Remembering PRESTAGS

Python loves big battles

While it is vaguely satisfying to get a victory because you are in the hills and just have a few elite units that screen the rest, I love the big ones, particularly where you crunch Romans!

Romans are nearly impossible to beat unit for unit, but when you get more boys on the field with more cavalry and archers, you get

Skirmishers are cool because they fight twice, once with missiles and again in support

Of course you need a good phalanx to hold the front. Spartans are a bit of overkill, but overkill means you just fight one battle

And the extra cavalry on the wings run rampant in the rear areas

Marian Legions are even more frightening; never fight them with green troops! Send your boys on Inward Bound first

But the bigger they come

The harder they fall

John Michael Young would have loved this game!

Look what I found

a blast from the past (I also found the access codes too). I don't know where disk 1 is though.

I don't have a working computer that accepts these disks anymore ... 

Gamers View of the Battle of Marathon

I have long loved the simplicity of PRESTAGS: learn one - play them all - but have hated the way quality equates to stacking levels. it is so hard for a side to win when stacking levels are against them.

Marathon is an exception - while the Greeks have superior stacking, they cannot use it without being outflanked. History tells us they spread their centre and left their flank solid for fear of the Persian cavalry. However, the unexpected nature of their attack meant that the cavalry could not mount or deploy, so games tend not to show them.

The Field of Glory battle has a huge screen by comparison (and the problem of exciting computer games - sometimes you forget to move some pieces)

You can hover over the units to see what they all do

You can see how the the game is based on miniatures

Contact takes a few turns while the Persians decimate the ranks. (The Yellow 9 over the Greek line shows the damage.)

At contact, things look equal, with only a few units disrupted.

John Michael Young knows these hoplites will get quickly shot to pieces in  this game, so has a special rule that the archers cannot fire in the first turn. The results are telling - the Persians are 8 down on the panic level of 31 after the Greek charge.

After a few turns, the Greek centre routed off the field

However the wings are telling a the Persians crumble.

The flanks turn on the Persian centre and the Greeks just snatch victory by 60-49

 

The end

• 
• 
• 
• 

The PRESTAGS game was much shorter. The centre just held, but the right wing destroyed the Persians in front of them and turned on the flank. The left wing of the Greeks was mauled as the map allowed the Persians to play some archers and follow up with a Barbarian Infantry charge. Small comfort and the battle was lost.

In the final analysis, both are games and want to give either side a chance. The computer game is beautiful to look at and has lots of special units for you to study. It was a near victory for Greece in the end. If the Persians had a human player, they perhaps would win. I don't see how the Persians could beat a mildly competent Greek played in PRESTAGS, but perhaps a thin veneer of militia at the front and the archers behind could do it.

Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea

My first thoughts were: "Hmmm, a bit light on". Where is the geographic features, where are the trade goods, where is Gaul, Brittania, The Black Sea or Persia, where are the phalanxes, legions or triremes? You are presented with a map of the Mediterranean, lots of little discs (50 each) and some intriguing playing cards.

The game is played in Epochs: Bronze Age, Iron Age, Age of Empires and Fall of Empires, and each Epoch lasts 2-4 turns. Definitely finishable on a Boyz Weekend. There are ten possible starting cultures, each with their own benefits. These benefits means that each player will play their own style of game.

The game is played for victory points which are awarded for a combination of culture, wealth, victory and luck of the card draw. At first glace, it appears to be a reboot of Civilization: there are wonders, cards, and cities are build by stacking armies, and who ever goes first gets clobbered. Also NO DICE!

However, the cards are used in a Yugioh (Dueling Monsters) style where they influence each other and provide a interesting variety of effects. However, they can also be used to aid in combat, so you can surprise by saving them for the big battle.

I have set up a solitaire scenario - divided Rome facing Visigoths and Persians. The invaders are controlled by the AI - a sheet of 50 odd priorities, miost of which do not apply, so it is pretty easy to use. And surprisingly hard to predict. The Visigoths didn't go to Rome first - they when to Iberia to get that gold, bypassing my Limitaini!

In the East, things got hairy with a huge barbarian invasion of a cusp in my empire making the Persians hard to get at.

While I cleaned up most of the Visigoth invasion, I forgot about the sea. Next turn, they were in Rome and with a lucky card draw, the eternal city fell.

And was looted

Now we need a PWWWW

FMW Ready

I saw this in a P500 list early last year and thought "Perfect for an FMW".

After all, who does not want to be Troy and drive a shaft deep inside the Wooden Horse!

What looks intriguing is that we can all ally and play the system!

Counter of the week: who doesn't want to play a blasphemy card in the middle of a hard battle!

GAS Time?

There was no turn this morning, so I was poking around a few sites on the web. I found this beauty:

This Peloponnesian was my introduction to the study of Ancient History. Up to that point, I would read bits, like the short paragraphs crafted by John Michael Young above each PRESTAGS battle or the articles in S&T. It start for me with this.

These photos were taken by a gamer who blogged about it - a best of all - they can read!

Better still they can read French.

