Company Of Heroes

I know I keep banging on about what a good game this is, well it just got a lot cheaper to buy the original and the two expansions (Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor). An Anthology has been released, and in the UK you can get from Play.com for £ 15.00 which is excellent value for money.
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An old friend of mine Steve Hammond has directed to me a mod done by some enthusiasts called the 'Blitzkiek Mod'. This adds extra vehicles and infantry plus lots of tweaks. I intend to download this myself today.
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Space Hulk & Club Night

Finally succumbed to the buzz about the re-released Space Hulk and went on-line to order a copy direct from GW. I was amazed to find them out of stock, so I ended up ordering from a small company called Stafford Games. Just waiting for it to arrive now... Provided work commitments don't get in the way I hope to have a game at my local club with it next week. Talking of the Huntingdon club, I went down on Thursday night and found it was the start night of a new Blood Bowl league. 18 teams have been entered which should make for a great tournament. I would love to have joined in myself, but with work and family at the moment I sadly can't guarantee regular enough attendance to make the kind of commitment required.
There was a very tidy game of 25mm WW2 underway using the Crossfire rules, which I watched for a while. Here's a couple of photos.
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Knaresborough Castle

Been away for a few days up in Yorkshire (gods own county) staying with the out-laws. Whilst there my son and I took a look round Knaresborough Castle. Situation high above the River Nidd this castle has had an interesting history, it being a favoured haunt of many monarchs who appreciated the fine hunting in the local forests. Besieged and taken twice the castle also has a rich military history, which came to an end when Parliament ordered it to be reduced to a ruin after the English Civil War.
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The view from the castle looking down into the Nidd Gorge and across to the Railway Viaduct is just an excellent location for photography. In the photo below you can see the front of the preserved steam locomotive 'Oliver Cromwell' just leaving Knaresborough station.
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Afghanistan

I find myself very deeply effected by the sacrifice that our are armed forces are making in this conflict, and as father myself was I very moved by this BBC Audio slideshow about a Soldier and Son.
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Trooper Jack Sadler was killed in December 2007, when a land mine exploded underneath his army Land Rover in the desert of southern Afghanistan.
Jack was Ian Sadler's only child. Here, he pays a moving tribute to his son. Link
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Blood Bowl

Just stumbled across the fact that GW are releasing Blood Bowl for the PC. The trailer looks amazing, as does the detail about the game. I can't wait until its released on 18th Oct !!!
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Blood Bowl is the video game adaptation of Games Workshop's famous board game of the same name.

A brutal team sport unfolding in a parallel fantasy world based on Warhammer and American football, Blood Bowl invites gamers to form a team of players from such races as Orcs, Wood Elves, Humans, Dwarfs and many other fantasy creatures, and launch themselves into battle in the bloodiest of arenas. This strategy sports game combines a fine balance of tactics and bonecrunching action!

The game offers two game modes. The first, which is fully real time, offers a spectacular gameplay. Intense battles between blocking linemen and daring displays of agility of players leaping and dodging through opponents tackle zones, while powerful spells and dirty trick special plays are unleashed across the pitch; all this creates a highly charged atmosphere.

The second game mode, an actual turn-based game, is a treat for players of the original board game because it is an exact replica of Games Workshop's tabletop masterpiece. The original rules have been faithfully reproduced, and it contains all of the devices, strategies, play and rhythm of the original game.

The single-player experience allows the player to manage a team throughout an entire season of Blood Bowl, through the Old World of Warhammer. The team will evolve over the course of victories, experience gained and awards won. With its immense depth, the game can almost be considered as a management game, from managing the popularity and sponsorship of players to the purchase and sale of players, as well as their aging, retirement and even death. In multiplayer, the player will be able to throw down a challenge to other Blood Bowl players and participate in large tournaments on the Internet in order to climb the official ranks (ladder).

Blood Bowl features:

2 radically different game modes: Turn-based for a faithful adaptation of the board game, or Real-Time for intense and spectacular matches.
8 different races, each offering its own style of play: Humans, Orcs, Skaven, Dwarfs, Wood Elves, Goblins, Lizardmen and Chaos.
Magnificent graphical rendering, literally giving life to the Blood Bowl miniatures!
Take part in a full Blood Bowl campaign to win the 15 championship trophies and cups while developing your own team.
Export your own team from a championship and play it in One-off matches or in multiplayer.
Create your own online League and challenge other player and participate to online tournaments on the internet to rise your team on the top of the official online rankings!
Get started easily and progressively using the in-game tutorial and 3 levels of difficulty.

