Thoughts On - My birthday and "Beyond All Reason"

 Hi everyone,

                     This is just a bit of a filler to keep you informed on what I have been up to lately. It was my birthday recently, and a very good mate and I had an afternoon walking around Lichfield town centre. We visited most of the local charity shops and acquired some DVDs and a couple of paintings each, plus she found a couple of summer dresses that she liked.

                     I did a quick sketch of one of the statues in the Library Square while we were having a break, then had a quick glance in one of the antique shops. Time was getting on, so we had a very nice meal of fish and chips with cider in the Acorn pub before getting the bus home. I put my feet up and had a film night with one of my new DVD's and a chilled bottle of wine.

Success

 I found the Chepheus Engine RPG rules amongst my files earlier today. I thought it had been lost, but in fact, it was a case of not being renamed from its extracted .zip file name in the first place, so my search engine could not find it. Better late than never.

                        I gave my new strimmer its first run around the front garden today. It felt much lighter than my old one, which I am pleased about. I also treated my conifer to another haircut with the trimmer. It's now a truncated pyramid.

Something New

By chance the other day, I found myself watching the Virtual TableTop wargame "Beyond All Reason" (C) on YouTube (C) for the first time. To let you know, my wargame viewing habits are usually just of the miniature fighting variety or occasional sniper sims, so to see a ginormous 8-player electronic battle simulation in full colour blew me away completely. How the team leaders can plan strategies among the chaos is beyond me. 

The graphics are superb. Each warring team is colour-coded, so they can see their own forces easily. Power plants spawn weaponry, tanks, gunships, and many other sorts of tiny nastiness that were scurrying all over the place at the eight warlords' whims, trying to get and keep the upper hand and gain victory by wiping everyone else out. 

I think the commentator said there were over 19,000 units on the board at one point. Fantastic. Explosions range from small to devastating. They were even throwing multiple tactical nukes at each other at one point; these were being deflected by defending force fields until their hit points gave out. It was utter madness, but great to watch. I have now seen some other battles with different landscapes and numbers of troops. It makes for very entertaining viewing.

That's all for now, take care.

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - Busy Bunny

 Hi Everyone,

                       This is just to let you know that I have not deserted you good people out there in gameland. I have been catching up with real life stuff, as you do and it has thrown a spanner into my gaming stuff. It had been so long since I was on here that I had to search a few times to find it with google.

 I have got a couple of bits of terrain from my pal M, (a bit less to pack) and they will star in my reworking of my Nations battle report, which I have been trying to get done for ages. I may just do a reset. I have a few more celtic warriors to do, thanks to Wargames Illustrated Magazine adding them to their front cover.

                      I have also started to work on a painting that has been idle for a while, as I needed some ideas on where to go next. I have seen a rock formation that has what I needed in the way of lighting, so I am starting to amend the skyline.

                      I am in the middle of pruning in the garden and the Jazz festival has just sailed through, I visited three new venues and bands. I visited the tribute area to Ozzy Ozbourne Passing Away in the local museum.

                      There has been no Alien gaming for a while, but I am still in touch with my other gamers. All are doing ok.

                    Now I have got the site updated and added a bit more into Red Alert 4 page, I can do a bit of painting with a clear conscience. I will see if I can find any wargaming podcasts to listen to while I am slopping paint about.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

P.S. Oh yes, on the subject regarding to my mate being evicted by his landlord, which I mentioned in a previous podcast, well social services said that they have found him a place to rent about an hour away from where he is now, but he has not got the keys or a moving date as yet. He said he is swamped with boxes and can hardly swing a cat in his living room, as they say. He needs to be able to shift some stuff before he can do any more packing. But he is more cheerful than before, now that the process is under way.

 

Thoughts On - Trump Month Three

Hello Everyone,

 This is a bit off topic, although it does pertain to the fight against climate change and its causes and it may possibly lead to an American civil war, so that would count.

They say the Internet will live forever, I have my doubts, but just in case...

"To our Climate Change researchers and people in general in the future, who may wonder what those of our generation were thinking to vote in Donald J. Trump for a second term. (I hear that he is talking of a third term, which I predicted, which at the moment would be illegal, but that will not stop him from trying to do it.)"

