[Kinda Book Report] Jeanne La Male Reine Vol 1

Jeanne La Male Reine translate to Evil Queen Joan

The English-speaking world knows about the War of the Roses. A similar dynastic drama happened in France 150 years before, when King Philippe IV Le Bel (the Fair), a harsh man by all accounts ruled. The House of Valois had ruled for ~340 years at that point. The King had 3 sons, and a daughter (who would be Queen of England), his rule and continuation assured.

Played against the events that led to the Avignon Papacy, the arrest and trials of the Knights Templar, the imprisonment of the Princesses (where Philippe's daughters-in-law were accused of adultery, all three of them!), and the death of the king and rise of his son Louis X le Hutin (the Quarrelsome).

Our story focused on Jeanne who is born with a foot defect that leaves her lame her whole life. Intelligent and charming, her family has a hard time finding her a husband because of her condition.

Then one day, she meets Philippe de Valois, Philippe Le Bel's nephew (by his brother).

Our story has her make a pact with the devil's envoy to marry Philippe de Valois. And the two have a very loving relationship - something most other noblewomen admit jealousy towards her as they love. Jeanne embraces her role as an agent of the devil.

We close the story on Jeanne admitting to her husband that she wants to be Queen. He doesn't refuse, saying that "We are happier and freer as we are now..."

If I have one criticism of this story is that it sometimes go by REALLY quickly with major elements advancing time really quickly. But the art and the story is quite interesting and draws you in.

This is a clear 4.5/5, but due to math, I have to round up to 5/5.

[Kinda Book Report] Beowulf

I received this a few years ago from Santa. Beowulf is a poem that is VERY interesting. I got a modern interpretation and will be honest in saying that I was hesitant to read a poem. I dislike poetry, it's just... not my thing. Any interest in it was crushed in Secondary 4 (10th grade)... Long ago...

Now we all know the story of Beowulf. A prince of the Geats who goes to Hroathar's hall and defeats Grendel, then Grendel's mother.

Now, I will admit that I found myself enjoying this book much more than I thought.

What I learned about the story is that it is one of the only book in Old English rescued from ~700AD. There are nods to a richer litterary tradition that is now lost to us. References to people we don't know about anymore. Links to events we forget about. I did not know that. There is so much we just do not know about it.

The story is well-known, but reading as close to the source material as possible is awesome. Gives you a snapshot of mankind in the past. What people thought at the time... What was important to them. What they believed. And Beowulf is no exception.

Not much more to say... I liked it. I would give it a 3.5, which rounds out to 4/5.

Grendel is the topic of one of my inspirational songs... From this post from 2015

[Kinda Book Report] African Samurai by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard

I got this book in a trade for one of mine. I was interested in learning more about Yasuke, the African Samurai. Where do I begin to talk about how bad this book is... And how much I got screwed in the deal.

First off, it is more interested in not offending modern audiences and apologizing rather than explaining the realities of the era and letting the reader discern what he wants to think about it.

Second, we are presented with the history of a minor character among several very interesting characters. In fairness, they list their sources at the end and admit most of it is made up of conjecture.

Yasuke is presented as a Gary-Lou. He's always perfect. Makes the right thing. Does the right thing. Is on the right side of decisions all the time. Things always turns out right for him, except where the sources explicitly tell us.

All Europeans are presented as two-dimensional, moustache-twirling villains with dark ulterior motives for everything they do.

The "ending" include a number of fan-fiction possibilities of what may have happened to Yasuke.

In one section, I woke up my wife because they spend 2 pages arguing whether Yasuke was gay, but without proof - which they admit later. Pure speculation and conjecture. Most of this book is just that... Speculative fiction.

Did Yasuke exist? Yes?

Did most of what in this book happen? Maybe...

I would have up-voted with if this was the 10-page book of real material about Yasuke, not a 472 page book. I hope to get something from the secondhand bookstore.

In short, this is book is garbage. 1/5. I could not wait to be done with it.

[Kinda Book Report] The Ships of Minos by Maciej Slomczynski

I got this book off Amazon. From the cover, I thought the author was "Joe Alex" but nope. The style within gave me the impression of a book written in a completely different language where not only the story build up but the beat itself had a different vibe. Not bad, but definitely different.

Now, this is the story of a young man from near Troy who is captured by merchants from the Levant, taken to Syria, and from there to Egypt.

