Airfix in serious trouble

First, the bad news...



The article touches upon an important element of why this news story has such an impact on men my age. MOST middle class kids in America and Europe have some experience with Airfix kits and plastic soldiers. The ceiling to my room in Adak Alaska (a small room I shared with Jim and Pat) was festooned with Airfix model kits hanging by threads in fighting poses. I was particularly fond of WWI 1/72 scale kits, many of which are still around now.

Life is full of changes, some bad and some good. Nothing lasts forever. But the article touches that misty part of my memory, and many evenings spent with an exacto knife and glueing my fingers together, and that damned glue fogging the plastic windows of the plane kit.. it all comes flooding back like it was yesterday.

I even remember getting a SR71 Blackbird kit from my mom when I was sick with the mumps, to give me something to do while I was oonvelescing. I did a horrible job constructing it, but I was proud of it.

I hope Airfix stays around, in some fashion, so that another generation can glue their fingers together like we did when we were kids.

Mongoose Publishing announces Prepainted Miniatures, Plans for Starship Troopers in 2007

This just was posted on the Mongoose Publishing forum. For those of you not in the know, they make the Starship Troopers game, among many other things, including roleplaying games.

Source: post by Matthew Sprange, Mongoose Publishing, on the MP forum.



Dunno what to make of the Starship Troopers game.. it's a pleasant little bloody diversion, but it's not something I'd spend a lot of time or money on because there's just not a lot of variability in the system. It also appears to be designed for strictly two player at this juncture. Maybe some day. In any event I hope it does well.

The REAL matter of interst is Battlefield Evolution (which sounds quite intriguing to me) and the fact that they are using prepainted miniatures. I'm not crazy about moderns but I do like the marketing approach. Much is being made here and there on the internet of the "Pacific Rim job" the hobby is getting (using cheap Asian factories and painting mills). The first appearance of this was the Axis and Allies Miniatures. I've bought some. They're alright, and that's about all I can say about them.. poorly painted and not to scale, but they look okay from a distance with 15mm figures. The article above is clearly a committment to a much better set of models at affordable prices.

For me, the painting is an enjoyable element, but it is also a huge timesink. At my age, I just don't have hours and hours to devote to this endeavor. So to spend money instead of time might be worth it. To spend even less money might be a real kick. I have no problems with prepainted figures, if the subject is something I like and they are reasonably priced.

Good thing she didn't have a burrito for lunch!

This is pretty funny... although Leslie Nielsen did it better in NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF THE POLICE SQUAD

CNN anchor upstages Bush

New York - Her "loving" husband emerged pretty well, but her "control freak" of a sister-in-law is probably less amused, after a CNN presenter left her microphone on while chatting to a colleague in the toilets.

Viewers who tuned into Tuesday's edition of Live From... to watch President George Bush in New Orleans were instead treated to the president competing for attention with anchor Kyra Phillips giving a lavatory low down on her family.

"My husband is handsome and he is genuinely a loving, you know, no ego... you know what I'm saying," Phillips told an unidentified confidante in a bathroom back-and-forth transmitted live to the nation for over a minute.

When her powder room pal turned to talk of her latest love interest and her mother's approval ratings, Phillips confided - or so she thought - that her brother was the one she needed to look out for.

"He's married, three kids, but his wife is just a control freak," she said.

A CNN official eventually interrupted the bathroom banter.

The network said in a statement it had experienced "audio difficulties" and apologised to viewers... and the upstaged president.

© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved.

Attribution: (Independent Online 2006. All Rights Reserved)

Rum, Sodomy and the Lash

.. and all that.

I picked up the new version of Enemy in Sight (Lost Battalion) at HISTORICON. I'm happy that LBG decided to reprint the game-- AH's crappy old cardstock does NOT stand the test of time, nor do their 'gamette" boxes, usually. I rather liked the old artwork, though.

I can't fathom why Lost Battalion went with the radar wave pattern around the ship art on the cards, which is slightly off-putting. It makes me jones for the older cards. I suppose playing with the older ship cards is still possible, they didn't change the deck much at all. Truly this is a minor quibble, as it doesn't affect gameplay in the slightest.

