Sunday, November 29, 2009

Star Trek





Consensus: Star Trek reignites a classic franchise with action,
humor, a strong story, and brilliant visuals, and will please
traditional Trekkies and new fans alike.

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Saturday, November 28, 2009

Insulae Mucronis - Legion

The core of the Expeditionary Forces are the Legions, division-sized formations of professional, long-service infantry, lavishly equipped with heavy weapons and with many motorized support elements. This is translated into stands for use with Not Quite Mechanized, and represents a Legion as of the start of the Great Central War.

Headquarters –Command stand (s3), Signals van (S3)

3xInfantry Regiment

HQ - Command (s2), 45mm AT gun (s3), 75mm pack howitzer (s2), 81mm (s3), Engineer stand with flamethrower (s3), mounted FOO stand (s1)

3xCohorts - Command (s1), 3xRifle Stands (s3), MMG (s3), HMG (s3), ATR (s2) 81mmmortar (s3)

Artillery Brigade

2xRegiments (1 horse drawn, 1 motorized)

Regiment Command stand (s2), Signals Van, 3xFOO (s1), 3xJeeps

2xLight battalions – 1x75mm, truck or limber

1xMedium battalion – 1x105mm, truck or limber


Cavalry Battalion – Command stand (s1, mounted) 3xRecce Stands (s3, mounted), 1x81mm mortar (s3)

Engineer Battalion – 1xCommand stand (s1) 3xEngineer stands with flamethrowers (s3), 3xTrucks

Anti-tank battalion -- 3x45mm, 3xtrucks

Anti-aircraft battalion -- 3xAAMG, 3xtrucks

Empire of the Sun and Flame

A mix of Persian and Japanese transplants were the dominant influences in the mix of city states and rural regions ruled by fortress-dwelling robber barons that would be united approximately a century prior to the Great Central War by the Toyahota Family (Motto: "You want it, you got it") in the name of the Divine Shahenshah Artabanus XVI.

Culturally, most of these regions were very similar, having a strict caste system overseen by a hereditary caste, although a merit- and education-based bureaucracy organized on almost Confucian lines provided a means for social mobility for the best of the lower classes. Warfare was stylized and dominated by mounted nobles and their retainers, the mass of the populace being largely unarmed by law and custom, with the exception of certain tenacious hill peoples who provided light-armed infantrymen in lieu of taxes.

Religion is a variation of Zoroastrianism along with a strong ancestor cult and a bushido-like warrior code for the aristocrats.

The Toyahota Shogunate was ushered in with mass armies equipped with rifle-muskets with conical rounds, socket bayonets, and standardized field artillery. However, in order to coopt the various noble houses, after unification the regular infantry was reduced and de-emphasized in favor of the noble muster of horse and the provision for nobles to maintain and command their own infantry regiments or battalions. This system persisted until the beginning of the Great Central War, when its weaknesses were made blatantly obvious by a series of disasters opposing the Swordpoint invasion of the Empire.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Insulae Mucronis

The polity referred to as Insulae Mucronis (Literally the Swordpoint Islands) is officially referred to the “Republic of the Romans” (Respublica Romanorum), a reference to the fact that is has largely been a collection point for a variety of groups who considered themselves Roman.

The original groups dropped off were a mix of Romans and Gauls scooped up indiscriminately from the middle of a clash between isolated units during Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. The Roman culture and organization was greatly superior, and the fact that the next group deposited was a cohort from the 2nd century Legio XV Apollinarius, scooped up along with native wives from what is today Uzbekistan reinforced the cultural dominance.

Byzantine line troopers and a handful of Hunnic mercenaries from Justinian’s expedition to Northern Africa that were believed lost at sea also were deposited in the same area, and as they were recognizably Roman and Latin-speaking, they were easily assimilated. The same could not be said for the Apache tribe deposited shortly thereafter, who remain a recognizable cultural minority to this day.

There were several more occasions where Byzantines of progressively later eras were deposited, then a gap of several hundred years, followed by the deposition of a group of Greeks of the 1919-1922 war with Turkey, cut off and surrounded by Turks, who remember only a bright light and awakening on a beach.

Politically, the structure of the Republic owes much to the Republic. Senators elect a pair of Consuls, who however remain Consul for Life. Unfortunately, the politics within the Senate are so vicious and violent that over ¾ of the Consuls die violently. Succession crises are fairly common.

Prior to the Great Central War, Swordpoint forces were a mix of heavy infantry units and cavalry in the Expeditionary Forces, questionable home defense forces, and a powerful Navy with ground forces of its own.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

G.I. Joe Official Site






Your official source for everything GI Joe. Watch the latest GI movie trailers, view GI videos online or play GI Joe online games.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra





Based on the popular Hasbro toy line and comic books. From the Central Asian mountains to the Egyptian desert, through the crowded streets of Paris to the Polar Ice Cap, the elite G.I. Joe team journeys on an action-packed adventure. Using the latest next-generation spy technology and military equipment, they fight to stop crooked arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious COBRA organization from plunging the world into chaos.