RogerBW's Blog

Pyramid 106: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game II 31 August 2017 - 1 comment

Pyramid, edited by Steven Marsh, is the monthly GURPS supplement containing short articles with a loose linking theme. This time it's the second of the three issues promised during the Dungeon Fantasy RPG kickstarter.

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Pyracantha berries on the turn 30 August 2017 - 6 comments

The pyracantha at the front of the house has a fine crop of berries, and they're on the turn.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 August 2017 29 August 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

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Mr Standfast, John Buchan 28 August 2017

1919 thriller, third of Buchan's books about Richard Hannay; wartime thud-and-blunder. Hannay has to go undercover among the pacifists and conscientious objectors to root out a German agent.

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Mainland European Internet 27 August 2017

Some recent experience using hotel- and guest-house Internet services while travelling through Germany, Sweden and Finland.

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Favourite pictures from the Finnish trip 26 August 2017

Here are a few of my favourite pictures, taken on the recent trip to Finland.

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Arabella of Mars, David D. Levine 25 August 2017

2016 clockpunkish science fiction. In 1812 Arabella Ashby, daughter of a Martian plantation owner, is sent Home to Earth to learn proper ladylike behaviour; but she'll soon need to find her way onto a Marsman to return to the planet of her birth.

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Military Museum of Finland 24 August 2017

On Suomenlinna, a complex of islands in the bay of Helsinki, lies the Military Museum of Finland. With photographs (all taken on the Lumix GF1): cc-by-sa on everything.

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Mysterium 23 August 2017 - 2 comments

Mysterium, designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko, is a co-operative game of deduction for 2-7 players.

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The Private Wife of Sherlock Holmes, Carole Nelson Douglas 22 August 2017

2012 historical mystery novelette, part of Douglas's series about Irene Adler. Irene visits London and enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes to save an old friend from a complex blackmail plot.

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Mainland European Driving 21 August 2017

In the UK, drivers are told to stay in the lane closest to the edge of the road (lane 1), pull out to overtake, and pull back in afterwards. In mainland Europe they actually do this.

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Singing in the Shrouds, Ngaio Marsh 20 August 2017

1958 classic English detective fiction; twentieth of Marsh's novels of Inspector Roderick Alleyn. The passengers aboard the Cape Farewell are travelling to South Africa; but it seems that the Flower Murderer who's been plaguing London is among their number.

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Finnish Air Force Museum 19 August 2017 - 3 comments

Near the Jyväskylä airport at Tikkakoski is the Suomen Ilmavoimamuseo, the museum of the Finnish Air Force. With photographs (all taken on the Lumix GF1): cc-by-sa on everything.

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2017 Hugo Awards: what happened in the end 18 August 2017

How well did this year's Hugo awards match my (obviously correct and superior) preferences?

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GURPS Vehicles: Steampunk Conveyances 17 August 2017

Vehicles aren't the defining image of steampunk, but they're certainly one of the important aspects of it, whether it's personal carriages or massive airships. This book lists a number of historical, speculative and fantastic vehicle designs, with stats for use in GURPS.

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Armada, Ernest Cline 16 August 2017

2015 science fiction. Zack Lightman is a dreamer and geek with anger management problems. But his video gaming skills are going to be needed to fight off a real alien invasion. Spoilers.

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Colony 15 August 2017

Colony, designed by Ted Alspach, Toryo Hojo and Yoshihisa Nakatsu, is a dice-based resource-building game of post-apocalyptic survival for 2-4 players.

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Spider Dance, Carole Nelson Douglas 14 August 2017

2004 historical mystery, eighth of Douglas's novels about Irene Adler. Still in New York, Irene Adler looks into the last days of the woman who might have been her mother, and finds that other people are taking a violent interest in the matter.

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Building My Second First CPAN Module 13 August 2017 - 4 comments

I wrote a CPAN module back in the day. Let's not talk about it; it wasn't very good. Recently the local Perlmongers group (ThamesValley.pm) encouraged me to modularise and release some newer code.

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Gateway, Frederik Pohl 12 August 2017 - 2 comments

1977 Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning science fiction (and the Locus and Campbell too). The mysterious and vanished aliens known as Heechee left behind a space station in solar orbit, and lots of small FTL spacecraft attached to it. But humans haven't really worked out how to navigate them yet.

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Colt Express: Fully Loaded 11 August 2017

My Colt Express set has attracted some envious looks. Here's what's gone into it.

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The Good Place season 1 10 August 2017

2016 fantasy comedy, 14 episodes. Eleanor dies, and goes to the afterlife. Not Heaven, exactly, but… The Good Place. Only problem is, she's pretty sure she's not meant to be there, but admitting it would surely make things worse.

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Help Fund My Robot Army, John Joseph Adams 09 August 2017 - 1 comment

2014 SF anthology consisting of short stories in the form of crowdfunding pitches and site updates.

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Squaddies in GURPS: Equipment 08 August 2017 - 1 comment

Squaddies is a series (two so far) of short military SF scenarios from Astronautilus Production; I've been a proof-reader on them. They're designed for fairly near-future interstellar settings. How can they be used with GURPS? Pretty easily, I reckon. This post deals with equipping the troops.

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July-August 2017 Trailers 07 August 2017 - 1 comment

Some trailers I've seen recently, and my thoughts on them. (Links are to youtube. Opinions are thoroughly personal.)

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International Naval Wargames Day 06 August 2017

It's been a while since I posted about wargaming; I haven't been doing much of it lately. But today is the first International Naval Wargames Day and I thought I'd mention it.

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Hide My Eyes, Margery Allingham 05 August 2017

1958 classic English detective fiction; sixteenth of Allingham's novels of Albert Campion. Several crimes seem to be vaguely related to a shabby-respectable area in west London, but how can it all be put together? US vtt Tether's End and Ten Were Missing.

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Three boardgame kickstarters 04 August 2017

Here are three current boardgame kickstarters which interested me. Maybe they'll interest you. All offer shipping from within the EU.

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Karcher K7 Pressure Washer 03 August 2017 - 4 comments

I never felt a need for a pressure washer before I moved here; but we have substantial areas of paved outdoor space, and they need to be kept clear of weeds and general grot.

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Jam, Yahtzee Croshaw 02 August 2017

2012 horror comedy. Travis wakes up one morning to find that Brisbane has been flooded with carnivorous strawberry jam.

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SpringCon 22 July 2017 01 August 2017

Back to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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