The other week Mark and I got in a game of Gaslands, having been inspired after picking up Gaslands Refuelled and a bunch of accessories at Salute.
Despite barely managing half a lap of the circuit, we had loads of fun, with lots of wipeouts and general mayhem, and I’m sure we’ll be playing more of it in the future.
More pictures below the fold.
Appearances to the contrary, I have neither died, been in a coma, nor lost my interest in the hobby!
I have, however, recently become a father again for the fourth (or fifth, depending on how you measure these things) time, which although otherwise entirely wonderful, has had the effect of (a) taking away what little energy I had left after dealing with the rest of the family, (b) doing the same to my spare time and (c) depriving me of the permanent hobby space I previously enjoyed, which is now the nursery.
There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, as things are now settling down and I’m starting to get time and energy back. I also acquired a GoBag Evo from Monument Hobbies, which has drastically reduced the setup/teardown time required to get my hobby on at the kitchen table. So hopefully you’ll see some more posts soon!
One further item: after previously vein active on twitter and then instagram, I’m more interested in the Fediverse nowadays, and thanks to some technical wizardry you can now follow this blog on Mastodon! Just search for @jodrell to see this post through your Mastodon client, and follow to receive updates.
Onwards!
As of Monday, August 1st, the In the Emperor’s Name website and the ItEN Retinue Builder have been retired.
In the Emperor’s Name was an idea that was ahead of its time, and blazed a trail that was followed by other games, most notably Kill Team, and of course, also gave birth to In Her Majesty’s Name and its many variants. This is entirely due to the enthusiasm and efforts of Craig Cartmell, the “benevolent dictator for life” of the Forge of War group.
However, after many years during which ItEN has largely been left fallow, it’s time to move on to new things.
A complete archive of all ItEN content, including all versions of the rules, campaign books, and retinue lists, has been created on the Internet Archive, where it will remain available for future generations of wargames enthusiasts.
The Emperor Protects!
After taking a break for a few years (after it was initially cancelled), I recently binge-watched the last four Amazon-commissioned seasons of the incredible hard SF series The Expanse.
There are many ships of various kinds in The Expanse, but the most notable is Rocinante, the home and workplace of the main characters of the show. She’s a salvaged MCRN corvette, armed with point-defense cannons (PDCs), missiles, and in the later series, a rail gun.
I found a good quality 3D model of the Roci and was compelled to paint it for display on the shelf above my desk.
Oye beltalowda beratnas and sésatas, kewe to pensa ere kapawu?
A few (actually almost ten) years ago I posted some pictures of the Battlestar Galactica model kit. Not long after I posted that article, I picked up a Mk II Colonial Viper kit (originally produced by Moebius, now by Revell).
That model sat in my pile of shame for almost seven years, until I decided I needed a pallet cleanser towards the end of last year.
Completing this model was a pleasurable challenge: the model is not super-high quality and needed quite a bit of filling and sanding to put together. This is the first model that I’ve had to paint the interior cockpit for, seal up and mask, and then finish the exterior. The final step was to remove the masking on the canopy which was very satisfying!
After I’d applied the decals and finished painting, the model looked beautiful, but it’s the weathering that makes a model like this really pop. I used a mix of weathering powders and sponge chipping to add an appropriately lived-in level of wear and tear.
More pictures below the fold!