Postcards from the Edge

Time to check in with those of you still monitoring this channel for signs of life, letting you know that the Emperor's light still burns in my little corner of the Blogosphere albeit on minimal power setting.

My Hobby time has been on restricted duty since the birth of our daughter; compound that life changing event with a shift pattern that was custom designed to hinder the 40k hobbyist and a long term case of 'Slow Painter's Syndrome'. It all makes for poor reading I'm sorry to say.

Like many in our community (most will have read and some written similar posts) I'm still wrestling with the logistics of actually sitting back down at the painting table and getting a game in seems an insurmountable challenge at present; but I am determined to keep a firm grip on our beloved Hobby this time and not let it fall by the wayside as I did back in the middling years of Third Edition (a career enforced lapse that in the light of my current commitments appears quite trivial).

My Greatest Creation : A Collaborative Effort

For all those wondering where in the Realms of Chaos yours truly has been for the past month (I note none of you sent search parties...) let me tell you that for once I have, what is known in my line of work as, 'a Lawful Excuse'.

I had been busying myself with the final preparations for a very important arrival up until yesterday morning and at 09:41 Hrs GMT, after bravely battling through much adversity and enduring all the Apothecaries could throw at her; the Good Lady Bix brought our VIP safely into the world.

A Baby Girl, late by 8 days (gets that from her Dad) and absolutely beautiful (most definitely her Mum) weighing in at a none too shabby 8 lbs 6 ounces; we have named our little ray of light Inara Jade.

So I may be offline for a tad longer, I sure as sure need to find where my last three nights sleep have run off to (I know, 'Get used to it!', I hear all the parents amongst the readership shout). But the Forge still stands, acting as a refuge to flee back to the Hobby when nappy changes threaten to damage my calm; so with luck I'll be back here on The Edge soon.

As always, thanks to all of you who take the time to drop by.

Christmas Cards from the Edge

Well due to the vagaries of the Warp (read, Bix forgot to hit the scheduling button in his hurry to wrap presents and get the tree up in time), my festive post seems to have arrived a little after the event; but as the clock hasn't struck midnight on this year just yet (least not here in land land of Zulu Time) the festive season is still in play.

So with a quick edit I hope you all had a grand Candlemass and that the jolly fat bloke with a penchant for 'Go Faster Red' brought you a hefty haul of all you wished for. I'm currently sitting pretty with the Imperial Infantryman's Handbook (an updated and combined book of the Munitorum Manual and the Uplifting Primer), Dan Abnett's 'Pariah' and a fist full of GW vouchers which I'm sure I can burn through in next to no time.

Birthday Card from the Edge : The Blog Turns Two

Ok well it's a week late, after all the excitement of Games Day and the follow up posts I needed a little break; but seeing as I missed marking the first year milestone completely I thought it would be remiss if I didn't make the effort to mention this one.

Postcards from the Edge

A fairly brief postcard tonight, well for a guy that waffles like a Protocol Droid; again it's been a while and I wanted to get a few updates in before hitting the sack for an early trek to Games Day tomorrow.

There is so much going on in the Hobby at the moment I've a real feeling we are entering a grand new era, the sort of momentous shake up that happened when the Emperor said to his mates 'Lads I'm bored, lets go on a Crusade!'

The new White Dwarf landed on my door mat this morning with enough force to shell shock the cat and leave a large ordinance size crater in the carpet; the Pound increase in price tag seems to have been mirrored in weight gain!

Postcards from the Edge

Been a couple of months since I've sent a Postcard so time for a little catch up; lets get the Big One out the way first, the release of 6th Edition. I got hold of my copy a little later than many, due to some bad planning and a misdirected email, but perhaps a little earlier than some; Admiral Drax was one of the unfortunates to suffer a delay despite making his pre order slot, you can read his tale of woe and rather good letter to GW here.

