Author Archives: James - Page 116
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Midnight in Some Burning Town –a Review
I actually enjoyed reading this book, even though it wasn’t the book that I thought I was buying. I had ordered it expecting that it would tell me about the various special forces missions that UK forces had been up to between the first Gulf War in 1990-91 and when it was published (in 2004). It sort of covered that, but there was no real detail to much of the early stuff, for example the Sierra Leone mission is dealt with in a couple of pages. I’ve seen some other (much more detailed) accounts of the events (from the point of view of the Paras and the kidnapped Major). However, where it does come into its own is when it explains the issues around Kosovo and Macedonia. The author obviously had a strong interest in this period (possibly based on…
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Urban Nightmare – the megagame pt.2
Shortly after lunchtime (when I ate my lunch, megagames don't have breaks, they run continuously until the end) I changed role. The trigger for this was that the Emergency Services didn't really need two players (and Geoff had clearly got the hang of megagames even though it was his first time). Also Federal assistance was invoked, and there wasn't a player team at Federal level (because it was always uncertain if it would be required and carried too much risk of boredom to be staffed before it was required). Combat Service Identification Badge of the 101st Airborne Division (Photo credit: Wikipedia) So I ended up as a Major General in charge of the 101st Airborne Division and in command of the Federalised State National Guard forces. I also had a special forces team attached. The direct Federal team was lead by…
Urban Nightmare – the megagame
So we're about to start playing the megagame Urban Nightmare, which is a political crisis management game of a zombie outbreak in Romero City. I'm playing the Deputy Chief of the Emergency Services (which is a combined paramedic and firefighter service). We've got 20 fire appliances and 8 emergency ambulances to service the city. Overnight we've had four emergency calls for paramedics at Sin Street, Cass Tech High School, Elmwood Park & the Water-works Park. All four incidents have had their casualties taken to City General Hospital (which is the closest). Related articles Urban Nightmare - the megagame 'The Price of Victory'- Somme Megagame, Royal Armouries, Leeds. Hack Days and Megagames - Time for a "Fantasy Tax Hack"?
Defeat Into Victory
Image via Wikipedia A friend sent me a copy of Field Marshal Bill Slim's Defeat Into Victory. It has always been on my list of books I'd like to read, but somehow I'd never quite got round to acquiring a copy. The version I have is a reading copy of the original edition, with fold out maps all through it. The reading style is very engaging and easy to read, especially if you have the space to fold out the map at the end of the chapter so that you can follow all the places when they appear in the narrative. It was the first time I'd read about the ebb and flow of the war in Burma (even though my grandfather drove a DUKW out there). So I found it very interesting, the nature of warfare was hugely different that both Europe and North Africa (and I suspect even…
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Folklore of Discworld
This is the first of the 40 books I got for my birthday that I have read. While I'm not committing to reviewing them all, I have set myself an internal target to read them all before my next birthday. I'm a fan of both Terry Pratchett and folklore. I definitely learnt some things, but also knew quite a lot of it already, which perhaps reflects the four star rating rather than the five one might otherwise expect given my stated interests. You don't need to have read all the discworld novels to get this book, but you do need to be a discworld reader or a large chunk of it will be lost on you. This book is a reference list that explains how earth's folklore (primarily British, but not exclusively so) has influenced the stories, and it comes…