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!

Why Field of Glory: Empires should be our next PBEM

I think it is time to give Advanced Tactics Gold Enhanced a break. I propose Field of Glory: Empires for a change. Here are the reasons:

1. There are lots of factions: we can be allies and have lots of things to kill!
2. Turns are simultaneous: there is no turn order
3. The system sends you an email when the turn rolls. From that point you have shot the food
4. Turns are always quick, even with a big empire: 2 - 10 minutes
5. There is lots to do - build stuff, conquer stuff, govern, diplomacy, play cards
6. Victory is terms of Legacy: this is tricky but easy to learn. Hint - don't do too much conquering until you have a good culture
7. We all have it in our steam accounts

We can be Rome, Carthage and Macedonia - and fight the baddies back to back

There are lots of factions. You can even play as the Irish or the Jewish state, if you are a masochist!

We all start weak and grow

The Ai has a placid mode, which would suit learning, and a tougher mode for the second game

There are Legions, Phalanxes and Elephants

John Michael Young would have approved of this game

Building game is very interesting

You build things that give you food, health, trade goods, military stuff, infrastructure, money, culture. Each time you finish one, get get a semi random choice of five more. You need a balance of everything.

You Manage Your Government

You try to get your government to improve with conquering objectives and building culture. Too much conquest or money makes you decadent! Each turn we are shown as ranked against each other for Legacy and Decandence = bragging rights.

There are Cards you can Play

You get a decision card a turn (usually) and they can give you opportunities or distractions

There are also government decisions to help you set your future agendas

Diplomacy With AI Works Quite Well

AI is happy to go to peace after a short war, and even become your clients if you bash them hard enough. They will also trade money, metal and mercenaries with you.

Let's give this a Go

It will only take about 6 turns to get into it. I think you will all like it.

Decadence

I think I like decline and fall - probably my Roman heritage. This is the old coal loader on Sydney harbour. Coal was brought into here from Newcastle and loaded onto trolleys as fuel for steamships in Sydney - up until the 80s apparently. Around the time we discovered that playing wargames was more fun than writing theses.

The rust, the brokenness, the bits of nature trying to poke through: I find it quite restful to look at. One day this will be the same:

Hopefully James Packer's Erection will be gone by then

Inspired By Thygo - Aussie Chiko Roll

Following in Thygo's footsteps, I have tried the retro Chiko Roll. I'm pretty sure I haven't had one in over 20 years.

PRESTAGS era junk food.

I liked it but better half and #2 daughter were not particularly impressed.

We are spoilt now with lots of alternatives like spring rolls and numerous yum cha offerings I suppose.

More Lockdown Meals

What better way to celebrate Python's birthday than with some more food posts.

Bangers and Mash

Possibly my favourite comfort food.

Prawn Cocktail

Actually made by Yours Truely.

PRESTAGS ERA food!

Christmas Pudding

If Python can have Christmas in July I can have Christmas Pudding in lockdown.

I had a mad craving for Christmas pudding, and found some online that were delivered very quickly.

Tuna Patties

Trying out Thai Chilli sauce and Thousand Island Dressing to see which was better with the patties. Thai Chilli won.

Bubble and Squeak

Another comfort food classic.

Chicken Parma and Baby Potatoes

The clubs might be closed but you can have Chicken Parma at home. Tinned baby potatoes nice and easy.

Wonderful PRESTAGS Era Technology - Sony Earth-Orbiter CRF-5090

I picked up a wonderful old radio last week.

1972, made in Japan. That is almost half a century old.

Genuine PRESTAGS Era Technology. Would have been playing as the SPI classics came off the printing press.

It’s the Sony Earth-Orbiter CRF-5090. It really doesn’t get any cooler than a name like “Earth-Orbiter”. When it was released it must have been some pretty top notch kit.

It is big, heavy, and made of beautiful metal and chrome. Everything is rock solid unlike the junk made today. I bet most of today’s radios won’t be around in 48 years. And more to the point – it still works.

Here it is with the front cover closed, and then with the cover open next to my modern short wave radio, the Tecsun PL-880. I don’t think the modern one will be going strong in 48 years time.

It has a massive long aerial, and 9 bands including air band and marine band. The bands turn in an analogue cylinder with 3 bands showing at one time. Last night I was listening to the local AM and FM bands. I will need to play around with short wave.

I find it remarkable that it works so well. The circuitry must be primitive compared to the advanced circuitry now, and it obviously doesn’t have a PLL receiver or Digital Signal Processing and other features that enhance weak signals.

The sound is rich, crackles slightly until precisely tuned. It has a big shiny metal tuner with a fine tuner inside. Also a tuning meter. A little red light goes on inside the tuning band when a good signal is hit. All works fine. The main light works. The headphone jack works.

One great feature is that the front cover folds down, then slides in half way under the radio revealing a spectacular time zone map of the world, with a slider for calculating times. I love this map.

No power cord came with this radio but it did also originally hold batteries. Someone more technical than I has rigged up a pack inside the battery compartment than uses 10 x current AA batteries. This is the only post 1972 modification that I can see.

Why don’t we make solid beautiful equipment like this anymore instead of plastic junk with built in 3 or so years redundancy.

I found some history on radiomuseum.org.

Constantinople - Strategy and Tactics 318

Constantinople arrived in my mail box a couple of months ago in the traditional large Manila envelope with the "Do Not Bend" label that means "YES"! I was busy with dignity at the time so only had time to read the articles. (Good articles on the Thirty Year War and the Judean War of independence - that features at bit in the weekday masses of late.) However, the game is a solitaire game so I just had to give it a go. I mean - who keeps a wargame unpunched?

I like a game that is not just military. In this game, you can build improvements like fortresses and monasteries. These improve your future defence and your income - get those boys away from women and other distractions and they become quite useful.

Interestingly, in this game you can also improve yourself via cost times luck, you can increase the defence of your capital,  you military, popularity and statecraft. You lose it all if the Baliseus dies, it all goes back to the start again. But the era was like that, so fair enough. I really like the map of Constantinople in background.

