Remembering PRESTAGS

Quiz Answer

What is Python up to

As a hint it has nothing to do with staff under cutting each other to produce a funerary pyramid to honour their bosses' desks.

Clue

A cryptic clue to the last PRESTAGS quiz.

I needed the precise lengths of wood to solve a problem with a piece of furniture caused by:

What Is He Up To

Spetz sawing a broom handle with a hack saw in his office.

Why?

Pathetic!

What is special about the white Militia Spearmen in SPARTAN?

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.

What has Python invented?

We all know that Python is a genius, if perhaps a demented and undocile one. What has he invented?

The first version was a failure as it used electrical tape and a kitchen fork. We all know that Duct Tape is the true infinity stone in this universe!

To be fair, invented is a strong word for "heard someone else talking about this and decided I could do better", but Galileo used similar semantic twists to claim that he had invented the telescope.

<< Update after Thygo's correct answer >>

PRESTAGS Quiz

What is wrong with this Photo?

 

Who is Maypис Maнeши?

What can possibly be in this package?

Why is there a black van parked outside my home?

New Camera Accessory With Special Capability

I've been playing with my new camera accessory. I won't give away what it is.

It is certainly taking some interesting shots.

The shots are original. They are not zoomed in extracts from larger photographs. All I've done is reduced the size so they load quicker when they're on the website.  Apart from the first photograph, I turned the date stamp on.

First, a photograph of some of Sir Lancelot's bird seed.

To give an idea of how small the budgie seed is, I took a shot of it in a small bowl next to Azog. This was a photo with my D7200 and 18-200 lens.

Next, a surprise shot. This is the PRESTAGS QUIZ - what is this?

Here is a shot of the gold fleur-de-lis pattern on my maroon braces. You can see each individual thread.

Here are the braces excellently modeled by me. Number two daughter took the photo with the D7200 and 18-200 lens.

Speaking of Sir Lancelot, here is a nice shot from the Boss' mobile phone which does a pretty good job of his feathers.

Here is one tiny feather (original was about 10mm) with my new accessory. You can see each strand of the feather.

And last, a rather horrific shot. This is a photograph of the hairs on my forefinger.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to find a little insect to photograph.

What is Going On Here?

Why is this necessary?

What is totally awesome about this ad?

Prestags Quiz

What am I? Common on the Western Isles, but this is a statue of me in corrugated iron?

What Is This?

Thygo got it!

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?

Quiz

What are these, and why are they special?

Australia Day Nikon Testing

I have been testing my D5500 each day when I go walking. The trouble is that I walk either very early (say 5.45am) or late (say 7.45pm) and at this time of the year it is light but very grey. There is no bright sunshine and it's not a good time for photo testing.

On Australia Day I took my new prime lens for a test drive. It's the little AF-S Nikkor 35mm 1:1.8G. The first big shock was having no zoom at all. However, the lens seemed to cope very well with the low light, and I got a good practice of the auto focus.

This photo of the Bay exactly captures the grey light as it was to my eye.

There is something very special in this photograph. The nondescript brown birds are Bar-Tailed Godwits. These are an incredible and very famous bird. PRESTAGS QUIZ - why?

I took lots of photos of cars. Not because I liked the particular cars, but because they were the most colourful things around and I wanted to test the colour on the 35mm lens. I think the colours came out very well.

I struggled to find a shot with multiple colours, and ended up taking some garbage bins (not usually a hot subject for me). I was impressed with the way the different colours came out. In fact I am so far impressed generally with this little lens.

The best shot of the day was the front gardens of some units. The unit bricks were shades of sand, and the colours of the flowers and Australian flag added a splash of colour. The colours were all subtle to my eye, and this is how they came out in the photo.

 

Now I'm dreaming of a higher powered zoom lens. 

Napoleonic Quiz #5

What article of Napoleonic memorabilia sold for $2.4 Million in November 2014?

Ancient Quiz #12

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

Genius Python, Birthday Cakes and Unidentified Bugs

The genius Python Magus has rescued the Zen Book and brought it back to a new life. Linux lives on in my household!

Preloaded with EDEE, and poppies for Anzac Day, what more could I want.

By visiting my parents in Canberra, and returning before the end of the long weekend, I managed to score two birthday cakes for myself.

Both cakes convey my age in their own way.

For number 3 daughter, a highlight of Canberra was trying to identify a new bug we have never seen before. We don't know why one had such a long 'tail', and the other one didn't.

Prestags Quiz: identify this bug!

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?

 

What is Happening in this Photo?

My new EDEE workstation

I saw this chair in Cobar - and have ordered one to improve my EDEE game. We all know what the red button on the right hand of the chair is for, and the joysticks are to move my armies, but can you guess what the other buttons are for. Oh, and the green button on the front is pressed to move my generals into safety.

Which two passions do Paul and Pro Hart share?

Where is Python now?

---

 Answer: The Living Sculpture Garden, Broken Hill

Thygo Canberra is on the money!

What is this flag?

I've noticed this flag in several parks in South Australia. I have a guess as to what it is, but am interested if this blog's readers can tell.

Something other than the shadows are long in this photo

What is very long in this photo?

---

Answer: Well done Thygo Canberra

Where is Python now?

Nice tee shirt, but where is Python? And what are all those white mounds in the background?

Morning Coffee

Morning coffee, using the replica 1900 cup and saucer.

A PRESTAGS Cup of Coffee

Why do I call this my PRESTAGS cup of coffee?

Whither is the moon?

---

Answer:

Moon over Kata Tjuta

Where am i?

...and my feet are really aching after walking 10 km after this photo was taken!

Correct picture for "where am i"

Nice tee shirt too, but the camera did not capture enough pixels. The tee shirt has many colours and one of each unit counter in a famous game.

Nice teeshirt, but where am i?

Another nice tee shirt photo

But where am I now?

More reptile problems for poor Python

Nice tee shirt though!

I found out later this one is called Banjo. Anyone want to have a guess about its species?

Where am I now?

What is This Sound?

Download Sound1

Why is Python paddling so fast?

---

Answer: Just to the right of my oar, you will see my namesake - at about 2 metres long by my reckoning. He was five metres away when I spotted him. Although my mind told me he was not dangerous, if he decided to get into the canoe I was going to leave a stain in my seat. My niece, Rachel, was more focused on getting a good photo bombed selfie!