Update

It’s been a crazy new year with a lot of changes, but rest assured gaming is still occurring.  A series of skirmishes were recently fought between the Kha’ri Narn and the League of Non-Aligned Worlds, and we should be seeing the pics and reports for them soon.

In the meantime, those of you following the Phlan campaign can check it out at its brand new home at Obsidian Portal. This is a great site for RPG campaigns, and allows players and GMs to compile their own campaign wiki amongst other useful features.

Turn 7: The Minbari Stand Alone

The new year saw the beginning of a new turn in the A Call To Arms campaign, as the League made a concerted effort to wipe out the now isolated Minbari.

Having removed the Earth Alliance as a factor with a convenient peace treaty, the League of Non-Aligned Worlds unleashed four major battlefleets, hitting the Minbari at Volk’s Star and Rilus V, as well as sending re-enforcements to finish the Minbari fleet at Wuj. In the face of this massive wave, the Federation could only re-enforce their main fleet at Volk’s Star and their treaty starbase at Caesar’s Folly and pray to Valen for deliverance.

In the meantime, the Centauri, readying themselves to open hostilities with their major rivals the League, found their plans interrupted by a Tza’sol Narn raid on Defiance which pinned their system fleet and forced the Centauri battle fleet targeting Henders to return to fight the renegade Narn.

Still smarting from their turn 6 defeats, the Kha’ri Narn brought their heaviest ships into Ancona and awaited the inevitable League counterthrust into the system, which came in the form of another huge (4 points Armageddon huge) fleet.

And so, the stage is set for the final battles of the Minbari-League conflict. Can the Minbari, alone,  hold off the hordes with their superior technology? Or will their presence in-sector be reduced to the single starbase in Caesar’s Folly…a base situated in the uneasy neutral space between the Earth Alliance and Centauri Republic…

Turn 7 Battles:

Volk’s Star (D6): League vs Minbari

Rilus V (A6): League vs Minbari

Wuj (D8): League vs Minbari

Defiance (F8): Tza’sol Narn vs Centauri

Ancona (G7): League vs Kha’ri Narn

Where Did The Recipes Go?

They went here.

Geeks, foodies, break and go to your corners.

Battletech: The Black Cavalry. Episode 1: Jesus Walks

Teaser

Opening Credits

Andover, Lindsay, Federated Suns, November 22, 2759

Having recieved reports that the Church of the Last Fortress (an unsanctioned offshoot of the Church of the Saints Cameron), led by Reverend Heinz Mann, are stockpiling illegal weapons, the Andover Police Department arrives to execute a search warrant. They are met with gunfire from Church “security” and the Lindsay Planetary militia is called in. The militia attempts to force the gates of the compound with two modified Armored Personnel Carriers, but are dumbfounded when a BattleMaster emerges from the nearby woods and crushes the APCs with contemptuous ease. Reverend Mann contacts Militia Colonel Timothy Golden and demands to speak to a Star League Defense Force representative. Colonel Golden immediately contacts the SLDF 4th Regimental Combat Team’s HQ at Fort Chard for assistance.

Help arrives in the form of Lieutenant Philip Van Valkenburg (Rich), an impetuous Terran noble, his lance of Zephyr hovertanks from the 1270th Tank Battalion, and two platoons of jump troops from the 640th Infantry. Van Valkenburg establishes a perimeter around the compound while a helicopter scout surveys the area. He speaks to Mann via comm and agrees to meet with him. As he prepares to enter the Last Fortress’ compound, Colonel Golden suggests that BattleMech support might be useful. Van Valkenburg agrees and makes the call before setting off for his meeting.

A Heavy Demi-Lance (MechWarrior Sergeants Bob DelToro (Bob) and Alexander Kohl (Dave) from the 111th Dragoons under the command of Master Sergeant Scott Xavier (Scott) arrives in response. The SLDF MechWarriors discover that their nominal CO has already entered the compound, and are reduced to tense waiting and listening. As they wait, a deputation from Harrison Malkiel, Duke of Lindsay’s personal troops appear on the scene. Their leader, Lt. Travis, informs Xavier that the SLDF troops must use caution – Duke Malkiel’s nephew Paul is a member of the cult and must be retrieved alive (indeed the Duke’s attempts to keep track of his nephew were what alerted the planetary government to the fact that the Church of the Last Fortress was stockpiling weapons in the first place).

