16 September 2024: Weekly Digest

16 September 2024

World of Warship

Upskilled Kuznetsov, the Russian Unique commander. He's now 20-pt. 

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17 September 2024

English Civil War

Started work this morning on the three remaining Horse units for the New Model Army. First off the rank is Ireton's Horse. Filing and trimming is tedious but necessary work. Distracted by the furkids enjoying the sun and watching the other creatures.

Played sitter to our furkids. View from new workshop. Cats enjoy lounging about the bird bath in the vain expectation of nabbing any inattentive bird wanting a drink. No such luck however as the birds tend to act in small groups with one lookout. Still, cats doing what cats do. Lol.

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Off-topic - Grandson's first gridiron game last weekend

He wants to play Defense. They put him on Offense. He wanted to play End (Defense); he ended up playing Left Tackle on Offense (still on the end). Proud of his effort nonetheless even if he looked very lost in his first ever game. Pluses: more mobile than last time I saw him when he was playing Rugby League, and he's still very keen to try out the game. He's #64. He's sixteen. Lots of growing left in him yet. And much room for improvement.

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18 September 2024

English Civil War - Ireton's Horse

Sprayed undercoat before basecoating main colour. Referencing several online sources of uniforms for this unit, I will likely replicate. The image below is taken from Palouse Wargaming Journal...image shows the standard being more pinkish than red but that's fine. At least the emblem is the same. Lol. 

Lucky I have the standard downloaded from earlier research.

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19 September 2024 

ECW - Whalley's and Vermuyden's Horse

Despite my best efforts at researching items from the website, my first major order (New Model) was filled with gaffe and errors due to misunderstanding and misinterpretation - entirely my fault. So, I will be placing another order to rectify the numerous mistakes I made with the first order. Which means some bases will not be completed due to the shortages.

One of my mistakes surfaced while priming the remaining two Parliamentarian cavalry units - Whalley and Vermuyden. I had been swapping or interchanging mounts without consideration to their actual correspondence until I realised there is a relationship, ie one size does not fit all. Vermuyden's unit, for example, are carabiniers and therefore the riders are designed to fit with mounts that have the reins projecting up, as shown below. This means some adjustment and only add to the subsequent ordering.

Memory is going so to aid me with multiple unit tasking Whalley's mounts are attached to red bottle caps while Vermuyden's horses are mounted on blue/black caps as shown below. The primed horses are now ready for basecoating. Planning on doing the horses in one run and leave the riders for another day.

This is the only way I can stay motivated despite myself. Breaking it down into tiny tiny steps and posting it online. It sort of beats promising and then never following through. 

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World of Warships

With Kuznetsov now at 20-point level, I planned to upskill the remainder in the 19-points group starting with Isoroku Yamamoto. Needing 500,000 points to achieve this though per commander. Ha! Not into grinding so will just log in and run a few games then log out. No real rush.

Well, plans don't pan out sometimes. Logged in this arvo with a set plan only to remember that I was only 4 pieces shy of my next steel ship so did the grind for that courtesy of the Dockyard Event bonus phase reward (for every token earned you receive 250 steel). Reached my goal after several games in the Atlanta and Groningen. 

Tier X Mecklenburg is an interesting ship. It smacks hard when RNG is on your side (German BBs suffer notoriously from being wayward with their shell dispersion and therefore accuracy). Played her thrice after obtaining her to fully earn the Festive token (for the intevitable Supercontainer) and got no less than three kills per game which was pleasing. Only two Supercontainers left on offer (in the Daily Reward). Odds of getting a ship are slim though (200th attempt will yield a ship regardless) which is why Supercontainers are practically worthless these days.

So far, new ships earned this month include Ipiranga (Event Pass), Borodino (100% discount coupon), Almte. Oquendo (Dockyard event), Xan Zhong Guo-14 (Ninth Anniversary crate prize), Cossack (doubloons), Tulsa (coal), Edgar (credits), L'Aventurier and Orage (both credits and Free XP), Cassard (credits and Free XP), Maine (credits), Mecklenburg (steel). 

New commanders include: delmas_38 (Pan-American), Lisboa Marques Lisboa (Pan-American Unique). Dismissed a ship load of low-skilled commanders to free up space in the Reserve.  

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20 September 2024

World of Warship

Really liking the Mecklenburg. Glad I got it first instead of the Austin which will be my next steel ship - unless some other vessel comes along that's more enticing. Short sesh this morning saw me playing the Mecklenburg. Liked it so much I actually installed the modules; normally I play without the mods which is a bad habit I picked up early on that's somehow stayed with me ever since. But my new "Pommern" deserves it. Liking it more than the G. Kurfurst which is a decent ship but it doesn't have torps. Never really warmed to the Schlieffen even though it's rated higher than the Meck by many. Some ships you click to straight off, like the Pommern and Ohio. Now it's so with the Mecklenburg. 

Noticed the next Event Pass (for Update 13.9) will feature the Premium German DD K. Schonberg as the ship reward plus specific camo for certain German ships. Not going to bother as I have the reward ship already, and ship camo doesn't really interest me despite WG's vain attempts to entice players into believing it's as valuable as ships. Ships are the only real valuable asset in this game. Nothing else. 

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Stardew Valley

Chillin' Out playing this on my other account. Having played almost as much as WOWS, this time round it was more fun.

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21 September 2024

World of Warships

Mecklenburg is an absolute beast in Co-Op. No regrets acquiring this steel ship; glad I saved and waited. Took a while as I only play Co-Op but got there in the end. It's not unusual to score 4 kills nearly every time I take her out. In my last game before logging out, one-shot-killed a Minotaur and then straight after that suprise also one-shot-killed an A. Nevsky. Both were full HP. Battleships aren't safe either. Got a surprise random invite to join a couple of Asian clans but sensibly declined as I'm not bilingual and I am just settling back into just playing solo in Co-Op and having pressure-free fun.