I've managed to give it a bit of a skim through, I've also had a look at the updated FAQ for the Blood Angels over on the GW site (the only bump in the road as it looks a bit rushed out) and I sat in on a small game between two of The Gents Will (Grey Knights) and Tomo (Imperial Guard).

Postcards from the Edge

First up I'd like to say a big thank you to all those who took part in my latest eBay Auction, bidding was brisk and pretty much everything on the ledgers found a buyer. I had a bit of an unfortunate snag in my usual prompt dispatch times on some of the items, but thanks to the good nature and understanding that seems to pervade the Hobby; all those affected tolerated the delay with good grace.

There may or may not be another auction soon (yes I still keep finding stuff, gives you an idea just how untidy the Forge was) as the Royal Mail has seen fit to raise its considerable fees on postal rates to possibly crippling levels; I'll let you know.

Postcards from the Edge

Postcards has become a somewhat irregular feature of late, a failing my family and friends could also apply to calls and visits from me; as they, like the hobby, are suffering sporadic bursts of attention due to the curse of 'interesting times' at work.

Still, despite being unable to get behind the painting table since the completion of Tactical Squad Gaurus I have scored a few victories in the battle for work/hobby balance.

The first one was tough, on my wallet that is; but once I got over the inevitable shoppers guilt and the purchases arrived I was once again singing the Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy song. Total Wargamer have been running a series of discounts for GW items on top of their usual discount for about a month now and I took the opportunity of a bargain to bulk buy enough 40k stuff to keep me in projects probably until the 31st Millennium.

Postcards from the Edge

'Zoom! What was that? That was your life, Mate! Oh, that was quick, do I get another? Sorry, Mate that's your lot.'

So it's been a while, belated Happy New Years and all; the quote above, from a certain Torquay hotel owner, kind of sums up my past few months. Life has been a fast and bumpy ride to which the hobby has taken the proverbial back seat.

I'll make no apologies, I think even the most committed of us hobbyists (bloggers or not) drift from time to time with the changeable currents of our daily lives and I've never intended The Veil's Edge to be anything but an extension of my hobby; granted one that's hopefully shared and enjoyed by those who are kind enough to read it.

While I always like to get at least a few posts in a month, to force a schedule would be to make posting a chore and that’s something a hobby should never be. Anyhow, enough navel-gazing, there's enough fluff in the blog already (incidentally why is it always blue?)

2012 is upon us and has the potential to be a momentous year for 40k. Can it really be 25 years since I first journeyed into the Dark Millennium?

We've got rumours of various Codex releases, with all the promise of new figure ranges they entail and of course the coming of 6th Edition. It's just a hunch, but I have a feeling it's arrival will herald a new age and that the timeline clock may finally click over into the 42nd Millennium with a very large Bang!

I'm starting work on my 'Welcome Home Emperor' banners early ;o)

Thanks,that is all.

Postcards from the Edge

A delayed but somewhat fitting Postcard today. I'm currently embarked on another leg of the 'Grand Tour', Warp Storms and the state of the Imperial Treasury mean that for me it has to be experienced in bite sized chunks.

Having failed to find a local Astropath who could understand at least a fraction of my butchery of their native tongue; I've finally found a semi decent upload site to send this message Broadwave, in the interests of letting you guys know the reason for the resumption of infrequent posts.

On my return, fat on culture and pasta, I should hopefully have plenty lined up to see the month out. Just prior to my departure I took delivery of a whole heap of scenery bits from various sources for the Gaming Table project and my pewter piping set has arrived from the Dragon Forge Store so the Griffon project can now be resumed.

Also 'The Edge' will be a year old with the coming of UK Games Day, if all goes to plan I'll be celebrating with another trip and full report from this years event.

Right I'm off to try and find a potion that'll hopefully remove me from the menu of the local nasties. What do they eat when they can't get tourist!?

Thanks, that is all.

PS: Apologies for the lack of links & usual format, I'm learning rapidly that my iPad although very shiny and useful, has it's limitations.

