Advanced War Games - Donald F Featherstone

Now I have talked about Featherstone before when I posted a mini-review of his original tome, War Games, and I quite liked it. The other week, Andy loaned me the follow up, Advanced War Games and opined that I might find it quite interesting. Ok, I thought, I'll give it a once over. And you know what, he was right.

What 42 shillings would have bought you fifty years ago!

Published in 1969 for the princely sum of 42s(!), Advanced War Games takes war gaming from its introduction and attempts to add greater realism and detail to the average war game. By that, I mean it's ok having basic rules but if you actually want to game military history in all of its minutia (incidentally, Minutia Miniatures would be a good name for a figure production company, though that's probably already been done), then you have to add detail though not, necessarily, too much complexity. It is with that in mind that Featherstone and his contributors have crafted this tome that, to this day, can still bring something to the table, despite being fifty years old.

The first four sections of the book cover the usual suspects, movement, firing, morale and melee. Each expands on new ideas to give greater verisimilitude to the hobby. Variations are suggested, opinions given and overall, these "new" rules deserve a bit of consideration, even today. What is commented upon on several occasions is that knowledge of the period you are gaming is paramount to ensure the rules you are playing with are historically accurate. Remember, this is the gaming of military history to ensure that period accuracy is key. Without knowledge of the period, how do you know what was "real" and what is a games mechanism, and that is something I have touched upon in previous blog posts. Today's market is very different from that of fifty years ago - there are certainly more manufacturers, more periods covered and any number of rule sets, but what seems obvious to me is that the pre-packaged rule set/game and the silo'd mentality of games designers has not been a positive thing. I have heard at shows, and read in magazines and on websites, that the only reason some companies produce rule sets is to sell miniatures. That much is plain when you see the likes of Cruel Seas, Flames of War and Team Yankee. The mentality here is that you have to use the models sold by that company and the rules are sacrosanct. True, Games Workshop have had that outlook for decades, but they are mostly in a field of their own. When someone stopped me at a show and in conversation told me that I was wrong to change Team Yankee's rules because they were perfect at portraying their particular period accurately, well, let's just say I disabused the gentleman appropriately.

Anyhoo, back to Featherstone. The remaining three sections cover Automated War Gaming, solo and multi-player gaming and the composition of armies. Each brings a number of different options to the table and I can't say I disagree with any of the solutions proposed without actually trying them. After all, a bit of experimentation in war gaming never hurt anyone. But possibly the most forward looking of the sections is the Automated war gaming one - this brings into use the computer!

Now just a bit of computer background here. In 1969, Intel was one year old, and wasn't to release its first microprocessor until 1971. UNIX was created that year, and the "Internet" (such as it was - nothing like the modern day Internet but it was the start) connected four American universities. So when Featherstone brings up the use of computing to aid war gaming, it's more a card based system, analogous to anything digital you might be thinking. That is not to say it's a bad idea and to be honest, it is very forward thinking and results in what he describes as a "'computer' which is about the size of a cigarette case" (that also dates this book somewhat). There are even workings out to explain what it all means (and no fancy pictures either...)

What would modern day gamers make of this???

Featherstone knew of what he was talking about and this book demonstrates a willingness to take on and accept ideas from others in the hobby. I am not going to get all sentimental about a "Golden Age" of the hobby; even at my age, the spectacles of reminiscence are most certainly tinted, but the approach here is very different from a lot of commercial gaming today and I think that's something that is a bit of a miss. A worthy read for anyone who games military history.

Films update

Sometimes it is rather difficult to keep with new cinematic releases and you end up acquiring them on DVD long after they have left the multiplex. At other times, there are a number of releases on the likes of Netflix and Amazon that get missed. In both of these cases, due to work and other commitments, it takes a conscious effort to catch up with the backlog. And so here are four films my good lady and I have recently caught up with.

First up, we have Solo: A Star Wars Story. Now, this film got absolutely panned by Star Wars fans upon its cinematic release, and to be fair, I can see why. In a nutshell, if this film had been subtitled “A film set in the Star Wars universe” rather than “A Star Wars story”, that would have been far better. As it is, this came across as a film no one wanted or asked for, except the bean counters at Disney. As it stands, it lost a massive amount of money for the House of Mouse. There is only so far you can milk a cash cow and this film defined those limits for the Star Wars franchise. (Budget of around $275-300 million, box office of $392.9 million).

Having said that, it’s not actually a bad film per se. It certainly doesn’t deserve the kicking it received and despite the creative turmoil that was well documented through its production, you can do far worse for a couple of hours. That the original directors were replaced and up to 70% of the film was re-shot definitely didn’t help the budget side of things but the script and action scenes are decent and the acting ranges from good (Donald Glover as a young Lando is brilliant, you even get used to Alden Ehrenreich as "not Harrison Ford", but Emilia Clarke proves once again how little range she has). Overall, better than it has any right to be but that doesn't mean they should have made it in the first place.

