SH56 Surprise Package

by on September 12, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: SFB

After finishing up in Hatten, Patch and I swung around to Star Fleet Battles, moving to Y165. He looked over the scenarios, and picked the Klingons in “Surprise Package”. The original version of the scenario (back in Captain’s Log #1) was something of a mean trick. You propose a Fed DD vs D6 duel, and don’t tell your opponent that the DD actually has a pair of plasma torpedoes until you launch them. The current version forgoes literal surprise, and gives a light “idiot rule” to the Klingon (no wild weasels charged until after a seeking weapon launch), as well as options to secretly sub in other destroyer variants, regaining some sense of “surprise”.

Weapon status is 2 for both sides, so phasers are charged, but DDL Kublai is on the final turn of arming on all weapons, leading to maximum power draw. I also held a suicide shuttle in case D6 Devastation should try to overrun me, and only managed speed 9. Patch went speed 20 with EW up (all I could afford was one point of ECM, hopefully I could count on the plasma torpedo’s native ECCM) and started charging in. On impulse 13, we hit range 15, and Patch fired, hitting with all four disruptors to take out half of the #1 shield, and then turned off. I turned to intercept, and he launched a speed-12 drone, which I had to shoot down early in turn 2.

Patch stayed at the same speed, and I boosted to 19 for turn 2 (it would have been 23, but for acceleration limits). Midway through the turn, Patch turned right, and I paralleled him until he started turning in to intercept. On Impulse 29 I launched two plasmas (one real, one pseudo) at range 12, and turned in for a face-off on 32. Patch fired for another four disruptor hits, exactly knocking down the #1 shield.

I stayed at speed 20 for turn three, while Devastation went up to 26. Patch fired phasers on Impulse 1 of turn three to do two internals (both hull). And on Impulse 2, he HETed, keeping out of close range, and able to keep speed 32 plasmas off of him for most of a turn (and way too long for the tiny plasma-F).

That basically put me out of options, and I fired phasers on Impulse 3 at range 9 to do 6 damage to the #5 shield. I tried bolting the remaining plasma and firing one photon torpedo and missed (both 6s…).

Afterword

We continued maneuvering, but that was the end of any actual combat. The scenario stipulates that Patch needs to disengage “by turn 5”, which is a little unclear as to the beginning or end of turn 5. But either way, he was trying to avoid eating my close-range firepower, and I was trying to keep him off my #1, and possibly take crippling damage with no shield.

So, final score: D6 disengaged = 28.25, 8 × speed-12 drones (I assume; with 4-5 turns, paying for 4 might be better) = 4 vs DDL damaged = 9.4, 2 × T-bombs (I don’t know if Patch took any) = 8; not doing at least 10 damage with plasma torpedoes (a special rule to force me to be aggressive, and why letting Patch control the ranges was bad) = 30. 47.4 ÷ 32.25 = 147% or just at the very top end of a Marginal Victory for Patch.

Partly, my problem was that Patch got very lucky, hitting eight times out of eight in the 2/3rds bracket. Minor problems on my side included going too slow on turn 1 to receive a charge, which limited me on turn 2, when I really needed the speed, and forgetting that I had swivel mounts. I could have fired the seeking plasmas right at him, but was stuck thinking of fixed mount launchers, and launched 60º off.

But, he outplayed me. Notably, the HET caught me flatfooted, just when I thought I could pincer him between me and two sets of plasmas. Patch was surprised by the low endurance of the plasma-F, and thought he was in bigger trouble.

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Pax

by on September 8, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

Tom Holland’s third book on the history of Rome picks up with the end of Nero’s reign (65 CE). This is the start of four chapters labeled “War”. Now, there’s various problems, certainly including Nero himself, but there’s no war. This of course does not last long, with the Empire dissolving into political infighting, Nero commits suicide, his earlier efforts at finding a suitable heir gone well before him, all before the close of the first chapter.

