Big Dumb Action Films

My good lady and I have managed a couple of cinema visits recently for a pair of action films that weren't superhero based - this can be quite difficult to avoid given Disney's hegemony, but manage it, we did.
The first film was Fast and Furious presents: Hobbs and Shaw. A spin off from the increasingly silly but ever so watchable Fast and Furious series, Hobbs and Shaw sees Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham team up to save the world in a cheese-tastic Big Dumb Action Film. Having a plot isn't really essential for this kind of flick but the basics are that Statham's on-screen sister (played by the excellently cast Vanessa Kirby) is set up as a rogue agent after her MI6 team is killed on a black-op (very Mission Impossible - 1995) to prevent a nasty virus from being stolen. In order to stop the villain (a motorcycle riding Idris Elba), she injects herself with the virus and off starts a 72 hour countdown before she infects the whole world (very Mission Impossible 2 - 2000).
Now, it is a universal truth that action film plots tend to be generic or derivative, but that has never stopped the likes of Bond or the aforementioned Mission Impossible series from achieving considerable success. Hell, the MI series, for me, dipped in quality on its second outing and has improved with each subsequent entry. Whilst Hobbs and Shaw has a cut and paste story, it is the performances that make the film. The on-screen chemistry between Johnson and Statham was obvious in the most recent  F&F film and Hobbs and Shaw takes that up to 11, with some great banter between the two, some of it literally head to head. There is a self awareness here that cuts through any misgivings you might have and the film truly wears its heart on its sleeve. There is action galore and you can see where the $170 million budget went. True, you have to suspend disbelief to the point of handing it to the Montgolfier Brothers and waving it goodbye but ever since the F&F series reinvented itself from number 6 onwards, you know pretty much what you are going to get.
So, high points of the film are Johnson, Statham and Kirby, who deserves her own action film based on her performance here. Elba is good but one dimensional which is a shame considering how great an actor he is - and to be honest, this is probably as close as he's going to get to a Bond style film - I think he is just a tad too old for the role once Daniel Craig hangs up the Walther. The action is well framed and action-y, and the overall tone is rather light, especially with the hilarious cameos from Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. It is nice to see a light touch to the F&F series as the presence of the leaden and stilted Vin Diesel often kills such an approach.
Downsides? Well, the film's internal logic and treatment of time and distance are patchy at best. Elba is  wasted, as noted above, and the bit part actors are serviceable at best - even the ever reliable Eddie Marsan struggles with his Russian accent. The Reynolds cameo is a hoot but, and I say this as a fan, his Deadpool-like shtick is starting to wear thin through overuse. We're not quite at peak snark just yet but we're getting there. Then there is the issue of Statham and Kirby's age difference - no way are they siblings of a similar age!
With the set up of the inevitable sequel, Hobbs and Shaw is a bit of a change from the usual F&F template and one that has found success at the box office (over $740 million). Films like this are  never going to be high art but there is always a place for Big Dumb Action Movies.