Up next is Polar, a Netflix exclusive based on the Dark Horse webcomic series. Polar stars

Mads Mikkelsen as a hit man about to retire on his 50^th birthday upon which he gets his pension payout worth $8 million. However, the company he works for is out of cash and, to be sold off, needs to clear its liabilities. It can do this by ensuring their assassins die before their 50^th, so the pension pot is returned to the company.

The trailer looked good and seemed to have a similar style and vibe to The Losers, another action film based on a comic book property. Thing is, that film had a style all of its own, with a funny script, good action sequences and some good performances as well as a fair dose of panache. Polar, on the other hand, has graphic violence (at times a bit too graphic even for my hardened stomach), obligatory sex scenes and a rather po-faced attitude. Where as The Losers had a good licensed soundtrack, Polar has Deadmau5 and to be honest, their original score is very good. But it is the tone of the film that scuttles this film. It’s too dour, the humour either leaden or veering towards sick. Mikkelsen carries the film well, giving a decent, if heavy, performance. However, the rest of the cast vary between OTT (Matt Lucas and some of the younger assassins) and totally flat (pretty much everyone else – especially Richard Dreyfuss in a very short, phoned in, cameo).

There is a twist ending that is quite well advertised in advance and whilst there is room for a sequel, I am not sure the film warrants it. Still, when it perks up, and that’s usually the action bits, it's quite good. The editing is fast but not overly confusing, so you can follow what’s going on. It’s just a shame that the comic book styling that apes The Losers is spoiled by the nastiness that seems to permeate the core of the piece. Not sure I’d ever watch this again, and a follow up, less so.

Hunter Killer could be described as another generic Gerard Butler action film and as such, another by the numbers entry to his career. The guy can act, and he has the screen personality to carry films with ease, but here, he’s not given much to work with. Part Navy Seals, part Hunt for Red October, part Crimson Tide, part Das Boot, Hunter Killer posits a Russian military coup and the attempt by a US navy Seal team and a supporting nuclear attack submarine to rescue the Russian President and prevent World War 3.

Not a hugely budgeted film, Hunter Killer received a fair amount of technical help from the US Navy and the book the film is based on was written by a former US submariner. The film makers even opted for a gimballed submarine set to add to the realism and to be fair to it, Hunter Killer does get most of the submarine action decently done, with possibly only the slightly iffy underwater miniatures work letting it down. Where practical effects could not be used, CGI takes over and it is of the generic mid-budget quality that you’d expect: does the job, doesn’t look that bad but nowhere near convincing.

Butler is joined by “Academy Award” winner Gary Oldman on the DVD case and much is made of his presence in the advertising materials, except his role is more an extended cameo and, although not a bad one, smells a bit like adding a bigger name to get more funding and people to watch, pretty much as the careers of Nichols Cage and Bruce Willis have followed for the last few years.

The bad guys are the usual types, and as the actors chosen have played unsavoury characters so many times before, you know as soon as you see them on the screen that they will be up to no good. Still, it keeps them in work and it pays the bills.

Another actor who appears to be in danger of stereotyping is the rather talented Toby Stephens. After playing a Navy Seal in 13 Hours and a former US Special Forces type in the recent Lost in Space remake, here he is again, even rocking the same look as his Lost in Space character. Hopefully, he gets something different in the near future. One actor who gets little recognition here, or lines, is the late Michael Nyqvist. An excellent Swedish actor, this was one of his last performances before he passed away. If you’ve seen him in other films/TV roles, you’ll understand what a mis-use of his talents this film was.

Story wise, there are thrills and spills, with pretty much every submarine cliche in existence gets an airing. There were more than a few technical errors for the sake of story/entertainment but nothing as daft as say the Battleship film from a few years ago. Where it does fall flat is the seemingly ever reliable military tech. From missiles to gun systems and torpedoes, everything works perfectly, but even a short search on YouTube disproves that portrayal. Oh, and so characters seem to shrug off what would be fairly lethal bullet wounds with some ease.

Having said all that, Hunter Killer is a decent (if mindless) thriller that shouldn't be considered too much a waste of an evening.

Finally, we have Isn't It Romantic, a rom-com. Now whoa, I hear you say, a rom-com??? What the hell is all this about? Well, stay with me on this one. Rom-com's are not my usual staple but having seen the trailer, it looked a bit different from the usual fare. Starring Rebel Wilson, this is a film that only works if you can handle her usual shtick. I can, but not in large doses. She plays a struggling architect who is knocked unconscious and wakes up to find herself is a rom-com about her life. Turning the genre on its head, Isn't It Romantic has fun playing with the stereotypes associated with films of that type and there some genuinely amusing pieces. Ok, it's a simple premise and one that has been tried before, but IIR has some good performances (Liam Hemsworth is good value here) and some rather well choreographed dance sequences.