The next eighteen months take two plus chapters, or perhaps 150 pages. This takes us through the infamous Year of the Four Emperors, but Holland too busy immersing us in the world as the Romans saw it to call it that. It’s a small problem if you’re wanting some modern guideposts to fit with what else you know, but he’s not here for concessions to modern periodization. While this is indeed a general audience history, the main point is to introduce you the Roman view of the world. If that introduction is still shadowy and incomplete, that is merely because of the size of the gap he is bridging, instead of any lack of effort or ability on his part.

Part two, “Peace”, starts with tales of Hercules visiting Italy. There he had defeated a race of giants and held a triumphal procession—pompe—and founded two cities. From here we start spending a fair amount of time examining contemporary (to Vespasian) local politics, and the character of the entire Bay of Naples as the resort and tourist center for the rich and famous in Rome.

Holland doesn’t need to say a word for the modern reader to realize that we are on a countdown to a detonation that will destroy Hercules’ two cities, Pompeii and Herculaneum. Of course, this conversely preserved much of those cities and is a large part of what is allowing him to go into all this detail that we aren’t given about the rest of the Roman world.

Outside of this, there is plenty of other things going on. These “peaceful” years, 70–138 CE, have plenty of their own trials, though the fact he can cover nearly seventy years in four chapters instead of five years in three does show the pace of events has slowed. Still, there is always the concern that the Roman world is in danger, and plenty of wars with death and destruction waiting in the wings. It looks very stable to us, but not only was that stability fragile, there are always the memories of the last crisis to provoke fear about the next one.

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On the Railroad Again

by on September 4, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: D&D

The third Avatar module came out three months after FRE2 Tantras. Anyone running it at the time might have been stuck for what to do during that period, though I’d imagine at least a couple months to get through the first two adventures is possible, and there were suggestions for what to do while waiting (I’d take them over this).

In any case, the opening of Waterdeep skips any boring shopping around for someone willing to take the party across the Sea of Fallen Stars into the Dragonmere, and assumes that this was done and starts there. Not that there’s any decisions for the party to make here. They’re given as bound to Ilipur on the southern shore of the Dragonmere, but a fierce storm forces the ship north to near Wheloon in Cormyr. This is given as if it should be played out instead of just starting near Wheloon, and telling the players what happened like they are to be told they hired a ship.

All this is the start of an overland march with the itinerary set by the module novel. Like with the initial journey to Shadowdale, there’s not a lot of motivation to go to Waterdeep, but there are prophecies and such promising that it is the key place to be, which is still better stage management. Still, a lot of parties will probably feel like they’re flailing around. Everything possible is done to force the party down a particular path. There are two sets of bad guys each trying to get what they want out of the party herding them along. Like in Tantras, the novel characters are part of what’s going on, most notably Midnight, permanent NPC focus/MacGuffin of the party, and Cyric, who is now one of the major villains, while Kelemvor and Adon have gone back to being optional. I should also mention the physical presentation is the same as the first two adventures: a standard 48-page faux-parchment booklet with a three-panel detached cover giving the magical chaos tables, a section of the 30-mile map showing from Cormyr to Waterdeep, and a poster sheet with several maps (detailed later).

The first stop is nearby Wheloon, meant to let the party make sure they have any gear needed, and then moves to another charge of murder and attempted incarceration. This is is more meant for the players to escape the arrest attempt, but attempted capture of the party is beyond old by now. From there, its through Hilp to Suzail to sail across the Dragonmere to Ilipur again. Or not, as the various bad guys chase them away from Suzail, as the entire point is to force them away from the sea, and away from the regular caravans that travel to Waterdeep from Ilipur. (The fact that this is why the party keeps trying to get to Ilipur could have been stated better earlier. i.e., if you’re going with NPC Midnight’s plans for how to get to Waterdeep, have her outline them to the party…. Also, Ilipur has no entry in the Cyclopedia, so here’s a new lore detail for you.)

