The Saga Concludes

Axis and Allies

2015 Game Update #3. I am the Allies.

The action begins again with the opening of the seventh round. Germany's war effort suffered a serious setback in the previous round, but was not down for the count thanks to the Italians. Meanwhile Japan had surged across the Indian subcontinent, threatening Russia, and Africa.

Reckless Italian aggression left the Allies with a critical decision in round eight. An easy takeover of Italy, or the riskier one-two punch against Germany. The stakes were high, with Nipponese tanks rolling toward Moscow. Time was of the essence.

In the end the British went for the throat once again with an all out invasion of the Fatherland. A tough victory, which came down to a single tank, and the loss of all the RAF fighters. My opponent was extremely disheartened, yet pressed on with the desperate hope of knocking the Soviets out of the game to stay in the fight!

By the start of round nine, the Japanese had occupied Stalingrad, but the tenacious Russians still held the capital. Dave knew he was out of time, and went all in with his tanks, and formidable jet fighters. The battle was epic! Both sides scoring massive hits with the dice. Alas for the Axis cause, the Soviet defenders prevailed in the end, with only one tank and three fighters remaining. After a sober assessment of the situation, the remaining Axis powers ceded Total Victory to the Allies!

We played the Avalon Hill 50th Anniversary Edition of Axis and Allies. Considered by many to be the penultimate version of the original game released by Milton Bradley in the 1980s. These sets are now difficult to find, however I invite any who are interested in the game to join the community at AAMC.net where we play online for free, using a dicey server, and the ABattleMap program, no set required. Enjoy!

Axis and Allies

2015 game update #2. I am the Allies.

The battle is rejoined at the head of the fifth round with the Germans stalled, but the Allies looking thin in the face of Japanese expansion.

Dave opened with his Afrika Korp, reinforced heavily by the mainland Luftwaffe, decimating the Americans in Libya. He then industrialized Egypt, which is interesting, and also unexpected.

Efforts in Europe left him facing large Allied forces in Poland, and Northwestern Europe, with massed Soviet tanks in the north. This kept the pressure on, and helped open the door for a slim new hope.

An aggressive sweep of the Japanese sickle toward the under belly of Europe, with transports off the coast of Africa, and the entrance of their surface fleet into the Mediterranean, as well as a risky German offensive in round six, led the British to execute a bold plan. The surprise invasion of Germany. A complete success, Huzzah!

Though the Italians quickly liberated the Nazi homeland, the Brits grab all of the German cash and shut down production for two crucial rounds! Future Allied plans are highly classified. Look for non stop action in the European theater.

My Choice

good - adj. 1. morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious: a good man.

evil - adj. 1. morally wrong; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life.

I've often said that the moral concepts of good, and evil point to the existence of God. What, after all, is right and wrong, and what is morality? You can't put your hands on it, but it exists within, and is expressed universally by, to one degree or another, everyone. Any of us can embrace one more than the other, if we so choose, but we all esteem good above evil. It is what we ought to do, though we're perfectly free not to do it, and indeed often don't. Are these morals simply a product of human social development, or rather an expression of God's image within ourselves?

There is a distinct difference between what we do, and what we ought to do. From outside ourselves, this is an undetectable thing, which is to say that taken on physical observation alone, both what we ought to do, and ought not to do, are evident as the whole of what we do. Only by studying how we ourselves view our own actions, chiefly through our literature, can a distinction be made. Often, these writings include some concept of God.

For humanity, this has been a common moral compass. All cultures view lying as wrong, though you wouldn't be able to discern this from our actions alone. People lie. Those that value honesty, and those that don't, live side by side, and even those that value honesty, may lie, and those that do not, also tell the truth. This is a reality of our existence that is expressed in scripture many times, as related to sin, or right and wrong in the eyes of God.

Why we sin may be summed up in the rejection of God, by our pride. Original sin was the rejection of God's command. The shame of that sin lead us to lie. Pride and shame are feelings, not morals. Pride is evil, yet also good. I am proud of my son, or I am proud to be an American. These feelings are often seen as good, though they sometimes can lead to evil actions. Understanding pride on a personal level can lead to wisdom, just as ignorance of pride can lead to a fall.

