The Long Land

by on August 3, 2025 at 5:12 pm
Posted In: Boardgaming

Last year, Mark and I got The Little Land from Compass’ Company Scale System. It’s an offshoot of MMP’s Grand Tactical Series, and we’ve been wanting to see how it compares, though the initial Pacific island fighting titles don’t appeal to either of us. So, after our game of Rebel Fury, we got to trying it out. Each title had it’s own unique rulebook, but there is now a proper series rulebook, which we used as the primary rules reference. There’s only a handful of scenarios, and the first one looked a little too tiny, so we went for scenario 2, “The Little Land”. (This may have been a mistake.) I took the Soviets, who are conducting an amphibious invasion just south of Novorossiysk. This was intended as a diversionary attack, but when the main one stalled the beachhead here gained importance, and there’s two waves of reinforcements coming ashore over the next couple of days.

There’s one German infantry company at first (plus three Romanian cavalry companies), plus five immobile gun companies, two of which are good indirect fire batteries (there’s no eligible transport for them). And after the first day, Kampfgruppe Busche comes in with some much needed infantry and some more support (with transport). Additionally, neither side has any HQs or leaders to start with, so there can be no second actions, and the available support weapons are distributed at the start (never to be reassigned short of breakage).

The first action of the game (by special rule) is the just-landed 83rd Infantry battalion, which mostly works off the suppression markers from landing. Since those affect an entire hex, you can have one unit in a stack rally and then the rest maneuver. Also, the unit has a hero included, who doesn’t do anything. Except automatically remove every bad status marker in the hex as soon as he activates, so his stack doesn’t even need to rally. This let me get into the Fish Cannery, and up close to the various Romanian units.


↓ Read the rest of this entry…

└ Tags: , , ,
 Comment 

The Prize

by on July 30, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

I never got to see all of it, but the 1992 PBS miniseries on The Prize was very good, and was part of what launched this book to superstar status. That, and coming out right after the First Gulf War didn’t hurt at all.

In fact, a little too close to the war. The end of the miniseries actually a very good section on fighting all the oil well fires Saddam Hussein left behind when forced out of Kuwait. The book talks about the destruction, but doesn’t actually get to the recovery effort. I get the idea that largely happened between the writing of the book and the production of the series.

What we do get is a history of big companies and bigger personalities from about 1846 to the Gulf War. As you might expect, this history breaks into several sections, and Yergin does a good job of presentation of them. Thanks to touching on other subjects of long fascination and study, his five chapters on World War II were something of a highlight, especially since he takes a long hard look at Germany and Japan’s pre-war maneuvering around something that had already been made abundantly clear was essential. Particularly interesting was the Roosevelt administration’s internal struggles over when and if to subject Japan to an embargo. Naturally, as with anything with this much infighting, the eventual answer is not what you’d expect. Oil wasn’t embargoed, but all Japanese assets in the US were frozen, and they had to apply to the government for concessions to be allowed to use their own money (after stating what it would be used for). Since the man in charge of letting the concessions was a big proponent of an embargo, he didn’t let them use their assets for anything.

The chapters on the ’50s and ’60s are more laying the groundwork for the part on the ’70s, which of course is one of the big centerpieces of the book. After WWII there is a continual glut of oil on the market. Oil (gasoline) consumption is shooting up, and everyone’s afraid of existing, and necessarily finite, production fields running out, but exploration for new oil fields keeps finding more faster than demand can go up. Everyone (especially new Middle Eastern countries) want in on the money to be made producing something everyone wants, so supply stays high, and the various producers are fighting to provide the best deal.

This eventually changes; OPEC isn’t any better at controlling production when formed, but eventually agreement comes together, and then Arab-Israeli Wars provide the will. Also, the glut has come to an end. Enough oil is still being produced, but just barely, and the various threats to supply have an immense effect. Supply and demand being what it is, this provides incentive for further exploration and production, and Alaska and North Sea oil prevent the Iran-Iraq War from derailing global supply security again.

While Yergin does provide some good numbers as he goes, I really wish he’d sprinkled a few charts and graphs around, especially for this part. Being given a number at one point, and then another a chapter or two later, and knowing that yes, they are different, isn’t enough. I’d like to see some more compiled statistics as we go for where oil was coming from at certain times, where it was going, and how long reserves were expected to last. Similarly, the wild swings in oil supply and prices in this period drove a lot of inflation, and I’d have appreciated it if he went into that a bit more. I can’t really blame him for not doing so, 900 pages is big enough, and it’s getting further from his field, but I would like to see some analysis on how all this interacts.

Back on continuing themes, I should note that Yergin is decidedly pro-big business. This generally only has a distant effect on his narrative, but while he mentions the conservation and ecological movements, and how they curtailed demand during the ’70s, he never does talk about the ecological effects of emissions, or even drilling, at all. He does talk about the switch over of power generation from coal to oil, and the fact that helped pollution levels, but gives no details. (And the balance of energy sources at various times is another set of charts I’d like to see.)