Van Valkenburg talks to Mann and his “Director of Security” David Harpnell. While giving the Lieutenant a tour of his compound, Mann reveals that he has seen the fall of the Star League and the destruction of the Cameron family in a vision, and that he knows that the League’s fall will signal the Second Coming. His purpose is to create a godly place for Jesus to begin his work, and to this end he is indeed stockpiling weapons. He is deferential to Van Valkenburg as an SLDF soldier, but considers the Federated Suns and House Davion to be agents of Satan and will not allow himself or his followers to be taken into custody by their representatives in the Lindsay militia. Indeed, he is prepared to order the deaths of everyone in the Church to stop them from being taken by the forces of Darkness. Van Valkenburg expresses some sympathy, and agrees to provide an SLDF hostage while negotiations continue. But when he attempts to leave the compound before the hostage arrives, Mann orders him taken prisoner.

Acting on his final communications with Van Valkenburg, Xavier decides to order an assault on the compound, hoping the SLDF troops can overcome the cultist militia before they carry out their final grisly task. Meanwhile, Van Valkenburg finds himself imprisoned in a storage room with Jimmy Ozuka, a hapless “weapons merchant” caught up in the situation. Ozuka offers to turn evidence on the Church if released, and Van Valkenburg immediately begins to search for a means of escape.

The SLDF assault on the Church begins, heralded by a Stun Shell bursting over the Last Fortress compound. The armed cultists are disoriented, and their hastily converted trucks are no match for hovertanks. The BattleMaster emerges from the woods to take a few potshots, but then retreats, leading the Dragoon BattleMechs straight into a series of defensive autocannon emplacements. Meanwhile Van Valkenburg, having created a makeshift tool from the slats of a metal weapons crate, manages to open the door -only to run into a guard outside. A brief fight ensues, and Van Valkenburg emerges triumphant and carrying the guard’s rifle. He emerges into the chaos of the compound as the SLDF jump infantry make their final assault.

The SLDF ‘Mech lance makes short work of the cult’s BattleMaster and the defensive emplacements, though Sergeant Kohl’s Atlas does take a lucky AC10 hit to the head. Van Valkenburg finds Mann and Harpnell in the wreckage of the compound with the Duke’s Nephew, who seems ready to shoot himself to avoid being taken from the cult. Van Valkenburg aims his captured rifle carefully and shoots the pistol out of the boy’s hand -destroying it, but leaving young Malkiel alive. Deprived of their last advantage, Mann and Harpnell attack Van Valkenburg and a brief firefight ensues. The SLDF Lieutenant manages to bring Harpnell down with a well placed burst, and the ‘Mech lance returns to the compound and decisively ends the fight as Kohl picks Mann up with his Atlas‘ hands.

In the end, fifteen cultists lie dead along with two SLDF infantrymen – both killed while preventing the cultists from poisoning their own noncombatants. As the SLDF jump troops and Lindsay Militia clean up the compound, round up prisoners, and share their rations with the cultist spouses and children they have rescued, Van Valkenburg, Xavier, Kohl, and DelToro prepare to face the gathering Davion holonews reporters.

Cutscene

End Credits

From the Workbench

What a crazy week…haven’t had much time to paint, cook, OR post. But I did get a few things done:

An empty suit of armor from an old Grenadier “King’s Court” set. I found it when I was cleaning out the basement over Christmas.

Cleric of Tyr. This is another old Grenadier mini I had acquired back in my early gaming career and then painted (badly). This is the much-improved modern paintjob.

A pair of shifty wererats from Reaper. I thought the key on the floor by the guy on the left was a nice touch. Maybe it opens his secret cheese closet.

A squadron of Star Blazers EDF Torpedo Destroyers en route to their date with destiny at Pluto.

Ghoul Queen from Reaper. I did some modification to reduce her spininess, and I think it worked pretty well. She is evil. Hot, but evil.

Up next…the Phlan party returns to Sokal Keep and the Narn and League face off in Ope’diar. On a night when I’m less tired.

The Second Battle for Defiance: Centauri vs Narn

Transmission begins:

 

<static> “…hold your fire.  We are a commercial passenger ship carrying civilians.  We are not armed.  We <static>…” 

 

Recompiling data burst.  Error Rate increasing by 27%. Compensating for lost packets.

