American Iliad

 

 Fun Fact:

Amherst took Louisbourg as the first prong of the British assault. The second prong of Pitt's vision for the conquest of Canada was led by Major General James Abercromby. At 52 years of age with many years of military experience, Abercromby was a methodical plodder who had never had an independent command.

Montcalm himself went to Carillon as the British massed their forces near Albany for the strike north. 

George Augustus, viscount Howe, was appointed as Abercromby's second-in-command. His brother Richard was Admiral Howe, and his brother William Howe would lead the British Army in America 20 years in the future. Lord Howe was the idol of the army, being everything Abercromby was not. Also figuring prominently among the soldiery was Robert Rogers, commissioned as Major of the Rangers in His Majesty's service. Howe impressed the rangers' style upon the other units of Abercromby's command--including cutting the brims from their hats and cutting their coats to the waist.

The British advanced and Howe sent the rangers ahead to reconnoiter Fort Carillon, where Montcalm was scraping together 4,000 men to counter the largest army yet assembled in America--6,000 British Regulars and 9,000 Colonials--advancing on his position. Lord Howe led the fleet of 900 bateaux and 135 whale boats down Lake George, which included in its vanguard Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage, who had led Braddock's advance across the Monongahela. Like the Greeks before Troy, they came ashore flush with hopes of conquest.

The advance guard landed, pressed forward toward the fort, and ran into French forces hurrying toward the fort as well. After a sharp skirmish, the French fled, but Lord Howe had been killed with a bullet in the chest. With the death of the most competent leader among their force, the British, only two hours march from the fort, experienced a minor collapse and spent two days disentangling themselves from the wilderness.

Montcalm, the Priam of our tale, profited by Abercromby's delay to construct entrenchments and abatis at the approach to the fort. He positioned most of his troops along this defense, leaving some in the fort to man the artillery. Although his flanks were undefended, he foresaw Zeus blinding the enemy's eyes to his weakness.

July 8, 1758, Abercromby sent a junior officer forward to evaluate the defenses. The officer reported the defenses could be taken by a frontal assault. While his artillery remained at the landing site--like Achilles in his tent--Abercromby formed his men in ranks three deep for the assault on the defenses, while Montcalm looked on with joy that the British were following the script he had prepared. Montcalm would've offered hecatombs to Zeus if he had had any to spare.

Abercromby sent his regulars forward against the entrenched enemy whose fire shredded his troops before they got close enough to deliver the customary volley and rush the defenses. After loosing 2,000 men to this meat grinder, this stationary Hector, the British retreated all the way back to the boats like the panicked Achaeans.

On July 9, the remains of the largest British army assembled on the continent fled across Lake George from an enemy force a quarter of its size and which wasn't even pursuing. Troy remained defiant, and Montcalm declared victory.

--I've consulted my highlights from The French and Indian Wars: Deciding the Fate of North America by Walter R. Borneman, Chapter 8 for this fun fact episode. 

________________________

 

Glitches and Dragons

 

The picture is of the new terrain/beasts Les Freres Corses have established as the next level of their game. Perhaps some additional information is in order. The pale blue strip with the black things in it is a river full of black leeches. It's in the bottom of a canyon (as represented by the brownish sides. The green in the upper left hand corner is the fertile ground where one glitch (a new creature represented by a miniature from the Army of the Dead from LotR), a few goblins, and a transparent with some young reside. Most of the action happens in the pink zone, which also has a glitch, dingos (represented by warg figures), goblins, 2 trolls, longrads (represented by the pens), and two dragons (smaller dinosaur figures with duct tape for wings--and not to be confused with the enormous T-Rex figure partially visible on the right). The T-Rex is an NPC recruited by one of the freres from 2 levels back. During the most recent turn, T-Rex was slain by that dragon among the longrads (but I suspect the frere will get it resurrected on the next level). In other casualties, Derek McCau took a goblin arrow through the throat and crossed over the transient threshold of mortality (he'll probably be back next level as well), and Darth Vader failed a morale check and ran all the way back to the DeLorean to find his courage and heal his wounds.