The characters have surprisingly little depth and move from one place to the next in a very functional way and little in the way of internal conflicts. We are in a realm of action.

Where this book fails mostly is in setting expectation. With a title like "The Ships of Minos", you'd expect something maritime. Or that has to do with Minos. Or that deals with Crete/ the Minotaur. If you answered "Yes" to any of these, you'd be wrong on all accounts. There are two sea voyages but they happen between chapters. The only Greeks beside Whitehair, our protagonist, appear right at the end. At that time when you wonder "how is this gonna finish?"

A few things this book does real well include the descriptions of Ancient Egypt, its religion, odd religion (the faith of Sobek in particular), and the relations between the nation of Egypt and its neighbor. Another thing I found interesting was that our protagonist does not speak Egyptian and does not develop an understanding suddenly. The scenes are sometimes shown from both sides when relevant.

So this book was... not great. Will I read book 2? Nope. Did I hate it? No.

2/5 easy.

[Kinda Book Review] La Reine Etranglee by Maurice Druon

One of the best-known series of historical fiction books in French is "Les Rois Maudits" (the Cursed Kings) which deals with King Philippe IV Le Bel (The Fair) and his children. His three sons all ascended to the throne and were the last kings of the Capetian Dynasty. Starting with Philippe VI, power shifted to the House of Valois. King Philippe Le Bel is best known for bringing an end to the Knights Templars and the trials that end with the death of the last Grandmaster. He was a massive reformer and someone with strong ideas and the personal power and charisma to get it done.

A few years back, I read the first one of the series, which started with the execution of the lords of the Templars.

I kept this one for later... Finally I sat down and read it.

The first book of the series was pretty good (oddly enough, it seems I did not put a review on this blog...). But this one... It was... Fine. Not great. As the book title indicates, deals book deals with the strangling of a queen - here Marguerite de Bourgogne (Margaret in English). Interestingly, after Philippe le Bel's death, his son Louis X (dit le Hutin or the Quarrelsome).

The book opens with the death of Philippe le Bel and the ascension of Louis X. Louis' wife Marguerite is kept in Chateau-Gaillard up the Seine River because she was found guilty of adultery (in Book 1). The plot deals with Valois and d'Artois arranging for Louis to find a second wife (Clemence de Hongrie).

My biggest issue with this is that the characters are very one-dimensional. D'Artois is manipulative, Valois is impotent, Louis is unsure of himself and quarrelsome, the Italians are affable, Blanche is candid and vapid, Marigny is honorable, and Marguerite is a defeated woman. There is little to make these people (Louis and Marguerite are the only ones with a little depth). So it's very black vs white.

This era is France's equivalent of the War of the Roses and generally fascinating. Each characters could be seen one way or another. This is not what you will find here.

I will settle on a 2/5 for this one. I enjoyed it more than most other I rated 2, but the almost cartoonish villains cheapens the interest. If I were to use this for D&D, I may bump it up to 3. But nah... it's a solid 2.

[Kinda Book Report] The Decameron Book/ TV show

It's not every day that you get to sit down and read a story set during the Black Plague of the 1340s. It's rarer to get to read a book written contemporaneously.

The Decameron is one such book, written by Boccaccio around 1350.

Now the story deals with a group of ten aristocrats (seven women, three men) who decide to retreat from the world while the worse of the plague ravages Florence. They head to an estate and spend their time in idle pursuits.

The main pursuit is that of telling each other stories about people and their actions. Tales of love, duplicity, joy, and lust.

Now I won't say these tales have a great complexity. Rather, they are presented in fairly simple language with a few metaphors to make sure you understand.

The easiest analogy would be to present would a Jerry Springer and Maury Pauvich episode from the 1300s. Cheating housewives, lecherous priests, horny nuns, homosexuality, gullible fools, everything is presented here. Boccaccio really gives us a portrait of humanity, with its warts and beauties all presented. Some of the stories are funny but most eligit a "meh".

The characters are simplified versions and I have not really found any of them to have any personality.

One fun fact, it was one of the first books banned by the Catholic Church for showing priest doing... parishioners... Yeah. I'll say that.

For the book, I'll give it a 3/5. I leaned towards a 2 but its forbidden draw AND it's historical significance increased my appreciation...

---

When I saw that Netflix was adapting the Decameron as I was in the middle of reading it, I added it to my list and waited.