Postcards from the Edge

As the sun sets on another month I realise that I didn't send a Postcard back in June; but taking Ron's sage like advice I'll not waste words on an apology (see his wise FTW post here) and instead crack straight on with some dispatches from the far reaches of the Imperium. There's two months worth of backlog filling up the Scriptorium and my Lexicographers are getting testy.

Last time I saw them this riled up was something to do with a cockroach, a misprinted file and the arrest, interrogation and execution of one Archibald Buttle; turns out he wasn't the heating engineer the Inquisition were looking for. *Shrugs*

Postcards from the Edge

April turned out to be a mixed bag both personally and blogwise, which was reflected in both quality and quantity of posts. The good spell of weather played it's welcome part in keeping me from the cogitator, as did my not so welcome return to work, where I was tasked with a rather odious assignment (due to my lame duck status) that took a whole lot out of me, leaving me feeling rather creatively bereft.

Still most of the projects for the month got a tick in the box and despite hits being slightly down on March's epic showing, there were still some new followers dropping out of warp along the Veil's Edge; greetings one and all.

Postcards from the Edge

Well what a busy month March turned out to be, mad as a March Hare if you'll excuse the English idiom. Despite the deliberate slow up toward the tail end of the month; my lack of mobility combined with a veritable flurry of rumors, reading and releases, saw me posting like a rather large amount of Jokaeros with access to a Scriptorum and it's cogitators.

That pushed my monthly post tally into the teens for the first time Woot! (Cabin fever can drive a man to get excited about the most mundane of things). Hopefully its not been a case of 'never mind the quality, feel the width' and judging by the still growing readership, all your welcome comments and support; my hammering away at the keyboard has resulted in me hitting at least some of the right notes.

Postcards from the Edge

It would seem that my long, loyal and occasionally distinguished service to Her Majesty’s Arbites has finally cost me a little more than the usual bumps and bruises; sheer wear and tear has resulted in me requiring some augmetic work to a much abused knee, hence the slight overrun of Februarys Postcard into March, luckily I'm my own editor so I won't get shouted at too much for missing the deadline.

I'm back from the Apothecaries and despite my Nurse/Wife’s protestations I've just about managed to cobble together a semi comfortable seating arrangement in front of the computer; that much mocked idea of purchasing an iPad seems like a missed opportunity now...ho hum to hindsight!

Postcards from the Edge

The end of the month is almost upon us and as I sit trying to figure out quite how Old Father Time has managed to swindle me out of a couple of weeks, I swear he's getting better at it with each passing year the crafty bugger; I realise that I haven't sent a postcard, how remiss of me.

It's been a busy few weeks for the blog, following it's near demise by my hand at the start of the month; I've got the 'Edge up on both Librarium Online and House of Paincakes blog networks, a special thanks to Lauby from HoP for the warm welcome and to Roger from LO for sorting out that technical issue (there's that hand again, lethal I tell you!)

Christmas Cards from the Edge

Having managed to bag a weeks leave over the holiday season for the first time in years, you would have thought I'd have had a load of time on my hands, some of which I could devote to the Blog. But festive duties have overtaken me, last minute wrapping of presents, tree decorating and the obligatory family visits have left little time in front of the cogitator.

But lets face it, with gifts to be opened, mountains of food to be scoffed and a few too many bottles of booze to be quaffed; does anyone really want to be glued to the Net at this time of year?

Postcards from the Edge

Three months into this blogging lark and the Veil's Edge is shaping up nicely; I've been adding a few more links mainly for ease of access to other sites and resources I frequent, but also for a little more exposure for the blog as it's always nice to have occasional company out here on the Edge.

Painting has sadly taken a back seat to getting the blog up to speed, catching up with my gaming commitments (from which I have a host of battle reports that I need to file) and a whole heap of real life stuff; but then as a Scottish immortal on a rowing boat once discovered, it's all about balance.