The Wars of the Roses: Graham Turner

by on February 26, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

This book is two things in one.

First, it is an art book showcasing Graham Turner’s art on the Wars of the Roses.

Second, it is a light history of those wars, illustrated with Turner’s paintings, and a number of photos of artifacts and locations that have survived.

The shortcomings are that the book is physically big enough and heavy enough, that just reading it can be painful to arrange. Also, most of the photos are a bit small to make things out.

This is a shame because the history is good enough to be worth a read, starting with an overview of the end of the Hundred Years War, and a good section on the rise of factions in the English court, which lead to small armed fights between the nobility (like Heworth Moor) even before First St Albans. The main course of the wars is well presented, which is a proverbial problem with the subject.

And Graham Turner’s art is indeed well worth the expansive presentation. I especially appreciate the foreword where he talks about how he got into the subject, and a lot of little discussions on the details of various pieces. There’s also a nice half page set aside discussing the painting of Richard III he was working on when his body was found in 2012.

There’s a Kindle version of the book as well, but considering the size of most electronic devices, I’d probably stick to the physical book despite the inconvenience, because the real star is the art, and it deserves a larger presentation.

└ Tags: , , ,
 Comment 

Distant Expansion

by on February 22, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Computer games

This is the sixth in a series of reviews looking at the evolution of Stellaris. See the previous reviews here:
Stellaris: Paradox Among the Stars
Leviathans: There Be Dragons Here!
Utopia: No Place Among the Stars
Synthetic Dawn: Synthetic Intelligence
Apocalypse: Colossal Expansion

After the major changes of patch 2.0, Stellaris development went back to a smaller story pack, Distant Stars, which was announced on April 23, 2018, and released, along with patch 2.1, on May 22.

Anamolous

Anomalies were reworked for the patch. They always had a difficulty level, but previously they had been part of a success/fail mechanic that just had not added any fun to the events. Now, there are still some anomalies that can fail, but that usually kicks off an alternate event.

The main thing is that levels now determine is how long it takes to research an anomaly. If a scientist is of the same level as the anomaly, it will take 120 days to investigate (various empire-wide modifiers can change this; notably the discovery tradition will speed it up by 20%), while being lower level than the anomaly will cause the times to get longer. The display will warn you if the scientist is more than a level below. The absolute worst case would be a level 1 scientist working on a level 10 anomaly (which are thankfully rare), which would take 5760 days (16 years).

Gated Community

The main feature of Distant Stars is a new kind of gate. Like the regular gates, they are large artificial structures that can take ships to far-off systems… once they’re made operational again.

In fact, they are gates as we’ve seen before, however the ancient builders heavily modified these, and they will not activate nor work with the normal gateway network (nor can new ones be built). These L-Gates take a long-form investigation to open akin to researching precursor species. An empire needs to gain 7 insights to be able to get a project to open the gates. These show up in various ways, including a repeating technology. Once all seven insights are achieved, there’s a special project to bring them back on-line again.

But one might wonder why they were closed in the first place….

Extras

And there are a few of other additions to the game with the expansion, including forty-three new anomalies, and four new unique monsters akin to what Leviathans introduced.

A few special species traits were added for use with the outcome of certain events. They only come from the events, so you cannot take them at species creation, or by modifying a species during the game.

Conclusion

This is a smaller, focused expansion, and it is surprising how few later features got “hooks” in this one (i.e., no new origins, relics, etc.). With much of the content being new anomalies, I am reminded of the Children of Abraham expansion for Crusader Kings II, which had surprising depths in the number of new events included.

The main feature is good, and has a random result each game. However, there’s a very limited set of options for it (four), including a mid-game crisis. Once you know what to expect, it loses a lot of appeal, because any of the results are fairly limited.

That said, I am always happy to see more anomalies, and the various large creatures are worthwhile as well. This is not a top pick for an expansion for me, but it is well worth getting just for the extra general content to help round out the game.

└ Tags: , , ,
 Comment 

Martyr

by on February 18, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

So, the New Frontiers series settles down into a series at this point.

There’s some rough patches. It’s still a shorter novel, and feels more like an expanded episode than a novel. Part of that… I think is that it feels like some sub-plots are there because an hour-long TNG episode has subplots, and not because the story organically generated them.

Now, the subplots do all actually flow into the main story, but it does feel like we have a completely unneeded sex-comedy C plot for most of the novel.

With Thallon gone, so is the Thallonian Empire, but word is just getting out, and the inevitable rumors start making what really happened to USS Excalibur in book four seem tame. First crisis is a world that’s been fighting a nasty internal war for literal ages, held back recently by the Thallonians. Along with the lid no longer being kept on the planet, Calhoun and Excalibur have been named as the coming of a prophesy.

