xliv [s]

Like I said, no more Super Bowl at Players so Cheryl took it upon herself to organize a similar event with better food for half the cover.



After two days of rain, the sun came out on Sunday. Of course the pool was in the fifties so I enlisted PBR's pool heater assistance. Starting at seven or so the night before, with a cover, the water was in the eighties by noon.

I also put down sod on the terrace.



B took some photos too.



L&L, boneless spicy wings, nacho cheese... a full stomach was easy to come by. Jedi Juice made its annual appearance, as did Kevin's sports book and squares.



We moved the tv outside so we could engage in outdoor activities while watching the game.

Halftime featured the presentation of the Medieval Gridiron trophy. Even the die hard Colts fans didn't let The Pick damp the event.

Much appreciation to everyone for coming out and Cheryl for organizing it.


Oh, and the day before was an Axis and Allies showdown at the avocado grove. We played 1942, no national objectives. Everybody rolled for a free tech at the start, most of them were worthless (Japan radar, Russia super subs). Germany did get mechanized infantry, so that was nice.



Connie (Japan) open by taking out the Indian and Hawaiian fleet with expected losses. She committed her transport to southeast Asia and built a factory on Burma.



I (Germany) sank the Quebec fleet and managed to capture well-fortified Egypt. I opened up the eastern front and exchanged territories with Rob (Russia) the entire match. Karelia did stay in German hands from round one until it was liberated by the British, but Moscow and Caucusus remained Russian.



Curt (UK) reclaimed Egypt with a daring artillery-infantry v. tank attack. He aggregated his fleet near Canada, then built a factory in South Africa.



Ryan (Italy) took both Egypt and Jordan, opening the Suez and a corridor to eastern Europe. Jon (US) responded to Connie's limited occupation of Hawaiian waters with a sub-plane attack. He reinforced Curt's defenseless carrier and began the battle for air superiority with his bombers.



Connie attempted a mutual destruction of the Pacific fleets, sending her 4,4,3,3,2,1 against Jon's 4,3,3,2,2. Jon managed to escape with a battleship and transport in what would be the first lucky (but not miraculous) break for the Allies.

She took India with ease and began the endless stream of tanks from Burma to the eastern front. Curt moved his ships around and prepared for a legitimate Africa defense while Ryan spread to Sudan, Persia, and the mouth of the Med.

I tried an ambitious blitz-air assault of Moscow in an attempt to put the Allies agaisnt the ropes. I knew it would be costly since tanks were my bullet sponges, but the odds were in my favor, as well as the benefits of a fallen capital. It was not to be, the Allies caught another break and Rob found himself with enought Luftwaffe wreckage to build a Lada for every proud Soviet.

After this the eastern front became a sad, empty wasteland where neither combattant could put up a significant attack or defense.



Connie sent her Indian fleet back to the Pacific to counter Jon's capture of the Solomons. It's interesting to consider what might have happened had she gone through the Suez to join Ryan's flotilla. The aggregated Persian forces were not enough to take Cacasus, though the lightly defended Kazakh was exchanged a few times.

I blitzed a tank through northern Russia to sap Rob's income and retook Norway, which had fallen to Curt's first landing. Ryan began reinforcing the eastern front, a move that would prove important later in the campaign.



Jon built a huge bomber force and lost very few, even while attacking solid defenders. He simultaneously sank Ryan's sizeable Mediterranian fleet and took Morocco. Ryan also found himself being threatened by a ground force in Africa. But he pulled a glorious end-around by taking South Africa (+ factory), leaving Curt with no way to reinforce.

Curt's fleet sunk the flighterless German ships and invaded Norway once again. Connie's fleet finally aggregated in the Pacific, putting Jon's battleship on the run. She landed troops in Alaska and began to threaten a eurocentric American campaign.



