Them against them

A game of BattleLore in progress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Battlelore with magic this week as we finally began to get to grips with the "Lore" aspect. A meaty-feeling and fairly balanced scenario without the dwarfs or goblins but with plenty of other units and the opportunity to "cast spells". We both had the aim of gaining six banners and the first play through saw Crabro wiping out my right flank and eventually winning 6-4. This week it was his turn to carefully plot an attack on one of his own units. Last week it was me. It may be our age, but the lust to wipe out a single-piece unit sees the blood-lust cast judgement out the window sometimes. Mind you, the only thing that distinguishes one side from another is whether the banners are vertical

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

or horizontal so I think it's easily done.

After a pleasant lunch chatting, and eating some very tasty bread with our cuppas we returned to play the opposite sides of the scenario. For some time I thought that it was going to be two wins for Crabro as I failed time and again to finish off his units and he managed to move the remains back and "hide" them behind healthier units. Eventually he was poised for the win on five banners as I struggled up to four, then finally a sensible and effective use of a spell turned the tables as "Creeping Doom" took out four of the weakened units in one fell swoop leaving the score at 8-5 in my favour.

Bone die found at Cantonment Clinch (1823–1834), an American fort used in the American Civil War by both Confederate and Union forces at separate times. The fort was also used in 1898 in the Spanish-American War. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The addition of lore had seemed fairly natural and painless with steady build ups of lore enabling occasional plays of use low cost cards like "Eagle Eye" giving extra dice when needed and a couple of frustrating denial spells putting a stop to our magic at times. On the whole I felt that the low cost spells with definite but small gains were better to have than saving up lore tokens for things like Fireball and Creeping Doom with the benefit of possible large gains but still requiring a lot of luck, however, the former gained me an instant banner in the first play and the latter definitely got me the win in the second so perhaps my judgement is too hasty. More magic next time anyway.

At one point during the first game I heard myself, rattling dice in hand, say "Them against them" and it suddenly summed up the joy of this game for me, taking me back to my big raw ACW miniatures games of youth with our huge armies of Airfix OO/HO scale figures (some crudely adapted to Civil War from other sets) and some homemade rules using a ruler and a D6. Pointing to a particular regiment (with their miniature home-made flags) and then at an enemy unit while repeating that magic phrase.

Gaming doesn't get more fun than that for me. "Dudes on maps" as Grumbletweezer sums this kind of game up. Dudes on maps with dice that is. Dudes on maps with dice AND cards. Geek heaven.

This tough scenario didn't leave us time to get into Trajan again so we finished off with a game of Cribbage. I was tired by then and my brain had turned to pudding. Not surprisingly Crabro won (and would have done anyway) but the margin was one of which to be truly ashamed.

I just remembered, and should mention, that it was Crabro who generously pointed out that there was a slightly better (for me) place to target the "Creeping Doom" spell. While this wouldn't have affected the win, I believe it did contribute to the size of the score, and this generosity deserves to be mentioned.

Throughout, actually, a spirit of fair play was noticeable despite frequently backfiring on whichever of us was being generous at the time.

In a Sweet and Lowdown Place

In a Lonely Place (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

After some hill climbing on the Downs in the morning I was ready to put my feet up in the evening and
grateful, as usual, when film night arrived as a package in the form of Arthur, some DVDs and tapes, bottles of beer and a large Melton Mowbray pie.

WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

The first part of this week's double bill was a film neither of us had seen before: In a Lonely Place. This starred a luminous Gloria Grahame and the wonderful Humphrey Bogart who has been absent from my screen for too long.

I can't describe this Nicholas Ray film as the "B" film because it clearly was of much higher calibre than that: A complex psychological piece with all parties acting their socks off and no "cop-out" in the ending. I was very impressed and amazed that I had not been aware of it.






Bogart's character in this is not a sympathetic one, though one does feel his pain at times.

We want to find out what has made him the complicated, tormented and angry man that he is and his is such an edgy, powerful performance that it is easy to understand what makes Grahame, at once drawn to, and extremely afraid of him.

Description: Low-resolution reproduction of screenshot from trailer for the movie In a Lonely Place (1950), featuring stars Gloria Grahame and Humphrey Bogart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bogart is an uncompromising screen writer, by the rather risqué-novel-esque name of "Dixon Steele" who, despite pre-war success has only had a disastrous flop to his name since returning from war service where he was the C.O. of one of the investigating officers. He still has friends (one long-suffering one his agent) ready to go to any lengths for him and we see a compassionate and loyal side to his nature through them, we also see bursts of passion and blind rage that are clearly beyond his control.