By the roll of the dice, there are three barbarians active at the start of the scenario: The Lombards, the Syrians and the Mongols.

I have the Lombards covered with a general (Strategos) and a thematic army. (The provinces are replaced by themes in 7AD, and each has its own army that costs a motza if they move outside. Note the arrows - you know where the barbarians are going to go - the rules say "Generally, barbarians in the era kept to certain invasion paths". Makes for a perfect solitaire game - not much thought on how to move the bad guys - and where not to build your monasteries!

On the other side of the map, I have no-one! I'll have to rush the Emperor there! Probably Antioch first and then the Mongols. The fortresses (red hex lines) should buy me enough time!)

The maps and counters have a nice feel - I think this is a good game. I am disturbed by the artists understanding of Greece though - not even close! (Corinth is south of Athens, and far from Themopylea. I suggest the game designer meant Thebes are Argos!)

As different from my youth, technology today allows me now to watch the cricket while playing a board game!

I love the marriage between great board game design and portable cricket screens - they both move at about the same speed!

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.

Wherefore By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them

 

Today at Mass, the Seventh Sunday After Pentecost, was one of my favourite Gospel readings, Matthew 7:15-21:

 

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: [15] Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

[16] By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? [17] Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. [18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. [19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. [20] Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.

[21] Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. 

 

This reading is so very apt in today's Church, with heresy and perversion everywhere. Right up to the highest levels of the Church. 

Indeed, ever since Vatican II, has the fruits of that Council manifested.

Here is a great summary from the late Michael Davies, who I was privileged to meet many years ago and who was such a faithful son of the Church. The following is from the Appendix to his work "Liturgical Time Bombs" which can be purchased from Amazon. It is important and sobering reading.

 

The Incredible Shrinking Church In England and Wales

   The most evident characteristic of the Catholic Church in England and Wales is that it is shrinking at an incredible rate into what must be termed a state of terminal decline. The official Catholic Directory documents a steady increase in every important aspect of Catholic life until the mid-sixties: then the decline sets in. The figures for marriages and baptisms are not simply alarming, but disastrous. In 1944 there were 30,946 marriages, by 1964 the figure had risen to 45,592-----but by 1999 it had plunged to 13,814, well under half the figure for 1944. The figures for baptisms for the same years are 71,604 (1944), 137,673 (1964), and 63,158 (1999). With fewer children born to Catholic couples each year, the number of marriages must inevitably continue to decline, with even fewer children born-----and so on. Nor can it be presumed that even half the children who are baptized will be practicing their Faith by the time they reach their teens. An examination of the figures for a typical diocese indicates that less than half the children who are baptized  are confirmed, and a report in The Universe as long ago as 1990 gave an estimate of only 11% of young Catholics practicing their Faith when they leave high school.

     Apart from marriages and baptisms, Mass attendance is the most accurate guide to the vitality of the Catholic community. The figure has plunged from 2,114,219 in 1966 to 1,041,728 in 1999 and is still falling at a rate of about 32,000 a year.

      In 1944, 178 priests were ordained; in 1964, 230; and in 1999 only 43-----and in the same year 121 priests died.

      In 1985, twenty years after the Second Vatican Council, bishops from all over the world assembled in Rome to assess the impact of the Council. This gave them the opportunity to admit that their implementation of it had been disastrous, and that drastic measures must be taken to give the Faith a viable future in First World countries.

     Cardinal Basil Hume of Westminster insisted, on behalf of the bishops of England and Wales, that there must be no turning back from the policies they had adopted to implement the Council. A report in The Universe of December 13, 1985 informed us that the Synod had adopted Cardinal Hume's position without a single dissenting voice. The final sentence of this report must be described as ironically prophetic: "In the meantime the people of God have a firm mandate to further Exodus along the route mapped out by the Second Vatican Council." Change the upper case "E" of Exodus to a lower case "e," exodus, and this is precisely what has happened-----and the exodus will continue until Catholicism in England and Wales vanishes into oblivion within thirty years, if not sooner. Without a Divine intervention, the "Second Spring" of the Catholic Faith in England predicted by Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) will end in the bleakest of winters.

The Incredible Shrinking Church In the United States

     In March 2003 there was published in St. Louis what is certainly the most important statistical survey of the Church in the United States since Vatican II: Index of Leading Catholic Indicators: The Church Since Vatican II, by Kenneth C. Jones. ₁ It provides meticulously documented statistics on every aspect of Catholic life subject to statistical verification, and it is illustrated with graphs which depict in a dramatic visual manner the catastrophic collapse of Catholic life in the United States since the Council. With the publication of this book, no rational person could disagree with Father Louis Bouyer that, "Unless we are blind, we must even state bluntly that what we see looks less like the hoped-for regeneration of Catholicism than its accelerated decomposition." ₂

   Mr. Jones has given me his permission to quote from the introduction to his book, but before doing so, I must quote: from a news story in the March 23, 2003 issue of the London Universe. Under the headline "En SuiteMonastery," it reports: "A former Irish Carmelite monastery is expected to 
be turned into a country-club style hotel after its sale to a property developer. The Carmelite order had shut their house in Castle Martyr, Cork, last year after 73 years because of the downfall in vocations." This is but one of thousands of similar examples of the actual, as opposed to the fantasy, fruits of Vatican II. On page 100 of Mr. Jones' book there is a graph revealing that the number of Carmelite seminarians in the United States has decreased from 545 in 1965 to 46 in 2000-----a decline of 92 percent. This figure seems positively healthy when compared with the graph on page 99, relating to the La Salette Fathers, which reveals a decline in the number of seminarians for the same period from 552 to just 1. Figures and graphs for every major religious order are set out in the book, and it would be hard to disagree with Mr. Jones that "The religious orders will soon be virtually non-existent in the United States." In the introduction to his book he writes:

         When Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, the Catholic Church in America was in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth. Bishops were ordaining record numbers of priests and building scores of seminaries to handle the surge in vocations. Young women by the thousands gave up lives of comfort for the austerity of the convent. These nuns taught millions of students in the huge system of parochial and private schools.

