Memorial for Italian troops in the Russian campaign

Memorial for the Vicenza division that served on the Eastern Front, 1941-43.

I've got a ticket to ride...

but I don't care.

Really. Train games do nothing for me. Preussische Ostbahn, Age of Steam, 18XX and Stephenson's Rocket leave me cold. And I'm not even talking about Transamerica. All train games I had, I've given away at some point. Most of these games become boring optimalisation exercises. The 18XX games just become huge stock speculations. It doesn't move me.

What surprises me most is that the games keep on coming. In evergrowing mutations of the last hit, and replacing the map of Great Britain with that of Germany, or Italy, or the U.S. Yes, I know, I have been telling people not to just stress the lack of innovation in gaming but to see the sunny side, look for a hidden gem. I'm sorry, I can't always live up to that myself. I don't find the theme appealing enough to sift through the shitpile to reach it.

But I can tell you what I would like, and maybe you will even tell me that that game already exists, although I doubt that my grail train game can exist as a competitive multiplayer game.


Six years ago, as I visited my brother in Vancouver, we made a roundtrip to the Rockies. And as we returned we came across places like Rogers' Pass, Revelstoke, Craigellachie and through the Fraser canyons. Inspired by the rugged terrain and the stories of the railway, I picked up Pierre Berton's The Last Spike, a gripping story of the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway in only four years. It has it all.

As the railway started out, the owners had no idea what the exact route would be. Routes through the Rockies and the mountain ranges further west still had to be surveyed. This led to the exiting story of Captain Rogers finding his way through the Selkirk Mountains, more terrifying than the Rockies in appearance, with a gradient that would hamstring trains going up for years while under threat from numerous avalanches.


In summer, the area is pestered with Devil's Club a plant truly deserving of the name. I experienced the ordeal of Rogers and all those working on that part of the rail line as I climbed up to Glacier Peak. And while the view up there is of breath taking beauty (once you've recovered it from the the steep climb), it is still awe inspiring.

From the west the building had to follow the Fraser River valley, so treacherous in places that (mostly Chinese) labourers died in droves from falling rock, avalanches, slippery tracks, cold and dynamite. And if they weren't dying they protested their meagre wages or appalling working and living conditions.

The insecurity about the exact trace of the railway line also led to ridiculous land speculation in the prairy as the the building moved slowly, then more rapidly, west. In the first years plots of land around potential sites for stations multiplied many times in value only to drop after the final choice was made. Poor men became rich and destitute overnight.

And although the railway was racing to the Rockies, thanks to the brilliant organisation of Andrew Onderdonk, at several times all seemed lost as money ran out and shady political deals were necessary to lend the required sums for investment.

A game which could portray that kind of excitement, of political dealings, rail building, operations, land speculation, rebellion and near bankruptcy I would play. Does it exist? Could it exist?

This post was published earlier on Fortress Ameritrash

Gun from German destroyer UJ-126

The UJ-126 Steiermark was sunk near Terschelling on 10 July 1940 by British submarine H-31

Control panel from German cruiser Lützow

Apparently a panel controlling emergency pumps on the German cruiser Lützow which was sunk during the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

Picture taken in the Wrakkenmuseum on Terschelling. Probably ended up there because of the diving club going abroad, as I don't think the panel would have been found near the island.

Spanish gun

Made by royal foundries in Brussels in 1623, by Johannes Sithoff. Probably captured by the Dutch and then used as naval gun.

Ship probably from Amsterdam admiralty and sunk around 1630 near Terschelling

All the latest naval bits were recovered by the Ecuador diving team of Terschelling

18 pounders from the 1620s

Lifted from an unidentified ship of the Amsterdam admiralty which sank off Terschelling. The guns were probably made in the early 1620s by the Amsterdam master armourer.

Command tower of British submarine E-34, sunk July 20th 1918 off Vlieland

London Under by Peter Ackroyd

When I got Peter Ackroyd's London Under: The Secret History Beneath the Streets for my birthday, I didn't know what to think of it. Ackroyd is famous for his ‘biographies’of London and the Thames, but that could mean anything. Maybe this was some weak spin off of his other work or a new thing. I had no idea.


In the book Ackroyd moves along a series of subjects beneath the top soil of London: first archeology, then wells, rivers and streams. Followed by sewers, tunnels, pipes and of course the Underground. Finally, there's underground storage (eg gold vaults Bank of England) and government agencies. This is extended into the use of the tube for shelters and storage of art treasures during WWII.

It's really well written so it flows past you fast. Ackroyd quickly sketches the history illustrated by many examples and anecdotes. The chapters on the sewers and the construction of underground tunnels are the best, evoking the danger and technological pioneering.

This makes it the kind of book you could take on a trip to have a look at some of the examples of inconspicuous entrances to underground systems, architecture of tube stations and whether you are on top of something special.

However, because it is highly anecdotal it's not all tied together. I have many questions about the underground world as a whole after reading this book. After reading this book one gets the feeling it must be crowded down there.

How do all these underground networks interact, or conflict? Are there maps showing them together or are they separate? Do they operate at different levels to avoid congestion and collision?

Is there a planning or regulation of the underground world, like the surface world, the sea and the skies? Is it allowed to just dig beneath your house? I thought as Ackroyd mentioned people more frequently extending their cellars, sometimes by upto 4 levels.

And the underground world is even more congested with networks Ackroyd doesn't even mention, like TV cables and fibre glass wires.