Dawn of War II - Real Life Rhino

Dawn of War II - Real Life Rhino
Putting the real life Space Marine Rhino to the test ! Okay, this is pretty impressive the amount of effort someone has gone to here !
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NEWS & LINKS

Remains of WWI fallen identified
Some 7,000 British and Australian soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner at the Battle of Fromelles in 1916, during the First World War. More than 250 bodies have been discovered in mass graves, buried behind German lines. Over the last three months, archaeologists and DNA experts have been trying to identify the remains. Link
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Ramsey 1940 Weekend

Five miles down the road from me is the old WW2 airfield of RAF Upwood. For those interested in its rich history this is a good link. Anyway, once a year the airfield hosts a 1940s weekend. I went along yesterday with my son to have a look at what was going on. There were re-enactors, military vehicles, stalls, marching bands, historic cars, a miniature railway + lots of other stuff. The highlight for me was getting a ride in a FV432 operated by a company called Tanks 4 A Ride.
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The thing that surprised me was the volume of heat blasted across the top hatch from the engine grills !
In addition they had an Abbot SPG and a Chieftain there as well.
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Trailer For AVATAR

Check out this amazing trailer for the new film AVATAR. Can't wait until its released.
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In Cinemas Worldwide December - In the epic action adventure AVATAR, James Cameron, the director of Titanic, takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination. On the distant moon Pandora, a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.
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Space Hulk New Release + News Link

Space Hulk - Re-Released
Totally brilliant news here guys. Games Workshop have decided to release a new version of one of their all time classic games, Space Hulk !!! It can be pre-order for the release date of 5th September. Link
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Villages to empty after bomb find
More than 1,000 people living in two villages in North Yorkshire have left their homes to allow a World War II bomb to be detonated. Link
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Jumbo Landing

You don't see this every day :)
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UK MOD Defence Spokesman + News Link

Defence Spokesman
I have been searching for this great clip by Bird & Fortune for some time, and accidentally stumbled across it this morning :)
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Battle Over Salvaged Treasure Ship
A Spanish treasure ship is at the centre of an ownership row more than 200 years after it sank off the coast of Portugal.
The governments of Spain and Peru are pursuing rival claims to the riches of the Mercedes - a hoard of 600,000 silver and gold coins - in the US courts. Link
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Minister warned over 'UK Roswell'
A former head of the military told the defence secretary that a UFO sighting dubbed Britain's Roswell could be a "banana skin", official files show.
In 1985 Lord Hill-Norton wrote to Michael Heseltine about the "Rendlesham incident" in 1980, when US airmen in Suffolk thought they saw an alien ship.
Either a craft entered UK airspace with "impunity" or US airmen were capable of a "serious misperception", he wrote.
It is among the latest MoD files on UFOs released by the National Archives. Link
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Europe In Ruins (a Company Of Heroes Mod)

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Europe in Ruins takes the fast paced, intense and surreal combat that you've come to know from Company of Heroes and combines it with persistent environment, ever changing meta-gameplay and ongoing war. The modification sees you creating and commanding your very own battalion in which you can customise with any units and upgrades you wish; Company of Heroes strategy has never had so much choice. Not only do you get to build up your battalion, but as you units battle, they will gain and retain all the experience they have earned, carrying over from battle to battle; going from green to elite! Not only do units gain veterancy, but your battalion as a whole increases in effectiveness through doctrine unlocks and other advantages. Each of these are designed so that the player can tailor their battalion to their own likes and play styles. The combinations choices are endless! Link
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Web Game Link - Bloons Tower Defence 3

Here's a link to an interesting little Tower Defence web game called 'Bloons Tower Defence 3'. Worth a blast this one.

Motivational and demotivational posters

I love the posters on this site... Link
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James May Rides in U2 Spy Plane

James May from Top Gear U.K. takes an emotional ride to the edge of space in a U2 spy plane. Born 16 January 1963 he's a British television presenter and award-winning journalist.
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Hamster can not manage to stop spinning in his wheel

I just love this clip :)
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Mike Snorbens - A small corner of the web

This is a very intersting little web site with all sorts of rules Mike has done, along with a Generic Campaign System, which is a computer moderated system for running wargame campaigns. Well worth a look.