 

“This is the HMS <static>… to any Centauri ships in the area.  We are under attack by the Narn.  The vessel has identified itself as the Kal-Berr. I do not know how much longer we can hold out.  By the great maker, please, no…” <static>  

 

Transmission ends:

 

******

Prefect Socinus’ vidcomm chirped. He looked up from the after action reports on the main screen of his desk.  “What now?” he grumbled, glad for the respite from the mind-numbing reports.

He turned and saw it was Pro-Consul Elishaen Garinus, and stabbed the “talk” button. “Good morning Pro-Consul.” Socinus said as pleasantly as he could.   At the same time he silently commed his adjutant, Aduitor Melinor.

“Good morning Prefect, I wish I had time to exchange pleasantries but something has happened I felt you should be aware of immediately.”  Socinus glanced at his adjutant as he entered and then back at the screen. “Please go on.”

“Less then an hour ago a civilian convoy came under attack by a Narn Bin’Tak, the Kal-Berr. While the lives of all citizens of the Centauri Empire are of equal importance, this particular convoy contained a ship carrying the son and grandchildren of Consul-General Valentin.  Needless to say he is extremely distraught over this.”

Socinus looked at his adjutant again. “Get the Primi Pili.” He turned quickly from his position near the door and disappeared to find him. Looking back at the screen Socinus said, “Please continue Pro-Consul Garineer.”

Elishaen cleared his slender throat.  “It appears that not all the Narn in your area were eliminated.  The following communiqué indicates that a single Narn warship survived your stunning success at the Schatzman Jump Gate within the Defiance Star System.”

“Yes Pro-Consul.”  Silence fills the void as both men contemplate a response.

“Your task force has performed admirably thus far and I have no doubt you’ll continue to do so.” Socinus thought for a few seconds before softly saying, “Thank you Pro-Consul.  What do you want me to do to stop them, Pro-Consul Garineer?”

Elishaen Grainer’s face took on a hard edge, “Whatever you deem necessary Prefect.  Exterminate the Narn from this system.  Leave no quadrant of space untouched.  Avenge the lives of those lost to the immortal void.”

“And thus guaranteeing no single force here in Defiance is strong enough to move against us directly,” Socinus finished.

“Exactly, Prefect.” 

The vidcomm faded to black as the Primi Pili and Melinor walked back in.  “What’s up Sir?” Centurion asked.

“What‘s up, Centurion, is us.” Socinus looked at the adjutant, “Full alert please, recall all the patrols and notify Task Force Ultor to start getting everything we’ve got ready to move out in a moments notice.  Also order both Provisional Fleets to scour their respective target areas.” The adjutant nodded and started for the door.

“Oh, and Aduitor?”

“Sir?” He said, turning. “Tell them they have an hour to find these Narn.”

 

 

Turn/Time: Turn 5/April, 2261

 

Scenario: Annihilation

 

Terrain: Planet Nobuhisa – A Dead World whose pollutants from the extensive abandoned heavy metal mining operations give the world an orange tint.  Some of the open mines are even visible from space.

 

Situation:  A small Centauri fleet receives important orders from Centauri Command in the Defiance Star System. Find the Kal-Berr and destroy it. Unfortunately, they arrive too late.  Hyperspace signatures show a Narn warship leaving the area.  While they do not find the elusive Bin’Tak they do find an equally worthy target: two Ka’Bin’Taks and lone G’Vrahn leaving orbit near the dead world of Nobuhisa.  Elements from Task Force Ultor en-route and redirected to the area and the second battle for the Defiance Star System begins.

 

TO&E:

 

Tza’sol Narn:

• 2x Ka’Bin’Tak
• 1x G’Vrahn

 

Centauri Republic:

 

Task Force Ultor:

Flotilla Primus Gladius:

• 2x Octurion (HMS Ariss, Promitor) 

Flotilla Secundus Gladius:

• 1x Tertius (HMS Tarquinius)
• 1x Prefect (HMS Erastes)

Flotilla Tertius Gladius:

• 1x Strike Carrier (HMS Mutina)

Flotilla Areani:

• 1x Corvan (HMS Tusculum)

Provisional Fleet Vulcan:

Flotilla Primus Gladius

• 2x Octurion (HMS Vatrenus, Impluvium) 

Flotilla Areani:

• 1x Corvan (HMS Eliphas) 

 

 

Turn 1:   The Centauri commander grouping his Octurions into a central strike force maneuvers them through void chasing down the Narn ships.  Flotilla Secundus Gladius and scouts sweep out along the flanks while the “recently acquired” Strike Carrier moves off to the side.  The Narn are caught off guard by the Centauri’s sudden appearance and are slow to react.