The second film we have watched is Angel has Fallen, the third entry in the Fallen series and once again, Gerard Butler fights his way through bad guys whilst battling that most sinister of foes - the American accent.
Olympus has Fallen was a decent mid-budget action film ($70m) that offered Butler a good action role that mostly worked, slightly dubious CGI included. That success was followed up with London has Fallen, a $60m that moved production from the US to Britain and Bulgaria. Again with dubious CGI and what came across as a very nasty streak of racism, it did well enough for this latest entry to be green-lit. Following the law of diminishing returns, the budget for Angel was $40m and yet it still offers more than enough action to satiate most films buffs. Considering that Hobbs and Shaw cost over four times more than Angel, it was interesting to see the effects of the budget disparity.
First up, though, the story. Butler plays an aging and injured Mike Banning, a Secret Service agent entrusted to protect President Trumble (a returning Morgan Freeman who, despite his advancing years, peppers the scenes he's in with the usual "twinkle" in his eyes that feels like he's reveling in every detail). After catching up with a former Army colleague (Danny Huston, showing once again that men of a certain age can still give it some welly in action films) who runs a private military training firm, a drone attack on Trumble and his detail on a fishing trip sees Banning framed for the attempted assassination. Add to  that some political shenanigans with the Vice-President, a domestic angle with Piper Perabo as Banning's wife and a woefully underused Jada Pinkett Smith as an FBI agent and you have quite a bit in the mix. Oh, and Nick Nolte.
The plot of Angel has Fallen seems like it wants to be a political thriller as well as an action movie, yet the handling of the conspiracy side and the identity of the villains is ham-fisted at best. The film practically shouts out the identity of the bad guys from the first reel, subtlety be damned. However, you know all will be well with the world once the final credits roll. It's still quickly paced and the near two hour running time certainly does not feel that long.
Cast-wise and it's the usual from Butler, who is aging a bit and looks a bit more jowly than usual. His struggle with the American accent isn't as bad as some of his films and there is less speaking from the side of his mouth that has plagued other projects. He does bring a physicality to the role and a sense of humour when required - even if he is approaching Superman levels of invincibility by the film's climax. Piper Perabo isn't given much to do as Banning's wife, whilst Huston is believable and Freeman very good value - plus he has that voice! Tim Blake Nelson tries his best with the under-written role of the Vice-President and Lance Reddick is his usual cool and collected self as the head of the Secret Service (if you've seen Fringe or any of the John Wick films, you'll know what I mean). This leads me to Jada Pinkett Smith and Nick Nolte. Pinkett Smith is good enough (though she has done better) but the film builds up her character and then, well... no spoilers but there isn't much of consequence here, with off-hand explanations abound. It's very much a let down. Then there is Nolte, looking every bit of his 78 years and then some more. He plays Banning's father and is the funniest thing in the film, not only with the biting comebacks and kooky behaviour but also with a lot, and I mean, a lot of high explosives.
Filming primarily in the UK and Bulgaria, it just doesn't feel as though it was made in the US, with the look and feel just being that little bit off. That is probably me overthinking it but once you notice it, you'll not forget it. Watch this as a popcorn film and you'll probably enjoy it as much as I did. But, given the relatively meagre budget, you can see where the corners have been cut, especially with the CGI. Some of it is passable, some of it is dire! Glaring examples include Marine One, a sniper on another helicopter and the climactic roof top fight that was blatantly filmed in a studio.
For all of that, these faults can be forgiven. Angel has fallen does change the Fallen formula and is better for it. The smaller scale action is well directed and feels more more personal and visceral than the slick Hobbs and Shaw. Despite the differences in budget, both are enjoyable films for different reasons, if aimed at different audiences and, if Mr Butler wishes to tackle that accent again, my good lady and I will be there to witness it.

Border Reiver 2019

Border Reiver was the first war games show I ever attended. Indeed, for many years, I had attended that show and many others around the country as part of a crew and not as a member of the general public. A move to Gateshead International Stadium several years ago was quite welcome (a shorter distance to carry the gear) but a few years back saw the show drop off my radar. Having some time off last weekend meant a trip to the most recent show was on the cards so, on Saturday morning, my good lady and I ventured into deepest, darkest Gateshead to see what Border Reiver 2019 could offer. Oh, and this was her first trip to a wargames show!

As you can see, there was lots of space.

So, first up, it's in a Sport's Hall. This means sodium lighting and hard floors. I have seen quite a few blog posts and commentators actively detest venues with such qualities through the years but let's be honest here. How many other venues have space and access for both traders and the public? Some old shows (Scarborough, for one, and the Partizan's when they were at Kelham Hall - a horrid building for access, despite the so-called "atmosphere", whatever that means) offered something different but in reality, any trade based show with a display/demo element requires space and access, and sports halls/dedicated showground facilities are the best compromise. It is generally true that the trade stands pay for the venue so there should be some give and take on both sides of the venue discussion. In any case, a couple of hours in a Sports Hall for a show is not going to be the end of the world for any member of the public.

But there were people there.

Anyway, back to Gateshead and the door charge of £3.00 was very reasonable especially when you consider the rather nice 28mm metal figure of a March Warden to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the show. Dues paid, we were quickly into the thick of it. Except, it was quite thin.
Now it wasn't the fault of the organisers that Colours had changed their show date this year to match Border Reiver and, for some traders, a choice had to be made. Unfortunately, the north-east show missed out. Some traders did, however, have the ability to attend both shows and that has to be congratulated. True, there were some rather large gaps in the hall and that could not be hidden but I was pleasantly surprised as to the names who had made it. I must also add that whilst it was pretty obvious some of the traders could only just manage a small selection of stock as their main stand was at Colours, I don't think there are many in the industry who could do a double header and it demonstrates how small (and almost cottage like) the hobby actually is. Sadly for me, there were no book stalls so whilst my heart dropped, my bank balance did not.

