Music blog: Julie London

Yes, I've posted her before. That's not gonna stop me.

Ok. That'll do for now.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Injustice Book Review: The High Crsade by Poul Anderson

Cower not, fierce reader! Today we have a treasure from one of the Appendix N authors. If you've read Jeffro's tome, you'll know that he found a good bit of unusual material in here, especially in comparison with modern tradpub sff. There will be a bit more spoiler information, as Jeffro and others in #pulprev have talked a lot about this book.To the charges!

Let us begin with the fact that our characters are English medieval warriors. Not only are they good fighters, but they are far from stupid. In addition to this, their main concern after the initial conflict with the ship is going on to their planned war with France, and then helping liberate the Holy Land. So our heroes are also actually faithful, and complicated persons.

This of course flies far in the face of the SocJus narrative. That medievalists were just as smart(or smarter) as we are conflicts the narrative directly. They must be superior in every way to the barbaric Christians that committed war against the religion of peace. Christianity being good and true is also so far against their narrative.

Our antagonists for this tale are a race of aliens with a vast, impersonal empire. They have many slave races, and a singular rule over all of them. Hmm,  a single vast empire where only the elites have options, doesn't care for its people, and engenders no loyalty. Sounds like the globalist ideals to me.

The leader of our heroes, a baron and knight, builds alliances in his efforts against the hostile empire. While his allies are wary, once they start winning, they are very happy to let the baron and his people take the lead and rule benevolently over these formerly enslave races. What solution do we have to establishing order in a diverse and fallen empire? Fuedalism, of course.  Which would set the SocJus crowd screaming when mentioned by name. But not when done by say, major tech companies. When are they going to bring back company scrip, anyway?

But, wait. Feudalism only works with all three factors: nobility, royalty, and church. They keep each other in check. The faith sustains the idea that leaders are responsible for their people, and keeps men humble that they may govern better. The nobility keep the king from growing too much in ambition, and leading the nation into needless wars. The king maintains that the nobles pay their homage to both him and the church. Without faith, or personal relationships, it won't work as well, or as for long. Unless it simply descends into slavery. Which the abolition of was one of the goals of feudalism.

OK, enough political waxing. There's also a bit of romance, and including misunderstanding and confusion among a couple of the actors within. This is well and good to be reminded that men and women are indeed different, and think accordingly. Triggering intensifies.

Of course there's plenty of action, even told from the POV of a cleric. Faith is not for the weak, though it is for those set aside. Look, just read this. It's a lot of fun. 9 of 10 fell deeds.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Game Review: Jump Drive

So I picked up Jump Drive about a week ago. For those that aren't aware of the title, it's a standalone and faster game set in the Race for the Galaxy universe. This is more about the artwork, iconography, and gameplay than things like storyline. There is far more story to the other games(especially with expansions) than this, as this is a really fast game.


Here's an endgame tableau:

Now some that know the game are thinking Race is already fast. The more you expand it, the less that's true. This also has the advantage of having less actions to choose from. Yes, that's an advantage here.Because about halfway through, your choices kind of explode.

We still have simultaneous action selection. Each turn, the players have a few options: explore, build an improvement, settle/conquer a planet, or build and settle/conquer. In place of an improvement, there are also some cards(1/player) available for cheap every game(limit 1/player).

Ok, the explore action. You draw based on your explore icons(plus 2), and then discard equal to your explore icons. This is from your whole hand, not just what you drew, so everything can get swapped, and you get 2 more cards. And, the number of explore actions available is a shared pool, so in a full game, it COULD run out(I doubt it).

The solo build/planet actions have their own advantages. For building an improvement, you pay one less card. After you conquer/settle a planet, you draw a card. If you do both, you pay full cost(though the improvement can affect the planet), and don't draw.

