Dune Official Trailer

Dune is an upcoming 2020 epic science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve with a screenplay by Jon Spaihts, Villeneuve, and Eric Roth. The film is an international co-production of Canada, Hungary, the United Kingdom and the United States, and it is the first of a planned two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert, which will cover roughly the first half of the book.

The film stars an ensemble cast including Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya Coleman, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem.

Dune is scheduled to be released in the United States in IMAX and 3D on December 18, 2020, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Foundation — Teaser | Apple TV+

On 1 August 1941 Isaac Asimov proposed to John W. Campbell of Astounding Science Fiction that he write a short story set in a slowly declining Galactic Empire, based on the fall of the Roman Empire. Campbell liked the idea, and by the end of a two-hour meeting Asimov planned to write a series of stories depicting the fall of the first Galactic Empire and the rise of the second. Asimov submitted the first "Foundation" story on 8 September, Campbell purchased it on 15 September, and Astounding published it in May 1942. Asimov wrote seven more stories over eight years, and they were collected into The Foundation Trilogy. Published from 1951 to 1953, the three books became Asimov's most popular science fiction and won a Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series in 1966.

Mecha Monday: Robopocalypse

A computer scientist accidentally unleashes a supremely intelligent sentient A.I. named Archos R-14. It becomes self-aware and immediately starts planning the elimination of human civilization and building a new cryptic ecology, where the organic is being merged with robot technology. Over time, Archos R-14 infects all penetrable networked electronic devices, such as cars, airplanes, smart homes, elevators, and other robots, with a "precursor virus". 

Robopocalypse

Thanker's Tuesday: BOLOS!

The story of the books takes place in various times from the near-future (2018, 2068), the mid-range future (27th up to 37th century) and even farther in one case (118th century). The overall plot features mostly military themes and includes space exploration, alien races and some advances in human society.

Many Bolo stories are told from the point of the view of the Bolo itself, with its internal thoughts printed in italics throughout the text.

One theme in Bolo works is the portrayal of valiant, tragic, self-sacrificing heroes, such as Bolo "Nike" in the story "Miles to Go" (Weber 1995, in Bolos Book III). Another concept explored by stories such as "Miles to Go" is the use (and abuse) of safeguards to prevent artificial intelligence from hurting its creators.^[

Their overall programming involves large amounts of human military history, and often they draw conclusions from that information which puts them at odds with their commanders. Sometimes Bolos develop senses of honor and nobility that would bring their actions into conflict with orders given by their human superiors. One of the stories in Rogue Bolo chronicles the actions of Combat Unit CSR, who identifies an alien threat to humanity but is forced to go "rogue" in order to defeat it (possibly for dramatic effect, as it does not appear to be explained why the bolo did not simply inform its commanders of the threat). BOLOS!

Donald Featherstones Solo Wargaming

A bit of nostalgia here, and perhaps somewhat dated but
a welcome addition to my war games library none the less!
I was very happy to find this on Amazon.

Terran Trade Authority Website

The Terran Trade Authority is a science-fiction setting originally presented in a collection of four large illustrated science fiction books published between 1978 and 1980. This series was written by Stewart Cowley.

Terran Trade Authority

Terran Trade Authority - Spacecraft 2000-2100AD Video

The Terran Trade Authority is a science-fiction setting originally presented in a collection of four large illustrated science fiction books published between 1978 and 1980. This series was written by Stewart Cowley, the video is well worth a look.

Terran Trade Authority Video

War In A Box: Cirsova, A Review

 

 

War In A Box: Cirsova, A Review: Growing up in a stolid middle-class family with a sizable and hence expensive brood of children that pushed our life-style into the ranks...