At the beginning, a "hatcheck" girl is murdered after being at his apartment for an odd but innocent reason. Bogart is the prime suspect and Grahame provides an alibi of sorts. Did he do it though? Even his friends have their doubts, though in at least one case would still support him even if it was true. These include Robert Warwick one of Bogart's revered mentors and a former silent star and matinee idol, who plays a burned out "thespian" lush who Dix still respects and supports with touching loyalty. Grahame meanwhile provides the muse that unlocks his talent and he works furiously on a great new script at the same time as her fears grow. It is made clear that he is capable of such uncontrollable anger that killing is not beyond him.

This is a superb film of its type and fearlessly uncompromising in a way that is uncommon today. I rate it high up among the best thrillers of the era and am very glad to have had the chance to see it.

We also watched one of the extras on the DVD which had, Curtis Hanson, director of one of our recent watches, Wonder Boys, talking admiringly of the production, outside Ray's old home, the inspiration for the main set. One interesting insight was into the parallel between the actual film and the fictional one that Bogart's character was scripting. Dixon Steele is tasked with adapting what sounds like a terrible book and in fact simply uses it as a springboard to something else and the actual film does the same with a novel by Dorothy B. Hughes, although she was apparently happy with the result.

I don't want to give any more away as, if you like films of this type and era, you will be well rewarded by watching it, but I would like to quote a couple of lines from the fictional screenplay, which are also quoted at key points in the film: "I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me"

Screenshot from trailer for the movie In a Lonely Place (1950), featuring stars Gloria Grahame and Humphrey Bogart. Humphrey Bogart as Dixon Steele. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grahame was Ray's own wife at the time although they separated during the shooting, others considered for the part were Bogart's wife Lauren Bacall and Ginger Rogers. Grahame certainly made the part her own.

Alternative endings were shot, though the film was always very different from he book where "Dixon Steele" was a serial killer and rapist. Dix is a volatile and troubled character and his violent nature leaves the director room to decide what he has or has not done. Rather disturbingly, Louise Brooks has written that of all his roles Dixon Steele was the closest to the real-life Bogart she knew.

Anyway a great start to the evening and "You can't whack a Bogy" as Arthur, rather ambiguously, declared afterwards, in a statement which may puzzle any wheeltappers amongst you.

Sweet and Lowdown (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

The second feature, accompanying by the pie and beer, was another in our series of Woody Allen films. This was one we saw together in the cinema at the end of the 90s and afterwards declared a little masterpiece.

It seemed to have been unfairly neglected in our eyes and when we watched it again we were not disappointed or moved to change our opinion. This is "Sweet and Lowdown" a mock documentary about a fictional jazz guitar player of considerable talent but dangerously large ego, obnoxious and arrogant, he is well aware of his talent and has an opinion of his place in the world inconsistent with his personality and actual achievements. He acknowledges only one better guitarist: Django Reinhardt who he idolises to the extent that he allegedly faints on each of the few occasions their paths cross.

It is a bittersweet tale of might-have-beens and self-delusion.




Emmet Ray the great musician is played by Sean Penn in an uncharacteristic but beautifully acted comic role which is among his very best performances in my opinion. Allen himself and a number of others pop up as talking heads offering their opinion on the life and work of the guitarist, while the love of his life (though he doesn't really acknowledge it) is Hatty, a mute, beautifully played by Samantha Morton, whose sweet expressive face is one of the haunting things I carried away from the film the first time. I truly think that this is one of Woody's gems and deserves a place in the top ten of this prolific director's films. It is whimsical and funny but also very sad and unsurprisingly has some great music, particularly if you like the work of the "French gypsy" worshipped by Emmet.

All the "W"s

Shooter's Bottom again yesterday...but that's enough about my ailments...at least until I start whinging about my knee again...the one I pulled during my recent cycling exploits and which was giving me some trouble on the climbs.

Anyway we set off on a beautiful Spring day, despite being once again misled by the miserable weather forecasts into expecting a "Railway Film Club" day in front of the telly. We parked near to Birling Gap and walked up through the top of Horshoe Plantation and on to the aforementioned bottom with the Belle Tout lighthouse above us and a lot of tantalising birdsong about. We could hear willow warblers but not see them but there were a lot of tits (great tits and bluetits) a goldfinch or two and an almost unnaturally loud blackbird, broadcasting his melodious tunes through the patch of woodland. For once there was little noise from the road or other humans and in the otherwise silent wood the loud birdsong was a treat.