Joke - I Think You're The Father Of One Of My Kids

A guy goes to the supermarket and notices an attractive woman waving at him. She says hello.
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He's rather taken aback because he can't place where he knows her from, so he says, "Do you know me?"
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To which she replies, "I think you're the father of one of my kids".
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Now his mind travels back to the only time he has ever been unfaithful to his wife and says, "My God, are you the stripper from my bachelor party that I made love to on the pool table with all my buddies watching while your partner whipped my butt with wet celery???"
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She looks into his eyes and says calmly, "No, I'm your son's teacher".."
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8 Wheeler Command Vehicle Finished

At last I've finished one of my latest purchases from Ground Zero Games (GZG), the command version of their 8 wheeler the V15-53A. As with the others in the range it went together no problem, and makes a nice addition to the range.
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The vehicle close up.

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The full platoon.

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I used the bristles from a washing up brush for the aerials (as do with all my 15mm vehicles now). IMHO they look okay, and you don't have the risk of causing yourself an injury like with thin wire (inadvertently stabbing yourself with it). I've continued with the arctic 'aggressor' paint scheme as I build up towards a 10 vehicle strong unit.
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NEWS & LINKS

Broadband Speeds.
For those interesting in trying to find out what their broadband speed is (in the UK), both these sites are quite good, although they give different results !
1. Broadband Watchdog.
2. My Broadband Speed
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Top 10: Britain's best underground attractions. Link
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Call for debate on killer robots.
An international debate is needed on the use of autonomous military robots, a leading academic has said. Link
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The Massive Ordnance Penetrator Will Be the Largest Non-Nuclear Bomb Ever.
The Pentagon is trying to speed up the deployment of an ultra-large bunker-busting bomb, which would constitute the largest non-nuclear bomb the U.S. Has ever used. The Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, is a 30,000-pound bomb that would dive deeper than any previous bomb, and could be strapped to B-2 or B-52 bombers by July of 2010. Link
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100th POSTING !!

This is the 100th posting on my blog !! As such I've made it a bigger one than normal to mark the occasion. Hopefully those of you who are regulars to my ramblings will continue to find light entertainment in this and my future postings :)
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This is an excuse of course for a spot of Blackadder Bloopers :)

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On the gaming front I've been playing lots of Company Of Heroes on the PC recently. A totally top game, especially when my old friend Andy Rolf drops in for the evening and the two of us take on two computer players in skirmish mode in several games. The last one was a really hard fight which went on longer than we had planned, and ended up with us finishing at 1:45 in the morning. Suffice to say we weren't at our sharpest the following day... :)
I've also been busy painting up some more 15mm sci-fi vehicles, and I'm now happy with the results. Hopefully I get a couple of photos taken either today or tomorrow. Talking of favourites here's one I took some years ago of a Chaos Terminator who had somehow got himself involved a game of Space Crusade ! :)

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Warhammer fantasy mark of chaos - Trailer
I do enjoy a good film / game trailer, and these two are pretty good :) They make me feel like digging out my 28mm Orc Army and giving the 'boyz' an outing :)

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New Warhammer trailer

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INTERNET GAME - EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON
Check this site out if you want to while away 15 minutes flying the Typhoon, shooting at bad guys :) Link
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THE NEWS & LINKS
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Bloodhound diary: speed record.
RAF fighter pilot Andy Green intends to get behind the wheel of a car that is capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,609km/h). Powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, the Bloodhound car will mount an assault on the land speed record. Link
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Scott 'to direct Alien prequel'.
Director Sir Ridley Scott is to direct a prequel to seminal sci-fi horror film Alien, according to reports. Link. As a massive fan of the Aliens series having Scott involved in another film is great news,
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Remains of Gulf War pilot found.
The US military has found the remains of the last American still officially missing in action from the Gulf War. Capt Speicher's remains were found in a remote area of western Iraq. Link
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Images reveal 'lost' Roman city.
Aerial photographs have revealed the streetplan of a lost Roman city called Altinum, which some scholars regard as a forerunner of Venice. Link
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Little David - 36 Inch Caliber Mortar.
Check out the size of the crater this makes ! Link
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Rise of the robot warplanes.
The UK Ministry of Defence's London headquarters yesterday, Thursday 30 July 2009, hosted an exhibition of the latest Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) giving military and civilian staff a chance to gather their own intelligence on the future of military aviation. Link
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Being Five. Link
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Skyy John - Links To His Stuff

