I’m torn between permanently relaxing the “one unit per Comment Commander” rule and accepting its inevitable (?) consequence – a few untasked German units each turn – as accidental realism… a de facto activation system. The fact that the Panzer 35(t) and one of the newly arrived halftracks spent Turn 6 doing sweet Fanny Adams doesn’t seem completely inappropriate when you’re simming a battle as fragmented and multi-directional as this one.
On behalf of Tally-Ho Corner Tours I’d like to welcome you aboard this nonagenarian Class 476.3 electric multiple unit. Today, with a little help from your imagination and my copy of Train Simulator 2021, we will be traversing the southern portion of one of Berlin’s north-south commuter arteries, the bottle green S25. Those of you that chose not to rendezvous with me and Roman earlier this morning, missed a treat. During a whistle-stop walking tour of Teltow we visited the studio of one of Germany’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, Markus Lüpertz, and took in the Deutsches Schweinemuseum, a treasure trough…
The “col” in fridayfoxercol.jpg is short for collaboration. Although today’s co-op puzzles (there are two) have been executed by Roman, they owe their themes and the majority of their clues to guest foxer setters. Colonel_K populated most of the hexagons in the following hive foxer, and eye-opening emails from a reader I can’t name for fear of letting the fox out of the bag, inspired the collage puzzle.
To be honest, ‘BRENS’ or ‘BAPTISM OF FIRE’ would sum up this turn equally well. Before Lehrer’s platoon arrive in the closing seconds of the sixty, effectively doubling the size of the Comment Commanders’ austerity Kampfgruppe, LMGs of Czech design hail two advancing German units on the eastern side of the canal.
Unlike the formidable Friday foxers, the Monday kind are designed with lone truth sleuths in mind. Roman, my Chief Foxer Setter, assures me the following brainteaser can be solved single-handedly. Crow all you like in the comments section, but please don’t spoil the puzzle for others by sharing solutions or dropping hints.
Almost everyone knows that Mars owns a spear and shield. Relatively few people are aware that the god of war also possesses a device similar to a bee smoker. He uses said gadget to temporarily calm conflicts while he nips to the kitchen to fetch more beer or potato crisps. It’s possible Brinkmann’s Bridge receives a puff or two from the divine de-escalator at the start of the fourth turn.
Right now General Staff’s most effective recruiting sergeant isn’t a smooth-talking influencer, a fancy trailer, or a feature list as long as a Chassepot rifle, it’s a collection of digitised academic papers tucked away in a dusty corner of an obscure website. The pdfs stacked here are the reason I don’t care two hoots* about the game’s frumpy graphics, familiar Nineteenth Century battle line-up, and lack of interest in campaigning. They promise something rarer than rocking horse manure – computer-controlled opponents that think and possibly even learn like real commanders.
Every Friday at 1300 hours, Tally-Ho Corner’s cleverest clogs come together to solve a ‘foxer’ handcrafted by my sadistic chum and colleague, Roman. A complete ‘defoxing’ sometimes takes several days and usually involves the little grey cells of many readers. Don’t be shy. All are welcome to participate.