I played it with Drey, Anne and Gar last week. EIS is still a great family game, and plays fast enough if you ignore a few confuising rules. Hell, I still am probably doing LINE BREAKER cards wrong, after all these years.

Functionally (design-wise) the game has changed very little if at all. There are no new rules that I could see and very few new cards. The folks at the LBG booth told me which ones were added and hanged if I could remember. They weren't anything that broke the game as far as I could see.



It's too bad LBG did not deign to even take a look at the wonderful job Tom Cundiff did in extending the game. Talk about a labor of love!!

http://www.thewargamer.com/EnemyInSight/index.html

In any event it plays as well as it ever did, and makes a great family wargame (still). I played it three times last week and am very glad it got reprinted.

All Done, just about!

I'm slowing down on the 54mm gladiators... why? Simple. I've painted everything I own, almost. There's a couple of the pseudo-African gladiator figures left in plastic that I might get around to, might not. In any event, as the photo shows,I have enough to get started.



Where to go next? Well, the idea of using 54mm Fantasy figures mixed in with historicals sounds amusing to me. A pity that some of the figures are so expensive in 54mm. I recently started a thread about the availbility of fantasy figures in 54
mm scale on TMP, and got some decent leads. The DFC (Dimensions for Children) 54mm plastics looks like its an interesting avenue to pursue for very little investment.

Conversely, I had planned on getting some more 54mm historicals from Irregular's 54mm Gladiator line (not all of them, but a few figures I don't have). I also plan on getting a couple of 54mm tigers and maybe a few accessories like swords and shields.



I have also found a company called "furuta" which makes 54mm gladiators, but they are incredibly expensive (70 dollars for 6, sold as a set, clearly for display only).. so unless I find 'em in a garage sale, that's a pipe dream. Sure are pretty, though!






I also had completely zoned on Chris Van Fahenstock's line of 54mm gladiators from Outland Games. It's a crapshoot if he's in country at the moment (with Iraq going on), but I will follow up on it. He has a Samnite, a Thracian, two really good Retiarii and another Diomachian.

I'm still pretty much stuck on a simple set of gladiator rules that a friend of mine, Steve Gibson, wrote. They don't concentrate on classes so much as generic mechanics (it doesn't matter what class the gladiator is, he has an armor belt HERE and a small shield THERE and leg armor THERE, you see). Most gladiator or man to man games work this way, but I like Steve's approach-- 3-4 pages of pertinent material and two pages of charts. He also writes rules for fantasy monsters and such. The only thing I might add to it would be magical combat of some sort.

New from Mega Minis

I'm really liking J.D. Lauck's MEGA MINIATURES. I just bought their 20th Century zombie colleciton, and intend to purchase the SWAT Team group for the upcoming Christmas game. Now they have released another in their line of "animal swarm" miniatures, penguins. For DIRT CHEAP, too!



I don't know exactly how, but I'll need to attach shocking tentacles to these things, so I can create "Killer Penguins", Monty Python style.

Any suggestions?

Located!

Follow up from: Another Point of Singularity: Northern Virginia's own Crazed Killer Legend!

You might recall the post I put up a month ago about Virginia's very own crazed maniac urban legend, "the Bunnyman". Every urban legend is about 90% BS but there's Alexis that 10% of hard fact that confuses the issues. I strongly recommend a visit to an article by Brian Conley, historian for Fairfax County, called THE BUNNYMAN UNMASKED. There's enough gruesome reality mixed in with the legend to give a reader an idea where all the grisly aspects of this legend come from.

It turns out that back in the early 70s, there were a rash of vandalism reports when the great building craze in the western part of Fairfax County was going on. Here's the interesting part-- the vandal was sighted many times, and every time he was sighted he was wearing a white bunny suit. For the most part he would limit himself to chopping down decorative columns on the new houses being built at the time, but in one more sinister incident, the bunny-suited vandal threw an axe through the window at a couple parked and making out on a secluded road. There are, apparently, police reports of these incidents and the police actually witnessed one of them, which lends credence to the bunny suit element of the story. (note bene, I haven't had the energy to research this)

The question one has to ask is did the fellow from the early 70s know anything at all about the EARLIER legend of the two escaped convicts that were found hanging from the railroad bridge? The two stories seem to have blended over time. Don Pierce, a work colleague, grew up around here and clearly remembers people using the Bunnyman as a sort of modern boogeyman... "don't go in them woods.. The Bunnyman will git ya"

The other night I decided to follow the map to the only location where the railroad actually passes OVER a road in the surrounding five mile area. Sure enough, the location was exactly where I thought it was:



It took a while to get there, but it was worth it. Suddenly, the road narrowed, and here it was!



