Back on the Blogosphere

Hey y'all. I haven't been blogging much. Winter break was really hectic for me, bouncing from crisis to personal crisis, and then school started. Now I think I want to get back into the swing of things.

So I have an article on Draigo-wing going up tomorrow, then I hope to get some thoughts out on Role-Playing this weekend, between internship applications and essay-writing.

I also have some ideas for a long-term project, but I need to do some more thinking before I decide to commit to something of the magnitude I'm considering.

Scrapping Posts

So, I've had a few posts planned. Even a few partially written.

I couldn't bring myself to do a book review of Ludlum's The Holcroft Covenant. It was pretty bland, and it took me way too long just to slog through the mother. And I think it was less than 500 pages. Not at all what I was expecting from him.

My posts on my D&D campaign are stillborn when I try to write them. I just need to figure out HOW I want to present them, and then have time to do that. Because I would like to post that at some point.

I wrote up an article last night about the competitive/non-competitive debate. Essentially, the gist was that the non-competitive crowd is losing because they are too disrespectful of their fellow hobbyists. Only, I took a look at that today, and I come across as a whiny brat.

Sigh.

Everything is in a state of flux right now. So I'm sort of just powering through and seeing where I am once things calm down. Is this what being an adult feels like? Blugh.

On the bright side, the new Necrons look awesome! I'm tempted to put a 'cron army on my Christmas list.

The Truth is Out There: The TRUE Allegiances of the Space Marines

Every good Imperial citizen knows that the Space Marines are the Emperor’s Angels of Death. But what most don’t suspect, even inside the Inquisition, is that the true master of the Space Marines is not the beloved God-Emperor. Terrifyingly, many of humanity’s protectors have fallen prey to the wickedness of xenos and the fell taint of Chaos.

For example, the Grey Knights, the super-secret awesome-incarnate chapter of Space Marines, who do battle against the foul warpspawn, are CLEARLY in the service of the Eldar. Why, that’s preposterous, you say! Sadly, ‘tis true, dear reader. One need only look at the incident aboard the craftworld Malan’tai. After the Grey Knights purged the foul daemons from the vessel, did they procure the psycho-active soulstones for the good of humanity? Or did they return the cursed artifacts to the Eldar? Truly, the conspiracy runs deep indeed.

            Even the beloved Ultramarines are not to be trusted. After they were completely wiped out by Hive Fleet Behemoth at Ultramar, the Hive Mind captured the barely surviving body of Marneus Calgar and turned him into a genestealer. Hive Fleet Behemoth then flew into a sun, so that the “Ultramarines” would live on to spread the infestation from within humanity. How else do we “explain away” that Calgar, the spiritual liege of all Astartes and keeper of the Codex, would allow a NON-codex organization to form within his own chapter? The only rational explanation is that the Hive Mind wanted to defray suspicion, and so decided to “start” an “anti-Tyranid” “group” within the “Ultramarines.”

Behold The Lord of Ultramar on his throne of LIES!

            Known to many scholars in our honored Imperium is the incident on Gehenna. The Blood Angels, led by Lord Dante himself, were doing battle with the Necrons. That is, until Marneus Calgar led a Hive Fleet to wipe him out! Then, Lord Dante showed his true colors, took command of his loyal Necron servants, and proceeded to send Calgar crying back to Macragge. Surely it has not escaped your notice, dear reader, that Dante and Deceiver both start with the letter D!? Such a thing can surely be no coincidence—they are one and the same!

            I could go on—how the Dark Angels fell to Chaos, and Cipher and his "Forsaken," as they call themselves, are desperately trying to warn Terra of the Lion’s betrayal. Of how the Black Templars may or may not be the most successful Ork WAAAGH in the history of the galaxy, masquerading as an endless human crusade. But I think that all that is pretty much self evident, now that I’ve shed light on the fact that the defenders of man…

[PAUSE]

…may not be who they seem….

