Sleepless in Gormenghast

I seem to have lost a week somewhere.

Perhaps I put the clocks too far forward last night. All this chopping and changing with GMT and BST is causing me a form of nano-jetlag. (Yes, I know that half yearly does not necessarily constitute frequent temporal changes but that depends if your bones work on geological time).

 

I'm not sleeping well.

Maybe it's too much coffee at the new "cafe du poodle", perhaps it's frustration at still not getting Combat Commander to the table or - more likely - it is the elbow in the ribs which I keep receiving during the night. (My sinuses are playing up, again).

The spare room beckons.

 

Regardless, don't expect any sense out of me for awhile. 

 

Talking of nonsensical, the country (and more, specifically, the press) is up in arms because the Home Secretary has claimed expenses, for her husband, which includes two 'adult' movies.

 

Apparently, while she was away on parliamentary business he was stuck at home with little else to do but watch the telly. What's interesting is that everyone is focussing, and frankly moralising, about the fact that the tax payer is footing the bill for his night of debauchery. And yet he also watch Ocean's Thirteen twice, presumably because he couldn't follow the plot line, and "Surfs Up" - but no one seems too bothered about this even though the public had to foot the bill there as well.

 

So is it ok to claim for films as long as they are not of questionable taste ? And who decides ?

Actually, I believe that the choice of Surf's Up shows a lack of balanced decision making.

 

When I go away on business I'm not allowed to claim for any Pay TV although, interestingly, I can drink myself stupid in the bar.

Which is good news as I'm off to Dublin, for a few days, today.

Hopefully that will help me sleep. 

Making history

I've been wanting to give Combat Commander:Europe a go for awhile now.

I've seen lots of good reports and Count Zero has been raving on about one of its stable mates, Combat Commander:Mediterranean. I have to keep up with the Corporal Jones', as it were.

Also, I am finding myself increasingly attracted by games oozing with theme. I'm starting to tire, a little (though only a little), with the drier Eurogame end of the market. And there are very few games that scream theme at you more than a wargame.

So, last night, the Hustler came round with his copy of CC:E and he introduced me to this little beauty. As the rules were explained to me I started to get a real buzz out of the possibilities - it felt like ASLSK simplified but with some rather smart chaos of war tricks and interesting, but logical, mechanics.

I took my SS troops and started lining them up ready to kick Allied butt.

... and then Poodle turned up.

He'd said he was going to be at a PTA meeting, for most of the evening, but it had ended early.

Argh. The German High Command has not been this frustrated since the delay of Adlertag and its failure to pave the way for Operation Seelöwe (still loving the Binge Thinking podcast, which may partly explain my renewed interest in wargames)

Reluctantly Combat Commander was packed away, for another day, without a shot being fired.

As consolation the Hustler agreed to play Tigris and Euphrates despite claiming that he hardly knew the game (neglecting to mention that he has playtested for Doctor Knizia. A hustler to the end). Poodle instantly opened play with an immediate poodle, in the so-called newbies direction, and I could tell it was going to be a tough one.

I'm normally a fairly non confrontational Tigris player, preferring to build up peaceful empires dedicated to the high arts and vacuuming up cubes, but for some fairly obvious reasons, last night, I was still in the grognard mindset and took every opportunity to pounce (all be it in a very abstract eurogamer kind of way) on any neighbouring regions.

Lebensraum abounded for my glorious lion headed leaders and, inevitably, victory was mine.

Equally inevitably, the Hustler came in a very close second. The combination of acting all innocent, a per pro the game mechanics, and sitting to the left of Poodle nearly allowed him to pip me at the post.

As it was getting late, we rounded off the evening with a quick game of Airships. Building the Hindenberg with dice.

Did you know that the second and final airship in the Hindenberg class, the Graf Zeppelin II, was used just before the Battle of Britain to snoop on the UKs fledgling radar facilities ? How can anyone snoop in a huge hydrogen filled blimp ? (sorry, more Binge Thinking).

A second victory for the not so humble kitchen boy - and an enjoyable evening. Now if I could just get CC:E to the table....

Fall 1912 Adjudication.

Close, but no cigar.

I'm up to 16 centres in my Diplomacy game but need two more to secure victory. Naples is there for the taking but that's where it ends.

Looks like I will have to settle for a draw and throw up an Iron Curtain.

Disappointing, though inevitable.

The results are in.

I've had a sudden spike in visitors to the kitchen.

I have no idea why - perusing the stats there is no obvious reason. I get a number of random visitors, who are pointed to the halls of Gormenghast by Google searches, and the most popular phrase being webcrawled seems to be "in church hall if wet" - which makes me wonder if most of the people who end up here are in search of cakes for their bring and buy sales.

But recently, the increase seems to be driven by visitors who come here directly. They do not pass "Go" nor do they collect £200.

So I have come to the inevitable conclusion that there is a huge, silent, body of blog lurkers out there desperate to know the answer to my Frontshelf Spotlight question, a few weeks ago.

Clearly I need to make better use of the cliff hanger ending.

Leave the crowd baying for more.

And so to the answer - not too subtly revealed in the picture for this posting. The connection between Galaxy Trucker and BattleLore is, of course, RED DWARF.

Duane Dibley ????

Settlers of Qwghlm

I don't seem to get much time for reading these days.

By the time I get back from work, waste a few hours twittering, eating and playing a few games, the day is over and my bed is calling.

However, this weekend I've been feeling a bit grotty. I was hoping that the pikelets would humour me and play a few games - but spring has sprung, there are bikes to be ridden and football games to be played.

So, left to my own devices, I have once again immersed myself in the world of literature. Cryptonomicon has been sitting, unstarted, for a few months now - I have been guilty of neglect.

