Audible Books: Miscellaneous

Reading, or rather listening. On the history front I decided to broach my general ignorance of the Middle East (unless the battles of Rommel and the 8th Army count) of which I know very little, just the complex and disturbing pictures I see on the TV news. So I took an Audible recommendation of "Arabs" by Tim Mackintosh-Smith (see below, it helped that it came free with my Audible subscription [win-win], and it was very comprehensive, or rather it was very, very long [going back to before the Arab date "dot"] so although I do not remember "everything" I got the satisfaction of a "general feeling" and understanding of the 'diaspora of meaning' that the word Arab evokes - simply put no one interpretation will ever suffice):  

Following on from this I chased up on another recommendation form a friend that takes a very close look at the troubled history of Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon courtesy of Britain and France's colonial history in teh region, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Aspects of "The Great Game", which really should be entitled, "Be Very Careful For What You Wish For!" It was both deeply informative and deeply troubling, to extent that it just left you shaking your head in disbelief (see below, "A Line in the Sand" is a terrible read because it lays bare the worst part of human nature and international politics - (one of) the moral of the story being don't leave a French and British career diplomat alone is a room of a map of a country that is not theirs and really know squat about to draw a line on a map, between alcoholic drinks, coffee and pastries):   

Needing some "light relief" from the blood letting and treachery from the folded, furrow of deep history and cynical realpolitik's, I called out to my friends for more lighter recommendations and got something I would never have chosen myself (see below, a fantasy detective story set in the modern day, to my escapist delight I really enjoyed it and can see myself slowly walking through the series): 

Refreshed from the non-hard historical journey (although with a deeper appreciation of how many rivers there are in the London whereabouts) I took up my final recommendation (I do have "free will" too, honest. This one was with a slight game inclination, aka Science Fiction, set in a universe that most people who have played or tinkered with Traveller would recognise. Think "Merchant Prince" but working your way up through from the bottom, after life has dealt you an unexpected "bad hand" (see below, "Quarter Share", another series I think I am now hooked into following):  

Given my liking of the book and genre, I have been collectively told it is high time I started watching "The Expanse" on Amazon Prime while I still have the chance.

Final Note: I would recommend all of the above, but for very different reasons!

Call of the Cthulhu - Pandemic Style (Collaborative Game)

I can highly recommend this game that was a Xmas present purchase that went down a storm with friends and family (see below, a Pandemic style collaborative game, where the investigators try and stop the sprawling tentacles of doom engulfing humanity): 

 

So far it has been played twice, not with a great success rate for the investigators to date, but they were up against the A-Team of Elder Gods. The board game comes with some lovely miniatures that obviously will need painting in the due course of time. 

Board Game Geek reference: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/192153/pandemic-reign-cthulhu

I actually enjoyed it much more than a 7.4 rating, my rating would be a 9.0!

Cthulhu RPG

If your character is frightened and paranoid then I think you are probably playing it right (see below, be afraid, be very afraid):  

Then some more. Did I just see a tentacle, or two? 

Zombie Risk .. Family Fun Planning for the Zombie Apocalypse

In a departure from normal programming, the horror genre was activated and the family (or rather families), aka dads and lads, sat down to play "Risk meets The Walking Dead" (see below):

Unwittingly we played an "advanced version" forgetting about some of humanities reinforcements (just counting one per three territories instead of, that plus three extra survivors per turn). The result was a far more deadlier (but fun) game. I think that most of those "extras" would have been spent fighting other humans instead of zombies, so perhaps no great loss. The game set of at a heady pace with two human sides forming - The Lads versus The Dads (see below, the initial set-up -everything looking under control until "the walkers" start turning up):

After we had mercilessly battered both human sides down to the ground we suddenly realised "too late" that the Zombies were the real enemy here, but by that time they were multiplying too fast (see below. mid-game zombie menace trauma):

I was then congratulated (by several hard stares and gasps of "why?") by my fellow human players for supplying a source of extra zombies when the game's limited supply "ran out" (see below, courtesy of Hannants mail order - two packets makeing 90+ zombies, yummy):

The Zombies multiplied and the humans dwindled to the point of extinction. A truce was declared between all humans (apart from one instance of patricide - birthday and Christmas present downgrade activated). Then with that tragic sense of fatalism the game ended with a few human survivors desperately waiting for "sounds of  Huey choppers" coming to their rescue (see below, but no such luck - I was hoping for a special event card called "rescue", looks like I will have to write it myself and sneak it into the pack):

[Note to self: Waiting for the Zombie Master to send my a photograph of "the end" as the battery of my phone as well as "lives of my clan" had expired]

https://soundcloud.com/zombie-sound-effects/zombie-sound-effects

The moral of the story (?) "At least you know what a Zombie will try to do! Zombies can be inherently trusted to try and kill you." Fantastic fun game though ;)