How fast does the game move? Everything is scored each turn, so stuff continually scores for you. Games will last from likely 5-9 turns, depending on card draw and player choices, from what I've seen so far. There's a number of different engine options to build, and I know I haven't seen them all yet. Part of me wants one expansion, just to take it to a possible 6 players from the four max currently.

If you dig Race, but it's too long for some in your group, I'd suggest this as a fast option. It will take no more than a half hour, and that's with analysis paralysis.


When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Injustice Book Review: At the Highways of Madness by David J. West

Cower not, fierce reader! This day, we have a collection of madness from Mr. West. First, we have the titular novella, followed by a selection of short stories in other weird settings, including one in his Porter Rockwell series. Let's lose our minds and see what Injustice Mr. West has committed!

Our novella was originally published in the anthology Redneck Eldritch. Which I have in my reader somewhere, I just haven't made it to reading the thing yet. Anyway, our main characters are a pair of truckers and a woman of certain, unusual qualities, shall we say. The truckers are portrayed well, if somewhat comically. They are oft misquoting or misattributing quotes, are blunt if well meaning, and don't care for the government and it's secrets. Yes, these are our protagonists.

And, if you like monstergirls(jimfear138), well, this story has a little more for you. We've also got some interesting interactions with the Dreamlands, and the forces of one of the Old Ones involved. There's a nice bit of playing around with space and time when dealing with Things Man Was Not Meant to Know, and a bit of fun with truckers trying stupid stuff that might just work.
Major crime: Do I really need to point out that we've redneck truckers as two of the main characters?


Onto the short stories.

Baptism by Fire- This is a story of a recruit's first day at a top secret facility. And, I'm not going to give away more than that, because you should have fun seeing what's at the edge of his sight yourself. Major crime: That would give it away. I'm a jerk

Garden of Legion- This is our Porter Rockwell story. It's got two parts to it, the first being a setup for the Porters involvement. let me say, you might  never look at tumbleweeds in the same manner again. Major crime: Redemption, and battling demons.

One Thousand One Nights Unseen- We have another somewhat military tale, this one actually fitting a operational style story. Yes, weird things happen in the Saudi desert. Let's just say the Bedouin have good reason to keep on the move. Major crime: Some of the forces out there aren't aligned against us.

The Cry of the Carrion Birds- Ok, this story is a bit creepy. There's a backstory that we can only guess at, but has caused trauma and social difficulty. Their new isolation creates madness, and one must accept madness or be devoured by it. Caw, caw. Major crime: A husband's devotion.

Gods in Darkness- We've a story in an odd alt history setting. The Cold War became a bit of a Space War, and we are treated to a beyond clandestine operation. The ultimate question remains: Who does one serve? Major crime: Patriotism.

All in all, this is a lot of fun, and there are great moments here to laugh and shiver at. When you feel like you're losing your mind, I commend you try this selection of vaccination. 8 of 10 fell deeds.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Signal Boost: Trumptopia

So, a European publisher that put out a collection of anti Trump stories was going to put out a collection of stories from the other side as well, calling it Trumptopia. Now, I would have been amused by this, even if there hadn't been any controversy involved. But, the publisher had other ideas about the cover:

Fast forward to a couple of months ago, Kathy Griffin’s severed head scandal happens just as the publisher releases the cover for this “positive” anthology. Want to guess what was on the cover? Yup, severed heads in jars.
That caused a bit of an uproar by several of the authors who thought it was a bad idea, myself included. We privately took our objections to the editor who took them to the publisher. I offered to both the authors and the editor to draft a new cover so that the project could move forward. In the mean time, the project was cancelled by the publisher.

Read the rest here.

 Long story short, Superversive Press(through an imprint) is going to publish it. And who can resist the Triggering that goes with that cover?

Well, maybe these creatures could.

Just a reminder.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Injustice Quick Reviews 2.10

Cower not, fierce reader! Last week there was a flood of new works from authors previously featured here. I have now finished most of that deluge and am pleased to present to you a fine library to upset the fragile. There's a good bit of misf here, so watch your back!

