All Entries in the "History" Category
History: The Ogham Script
I ran across a reference the other day to a very old type of Celtic writing called “Ogham.” It is a very unusual script and I thought it is a great way to make some game supplements with a very obscure character set. Best part is there is already a font set for it, so [...]
Jousting as an Extreme Sport
The New York Times has an interesting article about a full-contact jousting league. It might get some traction as it is hard to out-macho someone at a bar that "jousts on the weekends." http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/magazine/11Jousting-t.html
History: Curse Like a Roman
Cursing someone in modern time is a fairly harmless exercise. Telling someone to “go to hell” is merely wishful thinking on your part and not a guaranteed itinerary. Ancient Romans though, they took their cursing very seriously. Rather than slinging angry rhetoric at their target, an angry Roman reached out to the gods themselves for [...]
Bite-Sized History Lesson: The Indenture
Whether you mine the ancient world for new RPG adventures or re-fight famous clashes of arms with miniatures, history is a great resource. Sadly, I have this horrible feeling that many younger gamers overlook history as a source of inspiration. Rather than force all gamers under the age of twenty to pass a basic “how [...]
Ia Drang Valley After Action Report
The Ia Drang valley hosted one of the most famous and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam war. It is most popularly known from the book We Were Soldiers Once…and Young: Ia Drang – the Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam and the film We Were Soldiers . Wargames Illustrated is posting some interesting material [...]
Review : “Israel’s Lightning Strike: The Raid on Entebbe” from Osprey Publishing
Osprey Publishing, noted publisher of historical reference books, occasionally forwards new titles to Livingdice.com that are of interest to gamers. The latest shipment included “Israel’s Lightning Strike: The Raid on Entebbe,” from Osprey’s new “Raid” series, “Saracen Strongholds from 1100-1500” and “Empires of the Dragon: The Far East at War.” The first two titles are [...]
Book Report: Soul of the Samurai by Thomas Cleary
Samurai. The word itself conjures images of fearless warriors doing battle and a code of honor that required suicide in the face of dishonor. Samurai are one of the most famous Japanese exports, both directly and in their influence in anime, films and print. Even the American western genre adopted the stoic loner with an [...]
Review: Warealm Warlord Gaming Table from P9gaming.com
P9gaming.com is a new company producing a line of collapsible game tabletops for collectible card games. I am familiar with standard green felt tabletops for poker, so it seemed like a sensible evolution to produce a hobby gaming version. Happily p9gaming.com agreed to send me a review copy of the “Warealm Dueler” tabletop for review. [...]
American Pirates–The Constitution Allows It!
I know this is not gaming related, but it was such a tasty bit of trivia I had to post it. I was reading an article about the Somali pirate issue over at foreignaffairs.com and they mentioned an obscure section of America’s constitution as a possible solution. Privateers! Here are the key sections of Article [...]