God knows all of this, though it is clear from scripture, as well as the reality of the world we inhabit, that he both exists, and views us, far differently than we view him, or ourselves. We are made in his image, but we so often assume this to be a physical image. God is spirit, and how he expresses himself in all life is still a mystery to us. How can humankind, even with all of our current scientific knowledge, approach or comprehend the true nature of a living, spiritual God?

The Old Testament gives us a way; Holiness, or perfect morality. Yet, as has been pointed out by God himself, through the prophets, as well as the example of humanity throughout known history, that none are truly holy, and all people fall short of this bar. Therefore he has provided an alternate way, and that is faith. Not necessarily a blind faith that, "bronze age goat herders" got all the mysteries of the universe right in the literal sense, but rather faith in God himself. He desires us to seek his wisdom, study his understanding, and discern his judgment, above our own, to trust in his promise, and his mercy. This leads us to hope for the continuation of life beyond our physical death.

This is an abhorable idea to the prideful. It requires humility, or the rejection of our pride, to accept God, and this hope. Some people refuse to believe it, for whatever reason they may contrive. Some are afraid, for instance, that they will be seen as a fool for believing in a deity no one can see. Some hold there is no evidence of any God, therefore he does not exist, that it's superstition. Some refuse to admit their own shortcomings, etc.. It is interesting to note however, that atheists, and even many seemingly evil men, hold the same moral standards in high regard. The concepts of wisdom, understanding, humility, love, honesty, justice, meekness, loyalty, self sacrifice, and tranquility, etc., are held as universal standards of good, but which are seperate from this hope, which comes by faith alone.

Perhaps I am mistaken, but I feel the missing link isn't to be found out there in the immensity of the universe, or in fossilized bones which connect us genetically to an ancestral progenitor. The study of these things no doubt will increase our true understanding of God's creation, but not of God himself. That answer, I believe, isn't to be found in physical things at all, but rather within ourselves, in the small places of our hearts, and thoughts, in our ideals. It is in how we choose to love God, and suffer one another, to reject our sinful pride, and to embrace humility before our creator. With God's help, and the daily renewal of this humble outlook, combined with the very difficult work of loving one another in the face of suffering through a random, painful, destructive, and often hateful world, we may grow in a way that God desires for us, in a way that is good, and acceptable to him. In short, it is in our values, and how they influence our actions.

I choose to value Jesus Christ, not simply because he said that he is the Son of God, but because his actions actually reflect that statement. He lived and died as an example to everyone of us on how we ought to set our ideals, and our doings before God. Though all of us fail at this, some even to great detriment and destruction, his example remains for us to follow. When atheists say there is no God, or proof Christ ever lived, I say not true. The four Gospels are proof. The letters of St. Paul are proof. The prophecies of the prophets are proof. The thoughts, and actions of those who truly strive to follow his teachings, like Pope Francis, and many before him are proof enough to me, not only that he lived, but also that he lives still today, in the hearts and minds of everyday people. Yet the duality of humankind is inherent, and sinful pride persists in the hearts of people everywhere, even sadly in those who confess Christ, leading many astray from the closeness, and understanding of God.

We are all given a precious liberty, each and every one of us, to weigh this question of God, to discern what is good, or evil, and choose for ourselves what it is we value, and hold true. God does not interfere, at least not in the manner other humans do, or even in a manner we might expect or desire of him. God is no respecter of men, and our individual lives are not valued by him in the way we so often assume. This might seem harsh to some, but it does grant us the truest and highest liberty of choice, and I firmly believe our response is being observed, and noted. My choice is faith, and hope, striving to reflect that in my life, that it may be counted for good, rather than evil.

I hold the same hope for you, my friends. Peace and grace be with you all.

Axis and Allies

2015 game update. I am playing the Allies

We had to pause after eight and a half hours of play, at the beginning of round five. We did stop to take in some pizza at Barnaby's, slowing us down a bit. We've played games that have gone in excess of twenty-five rounds before, so we have to sometimes spread it out over a week or so.

As it stands, the Allies are holding their ground against the Germans, but my efforts to slow down the Axis in the east suffered some serious set backs in the last round. My friend Dave used an interesting opening strategy with the Japanese Navy, which I feel helped the British economically for several crucial rounds, but also slowed down the Americans, perhaps too long. I was also plagued early on with poor die rolls.