The small white paper tank at the very top is actually the DeLorean in which the gang travels from level to level. In the previous level it was fueled by longrad eggs to make the jump. The protagonists--Darth Vader and friends (in addition to T-Rex and the late Mr. McCau), who include Steel McCat (yes, we keep making that joke), Eldon Zyrax, along with a transparent and its offspring (the latter two both still in the DeLorean)--are tasked with slaying a dragon and all the goblins to complete the level. There may also be a side quest that I don't recall. I'm only there to provide occasional sound effects, roll dice for monsters, and assure that there's some semblance of regularity to the play. In fact, the big accomplishment for this level was getting one frere to limit his free move to an objectively measurable distance--previously the free move ability had completely swallowed the movement rule and allowed him to move Darth Vader as far as he wanted while he counted out seven seconds; in other words, he could move pretty much wherever he wanted. We're making progress in small increments and having fun along the way.

______________

In writing news: Today I received notice of acceptance on an another short story--this time in an anthology. You may depend on me to talk more about it when the publication comes out in the very near future. I still have another story out there that I believe has been accepted (if so, it would make 3 for the year), but nothing definitive has been provided, and the publication for which it was submitted has been delayed at least twice.

I didn't get as much writing done as I had hoped on book 6 of the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series because of other responsibilities, but what I did write was great. These last chapters are full of tension and action involving fire, ice, tomahawks, knives, spears, and gunpowder--to name some particular elements. It's only the title that eludes me. I came very close to adopting one, but it just didn't seem right. I also just finished Richard III, and there were some quotes I liked, but I had already decided that only the first three books would have titles taken from Shakespeare quotes, so I'm looking to Thomas Paine, John Adams, or some other founder or character in the series to speak the appropriate title.

Here's a clue about the short story:

Taking Louisbourg with the wave of a hat

 

 Fun Fact:

1757 had not been a good year for British arms in North America. William Pitt, convinced that Canada could be taken, devised a three-pronged assault for implementing his strategy of attacking Canada from all sides.  First he would take another stab at Louisbourg. Second, a strike north from Fort Edward to Forts Carillon (Ticonderoga) and Frederic would open the way from Lake Champlain through the Richelieu River to Montreal.The third prong would drive to Fort Duquesne and up to Fort Niagra to cut Canada's connection with the Louisiana.

France's victories in Canada concealed a fatal secret: Canada was starving. Provisions from France were required to feed the colony, and the Royal Navy had the mouth of the St. Lawrence nearly corked. Pitt dispatched William Amherst as Commander-in-Chief to realize his vision of conquering Canada with the attack on Louisbourg.

Louisbourg was a fortified town with stone walls, glacis, earthen ramparts for artillery and soldiers, anchored by multi-sided bastions. Four artillery batteries protected the harbor. Governor Augustin de Drucour and his soldiers and militia waited for the coming British onslaught. The French fleet at Canada was nearly non-existent with only a few ships lying in Louisbourg's harbor.

Jeffery Amherst

 Admiral Boscawen with troops under Brigadier General James Wolfe sailed from England in February, but Amherst couldn't get away until March. Boscawen and company didn't reach Halifax until May and by the time they made for Louisbourg, Amherst had arrived. 

Wolfe led a division ashore at Kennington Cove. Pounding surf capsized some boats and smashed others against the rocks. When Wolfe's soldiers hit the shore, they waded into a maelstrom of artillery and musket fire. Witnessing the terrible beating his troops were taking, Wolfe stood in the bow of his rocking boat and waved his hat for all to see, perhaps to call off the attack. At the same instant, a boatload of Highlander's found a sandy haven on the rocky shore and rowed furiously for it. Other boats followed--including Wolfe.

Wolfe formed up the troops under terrible fire from the French and, after returning volley fire, began to move inland. The other two divisions in the attack also came ashore at Kennington Cove, but the French defenders who were spread along the mile-long shore failed to concentrate against the landing force--and instead retreated to Louisbourg. Wolfe later said of the matter, "We made an ill-advised attempt to land, and by the greatest good fortune imaginable we succeeded."

