What are we reading?

[Martok]

Go read it.  Read it now!! 

[mirth]

Already perusing Amazon ;) Apparently I missed out on the last couple of Rihannsu books as well. This will keep me busy for awhile.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Reading Bill lind's column from 2004 ( part of several years for a couple bucks on amazon). He has some good lines. Excerpt:

"Reality 1, Neocons 0

The Marines have landed, and the situation is not well in hand, nor will it ever be. I am speaking, of course, of Haiti, that boil on the Western Hemisphere's posterior which no plaster can ever cure. In the 18th century, Haiti was so rich, thanks to the sugar trade, that it alone provided two-thirds of the value of France's overseas commerce. Today, Haiti is so poor that the average American dog probably lives better than the average Haitian. But I forget: just ten years ago, we solved all of Haiti's problems. Applying the neocons' prescription for the whole world, we sent in thousands of American troops, overthrew the "undemocratic"Haitian government and installed Haiti's Mr. Chalabi, Monsieur Aristide–the same savior who just departed, with Washington's encouragement, to the universal anthem of the Third World's elite, "I'm Leavin' on a Jet Plane". For some incomprehensible reason, democracy backed by American bayonets failed to turn Haiti into Switzerland. It's probably because we forgot to teach them how to make cuckoo clocks and put holes in cheese. Haiti is in fact a fair test of the neocons' thesis, a thesis we are now putting to further trials in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their core argument is that history and culture simply don't matter. Everyone in the world wants American-style democratic capitalism, and everyone is also capable of it. To think otherwise is to commit the sin of historicism. The argument is absurd on the face of it. History and culture don't matter? Not only do the failed cultures and disastrous histories of most of the world argue the contrary, so does our own history and culture. Democratic capitalism first developed in one place, England, over an historical course that goes back almost a thousand years, to the Magna Carta. America was born as an independent country to guarantee the rights of Englishmen. If England had possessed the culture of, say Mongolia, can anyone with the slightest grasp on reality think we would be what we are today? While the neocons' thesis says nothing about reality, it says a great deal about the neocons themselves. First, it tells us that they are ideologues. All ideologies posit that certain things must be true,"

  ;D

Somtimes he has insight, sometimes he seems lost. Worth reading. Have things changed in the decade since? Not really. The topics are still relevant.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I bought a few Osprey books.


Bf 110 vs Lancaster



Concise but full of good info and much more critical of the Lanc's shortcomings than other books.  I think it does a great job of presenting a balanced account.  Makes me want to play Nightfighter by GMT but nobody around here is into traditional wargames. 


I've got these two on the way but they're not here yet.

[Staggerwing]

  Makes me want to play Nightfighter by GMT but nobody around here is into traditional wargames. 

How is the game? I see it's currently on sale for $35 at the GMT site.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

It's ok but the guy playing the bombers doesn't really get to do much.  He's more like a referee than an opponent.  The game does have the ability to be added as a tactical component to Bomber Command which is kind of interesting but the narrative doesn't always mesh up that well as Bomber Command handles electronic warfare with an overly simplistic card game element and this means the E/W components being used in Nightfighter might have been neutralized by card play.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

2004 of Lind's On War is much better than 2003, he seems to have hit his stride. I like the way he thinks now that he is laying out his ideas rather than just pointing to the screwups. Im still not sure the 4gw means much. He says himself the 4th gw is not new. Maybe as a history expert the sequence fits. I think, rather than assuming an evolution in predominance, look at their tools. They work to impact how a society operates by changing it's priorities. They operate through people to avoid the power of a state military. It does not seem that hard to defeat. The problem for some is that it is not a military solution. A military plays a supporting role.

[JasonPratt]

Reading Bill lind's column from 2004 ( part of several years for a couple bucks on amazon). He has some good lines. Excerpt:

"Reality 1, Neocons 0

I read that three or four times as "Necrons 0", first with interest, then with amusement, then with growing confusion... 

[Nefaro]

I'm reading Through Struggle, The Stars by Lumpkin.  On recommendation from others here. 

Enjoying it.  The setting is interesting and not too far-fetched for sci-fi.  Makes me consider picking up one of Ad Astra's 3D tabletop space combat games again (Squadron Strike or Attack Vector) due to the more realistic & Newtonian treatment in them.   8)

[OJsDad]

Nefaro, pick up A Sword Into Darkness.  I liked it a lot more than Through Struggle.

[Staggerwing]

  Makes me consider picking up one of Ad Astra's 3D tabletop space combat games again (Squadron Strike or Attack Vector) due to the more realistic & Newtonian treatment in them.   8)

IIRC there's an Honorverse version of Ad Astra out there somewhere.

[Greybriar]

I am currently reading The War of the Dwarves by Markus Heitz.

[Nefaro]

  Makes me consider picking up one of Ad Astra's 3D tabletop space combat games again (Squadron Strike or Attack Vector) due to the more realistic & Newtonian treatment in them.   8)

IIRC there's an Honorverse version of Ad Astra out there somewhere.

Yes, it's called Saganami Island Tactical Simulator.  Based on the same system as Attack Vector.  Pretty sure it's out of print, but I'm also not very familiar with the Honorverse stuff.

I have been eyeballing AA's Squadron Strike since it plays a bit faster, and has a very flexible ship building spreadsheet so you can translate existing settings' ships or create your own, along with it's default "Diaspora" setting which sounds interesting enough too.  It's similar to the Human Reach Series' situation of current nations taking their beefs along with them while colonizing the stars, which is a big reason I've enjoyed it thus far.  Almost a ready-made start on such a situation.

I already own Birds Of Prey and am a bit familiar with it's PHAD and such, but Ad Astra's space games use a similar mechanic without the need of extra physics nomograph steps (being in space instead of an atmosphere) so it would be an easier system to learn than BoP.  They've been tempting me for awhile and reading this series is pushing me even further.

Nefaro, pick up A Sword Into Darkness.  I liked it a lot more than Through Struggle.

Is that the second one or a different series? 

[OJsDad]

Nefaro, pick up A Sword Into Darkness.  I liked it a lot more than Through Struggle.

Is that the second one or a different series?

Different series.  I think it's better written than Stars.  It also starts before humans get off planet. 

[Nefaro]

Nefaro, pick up A Sword Into Darkness.  I liked it a lot more than Through Struggle.

Is that the second one or a different series?

Different series.  I think it's better written than Stars.  It also starts before humans get off planet.

Cool.  I'll put it in my queue.  The title sounds familiar, I've probably seen it suggested before.  O0