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22 September 2024

Online PC Gaming

Grinding the Pan-American Unique commander Lisboa in the Ipiranga in order to complete the Common Mission and obtained the reward - a flag. Finished the last of the Dockyard event mission earlier in the day playing both the Yahagi and then the Groningen. Both skippered respectively by Yamamoto (Unique) and De Ruyter (Seasoned). 

Still haven't played Black Myth Wukong nor Warhammer 40K: Space Marines 2. Why? (1) Because I know it won't just be a couple of hours but an all-night bender long session. And (2) BMW is forever downloading (60+ GB). 

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9 September 2024: Weekly Update

9 September 2024

World of Warships - Update 13.9

Reading the Devblog regarding Update 13.9 and its many announcement. I noticed in one the very rare premium US carrier the Enterprise (unobtainable from anywhere in the game or Armoury) will now be made available as part of the reward for the upcoming Battle of Leyte Gulf anniversary event. I already have this rare ship from one of the Santa crates two years back. Played her only a few times and got reported by my own teammates for having the gall to play it while they died. Lol. But now she will be made available to everyone who will no doubt eagerly have a crack going for her through the missions required. Not so unobtainium now I reckon!

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Wargaming - Last Major Hobby Project

Planning on taking a long hiatus after this last major hobby project primarily to sort out my developing and ongoing health issues as well as explore other 'creative' outlets while I still can.

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World of Warships - Festive tokens and Supercontainers

No free ships from the many Supercontainers obtained. Ninety-nine ships left to go still. Used my hoard (credits and Free XP) to the next two French destroyer line - L'Aventurier and Orage. Hope to get the Cassard in the next day or two (forgot that the mods had to be purchased as well). Also decided to "go for it" and obtained the Supership Maine.

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English Civil War

Royalist army finally arrived from the UK. Large package. Haven't opened it yet but I expect I will be busy sorting out the listing later on this week. 

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10 September 2024

World of Warships - Ninth Anniversary month

Still grinding the remainder of the Tier VI ships. Most likely tomorrow will earn me the Tier X Unique commander Lisboa. 

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Space Marines 2

Yeah, bought into the hype after watching gameplay by some lady YT streamers: they were having fun and that appealed to me for some reason. Installing took a while so went to bed and awoke later on in the day. Will properly start playing over the weekend.

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11 September 2024

World of Warships - End of Festive tokens run

Sorta...managed to utilise the six extra tokens rewards today. No more bonus Festive tokens from port ships. Not sure what happens now, whether or not you still receive festive token rewards for the ships play or what? Will see either tomorrow or Friday. Got the Cassard though to complete the second French destroyer line. Avoiding the other Anniversary events like the Pan-American Early Access battleship line as well as the Spanish battleship line, also Early Access apart from the Iripanga which was the reward for the Event Pass event. 

Logged in again tonight to verify if the Festive token event only applies to ships still unused in your port. It is so. If you purchase a new ship, depending on its Tier, you will earn whatever Festives apply (or Steel if you decide on a Supership instead). What this means is there are now only two ways you can obtain Festive tokens: (1) either pay for or earn a new ship, (2) or wait for the Daily Rewards to drop 125 tokens (the price of a Supercontainer) of which there are limited numbers (five available I believe). Which makes chasing after them now a wasted exercise. So basically the hype WG promoted is useless insofar as once ALL your port ships have yielded Festive tokens, no more is to be had apart from the two methods described above. Interesting.

With that understanding therefore it's back to the usual skipper grind until the next Update kicks in a few weeks. Had a quick squizz and what's on offer is a total waste so looking forward to just stockpiling the credits and XP until November when it will be the annual Black Friday event (one hopes). Then it's on to Christmas and the much anticipated Snowflake event. 

This new Collection has been changed. Before it used to be a one-for one-exchange with duplicates, ie for every duplicate exchanged you got a new collection tile/object. No longer so; you have to have a number of duplicates before they can be exchange for a new collection tile/object. Another sneaky introduction by WG. 

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12 September 2024

World of Warships

Ran into one of the old clan members in my short morning session. Greeting by tag went unanswered. Probably forgot me anyway. No mind. Noticed that a few times in the past since leaving the clan whenever I see a former clan member. Wasn't really there long enough to make a mark I suppose so no biggie.

Yeah, the Festive tokens deal is officially over; this morning's session confirmed it. Gone from the Armoury tab but still present in port. So (a) grinding for no reward) and (b) any future Festive tokens earned will go towards Supercontainers. Bound to get a free ship soon one wishes...perhaps...hoping...lol.

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Thursday is Hobby or Wargaming Day

Taking a major break from tabletop gaming and the hobby side of it while I sort out my ongoing health issues. My final last hurrah for the time being therefore will be building my English Civil War armies up to tabletop standard.

But first I have to finish off my New Model army which is in varying states of completion. Currently, on the 'workbench' are three more Horse units awaiting filing prior to undercoating. Then it's on to the still unassembled artillery which are painted. All the New Model foot units are painted and largely assembled and are at the final detailing and basing stage. For the most part. 

Unit above is Henry Ireton's Horse. I made a start but I still need to finish off the filing completely before applying the undercoat/primer.

Whalley's (bottom) and Vermuyden's (top) Horse. All three horse units are wearing lobster pot helmets but are classified as Horse by me for gaming purposes. All are in need of filing and trimming the excess before undercoating can begin.

New Model

I like to recap...a lot. So, here is my full New Model Army list circa 1643. It is a modified list taken from the Battle of Naseby OOB. Basically it's just the first line with some changes.  

Overall commander will be Sir Thomas Fairfax. I have several other commanders who can step in but they represented earlier time periods and are non-New Model. I'm including them all the same primarily as figureheads as they can represent anyone I nominate. The Earls of Manchester and Essex are Old Glory minis that came with a personality set purchased from the USA which included Oliver Cromwell as well as Royalists.

Infantry (or Foot) are as follows: 5 Regiments of Foot (Pike and Muskets) and one unit of Forlorn Hope. These come under the command of Sir Philip Skippon. All the artillery will be concentrated here and consist of two batteries

Cavalry (or Horse) include the various types split into two wings - left and right and commanded by Henry Ireton and Oliver Cromwell respectively: 8(???) regiments of Horse (of varying strengths) and 1 unit of Dragoons (mounted as well as foot displayed).

