The game room is a bit of a bust at the moment...
Partly because of the physical aspects - the overhead light and fan don't work, and no one's come to fix them. I'm not sure the AC vents are even working. So a bit stuffy with the door shut, which given I use this room to keep my game-table-attracted cat out is obviously trouble. I am, however, getting some "zebra"-style blinds in a couple weeks for the windows, and I stuck up a handful of posters and book jackets on the walls for atmosphere.
Partly because I still haven't found quite everything that goes in there, even though I'm sure I packed it all. Things like the Bolt Action and Konflikt 47 starters which would make great blogpost series.
I've been trying to inspire myself by reading back through all my Charles S. Grant books. A ton of great scenarios, solo play and imagi-nations ideas in there. Have started putting ALL my 18th century Wofuns out on the table for review, like an expanded version of this old post.
But I'm reading a lot of other stuff, too.
Recommended by a friend at work. Lovely photography and background to the classic Ellis Peters mystery novels. I never got to see much of Wales on my two trips (thus far) to the UK, and this book would be a good guide to the border.
Recommended by a member of the Virtual Wargames Club. A conflict I know nothing about, but an excellent introduction to this war which is overshadowed by the Theresian wars that followed.
I bogged down on this during my first attempt to read it. An excellent, if dated (1990) history of professional wargaming, rather dry in the second half but the sections on "classic" Kriegspiel and the US Naval War College are good reading. Would be interested to see an update with comments on modern videogame style; the latest discussed was my childhood favorite, Silent Service, which got me interested in submarine history. (It helped that my dad had recently caught and mounted a wahoo, for which was named one of the most famous US subs of the war). Clearly written for professionals and anyone else who wonders why the military goes in for gaming at all - games, exercises, maneuvers etc are all carefully defined and differentiated.
I picked this because it was quoted approvingly in The Art of Wargaming. The book version is expensive but the ebook turns out to be free on the Naval War College website. The US Navy interwar "fleet problems" are famous but this is the first comprehensive look at all of them and how they influenced US plans for the Pacific War. Also important, however, is that each one gives you a look at what the Navy considered "state of the art" at the specific time, whether that was 1923, 1928, 1933 or 1938, which would make it quite useful for anyone interested in gaming the interwar period. After I finish this one, I think I will look up the 1925 alt-history The Great Pacific War for comparison.
Recommended by a writer on Quora. Looks very interesting though I haven't started it yet.Listening on Audible to this one, which coincidentally is about thirty hours long. Very comprehensive; the author deliberately focuses on more than the religious aspects and the first half of the war, as most previous authors gloss over much of the rest. Surprisingly absorbing.
It got me looking up some of Helion's Century of the Soldier series on Hoopla:
More organization than history, but an interesting overview that provides some context for what I'm listening to. Some lively quotations.
A readable, comprehensive account with lots of illustrations.
Hopefully will get back into the groove next week.
