PotCXXIpouri - another slight return

 Still catching up with what you all missed while my broadband wasn't working. I attended the Bradford Literature Festival's inevitable, and welcome, J.B. Priestley event, which this year addressed 'English Journey'. Commissioned by the prominent left-wing publisher Victor Gollancz this is an account of the great man's travels around England at the height of the depression. A precursor to, and an inspiration for, Orwell's 'Road to Wigan Pier' it shares that book's unwillingness to look away from the effect of poverty on society and, in particular, on children. Not so, of course, the members of the governing party in the U.K. Against the background of a report showing that the cohort of children born during the period of austerity brought in by Cameron and Osborne are shorter both than their predecessors and than children of the equivalent age elsewhere in Europe, these two smug poshos turned up at the Covid enquiry to deny that the same austerity had anything to do with the country's unpreparedness for the pandemic. 

A more recent example of self inflicted economic and social damage has also been in the news concerning the seventh anniversary of the referendum on leaving the EU, a referendum that, by no coincidence, took place whilst the same two deadbeats were in charge. I gave my views here at the time - and indeed here at the time as well - and haven't changed them at all. Professor John Curtice (for the benefit of overseas readers let me point out that when it comes to psephology in the UK the Prof is 'the man') says that the reason the polls currently show a majority thinking that leaving the UK was a mistake isn't so much that people have changed their minds as that a significant number of those who voted Leave have subsequently died. Good.

PotCXXIpouri - slight return

 Just continuing with the catch up from my absence I have a couple of things to get off my chest:

Firstly, I had assumed that the minimal coverage, and lack of humanity in that coverage, of refugee deaths in the Mediterranean was down to the innate racism of the British press. However, given the pages and pages of reporting on the plight of a few hubristic billionaires paying the price for their ghoulishness even though, shock horror, they weren't all white, I have changed my mind. Clearly the issue is class: the lives of poor people simply don't matter as much as those of rich people.

Secondly there has been a furore about a new film alleging that Jeremy Corbyn was ousted as leader of the Labour Party as the result of a conspiracy. Now, I haven't seen this film, doubt very much that I will bother, and have a very sceptical view of conspiracy theories in general. Indeed if you want my opinion - and believe me you're going to get it even if you don't - JC's biggest problem was the self-inflicted and all-to-common one for politicians of out-staying his welcome. The hoo-hah regarding the film is centred on it apparently implying that some of those involved in this so-called conspiracy were Jewish. If there is any conspiracy going on it's the one that increasingly says that neither Jewish people nor Israel can ever be criticised regardless of what they do, without fingers being pointed and hyperbolic accusations of anti-Semitism made.

Let's finish on a lighter note. I have been to Barnsley for what I believe is the first time ever. Slightly to my surprise I found it to be a very pleasant place. I intend to revisit it soon to check out an upcoming exhibition at the municipal art gallery. In the meantime here is a statue of one of the town's most famous sons:

PotCXXIpouri

 My absence from the blogosphere has not been entirely due to scorchio, my broadband hasn't been working properly either. Obviously too much has happened in the Casa Epictetus during that time to include all of it in detail here. Most notably there was a visit from the blog's Luxembourg correspondent involving food and drink aplenty and an erudite conversation which ranged from Qatargate to the dynamic pricing of tickets for Springsteen's Munich concert via Piltdown Man. There has also been a variety of musical and theatre entertainment of equally varying qualities. But you're all here for the wargaming.

First up was a run out for James' new Spanish Army for the Peninsular war. Given that they were newly painted and that they were Spanish troops in the Peninsular war, they inevitably ran away. But quite a bit of luck with the dominoes meant that they hung in there for longer than anticipated and a good time was had by all. The picture above shows a Spanish cavalry unit which having unexpectedly routed their opposition in melee were then effectively destroyed by what seemed to your bloggist to be a very harsh pursuit check rule. 

Next up was the battle of Harran using To the Strongest!, the outcome of which was a defeat for the forces of Outremer, just like the original. The photo is of Bohemund, who despite being the main hope on his side never really got going. A combination of the Armenians to his left suddenly going into an uncontrolled advance - which unsurprisingly ended in disaster - and me constantly choosing the wrong order in which to activate commands, took away all his room for manoeuvre. Not that Baldwin or Tancred did any better mind you. It was a very bad day for the forces of Edessa and Antioch.