Two days in and it rocks.

This is one seriously geeky, van eck phreaking, book and I'm loving it.

As a result, I'm even planning a day out to Bletchley Park.

The cast of the pods

Podcasts are a great thing.

The idea is one that, at first sight, seems a bit uninspiring. Nothing innovative - just the ability to hear pre-recorded radio shows (and, latterly, television shows) at your convenience rather than at the behest of the scheduler.

Twitter is the same. Surely it's just one big discussion board ? Or a texting facility for people who, frankly, don't have anyone specific to text.
It's only when you start engaging with the media that you realise it can be so much more.

So, with Podcasting a few things start to become apparent.
Firstly, because a podcast does not have to fit into a rigid schedule it can be as long (or indeed as short) as the presenters want it to be. No constraints. How long is needed to say what you have to say ? Right, then that's the length of the podcast (bandwidth permitting).
Ok - the audience may not have the attention span, but then they're probably not your target audience.
I love this aspect of the medium.

One of my favourite podcasts, The Spiel, regularly seems to be increasing its run time - but, that's fine, if it takes an hour to say what you have to say about a specific game, then that's fine. Bring it on.
Likewise I have recently started listening to Binge Thinking, a history podcast that seems to have turned what should have been a one shot discussion on the Battle of Britain, into a veritable mini-series. Cool. That's the flexibility of the technology and the audience.

The second edge that podcasting has over the broadcasting medium is that it is not constrained by what the masses want to hear. Any Joe Pod can set up and distribute his or her thoughts, on any topic, via the internet. Low set up and distribution costs mean that virtually any minority interest is catered for.
This appeals to me as I seem to be out of tune with most people, on this planet, when it comes to what I find engaging.

The power of the internet has always been that it brings together (all be it virtually) like minded people regardless of their location.

Up until now, most of the podcasts that I have subscribed to have been on the subject of games. Probably no surprises there.
But you can have too much of a good thing and I am beginning to gorge too much on these and the overlaps are starting to become boring. I'll probably start pruning my subscriptions in this area.

Recently, though, I've renewed my interest in history. It's always been a subject that I've dipped in and out of - indeed I particularly enjoy boardgames that recreate or invite the player to change history (1960 anyone?) - but for some reason I've only recently thought about scouring iTunes for podcasts that cover this area.
There are loads out there.

If anyone has any recommendations I'd be pleased to receive them.

Clearly the optimum intersection of my interests would be a podcast on the history of boardgames. The Spiel goes some way to satisfying some of that market need but there's still an opportunity out there. Any suggestions ?

And, as a passing thought, did you know that there are only two cultures, in the entire history of mankind, that have left no evidence of games in the archaeological records ?
Is it a measure of my edge-geekiness that I find this a fascinating fact ?

Grumpy Old Man Day09

Lest people start to think that I work for Z-man games, or at least recieve a kickback, I guess I should stop banging on about 1960.

Enough already. Although I did trounce Poodle at said game only last night. I'm ready to take on the Hustler again.

So, anyway, Red Nose day approaches. That time of year, in the British calendar, when laughter is legislated and grumpy old gits such as myself feel somewhat marginalised.

It started promisingly this year when a bunch of C-list celebs, including an odious Radio 1 DJ, a stick insect famous for not eating (or something) and a particularly dull ex-frontman of an anonymous boy band, decided to climb Kilimanjaro. Sadly it looks like they may all come back in one piece.

I know, I know, it's all for charity.

But do I really have to dress up like a twat on Friday and have my wallet raided by wacky funsters ? Can't I just give them some money in the promise that they won't put on a tortuous 24 hour snooze-a-thon right over prime time TV ?

Surely there's a way to collect money by being miserable.
Where's Morrissey when you need him ?

To add to the sense of fun, I see they've been planting laughable stories in the press. Apparently the government wants all those talented mathematicians, who've lost their jobs in the banks, to become teachers.
What, it's not a joke ?

Gormenghate

After a couple of successive defeats at 1960:The Making of the President, at the hands of the Hustler, I was left with no other option but to bring a lamb to the slaughter.

Someone to practice on. To sharpen my knife, as it were.

How fortunate, then, that a couple of nights ago the Welsh Lamb was up for a visit.

A few beers, a curry, then faster then he could say "Jackie-O", the game was out, the whiskey was in our tumblers and the race for election was on.

I love this game (though I guess that this may be obvious given my recent obsession with it here on the blog) even if, as in this case, I am playing a form of quasi-solitaire against the Lamb (he's slow to pick up new games and often needs a lot of prompting along the lines of "well, if it was me I think I'd do this).

It was a close run thing - I'm a pretty strong quasi-opponent, against myself, and there was a certain amount of randomness being thrown in when my puppet decided to chose his own actions on a few turns - but I managed to come out victorious carrying, as Nixon, the West along with New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio (the Bell Weather state !) and Indiana (Got to love those Hoosiers !).

I think the whiskey helped.

Watch out, Hustler, I'm on your tail !

Spring 1912 Adjudication

I'm re-establishing control after last seasons minor hic-cough

..but, strangely, I am running out of things to say.

most unlike me.

We're in the endgame now and there is very little communication, between the warring factions, going on. It's now simply gunboat politics.

Can I make it to the magic eighteen for a win or will England and Germany throw up the stalemate line?

The latter is looking increasingly like the most likely outcome.

Dagnabbit

1960: The Making of the President

Lost to the local hustler, again.

I blame hanging chads (or was it pregnant chads?). I suspect dodgy dealings in Florida.

I need more practice.

Amnesty International

We had a weapons amnesty in the garden today.
It's amazing the hardware that children carry around these days. I wondered why the cat always looked so bedraggled.