Initial Observations: New Model are largely experienced soldiers and greater in numbers than their opponents. They should win most of their upcoming/planned scenario games is what I'm speculating as their senior commanders were all good and very experienced.  

Royalist

King Charles will be the nominal and titular head of this force although Prince Rupert will exercise field command in-game.

Like the Roundheads, the army composition will be split into three wings - Left and Right will be horse and Centre will be foot. A small reserve exists under King Charles direct command and consist of what I deem to be elites.

Left Wing - Langdale will command just two Horse units on this wing - the 'Northern' Horse and Cary's Horse. I may add a few muskets later on, either commanded muskets and/or dragoons.

Centre Wing - Under the control of Lord Astley. Four Foote units divided into two equal tertias (brigades) under Lucas and B. Astely. 

Right Wing - Under Prince Maurice who will command three units of Horse. Both Princes will have attached to their individual headquarters their own Lifeguards. These can be detached to form a fourth Horse unit if desired. 

Reserve - King Charles. Comprising 2 Foote regiments and the King's Lifeguards (horse) component. 

Artillery - I am "balancing" out the artillery between both sides numbers-wise with both sides having the same number of batteries and gun types. I suspect artillery will feature less prominently on the tabletop battleground but still prove an irritant to whomever is on the receiving end of their focus-fire. With the Royalist, the artillery will be distributed in the Centre and Reserve while the guns of the New Model will reside with their Centre Wing. 

Initial Observations: This Royalist force are mostly experienced veterans but are weak in strength across the board. They will have to deploy other tactics other than engaging their opponents full-on in set battles. The upcoming campaign should prove interesting therefore...so it's hoped. Rupert is brilliant but inconsistent while Charles is more a problem than anything. The next level down commanders are all experienced. 

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13 September 2024

World of Warships

New event began today - Exploration to the North Pole. Checked it out later and discovered it's an annual thing with WG. Rewards are mission-specific tokens that can be cashed in on 1 December. The major rewards are 1 Tier X ship, 1 Tier X Festive camo, and 6 Santa Gift crates. There are other rewards on offer as well I believe but no details have been provided as far as I can discern. 

Firstly, this event is FREE. No expenditure whatsoever. That's a plus for sure.

Secondly, it's a decent alternative to whatever Event Pass will be running between now and Christmas. And it's not unusual for me to 'fast track' progress by spending pingas to access the second level (first level is always free). Each month brings a new Update: currently we are in 13.8. Next month (Halloween) will be 13.9, November (Black Friday) will be 13.10, and December (Santa/New Year) will be 13.11. So that's 3 new Battle Pass events between now and the New Year. With EthNP there are four missions in total spaced a month apart. Completed the first mission objectives so that 2,500 tokens out of a possible 10,000 earned.

Focus today was the continued pursuit for Festive tokens to spend on the remaining Supercontainers (around 30-odd) still for exchange. Daily Rewards still have five lots 125 Festive tokens available. And you can always try your luck with the daily loots crates. 

Finished off the Collection and received the reward, the Pan-American Unique commander Lisboa. Ran him on the Atlantico for the rest of the session to get him active. 

Hoping to get my next steel ship, Mecklenburg, eventually earning the bonus steel reward from the Dockyard event while it lasts. 

Currently finishing off the penultimate mission and earn the two Dockyard tokens that will convert to 250 steel apiece. Last mission will yield 750 steel which will start the next steel ship grind which will go towards the Austin.

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14 September 2024

PC Gaming - New Games

Mentioned it previously about buying into the hype and getting Warhammer 40K Space Marines 2. And now I have also added Black Myth: Wukong after watching another YT streamer gaming it. Going to be some fun over the next few weeks alongside the ECW armies build. Have both games installed on my other Steam account. 

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World of Warships

Short interrupted session today. Received last-minute notification from one of my grandsons this morning that it's his first game of gridiron today. So, naturally enough, I am going to watch and support. Should be interesting to see if he does as well in gridiron as he does in rugby league. Love the game of gridiron but not into the over-hype or excessive BS that comes with it however. 

Go Team K! Go Raptors! Lol. 

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Online PC Gaming

After a chilly spring day spent watching my grandson's team win their game I decided to 'chill out' playing Stardew Valley on my other Steam account. Then crashed.

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15 September 2024

World of Warships

Co-Op is dead. It'll be even more dead with the return of Mode Shuffle in Update 13.9. Already Operations mode has been spiced up with Tier Xs and Superships accessing the mode now which pleases many. Sticking with Co-Op however because it's solo and just a relaxing mode for me. Noticing a lot of premium ships in the lower tiers though lately, some rare. Well, not so rare now. Grinding the Dockyard missions to obtain steel (going for Mecklenburg). 4 steel shy of my goal. Missed it by this much, as Agent 86 might declare to anyone listening. Lol. Have to wait until the last Dockyard mission is made available in a few days time. 

Avoiding the Aquatic event (chance of getting the Victoria odds were incorrectly stated as 0.2% when it's actually 1.2%) as well as the early Pan-American battleship release. Sinkhole for whales with money to spend. Not interested in the Los Andes or the Libertad; happy to wait until they're released around 13.10 (November) or 13.11 (Christmas time). Got the Ipiranga as reward for completing the Event Pass.

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2 September 2024: New month. Weekly Update

2 September 2024

World of Warship: Upskilling commanders grind

It's the turn of Andrew Cunningham, the Unique commander for the British tech tree line. Played him on an old favourite, Hood. 

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3 September 2024

World of Warships: Ninth Anniversary month

Andrew Cunningham upskilled. Made it past halfway point which is 130K XP, and then used Free XP to finish the upskilling. Last Unique commander for upskilling this year is the European Unique commander Jerzy Swirski. Will be playing him on the premium Polish destroyer Blyskawica although I have him alloted to the Tier X Ragnar.

