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November 2008 Blog Posts (30)

Flashpoint:Central Front--Battle for Nurnburg and Munchen Turn Four and Five Complete

This entry recaps two turns (GT 4 and 5, since I'm using the accelerated reinforcement schedule this places the GT 8 WP forces on map while GT6 NATO forces have entered) since my last posting. The situation map depicts the current front line trace of the battle, along with the basic areas that major formations are operating in. The bright pink line is the border with CZ and EG.

Using the WP army level unit area as a guide the… Continue

Added by John Rainey on November 30, 2008 at 2:24pm — No Comments

Too Much of a Good Thing?

From FOX News:

A schoolboy collapsed and went into convulsions after playing a new version of the "World of Warcraft" online computer game for 24 hours straight.

The 15-year-old boy and his friends were exploring the "Wrath of the Lich King" expansion pack when he suffered what appeared to be an epileptic seizure, it was reported Monday.

"They played all day and all night. Maybe they got a few hours of sleep.… Continue

Added by Ted Henkle on November 30, 2008 at 2:09am — 6 Comments

My Mainstream Blog

I launched my mainstream blog , Stern-Rake Studio, last week:

http://sternrakestudio.blogspot.com/

In addition to wargaming, I prattle-on about other subjects I'm interested in. Or as my header statement reads: "A blog about wargaming, writing, the war on terror and other worldly worries..."

Unfortunately, the War on Terror and "other worldly worries" seems to be the dominant subjects. Right now I'm sifting through the news-bites about the gunmen attacks in… Continue

Added by Ted Henkle on November 28, 2008 at 4:09pm — No Comments

An interview about the God Kings

Here is the link to an interview made by Kris Hall, for Boardgame News about the God Kings.

http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/comments/kris_hall_julien_bonnard_and_the_god_kings/

Added by Julien BONNARD on November 28, 2008 at 7:30am — No Comments

Why I love Dogs

This is a good story. If a tear comes to your eyes — it's OK.

By Catherine Moore

'Watch out! You nearly broad sided that car!' My father yelled at me. 'Can't you do anything right?' Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle.

'I saw the car, Dad. Please don't yell at me when I'm driving.' My voice… Continue

Added by Smitty on November 26, 2008 at 11:52pm — 6 Comments

Your Friend - The Terrorist and Ebay

MI5 have warned Britain’s cash-strapped National Health Services that dozens of ambulances–along with old police cars and fire engines past their sell-by date–are being snapped up by al-Qaeda operatives in the United Kingdom to mount suicide bomb attacks.

So serious is the problem that counter-terrorism officials at the Home Office have written to eBay, the Internet auctioneer, asking them to stop selling emergency service vehicles, equipment and uniforms.

But eBay has insisted… Continue

Added by Smitty on November 26, 2008 at 7:14pm — 4 Comments

Only the best for those of us who go into harm's way.

Marine Cpl. James Dixon was wounded twice in Iraq -- by a roadside bomb and a land mine. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, a dislocated hip and hearing loss. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Army Sgt. Lori Meshell shattered a hip and crushed her back and knees while diving for cover during a mortar attack in Iraq. She has undergone a hip replacement and knee reconstruction and needs at least three more surgeries.

In each case, the Pentagon… Continue

Added by Smitty on November 26, 2008 at 7:07pm — 2 Comments

History of the war in Algeria

Historical notes of the war in Algeria will, together with the political chits (written within paranthesis), be included in the rules of Ici, c'est la France! (which is due to be released in December: http://www.khybergames.com/id41.html).

Here is a preview of that:

By summer 1954 the war in Indochina had finally ended. France had lost and one effect was that colonial subjects lost their respect for French rule. The Algerian soldiers… Continue

Added by Kim Kanger on November 23, 2008 at 11:00am — 5 Comments

WWII Mediterranean Naval Campaign Sitrep

The task forces involved in "Operation Pedestal" continue steaming ESE toward Malta.

The situation so far:

0800 hours, 11 Aug: A German FW-200 "Kondor"recon plane spots Task Force "R" ("Refueling," in M20).

1200 hours, 11 Aug: Another Kondor spots Convoy WS.21S and it's close escort Force "X" (N19).

0400 hours, 12 Aug: 2xGerman U-boats and 3xItalian submarines close in on the British task forces.

Things are about to get… Continue

Added by Ted Henkle on November 22, 2008 at 3:59pm — 2 Comments

Ben Hur's Final Resting Place?

Hmm. Charlton Heston passed away this April and now archeologists find this. Coincidence?

Seriously, the linked story is about one of several Thracian burial mounds discovered in Bulgaria.