A small section of the lovely Napoleonic game

That brings me on to the next topic - spending at the show. I admit to not spending a farthing outside of the door charge. Why? Because there was nothing there that caught my eye and I will not buy for the sake of buying. I realise that does contradict previous posts on wargames shows about spending to support traders and the show itself - traders need to make money to continue attending - but I just couldn't see anything I needed. Is that the traders fault? No. Neither is it the show organiser's fault. It's just the way things were.

There was quite a busy Bring and Buy/Flea Stall/Games Workshop graveyard (delete as applicable) which was worth a perusal, just to see how much GW stock makes it onto such stalls, but the games put on for the show took up most of my interest. There was a strategic level Barbarossa game that I'd seen at other shows that  looked rather nice, a long, narrow 28mm Napoleonic game that had a ton of figures and really looked fantastic, and a couple of Wings of Glory games that mildly caught the interest of my good lady. The demo game that really caught my eye, and purely for eye candy, was of a piratical theme with a fantasy twist, packed with lovely little details and displayed with an irreverent sense of humour. Not to everyone's taste, I grant you, but very well done and the effort was plain to see. It also helped that the gentleman who had put the game on was very willing to talk about it and his approach to his hobby. Not something that can be said for many demo games/gamers at quite a few shows I have been to.

Pirate Demo game

So, Border Reiver 2019 - the 25th Anniversary. A good show? The clash with Colours was outside of its control and certainly hurt the number of traders and the breadth of stock for some of those who did attend. As for punters, well, we rocked up around 11-ish and there were enough people around to describe the footfall as brisk, but not packed. Even the lighting didn't seem as orange or harsh as memory recalls. It would be more than a tad harsh to judge the show from this visit alone. I was curious to see how the show had changed (if at all) after several years of non-attendance and I think the fairest thing I can say is that the jury is still out. As to whether we will attend next year, well, that's a question to be answered closer to the time. Certainly there were things that my good lady found of interest, even as a non-wargamer, so it is definitely a case of wait and see.

Naval Gazing

One thing about having someone like Andy as a friend is that he is very willing to loan me books, and usually these are war gaming related. Now sometimes my good lady despairs of this as she thinks I have too many of the damn things (note, I don’t, as this post will show later on), but at least with Andy’s loans, these are short term only and are returned quite quickly.

So, the pair of books he loaned me recently were concerned with naval war gaming and date from what you could call the First Golden Years of war gaming, the late 1970’s. First up is Naval War Games by Barry J Carter. This focuses on the World Wars One and Two and comes across as very much an introduction to the period as well as the hobby in general. The tone is straight forward and ever so slightly po-faced without over doing it. Grandfatherly might be a suitable description. There is, however, a lightness at times that not only dates the book but also the author as well.

The book has some good comparisons between scratch built ships and shop bought kit and there is, like many other similar titles of the period, an emphasis on making do with what you can get your hands on or what you can make yourself, especially considering the state of the commercial market at the time. The photographs are few and far between, but that is also in line with the period, as is their quality. The writing, however, is well worth the cost of this book and as an introduction to gaming the naval conflicts of the two periods, there is a lot to take in. Of course, some of this is now quite dated and the shop bought kit noted here would today reach a tidy sum on e-bay!

The author provides some sample rules to try out and although they are quite interesting, they use a grid based system for distances which, given today’s simpler direct measuring, feel very… gamey. Still, they would be worth trying, even if just for curiosity’s sake. Of note is the author’s recommendation of play testing the rules and making changes where ever you see fit. What a refreshing idea!

Written at the time when war gaming was arguably more niche than today but still not as niche as it had been in the 1960’s (and it is still a pretty niche hobby despite the protestations of those who would lump it into table top gaming which, for me, is far too broad a church), this tome is a useful insight as to where the hobby has been and how far it has developed.