Albion Lost: the Exiled Fleet by Richard  Fox- This one's got a rich backstory, and a lot of threads that tie together. In fact, my only real complaint was how long it to to get the storylines to meet at all. If you want worlds tied to old Earth nations, this is a good choice. Major crime: Royalty that is good, and trained to be so.7 of 10 fell deeds.

Winged Hussars by Mark Wandrey- The fourth entry in the 4 hoursemen universe, and the second by Wandrey, the Hussars are the most mixed company so far, and this gives us a chance to have some more personal glimpses of the races. I can get making the Flatar likeable, but Wandrey had me caring about the blasted Tortantula. Major crimes: conspiracies, heroism, and forgiveness. 8 of 10 fell deeds.


Brutal by James Alderdice(David J. West)- It's tagged as a grimdark fantasy book. I don't know that I would call it grimdark, but I would call it fun. I will admit I figured out major plot points 2 chapters in, but it was still a lot of fun to see unfold. Major crime: Heroism and goodness don't have to look like it at first. 8 of 10 fell deeds

Galaxy's Edge: Galactic Outlaws by Nick Cole and Jason Anspach- More realistic glimpses of #starwarsnotstarwars.Including sudden deaths, and a long link back to the first book. I'm curious, but not chomping at the bit to see the next installment. (I prefer Flash Gordon.) Major crime: Making money without the Mouse's approval. 7 of 10 fell deeds.

Out of the Soylent Planet by Robert Kroese- Rex Nihilo book three, which takes place when Sasha and Rex first met up. We've got comedy to a fine point, and more references than you can throw a boot at. Major crime: mistrust of corporations 8 of 10 fell deeds. 

In other news, I added another shirt to the shop:

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.

Adventure! boardgames to fill the gap.

Adventure boardgames have been around for a lonng time. And these days, it seems like every big game company has one, and some of the smaller ones do, as well. Why not capture the great stuff of an RPG at the table without having to get the same group every time?

Here's an informative video about one of Games Workshop's old adventure games that is currently not in print:

Thanks to jimfear138.

So let's get to a few of these:

Fantasy Flight Games has a LOT of these. Descent and Runebound for fantasy gamers, Imperial Assault for Star Wars fans, an entire Arkham Files line for Cthulu fans(who may or may not have read Lovecraft), and has til recently had the Games Workshop boardgame rights, producing the recent editions of Talisman, Warhammer Quest, and others.



Games Workshop has and has had a large number of these games over the years. Recently, they came back into the boardgame market with another Warhammer Quest game, and some standalone games that intro to their minis games.

Flying Frog has a Weird Western game called Shadows of Brimstone, which has two large base games, and a lot of expansions.

There's a series of D&D adventure games, I think they're up to four or five large boxes now, crammed with decent minis, and at least a couple had good adventures. These have largely preprogrammed movement and actions for the monsters.

Mage Knight from Wizkids games has a lot of people liking it, though there's a lot of moving parts in this Vlaada Chvatil game.


Gloomhaven and Kingdom Death both have a lot of Kickstarter buzz with them. Gloomhaven is by far the more general market game, while Kingdom Death is not for children. and possibly some adults.

Catacombs is an interesting take on the dm vs. all option, in that it's a dexterity game, somewhat in the same family as Flick 'Em Up! 

       Gelatinous Cube gets fed!


Mice and Mystics is the most family friendly entry here. You're playing as the king's heroes after they've been turned into mice by an evil wizard. Try to avoid the cats and bats, get the cheese, and save the king.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game- This deckbuilding series currently has four different base sets, each their own campaign. These games do require a regular group, and buying a lot of small expansions, for more adventures, and characters. I'd post a pic, but as it's all card piles, it won't pass much on to the reader.



There are others, of course, but this is a decent list to look at if you like the idea of RPGs, but nobody you play with wants to run a game, especially the fully coop games.

When you play Social Justice, the world loses.