This is more than a big enough headache to be going on with, especially with Calhoun taking a very unorthodox method of navigating these troubled waters. Then we get a second problem intruding on the first, and giving us the Recommended Book Allowance of starship combat. Personally, this part also feels a bit tacked on, despite proper development, though its obvious that it’s also setting up a continuing problem for the series.

Overall, it’s good, but not great. I do feel like some of the problem is the transition from the big story in four parts to more self-contained books in the 300-page region. Also, the characters need some work. Selar is generally good, and I like David’s portrayal of Shelby, but it’s hard for me to get a proper read on Calhoun, and the rest feel a bit cardboard yet.

└ Tags: , , , ,
 Comment 

Two Rounds of River Hippis

by on February 14, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Boardgaming

To celebrate the release of the first expansion to C&C: Medieval, Mark and I returned to the game. Of course, the new Vassal module wasn’t out yet, so we ended up playing one of the original scenarios. Namely, the third Lazic War scenario, which has a fair amount of terrain involved.

I had the Sassanids the first time, and started with a Line Command to advance my right, Mark started Forward, and got one block with ranged combat. I Counter Attacked, and used the opportunity to get some of my center over the river. Mark Ordered Three Center to close up with his infantry, and I used Move-Fire-Move to activate the flanks driving some LBC off hills he had occupied. Foot Onslaught brought us into contact, and I lost two blocks each on two units, using Bravery to keep the second in some woods while the other retreated across the river, and I did one block in return.

Leadership Center let me bring in the SHBC, and I knocked out a Heavy and reduced a Medium to one block at a cost of one block. Mark regrouped Forward and drove off a LBC and did a block to a weak Medium. I Cried Havoc to order the SHBC and a couple lights, driving off a Medium, doing a hit and two banners to a Heavy, which used Bravery to only go one hex, which I then drove back another hex after doing another block on momentum. Mark Rallied the Heavy and Medium up to full and took a new leader, and did a hit to my evading SHBC. I Ordered Mediums and did a hit to a MC. Leadership Right w/Foot Onslaught let Mark get into contact in the center again, knocking out the SHBC, but I Ambushed his SHBC for two losses and two banners. I also took two hits on a LBC, and my Medium in the woods took another block while doing one in return. I Ordered One (Heavy) for no ranged damage, and used Leadership Any to finish off my weak Medium and do a block to an Auxilia.

Order Three Center got me back across the river and did two blocks to a Medium. Order Lights let Mark re-form in the center, but did no damage, while Coordinated Attack did one block to a HBC. Order Three Left let Mark reshuffle that flank, spoiling a long-term plan of crossing, getting the weak unit in the woods, and advancing out, but I didn’t have the cards anyway. Left Leadership let me drive his Medium out of the woods with Fire and Close with one block left. Mark used Any Leadership on his right to Rally, bringing the Medium up to full. Order Two Center got me a block on a Heavy, but battle back did three to me. There were a few turns of no result, and then another Any Leadership with Rally let mark get a block back on his Heavy, though he simply reformed his flank. Order Three Right let me take a block off a Warrior, and Order Two Left returned the favor on a MBC. I Out Flanked for a ranged hit on his Heavy.

Mounted Charge let Mark engage on both flanks, knocking out my Auxilia in the woods, with his SHBC, which I Ambushed again, but got no hits on, and he got two hits on a LC, but lost his to a hit plus banner. Any Leadership got my center moving through the river, but I got nothing for a Rally and merely lost a block in combat. Coordinated Attack let Mark finish a Medium and force a second across the river, while a LBC evaded to my baseline. Foot Onslaught let me strike back, but I couldn’t do anything. Order Two Right finished off my LBC, while Command Right did a block to a LB and let me attach my leader to a weak Medium, while an Auxilia forced a HBC from the river. Mounted Charge did five blocks across three units, wiping out Charianes’ second command. Order Three Center forced the SHBC to retreat, but Order Two Right forced my LBC offboard. 2-7

For the second game, Mark started with a Coordinated Attack to move forward but little else, while I Scouted to do a block to a Medium and force it into the river. Mark Ordered Mediums to reshuffle a bit, and did a block to an evading LC. I Ordered Three Left to line up along the river, and Any Leadership let Mark line up on the far bank. I then used Any Leadership to wade into the river on my left, and drove off a LBC. Coordinated Attack killed a block on one of those units, and Left Leadership with Mounted Charge (which only counted for one unit…) got me out of the river and did six blocks across three units, driving them all off, and taking one block in return (from First Strike).

Mark Ordered Two Right to finish off my MC, and I Cried Havoc to get on the left hills and do a block each to two units. Mark Counter Attacked to pull a weak LC out and did three blocks to a Warrior, and took a hit in return. Line Command started moving up my center, and Mark Out Flanked to pull back another two units, but lost one block for nothing. Order Three Center got me a little closer, and I did a block at range. I followed with Foot Onslaught which traded three hits between a Heavy and SHBC, and did two blocks to an Auxilia. Mark Rallied to get two blocks back on the SHBC, and one each on LC and MBC, and the latter finished off a Warrior. I Ordered Heavies to pull my Heavy back, and send in a fresh Heavy, SHBC and HC, finishing off a Auxilia, doing a block to a Medium (and forcing it out of the river), and did a block to a LB on momentum.

