Ancillary Sword

by on March 10, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

With any good story, it can be hard to manage to make the things that made it work function just as well again. That is, “sequelitis”. With a fresh start, you can do something different, but with a sequel, you’re stuck with certain story elements, and often the quality drops a bit.

With Ancillary Justice being such an impressive novel, does that happen here?

Well, yes and no. Ancillary Justice had some very specific things it went into, and that it had to say that gave it a lot of impact. This isn’t really true here; there’s some particular things that feed in from the first book, and continues to be interesting here. However, some parts, while present, aren’t really gone into, and I think a new reader would be confused. On the other hand, the first book took half of its length to come together, and get to the point where you finally find out what the central plot is.

Ancillary Sword is much more straightforward, and doesn’t need half a novel to sort itself out. There’s still plenty of mystery, but of the more typical form of digging into what the viewpoint character doesn’t know about the situation, than the fractured plot of the original.

The good writing caries over, and Breq’s voice is very clear, so the interest there is in full force. The overall theme here is more the collision of two (or more) cultures, in a colonial context (in the historical sense of one power coming in and ordering everything as it wants, and reshuffling everyone else without regard to their desires), and powers much of the plot. Overall, it’s not as good as the previous, because it doesn’t go into the ‘deep questions’ that SF can explore, but it is a much more even book.

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T3 The Lone Gray Wolf Y160 S4

by on March 6, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: SFB

[Scenarios 1 & 2]
[Scenario 3]

As Mark and I sat back down to the “Lone Gray Wolf” mini-campaign, I wondered if it might wrap up quickly. Most of the groups available to the Kzinti can’t match the power of an uninjured DN, and a couple more fights like that would leave me able to just disengage at will from the sixth and final scenario.

And then Mark rolled a 1 for the fourth group; the best Kzinti group of the set. One that in the original version I’d be tempted to just disengage from immediately, even on the first scenario, just not to have to tangle with a full carrier group and squadron of fighters.

In Y160, it’s ‘merely’ the equivalent ships: a CC, 2xCL, and FF. In this era, Kzinti cruisers are a bit lackluster, except for the CC. It nicely ups the firepower of the regular CS class, has the full amount of warp power something that size should have, and may be the only ship around right now that has 180-degree arcs on disruptors (expanded disruptor arcs will become a lot more common in a decade, but right now they’re almost all limited to 120-degree arcs). So, this is something of a more dangerous repeat of the third scenario, which featured group 4.

The Kzinti group lined up behind me and all went speed 24 for turn 1, while the C6 went speed 20, and only the CC put up EW, with four points of ECCM. I immediately turned off to the left, hoping to maneuver for a moderate-range shot, and the Kzinti followed suit a few impulses later. I continued my turn, and brought the main weapons to bear at range 8 one impulse 20. By impulse 23, range was down to 3 and the Kzintis started launching drones. On 24, I slipped in and ended up nose-to-nose with the CC, which is something I’d been trying to avoid, but the ranges had been a lot shorter than I’d anticipated. I tractored the two drones in front of me, and we both launched more right before firing. I shot down the two new drones from the CC, and hit the CC itself with four disruptors (one overloaded), four ph-1s, and 2 ph-2s, for a total of 58 damage. The CC fired one disruptor and 4xph-1, at me, and five more ph-1 came from the other ships, for a total of 49 damage (with some poor phaser rolls).


Turn 1, Impulse 24, showing movement in Impulses 20-32, and ships largely hidden underneath the cloud of drones.
↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Trial by Battle

by on March 2, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

This is part one of a massive four-volume history of the Hundred Years War. As such, it spends a good amount of time setting the stage, and covers through Crecy and the siege of Callais.

The first chapter is an interesting, and effective, experiment in writing, presenting the funeral of Charles IV in 1328, and using it to show the physical side of Paris as the procession walks from Notre-Dame to Saint-Denis, which was well outside Paris at the time, and taking asides to talk about the state of France as a whole.

The rest of the book… isn’t quite like that, though it continues to do the same great job at presenting the smaller stories to build up the larger ones. Much of the book is taken up with pre-war maneuvering, and starts with an interesting point that while Philip IV (the Valois successor to the Capetian Charles IV) saw his relationship with Edward III (and his French holdings in Gascony) in feudal terms, the French bureaucracy generally saw things in more ‘nationalistic’ terms. Much of the early part of the book revolves around problems arising from judicial proceedings where English authority is largely undermined and eroded away.