September is also WOWS anniversary month. Nine years this game's release I believe. Lots of free goodies with the next upgrade 13.8 next week. Note: Do NOT spend money as nearly all of what's being offered is free as long as you participate. Well...mostly. The next Dockyard event requires some spending but only doubloons if you have it. I don't have much doubloons so will have to buy some in order to satisfy the Dockyard event requirement where you have to spend a minimum amount of doubloons (at least two phases worth) to be eligible for the final reward; the rest of the phases you just grind away.

November sees the return of the Black Friday event which has some goodies on offer. Then December and January will close out the year with its annual Santa crates. That is the big event for me playing this game - lots of ships on offer. After some of the rare ones like the Tier IX Friesland and the Tier X Smaland. Or Tier V Kamikaze and/or its variants.

Still aiming for six hundred ships in port by year's end. Targeting one more coal ship but nothing really of real interest among the remainder (already have all the 'good' ones like Moskva, Napoli, Pommern, Marceau and others) so will likely spend what's accumulated on much-needed economic bonuses and upgrades instead. My next steel ship will likely be the Mecklenburg or Austin. Already have the Bourgogne, Stalingrad and Ragnar. As for Research Bureau, I've not yet reset a tech tree line (for a reason though) but willing to attempt it once because there are some Research ships that interest me like Vampire II and Paolo Emilio.

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4 September 2024

World of Warship: Swirsky grind

Turn of Jerzy Swirsky, the Unique European commander, for upskilling. Forgot how much fun the Blyskawica is to play. But also forgot her fragility means playing requires more thought and/or care than simply YOLO-ing into the cap first gun a-blazing and torps a-running. Guns are handy taking out other DDs of the same tier however. Can farm cruisers and battleships too when the opportunity presents itself.

Definitely getting the Maine and the Edgar but wanting to have at least 200 million creds first before acquiring both ships. Likely to happen by month's end. 

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5 September 2024

News Update

Ongoing declining health issues means limited activity. Usually confined to a few hours before I crash hard. Can barely survive a grind in PC gaming which is all I am interested in at the moment. Still waiting on my ECW Royalist order from the UK. What's left of the New Model cavalry sits idling in the garage awaiting attention. And painting is not happening.

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World of Warships

Month of events started today. Got the Rochester only to remember I already have it but instead of the promised compensation coupon (to obtain a free new ship) I got 1 credit coin. Ninth Anniversary crate (free) yielded a Pan-Asian submarine, the Xin Zheng Guo-14. No interest in playing it so it will rust in port.

Did an evening session. The more ships in your port means more extra Festive tokens. Just earn 1000 base XP (cumulative) in-game and you receive the extra rewards. I get to earn six bonus festive tokens because I have over five hundred ships in my port. Also the higher the tier, the greater the token amount earned. Just finished grinding through my Tier Xs worth 250 tokens per ship. Tier IXs are worth 200 tokens. And so on. Steel is the reward for Superships (or unoofficially Tier XI). Aiming for 6500 Festive tokens to see if the 100% discount coupon offer still stands. I suspect I stuffed up by spending on the Rochester when I didn't need to, i.e., I could have just checked the Armoury coupon tabs to see if the offer was available PRIOR to spending the tokens. Will have to see over the weekend. 

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6 September 2024

World of Warships

The 100% discount coupon was available when I logged in so got the Tier VIII Soviet battleship Borodino. Free. It was always my first choice. Only has two turrets in the front; rear turrets are secondaries. Its gimmick though is its 12km radar (base value of 25 seconds though). Its armour is weak and citadel can be smashed when presenting citadel side-on as when I got destroyed by the V. Veneto and Sinop.

Spent some of the accumulated credit to obtain the British supership cruiser, the Edgar. Was about to get the Maine but did not have enough. Further credit grinding before that happens. Noticed the price has increased from several months back for all superships. BBs used to cost 49 million but are now over 57 million; DDs costs over 43 million, up from 38 million. As long as I'm not spending real money, it's okay.

Hurrying through my port ships to get the collection tokens and earn for free the reward of the Pan-American Unique commander whats-his-face. 

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Space Marine 2

Seeing a lot of playthroughs by favourite YT streamers. Impressed enough to almost buy the pre-order. Almost. As one YT streamer pointed out repeatedly, Space Marines 2 is "so cinematic". He was quite impressed by that fact. And it does looks amazing visually. But as a number of commenters pointed out however, it's much the same linear combat - defeat a horde, rinse, repeat cycle. Endlessly. Irrespective of the impressive visuals. It goes on sale September 10; I will wait until then to make a final decision. Of course, I am looking at it from a single solo player perspective. There is online multiplayer options but that part doesn't really interest me for now.

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7 September 2024

World of Warships

Was planning to play the Dutch #1 commander but instead continued playing Kuznetsov in Okt. Revolutsiya. Mainly to earn enough Collection tokens (needing total of 60 to earn the Unique commander for Pan-America tech tree line). Short seven tokens. Earned enough coal to obtain the Tier VIII US cruiser Tulsa. 

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8 September 2024

World of Warships

Continued grinding for the Festive tokens. New goal: Earn as much as possible and then spend it on Supercontainers. Thought about converting the Festive lot over to the Aquatic token in order for a very very slim chance (0.02%) of obtaining either the new battleship Victoria or either the Anhalt or Karl Johan XIV. Decided the cost was not worth the effort. I had over a 1000 Festive tokens accumulated and spent them on Supercontainers instead and got a decent enough return for the spend. Much better than the one Aquatic "attempt" which cost 500 Festive tokens and yielded just a few blue Economic Bonuses. WG really want you to spend money even though they promise you lots of "freebies" which in the end turn out to be worthless or else you have to read the fine print to extract the best deal for oneself. 

Just one more Collector's token required to finish the jigsaw and obtain the reward - the Pan-American Unique 10-pt commander Joaquim Marqes Lisboa. This has been one use for Festive tokens. No rush though for now as I only need a couple more duplicates and these are guaranteed in the Daily Rewards drop. Got over one hundred and seventy port ships left to go with converting to Festive tokens. For me, I get to do them in batches of six because I have over 500 ships: just earn the 1000 base XP each time and you get your six lots of Festive tokens. Of course, they decrease in worth the lower the tier, so that Tier VII are worth 50 per ship, Tier VI earns you 35 per ship and Tier V just 25. A Supercontainer costs 125 Festive tokens; you are limited to 180 all up. Bound to get a free ship in that lot somehow playing the odds.