Rob took back a few territories to get his income into the twenties. Curt moved from Norway to Karelia and invaded France without the intention of keeping it. Ryan dropped reinforcements into Egypt and showed again that Italy can make a difference by taking out a lightly defended American bomber. More importantly he sent six tanks into Caucusus against a few infantry and a fighter (that never scored a hit), three tanks survived. This puts Rob in a bind since the majority of his troops are in Moscow, which he cannot lose.

Outlook...

Japan: Not threatened - as usual, Connie can continue to funnel tanks into Russia as that corridor has never been threatened. The Pacific is hers, unless Jon tries a counterattack with his remaining boats and lots of bombers. She needs more transports to put Jon on the defensive, but could easily take Siberia to prevent Jon's long distance bomber strikes.

USSR: Retaking Caucusus is possible, but far from easy or cheap. The income level of seventeen doesn't help either. Without a way to get help from allies, the situation is very difficult.

Germany: Mediocrity. I can retake France and defend Europe, but the east is up for grabs. That British fleet cannot be sunk without a huge effort, luckily they cannot land many troops at the moment.

UK: Curt has a very powerful fleet, though his landing craft are lacking. The foothold on Norway is important as Africa is a losing battle.

Italy: If Ryan can hold Caucasus, the Axis future may be bright. Africa is a few turns away, and that kind of income can make a difference. The captured factory is useful both for mopping up Allies and defending against an American landing.

US: America isn't hard to defend, but Jon would rather spend his money elsewhere. With four bombers in the UK, he can ensure Germany is paying twenty ipc per turn, but that's about it. He has to get into the ground game at some point, and it's no small effort to do so.

Some reviews [r]

So Bungie finished their contribution to the Halo series and did the dreaded franchise handoff. This has led to the titles Halo Wars and Halo ODST. After Dan came down again I had a jones for more shooter action so I picked up the recent release. As expected, it plays pretty much the same as the last three with minor visual tweaks and new features.

The last game succeeded throwing action at you in a crescendo/decrescendo fashion, everything contributed to the mood. You knew from the music, the scenery, and the dialogue when to expect wandering and when to expect a scarab assault. ODST takes a stab at this, but doesn't accomplish it so smoothly - it fluctuates between Resident Evil and choppy, unpredictable action.

ODST's win comes from the set piece battles that are replayable in the team survival mode that I have yet to try (having no team). Maybe tonight intermixed with Beatles.

It's good and faithful/identical to the franchise, but some of the liberties taken by the designers don't work as well as others.



Also I've spent some time with a 2008 release, Sins of a Solar Empire. Hailed as the epic-est strategy game ever, I like their attempt to make Rebellion right and, to paraphrase their mantra, create a strategy game that doesn't base success on how fast you can click the mouse.

It's grandiose, with culture, resources, economics, tech, tactics, experience, topography, and the lot. It seems like everything, however, is a means to create the big fleet that you will need to win. This stands in contrast to Civ, for example, where you can succeed as an isolationist until the game ends.

But, like I said, it seems everything comes down to a large clash of fleets. This might be cool in most cases - it worked well when I played on the small map. But my two medium map games resulted in a fighting stalemate where I had enough resources to defend my planet but the ai could not be diminished. This owes in part to the number of tiny ships in its fleet and its ability to easily focus firepower while I had to do lots of clicking to send everybody after a particular target. To make matters worse, my ally kept announcing reinforcements had arrived - in the form of one or two light frigates.

The action leading up to this endless frustration is enough to let me give it a few more tries, but if every match is similarly predestined, it'll be a bitter end - like the pointy side of a Novalith Cannon.





I finally saw the last of the Futurama movies, Into the Wild Green Yonder. Excellent. The previous ones either had a muddled story, subpar slapstick, or sparing use of the characters' entertaining personalities. This one succeeds at all three.



Bacon gorgonzola barbecue burger gets an A+.



The grass is coming along.

First barbecue [s]

Bret: The man, the hero, the legend [s]

Bret took his leave of San Diego today. So yesterday we held a small get together.


This is one of Connie's.






Connie again. There really wasn't a motion blur.