All this is to end up in Eveningstar, where everyone gets pushed west to High Horn. This is after being warned that the path west is closed, but that’s a further problem from Darkhold, another 3-4 days past High Horn, and not on any road, so this makes for potential confusion. At any rate, High Horn itself is one of the high points of the module. Bhaal catches up to the party at this point, and as the avatar of the god of murder, is going to be a tough fight. 84 HP, AC 0, regenerates 2 HP a round, and can possess as a new body anyone he kills (back to 84 HP…). If nothing else, that last will be trouble, especially as the DM should run him so as to make sure there’s plenty of bodies from the garrison around to use.

Oddly, there’s no map for High Horn itself, and its architecture is important to the encounter. That said, the important part is clear, it’s a good setpiece, and there is plenty of room for the players to decide on actions that will direct the fight. In fact, I think this is the high point of the entire set of modules, right here. It’s a pity there’s a long road left to the climax. The general idea is for the players to go through a gap in the Sunset Mountains, and eventually cross the River Reaching at Hill’s Edge, but there’s little reason why other routes might not work—other than more harassment from the bad guys. (Still, there’s a bit of description of the terrain around Yellow Snake Pass, for those interested in more lore.)

The harrying of the party continues, with progress towards Waterdeep, covering a number of locations not really seen before, but they don’t get much attention here either. Once the party does arrive (after more forced plot shenanigans), things finally start sweeping towards a climax… that is predictably overwhelmed by NPCs. We get the bad guys, the novel NPCs, Elminster, and Blackstaff Arsoun. Beyond other problems, the DM is going to busy with all his parts.

The initial point of all this is to get at the Pool of Loss (a portal to Hades), to get at one of the Tablets of Fate. This is part of a plan hatching all through the adventure, and instead (or, in addition) undead creatures are let loose on Waterdeep. This powers the rest of the climax, which brings together the party Midnight, Myrkul, Cyric, and Ao. There’s some decidedly clever bits, which the players may or may not ever figure out, and… even more waves of the new monsters of the module. I think the part would be largely exhausted of dealing with them by now.

The very end of the adventure finally gives answers for what the heck is going on. It was Myrkul’s idea to steal The Tablets of Fate, and use them to at least gain some power over the other gods, and preferably have the power to oust Ao himself. In the end… the plot is useless. They do have a fair amount of magical power, but not enough to challenge Ao, and do not themselves define the god’s jobs, instead just being a meant as a reminder of what the jobs are instead of being the definition. Ao expelling the gods to the mortal realms is to help remind them of their purpose, but has the side effect of widespread chaos and devastation in the Realms (heck of an object lesson there). A final half-page is dedicated to aftereffects of the Time of Troubles, including that the gods now must rely on worshipers for their power; something to be put in rule form in Forgotten Realms Adventures.

Conclusion

As covered in my review of part one, the entire series is extremely railroaded, and hits any magic-user or cleric characters with a large “I’m not that useful” bat for the entire experience. That’s okay in the novels, as clerics (Adon) are still second-line fighters, and Midnight is the focus of a lot of magical plot shenanigans that let her overcome some the problems with more firepower (she also levels up at an insane pace—presumably because of having the power of Mystra in her), while PC magic-users are likely to feel kicked to the curb the entire way. Basing the entire idea directly off of novels and then not letting the players be the main characters is an extremely bad idea, and my understanding is that TSR never made that particular mistake again.

The “good” news is that Ed Greenwood did the module writing, and some bits of lore work their way into the modules, particularly the last two. If you’re interested in pulling out tidbits of official lore that may come straight from Greenwood, that’s the only value I see in these modules. Looking around, what I can find of people who actually used this adventure say it was a horrible experience. The only exception is one person who went through the trouble to recast the entire situation to directly involve his players, tossing the entire NPC cast in the process.