That's the North end. It's definitely spooky looking at night. I can see why it has an evil reputation.

South End...



In the tunnel itself



At this stage, things started getting eerie. I definitely got a feeling that someone was watching me...

And over my shoulder, I noticed a white shape forming!

What's THAT?????

"Oh sweet mother of Christ! NOoooooooooooooooo!!!!

Out of the darkness!



Needless to say, I had to put the pedal to the metal at that point!

It just makes it harder to play AK-47 Republic, Dang it...

There's SO MANY people out working as mercenaries that South Africa has to actually legislate?

S.Africa passes controversial mercenaries bill Tuesday August 29, 06:18 PM

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa passed an anti-mercenaries law on Tuesday that could bar thousands of its nationals from working for security companies in global hotspots such as Iraq and in other national armies.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota told lawmakers before the bill was passed by an overwhelming majority that one of the intentions of the measure was to stop local mercenaries "subverting democracy" across Africa.
The government wants to stop civilians and former soldiers -- many trained in the apartheid army -- from fighting or offering security services after South Africans were found to be involved in a number of attempted coups and conflicts in Africa.

"Mercenaries are the scourge of poor areas of the world, especially Africa," Lekota said.

"Killers for hire, they rent out their skills to the highest bidder regardless of the political agenda," he said.

But critics say the bill is too wide-ranging and could affect civilians involved in legitimate security work and in other military services, including the British army.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has estimated at least 4,000 South Africans are employed in conflict areas around the world, but the actual number may be closer to 20,000.

The bill requires citizens working as security personnel to seek permission from the government and allows certain conflict countries to be declared regulated zones.

The law, which must still be approved by parliament's second house and President Thabo Mbeki, has been widely criticised for infringing on South Africans' rights to freedom of employment.

The British High Commissioner to South Africa appealed for changes to provisions that would impact on about 800 former South African soldiers working in British forces.

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

Lekota said the last two decades had seen the emergence of a global trade in hired guns.

"A number of human rights abuses have been committed by some firms and in many instances their operations have led to a rise in internal tensions and sometimes even military coups in certain states," he said.

About 2,000 South Africans, many trained as soldiers in the apartheid-era military force, are believed to be working in the security sector in Iraq. Several have been killed there.

Lekota said the government was also concerned South Africans could end up fighting for foreign armies in conflicts that contravened international law or Pretoria's foreign policy.

Former South African soldiers were linked to a foiled coup plot in the oil-rich west African state of Equatorial Guinea and in the past were hired as private soldiers in conflict-ridden Sierra Leone

Resistance is not futile published

Remember the post about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising game I put up a month ago? I objected to it strenuously back then as being in questionable taste, and still do now. As have many other people. All to no effect.

FIREFIGHT GAMES announced the publication of RESISTANCE IS NOT FUTILE (RINF) on their website and CSW today, and the story was carried on CSW. For a mere 16 bucks, you can purchase a game about wiping out the Jewish ghetto, gassing pockets of Jewish resistance fighters, and annhilating most of a city. The game is two player, which is my big beef with it.

Many potential customers have been posting on the Firefight Games forum on CSW, stating that they are now ex-customers. The two people behind Firefight, Perry Moore and Paul Rohrbaugh, have taken this development rather poorly, although they are maintaining some degree of civility.