Outlay money-wise? Zilch so far. 

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26 August 2024: Weekly Update

26 August 2024

World of Warships

Kuznetsov's turn. Ran him in the Soviet premium cruiser Kirov at first but wasn't having much success so switched to the 'war canoe' the Soviet premium destroyer Okhotnik. Slow going to begin with as my mind wasn't on the game, i.e., I kept dying too quickly. But soon I locked in (woke up) and got the results expected. However, I soon tired of playing as it was becoming more of a grind and, as with Sansonetti, once I reached the halfway mark (150,000 Cmdr XP) or close enough I completed the remaining requirement with saved-up Elite Commander XP. Then logged out.

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27 August 2024

World of Warships

Yamamoto Isoroku's turn. 

Also got enough to buy outright one of the Super ships. Had my eye on the US battleship Maine since its release but also keen on the UK cruiser Edgar. Wanted to ensure I had enough credit left over once my final choice was selected, i.e., at least 100 million credits. Undecided however as I also want to have at least one super ship for every nation eligible. To date, these are the eligible nations: Japan, USA, UK, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Europe, Pan-Asia.

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COVID

Forgot to mention that you lose your sense of smell and taste while you have COVID. Terrible feeling as nothing tastes quite right. As for smell, only one to notice are those closest to you. Mind you, your fur kids don't care. But people are such fickle and sensitive creatures. And hypercritical. Lol. 

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Soapbox Rant

I like to watch YT streamers who move to NZ to "get away from the rat race" that was their former lives in whatever country they originated from. Why? Because they get to sample and taste for the first time how I felt when growing up in Aotearoa. Having lived in Oz now for over thirty-two years, you could say I'm firmly implanted in my country of existence. I miss home (NZ will always be my home - my roots so to speak - as it shaped me for the first thirty-odd years of my life) but Oz is my home now. For good or ill. Met some lovely people living and working here; even made a few lifelong friends. Oz is the land of milk and honey to this Kiwi boy made good who never expected it. Having lived on both sides of the fence, I might consider myself qualified to comment on the differences and similarities between both cultures, and for the most part NZ still wins hands-down for those intangible qualities that I still value - humility and family. Learned early in life that "wherever I lay my hat, that's my home..." to requote a famous song line by Paul Young. Lived under all kinds of conditions from being homeless and sleeping rough between the roots of a tree to living in a million-dollar home. Structures are just that - an environment upon which to build your actual home. Tough doing so on your own; much worse when you have a family behind you expecting of you. Yet it still surprises me when people who've made the long move to NZ end up leaving after a few years. Trying to make the country fit their ideals is not the way to do it; you adapt your ideals to help integrate you into your new environment. Admittedly, it doesn't always work out but then that's the crux: if you factor in every little detail, you are always going to miss something. So, why not embrace the adventure and make it work for you. I know from my own experience, now that I have the life I never imagined for myself, I find I miss NZ even more. Maybe it's because my life is winding down...I don't know for certain. Anyway, those who leave after a few years, safe travels on your next adventure wherever that may lead you. Can the last one to leave please turn off the lights. Thank you. 

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28 August 2024

World of Warships

Today it was the turn of the Pan-Asian legendary/unique commander, Sa Zhenbing. Played him on the Tier VI premium Pan-Asian destroyer Anshan. Got as far as I could (end point was the last daily loot crate) before using up the remaining ECXP (plus some Free XP) to upskill him to 19-point level. That's four done so far.

Tomorrow the next mission set in the Dockyard event is released; only need three more event tokens to finish the event which come with this next mission. I will also incorporate the other Unique or Seasoned commanders due for upskilling in the grind: Philippe Auboyneau (France), Jerzy Swirski (Europe), Andrew Cunningham (UK), Ramon Osario (Spain), and Michiel de Ruyter (Netherlands). 

KOTS XVII is happening right now. Well, the qualifying rounds are happening. What puzzles me is that the games replays or live are delayed which can often take up to half an hour as in a couple of streams. Who in their right mind is going to hang around waiting for such a delay when you have CS2 games replays happening as soon as they're done?! It's not like hundreds or thousands watch KOTS anyway. Sort of turns me off bothering. I can always wait until AFTER the event's been played and find out then but by then who really cares. 

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COVID

Lingering recovery is frustrating. Able to function for a few hours before I have to return to bedrest. Any physical exertion, such as lawn mowing, is simply out of the question. Tried lifting a couple of heavy boxes this afternoon and had to crash shortly after as it took a lot out of me. I now regret not having the COVID booster shot when I had the chance earlier this year. 

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29 August 2024

World of Warships

Finished dockyard event and got the reward. Meh is all I can say for now. More relevant that I managed to upskill a couple of those listed captains (see above): it was primarily de Ruyter and Auboyneau who received the upskilling. Tomorrow it's the other three.

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30 August 2024

World of Warships

Ran Ramon Osorio, #1 Spanish commander (for me at least) on Canarias. Meh effort, meh interest. Another sesh tomorrow, same-same.

Stardew Valley

Change of game later in the evening to break the monotony of the WOWS grind. Usually a Stardew Valley session nowadays consists of playing one whole season. End up doing an all-nighter because I started late (COVID recovery).

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31 August 2024

PC Online Gaming

Slow grind today; still upskilling Osorio on the Canarias. To wash the bad taste thereafter, I played another season of Stardew Valley as well as a couple of other games in my Steam library.

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18 August 2024: Weekly Digest

18 August 2024

PC Gaming: World of Warships

Only 79 Premium days left on my account then I am free...! Today's session is a reminder just how bad this game has declined. Concentrated on finishing the Colourful Regatta event tasks; figured it would take just two runs in the Pommern, and it was so. Done, I logged out and went and did some work in the garage setting up new shelving and a general tidy up in the workshop area in preparation for its new use. 