Suffice to say that they are two completely different animals. Whereas the book presents people sitting down and talking, the series weaves everything into a narrative that happens to the character during their retreat. The names and character types are taken from the book but the similarities end there.

I wondered whether I liked it early on, but as the series continued, the characters grew on me, especially Tindaro and Liscica. Though I will say most are pretty reprehensible and discusting. Such characters make for good storytelling. Indeed Dioneo is the most boring of the characters in the series IMO.

Thinking about my appreciation, I leaned towards a 2/5 early on, but it finishes strong with well-built and merited emotional moments at the end, ending on a solid 4/5. So I will average it at a 3/5.

[Kinda Book Review] Colossus: Stone and Steel

I looked at this book for a while before pulling the trigger on it. It is set in 66AD at the outset of the Judea Rebellion against Rome. The story has, as its protagonists, twin Jewish stone carving brothers, Judah and Asher, caught in the chaos.

It focuses on the opening parts of the rebellion and the early Jewish triumphs. The book presents the usual Romans: Vespasian and his son Titus. But also (Flavius) Josephus, who wrote The Wars of the Jews. A large part of the story is the siege of Jotapata where the Romans besieged the jews.

This book is well-written and I want to continue reading the next volumes in the series.

As a rating, I will settle on a 4/5 as I tore through the pages, wondering what was going to happen next.

[Kinda Book Review] Murena Tomes 1-3

Decades ago, I purchased the first three volumes of the Bande Dessinée "Murena" by Dufaux & Delaby. It is the story of Nero, starting during the reign of emperor Claudius.

The first tome is about Nero's mother Agrippina and her machinations to ensure her son's rise to power over Claudius' own son, Britannicus.

The second tome is about Nero installing himself in power and again Agrippina's machinations to ensure that.

Tome 3 sees Nero realizes his mother's treachery.

The story is just brutal with people getting killed by stabbing, weapons, poison, or the arena. It is all there. The glory of Rome at its finest.

The story is solid historical fiction based on the writings of period authors. The art is top notch.

There is one element that keeps appearing: statues of the god Mercury that keeps popping up, and listening or somehow helping Nero. I wonder if it is a representation of mental illness on Nero's part or the gods themselves. This mystery is really awesome.

For a rating, I have to give it a 5/5, the plot, the art, everything comes together. I cannot recommend it enough.

PS: I created this one post because I will be reviewing later tomes shortly!

[From the Vault] Lost Canon of the Conquistadores

These minis I painted back in 2017 and never got to put them up here. These canons should have been posted with the rest of the Conquistadores Army back in 2016... In fact, they are part of the group pic!

[Kinda Book Review] Alan Furst: A Hero of France

Taking a step away from comics, I picked this book up I received a while ago. So historical fiction/ semi-bio picks. Ever since my first visit to Paris in 1988, I have been interested in more.

But on to the book!

The story presents us "Matthieu" who leads a Resistance cell. He is athletic, intelligent, calm, prepared, and a great lover. In short, he has no flaws. Most of the characters in this story other than two of his allies are that type of character: cardboard, predictable, and without flaw. No, "caring about friends" is NOT a flaw.

Even the German captain who comes from Hamburg to track him down has all the right thing: he's not a nazi, patriot, good family man, not cruel, efficient, and competent. However, there is no confrontation between him and Matthieu.

I really wanted to like this, but the characters are fake and too good to be relatable.

So I will settle for a 2/5. This book is well researched and presents a number of interesting tidbits of information but in the end, only helps our hero be better.

[Kinda Book Review] Battle For Rome by Ian Ross

Another audiobook. This one a historical fiction novel.

When I picked this up, I did not know it was book 3 of a series (Twilight of Empire). Gah. That's why I hate series.

I found this book with a moreless random search. I was intrigued by the premise. Most historical fiction is set in the late republic/early empire. However, this book is set at the dawn of the 4th century, covering the year 310-312.

Diocletian, the emperor who stabilized the Empire and set up the tetrarchy (where 4 co-emperors ruled part of the empire together). The tetrarchy failed almost immediately as Constantine who ruled out of Gaul and Maxentius who ruled out of Rome got to blows almost immediately.

The story follows Aurelis Castus an officer in Constantine's army and a down-to-earth soldier. The cast around him are interesting and colorful, presenting a fresco of the times, which is (un)surprisingly like today.