Rohrbaugh can't get past his interpertation of customer criticisms as being a form of censorship instead of feedback.

using your logic, any WWII game that casts the player as the German is putting him/her into the role of NAZI and war criminal. As I said, this is a learning tool as well as a game. This has been a constant in all of my game design endeavors. Is RINF the same as "Chutes and Ladders", "War of the Ring", "Rummy" or virtually any other game out there? Certainly not, and it was never intended to be in that league. None of my games are that. All of them I hope are enlightening, challanging, and fun. All have these three elements, but none in the same measure, and that includes this latest one from FFG. That Resistance Is Not Futile generates this level of discussion and analysis is a good thing. This is one of the goals I was aiming for. I only wish that the discussion could be more civil and that, like many other points in life, agreeing to disagree may be the best resolution. That doesn't make anyone a bad or evil person, especially if they come down on one side or the other and stays there. However, for those who want to censor and intimidate, ignoring them is the best and most appropriate response I can come up with.

Yes, Aaron, the German VP markers have swastikas on them. What else would Nazis use? Ignoring and not using the symbols would be a form of self-imposed censorship/PoliticalCorrectness. This game does NOT seek to deny the history; very much the opposite. Swastikas are used to illustrate a number of works on WWII and Holocaust and RINF follows in that approach. If this game does end up being sold in Europe, I will gladly and willingly obey their laws and provide counter sheets that do meet any legal mandates.

It is a shame some cannot get over the prejudices and the hyperbole of others, but that is life. I've never offered this game to other publishers and only gone the DTP route from the start. I understand the "thorny-ness" of this game for publishers. I view that as a shame and something to be addressed further long after the last copy of RINF sells out. In a truely free society openness and toleration should be the standard. Perhaps wargaming publication may reach that stage, perhaps not. If RINF can help move the discussion, fine and dandy. It is my shot at doing so at least.

Bottom line, if this is not for you don't buy it. No one is forcing you to do so. I am not shouting from the mountaintops and aggresively marketing this game (the calls for boycotts and censorship are sure generating a buzz, though). If, however, you want to learn more about this event in game form, try it.

I am also glad others notice that we are not deleting posts. Perry and I are not censors.

Moore gave a pretty flip response to criticism...

well, in this world of poltical correctness that has gone excessive in many ways, Paul's game stirs up a lot of silliness from some that are overly sensitive to its topic. I think james werbanth voiced it correctly. Regardless, there is no right or wrong since it all depends on who is looking, each such person colors their own comments with their own prejudices as to what is right or wrong. I do not recall this BS on John Prados' game on the same topic in S&T many years ago. Would there be this dialogue if the battle had been Russians instead of Jews?

A few random customer quotes on CSW:

Actually, there is such a thing as right and wrong. Not surprising that you don't know the difference, considering your company's decision to publish this garbage.

Nobody's tried to censor him and prevent publication. But many of us has questioned "why" this "game" is to be published. A game you referred to as a "bug hunt."

Paul can do and say what he wants. But if he calls my aunt, who is black, a "nigger," I'll point out that his choice of words was inappropriate. As is his choice of topic here, imo.

That's the bottom line -- it's not censorship, it's folks saying that they feel this topic is inappropriate.

Censorship would mean that Firefight had somehow been prevented from publishing this game. That's not what's happening. I'm a huge believer in free speech, and I'd fight for Paul's right to go ahead with this project. But I can be personally against it, and I can show this by proclaiming so, (as I have done), and choosing not to buy. I can also ask others if they really want to play a game on what was, essentially, a massacre (including gassing) of 13,000 Jews that lead to death camp deportations for 50,000 + more.

I would hope that this game isn't published, though Paul has the right to do so. Censorship? Not at all.

It's a call to boycott, not to censor. He doesn't propose that anything be changed or that you be in any way prevented from publishing, but instead that you by the subject of a boycott.

(replying) It's a lot more than that. It's a call for the destruction of Firefight Games, and the end of several careers as game designers.


Hmm...I see nothing more than part of the game-buying public offering very strong feedback as to their distaste of this game subject for a two-player game treatment (I know that my personal opinion would be different were this a solitaire-only design, with the player being the part of the Ghetto Jews, and the system being the evil Nazi machine...).

While it is commendable that the propietors of this folder have not edited out any dissent, it is still unsettling that it is apparent that none of the negative feedback was actually listened to and acted upon.

That's just a few of the nicer ones..