Next up is Sea Battles in Miniature – A Guide to Naval Wargaming by Paul Hague. Published just five years later, this is a far more broad introduction to naval warfare in general. The hobby seems to have become more established by then as there are a few more manufacturers and the author is very much on a mission to educate people on the topic of naval war gaming, which he notes seems to be treat as the poor cousin of land based war gaming. The tone here is very light and the sense of enjoyment the author takes in his hobby is tangible, taking it for what it is, rather than what it might be. I do, however, think he takes the challenge for realistic representation a little too far with the insistence on scale meaning that floor level is preferred to the table top in order for it to “look right”, and I am not entirely sure he is joking when he suggests taking over the local Mecca for a proper looking playing area! There is also a detailed section on how to scratch build balsa ships and the attraction of using flats, something I have honestly never seen in the naval arena before.

There are some general war gaming comments here as well, such as those who practice gamesmanship are not welcome to the hobby (amen, Brother!) and that rules are there to be played with, home-written amendments and all. Such a far cry from the modern commercial industry (or at least some of the game designers). The last section of the book covers various periods of naval warfare and the presentation takes the form of game reports featuring Mr Hague and friend. Tongues are placed firmly in cheek (the names of the admirals alone should raise a few chuckles) and they demonstrate the included rules very well. They also provide food for thought for future rule amendments.

In a way, it is funny to compare these titles, for the first follows the Featherstonian introduction type whilst the second is more a “Here! Play this! You’ll like it!” kind of book. It aims to be a torch bearer for naval war gaming in general and opines that whilst naval war gaming might be seen as more technical compared to its land-based cousin, that only means you need to learn more and that gaining of knowledge is part of the fun of the hobby. It has always been my opinion that a greater knowledge of the period always, and I mean always, makes playing that particular period more enjoyable. If only that approach were more common today… Incidentally, Mr Hague adds a decent bibliography (that include Mr Carter’s tome) and adds to what is a lovely little package.

Overall, these are two very useful book and highly recommended to anyone who plays, or has an interest in playing, with ships on a table (or dance hall floor, if you have one close to hand!). True, the included rules are a tad basic but you are literally ordered to improve and add as you see fit. I, for one, am very grateful for the loan of these from Andy and I think anyone who reads these will take something positive away for their gaming.

Now, onto two other books. And I bought these so they’re staying in the collection and for good reason too…

The Deadly Trade by Iain Ballantyne is an all encompassing history of submarine warfare. From the earliest attempts to travel under the surface to the nuclear powered behemoths that cruise the depths today, Ballantyne has written a very readable and detailed account. The author knows his stuff and engages the reader, with knowing little asides and comments that raise a smile here and there. True, the majority of the book deals with the First and Second World Wars and by its very nature, there is not too much specific detail in places, but that is where the bibliography comes in and, my word, is it a good one! I always like it when I read through a bibliography and can state honestly that I have quite a few of the books listed in it.

As a history of the submarine, this is a worthy read and the perfect book to either break into the subject or as a starting point to find other sources of more detail. One of which, had it been published when Ballantyne’s book was written, is In Deepest Secrecy by Jaime Karremann – the story of the Royal Netherlands Navy Submarine Service during the mid to late Cold War period.

Yep, this is niche, a small force of six diesel powered subs and the limited, though vital, role they played. Part history, part explanation of how they operated, this was a book I saw upon publication but missed on its first run. Fortunately, I was able to pick up a copy and to be honest, it was worth the wait. You’re not going to get Tom Clancy levels of excitement, but neither are you going to get bored to death by nothing happening. No, this book is an excellent account of how one of the smaller Western navies performed its role in the most dangerous and difficult of circumstances. If you’re in any way intrigued by the subject, grab yourself a copy as soon as you can!

Now, with all this talk of Submarines, where did I put my DOS copy of 688 Attack Sub?

Low RISC Computing

Many, many moons ago (2017, which feels like a long, long time ago), I posted a couple of pieces about alternative operating systems, one of which was RISC OS. I noted then that I would keep an eye on the format and as time has passed, there have been several positive developments in the RISC OS world (unlike the Amiga OS world which, well, who knows what's happening there).

The major one was the announcement last year that RISC OS Developments would take on the intellectual property concerning RISC OS and that RISCOS Open Ltd would continue the development of the operating system which is also now open source. This meant that there would be stability on the OS side of things.