To Ackroyd, what binds it all together is the dark, the cold, the fear of water, poisonous gasses and fire. Ackroyd paints the underground world as a lonely, scary place, the home of ghosts, monsters and degraded humans. But he doesn't sound very convincing because the stories he tells have the opposite effect.

Because the underground fires the imagination: art, myths and legends, and futurism. It's a terra incognita on which humans project their hopes and fears.

In the respect of art I missed a reference to Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, one of the best novels on the underground world, directly linking it to London landmarks.

One month in, already looking back

Well, only looking back to look ahead.

When I started this blog I did have an urge, and a bit of direction of where I want this to go. I decided it would be games and history, rather than me. So it excludes a lot of personal stuff, or other interests, like music. Not that I don't want to talk about it, it's just that focussing saves me from getting overwhelmed by stuff I need to write about.

Working on it has sharpened my ideas of where this blog's headed. I've found that even editing blogs I'd written in the past or just adding images is a pretty laborous job. Keeping up a steady flow of posts is hard. One might also wonder whether it's better to have daily updates or a fewer updates of higher quality. I'll have to see. I also need to build up some reserves for holiday gaps.

Reviews
There's been a lot of discussion on boardgaming sites about criticism, that is in the sense of critique rather than railing against games you don't like. Of course, this has been a longer standing issue from people at Fortress Ameritrash, but it's gaining a wider recognition. Jesse Dean, Pete Ruth and Matt Drake have been vocal recently in that debate.

Interesting about boardgaming (and to a lesser extent wargaming) is that many people fancy themselves as designers and reviewers and to have a game published is a true source of status withing these groups. Designer badges are worn with special pride on BoardGameGeek, some established reviewer have committed followings. That also means there is great support for those attempting to design, write or review games.


However, the enthusiasm is not always matched by critical skills. Many don't go beyond the recapitulation of the rules and most don't give an outspoken opinion about the quality of the game. Of course no reviewer wants to hurt the feelings of a fellow gamer who's spent so much time and effort in creating a game. Others can progress past the failings of their favourite designers.

And if reviewers are outspoken, the reactions by fanboys will quickly put them in their place. It takes some backbone to maintain an independent view and not everybody wants to risk ostracism for his opinions. It's given rise to the "weak 7 / strong 7" rating practice.

But that's not in the interest of prospective buyers, and in the end, also not in the interest of game designers and publishers. Players disappointed by games with really good reviews will be turn away from gaming, or at least from reviews. In the long run, that will lose publishers money and have designers waste time on mediocre designs that could have gone better spent on playing games.

I've found that I'm not exceptionally good as a reviewer, neither of games nor books. I think I'm still rooted to much in the immediate experience and the content to appreciate the way a game or book is crafted. So maybe I shouldn't aim my efforts in that area, but stick to the content and the immediate experience. It's just the way I'm wired. Others can do the criticism better than I can.


Derk's beautifully painted Romano-British 28mm Gripping Beast

Traffic
So far I'm pretty happy with the level of attention for my blog. All in all over 800 hits in the first month is decent in my book. Given the wide array of subjects, I don't expect everyone to like every post, and I will need to build my tribe one member at the time. I'm not sure I will travel the path of give aways to gain followers, but at least not for the immediate future.

My Dark Ages skirmishing, Waterloo and Last Crusaders posts stand out as the best read with over 60 hits, which says a bit about my distribution. A lot of the traffic comes through Facebook, which is fine. Not so much through Twitter just yet.

Guests
Finally, when looking at the future of this blog, I've got a couple of people in mind whose ideas on games I find interesting and worthwhile but who don't want to take on the effort of maintaining a full blog themselves. I have invited a few already to join in here, and I will be asking others.

Also, I do a fair amount of grazing on board and wargaming blogs, so I could occassionally drop a few links here as well.


So, what do you guys think? Am I going in the right direction? Suggestions? Requests?

Jazz under the guise of history

Went to North Sea Jazz festival yesterday for the first time in my life (yes, that's what turning 40 does to you!) and although I'm no jazz afficionado, I was quited eager to go.

I must admit that I had a bit pessimistic view about jazz festivals and jazz festival-goers, but was happy to be proved wrong. The programme was highly varied, showing all forms of jazz (except dixieland, thankfully) but also including blues, soul, klezmer and the latin adaptations of heavy metal songs by Rodrigo y Gabriela.


One of the highlights for me was the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, who performed parts from their Race Riot Suite. The performance was a steaming, energetic collection of dirty jazz pieces inspired by the 1921 Tulsa Race Riots, which destroyed a vibrant black community (this is the bit of history that provides me the excuse to post about it here).

Bought the album straight away and it doesn't disappoint. A good combination of 1920s jazz, klezmer brasswork,steel guitar and driving bass and drums. But of course, if yet ever get a chance of seeing them live, don't pass up.


Another inspirational performance was put on by three Dutch youngsters from Kapok. The trio of drums, guitar and horn showed they were in charge of their instruments but more importantly, that their creativity and joy in playing showed the magic of live performances. They played courtesy of winning a competition for Dutch jazz artists. Of course I don't know how well the other contestants did, but I can believe they earned it.

Ahmad Jamal showed that you don't get too old for playing jazz. Seun Kuti managed to enthrall through his sustained rythms and melodies. The Harold Lopez Nussa quintet performed some powerful latin jazz that we saw too little of. Esperanza Spalding didn't live up to the hype, but possibly because I don't like 'doobedeedaaboopiedoopie' jazz, especially not when done with skill.

All in all a very good evening in all respects!