Ted

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27842457/

Added by Ted Henkle on November 22, 2008 at 10:34am — No Comments

CYBER WARFARE

Pentagon Hit by Unprecedented Cyber Attack

As a result of the cyber attack, the Defense Department has banned the use of external hardware devices throughout a vast network of military computers.

FOXNews.com

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Pentagon has suffered from a cyber attack so alarming that it has taken the unprecedented step of banning the use of external hardware devices, such as flash drives and DVD's, FOX News has learned.

The attack came in… Continue

Added by Smitty on November 20, 2008 at 10:27pm — 4 Comments

Hoplites of Hellenes (Part 6)

Capturing fortified cities is the great challenge that both players will face in “Hellenes.” Put in its most simple form, the object of the game is to seize and control as many enemy cities as possible and at the same time prevent the other player from doing likewise.

All cities in the game are fortified and provide refuge to the side controlling the city. A city may house a number of blocks equal to its prestige point value times two. Whenever a block or group of blocks enter an… Continue

Added by Joel Toppen on November 18, 2008 at 6:57pm — No Comments

Wal Mart Bingo

People-watching in Wally World can make you doubt the nature or the future of humanity.

This was actually posted on another site by another ConsimWorld member. Please stand up if you want full credit.

Added by Jim Werbaneth on November 18, 2008 at 2:30pm — 8 Comments

TICKS

I hate fleas, but that hatred is nothing comared to my hatred of ticks. We took Grant our golden retriever on a hike before the Blue Oyster Cult concert. We came back and pulled over 100 ticks off of him. We are still finding one or two here and there on him - two alone today. Ick!

Added by Smitty on November 16, 2008 at 4:02pm — 6 Comments

Hexdraw SPQR Library released!

Download the new Library at: www.hexdraw.com/lib/SPQR_Library.hm

Installation is simple:

Save this file (SPQR_Library.hm) in your "C:\Programs\Hexdraw\Libraries\"… Continue

Added by Jo Bader on November 16, 2008 at 7:00am — 4 Comments

WWII Naval Campaign in the Mediterranean

I posted this last week on my local gaming group's Yahoo site--

Hey Folks:

Yesterday (6 Nov 08) I started filming my next YouTube movie: "Braving Bomb Alley."

It's a WWII naval miniatures game based on Operation Pedestal--the decisive

convoy to Malta.

Because of my rotating work schedule, I'll be playing this solitaire, based on

the freeware game I came across on the Webgrognards… Continue

Added by Ted Henkle on November 16, 2008 at 6:45am — No Comments

Stacking rules?

While designing and testing my wargame software project, I have been led into thinking about stacking, as a concept. This in turn has led me to considering the relationship between the rules and the wargaming experience in general.

Stacking is a very necessary device if you want to simulate the correct intermixing and density of occupation for any given era, unless you choose a very large geographical scale. But frankly, it is a very contrived device. You have to worry about the… Continue

Added by Richard Bartlett on November 14, 2008 at 6:00am — 2 Comments

Hoplites of Hellenes (part 5)

In the past four articles, I’ve expounded on the various units—especially the hoplite units—found in GMT’s upcoming wargame on the Peloponnesian War: “Hellenes.” In this article, I want to talk about card play in the game.

Hellenes comes with 55 cards. Thirty-three of the cards are used in every scenario of the game. Eleven cards (and these are color-coded) are used only in the 431 B.C. campaign. Eleven cards (also color-coded) are used only in the 415 B.C., 413 B.C., and Sicily… Continue

Added by Joel Toppen on November 11, 2008 at 10:54pm — No Comments

Pause

After all, this is a blog.... two pics of my son, 2 years old. He's just great. I mean really great. I don't know why, but he never calls me "papa" (daddy) but always "mon papa" (my daddy). I'm not at home since a week and, glarglglargl, I miss him. I think this little one is my best counter...…

Continue

Added by Olivier Revenu on November 11, 2008 at 8:12pm — 6 Comments

How I met a wargamer in Split, Croatia and the postive aspects of it all

1995, East Carolina University:

One day, while a Student at ECU, I need to use a PC to write an English Paper, but I found all the Windows machines were used up, mostly by Netscape users (it was 1995, and the Web was shiny new).

So, I walked into the Vax/VMS dumb terminal room to fire up Vi to write my paper and then I would Z-Modem it later into Word.

I needed to do a little research, so Vax/VMS was just fine for using Gopherspace and I would use Lynx - the… Continue

Added by Bill Wood on November 11, 2008 at 10:41am — No Comments