This is a typical GMT game with beautiful maps and counters, like we are used to at FMWs.

It seems to have everyone you expect - from Pericles

to Spartans!

Of course, this is just a game, what about Gear. I noticed this in one of the photos - a dice throwing machine!

A perfect game for an FMW, you ask. No. I find this part mind blowing:

However, I cannot buy this for myself - because that would be selfish. Usually Deano of Pip would buy games like this for me. I need a new dog!

The reader will note that this post does not have large slabs of plagiarised text: it is 100% Pure Python.

Field of Glory: Empires - Looks Like A Must Purchase

Field of Glory: Empires is out and it certainly looks very good.

It has rave reviews:

I think I feel a definite purchase coming on.

It is $56.95 and can be purchased on Steam.

It appears to be $47.99 when purchased from Matrix Games.

The graphics look great. There is a Masters Edition Bundle allowing you to integrate with Field of Glory II.

I wonder what the multi-player potential is like.

The specs indicate that Gollum will not be able to handle it.

There is a link to the PDF Manual here.

 

What were they thinking?

2017 was a very good year for me at the office. I had successfully brought my Manila posting to the originally requested outcome and received my best bonus ever for my development work. I had also written a product that falls into the top five best products I have ever written - largely unsung at the time, it has become a major selling feature late last year. In recognition of my hard work, I knew a deserved a lovely piece of crockery in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the kitchen is brimming with lovely pieces of crockery such that they have overflowed into the dining room cupboards, which are also now full. This left me on the horns of a dilemma, so I had to go with my third option (the second being membership to the art gallery, but when would I find the time!), a subscription to everything coming out of Strategy and Tactics press, at an eye watering US$1000 for two years.

Reviewing it now, I think it was a good decision - I had many evenings of pleasant reading and some great maps and counters to review. From top to bottom:

• the venerable Strategy and Tactics, now up to issue #314,
• Modern War, that provides interesting insights into the current tensions of the world, mostly from a military perspective, which you rarely find the in the news
• World at War, which tries to be S&T but for only World War 2, so perhaps the least interesting of the set, but perhaps the most believable of the games
• Strategy and Tactics Quarterly, the new kid on the block, with a lot of articles on just one topic, no games, but a poster.

A feast of new games, and the anticipation of finding room in the attic for 18 more in 2019. I have failed in one respect, I have not punched the counters of any of them last year. I resolve to so this year. Let the readers of this auspicious blog pausing their eating and spider hunting to hold me so accountable.

The observant would ask why there is a gap? The answer is simple: if a US Civil War game arrives in your mail box, there is a board room I know of where it can be swapped for a Scotch, for some people simply cannot have enough US Civil War games!

And the winner is

I think the best read of them was the Quarterly of Caesar, and how a Roman of modest means, but the highest ambition, can break into the Cursus Honorum. (The article on that was fascinating - young aristocrats were expected to move from government post to post building up an understanding of how the Roman state worked until they reached the role of consul. It gave the state a large pool of experienced leaders to fall back on in times of emergency, and something to consume the energies of the young. The article went to far as to suggest that Rome's resilience during the second Carthaginian War was due to this.) The poster showed Caesar's marches during the Gallic Wars and the Civil war, and is on my wall.

The magazine about Stalingrad was a close second. I do not read a lot of WW2 history, but had heard of this one (and watched the excellent "Enemy at the Gates" with Spetz). Stalingrad was never the objective of the the drive into the Caucasus. The original plan was to get close enough so Germany artillery could interdict the railway and interfere with Stalin's transfer of troops and oil. One of the reasons given for the diversion was that Hitler had become a drug addict. There was a doctor for the German elite who used to mix his own remedies for the wealthy who felt they had lost their vim. These remedies contained stimulants and narcotics. Hitler had appointed him as a personal physician at the time, and soon developed an obsession that a capture of Stalingrad would equate to a defeat of  Stalin.

It was matched with a World at War article where you can attempt to replay the the campaign. You have all that lovely oil to the south and boring Stalingrad to the north. However, the action chits you have to pull each turn keeps pulling you south. I like the action chit idea as it adds a lot of colour to otherwise boring Panzer corps and Guard armies.

An honourable mention goes the World War 3 Quarterly for all the bits that happened when I was little that nearly resulted in me not growing big. I am still reading that one.

Puti-phobia

Puti features in two of the Modern War series. There is much interest in his possible future actions, but the general consensus is that he is more interested with disrupting the US Hegemony to create a series of Russian based alliances, than territorial acquisitions. There is more fear about these alliances backfiring and drawing Russia into a war they did not intend and the US into it. This game, Puti Moves South, looks at the Stans south of Russia and north of Persia and Afghanistan. There is oil and gas there that mostly travels through Russia so disruption to that supply could draw in the Russian army. Interestingly with this game, at the start of each game you roll a die for each power to decide whether it is in the Russian Coalition or US/NATO aligned. Every game would be very different. The latest Modern War, The War on Terror, does the same in the Middle East. It means that every play of the game would be quite different. I think this is one of the games I should set up.