Naturally, it all turns out well in the end and a foot tapping dance number sends the film off with a sense of style. It's not as clever as it thinks it is and there are a couple of missed opportunities but on the whole, not bad. 

The Asus Eee PC904HD (catchy name, that)

A good ten years ago, the Netbook was a lovely idea. A cheap, simple notebook that allowed you to browse the internet, get some basic productivity tasks done and play a few simple games, the Netbook product category really started with the Asus Eee PC 701, a Linux powered device with a tiny seven inch screen and a suitable keyboard to go with it. It's main selling point, apart from the basic functionality was the price, under £200 in 2008 prices. That model proved quite popular initially with consumers but there were issues with the lack of consumer familiarity with Linux and returns to shops were apparently quite high. Noting this, Asus introduced a larger model, powered by Windows Xp, the Asus Eee PC904HD (catchy name, that), the machine I am typing this post on now.

My personal machine is over 10 years old now and apart from a replacement battery pack, the hardware has held up rather well over the years. Of course, I don't have Win XP on here anymore, but I'll cover that later on.

The Ausu Eee PC904HD (catchy name, that) plus Ubuntu.

Netbooks don't exist as a hardware category anymore due to the rise of the ubiquitous tablet, specifically, the Apple iPad. You see, the netbooks of old started to get bigger, to bring more power and functionality to the type. However, that increase in size negated the very reason for their existence. The prices went up, more powerful laptops became smaller and the tablet market took care of the content consumption market. Over time, the limitations of the type gradually killed them. That and the introduction by Google of the Chromebook. This did the job of the Netbook in a similar sized package, without the Windows operating system tax and without the need for better hardware to run said Windows.

That's not to say the Netbook was a bad idea, just one that was overtaken by technology and marketing. It is but a mere footnote in the history of personal computing though given the prices they still fetch on e-Bay and other sales sites, I am not the only person still using one.

The Asus Eee PC904HD (catchy name, that) was released to the public in 2008 and not only added Win XP to the type but also an 8.9 inch 1024x600 screen, a bit too grainy for truly comfortable viewing but good enough to do the job. An Intel Celeron processor running at 900MHz, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard disk make up the rest of the main spec. Not exactly a powerhouse at the time but enough to get you a decent, if basic Windows experience. No optical drive was included (the chassis is too small), but you could easily add one via one of the three USB ports, nestled alongside the Ethernet and VGA ports as well as an SD card slot. An optical drive would have missed the point of the Netbook anyway – it was designed for connected use at all times and the thought process around that was carried on with Google's Chromebooks.

A workable screen, nothing more.

Priced at about £250 at the time, I bought mine as part of a 3G broadband dongle package on the Orange mobile phone network. The price per month wasn't extortionate, certainly not by the current monthly packages being advertised for modern day mobile phones, and I don't think it was bad value considering the hardware itself is still running.

Now the device itself is quite chunky, a sign of its age and the change in fashion in laptop computers. The bulk, however, is reassuring in that whilst the shell is plastic, it still feels quite sturdy and has, over the years, survived may journeys in rucksacks. It also has quite a decent sized battery that in Win XP territory, gives about 3 to 3.5 hours. Under the current OS (and the replacement battery), that's about 2.5 hours which is... OK. Compared to modern day devices, that's less than half of anything outside of a gaming laptop but it suffices for use for me. Even though the Asus is over an inch thick and chunky to boot, it has a certain charm that current hardware lacks, at least in my view.

The keyboard is reasonably sized and takes up the full width available. Much better than most hunt and peck keyboards, the keys have a decent amount of travel and feedback and there is a soft click upon each key press - nothing overly obtrusive at all. Overall, it is far superior to most Chromebook/tablet keyboards I have used through the years and even gives the Alphasmart a run for its money – though that one is a tad bigger but clackier and a bit more loose with the key tops. The trackpad is a bit too small and for those with largish hands, I'd recommend a USB mouse wherever possible. It must also be noted that the wrist rest gets a little bit warm on the right hand side but nothing too bad.

It's decent...

and not too much smaller than the Alphasmart.

After about 2014, I got a little bit bored with the chugging of XP and decided to replace it with Ubuntu 11.10, the then most suitable stable release for the spec of the machine. Performance wise, it was a breath of fresh air and the user interface is very easy to follow even if Windows was the only OS you had used up to that point. Some of you might think it is a bit reckless still running such an old version of Ubuntu, but this machine is kept off networks and the only file transfer occurs via USB or SD card and whenever that happens, full scans are undertaken.

