Author Archives: Gavin Syme

Max Brooks – World War Z – Listen to it on YouTube

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Often I do not have time to read as much as I would like and indeed late March and April is the crux of this time for me with the build up to and the actual event of Salute in London.  Salute is the only wargame show which I attend directly along with the company and its a big task all around.  So I often listen to audio books.

I have done this for many years but over time the technology to allow this has changed dramatically.  Back in the 1990’s it was a big box of cassette tapes which then gave way to a portable CD walkman and in turn a small MP3 player with ear buds.  In the last couple of years it has become a smart phone (which can carry about 50,000 cassettes!) and the source of the audio has changed too.  I used to use the local libraries and purchase the odd box set too.  Then the same with CD’s.  But once everything went digital this all changed too.   MP3 files for audio books and now it seems YouTube has literally thousands of audio books on it which are essentially free to listen to.  This can be done online by going to Youtube.

Anyhoo….

I own both of Max Brooks books on the Zombie Wars, the Survival Guide and World War Z.  Both are excellent and both are unlike the vast majority of cookie cutter zombie fiction.  Where the Zombie Survival Guide is a practical manual much in the same vein as infantry training guides and such (makes you shiver to think that it is actually real and has just been popped into our world from some other dimension) the other book, this one, is a diary account like tale of a war finished already.  Its evocative, its brutal and while often deeply personal it is also detached from what it is telling you overall.  Brooks does a great job in telling you of the end of the world without actually showing it to you in the ‘big picture’.  You get it in little chunks from seemingly random people.  It works very well.

The voice acting is great as well.  If you are a fan of zombie books but are looking for something more than shuffle and bite check it out and do it in a way that allows you to work on like I did while enjoying it.  Go to YouTube.

GBS

The 98 Campaign by M C Monkey-Dew

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I had meant to post on this subject a couple of weeks back..but..well you get the point.  Being me is not always a linear experience, sometimes I feel like I am suffering something I like to call ‘timeslip’ as time passes like lightening and a day becomes a fortnight with no effort at all on my comprehension!

The Campaign Map

My good friend Bob Minadeo with whom I have worked on Firefight 2.0 and HOF Fire-Team is a skilled wargames rules writer and a long time wargamer too.  He is also a big fan of Flintloque, Slaughterloo and the whole World of Valon.  To that end he has brewed up and is currently playing out a whole campaign set in that world under the title of ‘The 98 Campaign’.  Above you can see the campaign map.

The campaign concerns the Ferach Elf forces of the Tyrant Emperor Mordred and their Bog Orc allies in the ‘BGORA’ and their attempt to ‘liberate’ Guinalea from the yolk of King Gorge III of Greate Britorcn and make the nation part of the Empire and not the Grand Alliance.  I am enjoying reading the postings on Bob’s blog and on top of the tale the images showing his terrain set up and the love that he puts into his armed forces on the table top.   The vast majority of the excellent and colourful miniatures on the gaming table are pro-painted from Alternative Armies itself and as I often deal with Bob directly (perks of the job eh!) I have watch him amass this collection with interest over the last year while his mighty mind was musing on the campaign now underway.

Albion Dragoons advance!

As to which side will win the conflict…I do not know…perhaps Bob does not know either at this moment and the dice will decide.  He is using a concoction of his own for the wargame rules and the campaign system too.  Me, well I want the Emperor Mordred to lose as always!

Get on over to the Monkey-Dew blog and follow the campaign if you are a wargamer it is proving to be a riveting ride indeed!

GBS

SupaBases adds a String to the Bow

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This posting is a little late as it had been planned for last Friday but if you look at the post previous to this one you will see that South West Scotland, where I live, was battered by one of the worst blizzards in living memory and that I was also affected by it.  Though the snows are currently gone, they may return, it has meant I am playing catch up now.  So…on with the show eh!

supalogo_wsThe ‘SupaBases’ logo designed by Sam Croes

Last week Alternative Armies and 15mm.co.uk both released the ‘SupaBases’ range of MDF Wooden wargaming bases into the hobby market.  This was the culmination of several months of effort on my own part and others as although there are a few other makers of these kinds of bases in 2mm and 3mm thickness’s none of them were suitable as suppliers to the company.  So we decided to create our own and we were determined to source the wood and get the job done in Scotland.   The bases are precision cut with a tool, not a laser, and this gives a lovely finish to what is currently fourteen different sizes of square, rectangular and circular.  You  can see them below in the picture.