Mark Ordered Two Center to do a block to the HBC, and I Mounted Charged into the river, finishing off a Medium, doing two blocks each to another and a LBC, but taking three on my SHBC. Mark then did a Mounted Charge to pick off a loose leader and finish off the SHBC, taking two hits on LC in return. Clash of Shields ordered three units, but the HBC was killed by First Strike, while I finished off a LC. Order Three Right thankfully did nothing, and Coordinated Attack did one block to each of three units. Command Center put Mark into the river, and finished off my weak Heavy. Command Right got me at a couple units at/near the baseline, and let me finish off a LBC. Right Leadership let Mark Rally three blocks on an Auxilia and one MBC, and finish off a Warrior. 4-7

Afterword

The first game especially had stretches with not a lot going on. Part of it was I having problems finding anywhere that I wanted to deal with the river and come to grips with Mark. But, I was also just realizing that it is harder to have a high-impact fights, since there’s a lot of resisting sword hits, and nothing does five dice damage. So, there’s a lot more trying to get help from cards or leadership abilities.

Rally is also more powerful in C&C:M, as you don’t just rally units with/adjacent to a leader, and Mark had very good rolls to undo all the hard-won damage I did to the big units. My luck with Rally has generally been poor, and my attempts here didn’t do any better.

Still, it’s an interesting scenario, since the river really chokes things up.

└ Tags: ,
1 Comment

The Albegensian Crusade

by on February 10, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

Written about two decades before starting his epic five-volume history of the Hundred Years War, Sumption’s history of the fall of southern France follows along the same general lines.

In this case, the second chapter goes into a general long-term history of dualist theology. Like so many religious theories, it has a start in the Middle East, echoes elsewhere, and raised questions for Christianity. There’s no one definitive theory, but it does tend to resolve around the idea of the material and the spiritual being two separate spheres, with only the latter being the creation of God. These ideas slowly spread west (especially after having been encountered in the Crusades), with communities growing up in northern Europe. Suppression and persecution followed, with many people fleeing to more hospitable lands, largely southern France.

The third chapter goes on talk about the Cathar Church as it existed there (from what little can be pieced together). From there, the book pretty much entirely drops down to the affairs of men, and the Languedoc of the first chapter. This is presented as a rich area, yet without real central authority. The Viking raids and other troubles of the past few centuries had largely bypassed the area. While northern Europe had, for the day, fairly centralized states forged in military necessity, southern France invested little real power in the higher rungs of what was really just the trappings of a feudal system.

Raymond V of Toulouse spent nearly half a century fighting the centrifugal actions of his domain, but to little avail. His son Raymond VI takes over in 1194 with ongoing crises in a slow boil. The Catholic Church, and especially Pope Innocent III who was concerned with matters there. Legates were sent to deal with the problem, but were of course viewed with suspicion by most of the inhabitants of the region, and one was killed at the start of 1208.

Just who decided to kill Pierre de Castlenau, how much official sanction, and from who, is impossible to say. But, the death set in motion a crusade aimed at stamping out heresy in the region. Since there was little help to be had on hand, an army was assembled at Lyon and swept, well, much before them. The immediate aftermath of the first campaign’s success was to appoint someone to administer the lands seized from heretics, and Simon de Montfort (father of the—in English history—more famous leader in the Second Barons’ War) steps in. As might be expected of the Montfort family, his concerns are military, secular, and involve maintaining and extending his power.

Since Raymond VI is not the technical target of the crusade, but much of his lands and rights are, there are endless petitions to the Pope about what is going on, and a slow but steady stream of legates are sent to oversee the situation, and try to balance the competing claims, which often fall afoul of Arnaud Amalric, who is bitterly opposed to Raymond VI. Meanwhile, more heretical areas fall to the crusade, until a series of revolts puts everything into doubt in 1216. Part of this is from changes in the cast of characters, with Innocent III dying in 1216, Simon in 1218, and Philip II of France in 1223. His son, Louis VIII steps in to finally bring the power of the northern monarchy to bear, with a final treaty protecting Raymond VII’s position, but with his titles passing into the French royal family.

While technically a religious matter, and Innocent III had meant for a more scholarly approach to the matter, the threat of force rapidly turned into the use of force, and the religious problems became little more than a backdrop as messages take their time on the roads. This makes it well suited to Sumption’s general style, which is not so well developed here as two decades later. Still, I found it good and informative, and it certainly one of the best volumes you’re going to find in English. (I was surprised to see my new book was a 1999 edition before I realized it was the 30th printing.)

└ Tags: , , ,
 Comment