So why still use it?

Well, the hardware still works, and I have never been rich enough (or reckless enough) to replace hardware on a willy-nilly basis. I still like the format of the device, the keyboard is good, the additional screen area over the Alphasmart comes in handy sometimes plus it feels rather rugged. The Alphasmart's unprotected screen and keyboard do give rise to some cause for concern, even with the rucksack I use. Ok, the Asus is thicker and a bit heavier but not by much and the footprint of the Asus whilst closed is smaller. Even with the additional bulk of the charger, it doesn't take up that much more room.

The modern day market has no room for the Netbook. The Chromebook has taken over the budget (and not so budget) basic laptop niche, especially if you want a bit more of flowing user experience, the lower priced Windows laptops (sometimes marketed as Cloudbooks) simply don't have the oomph to run Windows 10 smoothly under anything other than basic use. Tablets are now the go to consumption device and given the number of add-on “pencils” and keyboards, seem to be making a grab at content creation too. Saying that, no device I have tried in either category gives me a keyboard I like and typing is the main use for such a device for me. Indeed, the seemingly ever present need to make laptops thinner means, for the foreseeable future, shallow travel keyboards will keep me from any kind of new hardware – especially, but not uniquely, Apple laptops. For me, despite it's shortcomings, the Asus Eee PC904HD (still a catchy name, that), continues to fill in a gap that modern hardware doesn't. Combined with the Alphasmart (and NC100), this hardware combination gives me multiple choices for what I need.

Wireframe - an new (old) magazine

It has been something of a pattern over the last couple of decades that print magazines have had a bit of a hard time. Squeezed between the immediacy and multimedia approach of web-based channels like YouTube, Blogger among others and the changing market (reading habits, the “value” proposition and, dare I say it, the reduction in literacy), it is perhaps surprising that so many print magazines remain in circulation. 

Okay, you might think I am being a smidge doomsday-ish with that, but consider this. The wargaming market, in the UK at least, manages three magazines outside of Games Workshop. Can it support three in the long term? Probably not. One is very lightweight and whizz-bang, another is straddling historical and sci-fant with varying degrees of success and the third is a tad po-faced at times. Aside from gimmicky freebies, they don't seem to be doing much to grow their audience but that's another blog post altogether. Other niche (and I call most hobbyist magazines niche) publications continue to thrive but in vastly reduced numbers compared to even a decade ago. Two niches that continue to hold multiple titles are those of general computing and videogames.

True, general computing has seen a decline in titles, PC Format and Personal Computer World being the two that I miss the most, but there is still the ever-readable Computer Shopper and the mixed bag that is PC Pro with a couple of smaller titles still filling the shelves.

Videogaming has suffered a bit more than most due to the rise of YouTube, live streaming and videogames news sites. Those and the obvious immediacy of online media in general, something that the printed word can never match. Whereas twenty years ago you had multiple format specific titles, you now only have one X-Box and one Playstation mag, whilst PC Gamer holds the torch for non-console gaming. Titles such as ACE, Computer and Video Games, Games TM, GamesMaster and Arcade have all left the multi-format arena and now just the industry stalwart Edge remains, but editorially that disappeared up its own arse about five years ago and hasn’t been seen since, so it was with great interest that I picked up issue one of Wireframe at the back end of last year.

All seven issues to date (27.02.19)

Launching a multi-format magazine in 2018 might be seen as something of a brave move and indeed it is. Making it fortnightly even more so and with charging £3 an issue, the publisher could be described as pushing the accepted boundaries even further. The thing is, it works.

Taking inspiration from computing magazines of the 1980’s, Wireframe offers both industry interviews, reviews, features and, in a refreshing change to almost any recent title, how to guides including programming and techniques. The balance is about right, and whilst there is a bit more emphasis on the indie games scene, I cannot fault it for that. Outside of AAA development, some of the most intriguing and exciting titles are indie-developed and big publishers are so controlling with their PR tactics that I rarely feel any anticipation for new releases. And let's not get started on the topic of review embargoes...

In a very real sense, this is a videogames magazine not just about playing them, but also how you make them, and you understand why this approach has been taken when you see who is behind the mag: The Raspberry Pi Foundation. If you are not familiar with the Raspberry Pi, this is a single board computer originally launched as a tool to help get children into programming and teaching them the skills that a lot of current day developers gained during the halcyon days of the 8-bit and 16-bit home computer era (1980’s and early ‘90’s). Expecting to sell maybe 10,000 of these $35 computers, at last count, the various revisions have now sold more than 19 million (and that's a March 2018 figure!)and there is little sign of that ending any time soon. Not only have they brought computer programming, science and home-brew hardware into the 21^st century, they have also brought near-dead operating systems like RISC-OS back to life. Really, it seems like a no-brainer to take the development potential created by the Pi and launch a new publication to focus on the creation of videogames.