Good Riddance

 

"Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal. Drugs, alcohol, or lies. Unable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort." - Jean Cocteau

Board Games April/May 2023

 I have played sufficient new-to-me boardgames in the last couple of months to make it worth writing them up. Here they are, plus a few others of note that have been revisited. Before anyone asks, I still haven't had another go at Scythe.

Black Fleet: A card driven game with ships on a map, where everyone plays all three of pirates, merchantmen and the navy. Good game.

Blueprints: Enjoyable dice drafting and arranging game in which everything I did turned out to have been done earlier and better by someone else.

Cascadia: If I describe this as pleasant it isn't meant to anything other than praise. It's an attractive tile-laying game about wildlife in the Pacific Northwest.

First Empires: I'd never heard of this, but liked it quite a lot. It's a like a roll and write, but without any writing; also involves tech trees.

For Sale: This is one of those games that I had been aware of, but had never played for some reason. It's reminiscent in some ways of High Society and I really liked it.

Hadara: Once again, a game I'd never come across which turned out to be a goodun. Card drafting, set collection, minimal theme.

Hanamikoji: Geisha's Road: A newish two player game. I've never played the original, but this variant is very good. Both players try to attract geishas to their tea house by taking the same four actions as each other, but choose the order in which they do them. It's thinky, but in a manageable way.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal: Now this one I had heard of, because it's been a bit of a hot favourite, no pun intended. It's a card driven Formula 1 game reminiscent of both Flamme Rouge and the Waddington's Formula-1 game I used to play with my cousins in the 1960s. Tremendous fun and highly recommended.

Ice Flow: Another game not seen for years. I love this game, was really pleased to get it to the table and I won as well, so all is right with the world.

K2: Broad Peak: K2 is an excellent game. I had never played this expansion, but it turned out to be every bit as good.

Lost Ruins of Arnak: A game from a coupe of years ago that had a lot of buzz. I finally got round to playing it and thought it deserved the praise it got. Amongst other mechanisms, it's a deck building game in which, for once, you stand a fair chance of getting to play any good cards you buy.

Quartermaster General: Cold War: This one hadn't been played for years, but I had two games of it in the last few weeks. Both times I played the West and both times I came last. It's not quite as good as the WWII version, but still excellent.

Quantum: The third game that hadn't been out for a yonk. It went down well, and I was informed that it's out of print and much sought after on the second-hand market. I'm rich. The game features dice as spaceships and might well appeal to wargamers.

Revolver: Once again it had been several years since Colonel Ned McReady tried to stop the Colty gang escaping to Mexico with the loot from their raid on the bank in Repentance Springs. I'd don't think I'd like to play this all that frequently - it runs on rails a little bit - but it's well worth bringing out from time to time.

TransAmerica: A railway building game you could play with those for whom even Ticket to Ride is a bit challenging ruleswise. The rules might be simple, but there's still quite a lot of game there, especially with six players. Apparently it's out of print and much sought after on the second-hand market. Having said that, I was so taken with it I bought a copy on eBay for £25 without any trouble at all. Perhaps my copy of Quantum hasn't made me rich after all.

Trekking Through History: More to do with history than trekking: there are lots of 'interesting' facts on the cards, but the time-travel theme is very pasted on. It's a drafting, set collection, push your luck game, and a good one.

Twilight Struggle: I'd wanted to play this game for years, and then it seemed like I was playing for years. It is very, very long. There's no denying that it's a really good game, a remarkable design in fact. But did I mention how long it takes? I won as the US, thereby redeeming my failure to win the cold war on either of my attempts using Quartermaster General; my success was almost entirely due to being able to play John Paul II immediately followed by Solidarność.

Village Rails: A very small box which contains a lot of game. It's more trains, with tile laying being the route building mechanism. I'd happily play it again.

Wars of the Roses: Lancaster vs. York: No sooner had we got fed up with playing the period with miniatures than it turned up as a boardgame. Think Kingmaker, but with the mechanics occasionally not really matching the theme. I enjoyed it - I won by a distance both times we played it - but I'm not sure I'd recommend seeking it out specially.