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djnomc-blog · 1 year

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My Civil War

GAME OBSESSION LEADS TO BIZARRE AMERICAN HISTORY TWIST

My nastiest addiction was a turn-based strategy game, a Civil War thing called “The Blue and the Gray”. I’m as yet unable to pin down the production details; can’t find it on Wikipedia. It may have been released under another name here in Australia. The game had a fairly good level of historical accuracy, so when playing as the North the preponderance of men and machines (and the ability to replace them) made victory fairly easy.

Playing as the South was a lot tougher. On my fourth or fifth game as Dixie, I’d had my usual early victories in 1861 and 1862, seen the tide turn in 1863, and was reduced to two cities, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Then came the difference - I noticed two features of the clunky war game I’d already spent way too much time on already.

Firstly, attacking armies, no matter how strong, could not shift me from Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Operating from poor positions, and with each of my armies able to add their weight to the other when it came to crunching numbers for the crucial battle simulator equation, wave after wave of Yankees proved unable to storm my defences. I had unwittingly discovered an impregnable double-bolthole for the armies of the Confederacy.

Secondly, when 1865 rolled around in game time and the time-line of the real war came to its end, the game offered the choice of ending or continuing to play. As you may have suspected having read this far, I didn’t have a lot going on at the time, emotionally or productively. I kept playing. It’s so long ago now I don’t remember what was going on with me, which drama seemed unsustainable at the time. Long-term unemployment, stalled novel, life with and the death of elderly parents or just another heartbreak, take your pick. I must’ve been pretty desolate I suppose, to let a game like that take up so much of my time, the vast majority of it repetitive key strokes.

Anyway, reduced to a rapid series of mouse clicks to pass the weeks and collect recruits, I began building massive, 75000-man divisions, as much to keep my resources organised as for any other reason. Now, the other thing about Baton Rouge and New Orleans in this game was that they were shipbuilding cities, so I was able to store my divisions on ships at sea. I grew concerned as to the turn of the century – would the programming cope with the transition to January 1st, 1900? Had my own Millennium Bug freak-out

I’m surprised it took me so long to come up with the strategy. After playing through to the late nineteen fifties, I sent my vast armada of ships to invade the North, landing a massively over-sized army near Bangor Maine and setting off on a slaughter-filled March from the Sea that made Sherman’s effort look like a frolic. The South had her revenge, in a charnel house. The Presidency of R.E. Lee’s great grandson began amidst rivers of blood.

Of course soon enough, the North’s superior strength began to reassert itself and my numbers once again started to shrink. By the end of the Fifties, I’d been reduced once again to the twin cradles of my destiny, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. That’s where I managed to quit.

I don’t remember exactly, but I think the game-year was around the start of the Civil Rights era. I’d fought the War Between the States for 100 years already, so y’know, I figured “hey whatever”.

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djnomc-blog · 2 years

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My Bird List

25/02/2024

Apostlebird, Maidenwell 3/9

Australian Brush-Turkey, passim.

Australian White Ibis, passim.

Australian Pelican, passim.

Australian Raven, passim.

Australian Ringneck (Cloncurry Parrot), Alice Springs NT 2/10

Australian Wood (Maned) Duck, Yorks Hollow Brisbane 1/07

Australasian Figbird (Imm), Banks Street Reserve 10/16

Barn Swallow, Ashgrove Brisbane 04/11

Barn Owl, Cirque du Soleil Carpark, Hendra Brisbane 11/06

Black-breasted Buzzard, Darwin NT 8/10

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Wilston Brisbane 03/10

Black-faced Woodswallow, Stanthorpe 8/20

Black-shouldered Kite, Byron Bay NSW 12/06

Black Currawong, Freycinet Peninsular 5/22

Black Swan, Yarraman 10/13

Blue-faced Honeyeater, passim.

Brahminy Kite, Rainbow Beach Queensland 3/10

Brown Cuckoo-Dove, North Stradbroke Island 2/19

Brown Falcon, Toowoomba 5/15

Brown Honeyeater, Darwin NT 3/10

Brown Quail, Blackbutt 2/14

Bush Stone-curlew, Oxley Brisbane 2007

Cape Barren Goose, Apollo Bay VIC 3/08

Cattle Egret, Byron Bay hinterland NSW, 12/06

Common Myna, passim.

Crimson Finch, Darwin NT, 3/10

Crimson Rosella, Apollo Bay VIC 3/08

Diamond Dove, Darwin NT 8/10

Dollarbird, Woodford Folk Festival Bird Tour Queensland, 12/06

Double-barred Finch, North Queensland 9/06

Eastern Reef Egret, Fogg Dam NT 8/10

Eastern Whipbird (immature), Byron Bay hinterland NSW 12/06

Eastern (pale-headed) Rosella, J.C. Slaughter Falls Brisbane, 4/10

Emu, in captivity and in wild.