 

The Octurions close the distance fast and draw first blood, damaging the G’Vrahn’s engines and reactor slowing it slightly.  The return fire from the Narn energy mines impacted harmlessly off of the Centauri armor plating.

 

 

Turn 2:    The Narn admiral is quick to capitalize on the Centauri’s overconfidence and seize the initiative.  The Centauri fleet is still able to avoid the Narn targeting of their bore sighted weapon systems.  Closing the distance the Narn energy mine and ion torpedo fire provides to be somewhat ineffectual against the Centauri.  Only one Octurion starts to show any cracks from the constant pounding.

 

The Octurions commit themselves well as mega-joule after mega-joule of battle laser fire tear into then through the G’Vrahn.  Within in moments a massive explosion consumes it so that no trace of it remains (Note: I set a new record here: 35 hits of which 9 were criticals. I inflicted enough damage with the 35 hits that there was no need to even roll the criticals).

 

 

Turn 3:  The Narn, enraged by the sudden destruction of one of their ships or maybe it was the Centauri being distracted by the pretty explosions, continue to take the initiative.  Both Ka’Bin’Taks pour all available fire into HMS Vatrenus, crippling its superstructure.  The Centauri in turn relentlessly pound one of the two Ka’Bin’Taks, dealing some internal damage.

 

 

Turn 4:   Still on the initiative (this seems to be pattern – I win the first round and then loose the next several after that) the Narn press the attack against Vatrenus while HMS Eliphas moves out of the scope of the battle for a more important task.  The badly damaged Ka’Bin’Tak lays waste to Vatrenus, setting her adrift.  In turn the 1 of the 3 remaining Octurions avenge this loss by destroying the Ka’Bin’Tak while Flotilla Secundus Gladius along with the other 2 Octurions directs their battle lasers and matter cannons into the remaining Narn ship.

 

 

Turn 5:  The Centauri are able to get the upper hand on the Narn for Initiative for what is figured to be the last round of this battle. (Turns out it was.)  The 3 Octurions score several critical hits on the Ka’Bin’Tak and manage to reduce the ship down a skeleton crew.  Sneaking in the aft is a Corvan, HMS Tusculum, which hits with one shot of its twin particle array scoring not only a solid strike but a critical one at that.  With this one blow the last of the Narn crew are taken out and Ka’Bin’Tak is turned into a floating mausoleum.  Needless to say HMS Tusculum’s crew is honored in the following celebrations and feasts.

 

 

Analysis:  Having 9 ships to Scott’s 3 pretty much allowed me to dictate which ship or squadron was in the necessary firing arc.  Or in Scott’s case not letting him line up for his bore-sighted weapons.  I did make one minor movement issue by not determining the distance from remaining to the board edge on Scott’s side with my one Corvan.  With the Annihilation battle we fought it is assumed the neither fleet will leave the battlefield and I ended up sending one Corvan off the board.  While it was not technically destroyed I am going to put it out of action for a turn/two at the most.  I think this is the fairest thing to do.

 

Aftermath:

 

             “You have your orders.  I expect you to follow them to the letter.” stated Prefect Socinus, signaling that the conversation was over.

“We live to serve…”  the commander of the HMS Eliphas replied before their hyper-comm connection was terminated.

 

“…and we serve to live.” Optio Tetanus finished, his voice barely above a whisper, completing the regime’s motto with the unofficial ending.  He glanced quickly at his CO to see if he had overheard, but the commander betrayed no sign that he had.

 

Turning to look at the expectant faces of his crew, masked in the harsh red half light of the battle stations condition set on the bridge, the commander stabbed a button on his chair’s command console activating the ability to address the entire crew.

 

“Legionaries of the Centauri Republic…” he began.  “We have an important honor placed upon our ship, on us – to find the Kal-Berr.  Already our skilled navigator has begun to plot a course to follow the faint remnants of the hyper-space jump point used by the fleeing Bin’Tak.”