         "May I pen an apology on behalf of the American people who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 USA election. (That was not me, I live in the UK. My sin is that I voted for Mrs. Thatcher in the UK 1982 election, so we all make mistakes.) They heard the promises, they wanted things to change, but they just did not see the implications of what those actions would have to themselves or the people around them, or in some cases, did not care."

Why did they do it? 

Why is a question I have pondered? Big money swaying big advertising? Biased "News Channels" spouting promotional rubbish. The courts were rigged in his favour, Republicans had voted in flunkies (Not all of them). Most Republicans are too afraid to speak the truth for whatever reason, following his orders meekly like sheep. Regular Trump voters have admitted that they are now in deep trouble through Trump's actions. Considering that each business venture Trump has gone into, every one has gone bankrupt. He has been sued in the courts and is a felon. The "Tariff" spin had a lot to do with it, the thought of getting others to pay for their own improvements and debt relief.

Being Honest

To be honest, most governments are not set up to tackle the big picture like climate change. People in power mainly just want to keep the power they have and get more. The same for big companies. The profit margin is what counts to the shareholders, nothing else. It does not seem to matter that their families will have to pay the price of what they are allowing to be done today.

Consequences

I hope that the consequences of their actions are not too reaching and can eventually be clawed back. The Universities are fighting back against his immigration policies and funding rip-offs. They are going to court. 

       I am not a financial expert, but the stock market nosedive will have ripples in other economies too. That will affect my pension (UK) too. Since it is being orchestrated, the rich buddies know when to buy shares and when to sell to make the most profit. I heard $ Billions were made by Elon Musk and his pals. 

Change

Change is coming, so prepare the best you can. I fear that for the next few years, they will be downhill in our fortunes and standards again. I do not play any post-apocalypse wargames anymore, fearing that they are a glimpse of our future. I hope not, for my family's sake. I do not want to believe that we have seen the best of the world and just threw it away. Time will tell.

Live life the best that you can, and see the beauty around you. Hope is not all gone; it is just a bit dimmer at the moment.

Unbiased

Just in case you think I am talking complete rubbish, try a completely unbiased view for a change. There is an Artificial Intelligence  - "ChatGBT" that has analysed Donald Trump's performance in office in a totally unbiased way. Take a look at the blogs. Then see if your conclusions have changed or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml_XrFvVSnM Month one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU4PhXQRWH0  Month two.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpordab_GT0  Month three.

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Birmingham

England

P.S. I tried to add it to my Facebook page, but it would only allow a certain amount of text. Typical. I suggest adding the link, perhaps.

Thoughts On - The Imagine Magazine And Pelinore

 Hi Everyone,

                        This was a magazine that I did not know existed until yesterday, when Alan G showed me a real-life paper copy at our wargaming club, Circle Battle Group.  I thought I would add information on here for my readers too young to have seen a copy either. For those who do know of it, just check the links for old times' sake. When I have a free moment, I intend to have a look at the online PDF version of Imagine Magazine. It is for the Dungeons and Dragons game. The first issue was published by TSR Hobbies in April 1983. They completed 30 issues in total.

                         On my first flick through the online PDF, (Yes, I have found Issue 1 online and readable in PDF format, at least). It looks like it could be of use to DM's looking for ideas for campaigns, locations and maps, etc., to slot into their setting if they are having a blank moment. A new source for ideas is always welcome, I would imagine.  (:-) . If all else fails to spark your interest, there are cartoons.

You can find it by searching on the Internet Archive.

Pelinore - This is the rather loose campaign setting within the magazine. Links are below.

ndd-an-adventurers-guide-to-pelinore.html

(That's odd, the link to this worked yesterday. I don't like to have broken links on here, so apologies. Possibly try a cut and paste rather than redirect, or a look on the Internet Archive.)

THE RPG Site articles.

https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/the-collected-pelinore/?PHPSESSID=307052317316e6545494dfa3c333889e

Which do not appear to be working. I will see if I can find a better link.

I hope you have found these links to the articles useful, if you got them to work. I certainly did. Any links for giving DM's more ideas on throwing their PC's to the wolves would be appreciated by commenting below. Any litigation that results from this should be sent to TSR and not me. 

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell

Flag - New Battle Report Published

 Hi Everyone,

                  Just a quick note to let you know that I have published a battle report that has been in the works for a while in draft mode. I thought it would put it here at the top, but it has just changed the published date. If you would like to take a look, it is called "Nations Battle Report 1 part 2." I hope part three does not take as long to do.

