3rd Advent Weekender

We are heading fast towards the end of the year. And an expected envelope from Sweden arrived. Didn't connect any of the nordic countries with the fulfillment of the subscription or parcel services.

Wargames Soldiers & Strategies Great Wargaming Survey, prices for the survey participants have been sent and received. I went for the tank commander sprue, as you can see casting is well and less glossy than in the past with human miniatures.

I had a bit of a giggle, when GW announced that Blood Bowl Chaos Dwarfs would return for made-to-order, as that news arrived me days after I just bought mine.

There is something to take away for both sides. First of all, they were made to order back in 2017, so miniatures / offers may return in the future. Games Workshop recognised that the composition of the old team, 8 hobgobs and 4 chaos dwarfs was a bit unappealing (no chance to get the additional 2 CD blocker for a reasonable price), so they switched that to 6 / 6. As I have a few hobgobs spare (4 EUR per miniature), drop me a message if you want to fill those positions. Beyond that, made to order works quite well with Games Workshop, I bought the Halflings that way back in 2017, and had the same problem that kept me from buying the Chaos Dwarfs back then, filling in the remaining positionals. Be aware of scalpers, who charge you double the price after the made to order is through, that's just unreasonable.

Next week will be my last regular work week for 2019, so I hope to squeeze in a bit of hobby time between the holidays. One of the biggest projects for the upcoming year is "Lean Management" for the Chaosbunker. What does that mean? First of all, to be able to have a better focus on the projects I want to work on, I need to get rid of all the stuff that isn't going to be taken care of. I did evaluations post on some systems, like Dystopian Wars and SAGA in the past, and I might continue the series in 2020. These posts were not mere intentions, armies / miniature lots were sold after them, like my entire Dystopian Wars prussians or my SAGA vikings. Some of the next steps, will be selling of the Warhammer items, that don't qualify as mid-hammer (40k beyond 2nd edition, WHFB beyond the 6th edition).

I have a broad collection here, in different project sizes and value. So some may be donated to interesting projects, others will be traded with the next runs of the travelling boxes like HANS! or the Stuff box, and the third faction will be sold. The motivation isn't generating liquid assets, but another economical reason, the scarcity of goods in comparison of their limitless demand - in this case certainly time and space. But I still want to be able to do reviews, they way I do, so a basic stock of randomness will have to remain, for comparison purposes. To be honest, I am a bit afraid of the space that the build terrain will take up, for that reason I am strongly pushing for multiple use of those terrain pieces (going for generic items, that work with a broad range of settings). This could mean a less 40k-flavour on the sci-fi terrain, but a more industrial look, that would work with space operas and such as well.

Preparing the next Oldhammer articles, of Abaddon's Black Legion, with the followers of Khorne coming next and a re-visit to the traitor Terminators, with some first basing and further information, that I missed the first time around.

For the Oldhammer posts I am currently screening a lot of old issues of the White Dwarf. For release dates, for prices, for paint jobs. Interesting to see how much the magazine has changed over time. The current, december issue was previewed by Games Workshop, and after last months freebie extravanganza, that concept seems to be continued. If this is simply due to the holidays or a new concept to make the print issue more attractive (a lot of content / similar content can be found online, so incentivating a classic print product is sometimes needed). So looking forward to my copy to arrive within the next few days, will show it here.

Final part of the weekender, a few words on tv shows and movies. Well, on monday Silicon Valley's final episode aired. Okay-ending, didn't spend to much time on what to expect to be honest, but way less of a discontenting wrap up compared to some other HBO series...

The Grand Tour returns for season 4 with their boat special Seamen. Watched it friday on prime and well, I hope the remaining episodes of the season will be better. A bit underwhelming, they were out of their element and beside James May, none of them were capable of hosting such a format. Beyond that I am still grinding through the episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation and just met the Borg for the first time.

Have a great 3rd advent and enjoy your sunday. I am currently gathering events for my 2020 schedule in the BeNeLux / Germany area, so if you have any recommendations, let me know!