The ranks of Catholics swelled as parents brought in their babies for Baptism and adult converts flocked to the Church. Lines outside the confessionals were long, and by some estimates three quarters of the faithful went to Mass every Sunday. Given this favorable state of affairs, some Catholics  wondered at the time whether an ecumenical council was opportune-----don't rock the boat, they said.

        The Holy Father chided these people in his opening speech to the Council: "We feel we must disagree with those prophets of gloom who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world were at hand." Forty years later the end has not arrived. But we are now facing the disaster.

        Even some in the Vatican have recognized it. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said: "Certainly the results [of Vatican II] seem cruelly opposed to the expectations of everyone, beginning with those of Pope John XXIII and then of Pope Paul VI . . . "

        Since Cardinal Ratzinger made these remarks in 1984, the crisis in the Church has accelerated. In every area that is statistically verifiable-----for example, the number of priests, seminarians, priestless parishes, nuns, Mass attendance, converts and annulments-----the "process of decadence" is apparent.

        I have gathered these statistics in the Index of Leading Catholic Indicators because the magnitude of the emergency is unknown to many. Beyond a vague understanding of a "vocations crisis," both the faithful and the general public have no idea how bad things have been since the close of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. Here are some of the stark facts:

• Priests. After skyrocketing from about 27,000 in 1930 to 58,000 in 1965, the number of priests in the United States  dropped to 45,000 in 2002. By 2020,₃ there will be about 31,000 priests-----and only 15,000 will be under the age of 70. Right now there are more priests aged 80 to 84 than there 1 are aged 30 to 34.

• Ordinations. In 1965 there were 1,575 ordinations to the priesthood, in 2002 there were 450, a decline of 350 percent. Taking into account ordinations, deaths and departures, in 1965 there was a net gain of 725 priests. In 1998, there was a net loss of 810.

• Priestless parishes. About 1 percent of parishes, 549, were without a resident priest in 1965. In 2002 there were 2,928 priestless parishes, about 15 percent of U.S. parishes. By 2020, a quarter of all parishes, 4,656, will have no priest.

• Seminarians. Between 1965 and 2002, the number of seminarians dropped from 49,000 to 4,700-----a 90 percent decrease. Without any students, seminaries across the country have been sold or shuttered. There were 596 seminaries in 1965, and only 200 in 2002.

• Sisters. 180,000 sisters were the backbone of the Catholic education and health systems in 1965. In 2002, there were 75,000 sisters, with an average age of 68. By 2020, the number of sisters will drop to 40,000-----and of these, only 21,000 will be aged 70 or under. In 1965, 104,000 sisters were teaching, while in 2002 there were only 8,200 teachers.

• Brothers. The number of professed brothers decreased from about 12,000 in 1965 to 5,700 in 2002, with a further drop to 3,100 projected for 2020.

• Religious Orders. The religious orders will soon be virtually non-existent in the United States. For example, in 1965 there were 5,277 Jesuit priests and 3,559 seminarians; in 2000 there were 3,172 priests and 38 seminarians. There were 2,534 OFM Franciscan priests and 2,251 seminarians in 1965; in 2000 there were 1,492 priests and 60 seminarians. There were 2,434 Christian Brothers in 1965 and 912 seminarians; in 2000 there were 959 Brothers and 7 seminarians. There were 1,148 Redemptorist priests in 1965 and 1,128 seminarians; in 2000 there were 349 priests and 24 seminarians. Every major religious order in the United States mirrors these statistics.

• High Schools. Between 1965 and 2002 the number of diocesan high schools fell from 1,566 to 786. At the same time the number of students dropped from almost 700,000 to 386,000.

• Parochial Grade Schools. There were 10,503 parochial grade schools in 1965 and 6,623 in 2002. The number of students went from 4.5 million to 1.9 million.

• Sacramental Life. In 1965 there were 1.3 million infant baptisms; in 2002 there were 1 million. (In the same period the number of Catholics in the United States rose from 45 million to 65 million.) In 1965 there were 126,000 adult baptisms-----converts-----in 2002 there were 80,000. In 1965 there were 352,000 Catholic marriages, in 2002 there were 256,000. In 1965 there were 338 annulments, in 2002 there were 50,000.

• Mass attendance. A 1958 Gallup poll reported that 74 percent of Catholics went to Sunday Mass in 1958. A 1994 University of Notre Dame study found that the attendance rate was 26.6 percent. A more recent study by Fordham University professor James Lothian concluded that 65 percent of Catholics went to Sunday Mass in 1965, while the rate dropped to 25 percent in 2000.

The decline in Mass attendance highlights another significant fact; fewer and fewer people who call themselves Catholic actually follow Church rules or accept Church doctrine. For example, a 1999 poll by the National Catholic Reporter shows that 77 percent believe a person can be a 
good Catholic without going to Mass every Sunday, 65 percent believe good Catholics can divorce and remarry, and 53 percent believe Catholics can have abortions and remain in good standing. Only 10 percent of lay religion teachers accept Church teaching on artificial birth control, according to a 2000 University of Notre Dame poll. And a New York Times/CBS poll revealed that 70 percent of Catholics age 18-44 believe the Eucharist is merely a "symbolic reminder" of Jesus.

It is the same incredible shrinking Church in Australia. Declining Mass attendance, and rampant erroneous belief. Modernism triumphant.

I grew up in the liturgical and heretical horrors of the 1970s.  The dark side of the PRESTAGS era. There were glimmers (brief and limited) of sunshine under Pope St John Paul II and Benedict XVI. However any hope of a restoration has faded with the resignation of Benedict XVI and the installation of the St Gallen Mafia's Pope, supported by the Lavender Mafia.

The lightening strike on the day Pope Benedict announced his resignation has turned out to be symbolic. Since then, the accellerator is down and the destruction of what remains of the Church is underway.

I don't think the Church has had such perversion and moral corruption at the highest levels for 500 years. I don't think the Church has had such heresy and doctrinal corruption for 1,700 years.