 

He stopped briefly to look his bridge crew but all had busied themselves with the tasks at hand.  ‘As well they should’ he thought.  “We have the honor of being the tip of the spear.  The entire of Task Force Ultor waits for our finding the Kal-Berr.  FAILURE is not an option.  WE …LIVE …TO …SERVE.”

 

“We live to serve.” rejoined back from all the crew before the All Hands channel was closed.

 

“Engineer, redirect power from weapons to the stealth generators till we have cleared any sensors in this system.” the commander directed as he settled back into the command chair.

 

“Yes, commander.”  With this, HMS Eliphas’ hull shimmered slightly before fading out of existence, at least to the electronic eye.  The hunt was back on.

 

 Thanks to Rich for the Battle report, pics, and fluff!

From the Workbench

Over the past three weekends I’ve been teaching Cat to paint miniatures, or, more accurately, to apply her not inconsiderable existing artistic talents to the specific medium of acrylic paint and tiny metal objects. In the process I’ve managed to get quite a bit done myself.

Heavy Lance, 4th Eridani Light Horse. Left to Right: Archer (unseen), Cyclops, Marauder (reseen), and Atlas. 

Medium Lance, 4th Eridani Light Horse. Left to right: Crusader (unseen), Dervish, Wolverine, Enforcer.

EAS Prospero and Thunderbolt escort wing. Sadly, while this was planned to be a three-ship Warlock squadron, Mongoose pulled the Babylon 5 line before I was able to acquire the other two I needed.

Girald Authar of Luskan, lovable Rogue. My PC in Dave’s Saturday Forgotten Realms game.

Cleric of Talona.

Pirate with gratuitious cleavage. This one’s a Dark Sword piece.

By comparison, this is Cat’s work at the two week mark:

Makes me feel like Salieri trying to give Mozart advice.

Friday Night Fury: We Play Fury of Dracula

Given the way the Alternate History post ended, it was a nice coincidence that Scott wanted to play Fury of Dracula at our usual Friday gathering. In concept, Fury of Dracula resembles Anno Dracula: the Hunters of Bram Stoker’s novel fail to kill the vampire. In this case though, Dracula’s victory is less complete: although able to kill Quincey Morris and escape, he is pursued throughout Europe by the Hunters who hope to bring him down before he can spawn six new Vampires and create a new Un-Dead aristocracy.

In practice, Fury of Dracula is sort of like a souped-up version of the classic Scotland Yard, except the map’s of Europe instead of London and Dracula is a harsher opponent than Mister X could ever dream of being. Not only does he have special abilities (like Wolf and Bat form) which make pinning him down successfully difficult, but Dracula leaves deadly traps for the Hunters in every city he visits, and also has the option of combating them directly. Thus, unlike Scotland Yard, there’s a risk to spreading out your hunters since Dracula can wait for night to fall and then pick them off one by one. On the bright side, all the Hunters have their own special abilities, and they can search for item and event cards in the various cities of Europe to help them bring down the vampire.

Friday’s group consisted of:

• Gary: Lord Godalming
• Scott: Dr. Seward
• redcoat668: Dr. Van Helsing
• Cat: Mina Harker 

Bob played a cunning but very punchy Dracula, who within the hour had dubbed his opponents Lord Goddamnit, Dr. Sewer, Dr. Van Jerkbag, and Mini Hooker, respectively.

We started off the game with Van Helsing in Milan, Godalming in Saragossa, Mina Harker in London, and Dr. Seward in Vienna, hoping to be able to pick up Dracula’s trail and then concentrate our forces. Unfortunately, some lucky event card draws for Dracula allowed him to evade the net, and by the time we picked up his trail in Hamburg he was across the continent in Lisbon.

Having uncovered Dracula there by using Mina Harker’s link with him via hypnosis, we quickly moved in to trap him. Holy forces aided the hunters (via event cards) by making Paris and Marseille sacred ground and thus off-limits to the vampire. Dracula attempted to kill Mina Harker in Madrid, but she managed to fight him off with a crucifix. Van Helsing then tried to finish the vampire, but Dracula destroyed the holy water he needed to do the job with another event card and escaped by sea.

The Hunters then split up again, with Godalming backtracking along Dracula’s trail to destroy any agents or vampire spawn he might have left behind, Seward and Mina moving steadily east to catch Dracula in any port he might use, and Van Helsing following by sea. In the end, Dracula evaded his pursuers by coming ashore again in Spain and moving in a rough circle before taking to sea again for Athens. 