Rise of the Solitaire games

Six of these games are solitaire. I should set up a few this year. I have played a couple in the past, but the issue is that there is no marvellously clever play you can make to give you the game. You are grinding through taking objectives that weaken the strength of the enemy play system, while having some flexibility for random events. That said, I should try them as some game systems are brilliant. Perhaps there is a new John Michael Young other there.

The most intriguing of the game is submarine warfare in the Pacific. Unlikely the Atlantic, submarines featured in navel battles. This game lets you play as the Japanese or the US.

Perhaps this article is better named "What was I thinking?" I stand deprived of a new piece of crockery in my kitchen by pure obsession!

 

Lent is upon us

 The blessed palms from last year's Palm Sunday are burned on Shrove Tuesday to make the ashes.

 

 

The Putting on of Ashes From the Initial "M" in the Introit of the Mass of Ashes on Ash Wednesday From the Missal à l'usage de Saint-Didier d'Avignon  c. 1370  

 

 

           

 

For many centuries, the Roman Liturgy on Ash Wednesday took as the Gospel reading Mk 6:1-6, 16-18, which presents Jesus’ teaching on the inseparable elements of  almsgiving (mercy), prayer and fasting

 

In one of his Discourses, Saint Peter Chrysologus wrote:

""These three things, prayer, fasting and mercy, are a single thing, each drawing life from the others. Fasting is the soul of prayer and mercy the life of fasting. Let no one divide them, because alone they do not survive" (Saint Peter Chrysologus, Discourse 43: PL 52, 320).

some text and missal image borrowed from http://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/memento-homo-quia-pulvis-es-et-in.html 

Rome Total War-Barbarian Invasion

Here is a fun game that I have played on and off for years (it must be over 10 years old). Basically, you start as Rome in the fifth century, with awesome armies, a big empire...

and then the horde arrives

These are Vandals, but there are also Franks, Lombards, Celts, Huns, Goths, Parthians etc. There armies are huge, their generals are nearly unstoppable, and they move in such masses that victory in battle is rare.

The battles are PRESTAGS on steroids: spearman, swordsmen, archers, cavalry, leaders, each with their strengths and weaknesses that you can manoeuvre with God-like precision to take a flank, stiffen a front, or run away to right another day.

However, being the fifth, you have another problem. Christianity is taking root in the empire. So you have to choose to follow Constantine or Julian the Apostate. This means that there is massive unrest in the empire, cities frequently revolting if they do not like your religion. If you build a church in the city, the pagans revolt, if you move a heroic pagan general into a Christian city (to rebuild his battered armies), the Christians revolt. The only solution I have found to this is lots and lots and lots and lots of crucifixions of rebels.

Paul would be impressed to know that you can take Catholic Priests into battle:

While they are useless at battle, when they chant next to your soliders they fight better and the enemies are disheartened. They also speed conversions.

Finally, you are broke at the start. So broke that you cannot afford to pay your army (which means you get more revolts). I find that you have disband all your best troops early on, accept that you will lose a lot of cities quickly, and rebuild your economic infrastructure: road, ports, markets. Cities are fun to improve, but a bit repetitive, something that has been changed in later Total War games:

Your mission, should you play long enough (this is the first time I have completed this game - it takes  loooong time), it to reunite the key provinces of the Roman empire:

When you do, you get a short movie (5 seconds - a bit underwhelming) and the offer of one more turn!

Being so old, this game should run on anything and is still sold for about $10. So if you have nothing to do with the next three months of your life....

Viewfinders - the good old days and the pluses and minuses of technological advance

Python asked about autofocus vs manual focus of the moon shot.

Old-school film SLRs tended to have fabulous, large, bright optical ('analogue') viewfinders - the bump on them is just for the prism. The bump on dSLRs also has a pop up flash crammed in there.

(The optical viewfinder is like a periscope that allows you to 'see' what the lens sees because of the mirror, which flips out of the way when the shot is taken. Other styles of cameras with optical viewfinders would view the scene but never in perfect alignment because the angle would almost certainly vary, even if ever so slightly.)

this pic shows the relative sizes (ie views) through different camera viewfinders. Generally for FX cameras - ie sensor the same size as a 35mm negative - the viewfinders are bigger. For DX cameras they are correspondingly smaller.

I was shocked when I did a side by side comparison of my then still in use Pentax ME-Super with my brand new Nikon D60 (DX) - the Pentax viewfinder was enormous by comparison. Basically giving 1:1 apparent view with the standard 50mm lens. I think the view on my Pentax is similar to that on the celebrated and venerable Olympus OM-1 (also film camera). The entry level Nikons (D3x00, 5x00) are smaller than the D90. Even the large brick top of the line FX Canons and Nikons still have smaller viewfinders than some of their old film predecessors.

 The new SLT and mirrorless cameras don't have an optical viewfinder but an eyepiece looking at a digital viewfinder. These are generally much larger, comparatively, even for small (DX and smaller) sensor sizes. The technology is improving and these now apparently are quite good, overcoming original problems of the processor keeping the image refreshed without jerking eg when following movement.