Skyy John is a guy in the states, who talks about all sorts of things. He completely cracks me up :)
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Fat People and Airplanes Seats
Airlines are now charging obese people for an extra seat. God help the employee that has to tell someone, "You're fat and need two seats!"
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Warhammer On-Line Age Of Reckoning - Trailer

Here's a rather excellent trainer I found on U-Tube for Warhammer On-Line 'Age Of Reckoning'.
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Interesting Links

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Dunkirk: a miracle of war
The failure of the Germans to overwhelm the British Expeditionary Force on its retreat to Dunkirk continues to baffle and fascinate historians. Many theories have been put forward and discarded. Here, one of our leading historians presents, for the first time, fresh evidence to explain Hitler's thinking, and why he issued the infamous ''Halt Order'' of May 24 1940. Link
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WWI veteran Patch dies aged 111
The last British survivor of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, has died at the age of 111. Link
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CRB Checks
For those involved in the running of Wargames Clubs, the following thread on the TMP makes intersting reading with regard to the requirement for people to be CRB checked. Link.
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RAF Wyton Familes Day Airshow

Went to the Airshow last Friday, which was if I'm an honest a bit of a washout, on two accounts. The weather was very mixed, and varied from being quite hot to being a heavy thunderstorm with torrential rain, thunder and lightning. Secondly the flying programme was rubbish with little fast jet activity and the Typhoon, Vulcan and Lancaster all being 'no shows'. Got a couple of 'okay' photos of the Spitfire during its display piece and an Apache that dropped it. The Spitfire was the version fitted with the Griffin engine. It just doesn't sound as good I'm afraid as the normal Merlin, that said a beautiful plane all the same.
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Interesting News Links

Churchill bunker 'not bomb-proof' Winston Churchill complained he had been "sold a pup" when he discovered his underground wartime headquarters in Whitehall were not bomb-proof. Link
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How Poles cracked Nazi Enigma secret. A silk scarf bearing the image of a horse race was a suitably cryptic gift for a Polish mathematician to receive from a British code-breaker. Link

Slide Show Of My Visit To Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Last night I got round to uploading most of the photos I took from my visit to Portsmouth last Saturday. There is a new album in my web shots area just for Ships now. Here's a slideshow of the photos:
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SHIPS
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News Links Of Interest

1. Medieval battle records go online. The new website reveals which medieval soldiers rode the furthest The detailed service records of 250,000 medieval soldiers - including archers who served with Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt - have gone online. (Link)
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2. Topic: German Casement Tanks - Leopard 3. Modern arour buffs should find this interesting (Link)
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HMS Daring

Visited the Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth on Saturday. We were lucky enough to see the Royal Navy's newest destroyer HMS Daring on show to the public. Quite an impressive looking ship !
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Back Off Holiday - News Links

After a weeks holiday in the Isle Of Wight just got back tonight. Hopefully (time permitting) I'll post some photos tomorrow of the military hardware and sites I saw. In the meantime, here some interesting links:
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1. Oldest WWI veteran dies aged 113. Henry Allingham, the world's oldest man and one of the last surviving World War I servicemen, has died at the age of 113, his care home has said. Link
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2. Stryker Fires TOW Missile on Insurgents. Link
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3. Murtha Questions Army Camo. This is a very interesting article of personal camolflague. Here's a quote from one of the messages: " It is interesting to note that in the visual region ALL colors and patterns, at 300 meters, integrate by the human eye into a single homogeneous color…olive drab! It is also interesting to note that armor camouflage is only of value when in defilade and that when moving the motion and dust raised is as big a giveaway as jet contrails. Also, dust and oil fog layers on a vehicle surface change the IR emissivity to the point where it becomes a near black-body radiator". Link
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News Links Today

1. Russia 'shot down its own planes' - This makes quite interesting reading, Seems the Russian Air Force and Army didn't co-operate during the Georgia conflict, with predictable results... Link
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2. 3 JDAM's on Taliban Compound. You wouldn't want to be on the recieving end of these...
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3. Marines Battle Taliban. Firefight in Helmand Province.
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4. London Blitz Begins. Winston Churchill tells it like it is to the invading Nazi's.
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Bird and Fortune: George Parr, Army General