This creates a situation where war is increasingly likely, as the ‘high court’ for affairs in Gascony is in Paris, and just by its nature generally stacks the deck against Edward III, who is still the legal lord of the area, and his vassals. There’s lots of litigation held up for years, occasional seizures of castles as part of legal decisions, and lots of low-level politics of local factions aligned with the English or the French.

Of course, France is a large, populous country, compared with relatively small and backward England. Much of the book is also spent looking at the various limits on the power of the French court, and how that made it difficult to pursue a vigorous campaign when fighting breaks out. England is comparatively centralized, and Edward III was willing to go to some fairly extreme measures to finance a war. Much of the middle of the book has all sorts of financial woes as even experimental high-finance can’t keep up with the needs of paying and feeding a major army for long.

But much of that serves as practice for more successful English campaigns once some of the difficulties are sorted out. Philip IV still hasn’t really sorted out his troubles, enhancing a sense of paralysis as the English army finally gets its act together, and marches across a fair amount of northern France, and then has the first of several spectacular, but not war-winning, victories at Crecy.

Along the way, the book spends time with problems in Wales, and much more notably, Scotland, making sure that there is as complete a view of the situation, and the pressures on England and France, as possible. Overall, it’s very thorough, and an interesting read from start to finish. Sadly, it’ll probably take me far longer than it should to get to the next three volumes.

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1 SNAFU

by on February 26, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Boardgaming

After going through the introductory scenario, Mark and I turned to the first scenario in Operation Mercury, which depicts the initial German landings near Rethymnon. This uses the main Rethymnon map, but as a practical matter, only a bit more than a third really sees play. Also, it uses the (game-specific) alternate formations, where dispatch points go to battalions (there’s two on each side) instead of regiments (which are actually the upper command level instead of divisions here).

The German drops did not go off as planned, due to poor coordination, leading to the scenario title. Interestingly, while the German drop zones are fairly constrained, the British setup is fixed, with the Greek units actually randomly placed (there’ll always be one Greek unit in each designated hex, but which one is where is randomized). The Vassal module actually has pretty nice support for this. In general, two battalions of the 19 Australian Brigade are on either side of the airfield about a mile away from the port, with Greek units trailing off inland of it, and Greek police units garrisoning the city itself. The German 2nd Fallschrimjaeger Regiment drops on either side of the British, with the III Battalion to the west and the I Battalion to the east… except two companies of III Battalion drops to the east, one company of I Battalion drops next to the airfield, and one other drops well up the coast away from everyone else. Overall, the German goal is to take and hold both hexes of the airfield, and the port until the end of May 21 (eleven turns in all), not an easy task.

I reprised my role as the Brits, and the scenario begins with four Luftwaffe air strikes followed by the drops (using the German ‘divisional’ activation chit). Mark hit three units at the east end of the airfield (one of them twice), doing a cohesion hit each to a MG company, and Company C of the 1st Battalion. The drop system is interesting, with units taking a drop marker that must then be earned off through a later activation. As part of the German practice of dropping all the equipment in separate canisters that had to be recovered, it is possible to pick up a second marker which makes the unit extremely vulnerable (with a 4 shift to both fire values and defense).

The west group went well, with the only ill effect being one company picking up a second drop (/delay) marker. To the east, things went much worse, with several high rolls that gave four units the second delay marker (including the one well up the coast), and 2. MG company took a step loss. (A nice bonus for the Brits, since they have a goal of eliminating thirteen steps of Germans). Mark used one command point to re-activate 1./I. Company (next to the Royal Australian Artillery) and remove the drop marker. After that came the British random event (no event…), and the British Direct Command chit. I spent two CP to fire the RAA as it was obviously going to be overrun (miss), and move a Greek unit to extend the eastern defensive line. Then came the German Direct Command chit, and spent one CP on 1./I. again to assault the RAA, managing to suppress it, but did nothing else (messed up the sequence and skipped a second round of fire after a charge failed to get rid of the RAA; that would have had a good chance at a cohesion hit). And then the turn finished with a ‘No Event’ German event draw.

We had initially missed that the two German formation activation chits are placed in the mug with the division activations and direct command chits. (I’d really expect such things as part of the setup section, instead of the Command Points section.) But, we put them in near the end, and they both came up next, giving the Germans a chance to largely collect themselves. The RAA was assaulted again, this time wiping it out with a charge.

