numerous times she came up against Ipiranga in the games faced. Lots of Ipiranga during this particular session.

Ipiranga's secondaries are developing a pretty fiercesome reputation although the Flandre's own secondaries are nothing to sneeze at either. While Flandre is a fast battleship she is not as maneouvrable as the Ipiranga, and one has to get close enough to make sure of torp hits in a DD because those South Americans are as slippery as a conga eel. And don't forget to angle right otherwise your HP will diminish faster than hope for world peace in one's lifetime.

Learned that with the FR25 it pays to steer well clear of Ipiranga's long range secondaries (9km). But she is sinkable if you can get close enough or surprise her by ambush. I think that was my problem yesterday in the Leone: even though she has 12km torps, I launched them too early and from far away making it easy for the enemy to dodge. Especially one as slithery as the Ipiranga. The much laughter of the enemy crew as they fingered and jeered at my Italian salami sailing harmlessly past was most frustrating to say the least.