Other developments included new, more powerful Raspberry Pi Single Board Computers (though that does not include the recently released Pi 4 as RISC OS needs porting to it due to a change in the ARM cores from the Pi 3) as well as other SBC's that RISC OS can run on, plus the continued sale of complete systems by the likes of R-Comp, CJE Micros and RISCOSbits. Indeed, R-Comp are in the process of developing an ARMBook laptop that, when out of beta testing, might prove a good replacement for the seven year old Chromebook that languishes in the corner of a drawer somewhere.

With that in mind, and thinking that it was a good time to re-visit RISC OS, I began searching for a suitable machine. Now I have said before that it's simple enough to cobble one of these together yourself for not much money but I really wanted to see what a pre-built system would be like. As a starter machine, I didn't want to spend too much but also didn't want to skimp on the spec, so finally settled on the RISCOSbits piHARD. You may have noticed the naming convention for RISCOSbits products is a bit tongue in cheek but hey, look at the name of this blog!

Disclaimer here: This computer was bought with my own funds and RISCOSbits have had no input or overview of this post. The opinions given are my own and I have not received any compensation whatsoever.

Once settled on the machine, I spec'd it out with a Raspberry Pi 3B+ (1GB RAM, 1.4GHz CPU, usual selection of ports), a 120GB SSD for mass storage and a battery backed real time clock. For the case, I chose the Deuce case which, as you can see, is rather tidy (and definitely tells you where it came from!). Once I had submitted the request for a quote, Andy at RISCOSbits was very quick with a reply and, with my agreement to the quoted price, the order was submitted. A couple of days later came the invoice, and, after settling that via Paypal on a Thursday evening, I waited for my new computer. I didn't have to wait long as a small box containing the well packaged PiHARD arrived on the following Monday.

During the intervening period, Andy was kind enough to suggest a power supply for the PiHARD, seeing as it uses a 5v 3000mA micro USB supply. That was ordered on the Friday and delivered the following day (from a well known river-based online supplier) so I was all set when the machine itself arrived.

Shiny, shiny... and some subtle branding :-)

The case is nice, roughly 6 x 6 x 2.5 inches and shiny. It's very light and you might mistake that lightness for fragility but once it's set up, you're not likely to move it again and the case certainly feels good enough to handle day to day knocks. Be honest here. How often do you move your desktop PC? The worst thing I can say about it is that it attracts dust like nobody's business. Incidentally, one of the options (which I didn't take) was for a front mounted USB port, hence the cut out visible above to the right.

Plenty of ports: Micro USB, HMDI, audio out, 3 x USB 2 and Ethernet.

There were no instructions in the box but, to be honest, they aren't really needed. Plug in the micro USB power supply, a keyboard, a mouse (you'll need a three button model or a mouse with a clickable scroll wheel - RISC OS relies upon three buttons) and an Ethernet cable for internet access and you're all done. WiFi is possible with RISC OS but that does require additional hardware at present so cabled networking is the easiest way forward at the moment. Now, the moment of truth. After a start up screen, RISC OS 5.24 boots up in seconds and gives you this rather green desktop.

It's a bit cropped (my fault with the screenshot), but you get the idea.

As you can see, the PiHARD sits rather nicely under the monitor and outputs a rock steady 1920x1080 resolution with 16.7 million colours at 60Hz. For those wanting some help starting out, there are plenty of documents and stored web pages in the OS to get you going. These can also be found online.

As for downsides, well, it's pretty much the lack of expansion. The issue here is the use of Single Board Computers as a basis of RISC OS machines. By their very nature, they are not expandable in the traditional PC sense, so what you get is, well, what you get. However, this is not the handicap you may think it is, as RISC OS runs extremely well on a Pi 3B+ and if extra storage is required, then you have plenty of USB ports to hang stuff off. Certainly, this issue cannot be laid at the feet of any of the hardware vendors. If there were to be new, dedicated motherboards for RISC OS, then maybe the situation would be similar to the Amiga OS market where the only new dedicated hardware readily available is £1,800.00! One niggle about the USB ports. They are all in a row and quite close together, so if you attach a USB stick directly to the computer, chances are that unless it is a slim design, you'll interfere with access to the remaining ports. The solution here is to use a USB hub and they are cheap enough. This isn't an issue that RISCOSbits are in control of and in no way is it a deal breaker.

