2025/26 To-Do List

 

Hi folks,

I have a squillion things to do on my list this year, many of which a carry-overs from last year. Instead of talking about those things again in this post, I'll just focus on the new and the really old stuff.

DreadTober

October is swinging around pretty quickly and I have been rummaging through the pile of potential for projects. I have settled on a Tervigon to go with my Termagants, which has been sitting around half constructed for years. It is going to take a little conversion work; my Termagants have Devourers, which I want to represent on the little one being... delivered...

Storm of Vengeance

I would love to have a go at the old Storm of Vengeance campaign with some 2nd Edition buddies. To do that I want to have a Belial and Veteran Sergeant Naaman model to play with, so they are a new priority on me 2nd Ed. Dark Angels list. I have added a second Deathwing squad as well, which I recently stripped.

Imperial Agents

After the deep dive into Adeptus Mechanicus I did last year, I didn't get around to some Assassins I had put aside for the challenge. I will try and work on them sometime during the year and have added an Eversor to the list.

10th Edition Dark Angels

I have planned the second half of my urban warfare Dark Angels, which include some more competitive units. I am particularly looking forward to converting some Black Knights and painting Azrael. The Deathwing Knights are a little intimidating... so much detail...

Terrain

I have a bunch of terrain from the CHROMA Kickstarter to construct and some Alien Cactus that I am rebasing. The Fortress of Redemption has been half painted since 2014. Maybe this could be the year...

Halo: Flashpoint

Something non-40K to spice things up. I have bought a Flashpoint starter and will be painting some teams up with my son. It is a fast-paced skirmish game that really captures that feeling of a multiplayer game of Halo. I have to say I am super-excited to play some more games.

So, as I said, squillions of things to do. Who knows what the year will bring, but I will try my best.

See you across the table,

Marc

2024/25 Hobby Review

 

Hi folks,

Well... 2024/25 has turned out to be one of those hobby seasons where I have had to "adult" way too much. Between increased weekend family responsibilities and the special kind of exhaustion that brings, it would be easy to feel like I didn't get much time at the paint table. The truth is, I had a hand in finishing off three armies, so it can't have been that bad!

Urban Dark Angels

First we have an army of urban warfare Dark Angels, inspired by the old Cityfight style of basing miniatures. I added a few Native American pieces to the construction of these figures, to pay homage to the Plains World of their origin. I still haven't managed to play a game with them yet; the last two have been cancelled due to life getting in the way.

Oscar's Orks

Around the same time I helped my son to finish off his first 40K army: Orks!! We had a fantastic time working on pieces together. He has now moved on to Tau, which still pretty much don't exist in my head cannon. Still, the mechs are pretty neat and the new Kroot models are blisteringly awesome.

Imperial Agents

During the first half of this year, I completed an Imperial Agents army for my 2nd Edition collection, using some very old Grey Knight models are repurposing some modern models to represent old Adeptus Mechanicum codex entries. Those Grey Knight figures are bucket list models for me; I was so psyched to have them on the painting table. Two of the Terminators are very old "proto" figures from the Rogue Trader era, kindly donated by Dave Weston from Confessions of a 40K Addict. He and his mates put together a care package for me a while back which completely blew me away. I have his letter on my table for a bit of inspiration when life gets crap, and I am saving some amazing models for a special project.

DreadTober

For DreadTober I painted two Blood Angels Dreadnoughts, Moriar the Chosen and Damodred, Light of Baal. A huge debt of thanks goes to DAM from over at 262nd Death Korps of Krieg, for sending the Chaplain Dreadnought. It is a truly magnificent model and, again, one for the bucket list. I have plans to return the favour, but need to find the right model 😉These are the first two models in a Blood Angels army I will be working on for the next 2nd Ed. Challenge.

Photography

After years of taking photos with a mobile phone potato camera, I asked for a digital camera and macro lens for my birthday. Wifey got me a really nice one which I am still figuring out how to use, so hopefully my photos will be a little more consistent the next 12 months. It's a steep learning curve!

Badges of Honour

It is worthwhile mentioning that I have been terrible at remembering to give myself badges to celebrate finishing things this year. Most of the time I have been working on stuff that wasn't even on my To-Do list! Ah well, there is always next year...

See you across that table,

Marc

TTCombat CHROMA Kickstarter

Hi folks,

A while ago I backed a Kickstarter by TTCombat for some decidedly old school looking terrain pieces. If you can remember the old blue-grey bunkers from 2nd Ed., that's the kind of vibe I'm talking about. The past couple of nights I have started construction of the scatter terrain. 

The pieces go together very nicely but do need some light sanding and gluing with PVA. To prep the pieces I also sprayed the back of each sheet black and coloured in any sanded surfaces with a black whiteboard marker. So far, I have just built a couple of power cores, crates and a command console. Next up, I have some "Brian the Sewer Vent" style pieces to do, which I am really looking forward to. 

See you across the table,

Marc

Vale Marcel van Holst

 

Hi folks,

This is going to be a fairly personal post, so I understand if you want to give it a miss and wait for something more hobby related. Each blog post that I do is a snapshot of where I am in life, so it feels remiss not to mention what has been going on.

Mid way through July I received a phone call that my father had been taken to hospital. This wasn't necessarily unexpected; he has been in-and-out of the emergency department very frequently the past 5 years, and seriously ill for at least 10. One of my first memories as a child is getting lost in a hospital. It is fair to say we have spent a lot of time in hospital rooms talking about serious things. We have said our last goodbyes on several occasions. 

This time was more serious, if that is possible. He was mostly unresponsive, though I got a squeeze from his hand the first day. I am sure he knew I was there. He passed away peacefully in his sleep a few days later. 

I wonder if any father-son relationship is truly simple. Our's was complicated. I cannot imagine raising a family with the kinds of experiences and challenges he had to face. I have intentionally tried to raise my own children in a very different way. He taught me many lessons about life which I cleave to, some of which directly relate to the hobby. His love language was building aircraft models with me when I was growing up. A lot of the things I know about model construction and painting come from him. One of my fondest memories was building an AV-8B Harrier model with him, hoping to get it done in time for show-and-tell at school. Knowing that good things take time, we decided not to rush it at the end. When I woke up in the morning, though, it was painted with all the decals on; he had stayed up all night to finish it off.

I find myself "picking up the pieces" at the moment. Some pieces broke off a long time ago and some have been ground into dust after many years of wear. It is hard to know what the vessel will look like when I'm done (if that every happens). It is taking professional help and the love of an amazing family to make progress. 

I'll wrap up the post with a photo of Dad as I choose to remember him. Happy and healthy, someplace by the sea, surrounded by friends and with me.