Emerging into the light again we explored the gorse and scrub of the bottom in a big figure of eight and were rewarded with a lot of sightings of birds singing their hearts out in the sunshine. Mostly these were dunnocks and linnets, with the males very gaudy this time of year. We also had good views of whitethroat, drawn by the slightly scratchy song, and of a nice whinchat obligingly posing for the 'scope and doing her characteristic tail twitching. High above us a raptor was circling which, when it wasn't quite so sillhouetted against the sun, was revealed as a peregrine falcon rather than the more common kestrel. Also in the sky and making rather more noise about it were a number of skylarks.

Feeling the journey had been justified we looked for somewhere suitable for our picnic but no sooner had we cried "seat!", spotting an ideal place in the distance, than it was occupied by a dog-walking man and his son. Eventually we walked back down the second valley and up the other side of Birling Gap, high on the "Seven Sisters" clifftops looking back at the beautiful, but infamous, Beachy Head.

It was a very pleasant picnic, though we had failed to find a place sheltered from the wind, which occasionally gusted making it briefly much cooler. At one point a sudden gust whisked away the top of my picnic box taking it almost over the cliff but at the last second dying away and leaving it inches from the edge. I shrugged and said I would find an alternative but there was no way I was going to risk going that close to the edge. As a native of these parts I am very aware of the risks of a suden gust of wind or the friable chalk suddenly collapsing and moving the edge inland by several feet, indeed the nearby lighthouse had had to be moved inland at enormous cost to stop it toppling into the sea. There was no stopping my birding tutor though and although he minimised the risk by flattening himself and reaching from the longest range possible I had to ask him how he thought I would have felt if he had died retrieving a bit of plastic on my behalf. Nice to have my picnic box intact mind you...

Lying on the bunny-cropped turf looking out over the great white face of the cliff to the lighthouse and the sparkling sea, with a nice cup of tea in hand, we both acknowledged just how much better it was than the days when we had been colleagues sitting in front of computer screens in a dingy office nine to five (and longer).

What with wheatears, whitethroats, willow warblers and whinchat it was as though we had been working through the double-u section of the bird book. In which case I wouldn't really be looking forward to the next trip as much.

Comuni and chips

Fish and chips, a popular take-away food of the United Kingdom. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We were four for games this Thursday, and actually only three for a little while as ProfMudlark arrived fresh from tinkering with the clockwork of the universe and, having sought advice on the area's gourmet meccas, set off to the local chippy for sustenance.

Meanwhile MaOldie taught Crabro and me how to play 24/7: The Game, which has very nice Bakelite(?) tiles and red glass stones. I was amazed to find, since it is purely maths based, that I won by a good margin. Naturally we were under no illusions about how we would fare against the hungry prof. and his mathematical planet-sized brain. Sure enough, while polishing off huss and chips, he trounced us all, with me getting my come-uppance in last.

This was followed by a rather chaotic game of Comuni, at least the start was chaotic because despite having played it before, we had forgotten the rules. Various heated debates broke out and eventually Crabro dismissed me to the office, ordering me to boot up this PC and look up the mythical FAQ to clarify a critical point. Meanwhile he simply looked up the answer himself on his iPhone which was connected to the same WiFi. It was all beginning to feel a little tense, however, it is a game we all like, I think. I had clearly forgotten how to play it though, and picked up a lot of plunder (minus) points which is something I don't remember doing to any great extent in previous plays.

On the last turn I had plenty of military (black) cubes but by then it was far too late and I came third out of four. I believe Crabro won from the Prof, with it having been very close indeed between all four of us before bonus and malus were applied.

I think it was MaOldie who said we should play it again before we forget the rules again, and I would agree with that. A very good game...very badly played.

Dwarfs v Goblins

A return to normal Tuesday gaming with Crabro today, after the Easter hiatus. We continued with our Battlelore marathon, this time with some Iron Dwarfs set on the tall banner side against Don Pedro's forces aided(?) by a bunch of permanently frightened goblins.

In the first game I played Don Pedro's side and was surprised to find that my goblins were not running away in panic as much as I was expecting. ...They were getting slaughtered however.

With nothing much left on the right flank I tried to gain some banners on the other flank but ran out of steam there. In the end I decided to use a "Blue Banners" card to make some sort of mass attack and confront the dwarfs I feared (not only were they permanently bold and therefore ever ready to "battle back" but they were defending from hills). In the end the outcome was as I had always expected, a loss however the score was very close. I think 6-4 or even 6-5.