One of the high points are the battle scenes. They are clear. Concise. Fast-paced. Yet at the same time provide the reader with a taste of the chaos around Castus. Not only does Castus get involved in some of the large-scale battles, such as Verona or Milvian Bridge, but he also gets pulled into skirmished when he is not ready for battle. I was really engrossed in these scenes and could envision what happened all around me without issue.

The slower points move the story along well, focusing on relevant events, with an interesting overarching plot. He does not suddenly get into philosophical discussions. In fact, Castus doesn't really care for the Christian and when his secretary discusses with the bishop, he rolls his eyes and go off doing other things.

This book is aimed at those with an affinity for Roman history and the later Roman empire. I am a sucker for that period of history, so I'm a buyer.

I would've loved to get into the series at the start instead of in book 3, but from the first scene, I was hooked. That intro is very gripping and full of action. There are three more books for me to read on. The rest of the series has gone on my "Xmas Amazon List".

So how do I rate this book? I will give it a 4.5/5 (-.5 for the series thing), which I must round to a 5/5. I was really excited and wanted to keep going as I really enjoyed the plot and the approach to some of the characters.

[Old Pro Tricks] Historical Campaign and Setting Writing

I am mentoring a guy I met on Facebook, Paul-O. He is creating a campaign setting based on a historical period I find fascinating. We started talking as my experience in such things could help him deal with some of the pitfalls of doing this. Part of his latest round of question yielded experience I thought could be useful to all.

He plans on publishing his setting in the future, something I will look forward to seeing.

I scrubbed the name of the people and locations to keep his idea private.

[Paul] What makes for better storytelling: having the characters start somewhere on the [Sea], which is the trade route crossroads and at the border of the approaching destruction of the [Historical] war machine? Or, start the players inside the ruthless [Historical] empire, potentially as displaced conquered people, rebellious citizens, or loyalists on a quest?

This is where you need to change from thinking as a GM and thinking as a setting writer.

As a GM you decide what your players will do: kill the orcs, conquer the city, destroy the evil god. This is where you decide what happens. As a setting writer, you must separate yourself from those concerns.

IF D&D were a play, the setting writer paints the set and the decor. Where is this? Why here and not there? Who are the big players? The adventure writer is the director working from his own script.

Since YOU will not be at every table, the plot of things at your table and at mine will be different, but set in the same place. You may decide the [Historical] are the bad guys whereas I may decided I want the PCs to fight against the [Historical II] rebels in my city. Both plots are equally valid and the more grey/ open to interpretation to set that line, the more adventure potential you open. Monsters are bad guys and few PCs bat an eye at going and killing beasts or fiends. However, killing many other humans is something different and should be see as such.

So your [Historical] could be aggressive and militaristic with a penchant for heavy-handed tactics but their empire is crumbling from internal pressure. The [Historical II]s are on the rise but many think they are [Historical] 2.0, the [Historical III] may use dirty tactics in war and hate both, and the [Historical IV] are officially allied to the [Historical II] but sell secrets to the [Historical]. This give a GM more pieces to play with.

True the rulers of [Historical] may be evil and those of [Historical II] good, but even if the leader is of a given alignment does not make the whole country like that. One may be good but a zealot for [Historical God] and another may be evil but concerned mostly with the creation of defenses. A good-aligned leader may hire assassins to protect his people. This makes the character relatable, interesting, and complex

There are VERY FEW historical people you can qualify as "pure good" (Jesus and the Apostles) and more as "pure evil" (Hitler and Stalin). I firmly dislike the current attitude that if someone does something bad or stupid one time, that person needs to be shunned and outcast forever. I did some stupid things as a kid and changed my ways.

A character that is pure as snow (as we now see too much on TV) or with blemishes that are meaningless are not interesting. You don't want perfect people, you want them to have inner conflict. One person hates his spouse, another is broke but no one knows about it yet, and another plans to abscond with another man's wife.

That create conflicts: within the character and in the setting. And conflict is what leads to adventure. Alignment should not be the only factor in determining what an NPC does. One of the best NPCs ever: Lancelot. By all account, a good and true knight. When given the opportunity, he slept with his king and best friend's wife.

So I ask you, does "Lawful Good" tell you everything about Lancelot?

More Japanese terrain

More small pieces on a budget featuring chopsticks! The first piece is a small torii arch that the other three form a classic Samurai tent. These were used in the Gundam game at Nashcon.

Medieval Forces

These guys I painted for the conquistadors game. However, I did not use them. The first pic is of three ladies from a pack I got years ago. I really like how they came out. Their dresses seem like something out of a technicolor movie.

