Audiobook "The Road To Kalamata: A Congo Mercenary's Personal Memoir" read by "Mad" Mike Hoare

This is a quick update about my current audiobook that I am listening to today.  I had to do a lot of driving for work today, so I finally started to listening to one of "Mad" Mike Hoare's books that is available on audio.  They are also read by the man himself too!  

So I started with The Road To Kalamata: A Congo Mercenary's Personal Memoir, which is the shortest of the books, plus it is about his 4 Commando, so chronologically comes before his other books even thought it was written much later.  I really am enjoying it!  I have about an hour left and plan to listen to the rest of it before I go bed tonight.  I am not sure when it was recorded, but Hoare sounds great.  Considering the book was published in 1989, that means that he was 70 or older when he did the audio for it.

Anyways, it got some great stories (and some sad ones) that can make some interesting scenarios for games in the 1960's Congo, or even modern African games.  I don't want to give away too much as I might be tempted to get back to doing B'Maso and want to save some things for unsuspecting players.  But besides that, there is something unnerving to hear Hoare say, "Come to Daddy!" Just not something I would expect to come from someone like him.

Sapper

I am OK as of now - Ferguson, MO...again

For those who remember my previous post, I live really close to Ferguson, MO.  So far it has been quite where I live.  But you can hear the sirens off in the distance periodically.  Several local businesses, especially the liquor store, near me have boarded up just in case now.  I will periodically pop on every few days just for a head count that I am OK.

Oddly enough, this is my fourth(!) nearby (less than 3 miles) riot in my life.  Two back in my college days where I was going to school (the Rodney King riot and the ABC fraternity riot) and the two here (the one about 3 months ago and the current one).

Hopefully the violence will die off or be suppressed quickly.

Sapper

Test - 150th Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle of Pilot Knob, MO

Well, better late than never.  It took me a while, but here are the photos from the 150th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Pilot Knob, Missouri, back in September.  I was there with Steve H & Pat L only on Sat.  It turned out that the Sat reenactment was only about the first day of the battle, covering the fighting of the gap and in Ironton.  So that is why there are no pictures of the Rebs storming the fort!

If you click on the caption for the photo of the US cavalryman, it should take you to my photo album so you can look at the pictures as your leisure.  Below that (if it works!) is a video I made using the same pictures and adding a soundtrack.  I have tried several times to get the soundtrack to work, but it keeps cutting in and out to me.  I don't know if it is that I have a bad connection or if the video is bad.  Give it a try and let me know.

I was planning to have an article about the battle with this posting, but I am still working on that.  Whenever I get it done, I will re-post these pictures and video.  

Cheers,

Sapper

Holding the line!

No words can express the meaning...

Source or here

Whimsical Wednesday

I so need this app for my cell phone!

And I need this app for my GPS / Sat Nav!

You can never have too much Brian Blessed in your life!

Update

Well, I am back from Richmond, VA, where I was for work for a week.  I didn’t have time to sight see, but did a bit of reading.  Unfortunately, it was not the book that I planned to read next, Ridgeway.  I did originally pack it in my computer bag, but took it out for some reason and forgot to put it back in for my flight. (Also note that I have a different book up over to the right...)

However, I did bring my Kindle Fire so I was able to read some short novellas or books.  I think this is the most fiction that I have read in a long time too!  So I am going to list what I finished reading here:

Accused: Hunted by Andy Chambers (novella)

Weird War 1: No Man’s Land by Kevin Murphy (novella)

Weird War 1: Teufelshunde by John Hopler (novella)

Weird War 1: Hellfighter by Ed Wetterman (novella)

Weird War 2: Los! By Timothy Brown (novella)

Weird War 2: Wunderwaffe by  Timothy Brown (novella)

Thing vs Exotroopers! By David Brown (novella)

Off Radio by David Wellington (novella)

St. Louis Civil War: The Streetcar Strike of 1900 by Ken Zimmerman Jr.

The Little Rock Arsenal Crisis: On the Precipice of the American Civil War by David Sesser

Missouri’s Civil War: Banking, Battles, & Supply Trains by BJ Alderman

The Enrolment List for the Militia in Hamilton, CanadaWest (1865) (newspaper article from the Hamilton Evening Times)

The Skirmish at Lime-Stone Ridge by Anonymous (newspaper account of the Battle of Ridgeway) 

So I did at least read something about the Battle of Ridgeway anyways over the week.  I started to get ready to read Ridgeway over the weekend, but didn't.  On Monday, instead of grabbing my Ridgeway book to read at lunch, I grabbed my Kindle instead.  So, I broke down and started reading a new book off of Kindle, but I decided to keep the Ridgeway idea going by reading The Last Invasion of Canada: The Fenian Raids, 1866-1870 by Hereward Senior.

While I am starting to think about resurrecting my Ridgeway project, I am also thinking about what rules I plan to use.  I am would like a system that is about one figure to ten men, so that means around 100 figures per side so not to make it too small for a game, but also not too many figures to paint.  Next, it needs to be strong in the quality and morale rules.  There were very little causalities on both sides and Canadians really only lost due to panic at the site a couple of men on horseback believing that there was a large cavalry force nearby.   My original game 20 or so years ago was using the Out-of-print GDW’s Space 1889: Soldier’s Companion.  (It has since come back in print - see the link).  I remember it being a good set of rules and I still have my rule book, but I have not played it since then.  The other option is to look at Regimental Fire & Fury.  I know that the original Fire & Fury was rather simple, but that RF&F now has more details, plus it is about the scale I am looking for with 1 base of 3 figures for 40 men, or roughly one figure for 13.3 men.  I have not really looked into any rules beyond those two for now, but I am open to suggestions.  But really like the idea of shock or fatigue on a unit to show the wear and tear on a unit in battle vs. causalities being the reason for units to win or lose in some battles as in the case of Ridgeway.

Be seeing you

Sapper