Forest Kingfisher, Darwin NT 8/10

Forest Raven, passim TAS 5/22

Galah, in captivity and in wild.

Great Cormorant, Minnie Water NSW 2/24

Great Egret, Fogg Dam NT 8/10

Grey Butcherbird, Wilston 2/10

Grey Fantail, Eumundi QLD 3/10~

Grey Goshawk, Darwin NT 8/10

Grey-headed Honey-eater, Ross River NT 2/10

Grey Shrike-Thrush, Enoggera 4/20

House Sparrow, passim.

Intermediate Egret, Nudgee Beach Brisbane 3/10

Laughing Kookaburra, passim.

Little Black Cormorant, Rainbow Beach 12/16

Little “Brush” Wattlebird, Byron Bay lighthouse NSW 5/10

Little Penguin, Apollo Bay VIC 11/08~

Little Pied Cormorant, Hobart 5/22

Magpie Goose, Fogg Dam NT 08/10

Magpie-lark, passim

Mangrove Gerygone, Darwin NT 8/10

Masked Lapwing, passim.

Mistletoebird, Rainbow Beach QLD 3/11

Mulga Parrot, Alice Springs NT 2/10

Noisy Friarbird, passim.

Noisy Miner, passim.

Orange Footed Scrubfowl, Darwin NT 8/10~

Pacific Gull, Hobart TAS 5/22

Peaceful Dove, Darwin NT 8/10

Pheasant Coucal, Bribie Island Queensland 12/05

Pied Butcherbird, Caboolture Lakes Queensland 5/10

Pied Cormorant, Darwin NT 8/10

Pied Currawong, Byron Bay hinterland NSW 12/06

Pied Oystercatcher, Low Head TAS 5/22

Plumed Whistling Duck, Blackbutt 2/14

Purple Swamphen, Yorks Hollow Brisbane 09/09

Rainbow Lorikeet, passim.~

Red-necked Stint, North Stradbroke Island 2/19

Red Knot, Low Head TAS 5/22

Restless Flycatcher, Murwillumbah Hinterland 5/13

Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon), passim.

Royal Spoonbill, Enoggera Creek 8/07

Shining Flycatcher, Darryl's house 1/21

Silvereye, The Shed Nanango 8/23

Silver Gull, North Stradbroke Island 11/17

Southern Emu-Wren, Minnie Water NSW 2/24

Spotless Crake, South Bank 4/10~

Spotted Pardalot, North Queensland 9/06

Spotted Turtle-Dove, Enoggera Creek Brisbane 12/08

Straw-necked Ibis, Kedron Brook Brisbane 8/07

Superb Fairy-wren, Enoggera Reserve 8/17

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, passim.

Tawny Frogmouth, passim.

Torresian Crow, Maidenwell 10/13

Variegated Fairy-wren, “The Joynt” Hotel, West End Brisbane 4/10

Wedge-tailed Eagle, wedding weekend near Warwick 1/09

Wandering Albatross, Wooli Beach NSW 2/23~

Welcome Swallow, Brisbane City 2/08

White-browed Babbler, Homestead Caravan Park Nanango Queensland 02/23

White-cheeked Honey-eater, Stradbroke Island Queensland 11/07

White-faced Heron (Imm), Kedron Brook Brisbane 1/07

White-gaped Honey-eater, Darwin NT 8/10

White-headed Pigeon, Cairns 11/12

White-naped Honey-eater, Wilston Brisbane 6/09

White-winged Black Tern, Bribie Island 1/15

White-winged Chough, North Stradbroke Island 2/18

Willie Wagtail, passim.~

Yellow Oriole, Fogg Dam NT, 8/10

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Mt. Glorious, 2/10

Zebra Finch, Palm Valley NT 10/08

TOTAL 104 birds 25 February 2024

1st bird - Pheasant Coucal at Bribie Island w/- Graeme Norris Xmas '05

50th bird – Brahminy Kite flying over Rainbow Beach SLC, w/- Kirsten Easter 2010

75th bird - White-headed pigeon in downtown Cairns w/- Kirsten 24/11/12

100th Bird - the White-browed Babbler - Homestead Caravan Park, Nanango 2/23

103rd and 104th birds Southern Emu Wren and Great Cormorant at Minnie Water NSW February 2024, identification assisted by Kirsten

#bird_brilliance #ornithology #twitcher #birdwatching

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