Bird and Fortune: George Parr, Army General being interviewed. Brilliant :)
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GZG Excellent Service + Chinook Problem

Placed an order with GZG last Thursday afternoon for one of their newest vehicles, the command version of their 8 wheelers, and a few bits and pieces for buildings. The order arrived by recorded post on Saturday morning ! Simply outstanding service !
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Here's a fascinating video clip of a high power ground run on a Chinook that went slightly wrong due to ground resonance.
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UK Navy carriers '£1bn over budget'

A £1bn cost over-run is threatening the future of the publicly-funded project to build Britain's biggest aircraft carriers. Oppsss, not good news. Link to the BBC web site is here.

Ali-G Interviews Posh Spice and David Beckham

Remembered this totally hilarious vid clip today, and just had to add it :)
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WWII Poison Darts Secret Emerges

This makes interesting reading. Link.
Top secret War Office papers have revealed a strange and macabre weapons
project tested by the Allies during World War II.
Lethal clouds of tiny poisoned darts were to be tipped with mustard gas to
kill enemy troops without damaging nearby buildings or equipment.
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Top Gear - Series 13 - Tornado Steam Loco

Sunday night saw the start of Top Gear Series 13. What the hell has this to do with wargaming and military stuff I hear you cry ! Well absolutely nothing of course ! However, IMHO no wargamer worth his salt could not be a fan of TG though :) Therefore, here is a clip from the last quarter of this weeks challenge. Enjoy, the last part of the race from London to Edinburgh between the car, bike and the impressive 'Tornado' steam engine :)
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Duxford Military Vehicle Show - Fathers Day

Attended the Duxford Military Vehicle Show today with my son Alex. Had a great time this afternoon browsing the exhibits and getting a good look at their vehicles. A great fathers day all in all :)
I've uploaded some of the vehicle photos I took, which can be viewed here. The most interesting thing for me was seeing their SU100 in action. Here's some video I took.
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VERY low Harrier ("I won't flinch..") + JSF

A quick vid of a Harrier doing an uber low pass.
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Heres a short vid of the aircraft that will eventually replace the Harrier in service, the Joint Struke Fighter (JSF). Watch for the last few seconds of the video when you can see the Lift Fan directly behind where the pilot sits.
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Injured Stormtrooper - Star Wars Parody

Stumbled across this little Star Wars parody this I thought was quite amusing :)
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Horrible Exam & The Caspian Sea Monster

As I mentioned in a few postings back I've been studying for yet another wretched exam (in Project Management this time) these last two weeks. Had the exam today... The words horrible and nightmare spring to mind.. Sadly, confidence in a positive outcome is well low...
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The upside is however, as the study and course work is behind me now, I can get back to the serious business of gaming again :) Hope to post a few pictures at the weekend.
In meantime here is a short vid of the so called Ekranoplan Caspian Sea Monster. Is it a plane, or a ship, or something else ? You decide :)
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Tank Museum - Bovington

If you haven't visited it, the (British) Tank Museum web site is well worth dropping in on. Link
The range of active displays they have is quite amazing. Check out this vid of last years 'Tankfest'.
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Spitfire Low Pass !!

A well known clip this one, but still worth posting, as it always makes me smile :)
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France Honors D-Day Vets

This is an interesting page on the US DoD Buzz web site about D-Day vets, and it has some great interviews with veterans on it. Highly recommended.

Bird & Fortune - Admiral Sir George Parr

A brilliant comedy sketch about the British Royal Navy :)
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USS LIBERTY

This makes a totally fascinating read.....
Was it a deliberate attack, or just a tragic accident ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
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10,000 Visits !!!! + Predator Movie Clip

It is now 4 months since I've been actively running this blog, and today we reached a small milestone. Today there was the 10,000 visit to the Blog !
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Decided to celebrate the occasion by including another favourite film clip, this time from that classic movie, 'Predator'.
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I'm stuck doing pre-reading for a Project Management course I'm on next week, so little chance for doing anything with figures over this next week sadly.
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65 Years Ago It Was D-Day

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D-Day

This quite an interesting page on the BBC web site about D-Day. Worth checking out. Link.