And now both together.

There are two really good books that describe what has happened to the Church, with each book still managing to encourage hope.

A history of the plot, largely successful, to infiltrate the Church and the consequences is Taylor Marshall's "Infiltration, The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within". Available on Amazon. I have just finished reading this book.

Another book is Michael Voris' "Resistance, Fighting the Devil Within". Also on Amazon. I'm reading this book now.

Here are some extracts from the forward to Michael Voris' book. Spot on. 

Whatever happens, we are each called to remain faithful.

And Christ has won the victory and nothing can change that.

 

Of GAS Attacks And G-Shocks

GAS = Gear Acquisition Sydnrome.

A potentially serious disorder, common in PRESTAGS era males, and can be contagious.

Over the last six months I have managed to completely tame my field recording equipment GAS attacks, and much moderated my photography equipment GAS attacks.

Last week's purchase of a Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ90 was a relapse, and I blame Thygo because he is always tempting me with photography GAS ideas.

My new TZ90 is currently charging, ready for a test run sometime soon.

Nevertheless G-Shock GAS attacks have continued unabated, and I am expecting the arrival of another one this week. Bad Boy.

However, there are some G-Shocks that are beyond the reach of a GAS attack.

Unfortunately.

There is the 18 karat pure gold (as in real gold) G-Shock, model G-D5000-9JR (2019). Only 35 were made.

And there is the G-Shock MRGG1000HT (2016) "Hammer Tone".

This one was hand crafted using the tsuiki technique. Only 300 were made.

And there is the G-Shock MRG-G2000GA-1A (2019) hand-finished by Japanese swordsmith Sadanobu Gassan. Only 300 to be made.

But the one that I like the most, is the G-Shock MRG-G1000RT-1A (2015). This one is made from Titanium 64 alloy which is seven times harder than pure titanium.

Only 100 made.

Just dreaming.

I haven't forgotten, Python will want a G-Shock with a special background.

I think a white G-Shock in a white fridge next to a white Napoleon is pretty special.

 

Which Is My Favourite G-Shock?

This is a very hard question.

The starting place will have to be which is my favourite G-Shock model?

It is the GA-800 model (also GA-810 model).

A strong and clear three-hand analog watch face, with combination digital. The distinctive G-Shock design but with a smaller and cleaner look. Easy to read. Lots of built in functions, especially dual time which is an essential. 5 alarms. Super illuminator double LED light, and hand shift function. Tough as. Light in weight.

The G-Shock website describes this model as "the ultimate in timekeeping convenience" and it is.

Here are the specs:

Yes, this is currently my favourite model.

But which particular watch? I have eight of the GA-800 / GA-810.

These are all wonderful watches, and the each have particular associations and memories, including:

So which one is my favourite.

They are all awesome, but by a narrow margin it is the Black - Gold. Officially this is the G-Shock GA-810B-1A9 gold accent. It really is all class.

Here is an official Casio G-Shock shot, and a photo of mine.

Will I stop at 8 of this model. I don't know, because there are more to be had:

Python will whinge because he wants G-Shocks with backgrounds. So I have made two for him with my favourite watch.

 

G-Shocks and Hexes

Silly Python.

He wants hexes in posts about G-Shocks.

There is something he obviously doesn't realise.

<sigh>

Lots of G-Shocks come in hexagon shaped tins!

And there is a reason for this.

Look closely at the G-Shock. It is basically a round clock face in a ruggedised hexagon frame.

G-Shocks ARE hexes!!

 

The true horror of wargames in storage!

No maps! No hexes! No counters or the week, or counters of any kind! Just fading memories and half forgotten glories. I imagine the time when we are sitting in the warm chair of the retirement village rocking back and forwards saying "I really must go and get those games out of storage", but by then one of our daughters will have trashed them!

No safe space without wargames! The is my safe space with a set up game, a crucifix, a chainsaw and a magazine on the war on ISIS. Perfect!

However, what of all those games in the attic? What if I break my back today while hugging the drummer during the kiss of peace? I'll never manage to reach them. I decided to take action. They all came down!

Here is $5000 invested to my retirement. Note the important Ottoman that Spetz introduced me to, so I can have wargames at hand and a footstool too! My wife may a preferred a trip to France, but these do not require a passport or a lengthy travel. But first, I must have piles.

Because they absolutely must be in order! For that I need brain food.

Note how I check my email throughout lest Spetz gets out of his warm chair and plays a turn. In the presence of absence I find solace.

Beautiful! Note how the magazines are getting thicker every few years. From a few year ago, they even have spines. I appear to have lost none (which is a bit amazing), except for the BORING Civil War ones that I give to a friend to have his daughters dispose of in 15 years.

Now I can relax and think of ways that the good King Phillipe might have used a chainsaw if he had one next to his crucifix!

Deary me, I look like my father!

My Favourite World Time Watch

I love my Casio G-Shocks and I love my Casio world time watches.

I have already shown off my nice little retro world timer.

Of course one is not enough. 

A similar layout but in a round and funkier design is the Casio AE1000W.

This is my version with an orange strap:

I have another very interesting world timer.

My Casio AE300W. I think its currently my favourite world time watch. It enables the time to be shown in three cities simultaneously, and it has a cool globe with the time zone being used in the main display.

My AE300W has the home time set to Sydney (lowest section), with Rome time (middle section) and Singapore time (upper section). Strong illuminator for dark and the famous 10 year battery life.

You have to remember this is ancient liquid crystal digital technology, now decades old. 

But accurate. Robust. And massive battery life.

And I have discovered difficult to photograph. The display needs to be at the right angle for the best shot, which can compete with the reflection off the resin glass display depending where the surrounding light is.

 

What is it with watches?

Spetz' last post has me thinking. I throw out obsolete stuff with great abandon. However, I do not believe I have ever thrown out a watch. As John Michael Young would say: ' the great thing about Napoleon at Waterloo is that you can set it up in 10 minutes, an every game is different."

