White dwarf Classics Issue #7

A complete change for White dwarf now. The front cover in now is full color, and is also 4 pages longer. granted these are just Advertising pages but it is easy to see that the Mag is starting to grow. A couple of features in this mag I am posting. More from the fiend Factory. And a new level for the Greenlands Dungeon. Plus a comic strip :)

So first up is a huge update to the Fiend Factory.  there a plenty of new but familiar creatures to be found here.  We have the Necrophidius, the Rover, a Living Wall, Volt, the Gluey, Squonk, Eye Killer, Witherweed, and the Withra.  All are complete with Monstermark ratings as well.  

Then we have a new level for the Greenlands Dungeon named Lair of the Demon Queen. Which is a just a quick encounter with a couple rooms.  Perfect to add into a game.

And then we have our Comic Strip.

 All in all White dwarf, as we can see is on the up and up. Still brilliant hand drawn artwork. and great written articles and information.

Iteractive SpaceHulk Maps.

Ok so I have been looking into something that has been done in in AD&D for a wile now. It consists of using A projector aimed down at a Table, Hooked up to a Laptop of PC. This then allows you to display full color HD battle maps to play on.

And I thought to my self. why the hell aren't people using this for games like Space Hulk? There are plenty of Map creators out there that can be used for making Space Hulk maps. One of the best software to get is

Space Hulk Tile creator.

It is a 45mb download. And allows you to create amazing Space Hulk maps with infinite possibility's. You can also use the software to place markers and tokens. Hell if you wanted to you could even use it to place digital top down view models instead of actually using the Models that come with space hulk, But that's no fun and kinda boring. You just create a Map and save it as a PDF. then use 1 of the millions of Virtual D&D programs to open the file. Load some custom tokens and your away.

Its also a good idea to place actual Door ways from the Spacehulk Game. if you have lost your Door markers then you can make your own.

So how does this work then?

It works by displaying the map you have just made through a Video out port on your PC or Laptop. VGA, DVI or HDMI depending on what hardware you have available to you. Most projectors will all take one of these 3 if not all of them. And if the projector you pick up does not have the correct connector for older hardware Say you only have a VGA out port. Then you can get a Convertor to make this into a HDMI or DVI. But note that if you are going from a VGA to a HD projector the VGA ports don't put out HD images and so you will only get a standard definition image displayed by the projector.

Once you have sorted this problem out you need to mount the projector above a Table. There are proper Table projectors available but because they are a specialized projector (only because they point downwards) they tend to be More expensive. So I have been coming up with ways in which you could mount the projector and I have come up a with a few ideas.


The cradle: Now the Cradle is the best because you can have the projector project directly down rather than at an angle. It consist of Buying some white PVC pipe from a DIY store and the Push fit connections to go with it. Now you just have to build a cube like a large Mechano set (please note if you have a tone of Mechano you can also use that. Show off). Bear in mined this has to sit on a table. So make it so it sits on your table safely. 

You then need to build a device that will hold the Projector. You could do this by getting some timber and building a L section that with stretch across the top of the Cube you have built. And can mount the projector to the timber using the mounting hardware that most projectors come with for ceiling mounted version.


The Lazy way: the lazy way is simple you need a stand of some sort. And belive it or not a Music stand is perfect. Because where you would store your Music books for reading wile playing. Is the perfect angle for the projector, Plus the shelf at the bottom where the book would rest on will olso stop the projector slipping off. enough good advantage of this setup is that the stand is Adjustable in height. So you have a bit more customization of the zoom on the projector.

After all is mounted your are ready to go. And you should have something that looks like this.

Yeah that's right fracking awesome. Now imagine having the lights turned off, A horrid Spacehulk board glowing in the center of the table, With the Scanner noise from Aliens playing in the background for some ambient noises. 





 Now cost wise, obviously the main bulk is the cost of the projector. You can buy a Pocket projector from Amazon for around £100. they are perfect, light weight and portable. and are also fully HD.
Making the Cube cradle for this is more of a case of shopping around or ask someone like me that has a Trade account in places. Total cost for me works out at around £10 for pipe and fittings.

Now this is a cool if not expensive way to play Spacehulk. however it has loads more uses. and some incredibly fun ones as well. this can be used for AD&D you can use this for smaller 40k battles. Instead of using a battle mat you can display an image of any kind of surface you like. And then add some scenery to it as well for cover. Or how about displaying an amazing solar system to use with Battle Fleet Gothic, Or even Dark Future race track.  This is also the most basic method, you can attach a Wii remote to the cradle and using software freely available on the internet create a interactive whiteboard or battle board. by simply adding an inferred LED and a battery to a pen.

White Dwarf Classics issue #6

AHHHH havent updated the White Dwarf Classics for DAYYYYYS. 


Ok so White Dwarf Issue 6.

So we at one year of WD and we see some changes.  The first, most notable change is the right justification of the the text.  I does make the magazine a bit easier to read and looks cleaner.  The second is the introduction of a new feature called The Fiend Factory.  Something that in time will be a major feature of WD and spawn the AD&D Fiend Folio.