From Paul Rohrbaugh

Mike, using your logic, any WWII game that casts the player as the German is putting him/her into the role of NAZI and war criminal. As I said, this is a learning tool as well as a game. This has been a constant in all of my game design endeavors. Is RINF the same as "Chutes and Ladders", "War of the Ring", "Rummy" or virtually any other game out there? Certainly not, and it was never intended to be in that league. None of my games are that. All of them I hope are enlightening, challanging, and fun. All have these three elements, but none in the same measure, and that includes this latest one from FFG. That Resistance Is Not Futile generates this level of discussion and analysis is a good thing. This is one of the goals I was aiming for. I only wish that the discussion could be more civil and that, like many other points in life, agreeing to disagree may be the best resolution. That doesn't make anyone a bad or evil person, especially if they come down on one side or the other and stays there. However, for those who want to censor and intimidate, ignoring them is the best and most appropriate response I can come up with.

Yes, Aaron, the German VP markers have swastikas on them. What else would Nazis use? Ignoring and not using the symbols would be a form of self-imposed censorship/PoliticalCorrectness. This game does NOT seek to deny the history; very much the opposite. Swastikas are used to illustrate a number of works on WWII and Holocaust and RINF follows in that approach. If this game does end up being sold in Europe, I will gladly and willingly obey their laws and provide counter sheets that do meet any legal mandates.

It is a shame some cannot get over the prejudices and the hyperbole of others, but that is life. I've never offered this game to other publishers and only gone the DTP route from the start. I understand the "thorny-ness" of this game for publishers. I view that as a shame and something to be addressed further long after the last copy of RINF sells out. In a truely free society openness and toleration should be the standard. Perhaps wargaming publication may reach that stage, perhaps not. If RINF can help move the discussion, fine and dandy. It is my shot at doing so at least.

Bottom line, if this is not for you don't buy it. No one is forcing you to do so. I am not shouting from the mountaintops and aggresively marketing this game (the calls for boycotts and censorship are sure generating a buzz, though). If, however, you want to learn more about this event in game form, try it.

From Perry:

Holy Moly! Great balls of Fire! Look at all the chatter RINF has created. Totally unbelieveable at some of the emotional silliness.

With that said, Paul's latest is now ready for all of you buy! so, before you continue, try the game-you just may like it! (as a game). Remember, it IS A GAME, and wouldn't it be cool if you, as the jewish player won!

To which he got this response:

Totally unbelieveable at some of the emotional silliness.

Nice to see the fate of some of my ancestors dismissed so casually.

so, before you continue, try the game-you just may like it!

Frankly, I wouldn’t buy this game if it was the last game on earth. (Bet they won't use that as an advertising blurb)

In summary, the game has created a bit of a buzz for the publisher's determination in publishing it in the face of widespread disdain. I already wasn't going to buy it, but I rather doubt I'll be picking up any of their products ever again.

It makes you wanna cry... no, giggle, no, definitely cry....

Kids Watch as Clown Is Crushed to Death

AP
DUBLIN, Ireland (Aug. 29) - A hot-air balloon caught fire during a circus stunt, killing a clown acrobat as dozens of children watched, police said Tuesday.

The accident happened Monday night as the Royal Russian Circus was performing in Scariff, County Clare, a village in western Ireland. About 100 people were in the audience, most of them children. Police said the clown was a 26-year-old man from Belarus but didn't release his name.

Witnesses said the man, dressed in a clown outfit, was hanging from a cage suspended by ropes and a hot-air balloon inside the canvas tent. When the balloon exploded in flames, the cage fell on top of the man.

The man's wife, who was also part of the act, suffered a broken arm, police said.

"We were all sitting down and they were doing their act. They were up fairly high, but they were doing fine. Next thing, he was down on the ground," said audience member Hazel Harrington. She said many people in the audience initially thought the falling cage was part of the act.

About a half-dozen circuses, employing mostly Eastern European performers, tour Ireland each summer.

Questions about Italeri 54mm gladiators..

I've been painting up 54mm gladiators lately, and just finished a box of Italeri 1/32 plastic gladiators last night. In general, I'm very pleased with how well these figures match my Alpha Miniature figures. They are just about perfect. However, I am puzzled as to what kind of gladiators these are supposed to be.

Italeri must have relied on movies for inspiration, because these casts look "kinda, almost" right, but not "exactly right" for certain gladiator classes.