What John really wants us to ask, is why are watches special? Is it their beautiful mechanisms? Perhaps the cost friends and families went to to buy one for us? Or the fact that men in Australia were not allowed to wear jewellery until recently, and the watch was an exception? Or the humble service it provides us at a glance reminding us how much time we have left on a wargame before we have to race off to an appointment?

Although I never realised it. but all my watches have history:

I wore this one to work every day in the 90s.

In the noughties I became more managerial and my watch changed.

As a football coach, I need to move players off and on the field at set time to give everyone a fair run and have my best team on at the start and end of the game.

I was an early adopter of the smart watch. The Samsung Gear was great for this time, particularly for taking phone calls while playing tennis and pushing my fitness.

I had a brief foray into Apply Watches, but it was a sad experience. I broke two. I have never broken a watch before or since. I think the Apple Watch suit those who want to track their heart beat while sitting on a pile of cushions on the sofa watching porn.

However, my passion for smart watches did not abate, and I am very happy with the Samsung Gear 3; at least until the Chinese invade. To quote John Michael Young:

The Swiss, armed with pikes, halberds, and other pole-arms, had proven invincible, defeating many Austrian attempts to invade Switzerland. At Arbedo, however, the Swiss ran into the Milanese, unset the Italian Condottiere Carmagnola, with an army divided between mounted knights and bowmen.

More on Kikuo Ibe and the Invention of the G-Shock (and my old GD-350)

I shuffled around in my drawers looking for one of my older G-Shocks.

Unfortunately I didn't keep any of my 1980s Casio watches (although I still have my 1970s calculator) and not even my 1990s G-Shocks.

I did find the fully digital GD-350 which I think I was wearing about six years ago. The fact that I could use this watch without my glasses shows how much my eyesight has deteriorated. 

The watch has the signs of lots of wear but battery still running and only lost a few minutes time after years at the bottom of the drawer.

Finding this 'older' watch has inspired me to post some more about Casio's legendary Kikuo Ibe and the invention of the G-Shock watch.

From Jack Forster at Hodinkee:

Mr. Kikuo Ibe never expected to be world famous, but famous he is: he's the man who invented the Casio G-Shock. At first, he hardly seems like the sort of person who could develop the world's toughest watch. He's slightly built, slim, soft-spoken, and bespectacled, which seems a little incongruous until you remember that G-Shock is as much an engineering achievement as a horological one, and Mr. Ibe is very much an engineer.  

The history of the G-Shock is full of interesting stories (as you'd expect of a family of watches designed to tolerate just about any sort of abuse imaginable) and in a recent conversation with Ibe, at Casio's offices in New York, I had a chance to dig back a bit into those stories and to find out what's apocryphal, what's legend, and what's true. Many of the highlights in the story of G-Shock are familiar to hardcore G-Shock fans (and yes, there is a worldwide community of G-Shock collectors as serious about their watches as any gaggle of vintage Patek or Rolex collectors), but hearing them from the man who started it all over 30 years ago is a reminder of how much persistence it took to bring G-Shock to life.

First of all, yes, it's absolutely true that Ibe got the idea for G-Shock after a beloved mechanical watch broke. The watch was a gift from his father, and one day, while walking down the street (he'd been with Casio for several years already when the accident happened) another pedestrian bumped into him hard enough to break the band of his watch and knock it to the pavement (Ibe says he tried to catch it, but missed). The watch broke in pretty much every way a watch can break: the hands were dislodged, the caseback came off, and the band broke. What Ibe won't tell, however, is what brand and model watch it was. He says he's been asked many times, but prefers not to say, beyond acknowledging that it was mechanical, a Japanese-made domestic model, and not a Casio.

The testing process didn't really get off the ground until Ibe, seeing a girl bouncing a ball in a playground, got the idea of putting the movement inside a resilient structure that would isolate it from shocks. It's also absolutely true that the prototypes were tested by being thrown out of an upper floor bathroom window at Casio's research and development center: specifically, the third floor men's room window. The distance to the pavement below was ten meters, and Ibe's goal was to make a watch capable of surviving a ten meter fall, with a ten year battery life, and ten bar (100 meter) water resistance. The very first G-Shock model, DW-5000, came out in 1983, with 200m water resistance and, needless to say, the ability to survive a ten meter fall. Ibe says he tested the production prototypes in every way he could think of, including running them over with a car.

Ibe began working on prototypes for a shock-proof watch in 1981. At the time, he says, the main goal in quartz watchmaking was to make very thin watches, so he started by trying to make housings for LCD quartz movements that would allow them to tolerate severe impacts. In 1982 he'd made enough progress for the development of G-Shock to become an official Casio project, with eight engineers assigned. The initial prototypes were proof-of-concept models and not especially wearable.

The original prototypes are now the rarest G-Shocks of all.

Back to the 2013 G-Shock GD-350.

I notice it was famous for its super precise countdown function and the vibration alarm. Not something I used liked many of the other functionalities. But just having it there makes you feel good!

More Great 80s Tech - The Legendary G-Shock

More great 1980s tech.

Casio did not only invent the tremendous world time digital watches.

In 1983 Casio engineer Kikuo Ibe inventented the now legendary G-Shock watch. Virtually indestructable watches.

Some history from G-Central:

A favorite of outdoor enthusiasts, military personnel, extreme athletes, gadget freaks, and fashion trendsetters, the G-Shock watch has a long and storied history that goes back over thirty years. When Casio lead designer Kikuo Ibe dropped a watch given to him by his father and saw it shatter to pieces, he vowed to create an unbreakable watch that could withstand major drops and impacts.

[I fit into the "Gadget freak" category!]

In 1981, the three-member Project Team Tough set out to make Ibe’s vision a reality. The team sought to develop a watch based on the “Triple 10” concept including shock resistance to withstand a 10 meter drop, 10-bar water resistance, and a 10-year battery life. To achieve this, Ibe came up with the “floating module” concept that suspended the module with a few points of contact and provided efficient shock protection without the need for excessive shock absorbing material. After going through over 200 prototypes and rigorous testing, the final result was the G-Shock DW-5000C, launched in April 1983.