A game of BattleLore in progress. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)t

After lunch we changed sides and I was surprised to find that, despite some silly mistakes on my part, I was poised for the whitewash - 6-0. At this point I made possibly my silliest mistake and ended up setting up an attack on a lone figure...from my own army. I don't know whether I would have been successful in getting a banner elsewhere or perhaps I could have rescued this unit if I had played a different card. At any rate Crabro pounced and got a consolation banner for his troubles. I then managed to finish the game at 6-1. Crabro was most complimentary about the win, saying I played the side far better than he did. This was very kind, as was his allowing me to roll the extra dice allowed by a card in one move, after I had forgotten to take them. In reality it felt as though I had been very lucky.

Either way it was excellent fun as usual and we both look forward to moving on to including magic (the "lore" in Battlelore) next time.

Head of Trajan (reign 98–117 CE), from an oversized statue (around 2.70 m height). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The remainder of the day was used in setting up and learning another Stefan Feld game: Trajan. We didn't have time to actually play it after that but we have a head start for next time. We have high hopes of this after enjoying Feld's other games so much, and it looks very good indeed.

An Old but Happy Medium

Bullets Over Broadway (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

Friday film night returned at the "Rialto" despite Arthur having been a bit under the weather of late. He declared himself to be "fit as a #*&$@ing flea" but declined to join in with the beer this week and so washed down the now traditional melton mowbray pork delicacy with some apple juice. I stuck to the Spitfire ale.

This week one of the films of choice was only available in our archive in VHS format so we hastily added an old tape player to the Rialto's projection system and decided to make it a double bill of tapes.

First up was a classic: The Green Man. This is one of those wonderful comedies that Alistair Sim made his own and of course also starred a young George Cole who regarded Sim as a kind of father figure. Several other comedy regulars from the era pop up including Brighton's own Dora Bryan as the Green Man's landlord's wife and the rotter's rotter: Terry Thomas.

Alistair Sim is up to no good in this delightful farce, and planning another in a succ

Alastair Sim (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

essful line of assassinations. He specialises in bumping off the pompous and is intending to do away with an MP who it turns out is trying to have a dirty weekend with a mousy typist in the true "Mr and Mrs Smith" fashion. Despite the fact that he doesn't seem to merit saving, vacuum cleaner salesman Cole and a young lady with an unsuitable boyfriend whom he comes across as the result of Sim calamitously botched machinations set off to "The Green Man" to foil Sims' dastardly plan. I don't think I'll be giving too much away to say that it has a happy and romantic conclusion but along the way there are plenty of opportunities for farcical confusion and some splendid facial contortions on the part of the continually thwarted Sim.

The second part of the VHS double bill was one of our favourite Woody Allen film's: Bullets over Broadway. Both of us agree this is somewhere in the top ten of Allen's output, perhaps even top 5. Although Allen himself is not in this one, his trademark humour shines throughout a classic script by him and co-writer ahem. The cast is marvellous and includes the wonderful Diane Wiest, Jim Broadbent, Chaz Palmentiri and stars John Cusack. For all of them I would say this is one of their best performances.

Jim Broadbent at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The screenplay also gives Woody a chance to say a few things about art and the compromises needed to allow its creation. It says a lot about selling out and questions the division of man and artist. Can you love the artist and not the man or vice versa? I'm always asking people to divorce the two when looking at Allen's work and to judge it separately from their opinion on him as a person so it is particularly apposite in a film written and directed by him.

The plot revolves around a play written by struggling "artist" playwright John Cusack who finds that the

John Cusack Berlin Premiere of 2012 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 only way he can get his play on Broadway is to have it funded by a mobster, who insists that his uneducated chorus-girl moll be given a large part in it. Chaz Palmentiri ("Cheech") is his strong right arm, ever-ready to rub someone out on command. He is set to see that "Olive" is treated right by the playwright and cast but while he is hanging around the theatre watching rehearsals another less fatal talent is revealed: He has a better instinct for writing plays that work, than Cusack.

Wiest is a fading star who is conscious that she has "legend" status and doesn't want to acknowledge that she is no longer offered roles. Broadbent is marvellous as a great British actor who is "on the wagon" from an over-eating disorder but falls off in a big way at the same time as falling for Olive in a very perilous one. There are some great lines and some nice throw away bits of humour. The world of literature and art is a closed book to Olive and while she is talking in her dressing room, fellow thespian (Tracy Ullman) looks round the door and in the nicest possible way reminds her that in the scene where she is supposed to be quoting Hamlet it's "or not to be".

Dianne Wiest (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

There's some marvellous stuff with the expanding Broadbent and between Cusack and Wiest amongst others but I don't want to give too much away.