Amherst had the town surrounded. Des Gouttes, commanding the small French fleet, asked permission to escape back to France, but Governor Drucour denied the request as he wanted to delay Amherst as long as possible from proceeding against Quebec. The British tightened the noose, taking the harbor batteries, and the French sank four ships at the harbor entrance and fled the ships for the shelter of the town--which the British began to pound with heavy artillery.

After burning the ships, on July 26, 1758, Drucour asked for surrender terms--which Amherst and Boscawen insisted be unconditional. The next morning the gates to the ruined and starving city were thrown open to the British. 

--Once again I've consulted my highlights from The French and Indian Wars: Deciding the Fate of North America by Walter R. Borneman for this fun fact episode. 

_____________

Movie Review - Quest for the Mighty Sword.

Good sword and sorcery movies are few and far between, and Quest for the Mighty Sword is in a void of its own. The story, such as it is, finds the hero struggling to comprehend the concept of acting, and going down in defeat--but he is not alone. He goes through the motions and, although the effort is minimal, it is apparent that he's making an effort. Some others in the show don't even bother. Some lines sound like they're being read, and read for the very first time. There was an actress or two who demonstrated an ability to act, but even their valiant efforts were hindered by a script that was inferior to the blank page. The budget had to be huge for this thing, by which I mean someone must have absconded with what budget there was and the actors had to steal their own costumes and props from unrelated sets. The movie is so bad that it could very well be a humorless parody of the genre. If that's the case, it's almost brilliant--except parody should be funny, or at least entertaining, and this one is neither. It's not a movie that's so bad it's good--it's just bad. It's bad in the train wreck sort of way. It's a terrible, awful tragedy, but throughout, the viewer is held transfixed by the question: How bad can this get? I'll give you the answer: This is a dumpster fire after the smoke has cleared. It's a smoking ruin of what might have been that never rises to the point of actually giving the viewer the slightest hope that it could become something more. From beginning to end, it is a vast, empty, barren, dry desert of dull brown sand. It never gets better. It never gets worse.

Party Time at Fort William Henry

 Fun Fact:

With things going poorly for the British, Newcastle resigned his position at the head of the government. When William Pitt took over, he declared that North America should be defended by land and sea as a critical component of the British Empire. He asked for 8,000 men and a fleet to give form to his words, and he began a program of construction to bring the British Navy up to 400 ships. He and George II had never been besties, and after Pitt objected to Admiral Bying's execution, the king informed Pitt that he would accept his resignation. Necessity soon forced a compromise whereby Pitt would run the war, and Newcastle would carry on the the internal affairs of government.

Lord Loudoun, who was now in command in America, agreed with the opinion that the way to win the war was to seize Quebec. Advancing by sea, a conservative step toward that goal would be to take Louisbourg, and Pitt ordered him to do just that. When Loudoun pulled troops from New York to mount an attack on Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, Montcalm moved south from Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) to attack Fort William Henry at the southern tip of Lake George.

Command on the New York frontier fell to Brigadier General Daniel Webb, whose commander at Fort William Henry was Lt. Col. George Monro. Scouts brought the happy news that as many as 8,000 men were gathering at Carillon for jaunt in his direction. Webb, while inspecting the fort got the news along with the colonel. Webb headed back to Fort Edward with the promise to send reinforcements to Monro.

The French and their Indian allies arrived in the mood to party. They surrounded Monro and his 2,000 men in the fort with their 7,500 men and commenced a siege of the formidable fortification. Monro received no help from Webb with the exception of a cordial note suggesting that he make the most favorable terms possible for his capitulation--the note came via Montcalm's officer after the British messenger from Webb had been killed. Montcalm added his recommendation for following Webb's advice.

Monro followed the advice on Aug 9, 1757, with the promise his men would be escorted to Fort Edward and could keep their personal effects, sidearms, colors, and one 6 pounder on the condition they not fight again for 18 months. If the deal seemed too good to be true, Montcalm's Indian allies couldn't believe it either. Their party invitations had specified plunder and scalps, not fancy soldiers marching away with most of their toys still in hand. The Abenaki strongly objected to the terms by first murdering and scalping the British wounded in the fort hospital, and seconded the objection by taking plunder from the British baggage and personal effects. The objection carried handily when the Indians attacked the first contingent of soldiers on the way to Fort Edward on Aug 10 and continued the vigorous execution of the new terms the next day. 700 British prisoners or more were killed, wounded, or missing.