The G-Shock would eventually gain a reputation as the world’s toughest watch, featuring a protective case and an extreme level of shock resistance that had never been seen before. It also featured 200-meter water resistance, a 10-year battery, and had the digital functions that remain an integral part of G-Shock watches today: stopwatch, countdown timer, 12/24 hour mode, alarm, and light. Though the G-Shock watch filled an untapped niche, initial sales in Japan were sluggish and there was concern about it being discontinued. In 1984, Casio released the G-Shock DW-5200 which was featured in a widely-seen commercial being used like a hockey puck. The DW-5200 sold well in America, especially with athletes like skateboarders and surfers, and the “Hero” model is credited with popularizing and saving the brand. The DW-5000 would eventually evolve into the DW-5600C in 1987 and live on spiritually as the various “square” models that are still produced today.

The original looked like this:

With the success of the 5000 line, Casio did not rest on its laurels and continued to innovate, consistently introducing new G-Shock models and features.

In 1989, the first analog G-Shock AW-500 was launched. 1992 saw the first sensor-equipped watch: the DW-6100 with a thermometer. 1993 saw the introduction of the Frogman DW-6300, an oversized, asymmetrical diving watch. The Frogman was the first G-Shock to be ISO-certified and would become one of the most significant models in G-Shock history as well as a collector’s favorite.

G-Shock experienced a golden age in the 1990s and found the brand gaining mainstream acceptance and a newfound image as an innovator of streetwear fashion. G-Shock’s many limited edition collaboration releases with popular streetwear and lifestyle brands would prove to be extremely popular and continues to be a major part of its operations.

With the success of their resin watches, Kikuo Ibe and a team of eight young Casio engineers set out on a new mission to create a metal G-Shock that could be worn for both casual and dress occasions. The result was the MR-G series which launched in 1996. Analog models joined the MR-G series in 1997 and laid the foundation for the high-end G-Shock watches of today.

The first solar powered Raysman DW-9300 was released in 1998 and this was the beginning of the now popular Tough Solar feature. 2000 saw the introduction of radio time calibration with the GW-100, later to evolve and currently be known as Multi-Band 6.

After seeing sales peak in the 1990s, G-Shock began to focus more on analog models in the 2010s but also continued to develop digital models like the best-selling GW-9400 Rangeman with the Triple Sensor. In the late 2010s, Casio started focusing heavily on the Bluetooth mobile link feature as well as expanding the features of its signature lines like the Frogman and Rangeman. G-Shock has sold over 100 million units worldwide and has seen a resurgence after the brand’s 30th anniversary and Casio’s ongoing promotional efforts, including events and collaborations with athletes, artists, musicians, and fashion designers.

Over the years my socks draw has filled up with many G-Shocks. 

My favourites are the analog and digital combinations. I like analog including a moving second hand, but I also like a bit of digital to remind me of the 80s. These days I need a big clear analog face so I can read the time without putting on my glasses.

This is one of my old favourites. The GG1000-1A Mudmaster. Big. Chunky. Indestructable. Clear Analog. Nice digital for day, date and month.

THIS is a watch!

 

That is not a watch...

It does not even tell time! (https://www.prestags.com/2019/06/fabulous-1980s-tech.html) This is a watch!

I sometimes wonder that if the Amish did not exist, Spetz would found them, with 1980's tech (enough to have Empire playing on a Mac Classic) and 1950's theology (only Catholics need apply). Just because the tech is old, it does not mean it is the height of good design - it was just the best we could do at the time. Just like counters and hex grid maps are pretty cool and still have a place in the mouse of one of the readers of this blog, they are not the final word on wargaming.

Just because you have the inferior Russian jets in this counter mix does not mean you ignore all possible future improvements. uyou play on and flan for the FUTURE, because the FUTURE is coming much sooner than the PAST!

Watches can show world maps, modern or old these days. Does it make them less virtuous? No, but they can and will get better. And if you want your watch to tell the time, and now just dumbly show it, you should be allowed to say "OK Google, what is the time?"

 

Fabulous 1980s Tech

Back in the 80s I had Casio digitals. It was the latest thing, and lots and lots of memories.

Casio came up with the world time watch, which had all the world's time zones. You could move from your home time to any other zone and check out or change the time.

This is the 1980s A300U, now a collector's item.

This watch has been so popular, they are STILL making digital world time watches that look very  similar. 

I suspect blokes of my 'vintage' are buying them, for sentimental reasons. Plus retro is cool.

I picked up one recently. The Casio AE1200WH. It is amazingly thin.

There is one area where this 1980s technology absolutely pisses on the smart watches of today.

Battery life.

No need to charge this Casio every night. It has a 10 year battery. Yes, TEN YEARS.

Fabulous. Awesome.

 

Sounds of Silence

When John Michael Young heard with words of Simon and Garfunkel, did he realise that he to was writing games that no one ever plays. PRESTAGS are great, but if the site that rejoices in its greatness, goes for years without an AAR, or even showing a set up game, a map or a counter, surely Silence has won. The players now "bow and pray" to the computer game with its Neon like colours. Silence reigns.

Perhaps for one man of virtue the city can be spared, or must he find two more?

Imperium Romanum III - An Updated Version. Is this Strategic PRESTAGS?

I remember Imperium Romanum from the old wargaming days (later period, 1985) and I have a copy which is currently out at storage. Actually it was called Imperium Romanum II (so was there a I?).

I have just noticed that Decision Games have released an updated version (this would be Imperium Romanum III, which is what it is being referred to on boardgamegeek).

It was originally West End Games, but that company (or its rights) were sold and have been through a few owners. I can't find any reference to Decision Games, but they must have the rights now if they are publishing an updated version of it.

The game is designed by Dr Albert A Nofi, one of the old SPI designers.

Here is the box cover for the version I have:

And a nice picture of my old version, map and counters, I found online:

The new updated version is US $140 plus shipping.

Here is the link to the relevant page at the Decision Games shop.

