Archive For The “Articles” Category
Michael Eckenfels, 15 July 2019
The Starfarers era. We made it. Mankind has made it to interplanetary travel. The Solar System no longer confines our explorations, and we’re now in for a true world of wonderful discoveries…or maybe actually meeting alien life forms for the first time. Now that we’re capable of traveling between the stars, maybe we can now enter a ‘brotherhood’ of star systems…or maybe we’ll just get knocked off Independence Day style. Who knows.
There were a few housekeeping things I needed to do at the end of the Planeteers era, one of which included giving the Competition one bonus Profit for their highest Production site on the board, which upped their score to 37. I remain in last place with 33.
Brant Guillory, 11 July 2019
On #TBT, we bring you the occasional classic article – an older review or analysis piece we wanted to rescue
A new collection of memoirs and first-hand accounts of the actions throughout the distinguished history of the Rhodesian Light Infantry makes for a compelling read and memorable look into the first-hand accounts of Africa’s bush wars of the 60s and 70s.
We took off en masse, ten G-Cars carrying the 2Cdo troops; ten K-Cars; two
command helicopters and ten G-Cars carrying the Support Commando troops detailed
to man the forward admin base and ferry in fuel and supplies to the target
area.The flight provided us with some impressive and memorable visuals.
All 32 helicopters were flying in single file through the majestic Penhalonga
Mountains, some of the most magnificent terrain in the world. The troops gazed
in awe at the spectacle as they leaned out of the Alouettes and looked around.Two or three Canberras thundered low over us en route to their targets.
For a few minutes there was the amazing sight of the command helicopters and the
ten K-Cars peeling off in front of us to position over their allocated targets;
the six paradaks dropping the 3Cdo and the SAS paratroopers; and the Hunters
diving in on their targets. The air was thick with dust and smoke and the
streaks of SNEB rocket trails.
And the tales of Op Dingo – the Rhodesian raid on an ZANLA camp inside Mozambique – put the reader front and center in the battle. These are not analyses of secondary sources with discussions of geo-political implications. These are the memories of the men on the ground, at the sharp end of the spear, pulling triggers and “culling floppies.” This isn’t the news conference soundbite; this is the scene in Blackhawk Down when the choppers are taking off and the trucks are rolling out and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s cover of Voodoo Chile is providing the soundtrack.
As you read the book and pore over the memoirs, however, you realize that although the raid on Chimoio was an aberration in its size and distance from the RLI’s bases inside Rhodesia, the action wasn’t. These men were a battle-hardened brotherhood who had chased “terrs” (slang for “terrorists”, the ZANLA and ZIPRA guerilla forces) across their entire country, protecting the population from invaders whose semi-safe bases outside of Rhodesia’s borders gave them a geographic and demographic edge. The RLI didn’t care. They found a way to succeed in every battle they faced, and along the way became perhaps the most successful counter-guerilla force in history.
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Avery Abernethy, 9 July 2019
Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show ran from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Set in the 1990s, Buffy and her friends fought generic vampires, monsters of the week, and a “big bad” who from behind the scenes was responsible for the evil that season. Buffy had campy evil nemeses, humor, and good acting for a horror/teen romance/teen angst TV show. (more…)
Michael Eckenfels, 3 June 2019
after a hiatus during our Origins coverage, we’re back!
Last time, I played an Edge card to take a double move, which I used to greatly upgrade my HQ board, and also granted me another Contract; that’s five Contracts now fulfilled. If a sixth one is acquired, the era will end. That is more likely to occur instead of running out of cards; my draw deck is now halfway depleted and the Competition’s deck is maybe a third depleted. Since the ‘4 Asteroid Bases’ Contract can’t be done, that leaves ‘2 Bases beyond Uranus,’ of which the Competition already has one. Besides that, I really need to get that 1st Beyond marker!
But, instead, now join me in cringing as I draw the Competition’s Action…
Brant Guillory, 2 July 2019
There’s an interesting thread / discussion over at BoardGameGeek about an oft-tread topic of “how many ____ games do we really need?”
This question is invariably muttered under the breath whenever a new Stalingrad, Gettysburg, D-Day, Waterloo, or Bulge game is released, we’re rapidly approaching those saturation points for Sicily, Jena/Auerstedt, Battle of Britain, Shiloh, Midway, Leipzig, strategic-level AWI games, and Kursk.
Great, another game about the same old battles, in the same old places, with the same old contestants, resulting in many of the same old results and lessons learned. The fact that no one even needs to reference a map or any further details when discussion the Peach Orchard, or Hougoumont, or Sainte-Mère-Église, or the Tractor Factory tells you how well we’ve over-gamed these topics. Or have we? (more…)
Avery Abernethy, 28 June 2019
“December 25th, 1914. In the sleepy town of Grovers Mill the 6th Infantry is celebrating Christmas when suddenly the peaceful night is shattered; Martian Tripods have broken through the front lines!” described this Origins session. That sounds different. This Origins I decided to play miniatures for the first time. Silent Night, Martian Night was pick #2 when I built my Origins schedule.
Martian Start Area
I knew nothing about the game, the game world, or miniatures play. But it sounded weird and potentially fun. (more…)