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I personally think that although the company offers white metal and plastic bases these wooden bases have a lovely feel and especially for 15mm scale miniatures as singles and elements in wargames they give an impressive finish.  From this point on I will be using them for all of our own new releases and so on.

Its not always all about new miniatures and the excitement of new game systems sometimes its the tasks without the glamour which give a lot of satisfaction.  Hundreds of customers had asked if we would make these bases, so we did.   Not a lot more I can say except that if you want to you should give them a try especially the larger ones like the 75mm and 100mm circles as these are not practical in other materials and allow for some great set pieces or dioramas or vehicle mounts.   Thanks for reading and if you want to see the SupaBases then click on your choice of link below:

15mm.co.uk        Alternative Armies

GBS

Big Can, Little Can..Weather a Blizzard

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Its been a manic weekend here in Girvan.  Not really for me as I remained snug at home all except for Friday but more on that in a minute.   But for the rest of Girvan and indeed the whole of South West Scotland the weekend has seen some of the worst weather that the area has seen in many years and me personally since  I have moved here some eight years ago.  You can look at the news for the full story but essentially high winds from Thursday evening peaked across Friday into storm conditions and when that was combined with snowfall it led to gusting blizzards that caused no end of trouble.

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Truck Park Girvan!

Across Friday afternoon one road after another was closed and the snow fell on and on.  I decided to leave the office an hour or so early expecting I might have to deal with a bit of snow on the ten mile drive down into Girvan.  I was wrong.  It was actually the scariest drive of my life to date as a driver ( I have only been driving a year so that is not saying much but read on).   As I drove the snow got deeper until I passed a delivery van that had broken down due to stalling.  Following this the wind whipped the snow into drifts and a tundra like gale and my view of the road ahead was reduced to little more than ten feet.  A mile of this saw a small convoy of vehicles form with me at its midst.  I kid you not that about three miles out from Girvan the brakes in the car stopped working, they froze or were packed with snow.  I had to use the gears to slow and the handbrake to arrest the increasing number of slips and skids that the car underwent.  I picked up a passenger too, a driver whose vehicle had been left at the side of the road, I did not want to leave him out in that.  By the time I reached Girvan the police had closed the road to traffic and there were cars parked on the roundabout that marks the edge of the town.  I sat in the car for a while watching the weather and waiting for my hands to stop shaking before heading for my house.

I found out the next morning that virtually all of the region had been brought to a halt.  In fact Girvan was home to several packed coaches and at least a hundred HVG’s which parked where they could (see the image above).  I am pleased to report that the people of the town turned out somewhat in force with tea and hot soup for the stranded and every hotel room was filled.  Several people it seemed suffered accidents on the main road down the coast too, but I don’t know more about that.

Snowy Weather

The weather is now much improved but still windy though the BBC says it might come back again…

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Big Can, Little Can

Anyway with the nasty weather out of the way the post I was going to put up was an idle muse about smaller sized cans of fizzy drinks and if they were actually better than the larger more normal size but I can’t summon up the energy so I will keep it short for ‘ya all.  The Food and Drink Agency here in the UK back in 2010 introduced legislation trying to make companies reduce the size of their sugary drinks cans to combat obesity.  I noted this at the time and ignored it but I picked up a case of Pepsi in this size this week and it came back to mind.  You can see the two sizes above, I like diet drinks as coffee makes me feel unwell, but did the smaller can make me drink less?  The answer is a cynical no.       Typically while working I will drink two cans a day, one in the morning, one in the evening but with the third smaller can I have found this number increase to five or six.  This is not due to concious thought, just desire as I type ever onwards with email and such.  They are just too small to satisfy.  As a result, the equally expensive, but smaller, cans are consumed at three times the rate of the other ones.  As I said cynical…combat obesity or just sell more under the old three choices adage…’Reduce Size, Reduce Quantity, Increase Price‘…seems to be the first one to me.