The magazine itself is very well laid out and the production values are very high. The paper stock is of high quality and the cover price of £3 is reasonably justified by that. Page count isn’t that high but if you compare it to the monthly mags like PC Gamer, the equivalent page count and price per month is good.

Proper old-school code listings!

Features and reviews are honest and forthright (the Red Dead Redemption 2 review is a corker and avoids the hype train that title rode), and some of the homebrew scene pieces have been eye-opening (who knew boxed Dreamcast and Megadrive software was still being produced?). What really adds to the magazine is the Toolbox section. Published on slightly coarser paper, this is the part where you learn the nuts and bolts of game production - the above picture is of issue seven's Text Adventure how to. This brings the mag back to how I originally found computer magazines in the 1980's, typing out code listings and having a bit of a play about. In that sense, this is very much an new old magazine and all the better for it. It also provides details of additional links online to expand the coverage of the topic discussed and to develop your knowledge further

Seven issues have been made so far, the eighth came out this week and it’s one of the very few publications I buy regularly (in fact, with the exception of one writing and one airgun mag, I have no other regular purchases). It’s a refreshing title to see on the shelves and both entertaining and highly informative. I hope it continues to flourish and for only £3, it's worth a read if you have any interest at all in this area.

The Knewkey Rymek keyboard

Pretty much everyone has heard of crowd funding these days and the two most popular crowd funding sites, Kickstarter and Indiegogo are full of projects searching for funds. While there have been some well known successes (and, indeed, failures), it must be said that in any crowd funding project, it is a case of buyer beware – indeed, pledger beware as you are not handing over money for an item, merely the promise of said item.

With that said, my eye was caught by the Knewkey Rymek keyboard. This is a USB/bluetooth keyboard in the style of a traditional typewriter. With internal lighting and a tablet supporting bar at the back, it was the look of it that made me consider backing the project. So I did, pledging about £95 (roughly about that dependent upon the dollar exchange rate back then) for the early bird offer.

After several months and quite a few updates from the project manufacturer (which is always good - I have seen a few projects where the communication from the developer/builder/etc has been non-existent), the keyboard duly arrived along with a wrist rest and a set of Windows key caps (Mac was the default set up – I saw what they did there, sneaky buggers).

Packaging first and the box, along with the protective sleeve, are of good quality and give a good first impression. The keyboard itself is rather weighty, that being the battery for wire free use. You can also use a direct USB cable link. It looks good even though the keys themselves are plastic. It would be fantastic if they were metal but the extra cost and weight would have been prohibitive. There is a support bar for tablets and other devices up to 9 inches or so in screen size, the rotary dial acts as a volume control and the carriage return bar is used to select which of the three Bluetooth devices you can simultaneously connect to the keyboard.

Looks shiny...

Good quality too...

And well packaged.

I purchased the model using Cherry MX blue switches and in use, these provide plenty of feedback and a nice, gentle clack with each key press. If I have a complaint, it's that the space bar is a little too clacky but that's more a gentle niggle than a complaint. Some ergonomic folks will complain that the typewriter design will play havoc with people’s wrists but the supplied wrist rest does a very good job of preventing too much strain. Truly, the Rymek looks and feels the part. The only thing I cannot comment upon is the battery life as so far, I have only used it attached to my desktop PC. I will add here though that the manual recommends a full battery charge even if you are just going to use the keyboard as a desktop replacement and I have to agree with that. The keyboard was not picked up at all via USB until the battery had had a good three hours hooked up to a charger. The keys are backlit and can provide some funky disco effects if needed, as well as providing some decent illumination of the keys themselves. Another small blessing is the instruction manual, in that it is written rather well and much better than some Chinese translated materials.

Keyboard, wrist rest, key cap remover, key caps, brush, cloth and instructions

So far, for just over a ton (including import duty and fees), I think I have done rather well. Would I try any future crowd funding projects? Maybe, depending on the cost and what the project was trying to achieve. I have seen more than a few gaming and technology projects fall over as the development team has either ran out of money or the project was never a genuine item in the first place. This, of course, is less of an issue with Kickstarter than Indiegogo as the former has better submission and protection policies but as with any crowd funding request, it is your money you are risking and there is no promise of a finished product for delivery. As has been the case for centuries, if it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is too good to be true. In this instance though, I am one very happy keyboard owner.

The lighting is rather effective

As set up, it's rather neat and tidy.

If this takes your fancy, head over to https://www.knewkey.com/ and follow the link to Indiegogo. Just beware that the early bird prices no longer apply and the current price is $179, rather more than what I paid during the funding campaign.

Catching up with some reading...