Cable management to be sorted out later...

I'm not going to delve into using RISC OS in this post. Nor, in future, will I be delving into how-to guides either as there are plenty of those about. No, what I will be doing is an occasional series on how I find using RISC OS on a regular basis, how it can fulfill most general computing needs and basically how much fun computing can be outside of the usual Windows/Mac/Linux arenas. This first post though, is purely about the hardware and I must say I am very impressed, not only with the price paid but also the build quality, the speed  of delivery and the communication from RISCOSbits. If you ever do feel like dipping into the world of RISC OS, I wholeheartedly recommend them. I am happy with my PiHARD and the initial steps into RISC OS after 25 years (and RISC OS 3). I'll keep you updated as to how things go but from initial impressions, that ARMBook is looking more and more tempting by the day...

Hewlett Packard HP 620LX

Technological improvement occurred rapidly during the late 1990's with regards to portable computing and the Hewlett Packard HP 620LX is a fine example of this (with some caveats). The 620LX was the follow up to the HP 300 series, one of which I reviewed here. Released in 1998, the 620 took the basic premise of the 360 and added new bells and whistles to make it the then go-to model. These included a new version of Windows CE (v2.11 compared to 2.00), a faster SH3 processor (75MHz instead of 60MHz), double the memory (16Mb), more ROM (10Mb) and most obvious of all, a colour screen. Now before anyone gets too excited, when I say colour, I mean 256 colour CSTN with the same 640x240 half VGA resolution as the 360, so nothing special even compared to the laptops of the time. However, colour was something new and it was a useful feature to add, certainly making the built-in Internet Explorer somewhat more user friendly. All this for a launch price of £699 ($899). In today's money, that's north of £1,200.00!!!

That's the extended battery right there. The case is nifty too.

First up, that new tech meant a bigger device, and, as you can see from the picture below, it’s a fair bit larger than the 360LX and the much older Psion Series 3. The card is for scale. That extra space didn’t entirely go to waste as the keyboard, whilst keeping the calculator style of the 360LX, has slightly larger keys and they are more widely spaced. This does mean that it is easier to type on and I got up to a decent, accurate speed with it. It's still not in the same league as the follow up Jornada series or the Psion 5's (yet to be beaten) exemplary keyboard. There are also some application softkey shortcuts above the keyboard and four to the right of the screen.

Yes, I still buy books from a high street shop! What's your problem??? ;-)

It certainly looks the business.

As the device has a colour screen, the keyboard and symbols have a splash of colour themselves and the unit itself is a rather tasteful black rather than the dark grey of previous models. Think Psi-Corps compared to the dull Earthforce Security...

Also doubles as a make up mirror. So I am told...

A note on that screen. It is very readable but uses that popular tech of the time, the resistive touchscreen. This means that you really need the included stylus to get any real use out of it and it’s reflective as hell, as you may have noticed from the pictures. Being CSTN, it does appear rather washed out but you can change to contrast to help out with that.

That reflection is me taking the picture. Told you it was reflective...

That extra bulk (1.29 lbs vs 1.01 lbs of the 360LX) meant that the newer machine was no longer a jacket pocket “whip it out when required” (oohhh-errr, missus!) device. Nope, the 620LX was just too damn big and that was with the smaller battery. The picture with the carry case also shows the extended battery that adds a smidge more weight and sticks out of the back of the device. That said, the extended battery does mean you can make it through a full working day with extra to spare, not something that could be said of the standard power pack.

As per the 360LX, the software is the usual Windows CE mix of office applications and utilities, with just what seems minor enhancements. There is the expected compact flash card slot for additional memory and a PCMCIA Type 2 slot for network, modem and VGA adapters (amongst other things). A word of caution here though: any use of the PC card slot means a dive in battery life, and the extended battery isn’t much help here.

What makes it useful to this day, removable storage.

You can also get a very fragile docking cradle that acts as a syncing aid, but in reality, is neither use nor ornament and its true purpose was to take up desk space at home when you weren’t being an always connected on the road net-warrior (how '90's!).