GBS

18.09.14 The Day Scotland Decides

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Well the date has been announced.  The date which will see a vote here in Scotland over whither or not we remain part of the United Kingdom or become once again a separate sovereign nation.  On the Eighteenth of September Twenty Fourteen so about a year and a half from today.

I am not political and I am not a great believer in politicians either but this is more than a policy choice or party spin this is likely to be the most important vote I will ever cast and so to that end I am going to keep a distant eye on the campaign as it moves on.  The ‘Yes’ and the ‘No’ sides and as the date approaches I will focus more on it.

There are many questions to be asked and I have no fixed opinion myself as of today.  Am I in favour of Independence?  Time will tell.

GBS

Eli’s Vergan’s are my kinda Miniatures!

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SHM54-SHM57 Vergan Free Traders

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SHM54-SHM55 Rear View

These are due to release this week but I wanted to give a little post about them here before that as I have to say that I just love the alien species of Vergan created by Eli Arndt for the SHM line on 15mm.co.uk.  Eli has created and is creating a number of alien species and these are one of my favourites.  Why do I like them so much?

Well its partly style and its partly ethos.  You can use them in any game system and they are of Human height with greater bulk so they match in with ease.  Their style is pure space opera of the kind that Star Wars promotes where alien races are welcomed and not automatically targeted as ‘Xenos’ to be exterminated just for the sin of existing like in some other settings.  They remind me of aliens produced in 25mm scale in the 1980’s back when larger scales were as open to experimentation as the smaller 15mm scale is now.  Its a shame that the seeming  increased ‘need for polish for its own sake’ in the wargaming industry, sometimes without any visible increase in quality or value for money, has meant that only 15mm scale now see’s such bold and different designs in the 21st century.  Ethos wise its just that.  Fun and good value combined with not taking themselves too seriously.  Perfect for me and for 15mm.co.uk.

Why call them ‘Free Traders’ and not ‘Soldiers’?  Eli said to me when he sent me the designs that he thought of the Vergans as merchants not mercenaries.  After a bit of thought I came to agree with him.  Some of the other races in SHM like the Prang are blatantly militaristic but the Vergans seem to carry weapons mainly for self defence.  Part of a starship crew or in a spaceport these blob shaped and many tentacled fellows might just heft an energy rifle only when the traitorous Human they are dealing with tries to double cross them.  The aliens are not always the bad guys…humm…I can feel a USEME scenario brewing now.

The Vergans join the first of their kind (SHM20) as single miniatures but also as a value pack.  I do hope that Eli makes more of them in the future (perhaps a Vergan child or female) but he is a busy guy with LNG and other projects so time will tell.

GBS

Nearing Three Score…well a Score and three Quarters!

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The Swag of the Day!

Its me birthday today…Huzzah!  Its also been a long week of many things the future will show, hence the lack of blog postings and updates.

Thanks to all who gave me a gift.  Not only a physical object but also their time, for the emails, phone calls and also visits in person.  Above you can see some of what I received including several graphic art books and DVD’s too.  I may do a posting or two on some of these but they are all smashing great objects which will keep me ‘nerding’ for many hours over the coming weeks.  You will also see a polo shirt behind everything else.  This is a staff shirt from my local hostelry the ‘Roxy’.  They adore me so much they gave me a uniform so that I might work for them…but the 15mm.co.uk shirt I currently wear would have to be prised off with a white metal crowbar first!

Special mention to my best buddy Jim Brittain who took several days off his work to come and stay here with me in Girvan for my birthday weekend.  Also Eve Hallow who amused all with the scratching of his long nails on every chalkboard he could find.  Also my Good Lady who organised not only a rousing cheer or two but also a cake and other surprises.