Here is the box for the new version (I actually prefer the old box, but maybe it's all the nice PRESTAGS era memories):

Some info about the game:

The map - gorgeous:

The map viewed in its three sections. Also note the small map sections on the top. These are Insert Boxes for narrow sea straights hexes.

The narrow sea straights sections are described in the rules thus:

The counters:

I am tempted.

VERY tempted.

But where and when will it be possible to set up the three maps?

On a Boys Weekend of course.

I have uploaded the Rules so Python can have a look and assess the suitability as a Boys Weekend game. I don't think it is overly complex, and there are many three player scenarios. Looking through the scenario book I can see the some scenarios only use part of the map, so it won't always be necessary to set up all three maps.

Download ImperiumRom-Rules_V3F

Here are the scenarios in a big book of scenarios which I have also uploaded. This really reminds me of PRESTAGS and all of the different scenarios. This might be Strategic PRESTAGS!

Download ImperiumRom3-Scenarios_V4F

Check out the scenarios:

And in case the rules and scenarios pdfs take too long to download through typepad here is a link to boardgamegeek where they can be downloaded.

The Game Sequence:

VERY  VERY tempted.

Ok, I'll get it.

What is totally awesome about this ad?

What battle is this?

Hints: Three battles vs one, longbows against cavalry, first row dismounted, narrow battlefield, Python now owns Yeoman.

Question two: what happens next?

When we were young

I found this photo - no date or explanation, but I think this might be a pre-USA Peter - perhaps early 1990s - tending mutant potato plants. Perhaps this photo is classified still and I will be unable to play a turn until ASIO confiscate my old photos!

Peter still had a love of moustaches and fashionable clothes back then, but perhaps did not yet own a second lens for his camera. I suspect his favourite game was still Wagram (unless I had lent him my Crimean War quad) and he had not seen a computer game beyond Star Trek on the university mainframe.

I wonder if Shirl or I had shown him a PRESTAGS edition back then. I suspect that we did not appreciate the genius of the gaming system until much later.

Does Peter want a the photo? When is he coming to Sydney?

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....

First thoughts on Civilization VI

I have had a three games of Civilization VI - twice on warlord level to learn the system and once at prince level to get more challenge. In summary, it is a much easier game to win at but very entertaining all the way to the end.

Easier to win at because I won each game. However, each victory was a cultural victory. At the easier levels, you get more wonders and all the culture from them pushes you over the line. In the chart below you can see I am leading on all metrics except religion - I failed to prioritise founding a religion early enough - but cuulture is half way full while the rest are fingernails (see how much the Sumerian circle is filled in from the bottom on each case.

While a victory is a victory, you do not get a high score for a cultural victory.

Taking cities remains super tricky in this invocation of Civilization. However, as none of the AI opponents bother to upgrade their armies, it becomes straight-forwards from the Napoleonic era onwards.

What makes the game quite captivating is how many things you can do. Unlike previous Civ game, not every city builds the same enhancements. You tweak you city towards what you want to achieve: Arts and Culture in the centre near you capital, and Industry and Military towards the border, where you need them. Notice below my capital is far from the border so has a Colosseum, a Forbidden palace, and Entertainment district and the Theatre district, but the obligatory Ziggurat (cos I'm Sumerian).

There are now two research charts - civics and science, but they cross over a lot. What is super cool is that to get a step up on a research project, you get a practical exercise. if you can do that, you cut the research time in half. Force example, if you win a battle with a slinger, you get a leg up on archer. If you build three musket armies, you get a leg up on rifling. You can't possibly get all the leg ups, but you find yourself desperately looking for iron to mine, or a space port to build at certain times of the game. These sub-projects are fun, and often get you into trouble, which make things interesting.

Tip for new players: If you enter a village, you can get a bonus leg up. The Sumerians treat every barbarian encampment as a village, and there are no shortage of those, so Sumerians are a good power for your first game. You build a mobile army early and wander around the map hunting barbarians to get leg ups!

Also note down the bottom you can see where you are relative to everyone else. The English (Victoria) are trailing badly, but me taking their capital did not help!

There are also other project you can get into. You can collect books, art, relics and curios for your libraries and museums. I did not do much this last game as I did not want to win a cultural victory too quickly.

I was annoyed at not having a religion, so took the capital of someone who did and proselytised for them, but the game did not pay that. I think it should. After all, who owns Jerusalem!

The end comes suddenly (for a cultural victory). You are just about to make you next attack when a movie starts. (One of many nice animated sequences in the game. I paricularly love the "construction of a wonder" sequence.)

The chart shows that I pretty much lead from the Medieval period. Time to try a higher level of difficulty. I don't need to sleep!

OOoohhh!

Coming out next week I think...

Ancient Quiz #12

Does anyone from this site want to answer: http://thegeneralshq.org/discussions/6873-ancient-quiz-12

An unequal relationship

Inspired by Paul's Laksa, I had one for lunch. I can accept a challenge laid out in "Remembering PRESTAGS".

So, do we have an equal relationship? Who will take up my challenge and do the tutorial for Alea Jacta Est?

 

Alea Jacta Est - First Experiences

The game is easy to play, but is tough to win at!

I had a go at the Sulla vs Marius vs Mithridates, most because Sulla has all the letters of Saul, a forerunner to Paul, and Marius sounds a bit like Python, if you say it quick. (Well, not really, but the regular reader will see the connection.) I also liked the historical period as the Roman army was transforming into a permanent, professional force and the power of the generals finally overwhelmed the power of the Senate.

Well, the game appears quite even from the broad strategic map. Marius owns Africa, bits of Spain and bits of Italy, Sulla owns bits if Italy and Greece, and Mithridates owns Asia Minor and bits of Greece. However, Sulla has a large veteran army. Once he gets rid of Mithridates, Marius had better watch out! In the meantime, Marius has four under-strength legions in Italy and a bit of time.

It did not start well for me on my first turn. I decided to clear some pirates from Sicily (as simple as dragging my fleet in Africa on top of them). This taught me the importance of planning - I discovered most of my fleet was transports. Doh! (Oh, in the graphics below, Marius leads the Populares - the assembly of the people should rule - and Sulla the Optimates - the best qualified should rule, where only rich landowners need apply.)