             One of my wargaming mates is in a bit of a jam at the moment, so things are on hold on here, while we swap his stuff from his old place to where some mates are going to store stuff for him until he gets himself together, or rather when social services get their act together. Good luck on that one.

UPDATE - See Thoughts On - Busy Bunny. (4 August 2025).

Regards,

Ivor Cogdell

Red Alert Board 4 - January - November 2025

Red Alert 4

 Hi all,

This is where I had put my wild weather reports and general climate change weirdness information for 2025, but my blog entries have been cut to 500 characters only, or so I thought. So I deleted the info on this page, only to then discover it was referring to my header edit I had done earlier!

            My initial posts have been lost, so I apologise for that.

1 January - SW Manchester, Little Bollington - A canal burst its banks and flooded the surrounding area. Restoration work will take months if not years. For eyewitness accounts of the disaster and partial repair work.  https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorsAboardaNarrowboat

28 January - Renewable energy accounts for 56% of China's total installed capacity. China's renewable energy sector added new installed capacity of 373 million kW in 2024. 

Source: For more details, go to https://www.devex.com/organizations/national-energy-administration-nea-china-124616

18th March - Campanillas, Spain - There has been flooding when a dam overflowed after it had been raining in the area for two weeks.

21 March - Avilla - Flooding, it has been the wettest March on record in Jevilla.

27 March - Mc.Allen, Texas - Flash flooding has caused 6 inches of rain to fall, which is a record in the area.

21 April - A tornado tore through Texas and Oklahoma, and the Guadaloupe River system. A month's rain fell in just one day. The mountainous area made the situation worse as the rainfall was concentrated by the steep valleys.  At least 109 people were reported dead, including 27 girls who were on a camping trip at the river. 

Source: BBC NEWS.

June - Chonquing, China -There has been flooding in the Three Gorges Dam area.

02 July - Wildfires have broken out in Greece. Holidaymakers are being moved to Crete for safety reasons.

05 July - There are wildfires in the northern Grand Canyon area of the USA.

11 July - A hosepipe ban is in place in Yorkshire, UK. The temperature is 2 degrees above the average.

Source: BBC NEWS.

05 August - There are wildfires in France.

08 August - I saw my local fox in my back garden.

13 August - There are wildfires in Europe. 10,000 people were displaced in Spain. 

Source: BBC Radio 4.

16 August - Kashmir, Pakistan - 300 people killed during the monsoon rains. 600 people have been killed by floodings so far this year.

21 August - Ocean City, Maryland, USA - Flooding due to a storm surge.

01 September - The United Kingdom has recorded the hottest summer ever this year. The hottest five summers on record have occurred since the year 2,000.

22 September -  Flooding in China and Singapore. China announces a target of a 7-10% reduction in fossil emissions by 2035. They have just managed to generate 51% of their energy from renewable sources.

29 October - Melissa, a category 5 hurricane, hits Jamaica with 185 mph winds, the worst in history.19 deaths have been reported so far. One third of Jamaica is without electrical power, and 200,000 people are without homes. One brick church had been totally demolished. Water bottling plants are working at full capacity to meet the demand. Cuba will be next in line to feel its force.

Source: BBC NEWS.

31 October - Some holiday makers have been flown back to the UK in 4 military Galaxy transport planes.

Green Turtles are no longer on the endangered list. 

They are bouncing back thanks to decades of sustained conservation action, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced earlier this month. The species’ latest assessment was carried out in December 2024 and showed that the global population has increased since the 1970s, leading to its reclassification on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species from “endangered” to “least concern”. “Conservation efforts have focused on protecting nesting females and their eggs on beaches, expanding community-based initiatives to reduce unsustainable harvest of turtles and their eggs for human consumption, curtailing trade, and using Turtle Excluder Devices and other measures to reduce the accidental capture of turtles in fishing gear,” the IUCN said in a press release. Read the full article in this month's Earth.org/ email newsletter.

2 November - I think I saw a peregrine falcon nesting in a phone mast in the local pub car park. It sounded like one, and it moved at a pretty sharp pace. I saw it in a tree later on, but I did not have any binoculars with me to confirm it.