In the old days, before autofocus cameras (implemented on later film cameras, my Pentax is manual focus only), manual focus was aided by a split ring etched on the viewfinder prism.

when the image is in focus the hatching around the outside disappears and the internal halves should line up perfectly.

This works well if you have a long line to 'cut and join' or contrasting items. If you are trying to focus on something small it is still tricky.

Most dSLR lenses,especially zooms and even more expensive ones, are set up for AF and although they have focus rings they tend not to have a lot of fine adjustment. Prime lenses (single focal length) have more travel.

You can get replacement focussing screens for dSLRs with a split ring etched on them. 

I have toyed with getting one but I have wondered how well it will work given my poor vision and the already small viewfinder size of my cameras.

But that was part of the romantic attraction of the film SLR - 50mm lens only and split ring manual focus - to get composition and focus the shooter had to do it themself.

 

this post would not have been possible (practicable anyway) without the digital technology aids of Dr Google and the Snipping Tool.

Another Successful Boys Weekend

The Boys have completed another successful boys weekend. Special thanks to Python who (as usual) did the heavy lifting in organizing this essential event.

And thank you to the beast, our trusty transport.

In accordance with tradition, the Boys enjoyed an old fashioned board wargame - Pax Romana. Even better, I won.

For the first time, but what I hope will become a tradition, the Boys spent one morning out and about Canberra playing with their cameras. I hope Thygocanberra will post some of his photographs. 

I took a nice panorama of Canberra from Mt Ainslie. The shot captured the airport on the left, Lake Burley Griffin and Parliament House in the middle, and Black Mountain tower on the right (captured between the branches of a gum tree).

Here is a closer look at Black Mountain Tower: 

My favourite shot was a Crimson Rosella Parrot, captured on zoom with perfect focus just as he looked straight at me.

Some obvious awards:

1.    Most Gin & Tonics drunk in a 24 hour period: Python.

2.    Best Photograph: Paul.

3.    Worst toilet experience: ThygoCanberra (thank goodness for the candle).

4.    Most bloated stomach: Paul.

5.    Best bald patch: ThygoCanberra.

6.    Special award for "way, WAY, WAY too much information": Python.

7.    Most swearing: Python & Paul tie.

8.    Best Boys Toy: ThygoCanberra with Nikon camera remote control.

9.    First to fall asleep watching TV: Paul.

10.  First to bed at night: Python.

11.   Last one to get up in the morning: ThygoCanberra.

Special Mention to Happy's Restaurant and the Great Wall of China. Still there 35 years after university. Still great food, still happy service.

I'm looking forward to the next Boys Weekend. For the record, we did decide it would be a rural caravan experience, with telescopes.

 

What ever happened to my January image?

Perhaps you do not like Nick?

PRESTAGS Article

I have found a nice pdf article about the PRESTAGS games, with a focus on the different units. The article is titled "Ancient and Medieval Armies" by Jerrold Thomas and it is a scan of a Moves Magazine article.

The link is:

http://www.spigames.net/MovesScans/Prestags_Article.pdf

There are also some nice maps showing unit types and map movement. One example is the battle of Arbela:

Another example is the Battle of Casilinium:

Christmas in the Mediterranean

With Christmas duties out of the way, I headed off to enjoy the contest for he Mediterranean between Rome and Carthage.

"Pax Romana" is a beautifully made game with a focus on playability over historical realism. It pits four powers, Rome, Carthage, Greece and "the East" (an amalgam of Diadochi powers) in a contest of supremacy that includes conquest and the building of cities. Rome starts off weak but has a lot going for it. Greece and the East are far more cohesive and effective than historically, but as a game it plays well, gives the players lots of interesting choices and "just works" in the way that "Space Empires" (the game from our last Boys Weekend) did. It would be a good candidate for our next Boys Weekend, if we get tired of intra-galactic space.

I chose the most historical of the scenarios for my first attempt: Carthage against Roma. It took me a few goes to ensure I have a full grasps of the rules: Carthage fell too quickly the first time and then Roma as I missed subtleties.

You can see Pyrrhus on the right of the image in Greece about to land to the aid of the Greeks against the Romans. In Africa, the Carthaginians have subdued the Numidians and are starting to expand into Spain.

As play began, Pyrrhus was blown off course sailing from Greece. Roma tried a preemptive strike which saw it suffer a repulse on the walls of Tarentum. Then Pyrrhus finally arrive and fought his way unopposed through Capua, Roma and into Cisaplina. Meanwhile, the Carthaginians took advantage of the chaos to consolidate with a town building program in the Sicilies.

The Roman attempted to retake Roma but were short of cash and could not muster the right dice rolls. The turn finished with Carthage on top.

The next turn Roma built legions to finish off Magna Graecia and the Carthaginians made an attempt to dominate Spain. The Romans succeeded with the former while the Carthaginians had to contend with a slave revolt in Africa, so only managed a toe hold in Africa.