Even with two rather suspect batteries, the 620LX is still very usable today and, if using a rucksack or other large bag, would be the go-to device if I couldn’t carry the Alphasmart. That would also include a mains adapter as twenty year old battery cells are unpredictable, as well as a spare back-up battery as those coin cells get chewed up pretty badly when the main battery goes. And that pretty much sums up the caveats with this device. It's a bit too large as a handheld and the move to a colour screen meant ditching the ubiquitous AA battery for a lithium-ion pack that also meant carrying the mains adapter around for when the pack inevitably died. 

620LX, 360LX and Series 3 - at least the screens got bigger.

Upon its release, the 620LX was described as a laptop killer. Bigger and of more use than a PDA, smaller and more portable than any laptop at the time, it seemed to be the perfect middle ground. Yet, as time was to prove, it wasn’t. Practical use was hampered by the form factor (the keyboard too small for real touch typing, the screen too small for more than one person to view at a time) and the abomination that was Windows CE/Handheld PC – an operating system that never truly knew what it was supposed to be. Tech also improved with laptops and when you’re paying seven hundred quid for something, you want it to work well. Ultimately, business users (for that was who HP were aiming for with the 620LX) didn’t jump ship to the product and by the time the Jornada 720 was released in 2000, the writing was on the wall for the device format.

Pretty similar but the bigger keys do it for me.

That is not to say that some silly fools continue to try to get some use out of these devices and as I said above, it’s a handy machine and a good back up.

This will be the last of the retro tech pieces I’ll be doing for a while, the main reason being that I have pretty much bought the machines I wanted to and these cover pretty much everything I need (and there is no way I am paying that much for an Apple eMate 300!). You could say I am a fool for using this old tech but to be honest, it works for me. I am not a fan of touchscreen keyboards, adding a keyboard to a tablet is akin to adding a chocolate handle to a frying pan and modern day small keyboard devices are rather expensive. So with that, if you’ve missed any of my previous pieces, the links below will take you to them and below that, a picture of the collection:

SonyPEG-UX50

AsusEEE-PC 904HD (Catchy name, that)

AmstradNC100

OregonScientific Osiris

HandspringVisor

PsionSeries 3

Alphasmart3000
HP 360LX
Zodiac Tapwave

Seven Days to the River Rhine - Preview

Seven Days to the River Rhine by Great Escape Games describes itself as a fast play set of rules covering the NATO/Warsaw Pact 1980’s. It claims it is suited especially for large multi-player games where each side has an overall commander who guides strategy and the other players control the actual units. In this preview, I’ll let you know what I think.

Not as gung-ho as Team Yankee

I had heard of this game last year but it wasn’t until the First Partizan of 2019 that I saw a demo game taking place. Intrigued, I searched for a copy of the rules and found a set for around a tenner. The rules themselves are a nicely produced 44-paged softback accompanied with a set of special cards. More on them later.

The overall layout is clear and concise, with quite large text and numerous photographs. Unlike Team Yankee, these picture detail miniatures from several manufacturers and credit is given to them with each picture.

The process of play is based on command tokens and initiative. One player has the initiative, uses their command tokens, then there are reaction rolls and this continues until all of the command tokens have been used or the other player steals the initiative via a 6 on a reaction dice roll. On the whole, this is probably the part of the game that I am dubious about the most. It just seems so finicky and I can’t help but think that the process as described might hinder fast play more than help. Having said that, most games I have played are simultaneous movement and effect so this initiative malarkey is a bit of a stranger to me. When we do get round to playing these rules, we’ll see how this goes. There is the usual morale and stats sections and the rules don’t get too bogged down in minutia unlike some sets I could care to mention.

The biggest game changing aspect of the rules would be the Tactical Advantage Cards. These are mostly generic but there is a card specific to each side and whilst I can see how they can add to the game, I am not entirely sure they help the game play to the period, and that is a thing for me and my approach to historical gaming, hence the amendments I made to the core Team Yankee rule set last year. A play through will sort out that question. 

Another interesting part of the game is range, or lack of it. Except for infantry fire, there are no defined ranges for weapons, the inference being that given the scale of miniatures used, assigning ranges to say tank cannon fire in relation to an assault rifle would make the scale of the game look a bit funny. Again, I can see how this would help the game but would add a caveat in that if you game on quite a large table as we often do (say 16x5 feet), you’ll need to consider terrain and buildings in you scenarios or you’re just going to have a shoot ‘em up on your hands. Then again, maybe that was what they were going for with the fast paced point of the game.