Normal service resumed soon!

GBS

p.s.  I am 34 today in case the title is somewhat confusing in this posting.

Wedding Bells!

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Rumour has it that today a certain Emma is making an honest man of Craig Andrews (editor of Barking Irons Online and Orcs in the Webbe) by marrying him.  Being ten years long, long service myself I offer my congratulations to the happy couple and wish them all the best for the future.  Craig is a top bloke, I have known him for a number of years now and he deserves all the love that life can offer a man.

GBS

‘You can take the cudgel away from my head now my Good Lady…see I said nothing negative about ten long, long years service…. :-)’

Lockout 2012 – Film Review

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The French release movie poster in honour of Luc Besson

“I heard you were dead Snake.” ….. “Yeah, I get that a lot”

That classic line from Escape from New York really sums up Lockout.  I had a spare two hours early this morning and I had gotten Lockout a few of weeks ago so I thought I would give it a watch.  Is it a bad film?  No.  Is it a good film.  Not really.  Is it fun?  Well yes.  Let me elaborate.

Luc Besson is a great director who has made some awesome films (I am thinking Fifth Element especially) but I was surprised when I picked this film up and saw that what I assumed was a B-Movie was directed by him.  I was swayed already to give this near future movie a punt as I like Guy Pearce (Time Machine especially) and also Edward Jackson had said to me he liked it.  But when I saw the directors name that sold it.  I watched it without reading any reviews (something I have taken to doing to avoid being prejudice towards a film), but I will give you the plot first before moving on to my opinion on Lockout.

In 2079, CIA agent Snow (Guy Pearce) is arrested for the murder of undercover agent Frank Armstrong who had uncovered evidence of an agent selling state secrets about the space program. Secret Service director Scott Langral (Peter Stormare) threatens to have Snow incarcerated on the maximum security space penitentiary MS One where prisoners are kept in stasis for their sentence. Snow’s agent friend Harry Shaw (Lennie James) tries to locate Snow’s contact Mace who knows where Frank’s briefcase containing the secret information is hidden.

Meanwhile, Emilie Warnock, (Maggie Grace) daughter of US President Warnock, arrives at MS One to investigate claims that stasis might affect prisoners’ minds, leading to psychopathy and dementia. Hydell, a prisoner, is awakened for questioning, but manages to escape. He releases all of the prisoners and starts a riot, led by his brother Alex. Emilie and others are captured. Shaw convinces Langral to send Snow to rescue Emilie rather than risk her life in a siege. Snow is initially reluctant, but agrees after Shaw tells him that Mace is on MS One, and could help Snow prove his innocence. Snow secretly infiltrates MS One. Alex realizes Emilie is the President’s daughter and goes to secure her. Emilie manages to escape with her bodyguard Hock and hide in a secure room. A problem with the oxygen supply however causes Hock to commit suicide to give Emilie more time.

Snow breaks into the room and rescues Emilie. Snow changes Emilie’s hair to conceal her gender and appearance after the prison is alerted to her true identity, allowing them to walk through the prison population. They find Mace, but the stasis has given him dementia and made him incoherent. Snow and Emilie bring Mace with them as they attempt to reach the escape pod. Without the maintenance of the staff, the prison has begun to fall out of its orbit and crashes into the International Space Station. The collision causes a breach and Mace is killed. Snow brings Emilie to the pod but discovers it has only one seat, and that he has been sent there to die. He sends Emilie on her way, but she allows the pod to launch without her, believing that the remaining hostages will be otherwise killed. Hydell contacts Emilie and threatens the hostages unless she reveals her location. When she does so, he kills all of the hostages.