In the third turn, Rome was finally ready to take on Carthage in Sicily, but again were plagued by bad die rolls. Carthage on the other hand went through Spain easily so continued through southern Gaul and into Cisalpina. At the end of the turn, the Roman position was pretty hopeless. Particuarly as the Carthaginians hold another "Soldier of Fortune" card (= another Pyrrhus type army in Italy) to enhance the pain.

Good game! For solitaire play you do need more realism, but I can see the fun in this. Although I was mostly watching the cricket, three turns (each with 8 operational phases, called Activations) took almost three hours. The right length of a lazy post Christmas day.

Good dog!

I was delighted to find a present under the tree addressed to me from the dog! Even better, when I opened it, it was just the present I wanted.

Anyone can have peace at Christmas time provided they have enough legions under their command!

When life serves you lemons...

you play a wargame!

I find myself home alone for Christmas for reasons too depressing for this blog. I could mope, or I could set up a big war game. And what better topic than the worst bad day in history.

It started off quite ordinarily for Xenophon, an Athenian mercenary working his craft for Cyrus, a prince of Persia. He had a battle to fight. But as a Greek Hoplite fighting a Persian horde twice the size of your army, it was probably equivalent to a Sydney to Canberra drive for us. You had to be careful, but you would probably arrive safely.

Xenophon was careful, and he and the Greek Hopiltes won the battle - twice - once in each direction. You had to be there to really understand it, but think of a wheat harvester. It drives down one row harvesting wheat, and the turns around and comes back through the next row. They probably would have done a third row, but the Persians were sick of the battle by that point and didn't hang around for an encore.

Unfortunately for Xenophon, Cyrus thought he was Alexander the Great (60 years early) and when he saw the Persians crumble, decided to charge through the chaos and kill the opposing king. He didn't bother with his helmet, took a javelin to the throat and game over player one. With the death of Cyrus, none of the other Persians wanted to play King Maker any more, so the 10,000 Greeks found themselves 800 miles into hostile territory.

Xenophon thought he could turn this around and had himself elected as a General. (I know that if the Aussie diggers got to vote on who the generals were, there would be a lot of great haired idiots launching the next attack at Passchendaele!) He lead the boys home through a number of hairy episodes and made Carrhae look like picnic, and even managed to write a book about it.

If he can do it, so can I!

Saint Athanasius - saint for our times

St Athanasius 'contra mundum'

"Saint Athanasius lived in the fourth century during the time of what used to be considered the greatest crisis of faith ever to befall the Catholic Church, the Arian Heresy. (The Arians denied the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ). The vast majority of Churchmen fell into this heresy, so much so that Saint Jerome wrote of the period, "The whole world groaned and was amazed to find itself Arian"."

Today we might say: "The whole Church groaned and was amazed to find itself Bergoglian Protestant" One might go even further to ask whether "it is amazed to find itself non-christian"

 

Jerusalem desolata est

Demetri has swept away not only my beloved capital city but my whole home island.

It brings to mind the lines from Byrd's motet setting of  Civitas sancti - "Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, desolata est."

 

Civitas sancti tui facta est deserta.        Your holy city has become a wilderness.
Sion deserta facta est,                               Sion is made a wilderness, 
Jerusalem desolata est.                            Jerusalem has been made desolate.

and meanwhile the survivors weep as in Palestrina's Super flumina Babylonis

 

15 August - the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven

From the definition prompulgated by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950 in Munificentissimus Deus  (the most bountiful God ... link to full text):

"44. For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory."

Signum magnum (audio link) is the Introit of the Mass (composed after the definition)  - taken from the Apocalypse - "A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars."

Gaudeamus (audio link) is the ancient introit (which is an option for the new Mass).

Let us jecoice in this great feast and join our voices to Mary's Magnificat (audio link) and continue to ask her to pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

1. Magnificat * anima mea Dominum. 2. Et exsultavit spiritus meus * in Deo salutari meo. 3. Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae: * ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes. 4. Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est: et sanctum nomen ejus. 5. Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies * timentibus eum. 6. Fecit potentiam in brachio suo * dispersit superbos mente cordis sui. 7. Deposuit potentes de sede, * et exaltavit humiles. 8. Esurientes implevit bonis: * et divites dimisit inanes. 9. Suscepit Israel puerum suum, recordatus misericordiae suae. 10. Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros * Abraham at semini eius in saecula. 11. Gloria Patri, et Filio, * et Spiritui Sancto. 12. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, * et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

1. My soul doth magnify the Lord. 2. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 3. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 4. Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me: and holy is his name. 5. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. 6. He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. 7. He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble. 8. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away. 9. He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy. 10. As he spoke to our fathers: to Abraham and to his seed for ever. 11. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 12. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Go Tell the Spartans

The emperor's hordes heep knocking at the gate but my brave lads have kept them at bay longer than would reasonable be expected.

Hope against hope they can turn the revolutionary hordes.

22 December - O Rex gentium

O King of the Gentiles - To listen click here

 

 

21 December - O Oriens & 4th Sunday of Advent

O Dayspring! in the words of the carol "People look East"

To listen to O Oriens click here

The Introit of today's Mass is Rorate caeli desuper - Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just, Let the earth be opened and send forth a Saviour.