One of the ‘joys’ of getting the bus to work is the opportunity to catch up on my reading. A couple of hours per day means I can get through quite a lot of the ever present book pile in a short period of time. With that, here are four recent reads I’ve quite enjoyed.

First up, Shackleton Boys. The latest in the ‘Boys’ series of military memoirs, this follows the UK based squadrons that operated the Shackleton in the MR/AEW/miscellaneous role from the 1950’s to the early 1990’s. That a derivative of the Lancaster bomber was still on operational service in 1990 tells you a lot about UK defence policy of the time!

Anyhoo, on to the book itself and it follows a format of stories told in airfield order. By and large, the tales are interesting and informative and definitely give you a very good idea of what squadron life was like outside of the fast jet community. None of the contributions are wasteful, each adding a bit more to the overall history of the “Shack” and I finished the book wondering how such an aircraft could end up being loved by so many with all of its foibles and challenges. Also surprising was the length of time the aircraft remained in service. Even with the tremendous balls-up of the Nimrod AEW project, it’s still hard to fathom that if the balloon had gone up in the 1980’s the RAF would have depended upon the “Shack” to such a high degree. Then again, they also used the MR version as a makeshift troop carrier during Suez so they would have managed somehow. Well written and entertaining, if you have any interest in the Cold War RAF, you could do far worse than read this book. A follow up is due this year covering overseas bases and the sole non-UK operator, South Africa.

Next up is 1983. No, not a prequel to that novel, 1983 is the telling of what the author describes as perhaps the greatest period of Cold War tension outside of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is narrative history and manages to pack quite a bit in, with background on both American and Soviet activities, the events of the year itself and the later events that calmed the Cold War down. However, there are a few technical inaccuracies that spoil the generally authoritative tone of the book.

Other issues include a degree of repetitiveness where chapter topics overlap and an annoying habit at the end of most chapters to leave a cliffhanger or forewarning. This betrays the books origins as a TV program and the author’s background. Whilst it might work every time there is a commercial break, it really does not work in written form. While this book is very much an overview of the period, there are some nuggets of information that I did not know about and the excellent bibliography does improve its worth. If you are a Cold War aficionado, then you could do far worse than 1983. An entertaining read and a good start for further reading.

Sniper One by Sgt Dan Mills follows the sniper platoon of Y Company, 1^st Battalion Princess of Wales Royal Regiment during its tour of Iraq during 2004/05. This is an easy book to read, well written and straight-forward. The characters of the various soldiers are well-drawn and whilst you sometimes think they are a little too stereotypical, there is a genuine thread running through the account. Very much a warts and all telling of the platoon’s activities, Mills does not pull any punches and for that, he should be applauded. Again, of much interest if that is your gaming period or if you're a history buff.

Another warts and all tale is Sir Cedric Delves Falklands War account, following then Major (now Lieutenant General retired) Cedric Delves leading a troop of the SAS to war. From the very beginnings of the conflict, to the ill-fated and extremely lucky South Georgia operation and then to the Falklands itself, this memoir is highly readable and both entertaining and enlightening. The author finds his voice quickly and his often humourous portrayal of the operations of the day definitely give you the feel of being there. A major plus is the honesty of the author. When things go wrong, he points out the reasons why, be they technical, human or sheer bad luck. There is a degree of discretion though and there is little negativity towards others, something that the passage of time and the professionalism of the author must have a hand in. Where self-criticism is warranted though, it is given. As a memoir, you get very little of the wider picture but to be honest, there are books a plenty for that. No, this title is a worthy addition to the library of anyone with an interest in the period. It also humanises those who took part in the conflict, something that tends to be lost when gaming. Personally speaking, I have always found that an understanding of those who fought in the period you are playing helps make the game both more realistic and thoughtful – it’s never just about the dice.

Finally, a piece of fiction. The Last by Hannah Jameson is a murder mystery set in the period immediately after World War Three has broken out. Located in the grounds of a remote Swiss hotel, the author builds up a decent atmosphere and some unique characters. Using a first person narrative, they do indulge in a little of of unreliable narrative and the final denouement is decent, but not spectacular. Some people don’t like post-apocalyptic fiction and to be fair, this doesn’t much fall into that category as the author seems to have concentrated upon the murder-mystery aspect first and the apocalyptic setting second. In that sense, this is a bit of a disappointment and the final page is a bit of a cop out. Having said that, I have read far worse and since the copy I have is also signed by the author, I’ll be keeping hold of this one.