Montcalm's Indians had achieved their aim for the campaign and began to disperse, and his own militiamen were needed at home for the harvest. He destroyed Fort William Henry and retired to the north. Meanwhile, Loudoun's attack on Louisbourg was stymied by bad weather and the French Navy. Another season had passed without a victory for British arms.

____________________ 

The work on Book 6 continues with a return to some threads that haven't received much attention for a few chapters. The stakes are rising and the temperature's heating up--even though winter is settling in. Five or six chapters will wrap it up if everything goes as planned.

Belart Wright

 Interview with Belart Wright

Author of

The Hell's Glitch Series

Please tell me a little about your current work in progress.

I have quite a few.  Mainly, I’m working on several LitRPG and Gamelit titles currently.  The main series is the Hell’s Glitch Series which will have a lot of life to it over the next few years.  Then there’s the Psy-Hunters sequel which will be there to scratch my Sci-Fi itch as I’m writing the dark world of Hell’s Glitch.  Other than that, I’m working on some one-shot Gamelit projects including one based on a beat ‘em up as well as a visual novel with light RPG gameplay mechanics.

Where did you get the idea for this book or series?

I watched Sword Art Online and a few key moments such as the raid boss battles reminded me of the first Dark Souls game.

Do you write in more than one genre?

Yes.  Typically its dark fantasy, urban fantasy, sci-fi, action & adventure, grimdark, horror, gamelit, and litrpg.

Tell me about something that you believe makes your writing unique or worthy of attention.

I think I’m pretty good with scenes with heavy emotions as well as action scenes.  I tend to be particularly obsessed with those since each of my books provides them. I would even call myself an action junkie like one of my characters.

Is there anything about your personal history or personality that manifests strongly in your writing?

Mostly childhood stuff.  Stuff that I’m not ready to talk about, but I do pull a lot of inspiration from my childhood which was strangely spent crafting storylines in various genres (martial arts, superhero, mecha, wrestling, grounded, etc) with action figures, dolls, and videogames.

I think my love of martial arts always shines through in whatever I write.  There’s also some reference or call back to martial arts in some way.

What else would be helpful for readers to know about you?

I’m an avid gamer and novice game designer.  You should be seeing some of my videogame projects in the next few years.

Excluding your own work, what underrated author or book would you recommend that more people read? Why?

Alexandra Engellmann, Matt Doyle, and Christina McMullen because they are tremendously talented and great people on top of that.  I enjoyed many of their books over the years and feel a bit of a connection with them and their work since I was around for their earliest titles.

Which of your books do you most highly recommend? Why?

The Hell’s Glitch series for fans of dark fantasy, sci-fi, and videogames.  It’s gotten the most sells so far and I intend to write many more books in this universe.

Which break, event, decision, or fortuitous circumstance has helped you or your writing career the most?

Back when I sold a tremendous amount of copies of Hell’s Glitch in 2016.  It allowed me to step up my book production drastically. I believe I published 3 or 4 books that year and wrote even more.

What question do you wish you would get asked more often?

Currently that would be, “where can I find your book” or “would you like this big bag of money?”

Do you have a catch-phrase or quote that you like? What is it? And why do you choose it?

I used to have a ton of them, but I don’t really have any anymore.  I supposed I say “It is what it is” a lot these days because I tend to take a lot of crappy things in stride.  I like to let go of the things I can’t control so as not to be burdened by them.

 ________________________

Thanks to Belart for participating.

This week I tore into Book 6 in the Tomahawks and Dragon Fire Series--finishing a chapter twice after I moved a section from the subsequent back to get it in the correct position to suit the story development. I also got another short story (the last for a while) submitted. Also finished a couple books and mentioned them, along with a short excerpt from Book 6, in my newsletter that went out today.