One Happy Team…

Author: TheAleosha

  • Commander Farsight

    This is the only model I wanted to paint when I started painting Warhammer a year and a half ago. And finally I got to it.
    I must apologise to Citadel Plastic Glue, it actually works well with Warhammer.
    It is larger than I expected, 60mm base, and has around 50 parts.
    The really nice bit is that the arms are on those ball bearings, which means you have a lot of flexibility for the pose.
    The not so nice bit is that it’s very hard to drybrush. I wish I had drybrushed it separately and combined later, but here we are.

  • Path of Exile 2

    I might say it as well now, this is everything I wanted Diablo 4 to be. The linear progression means you don’t fight level 50 hedgehogs. And the fact that enemy bodies do not disappear until you leave the zone adds to the spectacle.
    By level 15 I got my first unique item, and by “unique” I mean actually a unique: it’s a mercenary coat that emits smoke.

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    It is curious that they decided to add friction with identify scrolls and tiny inventory without autosorting, but you don’t have item durability.
    The bosses are such a spectacle, even the side-quest ones, like the Candlemass, a gargoyle that comes to life. Or even the pack of dogs in the circle of grass.

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    The Mansion is very interesting, as it clearly mimics Diablo 3 Cathedral design where you descent down a hole, getting close and closer to the bottom.

     

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    And the Count boss is clearly swordwielsing man-horse from Bloodborne, only he’s swordweilding man-wolf (which also explains why we were fighting werewolves when we weren’t fighting vampires). Speaking of vampires, those are Darkest Dungeon version, insectlike with clear bellies full of blood. The game has many inspirations.

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    Anyway, beating the count brings us to Act II, which is of course set in… a desert.

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  • Path of Exile 2

    I never managed to get into Path of Exile 1. Similarly to Titan Quest, the Greek/Roman aesthetics doesn’t appeal to me for some reason. Path of Exile 2 is another story: it’s gothic style is less of Diablo, and more of Warhammer.

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    I usually like to play as Paladin, but since there’s none available, I went with crossbow wielding mercenary, a bit like Demon Hunter from Diablo 3. WASD movement and roll almost turns the game into twin-stick shooter. And the fact that one of the skills turns the crossbow into a shotgun helps too.

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    The system where you need to pick a skill instead of getting one after a level up takes some adjusting to, but not too much. You can pick any skill, but the game does suggest you some that should be more useful to your class.
    Such a surprise that you can put the game on a pause. I got use to ARPGs forcing you to be always-on.

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    The best part of the game so far are the bosses. They are amazingly designed, clearly telegraph their attacks, and as I’ve already learned, deadly.
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  • Tiberian Sun Firestorm

    Completed GDI campaign. I think I’ll skip NOD campaign, as I’ve seen most if not all of the new NOD units already, and there wasn’t much new to begin with.
    To the best of my understanding, both the GDI and NOD endings are somewhat canon, because when you start the expansion campaign for GDI, they say they lost contact with Philadelphia space station (because NOD shot it down), but they need to recover Cabal, NODs AI, from the ruins of the temple, which you destroyed at the end of GDI campaign. Cabal then quickly betrays you, and you have to put it down.
    It seems that the pace of units getting experience has been increased, as in the Tiberian Sun, I rarely had a veteran unit,
    The new GDI unit, Juggernaut, is awesome. It’s a better version of NOD artillery, firing three shells instead of one, albeit less accurately. There’s a mission where you need to pair it with GDI commando, Ghost Stalker. The only issue in that mission is the commando himself, as he’s unable to shoot up slopes 🤦‍♂️
    Only the final GDI mission is really difficult, or unnecessarily evil, as you start extremely close to enemy artillery positions without many options to tackle them. Luckily there’s no time limit in this one.
    One final surprise is that once you capture three key points, a huge robot appears, and you need to destroy Cabal before that robot reaches your base, as it destroys almost any unit in a single shot.
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  • Tiberian Sun

    Completed the NOD campaign.

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    Once NOD gets artillery, it’s game over for GDI. The most overpowered artillery since Ground Control. It is even smart enough to deploy automatically once in range.

