No Lie

 

 "I liked that. I'm not gonna lie. That was pretty fun."

That was the verdict of one of Les Freres Corses after we played the Rescue from the Hangman's Noose scenario from my skirmish game. Of course he had a great time. What's not fun about King's Musketeers and Cardinal's Guards exchanging shots with flintlock pistols, rushing through the clouds of acrid smoke to trade cross words, cross swords, and wound, wound, wound, and slay the enemy? He fired pistols, threw knives, stabbed, slashed, and swashbuckled his team to victory. Two of his musketeers made running leaps to the scaffold just in time to stop the hangman from completing the execution. They overcame superior numbers by superior ability to slay four guardsmen and send the wounded fifth running with his bloody tabard between his legs.

For the record, it looked nothing like the picture above, or this picture below:

 I'm going to label the venture a success, even though I was running the losing side. It was proof that the system is simple and fun. The next step is to include the role-play aspect and do a tavern fight and rescue. Although, he did express an interest in the King George's Bust scenario set during the Revolutionary War. I'll see which he decides to try.

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In the battle that rages (or ebbs and flows) in getting book 6 completed, I've crossed the midpoint, and the path to completion is becoming clear. I had an epiphany regarding a couple characters who need to make an appearance soon for maximum impact at the conclusion of the book. Book 6 will not complete the series, but it does get us closer than we've ever been before.

I finished Jeff Wheeler's Doomsday Match yesterday--in between mowing, trimming, spraying, and motorcycle riding. It's a fun read. I may say more about it later if I remember.

I was up late watching a Star Trek movie marathon. I caught part of The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home. Of course, Wrath is the best of all the ST movies and Galaxy Quest takes second place. Search for Spock may get third, and Voyage is a flawed beauty whose fun factor almost makes one forget the flaws. 

What makes Wrath the best? Mostly it's Khan. I've said it before, Ricardo Montalban is the best Khan. He is Khan. Sure, Dr. Marcus and David are annoying, but it's a small price to pay for the poignant reunion of the main cast after the snooze-fest that was ST The Motion Picture. Wrath begins the trilogy that is pretty decent overall. I should go into greater detail on my thoughts on Wrath, but that will have to wait for another time when I've made an effort to organize my thoughts--perhaps in the the 6 point pattern as set forth in The Tyranny of Public Discourse, which I recently finished. However, (let me ramble a bit) I will mention that the plethora of quotable lines, especially from Khan help. Also, the battle in the Mutara is fantastic. It's the sea battle (and TOS was in many ways a Hornblower adventure in space) from of Hornblower v. El Supremo combined with Ahab's obsession with the whale. The crippled ships fighting it out in low visibility conditions with no shields is the piece de resistance in this magnificent tour de force (and I'm not just stacking foreign phrases for the fun of it). Tension and suspense are key ingredients for a great story and they are plastered all over this baby. The battle, the trading of hits, the maneuvers, crippled Defiant hobbling away with the mere stub of a leg, and Spock's self sacrifice to save the Enterprise and crew in the nick of time as the Genesis wave threatens to engulf them all--and don't forget Khan's venomous invective with a little help from Melville--combine to provide fans with the rich payoff they had waited more than a decade to receive. My three required elements for a great story: the trauma, the drama, and the dream are all there. (I should write about that sometime using Wrath as an example). Don't forget the cost. Spock dies. He's dead, dead, dead--but we who watched it when it was brand new knew about the Genesis thingy--and we hoped.

Search is nestled in between the two that get all the attention--Wrath, because it's outstanding, and Voyage because some people are completely and unreasonably enamored with it--and is thus overlooked or underrated. Search is a celebration of friendship and more. If Wrath brought Kirk's old sins to the surface, Kirk and crew go the extra mile, kellicam, solar system, or galaxy to do the right thing and do the darn near impossible to help redeem Kirk all on the mere chance that it will help bring back their friend. McCoy, addled by Spock's consciousness banging away inside his head, gets some great moments and funny scenes. The way the team pulls together to do the right thing in the face of official resistance and imbecility is inspiring. Sure, the movie makes every other Star Fleet captain look like a supercilious cliche or cowardly idiot in uniform, but Dr. Emmett Brown as the cunning Klingon villain adds another dimension to a simple search and possible rescue story that makes us overlook the problem with the other captains. He is merciless, motivated, and has revenge on his mind when Kirk kills most of his crew. The fight between Kirk and his Klingon adversary in the ships and then on the ground mirrors the Kirk-Khan conflict of Wrath. So what if there's some heavy-handed writing and bothersome statements, mostly from Saavik, which usually begin with, "So like your father..." to make obvious points that should've been left to the viewers to realize on their own or mentioned once and never harped on again. The Klingon's 2nd hand murder of David, and the fabulous sacrifice of the Enterprise (and remember, this was the first time that the true star of the old series had been destroyed--not to be confused with the seemingly mandatory multiple and less impactful destructions of later iterations), all while a planet goes into self-destruct mode, promising to take the resurrected Spock with it, carries us to the payoff confrontation on the wreck and ruin of a surface in the process of internal demolition (again mirroring the clash with Khan but on the ground instead of in space behind the masks of stars ships). That is some good action/adventure--and Kirk can only save Spock by defeating his adversary and tricking Maltz to beam them both to safety. The completion of the Spock's resurrection is the final touch on this hearty and satisfying meal.

I've rambled too long. I'm out of time, so I can't discuss Voyage, but I'm sure there is no shortage of discussion and opinions on the topic. Perhaps another time.