So the 17:00 turn started with the 19 Australian Brigade (‘divisional’) activation, netting a minimal 4 command points, and a very fortunate 3 dispatch points on a 0 roll. Mostly, the Greek units were tasked with extending my defensive lines, though it would take a while for some to arrive. One company was put directly on the airfield to hold up a German move there, and I spent a CP to have a mortar battery fire on the company that landed near the airfield, to no effect.

Mark passed on the German direct command chit next (being down to 1 CP), and then I drew a heroic random event, which I put on a Greek company that was going to put the coast road under fire near the airfield. My direct command chit came up next, which allowed me to get that unit into position. A null German random event ended the turn.

I purchased the 2/1 brigade for the following turn, while 19:00 started with the FJR 2 activation, which got Mark 6 CP, and no dispatch points. This got rid of the rest of the drop markers, and he started heading towards the airfield from the west, and spent 2 command points to move up to the British line on the east. (One of these was a mistake: he moved up the heavy weapons/mortar company, who has range. Also, my MG company managed an Op Fire cohesion hit on them.) The British random event was tanks break down, suppressing the RTR. After that was my direct command chit, and I spent one CP to rally the RTR.

Then came my divisional activation for another minimal 4 CP and no dispatch points. I avoided spending any CP, and missed a couple fire opportunities, as we hadn’t yet noticed the exception for purple fire codes, and just moved the Greeks into line. The German random event made the company near the airfield heroic. Then came the German direct command, and Mark traded out the heavy weapons company for a regular fallschrimjaeger company dealing with the British line for 2 CPs. The end of the turn was the III./FJR 2 formation chit, and two companies went into column to advance on the airfield.

Mark spent his only dispatch point to put a formation chit into the mug for the upcoming 7:00 turn. The night turn started with the British divisional activation, and I got 6 CP and no dispatch. This time I did remember to use the light mortar units, but only got a single S?, and the Germans passed the resulting TQC (the line units here are generally quality 7, making them very competent). Also, being night, I was able to rally the MG company, who had taken a cohesion hit back during the airstrikes. The German random event was rally, but Mark had no suppressed units, and the British random event was an air strike, which can’t happen at night.

The German division activation was drawn for 7 CPs and no dispatch. He spent three command points moving units up to the west side of the airfield, and another moving 1. MG into a fire zone, as the various big gun units slowly moved to back them up. And of course, we was also able to rally the cohesion hit I’d done earlier in the day. Then the 2/1 Inf went (buying a chit for a night turn was not my best move, but I hadn’t thought about the timing at that point). I did lots of fire attacks, but between night and plenty of high rolls (four 8s and 9s), didn’t accomplish anything, and then I passed on doing anything with my direct command chit.


Dawn of May 21

We both purchased a dispatch point, and I spent one to get the 2/1 Inf on the following turn. 07:00 started with the German Direct Command, and 9./III. assaulted the airfield, destroying the Greek 5 2/4 Inf there to secure the west half. Then my divisional activation came up for 5 CP and 2 Dispatch. One of my attacks got a suppression on one of the German companies coming in from the east, and I moved another Greek company to the other half of the airfield, spending a CP for a forced march to get there (a slope caught me by surprise), and a CP to pass a possible suppression from Op Fire. I also spent a CP to move into the flank of the Germans in the east, but Op Fire suppressed them before they got there. I also put two Greek units into column, one to move to reinforce the west side, the other was already there, and started marching to get between the Germans and Rethymnon.

Then came the I./FJR 2 activation, and he rallied away the suppression, while managing to suppress the Greek unit that had just moved onto the airfield (with the mortar unit). The British random event was intelligence, boosting my already-high CP and DP. The German random event was out of ammo, which caused a cohesion hit to 2 MG 7, which he’d just put on the line. Then came the German divisional activation for 8 CP(!) and one dispatch. He spent a CP to assault the other half of the airfield, but failed the bravery check, and then spent a second CP to get a second company on the half he did control, and also spent on a fire attack on the eastern line, but got no result.

I spent CP to get a dispatch point at the start of 09:00, and we both spent a DP to put a formation chit in for next turn. The turn started with the British direct command, which I used to rally the Greeks on the airfield, and continue the move to put a unit near the coast road west of the fighting. That move was completed by drawing the British divisional activation next (getting 5 CP and 1 DP). I got a second cohesion hit on 2 MG 7, and suppressed 1./I. I then rallied the suppression to the south, and spent a CP to go adjacent to the longer-ranged units there, and this time made it. This allowed B 2/1 to close up with the end of the German line safely. And one of the Greek units I had early-on moved to cover the coast got lucky and completed an improved position.

