Murphy's Law of Combat #38--Miniatures Version

While I'm still sifting through this past weekend's Enfilade, I found a picture from last year's convention that I think applies well to another one of Murphy's Laws of Combat.

I'm also honored that the new president of NHMGS uploaded my  Tabletop Perspective Story to the Enfilade website.

Enfilade 2017--From a "Tabletop Perspective"

Due to my work schedule this year, I was able to attend a small part of Enfilade! this year.  After work on Saturday, I drove down to pick up my registration packet, take some preliminary photos and go on a shopping spree for game material I can't live without.

On Sunday, I played "Slugfest at Samar," a World War II naval combat game.  During this "fly-by" and "game day" I took 183 raw photos, which will take me several months weeks days to process.

In the meantime, I wanted to post this "Tabletop Perspective" of Enfilade 2017, while all of us were still basking in the convention's afterglow--even if it meant using last year's pictures.

I hope everyone who attended enjoyed themselves.

And whether or not you attended Enfilade, or other game conventions, I hope you enjoy this story...

Honoring Memorial Day

(Image from:  Memorial Day 2017 Pictures)

Best wishes to all of you this Memorial Day.

Book Review: The Last Chancers

The Last Chancers, a Warhammer 40K series of omnibus novels by Gav Thorpe, is in short, The Dirty Dozen--IN SPACE! 

It's a tale about the 13th Penal Legion, or what's left of the unit, told from Lieutenant Kage's point of view.  Who after the first story, turns out to be the team's Ax-Crazy "Maggot"--with latent psychic abilities.  Oh, and who eventually becomes possessed by a daemon.

Since this is about the most notorious of the Imperium's penal legions, the "grim darkness of the far future..." is cranked up to 11.  Also, in each of the three books, the team ends up drearily slogging through the most inhospitable terrain the dystopian galaxy has to offer.

The narrative ends abruptly, when Kage sacrifices himself on their last mission.  So we don't know what happens immediately afterwards.

The Last Chancers has an average 4.1 out of 5-star rating on Amazon.com.

But I'm only going to give it a subjective 3-star rating, because there isn't a single character in any of the stories I could identify with.  If there was anyone I came close to liking, they either showed their truly depraved colors later in the story, or died a horrible death.  More often than not--both. 

Movie Review: Never So Few

I can't say I've seen every American war movie ever made, but I'd like to think I've seen a hefty chunk of them.

Several weeks ago, I stumbled across this DVD Triple Feature.

I've seen Objective, Burma!, and Go for Broke! once or twice, decades ago.  But at least I vaguely remember them.

I may do reviews of these two films, but for now, I want to focus on the on I've never even heard of until I bought the DVD:  Never So Few.

The movie is about a team of OSS (Office of Strategic Services) operatives and the Kachin natives they lead against the Japanese in Burma (now Myanmar).

A friend and I were surprised at how good this movie was.  True, this may be because it was "new" to us, but it didn't diminish our enjoyment.  Although, like most (all?) movie critics felt at the time of the film's release, I felt the romantic sub-plot between Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida was an unnecessary drag to the action.

As a gamer, I find this movie fascinating because it could lend itself well for a multi-player wargame, campaign, or even a role-playing game (RPG).

In the middle of the Burmese jungle you have--

--OSS operatives and their Kachin allies

--Japanese invaders

--at least one Chinese warlord and his minions

--a merchant with possible shady connections, and

--his femme fatale girlfriend

 I don't have any World War II miniatures, so maybe some other gamer will be inspired to conjure up a campaign based on this 4-star movie.

(Painting by Stuart Brown, found on Pintrest)

Murphy's Law of Combat at Enfilade 2017

I often find an flimsy excuse a solid reason to quote one of Murphy's Laws of Combat in any given
situation or endeavor.

Wargaming is no exception for me.

So with NHMGS's Enfilade 2017 just over a week away, I trolled through last year's pictures whice seem to evoke a couple of these laws.

Enfilade 2017 E-Postcards

For the past couple of weeks I've been trolling through the pictures I tool during last year's Enfilade! for inspiration to promote this year's convention.

While I took over 750 pictures, I kept coming back to one Gene Anderson's kid-friendly "Games for Young Warriors."

The led photo lent itself to a humorous "Wish You Were Here (Sharing the Misery and Danger)" post card-style image.

And oddly enough, one of my favorite images of last year's Enfilade is this one of a handful of Foreign Legionnaires making a last stand against the horde of Arabs.

It seems like every game game session I've participated in, at least one player will reference a movie or TV show quote, or character catchphrase. 

Since gaming and movie quotes often fit well together in a "peanut butter and jelly" sort of way, the Legionnaire's last stand seemed like a natural for Oliver Hardy's catchphrase rebuke to Stan Laurel.

(Image of Laurel and Hardy in Beau Hunks)

Laurel and Hardy's heyday was actually before my time.  (Really, I'm not THAT old).

However, growing up in the pre-VCR Era, there was no On-Demand, or Netflix.  Outside the three networks' prime time viewing slot, the movies and TV shows my siblings, friends and I watched were at least 10 years old.  Most were a lot older.

So I'm well acquainted with not only Laurel and Hardy, but Abbott and Costello, the Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, The Little Rascals (Our Gang)--and since I was raised in Upstate New York--The Bowery Boys.   

I'll keep trolling the internet for some classic comedy gems to steal incorporate to my own repertoire.

The Broadside Newsletter: Issue #2--Enfilade 2017

Our annual Enfilade! convention is less than a few weeks away.

To help promote this occasion, I concocted Issue #2 of The Broadside Newsletter.

I also conjured-up a couple of web posters, the first used as the led image for this post

The newsletter is a short, illustrated synopsis gleaned from the convention's Planned Events List (PEL), written by the Enfilade Events Coordinator, Dave Mebust.

(Page 1)

(Page 2)

(Page 3)

(Page 4)

Since Enfilade 2017 hasn't come to pass yet, I used some of the pictures I took from last year's convention.

This image is my favorite candid shot:

I couldn't resist using the player's predicament for a humorous poster.

Book Review: The Art of Total War

(Image from the book used by New Gamer Nation)

Most computer and video games make me ill.

It's not because of the quality--or lack thereof--of the products.  It's because I'm prone to motion sickness.

Despite my ailment, I've still purchased over a dozen games during the past several years.  Ones that I could play without getting sick.

However, I've hardly played any of my computer games because:

1. I'm too busy with my writing and "analogue games" (as boardgames and miniatures are now called).

2. I suck at playing computer and video games.

One of the game series I've heard good things about is Total War.

I've collected some of the titles in the series, starting with the original, Shogun:  Total War.

They're still sitting on my shelf, unplayed.

However, this didn't stop me from buying a copy of The Art of Total War at Half Price Books.

The Art of Total War is a lavish collection of concept sketches and promotional pieces, along with a short history of the series.

I finished reading the book in less than two hours and flipped through it one more time just to admire the artwork.

Someday I'll upload one of the games on my computer and actually play it.

The developers went to great lengths to maintain historical accuracy in their games. 

But the author, Martin Robinson, admitted they also allowed some Hollywood influence to creep in for entertainment purposes.

(Image from the 1963 film Cleopatra)

Apparently, there's a debate as to whether or not video games are an art form.

I'm no high-brow art critic, but after reading this book I'm convinced video games are indeed art forms.

Either way, The Art of Total War can be found on Amazon.com, with a well-deserved near 5-star rating from eight reviewers.