Sgt Bradford and a QR code? Tsk!

There is one bugbear that I must comment upon, and it’s nothing to do with the mechanics or the style of play. No, it’s a layout choice and one that peeved me slightly with my recent look at Cruel Seas. It’s the ‘advice’ boxes, from either Sgt Bradford for the British or Lieutenant Vasilov for the Soviets. These seek to impart tactical or strategic advice for those in it for the game and whilst I can understand why the designers put these sections in, they do come across as a little condescending for anyone with only a little knowledge of the tactics of the period. It’s a small thing, and you may very well disagree, but I would prefer it if games designers did not think every reader is a bored child with the attention span of an MP in a re-election campaign. Oh, and in case you don’t understand what the rules are trying to tell you, there are QR codes that will lead you to videos explaining the relevant section of the rules. Helpful, maybe, appearing to cater for the Fisher Price ‘My First Wargame’ market, almost certainly. I know I am being waspish here but if you can’t explain a simple process in two paragraphs, are you really trying at all?

It could be considered easy, and lazy, to think of Seven Days to the River Rhine as a kind of Team Yankee lite without the model catalogue level of miniature pictures. And yes, it would be. The designers have clearly thought long and hard about what they wanted to put on the table and, my reticence aside for initiative table tennis, it feels like they have succeeded in their self declared goal. For the price, I don’t feel set upon by the rules and there isn't the relentless commercialism of Team Yankee and its ilk. As with my recent Cruel Seas preview, I have certain doubts but am more than willing to give these rules a full airing, probably in late 1990’s H’irraq at 15mm or West Germany in 20mm if the kit is available. Command Decision is our usual modern rule set (albeit at a different unit scale to Seven Days or Team Yankee), but the latter has become our alternate go to set with suitable amendments. You never know, maybe Seven Days could replace TY in that role. We shall have a play and find out.

The State of the Blog (and what a state it is too...)

Since we are now into the second half of 2019, I thought it appropriate to provide an update on what's going on with this blog as well as other projects I am involved with.

At the beginning of the year, I set myself a target of three to four posts per month, obviously depending upon having something to write about. Whilst the cadence of posts hasn't been entirely predictable, I've hit that three per month target in every month except May, so I'm pretty happy with that. There have, however, been a couple of other things that have taken up time which has, to a degree, slowed down my posting here.

First up is Then There Were Two, a podcast featuring myself and Eddie Carter of Attention Please, Across the Pond (search Facebook for AttentionPlease1976 for both of those shows), All The Time I Was Listening To My Own Wall Of Sound (link here) and Bearded Gentlemen Music (link here) infamy. You can hear the first two episodes here and more will be incoming. We're also on iTunes if you're so inclined (search in podcasts to Then There Were Two. It's the one with the two dodgy fellers on it...) and there is a Facebook page to be found by searching for TTW2NE. The format for these is pretty simple. Around an hour in length, opinion based and containing ramblings of two middle aged bearded gents, Then There Were Two will basically be a talking shop on various topics, one topic per episode. Four have already been recorded and they will be released on a monthly basis. Another recording session is due next week and as each one is released, there'll be an update on the Facebook page.

Spot the podcast - it's the one with the parental advisory.

In addition to TTWT, there is also Retrovideogamer.co.uk. I was asked to provide some retro game reviews a couple of months back and have so far posted four, with more in the works. It's a fun thing to do and not only does it allow me to replay games from yesteryear but it also allows me to develop my reviewing skills as well. My reviews are posted under the name Oystoa77 and if you have any requests for old videogames, have a look at the platforms supported and let me know via this blog or my Twitter handle @andrew_oyston and I'll see what I can do.

Of course, with the podcast and RVG, that has eaten into my spare time a lot but with a bit of careful planning, this shouldn't affect the TIT much and, as I noted above, as long as I have something to write about then I'll be putting it on here. This will include expanding into the other hobbies and interests I have as well as some more in-depth pieces that I can't cover elsewhere but also the occasional op-ed as well. Let's see what the rest of 2019 brings, shall we?