That was followed by the 2/1 Inf activation, during which I assaulted the suppressed 1./I. and did two cohesion hits to it (…and spent two CP to avoid possible suppression). I also got a cohesion hit on one of the units holding the airfield. Command confusion robbed me of two CP. And I paid another to avoid a possible suppression from an attack from the German direct command chit, during which the company that landed far east finally showed up in the main line. The German divisional activation netted a minimal 4 CP and no dispatch for Mark, and he rallied the suppressed unit, pulled his bigger guns back out of contact with the Greeks, and pulled 2. MG 7 out of line. 1. MG 7 went into column and started heading for Rethymnon, and and 2./I. started pulling out in that direction.


Start of 11:00, May 21.

Mark spent command for another dispatch point, and then immediately put a chit in for the following turn, while I just bought a chit for the following turn. 11:00 started with a null German event, followed by the German divisional activation, for 5 CPs and no dispatch. 2./I. continued down the coast road, taking a lot of Op Fire, and a cohesion hit. He assaulted the end of the British east line in 29.11, with both sides taking a cohesion hit in the first round, and 3./I. losing a step in the second, but suppressing A 2/1 in return. Then 10./III. assaulted them, and did two more cohesion hits, flipping them to one step, and I went down to 1 CP paying to pass various TQC. 1. MG 7 marched through the gap between the Greek units. The British direct command was next, and I spent my last CP rallying the remnants of A 2/1.

After that was the 2/11 Inf activation, and they largely abandoned the line of improved positions to get at the Flak and Art units, though C 2/11 took a cohesion hit and suppression in the process. The German direct command had Mark try to assault A 2/1 again, but failed the bravery check. Then I./FJR 2 activated, and he assaulted again (with the weakened 3./I.) and took a cohesion hit from Op Fire, and then a Suppress to end the assault. 2./I. moved back east to cover the flak unit. I got a rally random event to remove my one suppression.

At the start of 13:00, I paid a DP for an activation next turn, and we started with my divisional activation for 4 CP and no dispatch. In the east, 1./I. passed a couple suppression checks, and then I failed a bravery check when I tried to assault it. In the west, I got a lucky shot that caused a cohesion hit to 2./I., and I assaulted 2. Art 7, which was by itself, causing two cohesion hits and a suppression (after draining Mark’s CP to 0 to keep it from just dissolving when I charged).

Mark’s division activation came next, and he got 6 CP and 1 dispatch, rallied away suppression, and 1. MG 7 continued towards Rethymnon. 9./III. and 11./III. assaulted the airfield, eliminating the 5 2/5 Inf (yes, an actual Small Arms “E” result), after taking a cohesion hit, and occupied the other half. He then assaulted A 2/1 on the eastern line with 10./III., suppressing them and doing a cohesion hit. After that, intelligence gave me more CP and dispatch. The German direct command allowed him to send 9./III. back to the other half of the airfield, but he ended up taking two cohesion hits doing it. He then removed a cohesion hit from each unit on the airfield thanks to a resupply drop. Then the 2/1 Inf activated, and a ‘0’ with my mortars took a step off of 9./III., but the rest of my rolls were 8s and 9s (I’m sure Mark thought one 0 was more than enough).


Start of 15:00, May 21. 1. MG 7 is in 11.16, near Rethymnon (five hexes off-screen).

I purchased another activation for the following turn, and 15:00 started with III./FJR 2. 1. MG 7 came out of column, went down the slope and assaulted the Gallos police unit, but failed a bravery check. Attacks in the east piled a cohesion hit and suppression on A 2/1 at the shore, and did a cohesion hit to the HQ company. My direct command came up, and I rallied the suppression. Then my divisional activation came up for 8 CP and a dispatch point. I managed a cohesion hit on 1./I. to reduce it a step. A 2/11 moved up to the airfield to so it could put pressure on later; The Greek 6 2/4 Inf moved to its old location in case anything should happen to the RHA. I knocked out 2. Art 7 (third cohesion hit), and moved into it’s location to put more pressure on 2. Flak 7 and 2./I., the latter of which was suppressed by another attack.