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19 August 2024

Wargaming: English Civil War

While waiting for my Royalist army list to arrive from the UK I finally pulled out the remaining New Model cavalry - Vermuyden's, Whalley's, Ireton's Horse. Ireton's Horse will be Ironsides so three per stand while the other two units will be 'lighter' cavalry with two per stand. Aiming for four stands per Horse unit. Any spares will likely be converted to guidon ensigns...that's if I have any spare. Sat staring at the carefully laid out pile of untouched minis for a long while before I got up and walked out locking the door behind me. Lol.

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21 August 2024

News Update: COVID

Recovery still slowing me down. Lacking energy all the time - fine for a short while before it kicks in. Feeling tired always. Sleeping it off helps but then I get tired of sleeping. Continual cycle that is wearing.

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Mapmaking: Maps for my story

Passes in the Eagles mountains. A visualisation based on a description in the Background notes.

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World of Warships

Enjoying a happy routine for once. Incentive is to play my Pommern as many times it takes to grab the two Base XP rewards in the Colourful Regatta event. This usually takes between 2-3 games to accomplish. Then it's log out time. Today's highlight was on the Tears of the Desert map when myself and a Shchors were on our own to cap on the left. Didn't expect the enemy to show up in force though. Faced off against a Pommern, AL Agir, Azuma, Seattle. 4 on 2. Good odds. Lol. Charged in and managed to survive my bravado. Sunk three; missed out on the Azuma as the remainder of the team finally showed up just as I was lining up for the killing blow. Shchors hung back and provided supporting fire: it would have been smashed by either of the enemy cruisers so it chose wisely. Me? Well, wisdom I lack anyway. Good game though.

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22 August 2024

News Update: Sick again..!

Thought I had a pretty bad head cold but it turns out it's COVID...again! Dang! Having to endure that awful lingering aftertaste of the medication makes recovery an uncomfortable situation. Tempting to eat and drink just to kill that taste but it's not really an option that works because that bitter awful aftertaste stays throughout the entire period of pill popping. Aftertaste goes away once you stop though.

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PC Gaming: World of Warships

Longer session than usual because the next mission in the Dockyard event was released and therefore played extra games as a result. The Colourful Regatta event had three instead of two objectives but this was nothing major or even minor; more affected playing those extra Dockyard mission tasks instead. Played the Pommern as per usual thoughout. But drained afterwards. Going to crash now.

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News Update: Lancashire Games

Summer Sale extended to 31 August due to backlog in orders and queries, so I've just been informed by email.

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23 August 2024

PC Gaming: World of Warships

Finished the battleship requirement for the Dockyard event using the Pommern. Then did the cruiser requirement using the Zao CLR using economic bonuses to fast-track the grind, so only two more phases to go before receiving the Almte. Oqendo. I actually like the Zao and its derivatives and am learning its capabilities - strengths and weaknesses. It's one thing reading the pros and cons but I learn better playing. Sometimes I forget that a salvo of five torps can, if all score hits, total over 100K worth of damage so basically most ships are fair game even the superships. But 12km range makes it easy to avoid so use it to ambush instead. Low health pool means it can be one shotted if not situationally aware. AA defensive fire is better than average for a cruiser so it can support capping DDs without too much problems. 

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Mapmaking: Watabou

Is a town and city builder familiar to RPG and D&D players. Found a YT streamer who used Watabou to create a town map and integrated his townscape into Wonderdraft as a symbol. Pretty brilliant so I reckon. Watabou is free. Below is an example of what it's all about. After using Watabou and you're happy with the final layout export it to GIMP, and further edit to your satisfaction before importing it into Wonderdraft as an asset in Symbols. And voila! Below is what's standard in Watabou. Randomly seeded town/city scapes galore. Not 3D but plan view with structures in block form.

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News Update: COVID

On the mend but won't really know until Monday.

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24 August 2024

PC Gaming: World of Warships

Played three ships today - all Tier IX, all battleships. Did so to upskill their captains to the next level. Ran Pommern first and upskilled its skipper to 14-pt. Then it was the turn of the Alsace (now 11-pt) before ending session playing Lepanto (now 12-pt). Next few sessions will concentrate on upskilling my Unique commanders - Yamamoto Isoroku (Japan), Sa Zhenbing (Pan-Asia), Nikolay Kuznetsov (Russia), and Luigi Sansonetti (Italy). These four are at the 18-pt skill level. Will play them on whatever vacant premium ships that I have spare with/without economic bonuses (depending on how well they fare in-game). Will also run Jerzy Swirzki (Europe) who is the lowest ranked Unique commander at 14-pt. And possibly Adrian Johnston who is going to be my Commonwealth #1 captain; he's currently at 16pt. Expect it will take me through to Upgrade 13.8 (September) and beyond some to achieve my goal. 

Thought about creating my own clan just for the economic bonuses but then I remembered I've done all the nations tech tree lines except for subs and carriers. Only reason to really start a clan therefore is for the clan bonuses on coal and oil, and perhaps play with like-minded clan mates. Having tried it twice already, I'm finding it preferable going solo.

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25 August 2024

PC Gaming: World of Warships

First of the commander upskill grind. Sansonetti is first up so played him on the Leone, an interesting Tier V premium DD. Reached halfway mark (needed 300,000 Commander XP) and then used some of the Elite Commander XP already saved to cross the 19-pt line. 

Rather than make it a long grind, I am now going to switch to the next commander off the rank, Kuznetsov. Tomorrow, I will run him on the premium cruiser Kirov. Playing lower tiered premiums in order to save on the running costs - the higher the tier, the heavier the cost. 

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Wargaming: ECW Royalists

Received notification that the package has not left the UK because of some stuff up with the Royal Mail postal service. So the retailer is sending the package by courier instead. Should arrive by end of next week, so one hopes. Not overly concerned but then I am still distracted by this COVID situation which is slowly going away (test tonight showed I've still got a trace of it). But I've run out of medication. Being extra careful not to re-expose myself to the flu/cold again otherwise COVID will return. 