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    Story is still rough. You complete a mission, and the next thing you know, Slavic is captured by GDI, then rescued by Cyborg Commando. What is Cyborg Commando? It’s actually never explained.
    The final mission is a bit underwhelming. It also has a timer, and I thought that after placing the 3 ICBMs it will just stop, and I would still need to deal with GDI forces, but no, it’s the end of the campaign. And I didn’t even get to try the UFO-like Banshees.

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  • Garmin Fenix 8

    It’s an interesting watch, because almost everything I like about it could easily be implemented in Garmin Venu 3. How expensive is it to have 5 buttons instead of 3? But 5 buttons allow you to turn display on or off, and also scroll up and down without using the touch screen. In general, I feel like I could turn the touch screen off on Fenix 8 and be comfortable with it.
    Then there are watch faces. It’s actually funny how hard it is to find a watch face for Venu that has steps, battery level, day of week and date all on the same screen.
    Speaking of battery level, Fenix 8 promises 9 days with always on display. We finally reached Pebble levels of battery life, all it took us is 10 years in a 700GBP watch.
    Multiple timers are another completely software feature that’s only present in Fenix. Can I have two timers on Venu, please?
    Also, the fact that compass is just accessible from the menu.
    Features that do require special hardware: flashlight built into the watch. Neat.
    Smart alarm is another feature coming back 10 years from Pebble.
    It’s nice that you can assign actions to long press for each button, and you can also unnasign the voice assistant.
    Another very basic training feature: default rest time between sets. How hard can it be?
    Voice commands works surprisingly well. Those processed by the watch, not sent to phone. I managed to set a timer and cancel it as well. Saves a few button presses.

  • Aberlour 18 and Bunnahabhain 18

    There is a certain irony I write about random whiskey tasters, but sometimes ignore bottles I buy. I’ve had Aberlour 18 for over a year now, although didn’t touch it much, and I recently opened Bunnahabhain 18. Both are great whiskies for their price, although both are slightly subdued from what I had expected.
    Aberlour has the slight disappointment of being 43% and chillfiltered on top. But I didn’t learn about it until recently, and honestly hadn’t I known, I would have considered it to be superb. In fact, all the whisky Youtubers are still considering it superb, despite the characteristics. It’s slightly sweet, spicy and complex.
    Bunna 18 is more peated than I expected after loving Bunna 12, but still less peated than common Islay whiskies. It’s less sweet that Aberlour 18, although there’s still that, and also slightly savory. I call it “pancakes with bacon and maple”.

  • Tiberian Sun

    On one hand, it feels like I should have started with the NOD campaign, because Kain first introduced in it, and it has tutorial tips, which I didn’t notice in the GDI campaign. On the other hand, it still feels like I’ve started watching from the middle of the show. Who’s Hassan and why is he taking order from GDI? In general, it feels like the cutscenes for NOD were done by another person. Who loved to use the fisheye effect.
    Generally, the campaign feels easier. I still hate the ion storm missions, though, because you don’t have a minimap, and playing RTS without a minimap is a pain. Then both “Salvage Operation” and “Capture Umagon” missions made me scratch my head, a lot. They both can be completed in a couple of minutes. I’m just not entirely sure how. In Salvage Operation, you’re given a meager force to capture the downed UFO and intercept a train, which is almost impossible, unless you know where the train stops, and then you don’t even need to capture the UFO.
    And in Capture Umagon, you have about a minute to intercept her, which is incredibly hard. Unless you just know where the train appears, and then you can just bomb that place preemtively 🤡

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  • Mikkeller Beer Geek Vanilla Shake

    Mikkeller is as much underground as BrewDog there days, so it’s always good to see an Imperial Stout expression from mainstream producer.
    It has zero head, full body, like Imperial Stout should. What surprised me were the whisky notes. Turns out, it’s literally whisky infused. Not sure what that means, I understand “barrel ages”, but not “infused”.
    At around 9GBP, not cheap, but also not overly expensive. Worth buying.

  • Tiberian Sun

    Completed GDI campaign.
    Out of all the GDI missions, “Weather the Storm” is the worst one. You aren’t allowed any flying units due to ion storm, which means you have no way to counter NOD artillery. You also have no map.