So, next turn I looked before I leaped, and sent Cinna into Rome with a large force of Italian Auxiliaries. Hurrah, I thought, the Eternal City is now mine!

Alas, not so. The following turn I moved off only to notice the Optimates flag was still flying. I only won a skirmish outside the walls. I had to fight my way into the city. Then I discover that the Italian allies are not so good at siege; Legions are the best. So I raised a legion in Pisae (as simple as clicking on the Eagle on the bottom left temple icon and dragging the legion 0n to my city). All good, except the legion needs to be trained, so really has to be left untouched for five turns. (You can move it after one, but it won't be very effective.) By the time it was ready, Cinna's army had run out of supplies (the green bars above your impedimenta units all turn red), and had to return to Capua. (I did take Rome the following year by co-ordinating the legion and the allies.)

So I had learned that siege was important. As a result, I sent Marius and his lieutenants off on a siege tour of Italy - one legion a piece. However, it is not a good idea to leave your legion out in the open without an impedimenta in winter time. Not only did I take some nasty attrition but....

Historically correct! Marius and Sulla never fought a battle because Marius died before Sulla returned to Italy. My foolishness just brought it forward. Anyway, Cinna accepted the acclamation of the legions, so I could play on.

Annoyingly, I completely underestimated what the Lusitanians (Spanish) were capable of. I had planned to just respond to deep incursions only, but then they destroyed my legion there and began to overrun the country.

With most of Italy conquered, I had the horrid surprise to see Sulla arrive having marched through Illyricum. I knew I was in trouble. I raised two new legions and collected the rest of my forces around Cinna - seven legions plus auxiliaries against four of Sulla's. No joy. Sulla was just too good. I wore his forces down somewhat, but then he reinforced (over the sea I think) and I found myself besieged in Roma. At this point the game crashed. (Annoying, but unlikely to impact a PBEM, and when I restarted, it was is the same position before the crash.)

Annoyingly, Sulla had left the back door in Greece wide open, so Mithridates was probably going to win the war.

Conclusions: Turns are quick and mobile. There are lots of opportunities to surprise your opponent. You do have to check before you attack that you will succeed- the army size is not a perfect predictor. There are lots of turns - 12 a year - so it will take a while to finish a game. Easy to make a move. Lots of interesting options to finesse the game. (I ignored economic growth this time was everything was too urgent.

Anyway, I surrender and will try again employing the lessons learned. Over to you, Paul and Thygs: throw the die if you dare!

Roman: Fair enough. All is lost. I surrender. The die is cast.
Asterix: Let this be a lesson for you. Now, return our bard and don't try anything like this again.

An Enjoyable Boys Weekend

I think the boys weekend ticked all the boxes, despite being restricted to the Grand Duchy.

There were plenty of trees to hug

Some decent birds

 

 

• 
• 
• 

 

And some time for prayer

I agree with Paul; the next one should be in a caravan!

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!

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

 

Welcome Moderni Agone v0.5

The great project has resumed! My travels around Australia have stalled in Canberra for a few days, leaving me stranded with internet. At the same time, EDEE turns have completely stalled - mostly due to the Irish, paedophile priests and the Gay and Lesbian agenda. So, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Of course, a good hat, a good tee shirt, a cup of coffee and a bit of chocolate helps the process immensely.

Moderni Agone v0.5

The previous version is v0.4. (Now a climate change change skeptic would say that 0.5 is no different to 0.4 as they are unable to understand mathematics that involves decimals point. "If God meant us to use decimal points, we would have decimal points, we would have 4.4 fingers, they claim. Alas I cannot refute those who put on a blind fold and say that there are no galaxies. However, I can show that this version of Moderni Agone has new features and bug fixes over the last.)

The key new feature in v 0.5 is the facility to play solitaire games. Before, testing involved using two browsers, both in debug mode, which got fiddly. Now I can test twice as fast.

The game remembers your preferred orientation for each side, and rotates the map as the turn changes.

The other benefit I have found is that a PRESTAGS game always appears to favour the side with the higher stacking level, or better generals, but they are far more balanced than that. So playing them solitaire a few times quickly reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each side.

The other main enhancement is with the addition of the Chariot marker. I have not added the chariot phase into the game yet, but that will be soon now.

I intend to offer a few variations of the Chariot rules to let us determine what John Michael Young intended - archers only, Armageddon units or extra archers for each chariot.

Eventually I will need better graphics for the counters, but that can come.

Further, I did fix several defects with the game. Some rotations of the map bent some units and a couple of events could crash play.

Finally, I have begun documenting the code better, as per the suggestion from the Open Source Developers Conference.

Live Long and Prosper

I was very saddened this morning to wake up and learn that Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015) had died, aged 83.

His character Mr Spock, which came into being in 1966 and continued throughout the 1960s (original TV series) and 1970s (movies) and into the 1980s, became one of Science Fiction's greatest characters. And a PRESTAGS era character at that. While I was never a hard core 'Trekie', Star Trek was part of my growing up and Spock was always my favourite character. In some ways, he reminds me of the Python.

I am pleased to see that the media is highlighting some of his great quotes, both as the actor Leonard Nimoy and as the character Spock.

- "Without followers, evil cannot spread." (Spock)

- "My folks came to the US as immigrants, aliens, and became citizens. I was born in Boston, a citizen, went to Hollywood and became an alien." (Nimoy)

- "Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them." (Spock)

- "Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end." (Nimoy)

- "I have never understood the female capacity to avoid a direct answer to any question." (Spock)

 

In later years I came to recognize some subtle themes in the Star Trek universe which I didn't like, a kind of masonic utopian humanist morally relativist view of things, and a reinforcement of some of society's current trends concerning human behaviour and acceptance of deviancy with no reference to God or higher values. But the show was still very enjoyable science fiction.

 

 

Look at Dr McCoy's oufit in the photo below and tell me this is not the PRESTAGS era!