As Snow and Emilie flee, they discover evidence that the prisoners were being illegally used as test subjects. Alex finds the pair and captures Emilie after shooting Snow and leaving him for dead. When Alex learns that Hydell has killed all of the hostages, he beats Hydell and contacts the President threatening to allow Hydell and the prison population to rape Emilie if they are not released. The President refuses to allow a siege and risk Emilie, causing Langral to temporarily relieve him of his command. Langral orders the destruction of MS One. Hydell tries to rape Emilie as promised, but is stopped by Alex. Infuriated he stabs Alex to death. Emilie fights back and Hydell attempts to stab her, but he is incapacitated by Snow. Snow and Emilie flee from the prisoners and Hydell. Meanwhile Langral’s men plant a bomb on the prison. Snow and Emilie use space suits and jump from the ship as it detonates, destroying the prison. The suits allow the pair to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and land safely in New York City.

Snow is arrested. Emilie later realizes that Mace’s seemingly incoherent rambling was the location of and password needed to access Frank’s briefcase. Armed with the briefcase, Snow meets with Shaw. Shaw immediately unlocks it to see the evidence, but finds it empty. Snow notes that he had not given the unlock code to Shaw, and Shaw is revealed as the mole and arrested. Snow is released and his possessions returned, including a lighter given to him by Frank before his death. Snow finds a memory card containing the real secret information hidden within it. Emilie meets Snow and teases him, having learned his first name is Marion. The pair walk away together.

Lockout is a total B-Movie and it shows.  But its a roaring action adventure and a laugh too.  Its been panned by critics and it really went straight to DVD but I liked it.  Agent Snow simply WANTS to be Snake Plissken and takes on the same mantle that in the 1980’s all action heroes had.  Gruff, sarcastic, violent and full of one liners while smoking (when was the last time you saw that in a new movie!) Snow tries his best to channel Snake but never manages it.  Like the shade of a long dead hero he rattles along well enough dispatching the bad guys but never really clicking into place.  Not a reflection of Guy Pearce, he is a fine actor, but more on the movie itself.  Its brainless and lazily directed, it lacks pace and its set pieces are weak as dish water.  Luc Besson either does not care or did this on purpose (why, don’t ask me!).  When Pierce is not on screen the film drops several notches which tells you its a weak movie.  Some of the CGI effects are appallingly bad in places as well.

But!  Its well worth watching and it is free of all the crap that plagues a lot of genre films now.  This movie is out of place in the 21st century, it should be in the 1980’s.  If you want a popcorn film for a weekend that is alpha male to the hilt with a dash of science fiction then Lockout is for you.  If you are a wargamer it also has several set pieces which would work really well in USEME or HOF Fire-Team.  If you want real class go and get Escape from New York!

GBS

Now you are Seven!

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The Cake!

Happy Birthday to ‘The Poet’ for yesterday was his seventh birthday!

Above you can see the lovely cake, my good lady does like to get a proper cake for a birthday, this time themed upon SpongeBob Squarepants featuring him on the left and pinky Patrick Starr on the right.  Great taste and the little chap loved it.  The day went well with some presents to open and cards to put up upon the mantleplace and he was very grateful to all who had given him gifts and funds which he has promised to add to his savings for ‘fun later’.  We had arranged for a two hour birthday party at the local Kidz Play centre where he, his brothers and twenty other children went on a sugar and music fuelled rampage (no pictures of this..sorry!).

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I love the ducks me!

After lunch we decided on a trip to Maidens and then a walk along the beach to the grounds of Culzean Castle estate where a couple of enjoyable hours were had including the swing park and feeding the ducks and swans (on left over party food..what else!).  The Poet and the swans are pictured above and a view as I walked back along the hill to the beach and back to the car also so that you get a feel for it.  I intend to go back with the children when the weather heats up a bit more as it was a little chilly by late afternoon but its a fine view and a great place to spend a day.

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The view from the hills on the Maidens side of Culzean

Given his choice of evening meal The Poet elected to go for Pizza which was duly done and then rounded off the day with a little chat to his favourite Uncle James (Jim Brittain) on the phone before heading off to bed.  I should mention that he was most taken with the smooth lumps of lava, quartz and granite that he and the small Warrior lifted off the beach.  Who needs toys eh!

Now we are seven…its a gonna be a cracking year!

GBS