And, all of a sudden, 2011 pops up.

First off best wishes for everybody, hope this becomes a fantastic year for all of us. Naturally both on and off the gaming table! For me personally it will be a year with most likely quite a few changes. If all goes well I'll graduate, again, switch my part-time job to a normal, full job and may even end up moving out of my current place to something more suitable to where I am in my life. Don't get me wrong a student house, and a good one at that, is a great place to be, but at some point I do feel I may to move on!

Hobby-wise I'm really looking forward to the many different things we can expect this year. Stuff like Mantic Games' evil Dwarfs, the first new Edition armybook for Warhammer Fantasy, potential new codices for both the Tau Empire and the Sisters of battle etc. Then again there's always something to get excited over isn't there, the little boy in me just can't get enough of wee toymen.

As for the blog, well there will be a few minor changes for this new year as well. First off, the posting rate. As I keep running into connection issues and ever reduced hobby time, I feel I just need to get a regular posting rhythm going. Primarily this will mean that each weekend I will post some stuff, pics and thoughts on hobby-related things I've dabbled in during the last week. Naturally there will be posts in between and more product reviews and tutorials when ever I can get around to them. Might as well get the ball rolling:

The week in review:

With Christmas and the New Year celebration, as well as the associated hangovers, out of the way I get to have a look what to do with those Christmas bonuses. This time I spent some cash on the following:
- a few bottles paint and brushes
- a small fortune on GW books to get me up-to-date on the Horus Heresy, as well as a few other series
- the remaining stuff I need for my Dark Eldar army (Wyches and a second Raider)
- a few extra special, 'small' stuff you guys will see popping up in a couple of weeks

Now on to the actual activities of this last week:

1. Ciaphas Cain Novels

I've had the first three novels from this series for quite a long time sitting on a shelf. Got them from a buddy who quite (read: his wife pretty much force him to quite) the hobby, but for some reason I never got around to reading them. That was until this last monday evening, almost done with the third one, Traitor's Hand, by now and I have to say I'm loving them.

Don't get me wrong, they are by no means perfect. Although to be fair the few things that truly felt wrong to me were entirely due to me reading nearly three novels in a single week and already knowing quite a bit about the background behind many of the discussed factions and enemies. The first book, guite entertaining as it may be, seems primarily focused on getting the Cain character fleshed out. The second books follows much of the same tricks and though Cain and his regiment find themselves on a different planet, pitted against completely different enemies, much of the plot, writing style and fighting sequences follow the same lines as the first novel.

This completely changes in the third novel, were the regiment is tossed together with several others directly in the path of a Chaos raiders fleet bound on destroying a vital planet. I'm 2/3s into the book and all the different factions, motivations and discoveries still have me guessing as to what is actually going on. Chaos is generally described as being highly random, impossible to comprehend or predict, but this novel is the first piece of fiction that really gets this feeling across for me. There's a lot more going on then meets the eye and it seems the Imperium just happens to be in the way. Another highly redeeming quality of the series is that I'm not just interested in Ciaphas Cain himself, but genuinely drawn in by the range of supporting characters that form the higher echelons of his Valhallen regiment.

All in all I can heartily recommend the series to anybody interested in the story of the scoundril, coward, yet also hero that commisar Cain is. Additionally the novels give a nice feel of the diversity of the Imperium, both within the Guard and the broader organization at work the get the giant cogs of the Imperium moving.


2. Ultramarine 4th company trooper

Painting up a mini for a fellow member over at the Astronomican forum, still tons of work left but he's slowly getting there. I'm actually suprized how much fun I'm having with this blue boy, must be all the green I'm throwing in there.

3. Finally a little preview of something to do with the 'little' stuff I mentioned above, not telling what it is yet. Simply but I found an old box in the attic back home and figured it would be perfect to support the 'little' future project:

So thanks a bunch for reading everybody and have a great week!