I Never Thought I'd Say This, But Volcanoes Are Stupid

Well, I spent most of yesterday on an impromptu road trip from Sydney to Melbourne because that Chilean volcano's ash cloud grounded our flight. I don't mind road trips all that much, but it was a long day that I wasn't fully braced for. I mean, what business does a Chilean volcano have cluttering up Australian airspace? Damned rude of it, in my opinion.

I've asked my players if they mind me recording our campaign up here. If they tell me they don't the prologue should be up in a few days, and Chapter 1 (which is considerably longer) ... sometime after that.

I would really like to get into steampunk and Dungeon punk, and have thus been considering getting some Eberron source material for my 4e campaign, primarily for equipment and monsters. Can anyone tell me if this is a good investment, and which books I should look at in fourth edition?

I've been jonesing for some nerdiness. Happily, my players are gleefully spying on the Duke's court, Blood of Kittens has been dumping Sisters rumors, and Girlfriend is powering through season 3 of BSG (apparently she was using it to replace my constant geeky chatter while I'm away, and now she's hooked). So that's kept me going, but it only takes the edge off the fact that I really want to roll some dice!

From a hotel in Sydney...

Not much to update on for now, but I thought I'd throw something down.

Well, it appears that the new SoB 'dex is truely in a White Dwarf. I hope it doesn't suck, because for some odd reason, I've always like the Sisters. I've never even seen them on the tabletop, but the idea of SO MUCH FIRE, in addition to Nuns with Guns... I dunno, it amuses me. I hope they still have lots of fire. Not to mention I enjoy when Games Workshop puts out quality product.

At some point, I may do recaps in a story form of the D&D campaign I'm running. (Good lord, I'm such a dork!) I want to finish Chapter 2, and that will happen when we get together at school again. I also need my player's permission. If I get bored, I may decide to start writing out Chapter 1 before then.

That's all for now. I expect the banality of my posts to lessen somewhat once I'm home, and have access to all of my hobby stuff.

My first book review is on its way. As soon as I finish the book.

The Visions of a Madman

I have a few long-term projects I'm working on. Some are inhibited by time, some by space, and some by money. Some are going forward, and some may never come to fruition. So, here's my little to-do list. For Hobby:

• Finish my Tyranid Army. 
• I'm right about at 2k points, where I want to be, but I have a handful of minis left to buy, and only about 10-12 termagants completely painted, with no basing finished. (BTW, if anyone knows how to base a mini so it looks like it's in a wheat field, throw something in the comments!)
• Build up my Dark Eldar force.
• I still have a long way to go on this one. I have to finish of my 1.5k force, and then buy my way up to Apocalypse strength. Which means more triples of everything, since my Kabal runs on principles of 3. When IA12 or 13 has Dark Eldar, I'll be very happy, though my wallet won't be. 
• Space Marines.
• Oh, Lordy. My Space Marine Chapter has fluff, a paint scheme, but no models. One day I'll start buying them. But it'll be an Apocalypse-sized force, with playable armies for all the Space Marine Codices (not CSM or GK, though. They are too aesthetically different.) That may branch into an entire Imperial force, if I like the Sisters.
• For these guys, I also want to build a scale model of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne:



Now imagine it with battle damage!


• Yep, I'm an idiot! That's gonna be a while coming, though.

Generically, I also have a few other to-dos.

• My Secret Project. 
• It's writing. But other than that, I'm not allowing myself to say, only a few select people have been informed of this.
• My Book Series.
• I'm excited about this again. Maybe I'll try and start actually writing it once the SP is done (for better or worse). Right now I'm just mentally story-boarding.
• Mass Effect!
• Alright, with Mass Effect 3 coming out, a good portion of my time will be devoted to getting my Shepard's backstory perfect. I play BioWare for the story, and I love the Mass Effect series. It should be awesome.

Oh, and I have to catch up with friends and family for the short time I'm in Chicago, move into my apartment in Texas, start work, spend time with Girlfriend, and eat, sleep, and bathe. 

We'll see how all this goes, won't we?