Having deduced the vampire would come ashore somewhere off the Aegean, the Hunters rushed as quickly as they could for Greece (which is tough when you roll poorly for your train movement like Van Helsing). Picking Dracula’s trail up there, the party followed him north and Van Helsing and Godalming were each wounded by encounters with his legion of vampire spawn and dominated human agents. Godalming managed to kill one of Dracula’s spawn, and tracked the vampire to his fortress in Castle Dracula on the game’s final turn – only one more spawn and Dracula would cover Europe in endless night.

Bravely, Godalming entered the Castle and faced the vampire in his lair. Though it was an epic struggle, he was unable to finish Dracula off before the vampire was able to assume bat form and fly to safety in Budapest. Fortunately, Van Helsing had by this time eschewed explaining his vampire-killing equipment to suspicious train station customs agents, and had acquired a Fast Horse. He rushed to Budapest, and rammed a stake through Dracula’s black heart, ending the threat of the vampire forever.

Fury of Dracula is one of those games you either love or hate; Rich, for instance, won’t touch it. It can be very frustrating and lengthy if you have a skilled Dracula who’s good at bluffing and evasion, and when the vampire pulls out Wolf Form, Bat Form, or a card that allows him to move anywhere on the board and evades your clever trap it can make you want to throw things. 

Fury’s best selling point (for me, anyway) is that it draws on a lot of different skillsets. You need puzzle solving abilities to deduce where Dracula’s headed, strategic ability to get a hunter who can kill him in the right place in the right time, bluffing ability to maximize the card-driven combat system, and good luck for movement and combat dice rolls. It’s a good game to play with a mix of personalities, and in that way really evokes the feel of a group of Hunters pooling their unique talents to combat a foe who has all the advantages.

My only real complaint is that the sculpt of the vampire is less than inspiring. Not for nothing is Fury’s unofficial nickname The Adventures of Gay Dracula. 

redcoat668’s Alternate History Reading List

As those of you who have viewed my pretensions at writing battle reports and turn fluff for the Babylon 5 Campaign can probably infer, I’m a big fan of the military SF genre. As a history buff, I’m also a fan of the Alternate History genre and I thought I’d list a few of my favorites for any of you who want to explore it. They’re here in no particular order:

