Distant Worlds, Part 2

Stardate 2101.03.28  The Gas Mining Station at Arcadia is completed, and construction of an Energy Research Station in orbit around Arcadia Prime begins.  The Senate passes a bill to begin construction of a space navy in order to protect our assets, but the bill is vetoed by President Karl Bendu. "We seek only to explore the solar system in peace," says the President. "We have no need to sully space by weaponizing it." Arguments made by the opposition that our stations already have defensive weapons are ignored.

Distant Worlds, Part 1

Stardate 2100.03.21

We have begun our return to the stars.  After much debate, the Senate of the Republic of Arcadia voted to begin construction of starships.  Our first priority will be to build a construction ship to facilitate the building of outposts, and to build several exploration vessels to explore our solar system. Our home planet of Arcadia Prime orbits the magnificent gas giant Arcadia, so that will be our first target of exploration.  We also intend to examine the small vessel we have seen orbiting Arcadia.  It must hold wonders.  

Distant Worlds

Uh oh, I found another computer game.  I already have far too many demands on my time, and then I stumble upon Distant Worlds, a space grand strategy wargame.

Back in the 90s I fell in love with a 4x game called Stars!  There were essentially no graphics to it, but the game was about the strategy, not the graphics.  You explored the galaxy, sent out ships to colonize other planets, built up an economy while fending off attacks from alien races, and ultimately exterminated them to rule the galaxy.  Long after I had abandoned many other games, I kept coming back to Stars!.  There was a planned sequel called Stars: Supernova Genesis, which was billed as an improvement with the addition of cool graphics, but it was abandoned, and I was heartbroken.

Our Turn to Shoot

My World War II short story, Our Turn to Shoot, is now available at the Amazon Kindle Store.  It will be free for a short time, so hurry on over and pick it up!

In early 1942, while the Imperial Japanese Navy rampaged in the western Pacific and the East Indies, the US Navy was desperately attempting to recover from the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. A raid by US Navy aircraft carriers on the Japanese-held Marshall Islands was a small but important step in showing the world that America was still in the fight.

Ensign Jim Novak is a dive bomber pilot on board USS Enterprise, eager for a chance to take the fight to the enemy. This will be his first mission to strike a blow against the Japanese, but it could also be his last...

Our Turn to Shoot is a short story of approximately 6,300 words.

First Foray into the Flames of War

Although I have bought some Flames of War stuff months ago, only recently have I actually been able to play it!  And even then it was the smallest of skirmishes, as I only had a short time in which to play, little time to refresh myself on the rules, and only the barest of armies ready for the tabletop.