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Writing: Memo to Self - Be Consistent

When writing becomes an overwhelming passion, then fulfil that itch. Once done however, if it was only ever a one-off thing, move on to the next project or item on your to-do or bucket list. Keep moving. Before you do, ensure it's finished to the best of your ability otherwise it will haunt you to finish it fully. 

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PC Gaming: Command Modern Operations

Getting back into this game. Like the complexity of its design, the overall strategic and tactical objectives, learning to master and then coordinate the various elements that comprise the game, beating the AI who are more organised and efficient than you...stuff like this makes this game very appealing all over again. But I haven't played it in a while so having to read the manual fully this time to full reacquaint myself with the game mechanics. Will post a few sessions next month.

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PC Gaming: Black Myth Wukong

This game is selling gang busters, a trend that is encouraging given the recent flops like Concord and Dustborn. Over 10 million copies already sold on in the first week globally across all platforms since its release. Easily outperforming favourites like Cyberpunk 2077 and Helldivers 2 in sales. On Steam it's going for over eighty dollars (AUD) so that a whole amount of profit to the game/developers. From the few snippets I've seen from other YT streamers, and the overall comments thus far, this game is a big winner simply because it gives the gamers what they overwhelmingly want - a great game. Personally not my kind of game but I am sorely tempted to buy it just to see what the fuss is all about. Tempted being the key word.

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9 August 2024: Weekly Digest

Friday 9 August 2024

World of Warships

New Dockyard event began yesterday. Bought the two starter packs available to those who don't want to do the long grind. Why? Because I'm a potato whale (someone who has more money than sense and cannot play anyway). And a collector of pixel ships. The keyword is "collector". Anyway, I am gathering all the rewards associated with the event because I am accumulating as much resources as possible in preparation for the Christmas Santa event in December and January. Well, that's the justification for the expenditure. 

Today's session saw me finish off the last task of the first Dockyard mission in the US heavy cruiser Pensacola. Then just as I was about to log out, I checked the Colourful Regatta event again in the Armoury and noticed the North Carolina CLR was obtainable using the tokens (plus spend a few pennies). So I got it and played the three missions attached with it (rewarded with bonus economic boost as well as credits). Used the special discount coupon (40%) to obtain it at a cheaper price. Will likely also obtain one more Colourful Regatta event ship for sale, either the Zao CLR or Kleber CLR. Both are the same price. Not interested in the Roon CLR. 

At the same time, obtained the European Tier IX destroyer Jager which was released into the Armoury with the latest update. Also used one of the regular discount coupons and spent reduced coal to obtain it. So, two new ships. 

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English Civil War

Notification reached me that my Royalist army order is done and will leave the UK next week. Time over this weekend however to finish off my New Model foot units. Fingers crossed. Still have several Horse units to assemble. 

Will review the new rules I've acquired from Wargames Vault and start planning how to integrate them into new solo campaign scenarios for future gaming tabletop.

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Writings (including Paintings)

Transcribing the original printed out MSS into digital format continues at stop-start pace. Doing it because the original paper printed MSS is fading and bulky; having it digitised and stored on a USB stick or whatever will save space. I still have the old 3.5 disks but they've probably degraded so much that any file retrieval will be pointless, not to mention expensive. 

Will continue to work on creative a few more maps using Wonderdraft. Keen to grab a few Dark Age models together and modify them based on my writing. There is one major battle written into the original  MSS that is part of the narrative and I would like to see if it does pan out like the written plot. Highly doubt it is my initial thought. 

Painting progress - to be composed soon.

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Scourge of War: Remastered

Planning on more tutorials with this new game (to break the monotony of retyping the MSS). Hoping to play one of the single battles at least by next weekend. Interesting how it differs completely from the original Waterloo game played back in 91 so much, but perhaps the surprising thing is that playing against the AI (hard or easy setting) is a piece of pi**, according to the YT streamer. And it's not far wrong because the really good players rise to the top.

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Saturday 10 August 2024

Lancashire Games

Summer Sale ending 18 August. Wide range of products as advertised on their site. Happy to help out where I can.

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Monday 12 August 2024

World of Warships

Normal grinding the Colourful Regatta event and Daily Loot crates. Playing both Jager and Almirante Grau. The funny button on the Almirante Grau relies on you being unobserved for it to activate. HE spammer. In a battle with the Napoli I lost out by the faintest of margins. 

The Jager torps are plentiful (12 in one run) but weak; they can still take down a Tier VIII battleship (if you can get close enough). Reload is average (85 seconds). Boosted speed to 90 knots via the Commander skill upgrade. You're better off ambushing from cover as the guns are pi** poor - you only get three. As a YT streamer pointed when reviewing the new ships in the Armoury, the Jager is a WW1 with post-WW2 torpedoes. Get it?

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Tuesday 13 August 2024

COVID

Wife started showing symptons that we thought was COVID last Friday evening. Took the test Saturday morning and confirmed it was positive. She was bed-ridden over the weekend and much of yesterday. Today's she been able to sit up and seemed well enough to even drive to the doctor for her appointment because unfortunately I came down with COVID Monday night. Yay!

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Wednesday 14 August 2024

World of Warships

Went full potato today and paid for the Zao CLR after re-reading the requirements. Why? Because I liked the green camo? Nah, I did it purely because I had locked my sights on getting it and went for it. Played it and had immediately fun in the five games for the extra bonuses reward. Managed to uptier the 10-pt captain that came with the ship to 11-pt too! I chose instead to go with Top Grade Gunner with my last 4-skill points instead of Concealment Expert. And Survivability Expert was deemed essential.  The torps hit hard (@20K damage per hit) so it really demolishes battleships if she's able to connect. Its HE also does damage especially against cruisers and low-health battleships. It has submarine radar, and its AA suite is not too bad. Demolished a flight of planes from the Shokaku in one game which was nice. You can switch your AA Defensive Fire for Hydro but why would you; it's not like you're going to YOLO because she has a low health pool, less than 45K. I've learned post-session that she is ideal as an ambusher if you can her stealth down to 9.9km. 

