The Real Vaulties: Tech Billionaires and Secret Hide Away Bunkers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly17834524o

Maybe Fallout had it right all along? 

We should find out tomorrow night on Netflix!

Mortal Gods Game - Athens v Sparta

First game of Mortal Gods, two giants face up, Athens v Sparta. The Athenians form up into a phalanx while the Spartans contemptuously flood the flanks with their lights and hold the center with hard nut companion base of hoplites (see below, a bunch of Athenian hoplites run into a bunch Spartan mixed hoplites - helots - peltasts [the 'low point' scenario meant that a full three bases of Spartan hoplites was simply "too expensive" so the Spartan experimented with his force by mixing in some lights]): 

A lesson in hubris is dished out to the Spartans as the Athenian phalanx gives them a solid bloody nose and holds strong in the center (see below, one empty slot on the Spartan companion base of hoplites tells the story): 

The Spartan left flank attack on the Athenians is stopped cold by the intervention of the Athenian Hero (see below, he bounces the base of helots then tangles with the Spartan Logos): 

The Spartan Hero and Logos rage hard at the Athenian phalanx but the combined shield wall minimises the effect (see below, one Athenian hoplite falls but the "phalanx Mortal Gods special rule" saves several others from suffering the same inglorious fate): 

Having survived the Spartan central surge, the Athenian Logs decimated the Spartan peltasts on his right and then despatched the Spartan hoplites in the center, by a succession of individual Athenian hoplite activations, which serve to exhaust, damage and break the Spartan hoplite base):  

The Athenians take the central victory trophy of the battlefield. This is too much for the remaining Spartans who shamefully scattered and departed the battlefield under the dark cloud of Thanatos. 

Comments: Nice little warband game, certainly not a big battle as it stands but innovative and perhaps expandable. I like it and I will certainly play more. I do need to paint up my own Spartans,! Doesn't everybody?

Max Hastings: 1914 Catastrophe .. and a couple of other "Good Reads"

If I were going to recommend reading material for military officers currently serving in the Armed Forces of Great Britain, the United Kingdom or any of her Commonwealth and NATO partners, then it would have to be a collection like this (see below, Max Hastings - "Catastrophe Europe Goes to War 1914", just to remember how things can unexpectedly start!): 

Followed by a haunting tale of lost peace and complacency at all levels of government and the military (see below, Dan Dannatt's "Victory into Defeat"): 

Which turned an "Unhappy Ending" of one world war into a new nightmare of another, with opening rounds going to the vanquished. This is a "first love" book of mine (see below, Alistair Horne - "To Lose a Battle France 1940", I discovered it in teh early 1990's and it has been on my self ever since): 

Finally, while wild emotions are running around their heads, let them stop and read about Norway (mostly ignored apart from the First and Second Naval Battles of Narvik) - but look at the other Narvik, and the strange possibilities of this forgotten success in an otherwise bleak campaign .. which hailed the first successful allied amphibious operation of the war in 1940 (see below, Henrik Lunde's Hitler's Pre-Emptive War"): 

Thought provoking and a tale of swinging fortunes. Best remember from history the lessons of "things lost and things gained," as the best made plans of mice and men play out upon the stage not under their control. 

All (Ancient) Greek to me! Mortal Gods - My Reboot

I purchased Mortal Gods a while back in pre-Covid days with noble intentions of painting up a warband or two of Ancient Greeks but alas it languished on the plastic pile of shame for years. No more. Their time has come (see link below for more details):

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/270626/mortal-gods-skirmish-games-in-ancient-greece

I have the basic boxed game set and have assembled the basic miniature (Victrix) that came with it, which is a start. Sadly (as of time of writing) the Athenian and Spartan "special" boxes are now hard (nay impossible) to come by, bar purchasing individual separate components by Footsore Miniatures, so it look as if I am "bog standard" Greeks - which is fine by me (see below, the starting point of Mortal Gods): 

Dusting off the Mortal Gods box from the loft, I chose into two opposing sides to paint up (see below, two Lochos and their respective warbands, I am calling one Athens and one Spartan [as per the figures look and feel] despite not having the "special" faction attribute cards): 

Given I was in the 28mm Greek "make it mode", I decided to also assemble the Warlord Games 28mm hoplite miniatures I acquired from a "CoW Bring and Buy" sale [although I mostly do the buying]. They fit in well alongside Victrix (see below, I hope to give Mortal Gods a run out at CoW 2026); 

The figures are PVA-sand based and "washed" brown (see below, they are now also in their Mortal Gods movement trays which are a nice touch to the game system): 

Starting with the light psilio slingers it is time to paint them in the Greek fashion (see below, I deliberately chose the "light forces" to get my eye in, I am also resisting the opportunity to use contrast paints but rather I am using Vallejo Game Colour with MiG Ultra Matt varnish to dull everything down): 

The slingers are coming along nicely (see below, in Mortal Gods a group of three figures together on a base are referred to as "companions" - not to be confused with "The Companions" of Alexander The Great): 

Light troops are based on circular bases (see below, they move together as one block in the rules, which cuts down nicely on the level of "fiddle" moving figures about, all told there are approximately 12 [small game] to 25 [medium-largish] figures per side in a typical Mortal Gods game): 

An unusual figure in "Greek" sides in Mortal Gods (yes there are rules for Persians), is the archer, although Athens has its special "Archer Marines" that can come ashore from triremes (see below, this chap is from Victrix): 

The lights for "one side" are done (see below, all possible types - one companion base of each comprising of (3) slingers, (3) javelinmen and the more useful (3) peltasts, but the the archer is a generally just a singleton [as there were just not that many archers in a typical warband], it does not attract the eros passion from the ladies):  