 

20 December - O Clavis David

He is drawing nearer ...

Veni, Veni

To listen to O Clavis David click here

First 3 Os in The Poissy Antiphonal - a Dominican antiphonal c1350

 

Magnificat

The O antiphons are the antiphons for the Magnificat at Vespers.

But whence the Magnificat? It is the canticle of praise declaimed by the Blessed Virgin Mary upon the visit to her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1:46-55) and is part of Vespers every day (just as the Benedictus of Zachary and the Nunc dimittis of Simeon are of Lauds and Compline).

To listen to the Magnificat with O Sapientiae click here

The monks are Spanish and if you listen closely you will hear there are slight variations on the melody of the antiphon relative to the Roman melody. Also the Tone 2 ending of each verse the Magnificat is the Monastic one rather than the Roman one - an extra note.

18 December - O Adonai

Today is the 2nd O antiphon, O Adonai.

To listen to O Adonai  click here

The composers of these offices had a little hidden meaning too if you read the capitals in reverse:

 

17 December - the first Great O - O Sapientia

Today in the Divine Office the first of the Great Os is sung as the Magnificat antiphon at Vespers. They are of ancient origin - at least as early as the 8th century I think. The hymn Veni, Veni Emmanuel is base on the Os.

For more info on the O antiphons including scriptural references click here

To listen to O Sapientia click here

Enter the Dragon: Zhuge Liang

Where has November gone? It was supposed to be the the month of Sleeping Dragon. I planned to write upon his battles, his ruses and his inventions, but the month has gone and I have little to show for it apart from a few nice cooked dishes.

About 15 years ago I decided my reading was too Western. I tried unsuccessfully to get into a few translations of foreign books in the library. On a business trip, I found "The Three Kingdom" in a book store and was immediately transfixed. It reads much like Homer's Iliad, with the politics and connivings of supernatural forces, kings and generals, and frequent battles with lists of the nobles on each side who died, but set in third century AD China.

You know you have a great book when you have a great opening sentence:

The world under heaven, after a long period of division, tends to unite; after a long period of union, tends to divide. This has been so since antiquity.

 

The action starts with the dissolution of the Han dynasty into warring generals. The hero, Liu Bei was a reasonable leader, but not much of a general, so his aides suggested he visit a certain village to recruit a skilled scholar. He arrives to find the scholar not present, but off doing something menial, and has to return several times before he can meet. The scholar, Zhuge Liang, takes much convincing to get involved in the civil war, hence the title "Sleeping Dragon" or "Wolong".

Zhuge Liang takes over the much diminshed armies of faction and immediately transforms them through training and new tactics. He also moves the faction's capital into a more economically and militarily sensible location. When the faction re-emerges, it wins spectacular successes under Liang.

At the end of the second book, there is a villian, Cao Cao, and hero Liu Bei, and a bunch of also rans, so I dove into the third book, only to find that shortly in, almost every character I knew died.

Before dying, Liu offers the throne to Zhuge Liang, but he refuses and instead supports the successor. Ultimately, Liang too dies from illness. His successor carries on for a while, but there is only one Zhuge Liang, and ultimately the faction is subsumed into the Jin Dynasty.

So by the end of the novel, the winners are characters you have no particular attachment too, the villians and heros are long gone and not mentioned much, and the book peters to a close.

I suppose the point is the immortality of greatness, nobility and mostly renown. To this day Zhuge Liang is a synonym for cunning and good strategy in Chinese culture, as is his goose feather fan.

Zhuge Liang is remembered for several miliary inventions: the land mine, a repeating crossbow and a messaging hot air balloon, as well as a steamed bun and a maze with supernatural powers.

Phun with Phalanxes

Paul post last week reminded me that I had not played with any Phalanxes of late, and was keen to reacquaint. So I took on the easy task of following in the phootsteps of Philips son and my namesake. Really this article should be called Prestags on Steroids, as each unit is like a Prestags counter (with strengths and weaknesses depending on terrain, combatant and equipment). No stacking, and quite hard to put down once you take up (particular, if no EDEE turns arrive).

Here is my beloved Phalanx advancing towards are large horde of Dahaens. It is tricky because while my pikemen destroy the enemy centre, the two phlanks phall on either side of my army do it becomes two battles and I have to win each. Each Dahaen unit is commanded by Napoleon/Ghengis Khan and perform stunning acobatics to get at my weaker units or phlanks - quite impossible in ancient armies - but certainly enough to make each battle dangerous.

Once you have cleared their armies from the phield, you need to take their towns and cities. (Axctual only the Persians have cities - I phorgot to take a screen shot of them. Taking cities requires different skills - watching phor ambushes phrom side streets and clearing out missile troops phrom their vantage points. I think I have lost more city assaults than open battles.