The U.K. scored the Improved Shipyards industrial development on their first turn! This has allowed me, along with Dave's unusually slow economic expansion in the Pacific, to quickly build a large fleet in the North Atlantic, relieving a great deal of the pressure off of the Soviets. Another huge victory for the British, in the first round, was the complete, and surprise destruction of the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean. Huzzah!

The Germans gained their own industrial development in the next round, however, scoring Mechanized Infantry! This has me sweating, but I feel he's so far misused it, especially in round four where he inexplicably separated his armor from the infantry, allowing me to beat the Wermacht back, while keeping the majority of my Russian tanks, at least for now.

SITWEST - Start of Round 5:

SITEAST - Start of Round 5:

With the now heavily industrialized Japanese, (he has two factories up and running on the mainland) expanding across eastern Asia, in the face of near crippled Chinese, and British resistance, the overall picture for the Allies, is taking a grim turn. Stand by for updates as they develop!

Well, here I've started my first blog, and find myself without anything to write about.

Most of my writing of late has been inspired by political, or religious ideas which I've long had, but lacked a venue to express. I've also been working on a science fiction story, but that seems to move only slowly forward, in fits and starts, though much more progress has been made than I ever imagined possible before I began writing it. It is interesting to write, especially on a work of fiction, where nonexistent people, places, and events gain a life, and substance all their own, out of nothing but my own thoughts. A scene, or group of scenes, once written down, can then enter the thoughts of others, inspiring their own ideas. Well, if I ever publish it that is.

I've always enjoyed science fiction, which probably goes all the way back to when I was five years old, and saw A New Hope for the first time, during its very first theatrical release, igniting my imagination. My younger brother and I spent many years afterwards building Lego spaceships and fighters, some of them quite elaborate, only to have Dad hold them up and let them go, to pass or fail the dreaded "drop test." This forced us, actually, to build some quite sturdy vessels, which we would test ourselves by dropping them down the stairs. A lot of expensive Lego pieces ended up down the cold air return that way, much to Dad's chagrin, ha! It wasn't until I was much older, however, that I actually started to read serious sci-fi. I went through a long fantasy stage first, with series like The Belgariad, The Lord Of The Rings, and The Dark Tower, then rereading them. This gave me a deeper understanding of the stories, but made me perhaps an overly harsh critic of later movie adaptations, heheh. My first true sci-fi reading experience was Frank Herbert's Dune, a fantastic story that, in my opinion, should be required reading for students. I went on to read other books in that series, but the first, and the third, affected me the most profoundly. H.G. Wells, Arhtur C. Clark, and George Orwell were other authors I liked early on. More recently, I've gotten into John Scalzi, James S.A. Corey, Hugh Howey, and Peter F. Hamilton. I enjoy many other types of fiction as well, but sci-fi will always hold a special place in my heart.

Commenting on Google plus, a recent devopment for me, has provide an unlooked for venue in which to express my political, and religious thoughts. It also has led me to start this blog. I've read a good many opinions here which have resulted in a deep, thoughtful reflection within myself, and also given me the confidence to express my own ideas. But I've also learned that there is no shortage of people who will disagree with me. That's okay because this leads to thoughtfulness as well. Even the more ignorant, and vitriolic opinions can help to turn the prism in my minds eye, to look at things from a new angle, allowing me to define more clearly what it is I truly believe in, and how I myself ought to behave.

Politics and religion can be very derisive, often bringing out the worst in people, but also at times, the best. It does astound me though, how so very smug, and justified people can be in the way they look at things, and how difficult it is to sway their view, even with what I consider to be rational, fact based arguments. A good example of this is the way my Dad and I view climate change so differently. I throw facts and evidence his way supporting my view, and he'll throw facts and evidence my way supporting his. The end result apparently being that we agree to disagree, waiting to see if Greenland's rapidly melting glaciers ever actually wash away their new home in Florida. And this is the way it is anymore with politics and religion, except there seems to be a lot less of the agreeing to disagree than there should be. I'll leave the specifics of my beliefs and ideas for later posts, however, and here bid everyone a good night. Peace be with you.