A belated Happy New Year to everyone1
It's been a while since I indulged in any wargaming activity. After the mad period of painting in late Autumn I've hardly done anything (apart from two great on-line games hosted by Jonathan). This has happened before and this time there has not been much in the way of Real Life activity getting in the way. There's obviously been Christmas Day/Boxing Day and one football trip*, but not much in the way of wargaming activity. This feast or famine has happened before and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm on some sort of spectrum. In mitigation, I'm in week 4 of a cough so maybe that's eroded my motivation.
* Usual disappointing result but a great day socially
On Boxing Day the eldest came round and we had a game of 300 which naturally he won. Good game and even having to look up the rules every now and again it only lasted 1 hour. The girls have somehow managed to avoid their commitment to play the game. I was thinking of using the mechanisms for a SYW campaign based around the invasion of Bohemia in 1757, but on reflection it is more suited to a higher level of strategy. You could, however, easily substitute Ancients tabletop games for the abstracted battles of the boardgames.
On to the reading matter. For my birthday before Christmas I got 3 books from the aforementioned offspring. Two down and 35% of the way through the third.
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| Book 1 |
This was a great little virtual tour of the country and inspiration to go visit some more places in the analogue world. Lots of stories I've never heard before. Ironically the day after I read some stories about Fionn mac Cumhaill**, I heard Jack McConnell (as 'Paddy Mayne') blathering on about him in S2 of Rogue Heroes***.** Well done if you know how to pronounce that without having first heard someone say it!
*** Rollicking great fun but not history
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| Book 2 |
This is a journey through the FA Cup, and England, in the 2022-23 season, starting with the Extra Preliminary Round**** right up to the Final. 14 rounds in total. The idea was that the author went to watch the winner of each round's game in the next round, right from Tuffley in Gloucester (no me, neither) to Wembley. Along the way the author discovered something of the clubs and towns he visited. The reason it was given to me appeared in chapters 9-12 (or from round 3 to the Quarter Final). As the author puts it at the end of chapter 8, "Which brings me, with love, to Grimsby". Even well before that, I was thoroughly enjoying the book. It's much more than a football book (the games get relatively little ink considering the erstwhile theme). It's more than a travelogue. Actually, I don't know how to describe it, other than it's bloody good and you should read it.
On reflection, the subtitle, 'England with the FA Cup for a Compass' describes it very well. The football is almost a way of randomly generating a tour of England with, roughly, the smaller settlements coming first and the bigger ones coming later.
**** There was an Extra Preliminary Round, a Preliminary Round, four qualifying rounds, five 'proper' rounds, a Quarter Final, a Semi Final and a Final.
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| Book 3 |
I spotted this on my last visit to the National Army Museum*****, and sent the photo of it to the family group chat on WhatsUp. The hint was taken. Happily. This is a much more dense book than the other two. But good all the same. Looking at the chapter titles, it seems like it's going to trace an arc from the Germans being arch-baddies to being potential allies. My initial interest was driven my a desire to find out more about the world in which my late dad did his National Service. He thoroughly enjoyed his time in Germany. He missed the first couple of post-War years, though I do remember him saying "you could [still] buy anything with a packet of fags" (😮). He came home with a smattering of German, a stripe and a licence to drive lorries. Timing wise he was lucky. Too young for World War Two, he was on the reserve list at the time of Korea and had notice to go when the truce intervened.
***** The author is a historian based at the NAM
It would be remiss of me not to post a link to the wonderful song from which Dr Cowling took the book title. Do please sing along.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wveW9Tw2JKE
Post Script
Re the Occupation, I’ve just remembered the alternative definition of RASC - Run Away Someone’s Coming. My dad took this to heart once when ensconced in a bar with some Guards and a bunch of Paras turned up. He said MPs were not noted for discerning between innocent bystanders and types who loved a rumble. He’d just got outside when the window came out Western style.