7 November - Wildfire in New Zealand.

13 November - Isle of Muck, County Antrim, Ireland. A puffin pair has begun nesting here for the first time since the resident colony of puffins fled 25 years ago, due to the increasing rat population. After an 8-year-long rat eradication program, the puffins are back. Hopefully, they will be joined by many more pairs in the future.

Source: BBC Radio 4.

14 November - COP 30 is underway, but I do not have much hope for a good outcome. 

The headline - 

TOP CLIMATE NEWS OF THE WEEK

Fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30 outnumber the delegations of every country except Brazil. Brazilian government puts owners of the world’s largest beef producer on COP30 ‘VIP list’.  Despite a record turnout, only 14% of Indigenous Brazilians are expected to participate in decision-making spaces at COP30.  Countries’ climate pledges put world on track for 12% reduction in emissions, UN says.  Source: Earth.org

More to be added.

NOTES: 

Earth Percent - Is a Music Climate Change charity. "Earth as a Royalty" - siphons music funds to a climate change charity, and they give it to indigenous people. They know what to do with it in the local area.

Source: Brian Eno.

CO2 FIGURES

09 Nov 2025 - 426.06 ppm, Annual increase +2.48 ppm. a 0.59% rise

05 Jan 2025 - 424.1 (Weekly Average). +1.8.

09 Nov 2024 - 423.58 ppm

12 Jan 2024 - 423.07

2024 - 422.3    +1.8

2023 - 420.5    +1.9

2022 - 418.6     +1.9

2021 - 416.7    +2.5

2020 - 414.2    +2.8

2019 - 411.4    +2.9.

12 Jan 2015 - 399.98

Pre-Industrial base - 280.

Safe Levels -350.

The numbers do show a reduction in the rate of increase since 2019, apart from a blip at the end of this year, possibly due to Trump wrecking the US green energy system.

Source: Mauna Loa Observatory. The longest-running direct figures of atmospheric CO2.

Regards,

Ivor Cogdell

Thoughts On - Alumwell 30.03.2025

 Hi Everyone, 

                       The eve of the Alumwell show was cold and miserable as I walked home from my shopping expedition. I was in two minds whether to go at all, but I packed my bag ready and I would decide in the morning. The morning arrived, bright and sunny. I felt much better and decided to attend the show. I soon found the Circle Battle Group under their alias of "The Knights of St. George". I said "Hi" to all of the gang there, dumped my coat and bag with them, and then looked at the stalls and banners lining the walls.

                      

This was our Pirate Game, organised by Alan G.

Alan G put on a great pirate game, complete with galleons that were afloat in good condition, sinking and had actually sunk, (that would be me, LOL). Natives on the islands to be "bumped off" by cannon fire, sharks and dolphins in the sea, treasure chests to grab and Rum to drink. 

My Bosun did a last man standing against a gallant merchant vessel crew, after his mates had been horribly slain by the other members of the other attacking pirate ship. My brave captain was waiting in the longboat to rescue him, that is, if he survived the attack of the other pirate Captain who was trying to seize the vessel at the same time. Which was where we had to pack up.

 My photos are being uncooperative at the moment, so I cannot show you many battles taking place on the tables, but I will keep trying to display them here. 

More pictures to come.

I was very frugal in my spending this year, as I still have a lot of plastic to process at home. I bought three African circular huts that will see service as Celtic roundhouses for my Roman  stuff that is in the works, a laser cut slot together "Pig Pen" to go with it (but no animals) and an "Antenna setup" and some enemy figures to go with my sci-fy games. I did see some nice 3d planted fields and a wooden fort that would have done as a Roman marching Fort, but I can make do with a printed version for the time being. Unusual for me, nothing from the bring and buy table. Richard did sell all of his scenery that he brought along, so he was happy.

               I saw some of the regulars from previous years, the American re-enactment jeep, assorted chaps in uniforms of various types and the model display table, showing assorted dioramas, spaceships, The Eagle Moon Lander from Space 1999 and WWII scenes. One section had marvel figures displayed. I don't remember any space battle tables.

Thanks to all our club members who attended, April and Alan who gave Richard and I a lift home, and Nat who kindly offered too. Thanks too all of the  organisers, vendors and clubs that came and displayed great battles. We hope to see you back again next year.

hard did sell some of

Regards all,

Ivor Cogdell