If you are interested in the lore, there’s not much in Shadowdale, a few interesting bits with the Ashaba River in Tantras, and some notes about Ilipur and a few places along the route here. More concretely, a few towns get all-new maps with keys giving names of a few establishments, much like the maps from the Cyclopedia (again, Shadowdale lacks this, just having color versions of existing maps). The poster sheet for Waterdeep is broken into seven segments, so at that point I’d rather have seen a small map booklet which would be handier to use than laying out an entire poster just to look at one small part. There’s new town maps of Wheloon and Eveningstar. There is a much-reduced version of the standard map of Waterdeep, two small floorplans of the Roosting Griffon Inn (a ruin found on the road to Waterdeep) and Dragonspear Castle, a partial map of Blackstaff Tower (Waterdeep key #32), and floorplans of the Lonesome Tankard Inn (in Wheloon). There are two new monsters in the back (both used extensively in the adventure) which are in the format of, and could be transferred to, the Monstrous Compendium.

One complicated bit: Ed Greenwood had a megadungeon underneath Waterdeep, and the Pool of Loss is actually in Undermountain. Like any self-respecting overly large and sprawling dungeon, there’s portals to all sorts of places in there, and the portal used from The Yawning Portal (Waterdeep key #4) is the second(?) one from there into the place; this one was added purely to keep from having to burden this adventure with all that, and get them to a place that already existed there. I assume; the version of Undermountain published a year later has little to do with Ed Greenwood’s version.

As a final argumentative point, lore wise, I will note that current chronologies of the Realms place the Time of Troubles in 1358 (I think this started with the 3rd Ed campaign setting). That’s the year just beginning in the original boxed set. There’s a dearth of dates in most early products, but those that exist conflict with that, and other problems have cropped up making it all fit. TSR never said anything, but I get the idea that they roughly figured one year of real-world time would imply one year advance in their new setting. FR5 The Savage Frontier (1988) was published a year later, and has a new set rumors/events for 1358 in the region. That implies the Avatar Trilogy should be (counting months from August 1987) Eleint [September] 1359 DR. I suggest anyone working purely with early Forgotten Realms materials may want to work their timeline on that basis.

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Leuctra 371 BC

by on August 31, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

Murray Dahm bucks the general organization of Osprey’s Campaign series with this book on the Battle of Leuctra.

Notably, main section does not give one big description of the course of the battle; instead we get a fairly brief version of it, and the rest of the time is spent examining sources. The upshot here is that Dahm does not trust Xenophon, and is looking to other sources on the battle to give a general picture, which Xenophon can add to. This is seemingly the opposite of most reconstructions which start with Xenophon, and use everyone else to add detail.

Dahm paints Xenophon as a pro-Spartan Athenian, and more importantly, anti-Theban. I’m not really up on him, but that does sound right from what little I know. The other sources give Leuctra as a surprising, but hard fought victory for Thebes under Epiminondas, and as a result of a deliberate plan. Xenophon on the other hand doesn’t even mention Epiminondas, or any other Theban commander, and paints it as a battle Sparta lost, rather than one their opponents won.

Outside of the long-form argument that takes over the main section of the book, we get two very valuable discussions. The first is at the start of the book, and gives a good physical overview of Boeotia, Thebes’ position as the dominant city of the region, her role during the Persian Wars, the Peloponnesian Wars, and the Corinthian War. That role generally being second string to whoever could get into the region, starting with, infamously to other Greeks, the Persians.

This is followed by a six-page account of the Battle of Tegyra, which also gets one of the isometric maps showing the area of the fighting, and a two-page spread color plate. This is something of a practice run for Leuctra, where a Theban force defeated a larger Spartan force after killing its two commanders. This led to the resurgence of Thebes, a new Boeotian League, and four years later the Battle Leuctra seems to follow the same pattern. (And it is worth mentioning that Xenophon does not mention the battle at all.)

Past this, we have the usual Osprey Campaign sections talking about the armies and their commanders. Three good color maps of the region (one each for the routes taken to Leuctra and Tegyra, and one showing prominent Boeotian battle sites in general), lots of color photographs of the ground the battle took place on (generally from Getty Images this time), and photos of various contemporary artifacts.