I am by no means a historical authority on gladiators-- I have a general idea of what class did what and what they looked like. I realize there were some variations that "kinda sorta" look right and are perfectly acceptable. I'm just interested in other opinions.



Take figure 1. He's got the shoulder armor of a retiarus, the helmet of a thracian. And he's modeled to throw a spear. What would this be, a Hoplomochus?

In this picture, a Hoplomochus is on the left, standing by as if in a pose of victory. A Thracian (Thraex) gives the sign of submission to the referee (not the blood pouring out of his shoulder!)



So if I add a circular shield to Figure 1, he's a bona fide Hoplomachus (with slightly non-standard helmet.. it's very similar to the Myrmillo).

Figure 2. I'm going to say Secutor, maybe, because of the way he's running about, but the helmet doesn't look right, and I thought they had curved swords. I might have him mixed up with another class.



I'm going to call this guy a Secutor, what the heck. According to this mosaic he's the figure on the right. The shield is right and the helmet pretty close although not exactly right. In the mosaic graphic below a Secutor takes on a Retiarus.



(that's a Retiarus on the left, and he's in trouble. He's lost his net and trident on the ground, and only has his knife left-- note the graphic leg wound!)

Figure 3. What do you call a giant goonish looking axeman? He looks kind of Persian to me.



Figures 4 and 6 have obvious African facial features, which I like a lot, because it adds a little diversity to the mix. On the other hand, neither one of them looks like a standard "gladiator type". Number 4 has a leather (or fabric) sleeve on his left arm. Not banded leather like the other figures. He has metallic greaves and a big belt like a Murmillo. And no helmet. And a small axe. What kind of gladiator is that? Number 6 has chain mail (maybe??) on his legs and right arm-- perhaps Persian? A big broad belt, a standard round shield and gladius style sword. And some shoulder armor and leg armor like a Murmillo. A strange mix. What category would he fall into? I've heard Thracian-- the round shield and sword look right. The leg armor is strange but not totally inappropriate.

In this mosaic a Thracian battles a Myrmillo. The real point of difference seems to be the shields-- the helmets and swords are not that different.




Figure 5 is no great stretch, being a netless Retiarus. I remedied this with a bit of cotton hair netting.

Helmet types:

Secutor


Myrmillo (note the crest)


List of types
Gladiators were typically picked from prisoners of war, slaves, and sentenced criminals. Different gladiators specialized in different weapons, and it was popular to pair off combatants with widely different, but more or less equivalent equipment. Some of the first gladiators had been prisoners-of-war, and so some of the first types of gladiators, Gauls, Samnites, and Thraces (Thracians) used their native weapons and armor. Gladiator types and their weaponry included:

Andabatae: Fought with visored helmet and possibly blindfolded and on horseback. They were called andabatae, from άναβαται, ascensores, because they fought on horseback, or out of chariots.

Bestiarii: Not really a kind of gladiator, but a specially trained kind of fighter who fought against beasts, usually with spears.

Bustuarii: fought around the remains of a deceased person, as part of his funeral rites.

Dimachaeri ("fighters with two shorts or daggers"): Little more than what their name suggests is known about this type of gladiator.

Equites ("knights"): In early depictions, these lightly-armed gladiators wear scale armour, a medium-sized round cavalry shield (parma equestris), and a brimmed helmet without a crest, but two decorative feathers. In imperial times, they sport an arm-guard (manica) on their right arm and sleeveless, belted tunics, in contrast to other gladiators who usually fought bare-chested, and no greaves.

Essedari ("war-chariot fighters"): The name of these fighters derives from the Latin word for a Celtic war-chariot, esseda. These chariots were still used by the Celts in Britain when Caesar tried to invade the island in 55 B.C. Essedarii appear as arena-fighters in many inscriptions after the first century A.D. Yet since no pictorial representations exist, we do not know anything about their equipment and manner of fighting.