The second group is a band of commoners. I added the two armored figures to the group to complete the unit for Lion Rampant. I still need a few to complete the unit. One of the guy in the back comes from a pack of looters and carries a pig!

Nashcon: A haven of thieves and looters

For the record, the title is misleading. The Nashcon folks are great and good people.

Nashcon has come and gone this year and it was an awesome experience once again. This year, I opted to offer more games than in the previous years.

Conquistadors

This year, my conquistadors returned and this year, rather than take on an African chief, they invaded an island occupied by an Aztec king. For this game, I had 4 registered players, along with ActionMan. These four guys had all played The Sword and the Flame before and were from Mississippi. There was John, Lee, Mike and Austin/Howard - I can't remember.

The scenario was simple: it was a free for all, with every conquistador leader seeking to take treasures from the Aztec lord trying to defend his village. A simple recipe that has usually yielded good results.

Here is the original setup before every one on the table. In the center is the King's village.


Actionman as his troops face the Aztec warriors.


A little later as Lee and his Cardinal moves into the village. To the southeast, Mike's men are engaged in a life and death struggle against the Aztec king and his retinue.


A little later as Lee moves in for the treasures while the melee continues. ActionMan's shot troops are moving towards the village. A force comes up from the north to take everyone from behind.


The backstabbing reaches insane levels! ActionMan moves in. Lee is sandwiched in the village. Michael has to fight off Actionman's Inca Allies. CHAOS!


The situation at the end: chaos continues.

In the end, the game was MUCH closer than we all expected.

Michael: 2 treasures (take off the board), Howard: 2 unclaimed treasures (defender), ActionMan and Lee had 1 treasure. A very close game, filled with surprises, twists and turns.

I simplified the original game to run for multiple players and I think it played well. The guys seemed happy and ActionMan thought it was a great game.

The miniatures looked great! The colorful Aztecs really popped, the conquistadors looked "right". I mean if you put those on a table of historical gamers and no one says anything... they look right.

Lunch

These big, crazy battles make for a lot of fun, but after it was done, I was tired. ActionMan and I had a plan for lunch: we went to the Indian Buffet! We both love Indian food so it was on the cards.

We had to return for a game of Gundam at 2. That was the game he was most excited about and throughout lunch he talked to me about Gundam and which of the Mobile suit he likes and which one he dislikes.

But that will be a tale for another post.

Inca Army

Long ago, I bought a series of miniatures on EBay, labelled as "Aztecs". However, turns out these boys are Incas! I painted these guys into three different units.

The Purples are the king and his immediate command.

The Whites and the Yellows are a base unit.

The Reds are halberdiers, taken from the Spaniards.

The Greens represent a low-quality or levee unit with children pressed into service.

These guys will do serve as Aztec allies for Nashcon.

Aztec Jaguar Knights

More for Nashcon... This time two units of Aztec Jaguar Knights. They have similar colors, except for the leaders who have unique colors. They are easily differentiated tho using the square vs circular bases.

I used a little creative license with these guys, particularly with the shields... I used a variety of shields for them and kept the design simple on purpose as I really wanted the bright colors of their cotton outfits to shine.

Gladiators

Here are a number of gladiators I won from a random Ebay auction. I based some for Moritari Te Salutamus, FOE fast and simple miniature game to represent gladiator fights.

Check it out now at DriveThruRPG or RPGNow.

Conquistador Crossbowmen

Continuing the work for Nashcon, here are crossbowmen. I was initially surprised to learn that Cortes' expedition to Tenochtitlan included a large number of crossbowmen. However, this makes a lot of sense in the early 16th century. Crossbows were easier to make than guns. Bolts are easier to make, carry and use than gunpowder and bullets. A crossbow functions in wet conditions and training to use a crossbow quicker and easier than matchlocks.

I did not have a full unit of them, so I completed the unit with an armored knight and a banner man for a twelve-man unit.

Conquistador Arquebusier

This year for Nashcon, I plan to offer another game of Conquistadores. But since this one would be "bigger" than the previous one, I needed to paint and complete more troops.

You will no doubt remember last year's Conquistadores Army that invaded Africa.

This year more mayhem is coming so here is the first batch of warriors: twenty four arquebusiers, that will form four distinct units of warriors for the game. These guys could be used from the War of the Roses through the mid 16th-century.