If I had read other books talking about the battle, the detailed discussion of sources and the reconstruction here would be very handy, and I recommend this to anyone who has read such. Without that background, much of the main section moves towards the tendentious, especially for the usual Osprey audience. That said, there’s still enough value here, and the battle interesting enough that I still recommend it for the more general ancient military history enthusiast.

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SL278 Foxes in the Henhouse

by on August 27, 2026 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: SFB

After defending central Italy, Mark and I moved over to Star Fleet Battles to get in a Y164 scenario, “Foxes in the Henhouse”. While it’s in Captain’s Log, it’s generally the scenario to show off the light monitor from R11. The Romulans are raiding a Gorn planet, and trying to knock out bits of infrastructure while the Gorn navy runs interference. The idea is the Romulans can send boarding parties down to the surface and get points for being there 33+ impulses to destroy something. The Gorns can send BPs after them (but there’s supposed to be a large number of potential targets, so they can’t go down ahead of the Romulans, they’ll just go somewhere else) to prevent this, and they get points if the Romulans abandon a BP on the surface. (Note that if the Gorns kill the BP in combat after they complete their mission, the Romulans get the points, and don’t have to pick them up….)

But… it’s also a Modified Victory Points scenario, and there’s enough ships to generate sufficient VPs to not need to worry about the planet so much. Once that was realized, attention reverted back to defeating enemy ships.

The Romulans have a WE, BH, and two SN-As. With WS-III, I came in at high speed (for first-gen Romulans). Mark had the Gorns with the LMN (speed 4), and two FFs, going speed 18. I cloaked out (the Snipes paying off of battery), and he kept a bare handful of lock ons thanks to range. The FFs turned off partway through the turn, and one of the Snipes turned to follow them. Turn 2, the Snipes slowed to 8 and started recharging batteries, and the WE slowed to 5 to power an enveloping R. As of the start of the turn, the LMN was still headed for her, and 10 hexes away. The slowdowns shook some of the sensor locks, and on impulse 2, the BH (at range 5) started decloaking. On 4, the LMN launched two plasma-Gs, with an F launching the next impulse.

On impulse 7, the BH was fully decloaked and launched her two plasmas, which prompted a wild weasel launch. The BH turned off and start cloaking, but the plasmas caught up on impulse 9, and did 26 internals through the #5 shield, taking out two warp, half the weapons and almost the entire impulse deck. The wild weasel exploded from two real Gs hitting it on 12, and two impulses later the WE started decloaking. By the time that was finished, the explosion period had ended, and the enveloping R was launched at range 7. It impacted on impulse 26 for 89 damage after the LMN’s phasers were finished with it. This didn’t penetrate, but put every shield below half strength.

Right after that, Snipe #1 started decloaking.

That finished and the Snipe launched on impulse 32. The Gorns sped up for turn 3, while the BH went down to speed 6 (and started repairing impulse), and the Snipes went down to speeds 4 and 2. The plasma torpedo hit on impulse 6 for 5 damage thanks to the LMNs phasers and batteries having a chance to cycle. The FFs finally got back into the main fight as everyone was fading out again, and plasma bolts missed while phasers did seven damage to the WE’s #1. The main difference on turn 4 was the FFs dropped to speed 15. One of the FFs overran the BH for nine damage to the #4. The other one eventually got a shot at the down #5, but only did a point of damage. The first one had also retained lockon to a Snipe and fired the torpedo at it, and thankfully the fire adjustment table (for being cloaked) reduced it to 10 damage on the #3.

Towards the end of the turn the WE decloaked again, and on impulse 4 of turn 5 she launched a regular plasma-R at FF #1, who emergency deceled and launched a wild weasel. The weasel was caught in the FF’s hex, causing 7 collateral damage to her. On impulse 22, Snipe #2 started decloaking, but faded back out after a couple impulses when the other frigate turned in towards her. In the middle of next turn, the FFs had roughly traded positions, and FF #1 overran the Snipe, doing three damage (after bad fire adjustment rolls) to the #1. The LMN overran the other Snipe at the end of the turn, doing… four damage after disastrously bad ph-3 rolls and fire adjustment.