More noticeably, Yergin casts a distinctly jaundiced eye on the late Nineteenth Century Progressive movement. Standard Oil is something of a flawed hero in his telling, and Progressivism a nearly incomprehensible movement that tore it apart as a byproduct. Certainly, he makes no effort to understand it.

But, this is a big important book both because of and in spite of its unstated viewpoint. And adding in the bits I’d like to see would make it a better history, but detract from its appeal to a broader audience, and it is more than good enough to deserve that audience.

└ Tags: , , ,
 Comment 

Dungeons & Sorcery Spells 16

by on July 26, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: GURPS

And now for the sixteenth set of Dungeons & Sorcery spells. I finally get around to presenting the (long) writeups for Polymorph Other and Polymorph Self.

Emotion (SC)
Enchantment, Somatic, Verbal, Area (Fixed)
108 points
Casting Time: 4 seconds
Casting Roll: Innate Attack (Gaze) to aim
Range: 100 yards
Duration: 1 minute

The caster attempts to inspire one emotion in everyone in a 4-yard radius of the point he aimed at (see Scatter, B414, on a miss). The Sway Emotions skill (B192) has guidelines on what is possible, and in general reactions to this should be role-played.

However, there are mechanical benefits, which are also up to the GM’s discretion to apply. Every person in the area of effect rolls a Quick Contest of IQ (plus caster’s Talent), with victory exempting them from the effects of the spell, though they will still feel the emotion, just not at a level where it affects/controls actions. (A character can ‘choose not to resist’ a helpful emotion from a trusted caster, at which point, assume a “failure” of 3.)

Despite the first paragraph, there are mechanical benefits and penalties to being under the sway of this spell. The MoF of the Quick Contest is a die roll modifier to all rolls touching that emotion for the next minute. Notably, “courage” and “fear” will generate bonuses or penalties to Fright Checks within that time. Similar conditions can apply to many Reaction Rolls (e.g., an inexperienced hireling told to advance on the scary-looking monster may need a Reaction Roll to follow orders; proper use of emotion could help with this). This spell will never cause a Fright Check or similar, though it might make what was an “assumed” good or bad Reaction Roll into one that is actually rolled and modified.

Mind Control (Area Effect, 4 yd., +150%; Emotion Control, –50%; Independent, +70%; Requires Gestures, –10%; Requires Magic Words, –10%; Sorcery, –15%; Takes Extra Time, x4, –20%) [2.15×50] Note: I’m adding the modifiers to Emotion Control to give it some extra punch, and separate it from the cinematic enthrallment skill. Consider it a house rule.
↓ Read the rest of this entry…

└ Tags: , , , , ,
 Comment 

The Kobayashi Maru

by on July 22, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

Julia Ecklar wrote a number of short stories (in Analog, and a few anthologies), but no novels, which might explain why this Star Trek novel is more of a short story collection. However, she did later write other TOS novels under the name L.A. Graf (the pseudonym seems to be from slightly after my time of active Star Trek reading).

We have a framing story of a disabled shuttlecraft stuck in an extremely messy system with plenty of gravitational anomalies. As usual, you have much of the command crew going to check a scientific outpost that has gone silent, and Enterprise is hanging back to stay clear of an area far tougher for a big ship to get through. Disaster strikes, and the shuttlecraft is disabled, with Kirk and Sulu badly injured, and everyone is left waiting while Enterprise tries to locate the shuttle for rescue.

The actual problem that caused the accident is briefly identified as a gravitic mine, which reminds Sulu of a command simulator test involving a freighter that has been disabled by one. So Kirk, Sulu, Chekhov and Scotty trade tales of the Kobayashi Maru to pass the time….

While a good setup for those stories, the resolution of the framing is all about the rescue (which actually is enough). We never find out what happened to the scientific outpost, nor any hints as to who thought this system needs mining in the first place.

Kirk tells his story first, and it is a step up from the version we get in the reboot movie. Both assume that he reprograms the scenario into an easy win, which doesn’t really feel correct for him, and TWOK only says he ‘reprogrammed the computer so it was possible to win.’ My feeling has always been that he just took out any “cheats” the simulated Klingons got, and otherwise set it to a more normal, if tough, scenario.

Chekhov and Sulu’s stories are next and more focused on other events with Kobayashi Maru merely being a side element. Sulu’s story is the best of the lot, with a lot of personal development of a young Hikaru, and having to deal with an actual death while at the academy. Scott’s tale is good on the personal side, and has the right idea and structure. It also features the actual titular test more prominently, with Scotty getting to pull out number of engineering “miracles” to stave off defeat, while showcasing more of the ‘bad’ form of the test which is popular in conceptions of it, but not how I think it’d work. I also have problems with the idea of one bit, but like the idea that Scott knows it doesn’t work, but knows the math says it should, so he bets the simulator will let it work is dead on to what’s needed.

So, it’s good, decently structured, does well with the characters, but the writing doesn’t get to the level of what could have been done with the high concept.