Time to move onto the hoplites, the sexy side of the warband (see below, the first companion base of hoplites is in the centre of the pack on a triangular base, but more on that later): 

A close up of some javelinmen (see below, a rather bedraggled and opportunistic set of characters who are best at throwing pointy things at and then running away [fast] from dangerous things or sneaking up on flanks or from behind): 

A closer "close-up" (see below, I took my time and really enjoyed doing these javelin man, but because there were no really hard or difficult areas to paint they were done fairly fast): 

Meanwhile, the hoplites were up next and the magic number of hoplites is nine (see below, three bases of hoplite companions can "join together" to form a "phalanx"- which is classed as a combat gift/skill, allowing the troops to absorb more punishment and perform more actions because of the trained cohesion of the troops - but the phalanx can only go straight forward or pivot [powerful but awkward to handle]): 

The basic painting is done, but I returned and experimented with the Little Big Man Studio shield decals (see below, I was really impressed with the results - once I got the hang of putting them on [I did use Micro Sol and Micro Set] and repainted over bits to blend it in to the figure):  

Finally these Greeks are getting dressed and ready for battle, let's do those hoplite shields next!

Book: Victory to Defeat (Richard Dannatt and Robert Lyman)

We had won, with a magical formula of 1918 combined arms warfare, hard earned through bitter experience of four years of fighting and then we lost or rather forgot it! Such criminal complacency meant that another generation of youth experienced a second World War. The people who "had practical experience of fighting it" drifted away and did other things. The world wanted to be pacifist. The politicians became politicians again and took their eye off the ball, they took the easy option, cutting to the bone military spending. The "war to end all wars" was supposed to be exactly that, although there was a dissenting feeling in Germany that in 1918 they had not been defeated in the field (the very same myth used by National Socialism and the "stabbing in the back" from a caste of politicians). However, in 1918 the Allied armies pummelled the German Imperial Army to its knees in the 100 Day Offensive with "combined arms" and overwhelming industrial power (infused with the additional of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) - which was not specifically called out in the book). The armistice came, it signalled the end of the war (11/11/1918), then came the Treaty of Versailles with its own cauldron of snakes that poisoned international politics for decades to come. The League of Nations was born and withered on the vine through application of realpolitik between the Great Powers. In Britain there was a spirit of the war is all over now, let's get back to normal (proper) peacetime soldering as we have an empire to run. Contemplation of another war of this magnitude was an anathea. Politicians who thought different were not elected .No peer war was expected within the next ten years, so colonial policing was the order of the day for the British Army. The British Army was shrunk to a rump (prioritising Empire over continental commitments) and certain important or maverick personalities played with their own hobby horses and pet projects within the confines of the Treasury's frugal remit. Britain literally became an island nation behind a sea and air barrier, the Royal Navy in her senior service role and the over promising of the RAF (capable of punishing enemies with the bomber and protecting the homeland with the fighter) gained favour. There was no appetite for a tangible army capacity capable of force projection on the continental mainland to deter the rising power of Nazi Germany. Without such an army, even if scaled back, there was no way of keeping the hard-earned organisational knowledge of "how to do things" at scale. Then the chickens come home to roost through a series of international crisis and the early war defeats of 1939-40 (see below, a tale of the once and future king - the practice of combined arms warfare, found - lost - then painfully recovered from 1942 onwards; although the British 1940 successes of The Western Desert Force against the Italians - Wavell's 10,000 (Beda Fomm), the East African Campaign and reconquest of Ethiopia and Somaliland, again against the Italians, was not called out):

The allegory or case study to modern times (2022+) is called out, how different is the current political situation with Russia and continental Europe? The message is clear. Let us not make the same mistake again. The world of 2025 seems horribly similar to the 1930's and the lead up to the Second World War. This time we also live in a nuclear age where the stakes could not be higher. The general (Dannatt) also seems to indirectly pushing the value of wargaming in military circle - when you do not have the physical items it does not stop you from imaginative thought experiments (with reference back to the Germans formulating the doctrine of mobile warfare in the 1930's without any tanks - they wargamed and conducted imaginative field exercises). If you want peace, then be sure you are prepared for war. A protagonist thinks twice before attacking a prepared potential victim - or rather the "victim" is not viewed as a victim but rather a "respected or feared foe". Deterrence has to be credibly backed up or the paper tiger will be called out.  Knowing what form of armed forces (Army, Navy, Air, Cyber, Space, Civil) you need is the key to knowing what capabilities you have to nurture or retain for future use (and their scalability for wartime needs). That comes from an unending intellectual engagement across the whole spectrum of government. I for one cannot fault the main theme of the message!

David Isby gave an informative and interesting review of the book too:     

https://www.strategypage.com/bookreviews/2537#gsc.tab=0

Latest 28mm WW2 Project

These are just beautiful figures from Wargames Atlantic - Italian WW2 Infantry (see below, two boxes needed for a 1940 Italian Infantry Platoon): 

I am in the process of building up a force for Chain of Command. The source of this interest came from a recent holiday to Italy (an absolutely beautiful country) and Rome is the Eternal City. In addition, on my return, I started reading this book (see below, basically everything you wanted to know about the Italians in WWII but were afraid to ask - a highly recommended read): 

Also useful, is this assembly and painting guide for the Wargames Atlantic WW2 Italian Infantry (see below, Wargames Atlantic page watch-listen-learn and be inspired to so it yourself [the video is really useful]): 

https://wargamesatlantic.com/blogs/news/valhalla-reviews-the-ww2-italians?srsltid=AfmBOoqszIwSdZIKvxmyl57Z2d1NvoieHkTJRMRt7MYSYfUDrWPkhAAe

Happy days ahead. Watch this space for updates!

"Not Quite" Killer AI Robots

And then there is the Russian way ...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/crre8g5e45jo

Nasty if they fall on you!