Snipe #2 decloaked on impulse 4 of turn 7; the closest target, FF #2 immediately E deceled. The Snipe fired phasers for a couple points of damage, launched the torpedo to blow up the shuttle, and cloaked out again. However, FF #2 was sitting still, and the other Romulan ships were closing in. The LMN retained lock-on and launched a plasma-F at her. The BH decloaked on 27, the F hit on 29 for 8 damage, and the BH was clear to launch her torpedo on 32.

Mark figured it was targeted on FF #2, which would have sprinted away, but was under acceleration limits. The torpedo was actually on the LMN, which E deceled and launched a weasel as it approached. Meanwhile, the WE was right behind the frigate and decloaked, launching the R on impulse 9; it impacted on 11 for 31 internals, leaving her with 5 warp and little else.

Afterword

That actually ended up being the last real action of the scenario. Somewhat uniquely, it is limited to ten turns, without requiring anyone to disengage. It just stops at that point.

Mark looked at getting a final pass at me in, but I’d finally put my ships back in supporting range of each other, so he did not commit to it. I was ready for a final run myself, but at my speeds couldn’t force the issue, and the Gorns were outside the range I cared to use plasma torpedoes in.

Both the BH and FF #2 were crippled, awarding 50% points for them. Amazingly, no other ships took internals, though some shields were getting very shot up. I did successfully get three missions off on the planet. So that’s 15 VP + 22.5 VP for the FF. Mark gets 42.5 for the BH. (Actually, he should get another 16 for 4xT-bombs I took, but I don’t know Mark’s purchases.) That’s 37.5 to 42.5, or a Marginal Gorn Victory. Given about another turn or so, I probably would have forced internals on the LMN, which would turn that around; I needed a little more aggression.

The Light Monitor would be more accurately named the Early Monitor. By the description, this is the original monitor design, developed in Y130, while the more familiar version is a later (Y140), bigger version of the same idea. Certainly, it’s a good concept, though I have some quibbles. Notably, there’s no ‘early’ weapon listings for it, and the Gorns get swivel mounted plasma-Fs on the engines. Strictly speaking, swivel mounts shouldn’t exist on a cheap unit in Y130. But, not really worth worrying over either. On the positive side, it’s nicely bulky enough to not be hopeless defending a system against light forces.

This is my first time using a Snipe. It was a very eye-opening experience. I can’t think of any other move cost 1/4 ships (possibly the Federation Corvette, but I don’t have the official release of that), and at a total of 9 power, everything hurts. Three batteries help it out once, but I was struggling just to get fractions of points back into batteries. They seem to be a fire-and-forget weapon. Fire the G once, and forget about the ship. The eventual Snipe-B gets two more power, which should be an embarrassingly big help. Power was bad enough that I actually dropped a charging plasma torpedo at one point (to go speed 12), and then started the arming cycle all over again when there was a little power again.

Something that startled both of us was realizing that all the early Romulan ships are turn mode D. A 1/4 MC, nimble, ship with turn mode D. They still get to move last thanks to being nimble, but it just feels very odd.

As for tactics… Mine were not bad. Certainly, the one-two of lure out the wild weasel with the BH and then slam the LMN with the WE worked. The easy antidote to that is to have more than wild weasel ready to go at a time, but there’s only four shuttles on the LMN, so that invites losing them too fast. It certainly isn’t going to outrun plasmas. It does have four each LS/RS ph-3s, and keeping the FFs nearby would have helped a lot (possibly at the cost of a FF…). My initial spit up certainly wasn’t the best as a Snipe went a couple turns trying to find a position from which it could decloak and launch, and not get killed in the process.

Neither of us are used to multiple plasma-ship tactics. I leaned on the cloaking device, and Mark should have tried for more overruns.

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