└ Tags: , , , ,
 Comment 

Two Rounds of Tigranocerta

by on July 18, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: CC:Ancients

For our regular round of Commands & Colors: Ancients between bigger games, Patch and I ended following “Mortal Wounding” with the first scenario of Expansion #4, the Battle of Tigranocerta. We’re still on red-block Romans, but Tigranes gets four Heavy Cataphract Cavalry units… facing an army that is half on hills. His main force is bunched up in one corner with the only leader, and there’s a couple of baggage wagons that can be taken for banners. And he only gets four cards. The Romans go first and have six cards, about their only problem is that they only have one Heavy.

Patch started the first game with Order Two Right, deploying his LS forward, and forcing one of the HCC to retreat with a banner. I countered by making the LS retreat and lose a block on a banner with Order Two Left. Patch then Ordered Four Left and did a block to a LC. I Ordered Two Right to do a block to a LB, while Patch did two blocks to a HCC and forced my damaged LC to evade with Order Three Left. I Ordered Two Center to do a hit to a LC, and Patch Out Flanked to force a couple retreats and do a block to a LBC. I started deploying the big mass with Order Three Left, and Patch got his center cavalry in motion with Order Four Center to drive off a HCC.

I Counter Attacked with my HCC and Patch evaded with one loss. Patch Ordered Lights, driving my LBC off the board, and doing a block to a HCC, while occupying the hex of one of the baggage trains. I used Coordinated Attack to bring another LBC adjacent to the baggage trains and drove off the LC, and destroyed a MC and did a block to another at a cost of two blocks. Patch used Leadership Any Section to engage my strung-out HCC, finishing off all three in exchange for two blocks to a MC. I used Move-Fire-Move to bring up more of the left-flank army, and Patch Ordered Four Right to do two hits to an Auxilia. Leadership Any Section advanced me some more, and Patch did a Coordinated Attack to trade blocks between a LC and MC. I Ordered Lights to do a block to a Medium, finish off a MC and get a leader when it had to evade through me. Patch Double-Timed his right into my force and killed an Auxilia. 3-6

I started the second game with Order Two Left, which promptly did two hits to a LC with ranged fire. Patch started Tigranes forward with Order Four Left, and I forced the weak LC to the baseline with another Order Two Left. Patch Ordered Four Left again, getting his lead Light onto the hills. I Ordered Lights to drive him off, did a hit to a HCC, and nearly routed a LBC (one hit, and then another from a retreat). Patch Counter Attacked to bring up elements of both flanks and forced my LC to lose a block retreating. I Ordered Two Center to knock out a HCC; Patch Ordered One (Medium), and knocked out a MC when it declined to evade and took two banners.

Line Command put my left in motion, and forced a HCC to evade. Patch used Line Command to put the big group forward, and I Ordered Three Right to confront the mass from hilltop, doing one block to a LB. Patch used a second Line Command to keep advancing (and pull back the LBs) doing one block to my Heavy in return for two to an Auxilia. I Ordered Two Right, finished off the Auxilia and did three to a Light for a loss of one block. Inspired Left Leadership let Patch wrap his line around my Heavy at the point of the hill who lost two blocks and retreated while doing two blocks to an Auxilia. I attempted to Rally, but only got one Heavy result to bring that unit back to two blocks (the rest was banners and lights, I’d been hoping for Medium and wild to get both units at the front of the hill in better shape). I did another block to the Auxilia, but lost my Heavies in return. Patch Ordered Three Left to do two blocks to my Medium, and rout it (forced to go through other units), while I did a hit to the weak Auxilia and forced a retreat.

I Out Flanked to bring up the next set of Mediums and position close to the baggage train. Patch used Mounted Charge to get his HCC into the hills, routing a MC w/leader (three banners), killing a second one, and doing two hits to a Medium, which forced the HCC to retreat. Out Flanked let me finish off the Armenian Heavy and kill Tigranes, while putting a LC on a baggage train. Patch used Order Two Center to get his LC next to the baggage trains again, and do a block to a LB. Order Three Center drove off a Light and HCC, doing a block to the latter. Patch Ordered Mounted to cut off retreats and routed my LC. 4-6

Afterword

The Romans had very good ranged die luck in both plays. Mine was especially good at the start, but faded later. Patch did pretty good with his four-card hand the second game, while I struggled with a lot of “Order Two” cards, and not a lot else until the end game. Between that and really well-timed Line Commands and Mounted Charge, Patch nearly did better as the far weaker side than he had with the Romans, but my kill of Tigranes put me in reach of a victory, though it was too late.

The baggage train rules stipulate that there can’t be any enemy units adjacent to it at the start of your turn to loot it and get a banner, which kept both of us from exploiting it. That flank is technically weak, but has highly mobile LC, so you can’t really keep the Armenians away, unless they have no card options. That should be possible with a four card hand, but both of us were able to react.

The Roman center is largely MC, and the Armenian one is largely HCC, so it should be a good way to show off the latter, but the fact that most of the Roman center, and all of their right, is on hills keeps them from being particularly useful, outside of the Mounted Charge card.

└ Tags: ,
 Comment