Anyway, the game is called "Total War - Alexander" and currently retails phor about $5 - yes Phive dollars. (Its quite old.) Also highly commended is Total War - Barbarian Invasions where we have to survive as Rome with barbarains everywhere, a moribund economy and citizens more worried about killing anyone with different beliefs to there own. (I phind that last part a bit depressing - I can make them safe, phill their bellies and give them a phuture, but they would still rather kill me because I don't phollow their gods/God. The only solution I've phound is to occasionally put a city's inhabitants to the sword - which actual happened so maybe that makes it OK.)

The many faces of Europe

My dear friend worries about New Scientist as it regularly reports on science which suggests truths different to his world view. This week has an intriguing article on what might replace the nation state. As part of their analysis, they created this clever Youtube. You have to watch it a few times looking at different parts. It suggests that areas remain static for quite a few hundred years before changing radically in one frame.

Later on they have a diagram showing a potential future look for Europe. I have not found the origin of this, but Spain looks like a loser.

Paul has been very naughty!

Paul lashed out and bought me an utterly awesome birthday present. (I will overlook him having two months of excuses before handing it over.) I think it takes counter of the week . This is the Theban Phalanxes from the Battle of Lectra. It was one of the first documented echelon attacks (where your best units attack while you refuse your weaker units forcing the defender to decide if it is worth leaving a prepared position to get at them). In it, the Thebans stacked their best units 50 men deep (rather than the more usual 12 men deep). At the front of the column was the Theban Sacred Band, where every man fought shoulder to shoulder with their lover, so retreat was never an option. Amazingly, the Spartans held for a few seconds when this juggernaut hit their lines.

However, I can't punch these out yet as I have not finished my blog on the Battle of the Five Armies. I will even have to delay that to deal with other naughtiness from Paul, in Empire and on this blog.

THANK YOU FOR A FANTASTIC PRESENT!

 

Hoplite: A New Game for PythonMagus

GMT have just published Hoplite, and it can only be especially for the PythonMagus. I must say it looks impressive and covers 11 battles, including Marathon. It is a bargain at $75 and includes three maps, four countersheets and other goodies listed on the Hoplite page at GMT. There is even a ten sided dice. When I think of the value of money today versus the 1970s, I don't think it is that much more than Spartan would have cost us back then. Until May 9 GMT also has a 50% off sale (!)

It may be that GMT's Great Battles of History series are a bit of a modern day PRESTAGS. While Hoplite covers some of the territory of Spartan, GMT's Chariots of Fire covers some of the territory of Chariot. And Chariots of Fire is on special at the moment and a steal at $40.

These games are designed by Richard Berg and Mark Herman. Both are wargame legends and go right back to SPI and the glory days of the mid 1970s. Richard Berg also designed SPI's ancient game The Conquerors  (I still have a copy) and countless ancient and American Civil War games.

Many other battles in PRESTAGS are covered in various of the Great Battles of History series, although unfortunately most of these games are out of print.

So the question is, will PythonMagus or I be the first to grab the spear ...

PS. I hate the BCE. It is BC. Before CHRIST. Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!

Sparta attacks

Cleomenes has taken a force of Spartans, Corintians, Arcadians and Boetians into Attica and ravaged the country-side. They did not have the campaign points to launch a siege assault. Meanwhile, Brasidas went to Corinth to manage the fleets - he only has 9 campaign points a turn, I am not really sure what I can do with him. At the end of the campaign phase I picked him up and put him in Ambracia (he took a fast bireme?) so he can bring those distant fleets to a port where they will not incur maintenance costsThe Spartan treasury has gone down from 65 to 42.

Related articles

Sparta vs Athens: The Pelopomnesian War

And so it begins

And so it begins

 It is spring 431 BC. The Athenian arrogance is unbounded and Corinth has finally goaded the Spartans into action. The Spartans are about to do as they always have done - march to the city walls of the offending city and offer battle. If it is not accepted, they will ravage the farms and drive the populace into penury. This time, their plan will fail spectacularly.

I have set up Sparta vs Athens. The erules were vital as the printed copy had numerous errors in the set up instructions.

Despite there being so many pieces on the board, only leaders can move (picking up men as they do so), and each side has only two, in Athens and Sparta respectively, so there is a lot of space.

Paul asked if the game was balanced and right now, I would say not. The Spartans can call on a large army of allies, maybe triple the Athenians, who have only one city on mainland Greece. However, they cannot risk a siege as it will leave too much undefended, and have almost no chance of success. What is worse, is their income is only 45 talents a year, and the Athenians can easily halve that with a blockade of the Gulf of Corinth and the ravaging of Megara. So next year, most of their allies will start disbanding unless they can find other sources. The Persians won't be interested for another decade, so they are going to have to try to pick off Athenian allies and risk a naval battle.

The Athenians have money, money, money. I think they could maintain the entire Spartan Alliance for 5 years without raising another talent, but their problem is manpower. They can be powerful anywhere their fleets can reach, but they risk being weak elsewhere when they do so. They probably want to follow Pericles' strategy at first and let the Spartans blow themselves out while starving them of income.

While there are numerous side theatres, the game ends when either city falls, so both sides have to leave a good force at home. I am now going to try a preemptive attack on Athens to see if I can win in the first  turn.