This was a great double bill of classic comedies and opens up the possibilities for plundering a wider archive of old films by including the VHS format in which, despite a large cull a few years ago both Arthur and I still have quite a large number of titles.

Ouzel Pretty Boy Then?

Friday continued the return to normality with a birding trip. This time I was whisked to the foot of Cissbury ring and, although the journey over was misty, and the temperature cool enough for gloves and woolly hat on the gentle ascent to the ancient hill fort on top of the South Downs, it was sunny and got hotter as the time moved on.

The reason for our visit was mainly to look for the elusive ring ouzel, which I had failed to see before at Newhaven. After wandering around a bit and looking at likely spots we came across a small group of people with 'scopes pointing in the same direction.


Following the line of sight it was clear we had found our quarry. He was obligingly sitting in good view and didn't seem inclined to move despite all the lenses pointing at him. I got some good views of him through my mentor's 'scope and took some pictures the clearest of which is here. This was a thrilling encounter for me and a life tick.

 We continued our wander in and around the earthwork of the second largest hill fort in the country and sat on a bench looking out over Worthing six hundred feet below to eat our picnic. By this time it was a glorious and hot sunny day and there and subsequently on a short walk round Beeding Brooks it became clear that I was extremely over-dressed. The gloves were long gone and the woolly hat exchanged for the "birding hat" with its geeky collection of bird badges. Ignoring the old adage "Cast ne'er a clout till may is out" I cast as many as I could without offending public decency. I'm not complaining but it isn't easy to dress for birding if you start off needing gloves and end up in shirtsleeves.

Other birds seen included chiff-chaff and willow warbler, buzzard, kestrel, linnet, jay, very bright yellowhammer, green woodpecker (in flight), blackcap, skylark, pheasant and the usual assortment of robins,tits and corvids. At the Brooks this time there was only a moorhen, mute swan and a couple of greylag geese so we didn't stay too long. We also saw some orange-tip and brimstone butterflies and numerous fat furry bees amongst the cowslips etc.

It was a beautiful day on top of the Downs and would have been very pleasant just to have a picnic there: The ring ouzel made it very special however.

Huugo-o and Waaru

 Things got a bit back to normal on Thursday as most of the Saltdean Gamers turned up with a surprise addition: Former member of the group, and MaOldie's son, "waaru".










Despite Crabro being out of the country this meant we were up to six players again but a harmonious split was quickly agreed and while Ma, Petra and MrWendell played Village,  ProfMudlark and I were shown how Agricola should be played, by waaru. The scores were 48 to waaru, 34 to the Prof and I trailed in last on 30, This is by no means my worst score
although I had felt that I was heading in that direction.






As both the bigger games finished more or less at the same time we were all able to join up for a final filler and an old favourite was chosen: Midnight Party. Perhaps I had learned something from calling "Huuugoooo" during nearly forty games because I actually won this one. A very pleasant evening. Nice to see waaru again and also good to give my copy of Agricola an outing again.

Grumbletrousercon 2012

Most of the last week was taken up with a visit from an old friend and ex-room-mate: "Grumbletweezer".














As usual on his annual Spring visit he brought with him a number of games and his bicycle, so we went out for my annual short ride, just to show we did get some healthy exercise, and having got that out of the way we spent the rest of the days playing board games and co-operative video games, watching films and documentaries, eating and drinking. Being Easter, the eating included chocolate and hot cross bun and Grumbletweezer conceived the genius notion of combing bun with bacon. Delicious! While out on our bike ride we managed a little birding, although the tide was well in and there were few of our feathered quarry about. We saw a few of the resident kittiwakes at Splash Point and among the usual suspects also came across a linnet, skylark and a surprised yellowhammer who hopped out into the open on a bush right in front of me.

The board games were Memoir '44, Dungeons and Dragons: Legend of Nerath (kindly hosted by the Goldstone Gamers who also fed us royally), Sid Meier's Civilisation, War of the Ring, Incursion and Wizard's Quest. Grumbletweezer likes games of the type he describes as "Dudes on a map".

The video games were Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Lego Star Wars and much hilarity was had as we tried to co-operatively win a podrace fueled by unacustomed amounts of le plonk blonk.

Since I often indicate how well or badly I do at these games: I won both sides of the Memoir scenario, won one (shortened version) of Sid's Civ, was on the losing team at Nerath with Saharasweeper against Paultro and Grumbs, won one each of our two games of Incursion and of War of the Ring and lost the final game: Wizard's Quest.

These annual visits always go ridiculously quickly and serve to remind me what fun we might be sharing if we didn't nowadays live 200 miles apart.