A new feature of WD is Fiend Factory. The monsters presented here are from various authors but edited by Don Turnbull.  The format is near-AD&D/Basic D&D.  Each includes a picture and a Monster mark rating right there with all the other stats. In this issue, The Needleman, The Throat Leech, The Mite, Bonesnapper, The Fiend, Disenchanter, and The Nilbog.  The article is longer than most WD articles have been to date, this is a significant jump in the evolution of WD.

Also we have a Kalgar Comic strip added in. there has been a few of these. But they start to get rare from now on.

 

This is also the Last ever two color White Dwarf. From Issue 7 onwards, The Cover Art work Is full color artwork. Much better from today's Lazy Photo covers.

World Eaters PC Case: Day 2

So today I have been planning out and cutting up the case a bit. I decided on an irregular window shape instead of just square. I also decided to make a small display window next to it. Now I wanted to give it a mechanical type look so I came up with an idea to put the internals of a HDD on display. So to do this I have to remove the cover plate from a HDD and then cut out the area I want displayed. This then deeds to be covered is clear plexiglass. And will be. Mounted behind the small case window.

Talking of plexiglass, I am going to engrave a digital read out, with warning runes, and other items that would be displayed. This will be done on Green crystal plexiglass. And should give the feeling of looking at the control displays of a Fell-blade tank. 

For doing the cuts in the window I used normal painters masking tape. So that I could draw out the pattern. After I was happy with position of the window so that the view through it would only be of the motherboard and hardware, I then made some starter cuts with my Dremel, before cutting out the shapes with a Jig saw.

The problem with using a jig saw on thin steel like this, is it leaves a sort of rippled effect along the cut edge, because of the movement of the blade. So I have to spend the remainder of my time with the side panel. Hammering the small ripples and any dents. And then a a heap of time to file the cut edges smooth.

By tomorrow I should be able to get the case cleaned up and sanded down ready for primer. The inside of the case is going to stay mostly black being as the blue motherboard. And possible white water cooling tubes will continue the wold eaters theme inside.

Any way a few pics of where I am today.

World Eaters PC case: Day 1

Ok, Now my first love (second if you include the children) is Custom PC's. Over the years I have built some fantastic Cases. From R2D2's Micro ITX millennium Falcons. Even built a Bio-shock Case that had the PC completely submerged in Mineral Oil.

And the time has come for a new PC project. The reason why I am going with a World eaters theme is simple. I love the Blue and White Pre heresy World eaters. Within the next few months you will actually see me mass an entire pre heresy Army using all the Forge world models. So why a PC. well I need a PC to go into the hobby room. My main PC takes up far too much room with its triple 24" monitors and huge desk.
So I want to build a PC for browsing the internet and blogging, wile I am in the Hobby room. This will also come in handy if I decide to do Battle reports. As They can be streamed directly to the PC. rather than Uploading at a later date.

Now the plan. I am not one for planning ahead plans always go wrong and the worst ALWAYS happens. so i never plan anything I just get on and do it, and make it up as a go a long. I call this an "Adaptive Life" don't plan, adapt.

But for the purpose of getting you lot to tune in to these build days I need to at least give you some direction of what I will be doing.
Now anybody that knows me knows I hate Apple with a passion. They are like supermodels, Great to look at but in the end you are left with pretty box that cant communicate. But because of "trend" there are a lot of Apps and items I can get on Apple to help me in my hobby that i cant otherwise get on my windows based computer, of witch there are 6 of in a house that consists of 2 adults and 2 children. So with this trend of apple based products taking over the GW hobby scene I have decided that this build will be a Hackingtosh.

Now for those of you that don't know what the hell a Hackintosh is. It is a bog standard PC, with PC hardware, in a normal PC case. But by means of some handy programs, runs MAC OSX. like any other £1000 Mac would. Only for 25% of the price. And normally twice as fast. As Macs don't have particularly great hardware. But because the operating system is so basic. the computers resources are not used up by the operating system meaning a much much faster computer.

And with this in mined it means I don't have to use Powerhouse CPU's like the Intel 3960X in my main gaming rig. I also have no need to use large HDD's in this either as I have a main Server with over 20TB of storage space that serves all the PC's PlayStation, Phones, Xbox's ETC in the house hold. So I will be using just a single Super fast 60gb solid state drive. to provide me with super fast loading times and increasing the quality of video captured to to the bandwidth being unlimited by mechanical HDD speed when streaming video to my PC.