The German random event was air support, but he rolled a 0 to get nothing. His divisional activation got him 4 CP and no dispatch. 1. MG 7 assaulted again, and Gallos ran to take cover in the city proper. 11./III. constructed an improved position on the airfield (something we were a bit late on in general…). The 2/11 Inf activated. I got a cohesion hit on 2. Flak 7, and then assaulted but failed the bravery check, and my random event was nothing.

I purchased a formation chit for this turn, while Mark purchased both of his for the following (final) turn. His direct command started the 17:00 turn, but he did nothing with it (mostly thanks to 1. MG 7 being an independent unit that couldn’t be activated). Then came the 2/11 Inf, with the mortars getting a cohesion hit on 2. Flak 7, and then I assaulted the stack, which went well, reducing both German units to one step, and 2./I. took another two cohesion hits, but D 2/11 also took a step loss. I followed up with another assault, but only took a cohesion hit myself.

The German random event allowed him to rally 2./I. from suppression, and then my divisional activation went off for 8 CP and 2 DP. The Greeks in the east moved forward to envelop the German line again, and I got a cohesion hit on 1./I. I got a cohesion hit on 9./III. on the airfield, but failed another bravery check when I tried to assault. I then suppressed them with a mortar unit, and assaulted with the RTR to finish them off and retake part of the airfield. I got no results against the 20.12 stack, but with them fading fast, I started a couple units into column to march towards Rethymnon. Then came my direct command chit, and I assaulted 20.12 again, but this time Mark ran, losing the Flak unit. Then the 2/1 Inf activated, and two good rolls got me two cohesion hits on 11.III. to reduce it to one step.

After that, the German divisional activation came up for 5 CP and no dispatch. He assaulted Gallos and Perivola, which failed to stand when he charged, so he got into the outer part of the city. He assaulted 29.11, doing a cohesion hit to finally knock out A 2/1, and link up the eastern group with the airfield, and 3./I. moved in afterward, and he managed a cohesion hit on 6 2/4.

This moved us to the final turn, and I spent to get both of my formation chits (with 2 DP left over!), and started with my random event, which was out of ammo, which I took on one of the units surrounding the Germans in 19.13. I didn’t do anything with my direct command, and then the 2/1 Inf activated. I managed to suppress 1./I. and then assaulted it for two cohesion hits to finally finish it off. Then S 2/1 got a step loss to destroy 3./I. and end the game as the thirteenth German step loss.

Afterword

The Germans have a really tough goal here, needing to go two ways at once. Mark was also hampered by poor dispatch rolls the entire time, while I was generally lucky with mine (starting with that initial ‘0’ to get three right at the beginning). The 17:00 turn really showed how much the momentum could swing since I had both of my formation chits, but Mark had neither of his in the cup, and the turn was just a torture of him getting pounded by me the entire time.

The fact that Allied infantry companies are generally purple light mortar fire codes is also nasty as they can get an attack in for free on the divisional activation. Combined with being on defense, they can get by with a lot less CP expenditure, while the Germans are just nasty with high fire ratings and troop quality. But Mark’s average CP replenishment really couldn’t keep up with demand, especially for the first half of the game.

However, despite a slow start, things got very exciting towards the end, as he finally broke through the east line, and started getting the troops he needed into the airfield. Better play, and understanding of how/when to assault such positions would presumably make a world of difference, just just being able to afford more formation activations early would have done a lot too.

We’re not sure when, but the general plan is to swap sides and play scenario 2, which lets the Germans to a more controlled drop (‘what if their coordination was better’), but the British setup isn’t fixed either.

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Deadly Nightshade

by on February 22, 2021 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Books

I’ve enjoyed Honsinger’s Man of War series as a fairly typical energetic military-SF series borrowing from the Age of Sail literary series. My main disappointment with the series is that it halts at a dramatic moment, and the sequel series hasn’t come out yet.

Instead, we have a prequel series, dealing with a teenaged version of the main character. Instead of a look at the operations of a small destroyer, Robichaux is on his own, scouting in a small stealthy craft monitoring Krag (the bad guys in the long-running war Earth is in) activity.

Well, that’s the theory. Things go extremely sideways for Robichaux once the story starts, and he ends up dealing with mysterious Vaaach, and an entirely different situation as part of that. Dealing with the Vaaach isn’t done with at the end here, but that is the overarching spine for this prequel series.

The action is as well done as ever. What we see of the setting is fairly well done, and the characterization is good. But, because Robichaux is the only real character here, a lot of the strengths of the main series are blunted. However, this is a novella instead of a novel, so it’s not allowed to outstay it’s welcome.

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