BTW, as I write, my parents are in Istanbul, or Constantinople, as Thygo would prefer. They are going to find Troy, already a legend to the poor boys represented on this map.

Cool T-Shirt

I have found a really cool T-Shirt that combines the interests of both the Python and I. If one views the circular laurel wreath as symbolic of the moon it also includes an interest of Thygocanberra.

The description of the T-Shirt is as follows:

"Molon Labe (pronounced mo'lon la've) is ancient Greek for "come and take it" and traces its roots back to the famous Spartan Battle of Thermopylae of 300 lore. 

This classical expression of defiance goes back to the days of the ancient Greeks.  It was reportedly spoken by King Leonidas I in response to the Persian army's demand that the Spartans surrender their weapons at the Battle of Thermopylae.   Today we are faced with a similar choice.  The globalists want free men to surrender their right to bear arms and become slaves to the New World Order.  The famous story of the 300 Spartans has inspired people throughout the ages to fight for their ideals,  even in the face of overwhelming odds.  This latest Infowars shirt honors and inspires this tradition of free men courageously fighting  for their country and freedom. 

Black shirt with distressed gold ink combines both classic Greek/Spartan imagery with modern M16 assault rifles.  It has ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ printed across the top with Infowars at the bottom in an ancient Greek inspired font.  The back also features an ancient Greek Infowars logo with "1776" written in Roman numerals".

What a fantastic T-Shirt! They even come in styles for women so the whole family can wear them. What sizes would you like Python?

Errata in the third millenium

Nothing fires up gamers more than rule disputes.  Just ask Paul if explorers need to succeed or fail to cheat fate in Outreach; the ownership of East Jerusalem is less controversial! In my new joy, your hoplite army can become degraded in battle or lack of maintenance. The rules are silent on how to recover a unit . So I posted a question on the site and got an answer in less than a day from the chief play tester (according to the rules.)

--- Forwarded message ---

From:  [email protected]

Date:  4 April 2014 6:19:25 AM

Subject:  Re: Sparta vs. Athens

To:  s&[email protected]

Python,       

No, units may not be built up from depleted status. It took literally years to train up armies to Spartan standards in this era, and so the ranks cannot be easily filled with new recruits. Even allowing eliminated units to be rebuilt is stretching the reality a bit, but it is more in line with history. 

 By the way, some players have been confused about maintenance. Note that units that are occupying tribute cities (that are providing tribute) need not be maintained while there.     

 Some additional clarifications (highlighted) are available in the e-rules here:   http://strategyandtacticsmagazine.com/e-rules/  

Thanks,

Eric

In Sparta vs Athens S&T 288, if a unit becomes degraded (as per "3.2 2)a)" and 8.4, is their any way it becomes undegraded, or must it be eliminated (via non paying of maintenance) and re-recruitment?

Laetare Sunday

 
Happy Laetare Sunday.

In addition to the Rose coloured vestments, one is permitted a short break in the midst of Lenten observance today. For example, we had a custard doughnut.

I am waiting to see whether the current Holy Father will use Rose vestments. Or at least have a doughnut.

Sparta vs Athens: The Peloponnesian War

I used to day dream about this issue as a teenager in Sydney! I found the history of this period compelling as so many things were new for the time: states run by varying levels of democracy, freedom vs alliance vs slavery, naval dominance vs unbeatable Spartans, and long term warfare. Mistakes and brilliance were original and have so much to teach the student of history.

I'll have to punch out the counters, set them up and post a review. This is too awesome!

I went to see 300 Rise of Empire today

Spoiler alert. 

Jordan and I went to see 300 today. It was a reasonable action movie except:

1. The Themistocles was a warrior rather than a general.
2. Hoplites did not fight bare chested. The movie showed no greaves or cuirasses. 
3. The Athenians did not have axeman at Marathon. (Check Prestags!)
4. The Athenians did not dance around like gladiators on ecstacy when attacking.
5. Darius the Great was not at Marathon. Neither was Xerxes. 
6. Themistocles did not know how to shoot an arrow and probably would never touch a bow as it was the weapon of the Scythian mercenaries who policed Athens
7. They left out the famous run back to Athens
8. The Greek Bireme was a clumsy affair and was not more maneuverable or better at ramming than the Phonecian (Persian) craft.
9. Themistocles was famous for badgering the Athenians into building triremes. There were none in the movie.
10. Themistocles won no engagements at Euboea. That naval battle was inconclusive but a storm blew up and damaged the Persian fleet. 
11. The Parthenon had not been built at this time. There was no colossal statue of Athena
12. The Persian admiral was not a woman or a Greek
13. The Battle of Salamis was not fought in open water.
14. The Spartans did not have a fleet at this time.
15. Spartan queens did not lead armies. (That's one reason that they had two kings!)

I did like the obvious dislike and distrust between the Spartans and the Athenians and some of Themistocles' orations.

Despite the video game like gore and a decided weird sex scene, it was a reasonable sequel to 300 and clearly leaves open a further movie on the Peleponesian War.

Do you know what this is?

Readers of Strategy and Tactics need not apply