Oh, today I am heavily medicated so not quite the zombie I was yesterday. But the medication only helps briefly before exhaustion set in so it's back to bed for me. Cheers.

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Thursday 15 August 2024

World of Warships

Interesting session. Used up my quota of discount coupons bar one acquiring accessories like economic bonuses, unique upgrades, and signals. Second mission for the Dockyard event also began today so played long enough to reach five of the six completed tasks. Will finish the last task hopefully tomorrow. 

Feeling better thanks to the COVID medication. That awful lingering taste in the mouth from the tablets however means having to periodically rinse out the mouth with something other than water. No, not alcohol. Surprised at the speed of my recovery; I am not as sick as my wife though. She is still suffering despite the medication. I am nowhere near back to my pathetic useless self but at least I'm no longer a walking zombie. Proof are my posts. Gotcha!

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Writing Project - More Fantasy Maps

Some more practice tonight using Wonderdraft. Happy enough with the result and this rendition for now, especially with the basic layout of the main dividing mountain range separating the western coastal realms with the central realms. Still got time to improve however and this is just the start. 

 The two yellow stars represent the capitals. Quorg is kind of a backwater realm filled with feuding nobles more interested in their own local disputes much likes those states in the David Eddings Belgariad series who is incidentally my favourite fantasy series ever. Sorry Tolkien. And speaking of David I must also knowledge his wife Leigh who co-authored with him on later works. Quorg is known by many names - Land of a Thousand Lakes being one. 

West of the coastline are many islands (not shown) as well as island states. They do not feature in any of the first three books but do so in the future series which I managed to outline very roughly before I got distracted again. Further north are the Wildlands (barren apart from a few hardy souls and prospectors). And then there are the difficult Barria mountains. Beyond that though is whole new world that is rarely visited except for a few intrepid and fearless adventurers. The land here is wide open steppes and land of the fierce and nomadic Gruks (pronounced Gr-ooks - roll the r). I was bereft of original names for many of my place names so borrowed inspiration from other authors. And being of droll humour I invented a few myself (such as Yacca because well he talks a lot). I had originally filled in the area between Penelanor and the independent Five Free Cities with many smaller states but I soon realised later doing so did not fit the narrative too well so have simply dumped them. Maybe I can recycle them later in one of the later stories. 

Went back and updated the Five Free Cities map shortly after finishing this. Map, if I haven't already explained show roughly the territorial boundaries (which are shaded in different colours) that mainly access the Bay of Winds which is a major trading hub for the western lands. The mountains of this earlier copy are incorrect especially given I've since updated the mountains in the Penelanorian map (which itself will be amended eventually). I will replicate that amendment into a new version of the Five Free Cities map. 

Much of the first book takes part within these three maps (city of Calmar to be refined in the coming days as I practice more with Wonderdraft). As I continue the slow work of redrafting and more redrafting I will corroborate as well vary my workload by doing more maps and lots lots more sketches for the books of Part Two. And so on. Cheers.

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Friday 16 August 2024

Writing - Sketch maps from my old story

Found three more sketches done in 2015 which is a surprise to me so I am feigning short-term memory loss because I thought I had abandoned this back in the early noughties. 

Pen sketch of plan view of Calmar, the capital of the central kingdom of Lammoria. It is divided up into three main area or quarters. Starting with the Old City which just above top centre. It is bordered by two major rivers - the slower wider Marl on its western side and the faster and narrower Lam that borders its southern side. East is what's known as the Escarpment, an L-shaped line of sheer-faced cliffs. Access up the Escapement is via its southern face. Several forts line these cliffs guarding the eastern approaches to the Old City. 

Over the decades, the city grew and expanded. First south which is now the Port quarter. It's where most of the trading houses have their headquarters and warehouses. It is also the busiest and most active of the quarters. Here is where the City Watch, expanded later into the City Guard, had their origins. The land south of the Port quarter is both arable and highly cultivated spreading east and rising to the higher ground (so I imagined it in my head) that is in the south-east corner. It's where two of characters enter the story from. 

The most recent section of the capital is called the New City is less than one hundred years old although some of the structures have been around for much longer. It's where the Palace and its spacious parks, armoury, and functionaries are quartered (those that are essential that is). Its eastern riverbank is prized real estate and home to many court nobles and officials. Even other nobles have quarters here.

The city walls have built up over the centuries thanks to the expansion over the centuries. South of the city is a series of three forts. They're known as the Gates of Aulus. A gigantic bronze and gilt statue once stood there but it was destroyed when Calmar was sacked by marauding corsairs a century ago. The Lammorians replaced it with something less attractive and more functional. This is also the main entry and exit point for all river traffic. 

That's the brief run-down. The old citadel is situated near the centre of the Old City. A newer citadel is located on the Escarpment which was not well received at the time but the builder happened to be their king at the time who went ahead anyway. As you do. 

Another 2015 drawing. Also in ink pen. It is based on memory and only reveals part of the land mass that this story takes place. Did this deliberately because I wanted to provide a sense of revelation as the story unfolds. But as someone said to me upon reading my Appendix said plainly, "...if it's not relevant to the story, why bother?'" A valid point. Still, I persevered because (a) it helped me with my world-building, (b) it is relevant to the story but not just this one, and (c) no other valid reason apart from personal enjoyment. Conformity can be a crock sometimes.

I am not sure but this pencil sketch was in the same location as the other two so I am speculating this was done around the same time - 2015. The Hidden City is simply an exercise in drafting. Dad wanted me to be an architect. I wanted to be a field marshal. In the end I settled for tabletop wargamer who enjoyed structures and from time to time liked to draw them, real or otherwise. Did several sketches of this place of which I've only managed to locate this few. Oh well...

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World of Warships

Started much later than usual thanks to a combination of late sleep-in and COVID relapse. Felt meh about playing but wanting to finish the last task of the second Dockyard mission kept me at it for as long as I could before I just gave up and logged out. Then crashed.

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10 August 2024: Lancashire Games

Lancashire Games

Happy to promote Allan's site. 

Summer Sale ending 18 August. Wide range of products as advertised on their site.