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    And the last mission is though. The real problem is the time limit of 1 hour, otherwise, if would be as any other mission. The idea is that you reset the time limit by hunting the ICBM sites, but this isn’t explained at all. Once I did, though, it was bomber-time. In the final mission it’s quite pointless to destroy enemy buildings, as it’s able to rebuild them almost instantly, so you need to hunt the construction yards. And in fact there are 3 AIs and 3 separate construction yards, but you wouldn’t know that, because they are all the same red color.

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    As a kid I thought I don’t understand what characters are saying, because my English is not good enough. Turns out, the audio isn’t good enough: you often can’t hear the actors due to music and background noises.

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    Overall, I enjoyed Tibrian Sun much more than the first time, despite somewhat akward controls and terrible unit aiming: my Mammoth MK2 was firing at a target few steps ahead, and not hitting it, because there was some bump, while missiles would hit cliffs instead of SAM sites above.
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  • Redbreast whisky

    I had a bottle of Redbreast 12 from 2020, and I might have pulled it in one of the advent calendars as well. But this time, I decided to get a taster set with Redbreast Lustau and Redbreast 15.
    Lustau is smooth and sherries, smells of vanilla, with some oily texture common to Irish whiskies and long warm finish. The closest from Scotch is probably Tamdhu 15. Very pleasant, and for 65GBP, it’s a great value for money, even though it’s a no age statement.
    The Redbreast 15 is smooth, as expected from Irish whisky, with vanilla nose, oily mouthfeel, surprising warmth for 46%, a bit of sweetness, and tart aftertaste from oak barrels. For around 92GBP, it’s reasonable, although at the higher end.
    If I was to pick one, I would go with Lustau.

  • Tiberian Sun

    The game works well on modern PCs, but since it’s not a remake, the control scheme isn’t modernized. You issue orders with LMB, you cannot select units of the same type with double-click, and the waypoints work weirdly.
    As a kid, I completed this game, but didn’t like it. First C&C was straightforward, especially with GDI that had Mammoth tanks. In Tiberian Sun, everything was weird: you could build just one Mammoth, and it was this AT AT with a gauss cannon. NOD artillery couldn’t fire until deployed. Tanks could transform into turrets. And so on.
    Now, though, I appreaciate it much more. Missions are like puzzles, and actually encourage exploration: you can find bonuses or alternative paths.
    The way campaign is structured is interesting as well. You can do side-missions, that make the main missions easier. Although sometimes it’s hard to figure out which is the side mission and which advances the plot.
    One aspect I don’t appreciate is the need to hunt down every SAM site and even destroy fences or complete a mission.
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  • CaDA Master C61505W Viva Hypercar (Ferrari La Ferrari)

    2nd bag, 5 hours. Now I’m more cautions with the angle parts. Noticed that some parts are at a weird angle, putting a lot of strain. I’m not sure for Lego that would be legal. Figured out that the angled parts need to use the flexible connectors from the extras bag. Lego would have put warnings, “use this part, not this part”, but not Cada. Block with seats assembled.

  • Shan Zu Koraka Nakiri 8″ knife

    Some of the knive enthusiasts I watch were praising the Shan Zu chinese knives, so I decided to give them a try, after all it’s just 22GBP.
    Because it’s a Chinese product, their lines change all the time, and they also sell widely different knives under the same Amazon listing.
    I went with nakiri, because I don’t own one yet, and I have plenty of santoku and chef knives already.
    First of all, this isn’t a damascus knife. Maybe some of the other lines are, layered steel isn’t so hard to make. But this has clear laser etched pattern.
    Which doesn’t mean that the steel is bad. The knife is extremely sharp out of the box, but there’s no indication on what steel was used.
    After a week of use, it dulled to the point of not cutting paper. So around 58 hardness, by my experience. Which isn’t bad for the price, something on the level of IKEA 365 knives.

  • Tacticus

    Completed Fall Of Cadia Mirror Elite Campaign. No need to level Astra Militarum anymore.
    Leveled Snappawrecka to Blue Star to farm more shards for Rogue Trader. Switching to a more powerful guild made all the difference, more guild credits translates to more orbs, translates to leveling characters faster.
    Unlocked Havyr from his release event.

    Completed Saim Han Mirror Elite and Fall of Cadia Elite. Done with leveling Thousand sons and Black Legion.
    Unlocked Marshal Dreir from Guild War shop. I started working on him when Judh became unavailable, but now once “she” is back, I wish I would have invested into Judh instead.