Hoplomachi: Like the Thraces, these heavily armoured fighters may have developed out of the earlier Samnites. They wore quilted, trouser-like leg wrappings, maybe made from linen, a loincloth, a belt, a pair of long shin-guards or greaves, a manica (arm-guard) on the right arm, and a brimmed helmet, not unlike that of the Thraces, with a crescent-shaped crest that could be adorned with a plume of feathers on top and a single feather on each side. Equipped with a gladius and a very small, round shield made of one sheet of thick bronze (an example from Pompeii survives), they were paired with murmillones or Thraces.

Laquerarii ('lasso fighters"): These may be a kind of retiarius who tried to catch their adversaries with a lasso (laqueus) instead of a net.

Murmillones: Named after the stylized fish (Greek mormylos) on the crest of his helmet, a murmillo wore a manica (arm-guard), a loincloth and belt, a gaiter on his right leg, thick wrappings covering the tops of his feet, and a very short greave with an indentation for the padding at the top of the feet. Murmillones carried a gladius (40-50 cm long) and a tall, oblong shield in the legionary style. They were paired with Thraces, occasionally also with the similar hoplomachi.

Provocatores: This type of middle-weight fighter wore a loincloth, a belt, a long greave on the left leg, a manica on the lower right arm, and a visored helmet without brim or crest, but with a feather on each side. They were the only gladiators protected by a breastplate (cardiophylax) which is usually rectangular, later often crescent-shaped. They fought with a tall, rectangular shield and the gladius and were usually paired with another provocator.

Retiarii: Developed in the early Augustan era, the retiarius (net-fighter) carried a trident, a dagger, a net, and no helmet. Except for a loincloth, a manica on his left arm, and a metal shoulder-guard (galerus) above the manica, the retiarius fought naked and was always paired with a secutor.

Samnites: The Samnites, an early type of heavily-armed fighter that disappears in the early imperial period, point to the Campanian origins of gladiatorial contests because the Samnites were a powerful league of Italian tribes in the region of Campania south of Rome against which the Romans fought three major wars between 326 and 291 BC. A Samnis was armed with a long rectangular shield (scutum), a plumed helmet, a short sword, and probably a greave on his left leg,

Secutores: This kind of fighter, specifically developed to fight the retiarius, was a variant of the murmillo and wore the same armour and weapons, including the tall rectangular shield and the gladius. His helmet, however, covered the entire face with the exception of two small eye-holes in order to protect his face from the thin prongs of the trident of his opponent. The helmet was almost round and smooth so that the retiarius' net could not get a grip on it.

Thraces: The Thracians wore the same protective armour as the hoplomachi and a similar helmet, except that theirs was distinguished by a stylized griffin on the protome or front of the crest (the griffin was the companion of the avenging goddess Nemesis). In contrast to the hoplomachi, Thraces were equipped with a small, rectangular (almost square) shield (parmula) and short sword (ca. 34 cm long) with a curved or bent blade (sica). The Thraces may originally have been prisoners-of-war from Thrace. They commonly fought murmillones or hoplomachi.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Chinese police end funeral striptease acts

Traditional titillating farewells used to attract crowds for the deceased
Reuters

Updated: 11:40 a.m. ET Aug 23, 2006
BEIJING - Striptease send-offs at funerals may become a thing of the past in east China after five people were arrested for organizing the intimate farewells, state media reported on Wednesday.

Police swooped last week after two groups of strippers gave "obscene performances" at a farmer's funeral in Donghai County, Jiangsu province, Xinhua news agency said.

The disrobing served a higher purpose, the report noted.

"Striptease used to be a common practice at funerals in Donghai's rural areas to allure viewers," it said. "Local villagers believe that the more people who attend the funeral, the more the dead person is honored."

Wealthy families often employed two troupes of performers to attract a crowd. Two hundred showed up at last week's funeral.

Five strippers were detained and local officials "issued notices concerning funeral management", Xinhua said.

Now village officials must submit plans for funerals within 12 hours after a villager dies. And residents can report "funeral misdeeds" on a hotline, the report said.

Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14482354/?GT1=8404

Evil Cultists from Pulp Figures

I'm all over this like stank on a pig. Check out the new hooded evil cultists from Bob Murch's PULP FIGURES line:



I like these a lot more than the OTHER hooded cultists I know of in roughly the same scale, from Reverisco. Mostly because of the heft on these figures.

