Wing and Sword: a d20 Modern military campaign [METAGAME]

[shibata]

Happy Friday the 13th; October, no less.

Here is a link to a site with some Algerian history from the leftist view of things. NB: This link is reported as a communist-aligned site; the NSA is watching if it makes any difference to you or your job. http://www.marxists.org/history/algeria

Also of marginal relationship to our game topic: Gillo Pontecorvo, WWII resistance fighter and later director of "The Battle of Algiers", died yesterday at age 86.

 

[The Shaman]

Happy Friday the 13th; October, no less.

This morning I tripped over a black cat while walking under a ladder and dropped the mirror I was carrying, which of course shattered into a million pieces - oh yeah, it's looking like a good day today.

Here is a link to a site with some Algerian history from the leftist view of things. NB: This link is reported as a communist-aligned site; the NSA is watching if it makes any difference to you or your job. http://www.marxists.org/history/algeria

The NSA can [comments deleted by U.S. Gov't - nothing to see here, move along citizen].

Also of marginal relationship to our game topic: Gillo Pontecorvo, WWII resistance fighter and later director of "The Battle of Algiers", died yesterday at age 86.

I hadn't seen this reported - thanks for sharing the information, shibata.

 

[The Shaman]

I may have been a bit too glib about the whole Friday the Thirteenth thing.

Friday afternoon. The phone rings. My wife. In tears. Sprained her ankle coming down a flight of stairs at work. Off to the emergency room.

She's been stuck on the couch with her foot up all weekend, and tomorrow we visit the doctor again to find out how long she'll be on crutches, or if she's going to need a cast instead.

:\

 

[Bobitron]

Busy weekend! Post coming soon.

Interestingly enough, I watched Battle of Algiers just last night. A very good film! I thought it was shot very well, both in terms of the direction and the technical aspects considering the time.

I think the claims of neutrality by most critics regarding the film are a bit off, though. While it was perhaps more neutral than most movies on a similar topic matter, the French were pretty vilified, in my opinion.

Sorry to hear about the injury, Shaman. I hope she is feeling better soon. :\

 

[Barak]

Doh! In some cases, a sprained ankle can be worse than a broken bone. Kiss your wife better, Shaman! It won't really help, but it's still worth it.

A lot of things are too harsh on the french, if you ask me. It puts me in a weird as heck position. As a french-canadian, we make fun of the french as a matter of course. Yet, when it comes from anybody else (french, french-canadians, people from belgium, and a few other excepted) I find myself on the defensive. It's really weird.

 

[The Shaman]

My wife says thanks. She's able to hobble around a bit on one crutch now, but she's still a few days from normal ambulation.

And having broken bones, sprained ligaments, and strained tendons more times than a body ever should, I agree that a good clean break hurts less.

I think the claims of neutrality by most critics regarding the film are a bit off, though. While it was perhaps more neutral than most movies on a similar topic matter, the French were pretty vilified, in my opinion.

While Pontecorvo was dilligent to show the graphic violence perpetrated by both sides (how extras didn't get killed by some of those explosions still astounds me), the movie definitely portrays the FLN with a tragic nobility and tars the colons with a callous savagery. Only the Gen. Mathieu/Massu character really gets an even-handed treatment.

I'm still waiting for Bertrand Tavernier to make a movie about the war. He made a documentary, The Undeclared War, in 1992, which unfortunately I have yet to find in a region 1 DVD, but I'd really like to see Tavernier give the subject the full treatment that he did the Resistance in Laissez-passez or WWI in Capitaine Conan.

 

[The Shaman]

"Beats me. My best guess would be that some pack animal got tied there for a bit, and the bullet slipped from a bag or something, while the animal chewed on the branch. Probably while fells unloaded some stuff to hide somewhere or something. But.. that's just a wild guess."

(Too easy this time?)

 

[Barak]

I wouldn't say that, I'd say I'm becoming smarter!

Seriously, sometimes things just click, and sometimes they don't.. The mystery can be the same difficulty, and one will be figured out in seconds, while the other will leave players running around like chickens with their heads cut-off.

Trust me, I know how frustrating that phenomenon can be for a GM.

 

[The Shaman]

I wouldn't say that, I'd say I'm becoming smarter!

D'oh! I didn't mean to imply otherwise...

I'll have a post up after we hear from shibata and Bobitron.

Anyone doing anything fun for All Hallows Eve? We'll be trick-or-treating with the kids - my daughter is going as a princess, and my son will be dressed as a frog.

 

[Barak]

As usual, I'll be walking the trick-or-treatin' route with my lil one (dressed as an egyptian princess of some sort, almost relevant to the game!) while my wife sits on the porch and hands out candy. How do wives trick husbands like that? Oh well, I get an excuse to wear my afro wig + pimp hat, so it's not all bad.