  • Command&Conquer Remastered

    I feel like as a kid, I missed a lot of the story. Like the fact that the government and scientists try to hide that tiberium is toxic at first, and soldiers getting infected as a result. Or that NOD uses a journalist for propaganda, claiming that GDI destroyed and orphanage. Or that the UN cuts funding to the GDI. The story is quite prophetic for ’95, I must say.
    Honestly, I didn’t enjoy GDI campaign as much as I thought I would. Maybe it’s the broken balance, but I ended up running out of money all the time, while opponent obviously cheats, gaining more money from each harvester.
    Ironically that I remembered Warcraft 1 being hard, and Command&Conquer being easy, while now it’s completely opposite, at least for the remakes.
    I was enjoying the final mission, until Hand of Nod started firing. First, I don’t remember it being able to obliterate multiple buildings. And second, AI is able to use it twice in a row, erasing your base.
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  • Command&Conquer Remastered

    I already praised the remake when it came out, but I only played it briefly.

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    The UI now supports production queueing for units and is divided into 4 tabs instead of 2: infantry, vehicles and superweapons are separate. You can now double-click to select all units of the same type, and also use more common nowadays RMB to issue commands, instead of LMB in the original. No waypoints for units or rally points for buildings, or attack-move, though.
    The remake exposes how much old RTS games relied on AI being dumb. If you turn on the new AI, harvesters become a menace, since you can only produce infantry units in the early missions, and harvesters absolutely hunt them down.
    Where I think the game breaks is in the commando mission. It’s a classic, you’re given just a commando with a sniper rifle, and need to sneak into the base the blow it. Easy day. But because of the new AI, the entire enemy base swarms at you.
    I had to check that I’m not imagining things, so I actually downloaded the original Windows 95 version, and it is indeed much easier.

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  • Black Skylands

    Overwhelmed by the amount of mechanics in this game.
    There’s combat on foot, twin stick top down, kind of like Hotel Miami, but with a healthbar. And you have a grappling hook.
    Then there is also piloting a ship, and ship combat, that uses proper broadside mechanics like Rebel Galaxy. A ship also has limited cargo space. You can replace your ship, but you can also upgrade it. And you can also upgrade your firearms, and they even have attachments.
    Enemy ships have different turrets which can be destroyed separately. And there are also air currents, that drag your ship.
    And it’s all a bit too much, at least for now.
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  • PlayStation 5 covers

    I don’t like the PS5 looks: the curves that mean I can’t stack it up nicely with other consoles in my collection, the white color (although I do have Wii and Dreamcast) and most of all, the “wings”.
    Luckily, it supports replacing covers, and not only official once.
    When I removed the original covers, I discovered a few of the legs were already broken, probably by the previous owner trying to clean the console.
    While trying to replace the covers, I broke a fingernail, they are really tight. And then I discovered I bought covers for the Digital Edition, while I have the one with disc drive. So I had to remove them again and wait for the correct ones to arrive.
    But now, I’m much more satistfied with how it looks and fits.

  • Soul Reaver

    Completed Soul Reaver.
    Had to look at the guide to figure out how to beat Dumah boss. All other bosses are fought in an enclosed arena, and you need to use environment against them. Here, you can leave the throne room, and he’ll chase you, barely. At first I thought it’s just a bug. Then I thought that maybe you need to lead him to his statue, but he wouldn’t follow. And if he disappears from your sight, he teleports back to the throne room, which reinforced the idea that’s where you need to beat him. But no, turns out you need to lead him through the entire level.
    When people say that Soul Reaver story is great, they either mean that the dramatic voice acting is entertaining or that the overall story of the series is great. Because the story of the original Soul Reaver is bare bones.
    The last temple was designed by someone who played Mario 64 too much. You need to rotate switches by running around them, over and over. I’m glad I’m playing with an analog stick.
    We are also shown some glimpses from the future, where Raziel kills Ariel to get Sun Reaver and then stands with the red Kain Reaver.
    The final boss is one of the easiest in the game: you just need to hit Kain three times, and then he escapes to the past through the time machine portal. So it’s not even a complete story, just half of it.
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