History of Wargaming Videos

I have previously mentioned John Curry's History of Wargaming Project, mostly in reference to Fletcher Pratt's Naval Wargame (FPNW). I just discovered a series of YouTube videos from John Curry, and I am working my way through them. This will be a brief review, and maybe serve as a launch point for your own exploration.
--- More after the fold. ---

The Grinder - March 2012

Haven't done this for a while, so there is a lot of grist for the mill.
Also, GBR has a Google+ page.

--- The Grinder, March 16, 2012 ---

Dice Sculptures, via Proof Math is Beautiful

Three recently released books from John Curry's

History of Wargaming Project:

1. Donald Featherstone's Tank Battles in Miniature Vol 4
2. The Wargame Pioneers
3. Innovations in Wargaming
And a video, the first of a series = a future post topic.

www.graphicshunt.com

Why you think you are good at something (when you really aren't).

From The Psychology of Video Games:
The Dunning-Kruger Effect and Multiplayer Games

More on Dunning-Kruger at Improbable Research.


**** The World's Funniest Joke ****


Eighteen (!!!) years in the making. This is love of miniatures!
Toy Soldiers Forever: The "Old Third": All Present or Accounted For

Via GrogNews:
Make your own game counters online
and
Warfighter 101 Designer's Notes (a great read)
and
something fishy.


Maybe this should just be the GrogNews edition of the Grinder
Via GrogNews:  Games and Simulations, with Dr. James Sterrett

Gamasutra: How tough is your game? Creating Difficulty Graphs

The relationship between cubes and hexagons, animated. 

from Proof (Math is Beautiful)

These posts are fun, I should do them more often. ;-)

Hot Topic: Battlemechs Dropped from Orbit

This happens in the cartoons, and in the occasional Battletech scenario, where a battlesuit/battlemech drops from orbit; these folks say it will get a little bit warm on the way down.

Journal of Physics Special Topics
P2_7 Mobile Suit Gundam: Falling From Space
R. Hall, A. West, M. McHugh, J. Blake,
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH.
November 30, 2011
Abstract
This paper explores the upper limits of the active cooling system on board a Mobile Suit from the Gundam series as it goes through atmospheric re-entry. A Mobile Suit falling through the Earth’s atmosphere experiences drag forces of nearly 10,000 kN. The increase in temperature due to the resistive drag forces felt upon re-entry would require an active cooling system with an output of 112MW which is over 37 times greater than known power outputs on board Mobile Suits.

That's going to go over 30 on the heat scale. I also see they don't take into account any heat generated by deceleration, which means either more heat, or a very sudden stop. ;-)

The full article is a short exploration into some fun physics - find it here.

Battletech Cake

A nice surprise treat at the Wednesday Battletech night:

A creation of the talented Mrs. D. All the guys were really impressed.

If I has known in advance, I would have carefully cleaned up a few miniatures and posed them on top.

You may be asking yourself the same question I asked myself, "Does the cake taste as good as it looks?"

To which the answer is "YES."


UPDATE: 

Nate D. informs me: Thank you for posting those. She was glad to hear that it wasn't just me who thought it was great. It's somewhere between semi-pro & a hobby for her, but if anyone needs a cake for any reason her email is [***].  She does have a portfolio of previous cake designs if anyone's looking for inspiration.

*** I chose not to publicly post the email. Contact me if you want to be put in touch.

Special Request: Battletech in the Annapolis MD area

John F. sends me a request:

I'm looking to play more Battletech and Battleforce but haven't been able to find too many players in the Annapolis area.  Any chance you could point me to some locals on the East of I-95 side that are looking for another gamer?

Can anyone help him out? Post here or email me and I will put you in touch.