Tomorrow's War : Second Edition

From Boardgame Geek:

This entirely new shiny edition of Tomorrow's War is now
a game on its own, and is no more considered an
expansion of the Force on Force basic rules. It is also the
first one to be actually printed,
************************************************
A previous sort of "beta" edition was just sold as a .pdf
and as an expansion for the Force on Force basic game.
Extended play testing and feedback has permitted the
developing of a stand-alone game.
************************************************
From the Introduction in the book:
Tomorrow’s War is a science fiction military miniature
war game with emphasis on "hard" science fiction rather
than "Space Opera" or "Science Fantasy." This rule book
contains background material for gaming in
Ambush Alley's campaign setting, but the rules
themselves are not background dependent. You can use
them to game gritty science fiction engagements against
whatever narrative backdrop you choose.
Tomorrow’s War can be played with figures of any scale.

GURPS Traveller STAR MERCS

A sourcebook for playing mercenaries in the Traveller
universe. An overview of the nature of war and those
who fight wars is provided, with notes on the Imperial
laws of war. There is a guide to running mercenary
campaigns, with a breakdown of weapons systems by
tech-level, from low TL black powder up to high TL
battledress and fusion guns. Weapons and vehicles are
statted out, and character templates are provided for
various military types. Sample missions are provided,
and some example units and characters.

GURPS Traveller GROUND FORCES

This is a sourcebook for regular army and marines in the
Traveller universe. A short history of warfare in the
Imperium is provided, and overviews of the organization
of the Unified Armies of the Imperium and the Imperial
Marines. Military equipment, character templates for
various army types, armoured grav vehicles, space
vehicles and some example characters are listed, and
a modular design system for grav vehicles is featured.

Christmas Loot!!!

A few things I've been wanting for ages got them all this
Christmas!

The 40K Apocalypse book, although not a 40k player any
more I like to keep up and borrow the odd idea .

The Bab V Movies!

Last but not least all five seasons of Bab V.....Wanted this for
years!

No Greater Valor, by Jerome Corsi

http://www.nogreatervalor.com/

A Few More Ebay Goddies

The Gothic Line

Synopsis

BOOK TWO in theCanadian Battle Series Stretching like an armour-toothed belt across Italy's upper thigh, the Gothic Line was the most fortified and fiercely defended position the German army had yet thrown in the path of the advancing Allied forces. On August 25, 1944, it fell to I Canadian Corps to spearhead the famed Eighth Army's major offensive, intended to rip through the Gothic Line. Never had the Germans in Italy brought so much artillery to bear or deployed such a great number of tanks. For twenty-eight days, the battle raged as the Canadians, with British and Polish troops advancing on their flanks, slugged into the German defences. On September 22 the Canadians finally won, opening the way for the next phase of the Allied advance. The price was high-the greatest toll in casualties suffered during the long years of the Italian campaign. The Gothic Line: Canada's Month of Hell in World War II Italybrings the story of what renowned military historian Jack Granatstein hails as Canada's most momentous World War II battle to vivid life by telling the story through the eyes of the soldiers. It is a suspenseful, dramatic book that gives back to Canadians a forgotten and neglected part of their historical heritage. For four dreadful weeks under Italy's summer sun, the soldiers of the 1st Canadian Infantry and 5th Canadian Armoured divisions struggled against the Gothic Line-a vast network of fortifications spanning the width of the nation along the spine of the Apennines.

The Battle Of The Tanks

On July 5, 1943, the greatest land battle in history began when Nazi and Red Army forces clashed near the town of Kursk, on the western border of the Soviet Union. Code named "Operation Citadel," the German offensive would cut through the bulge in the eastern front that had been created following Germany’s retreat at the battle of Stalingrad. But the Soviets, well-informed about Germany’s plans through their network of spies, had months to prepare. Two million men supported by 6,000 tanks, 35,000 guns, and 5,000 aircraft convened in Kursk for an epic confrontation that was one of the most important military engagements in history, the epitome of "total war." It was also one of the most bloody, and despite suffering seven times more casualties, the Soviets won a decisive victory that became a turning point in the war. With unprecedented access to the journals and testimonials of the officers, soldiers, political leaders, and citizens who lived through it, The Battle of the Tanks is the definitive account of an epic showdown that changed the course of history.

