The Armchair General

Harvest time is power outage time here in rural Wessex. In August it’s not uncommon for Bramley End to have its electricity supply interrupted by combusting or carelessly driven farm machinery. Knowing this, I’m careful to have at least one analogue game option in reserve in case of emergencies. This week, when a field fire kindled by a dust-clogged baler sizzled overhead power lines on the edge of my village, I reached for The Armchair General, a WW2 history book with a novel twist.

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Friday Foxer #86

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.

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Operation Oryx: Turn 19

The Pods’ reluctance to leave the highway has cost them dear, but this turn there are signs – small signs – that the invaders are experimenting with a new, more circumspect approach. While Muttley is busy finishing off the last of the cocksure T-62s, our Forward Observer Team atop the dovecot watches a trio of older MBTs trade elevated tarmac for low-lying cornfields and greensward.

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Solo Foxer #85

Unlike the formidable Friday foxers, the Monday kind are designed with lone truth sleuths in mind. While Roman, my Chief Foxer Setter, would be very interested to know how long it takes you to defox today’s brainteaser, he requests that the comments section isn’t used to share solutions or drop hints.

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Demo Disc

A minute’s silence in memory of the demo disc, if you please. Coup de grâced by broadband, the wafer of wonders* that once clung limpet-like to the front cover of almost every games mag is no more. Denied these monthly mix tapes, the gamer of today is, I reckon, less inclined to reconnoitre and genre-flit than their predecessor. Because in 2022 you rarely find yourself installing kite flying sims, apian Settlers clones, and puzzle games inspired by Underground Railroad quilts, out of boredom-tinged curiosity, there’s less chance of unlikely love affairs blossoming.

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Friday Foxer #85

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.

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Operation Oryx: Turn 18

Zendora has only ever won one Olympic gold medal, and some cynics says it only bagged the gong in question because the legendary Swiss sharpshooter Wilhelm Teller didn’t attend the 1956 Melbourne Games due to a boycott. The gold was won in 300 metre rifle shooting by Otto Pinkas, one of the two Zen snipers who, working in concert with Recon Team Charlie, savages an advancing Pod rifle squad this turn.

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Solo Foxer #84

Unlike the formidable Friday foxers, the Monday kind are designed with lone truth sleuths in mind. While Roman, my Chief Foxer Setter, would be very interested to know how long it takes you to defox today’s brainteaser, he requests that the comments section isn’t used to share solutions or drop hints.

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