A kick in the Spratleys

Saturday saw another gathering of the TWATS, again in reduced numbers due to work and personal commitments. I was in the chair and had decided to give Shipwreck an airing. I’d bought this rule set years ago, alongside the Freeplay ‘88 supplement but never got round to putting anything on the table,,, as I hadn’t anything to put on the table. However, last year I bought an 8 pack of snap together plastic ships off Wish. The eight ships included are the Hood, the Liaoning, a Type 54A frigate, a Burke-class destroyer, a Tico-class cruiser, a Slava-class cruiser, a Sacramento-class supply ship and what the packaging refers to as a Kilo-class sub but I think it’s a Seawolf-class SSN. Quite liking these, I bought another pack from Amazon in December. In each instance, the price was just over a tenner for the eight. With these, I could put a game on.

The toys for the game

Joining me on Saturday were Shaun and Andy, who played as the Chinese and Americans respectively. The scenario was a simple one: a US Navy supply ship, the John Lewis (wait, there’s more) is damaged and drifting after a typhoon savaged the area. The Chinese have claimed the waters as theirs and the US Navy believe they are international waters. The Americans have dispatched a surface group of one Tico (the John James Fenwick) and two Burke-class destroyers (The Thomas Marks and Michael Spencer – told you there was more). The Chinese were heading to the Lewis with the Liaoning freshly out of trials accompanied by two Type 54A frigates. Due to the poor weather, there were no flight ops (in other words, I have no models yet for helo’s – that will change). In addition, there was a Russian Slava-class cruiser in the area due to meet up with the Chinese for joint exercises after the two countries signed a friendship pact.

The US Task Force as the game started

The set-up gave the Chinese a bit of a head start in the race to the Lewis but both sides started at flank speed for the first few turns. The Lewis was using its radar and data-link to keep the US group informed of the Chinese location, whilst the Fenwick alone had its radar active – the destroyers Marks and Spencer were under full EMCON. As the two forces approached the Lewis (and each other), the Americans were very vocal in telling the Chinese they were in international waters on a rescue mission. The Chinese in turn were pretty loud in proclaiming their socialist friendliness and willingness to escort the Lewis to a Chinese port since they were in Chinese waters.

The Chinese Squadron

As the ships closed the distance, the Americans detected the Chinese force first, the two Type 54A’s ahead of the carrier. I made Shaun roll for the Slava to make an appearance, which it didn’t.

In turn 6, the Chinese declared they were going to have to board the Lewis in order to "rescue" the crew. The Americans did not take this well.

The Chinese frigates surge ahead, the John Lewis in the distance

Turn seven saw the Chinese get painted by the Lewis’s fire control radars for their Sea Sparrow missiles. Whilst not dedicated anti-ship missiles, they could still cause some damage. The Chinese ignored this and approached closer still, though by this point, they had activated their radars and finally saw the Fenwick and her escorts. As an aside for our northern England readers, rumours that the Fenwick was equipped with an advanced chaff substitute called Window were just that, rumours, though the thought of Fenwick’s Window being a distracting was quite apt.

The Americans, and rough seas for the Spencer

Turn 9, and the US commander at sea gets a message from Pacific Fleet Command – the Chinese should not get closer than 3 miles and that permission to fire was granted. Of course, when told this, Shaun brought one of his 54A’s to within one mile. Finally, some shooting started.

Closer...

Closer still...

Very close now...

Dude! Personal space!!!

Now, I quite like Shipwreck’s mechanic of movement turns lasting 10 minutes of game time but when firing occurs, this is sorted out in up to six combat turns before another movement turn can be started. It neatly takes into account missile speed and distance as well as being neat when trying to figure out what is going on. Needing relatively low dice to get hits due to the way the Sea Sparrows were balanced for anti-ship use, Andy fired to at the closest 54A and missed. Similarly, an attempt at Phalanx fire also failed, though that was more of a desperation shot. Once that had been decided, it was the next movement turn.

"Western belligerence" was claimed by the Chinese, as they launched boats with marines on to grab what they could from the Lewis. When asked what kind of boats they would be (as there were no models for them), the reply of "don’t know but don’t say they are from Taiwan or we will fire" seemed very apt. The Americans were given the all clear to fire at will (poor lad) and the Fenwick and Marks each launched four Harpoons at the two frigates. The Lewis joined in with its remaining 6 Sea Sparrows at the the nearest frigate. It must be noted here that the Liaoning was keep its distance. The remaining frigate tried its hand with 76mm cannon fire against the Lewis and missed. Both, however, unleashed their entire payload of 8 C802 missiles each at the Americans, divided equally between the Fenwick and the Marks.

Vampire, vampire, vampire!

Another intermission here as I kind of cocked up. I didn’t read the ship cards properly which limited the number of SAM’s that could be guided at any one time. However, my defence is that modern day Standard missile/AEGIS combo’s are much more effective than even these rules have them (originally written in 1999) so I let both sides fire whatever they wanted at their respective incoming targets. So let that be a lesson, when you cock up, cock up so that both sides are receive a fair benefit of the cock up.

Another shot of the missile action.