 So design wise, White and Blue is going to be the most obvious theme here. But its how to put it into practice. I will definitely be cutting out a window for this case. and i am contemplating doing it as the inside on the world eaters symbol with the rest painted onto the actual case. Im also thinking of a battle damaged look. And I'm loving this idea as i haven't weathered a PC case for a long time not since Half Life 2 came out and I rusted an entire case. and gave it a Steam Punk look..I am also considering having a Battle diorama inside of the actual case with World eaters VS ultramarine. I did this on a case before But I did it in the front drive bays, And had a Cerberus figure standing in front of some twisted up and rusted gates. like he is Guarding the gates of the underworld. If anyone has been a long time reader of PC format You probably would of seen this case in a Readers rigs section around 2005. the actual issue I can not remember. So i have all of these ideas for the case. But until I put Dremel to metal. I wont know exactly what Direction I will be taking it.

So let's take a look at the base for this build. For around a year I have had this stunning and plain Micro ATX Silverstone case with a 180 degree flipped Motherboard tray. I brought this case for a media server as it was small compact but fitted in with the Black entertainment system i had setup. However I also brought a new TV that had the option of taking your content directly from a NAS (network attached storage). so the need for a media center/server went out the window. So the case has been gathering Dust in the garage.

I love the flipped MB tray so this case was defiantly the one I wanted for this build. It small compact. But has enough room inside to take a full size Power supply and even enough room to stick a 240mm Radiator in it just in case I decide to go water cooled.

Now for today. I have completely stripped down to the case to all of its components. And I will also Drill out the rivets before Spraying the case. But until everything is cut and mock fitted its a good idea to keep the carcase in 1 piece. so as you can see from the picture below it is now in its basic broken down form. ready for modding and cutting. Now I am going to be pondering over this for tonight and any comments and suggestions you might have are most welcome. And Then tomorrow with an idea or not I'm gonna start cutting this up   :)

 

Black Library comes to Android and Kindle

Black library has just announced that the digital products from them including new and old, will now be available on Android devices and Kindle.

This comes as no surprise to me at all. they are now opening up the digital books to a much larger audience, than they had with iOS. Wile iOS provides a more piracy safe environment, it still doesn't stop the use of pirated PDF Black library books to be downloaded. of which there are hundreds.

At least now, those with android devises can download the awesome books from such writers as Graham McNeill, Andy Chambers, Aaron Dembski Bowden.

The Move to android and Kindle for Black Library could double there revenue now. I actually purchased an Ipad just for the Black library series of books Namely the Horus Heresy Books. 

We may even in time see Games Workshop take the plunge and release the Digital Codex's for the systems too. Wile it wont really work on a Kindle because of its Paper white Screen. We can certain hope to see the Digital Library Open for Kindle Fire and all Android Based Tablets.


The Digital Downloads for Black Library will be Available on the 10th of June.

But Mobi and Epub files are available as a preview now on the Black Library web site.




"We have some exciting news today, from our colleagues at Games Workshop.

As of Monday, you’ll be able download a new range of titles, compatible with almost any current generation mobile device or tablet, from right here on the Black Library website. What’s more, if you already have an account on this website, you can get  these new books the same way you would download a Black Library eBook.

These new publications explore the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 universes in unprecedented detail. Find out more details about the origins of characters that appear in Black Library novels and in games of Warhammer 40,000 and learn about the vast arsenal of weaponry, myriad alien creatures and daemonic entities that exists in the far future.

The range kicks off with three series: Warlords of the Dark Millennium, Index Astartes, and Munitorum.

Warlords of the Dark Millennium explores the heroes and villains of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Each instalment will cover topics like the origin of the character, great battles in their history, and their rise to glory (and/or infamy). It will also include detailed descriptions and images of the character’s weapons and wargear, not to mention full rules for using them in your games of Warhammer 40,000 (even if you don’t have the relevant codex).

Index Astartes may be a familiar name to longstanding Games Workshop fans, as it first appeared as an article in White Dwarf as far back as 1988! Every week, Index Astartes will explore the Space Marines of the Imperium: everything you ever wanted to know about the warriors, vehicles, beliefs and fighting style of the Emperor’s finest. Many of the classic Index Astartes articles will become available again digitally, as well as loads of new instalments to look forward to.

Munitorum is your indispensible guide to the weapons and wargear of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Every issue will focus on an item of battlefield equipment from the far future, from the humble lasgun, to the alien shuriken catapult, to the apocalyptic vortex missile.

You can download a preview of the first installments in these three new series today and find out what you can expect from the new range of Games Workshop Digital Editions."

White Dwarf Classics: Issue #5

Ok time for Issue 5, After reading through this White Dwarf, I was looking for an interesting article to go with for today's feature. There were a few that i could choose from like Games Day III, but none interested me more than the Editorial that I just happened to read last. We all know what is going on with Games Workshop and Copywrite proceedings, with Chapter House Studios. 
But it wasn't until I read Issue 5's editorial that this really sunk in. So all I'm going to post today is the cover and editorial page. As nothing else in the mag really has any significance.

 "nobody will gain from this strict enforcement of copyright laws, but the SF/F hobbyist will definitely lose. Let's hope that such problems can be resolved so that in future the wargames table will welcome the presence of Darth Vader with a light sabre, rather than a lawsuit, in his hands."