I could have used these when I was running some evil cultists (headed by Ah Pook the Destroyer) in the last VSF game I put on for the Kid's Gaming Camp earlier in the month.

I can see why they aren't painted white....

Me and Hard Drinkin' Lincoln

(that's a No Kill I reference, for the kids).


Our Little Field Trip

We had a fun weekend! While Drey was away with the PA Ren Faire, I took the kids to a little backstage tour event that Ford's Theater was putting on. The event was called "Ford's Theater Snow Day"-- so called because the Theater dumped two tons of artificially created snow in front of the building for people to play in. There was lots of free gnoshes and food samples out front. It wasn't like COSTCO on Free Sample Day, but they DID have free ice cream, and that makes up for many a deficit.






Snow in August? I don't get the connection...


That's Gar making snowballs for his sister's benefit.

Inside, on the Theater Level (only.. we weren't allowed on the balconies as they were holding auditions up there), they were holding back stage tours and demonstrating stage makeup techniques for the doting theater going audience.

In the following two shots, the actor who plays Jacob Marley in the Ford's Theater famous CHRISTMAS CAROL show demonstrates getting made up to look like a ghost and dressed in his ghost outfit.





Backstage stuff


And, of COURSE! There's the photo that everyone has to take:



The box where Lincoln was shot.

Ford's theater is a great theater and a historic landmark, but many people forget that an "assassination museum" is downstairs. I didn't. We went downstairs to find a bustle of activity going on. Kids were being made up with stage wounds and bruises, a living history reenactor was lecturing about the assassination of Lincoln (fascinating stuff) and there were plenty of old "Christmas Carol" costumes around to play dressup with.



Gar being made up with a viscious cut


The Living History chap was quite good.. he did a timeline of the assasination conspiracy and was quite even-handed


I've relegated the pictures of Gar and Annie getting made up, comparing their size to Lincoln, eating free ice cream, making snowballs, etc. to this slideshow-- Just in case you're the impatient type and don't relish family photos.

Museum Displays

If you've never visited the museum under Ford's Theater, I strongly recommend it. There are some fascinating Lincoln and Assassination artifacts on display there.



Lincoln's Coat and Trousers, removed by the attending physician (his shirt was cut open)



Lincoln's bloody shirt and waistcoat was sadly cut up by ghoulish souvenier seekers. Here is what remains.


There are many artifacts from the conspirators themselves present in the museum.



Did Booth receive orders from Richmond? Evidence seems to suggest he planned the affair himself, but some reports indicated that his rooms in Washington had cypher equipment, similar to the one shown here. Does this point to a larger conspiracy?



The Riding boot that broke Booth's leg. Note that it's split down the center, to assist in removal by Dr. Samuel Mudd


The knife used by Booth to stab Majar Rathbone before leaping on stage


Booth's Navy Colt revolvers. He did NOT use these on President Lincoln, but they were found on him later.


Booth was killed by Sgt. Boston Corbett in a tobbaco barn in Maryland. He was found with this Sharps carbine still clutched in his hands



The Unfortunate Doctor Mudd

(Hopefully) every school kid knows the story of Doctor Samuel Mudd, who set Booth's leg and treated his other wounds. For his act of kindness, he was imprisoned for many years. Here are a few Mudd artifacts:



Surgical kit used to treeat Booth


The manacles that Mudd soon found himself in for doing his doctorly duty...



Nice guys finish last!

I had always thought that Lincoln's DEATH mask was in the Ford's theater museum, it turns out this was done in 1860, shortly after his first inauguration. Still pretty cool to look at, though.



Lincoln Death House




What tour would be complete without a visit to the imaginatively named HOUSE WHERE LINCOLN DIED museum, across the street from Ford's Theater? I'll skip over the Front Parlor and back sitting room (where Stanton set up his field headquarters, demanding that a bed be put there so he could operate around the clock), and go straight to Lincoln's death bed. If you want to see the rest of the house (what the public can see, anyway, click here for a slideshow).

Can you imagine being the guy who owned this place? Your house is known as "the place Lincoln died" for the rest of time. So much for property values!

Death bed: Lincoln had to lie on this bed diagonally, as he was (duh!) a very tall man for his day.



And that was our little history outing for August!