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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