Q2U

Q is for Quick fag card. I can’t look at card no.33 in Wills’ 1935 set ‘The Reign of H. M. King George V’ without thinking of a bizarre murder that occurred in Essex during WW2. At 1.45 on the afternoon of 23 July 1943, a sound like a thunder-clap rattled windows in the sleepy village of Rayleigh. The noise was generated by a Hawkins anti-tank grenade detonating beneath the seat of a bath chair occupied by disabled WW1 veteran Archibald Brown. As this excellent account of the Bath Chair Murder explains, the device had been put there by a…

Read MoreQ2U
L2P

L is for Last night I unwound with the help of FLEX Disc Golf. Recently bolstered with several new courses, this budget-priced offering manages to scratch multiple itches simultaneously. I enjoy its bucolic outdoor spaces, its dash of aeronautics, and blend of skill and luck. Threading a disc through a distant stand of conifers can be incredibly satisfying, especially if you managed to land one in a lake or behind a tree on the previous hole.

Read MoreL2P
G2K

G is for Game the rise and fall of a Great Plains superpower. Tired of 4Xing with fictional civs or highly stylised ‘historical’ ones? Because a free, GMT-approved version of Joel Toppen’s solitaire board game Comancheria has appeared in the Tabletop Simulator workshop, PC strategicians now have the opportunity to emulate the rise and delay the fall of the ‘lords of the southern plains’, the Comanches. Joel’s other Native American history game, Navajo Wars, is also playable in TS.

Read MoreG2K
Win THC’s favourite drone sim, Liftoff: Micro Drones

Already deep, my affection for Early Access Liftoff: Micro Drones is in danger of turning into an obsession now I’m weaning myself off H-ALT mode with the help of a new controller. Bedtime seems to come around awfully quickly when I’m making like a happy hummingbird in Melon-Pan Park, or tearing about like a tipsy dragonfly in Silver Screen’s multi-storey. Of the innumerable flight sims I own, only a handful have the capacity to eat evenings and intoxicate me the way this one does.

Read MoreWin THC’s favourite drone sim, Liftoff: Micro Drones
Friday Foxer #212

Every Friday, 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. All are welcome to participate.

Read MoreFriday Foxer #212
Speed-date ravishing vintage pinball tables in Zaccaria Pinball

I’ve just discovered Zaccaria Pinball’s ‘story mode’ and I love it. Drawn back to Magic Pixel’s stunning sphere slapping sim by an unexpected announcement (yesterday, after a lull of over two years, the Hungarian devs released an update that included thirteen free ‘retro’ tables) I noticed a play option I’d not tried before. Would ‘story mode’ lace me into the battered sneakers of an awkward Seventies teenager bent on dethroning the thuggish local pinball wizard? I had to find out.

Read MoreSpeed-date ravishing vintage pinball tables in Zaccaria Pinball