Pretty fair exchange here

So, the first set of SAM’s went up. Andy fired three Standards per incoming missile so 24 from Marks and Spencer. Even with a miscounted points value (again, my cock up but again, fair to each side), all but one of the C802’s was shot down. In response, the Chinese only managed to down five of the eight incoming Harpoons. Final result – one hit on the Marks, one hit on the port Type 54A and two on the other. The 54A with one hit took light damage and lost it’s now empty C802 mount. The other 54A took a crippling hit first, then sunk with the second hit. The Marks took it’s hit head on, leaving it crippled and down a Phalanx mount.

At this point, I enacted the third rule of the TWATS. The first one is "The umpire is always right, especially when he’s wrong". The second is "refer to rule one" and the third is "the umpire is a TWAT". And so I was. I took Shaun to one side and asked him if he wanted to call upon the Russians for help. He said yes, so on one corner of the table, the Slava appeared as did four missile tokens, each one representing four SSM’s. Yep, the Slava had shot its entire load, eight at the Spencer and eight at the Fenwick.

Ain't I a stinker!

Onto turn ten and the remaining 54A tried again with its 76mm to hit the Lewis, more bum dice here from Shaun. An emergency message from the Varyag claimed that an unfortunate error had meant the launch of all of the Varyag’s SSM’s. Totally an accident and unintended(!). However, whilst Andy was prepared to rescue survivors from the sunk 54A, he knew he had been well and truly kippered. Not that this was to stop him. Cleverly (and totally unintentionally), he bypassed the multiple missiles per target rule and had the Spencer and Fenwick each fire one SAM per incoming missile. As each ship was acting individually, I ruled that this would have no effect on the accuracy of the missiles and with a total of 32 against 16, the incoming Russian barrage was dealt with smartly. At the end of this combat round, a quick check of the ammunition situation revealed that the Fenwick was down to 106 SAM’s and the Spencer down to just 34!

Turn 11 saw the Russians once again claim a technical malfunction and also making a pretty sharpish withdrawal. Whatever the agreement between the two governments, there was little appetite for a further missile exchange, especially as the Americans still had a good number of Harpoons left. The surviving 54A also turned tail and joined the Liaoning in leaving the combat area, not even helping to rescue their own sailors, something the John Lewis was more than willing to do. Everything else would be sorted out at the UN.

The first run for a rule set is always just a case of seeing if the game mechanics work. In the case of Shipwreck, whilst the scenario was simple, it revealed that they aren’t half bad and with a little updating to to take into account current day weapons capabilities, will see future use. One thing that was remarked upon was the possibility of adding politics to mix. Several years ago, Andy and I ran a political game set in "not Iraq", with multiple sides and backstabbing a plenty. Something like that, with ulterior motives and the like would suit this well as it would add an extra layer to just rolling for missile fire – indeed, once the missiles start flying, there is not much more to do than hope you get good AA fire rolls. We would need more players (the previous political game had 9 including the two umpires), but in that case, it would be one player captains one ship with national orders assigned to each ship captain. Hmmm, with a bit of thought, that could be a go-er.

One thing that will be added to (after the York Vapnartak show) are helicopters. Tumbling Dice do a good range and whilst they are light on Chinese types, that can be worked around. They would also give a bit more subtlety to the hunt. Some fixed wing would also not go amiss, especially with the carrier. This could even lead to a campaign…

Some of you might be thinking, having seen the pictures that the scale of the models looks wrong. And to be fair, they all seem to be scaled so that the actual model size is about four inches. True, that leads to some funny looking size comparisons but to be honest, it wasn’t an issue here as the all measurements were made bow to bow. The models themselves are quite decent and when you consider how much I paid for them, it was enough to put on a game. True, the painting is a bit iffy and some of the fittings were rough and included a fair amount of flash on some of the pieces, but for the price, it would be churlish to complain. Main take away here is that it doesn’t have to cost the earth to put a game on and they made a decent impression on the (green) sea – a props issue that made not much difference to be honest. They were also easily visible, something that smaller scale ships would cause trouble with in the slightly gloomy light as the afternoon waned.

All told, I enjoyed this game. It was nice to try something different and there is room for expansion later on. Both participants also enjoyed it (so they tell me, though they both were well versed in political double speak by the end of the game :-)). As always, the fine hospitality of Eric and Jean at the Commercial was much appreciated, as was the Consett Ale, and the Beef Butties and Chips were well served. Empty plates and full stomachs all round and a satisfying afternoon of gaming.

Note: For non-UK readers, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and Fenwicks are the names of department stores in UK. Fenwicks is particularly popular in the north-east of England for its Newcastle store where a large Christmas display window (hence the chaff/window reference) is set up each year. And yes, bad jokes will continue is future games I run :-).