2022 seems to be such a weird year, so far. We’re now 4 months in, and time seems to be moving really strangely, like each month is taking longer than normal, but overall the year is already one-third over. Weird.
As far as my blog is concerned, April has seen a pretty definite shift from Warhammer 40k into Star Wars, as I have almost entirely shifted gears into my first sci fi love. I’ve been watching the movies again, of course, which perhaps explains a lot of this, but I seem to be in something of a hobby slump and Star Wars has taken over almost entirely. Of course, I have been doing the odd bits and pieces, mainly with the Black Legion miniatures that I began to work on at the beginning of the month. I was trying to get the squad of 5 legionaries, plus the Sorcerer, finished off, and things were going quite well for a time, but then my hobby energy seemed to just grind to a halt.
I also had a game of 40k, trying out my Tau army for the first time, and it was actually pretty nice. I finally bought a Riptide battle suit, something I had wanted for a long time, and I built up a Ghostkeel after the game, but again, the hobby energy has ground to a halt.
In an attempt to switch gears with things, I’ve once again turned my attentions to terrain, and have done a little more work on the galvanic magnavent, but switching projects like this has also not helped and I’m now at the point where I’m pretty much giving up for the time being. I mean, I always come back to it, so it’s not like I’m going to burn my armies, or sell everything off, but I think maybe a few days off completely might help to get me motivated once again.
In the meantime, I have found myself with plenty of other gaming outlets!
My wife Jemma has suggested we have a regular game night, and so we’ve had a couple of games of Elder Sign, and (so far) one game of the Star Wars LCG. Elder Sign is something of an old favourite, so that was all well and good, but then the Star Wars LCG almost did her in! However, things are looking positive for more of that, so I’m pleased there. I’ve started trying to pick up some of the Force packs that I missed out on back in the day, so I’m hoping I will be able to have a complete collection for the game to enjoy in due course.
I seem to have taken a fairly large pivot away from Games Workshop at the minute though, which I’m finding somewhat curious. For instance, the new Necromunda: Ash Wastes box has gone on pre-order today, and my interest had begun to wane until the point where I saw the price last week and decided that I’m actually not going to bother. I mean, if it’s still available in a few months down the line, then I might pick it up if I’ve gotten back into that of course, but at the moment, I’ve been thinking that I’ve actually got a lot of stuff, most of it is stuff that I’m seemingly never getting round to doing anything with, so why just add yet more stuff to that pile? My Ossiarch Bonereapers army has been painted up for almost 12 months now, and I have done absolutely nothing with those forces in that time. I have so much stuff, and the return on that investment is slim by comparison that I think it’s time to implement a change!
I said that I’m not going to just clear everything out, but it is making me think a lot more critically of my plastic addiction, and I wonder if this shift might well be good for me in that I’ll begin to finally downsize, and get myself under control! Though whenever I have tried to do this in the past, I will inevitably end up with still huge amounts of stuff!! But we shall see.
However: Star Wars!
I seem to be really riding a wave at the minute, and have been back delving into all sorts of magic and delights, as I have embarked on reading a whole bunch of Prequel stories, and have been generally wallowing wholeheartedly in the galaxy far, far away. I’ve been loving the movies, delving a lot into the background stuff once more, and have been reading a lot of the genesis of the original trilogy, which is something that I find really fascinating. There’ll be plenty of stuff coming out on the blog here as well, not just as I read through the Prequel stuff, so I’m very excited about that!
I’ve even started watching Rebels again…
I read this short book over last weekend, a YA book that was published to tie in with Rogue One that tells a prequel story behind Baze Malbus and Chirrut Îmwe, the guardians of the Temple of Kyber that we meet in the movie. It is set during the Imperial occupation, so it isn’t that much of a prequel, if I’m honest – we meet them when the Temple has already closed, and so don’t really know much about their lives before that point.
They’re both trying to help out the downtrodden people of Jedha, and take part in raids on the Imperial supply depots to get medicine for an orphanage, and mechanical parts etc. When Saw Gerrera arrives on the moon, he tries to enlist their help in his cause, but while they at first resist his call, an Imperial reprisal attack against the orphanage spurs them on to throw their lot in with the Partisan leader.
They take part in a couple of military actions against the Imperials, and eventually are able to evacuate the children from the orphanage at the end of the book. Presumably so that we don’t think too much about a group of 30-something kids also being vaporised when the Death Star is tested.
I think I would have preferred a book that tells us more about the religious movements that call Jedha home prior to the Imperial occupation, and to learn more about what exactly the Temple of Kyber was all about. I suppose that’s just me and my interest in these things – it would probably be above and beyond the remit of a novel like this, though. It was fun to see Chirrut and Baze in action, and I think it did a good job of explaining why Saw had come to Jedha. All in all, it was fine for what it was. Maybe one day though, we’ll be able to learn more about these Force sects and how they work…
Next month, though, I shall be embarking on an entirely different project, as I start reading the Witcher novels as well! I’ve already read the first two anthologies, The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny, and will be reading Blood of Elves alongside Dave and Jenn, so do keep an eye out for that, as it promises to be something very special!
I’m also hoping to continue with The Forgotten Age, as I haven’t played any more with that since the initial play through of the opening scenarios in that campaign. I’m expecting to do badly, but still!
All in all, then, April has been a strange month, but I’m hopeful that May will be much more productive.
spalanz.com 
Yep, time is going odd this year. For me, the weeks have been wicked slow but the months and year have simply sped by. Where can I order a little consistency, thankyou very much?
If you find out, please let me know!!