　

Hear the Author:

http://podfuse-dl.andomedia.com/800185/podfuse-origin.andomedia.com/citadel_origin/pods/WABC/WABC-Batchelor/jbs_042112b.mp3

Icarus Industries M2 "Ursa" Hover Tanks (Hammer's Slammers)

Hammer's Slammers are one of the most powerful mercenary companies in existence. They are led by Colonel Alois Hammer and are greatly feared. They are among the best-trained and equipped troops in the galaxy, although they are not polished and are sometimes judged by this. Officers are expected to lead from the front. One of the most powerful weapons in the Hammer's Slammers arsenal is their hover tank. Along with the hover tank, Hammer's Slammers operate combat cars, Mobile 200 mm howitzers, air cars, and skimmers for the infantry. Crews often give their combat vehicles unusual names including names like Flame Thrower", "Death dealer", and "Daisy Belle"

http://www.kitsune.addr.com/SF-Conversions/Rifts-Hammer-Vehicles/Hammer_M2_Ursa_Hovertank.htm

World At War: Back Of Beyond

World at War: Back of Beyond is the Battlefield Evolution: World at War supplement covering the Interwar-period armies of Central Asia!

The book includes new traits (Grenades, Weak AA) to give you the "interwar feel," and covers all the traits you need to play with the units of this book.
The following army lists are in this book:
The Army of British India
The Basmachi
The Bolsheviks
The Chinese Bandits
The Chinese Warlord Army
The Czech Legion
The Japanese
The Mad Baron's Army
The Mongolian Tribes
The Tibetans
The White Russians
Stats for the many vehicles - such as Rolls-Royce Armoured Car, Lancaster 4x2 Armoured Car, Austin Armoured Car, Austin-Putilov Armoured Car, Austin-Kégresse Halftrack, Medium Mark C Tank, Vickers Medium Mk I Tank, Renault FT-17, Vickers Medium Mk II, Mk III and A1E1 Independent Tank - are also included.

http://www.adpublishing.de/html/back_of_beyond.html

World War Z

"The end was near." — Voices from the Zombie War

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, "By excluding the human factor, aren't we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn't the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as 'the living dead'?"

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.

Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war

"I found 'Patient Zero' behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he'd rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was 'cursed.' I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy's skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse." —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China

"'Shock and Awe'? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can't be shocked and awed? Not just won't, but biologically can't! That's what happened that day outside New York City, that's the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn't shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They're not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!" —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers

"Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth." —General Travis D'Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

http://www.maxbrooks.com/books-wwz.php

Zombie War

In the first half of the show, Ian was joined by

researcher and author of The Zombie Survival

Guide, Max Brooks, for a War of the Worlds-style

radio report on World War Z, the war with the

zombies. Brooks, who documented the oral history

of these events*, said the zombie plague originated

at a lake in China, where a man and his son were

diving for relics. The father disappeared, the boy

came up with a bite mark on his foot, and from there

it spread, he noted. According to Brooks, the Chinese

government covered up the ensuing outbreak and

never alerted the international community to the

impending worldwide apocalypse.
*******************

Many countries fell to the walking plague, Brooks

continued, including Japan, North Korea, and part

of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

Israel was one of the few nations to initiate a

nationwide quarantine in time, extending a security

fence around the entire country (1967 borders). The

island nation of Cuba came through unscathed,

Brooks added. In all, the zombie war decimated the

human population and, even though the worst of it

is over, the undead still pose a significant threat to

humanity.
********************

Brooks said land areas known as "White Zones" remain

infested with zombies. The walking dead roam the ocean

floor as well, perhaps in the millions, he warned. Colder

areas of the planet must deal with outbreaks every spring,

when frozen zombies thaw out and begin searching for

humans to consume. Brooks also briefly spoke about some

of the heroes of the war, the role religion played during the

crisis, and how the U.N. has assisted in the rebuilding process.
********************

*The events depicted in this story are fictitious. Any

similarity between persons living and (un) dead is purely

coincidental.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2009/10/17