Lazy Monday Link Dump

Rough night last night, and I'm wiped tonight. Going a night without sleep wasn't a problem when I was younger; now, I'm wrecked the next day.

Nate at d20 Pirates has a simple set of system-free rules for handling dehydration and starvation - being marooned on a desert island gets nastier, more brutal, and much, much shorter.

DHBoggs at Hidden in Shadows explores the similarities between D&D magic and the magic found in Shakespeare. I really enjoyed this post.

Eric Treasure at The Dragon's Flagon has a great post on the diverse interpretation of reaction rolls - another great random tool.

And last, at Bayuca, the blog I want RBE to be when it grows up, is a (p)review of A Field in England, a combination historical thriller and psychodelic movie set during the English Civil War. Any further explanation would be wasted - just click the link and check out the trailer.

Catching Up with Gonsalvo

Gonsalvo at Blunders on the Danube recently concluded continued his series of posts on his Seventies-vintage English Civil War armies.

English Civil War: Royalist Infantry: pt 2
English Civil War Parliamentary Infantry pt 2
Royalist Cavalry pt 2
Royalist Infantry pt 3

As I was doing some prep the other day, I reflected on the fact that it's April 1626 in Le Ballet de l'Acier, our Flashing Blades campaign, and for all intents and purposes, it's the last year of peace for France for decades to come. I think this is the year I need to start building my own TYW miniatures army, for the conflicts ahead.

Right But Repulsive

Gonsalvo at Blunders on the Danube trots out - literally - his ECW Parlamentary cavalry to celebrate Thanksgiving with a nod to the Puritans.

I'd love to see these two armies arrayed against one another.

Royalists at the Gallop

Gonsalvo at Blunders on the Danube continues to display his ECW army, this time posting pictures of his Royalist cavalry, King Charles' loyal Cavaliers - "Wrong, but Wromantic" - who battled the Roundheads of Parliament - "Right, but Repulsive."

Royalists on the March

Gonsalvo at Blunders on the Danube parades his vintage Royalist infantry. What's remarkable about them, aside from the fact that ECW armies simply look cool, is the date when they were painted - check out the link to see.

Gonsalvo cites Gary Gygax's ECW rules, Cavaliers and Roundheads, co-authored with Jeff Perren, as one of the inspirations for his cavalier army, and once again, I'm left to speculate how the history of roleplaying games might've gone had GG based his game on C&R instead of Chainmail - Musketeers and Mages, anyone?

Addendum (7/12/12): Part 2 is posted as well.