First Post!

 I was not intending to do anything like this, honest. However, fate has forced my hand, or something like that. Several decades ago (!) one of my main gaming campaigns was the initial stages of the General War in Federation and Empire, run using Star Fleet Battles. It pretty much petered out because of work commitments, and my stash of stuff had to be chucked because it all got mouldy in a grubby flat I rented when I returned to Scotland after working in Poland. I still hankered after doing it all over again, though, should the right circumstances present themselves.

Which they have, and strangely enough it's again because of work changes. I have been in England for five and a half years now, working at a small regional university, and for various reasons I have been looking for jobs elsewhere. I have now accepted a post at the United Arab Emirates University at Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, and I will be going there towards the end of this summer - the arrival date has been postponed because of Covid. Nobody in their right mind would want a Brit landing on their doorstep, and the UAE has been stringent in applying regulations to keep the infection rate down and the results have been effective.

When I was first offered the job, I realised I couldn't take the family with me. Our two eldest are in the middle of their school exams years - or what passes for them in England at the moment. I don't want to disturb them again at a very delicate time, so I will be leaving the family here in the first instance at least. The job is simply too good an offer to refuse; plus, it gets me out of English Higher Education, not to mention post-Brexit Britain.

I can't take my role-playing stuff with me, which is a shame because it would have been good to continue with the Stormbringer campaign via Teams, but at least we have several months to bring the current phase to completion. It occurred to me that some solo gaming would fill the void, hence the return to the combination of my two favourite monster SF games, suitably modified for fast play of solo fleets.

Things have moved on in the world since I originally bought the games, and there is a wonderful Vassal Engine module for Federation and Empire that will allow me to play without needing to keep the boardgame set up permanently. I am going to experiment with a few battles before I head off to Abu Dhabi. In the meantime, here is the initial set-up:


The starting theatre of operations will be on the Lyran-Kzinti border as the smaller, particularly bad-tempered felines attack their larger cousins, although they would of course never admit any form of kinship. 







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