• Moore, Ward C, Bring the Jubilee. This is one of the first real “alternate history” short stories, and in my humble opinion, still one of the best. As befits the later focus of the genre’s popular works, it’s a Confederate-victory departure, but manages to do some good, sober world-building without trying to make a political statement. Indeed, it’s one of the most character-driven alternate histories I’ve ever read and the ending still leaves me wondering about certain characters’ motivations.
• Skimin, Robert, Gray Victory. Skimin uses JEB Stuart’s court-martial by a Confederacy recognized by a McClellan Presidency in 1864 as the scene and excuse for a thorough dissection of the historical Battle of Gettysburg. Best appreciated after some reading on the battle, but plenty of courtroom drama and skullduggery make it entertaining. Skimin uses John S. Mosby as his main character, and makes him thorougly likeable. He also ends the book with one of my favorite title-referencing closing lines ever.
• Williams, Walter Jon, Red Elvis. Not only is this a nice look at the political maelstrom of the 60’s, but it has a great twist ending where you discover the point of divergence isn’t quite what you thought it was.
• Sanders, William, The Wild Blue and the Gray. British intervention secures a Confederate victory, and in return a Confederate Expeditionary Force heads off to Europe to fight in the First World War. Sanders is very good at blindsiding you with guest appearances by historical figures whose significance is considerably lessened in this alternate world.
• Sanders, William, “The Undiscovered”. Shakespeare is forced by poverty to emigrate to the New World and lives as a captive amongst the Cherokee. A great clash between English and Native American dramatic and entertainment cultures. It would be an interesting reading assignment for a High School English class.
• Turtledove, Harry, “Departures”. I admit it, I preordered every volume of Turtledove’s TL-191 series, but I think he’s really at his best as a short story writer. A sensitive depiction of the Prophet Muhammad (PBOH) had he become a Christian monk.
• Dreyfuss, RIchard, and Harry Turtledove, The Two Georges. Anyone who’s been here more than once can easily guess that this one’s dear to my heart. Great Britain and the Colonies come to a settlement in 1776 and America remains part of the British Empire. Turtledove’s forte is action and worldbuilding rather than character development, but his books are always a fun and comfortable read and the depiction of British America in 1996 full of nice little tweaks (Nixon as a car salesman? Martin Luther King as colonial governor? The Iroquois Five Nations as a Raj-style independent state? Irish ghettoes?).
• Sobel, Robert, For Want of a Nail: If Burgoyne Had Won at Saratoga. Similar premise, but elucidated by an economist rather than a dedicated fiction writer. It was consciously written in the same style as a college textbook. For me the conceit works, for others (my friend Adam, for instance) it makes it less interesting to read. Either way it’s a splendidly detailed setting which seems to anticipate the same sort of corporate state we’re moving towards in our own modern era, but through a much different path. It would make a great historical background for an alternate cyberpunk RPG setting.
• Budrys, Algis, “Never Meet Again”. A scientist in a world where the Nazis were victorious crosses dimensions in search of his dead wife. An eloquent statement that no change in history can decisively end human misery.
• Dick, Phillip K., The Man in the High Castle. This one’s deservedly a classic. Like most of Dick’s work, it’s really not about the world or the characters per se, but a serious exploration of the nature of the reality that they exist in. How does living in a branch from a main timeline work?
• Niven, Larry, “All the Myriad Ways”. A shorter, but just as darkly enjoyable examination of the implications of the existence of multiple timelines.
• de Camp, L. Sprague., “The Round-Eyed Barbarians”. Cheng Ho’s voyages continue and Chinese and Spanish explorers confront each other in America in the 1500s. This one helped me get interested in Chinese history. de Camp’s evocation of clashing Chinese and European cultural mores is very entertaining.
• Stirling, S.M., “The Charge of Lee’s Brigade”. Robert E. Lee leads a very different Charge of the Light Brigade in a unified British Empire.
• Stirling, S.M., The Peshawar Lancers. A meteoric impact reduces Europe and America to barbarism, but the British Raj continues in India. A nice homage to the the works of George MacDonald Fraser and similar authors, but manages to throw in all kinds of twists. Watch for the Flashman reference.
• Moorcock, Michael, Warlord of the Air, The Land Leviathan, and The Steel Tsar. Michael Moorcock defies genre categorization, but these three books have most of the ingredients of good alternate history. 19th Century British officer Oswald Bastable visits three alternate futures, and Moorcock eloquently comments on the demise of our own real-world British Empire.
• Flint, Eric, 1812: The Rivers of War. The War of 1812 gets nowhere near the amount of attention it should, despite the fact that it’s the closest the US has ever gotten to a decisive wartime drubbing and has plenty of fascinating characters to boot. I found Flint’s portrayal of Sam Houston a little over the top (I mean he was cool, but was he that cool?), but that was balanced out by his sensitive characterizations of British Generals Ross and Pakenham, both of whom are unjustly underrated both as generals and as people. The sequel, sadly, is not as good but I’m hoping the third book will make up for it.  

 With the notable exception of Moorcock (like I said, he defies genre labeling), I consciously left out alternate history books with overt science-fiction or fantasy trappings. Two of those I can recommend off the cuff are:

• Turtledove, Harry, The Guns of the South. This was the first alternate history book I read back in high school, and I’d still recommend it as a starting point. White supremacists from the future supply the Army of Northern Virginia with modern weaponry. The place of racism in American culture is a common theme in Turtledove’s work, and I think he handles it best here.
• Newman, Kim, Anno Dracula. Presumes that the events of Bram Stoker’s Dracula were historical fact and that Van Helsing and his crew failed to kill the master Vampire, who goes on to dominate Queen Victoria and create a new, Vampire-run British Empire. Lots of great guest appearances by and references to 19th Century literary figures (my favorite is Mycroft Holmes as chief of British Intelligence). I trot out references to this one every time we play Fantasy Flight’s Fury of Dracula boardgame. 

Most of these books and short stories are available from your local bookstore or Amazon in one form or another. Happy hunting and happy reading!

A Break in the Feed

I’m off to a conference in Detroit, the Midwest’s own Mistake on the Lake, so the already irregular update schedule will be even more irregular for the next four days.

Transmissions from the field will resume upon my return, when I am replete with Cuban food on my employer’s dime.