Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China, Mission Seven - Lucky Day Akyab

In December 1942, the first attempt by British forces to retake Burma from the Japanese began with the attempted invasion of Akyab. An island containing a well built, all weather airbase, it represented a strategic location from which IJAAF aircraft could cover most of Central Burma with fighters and transports, and reach Rangoon with their medium bombers.


This mission simulates one possible attack on the airfield by Mk. IV Blenheims of the RAF’s No. 60 Squadron. During a single engagement on May 22th, 1942, a single Blenheim crew was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Kat¬ō’s Ki-43 and badly damaging two other aircraft over the Bay of Bengal. Lt. Kat¬ō’s demise would prove a severe blow to the IJAAF.

Book Review - Operation Hail Storm

An interesting technothriller, bogged down by a few odd tech fixations of the author. Operation Hail Storm's protagonist, Marshall Hail, is basically Bruce Wayne, if Bruce Wayne had decided take care of the world's problems with the vast resources of Wayne Enterprises, rather than becoming Batman and cleaning up Gotham.

Coffee Is For Closers - Ep.7 - Nata The Wolf Dog

Enter Nata, the latest member of the Wolf Dogs team. A dual-blade wielding melee fighter who's a bit of a psycho, he may have a few redeeming qualities.

Around the Web: Closers Review

This was a fun one. Closers is a Korean MMO that has been localized by En Masse Entertainment (Tera), for North American Release. While the game has been out in Korea for a few years now, in only came out of Steam Early Access in the N.A. region in February.

Yuri says you should click the photo and read the review.

Most of my Coffee Is For Closers! series went into making this review. I don't think I'm anywhere near done playing this game, however.

Monday Vlogging - Caught Up!

Three months into the year and I've finally hit one of the goals for the year: a two week content buffer. Now to maintain it...



But this is a time for a bit of celebration, because it took a lot of effort to build up a buffer just to this point. It's at least a little easier to just stay current and not always be working from a state of needing to catch up on everything.

Flying Tigers: Shadows Over China Mission Six - Train To Nowhere

Not a lot of historical details for this mission, though it is at least somewhat representative of the kinds of patrols the AVG would fly, particularly once they got their bomb-carrying P-40Es.



The forced landing and squeezing two people into the cockpit of a Hurricane IIb is a bit of a stretch, but “Rule of Cool”, Artistic license, and all that.

Well Hello There, New Sportsters!

News that Harley-Davidson would be announcing a pair of new Sportster models set the rumor mill into overdrive. Would we get a scrambler? A true light tourer? Maybe an Iron 1200?

I love my Sportster 1200 Custom, which, as I’ve written before, has been pretty much the perfect first motorcycle for me. It’s been a perfect blend of Swiss-Army knife, jack-of-all-trades, motorcycle. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few things that I’d like to change, so I’m always interested in what’s new from H-D

Outside the fence at one of the local airports on one of the last rides of 2017. Image mine.

The two new Sportsters that we got were the Iron 1200, and the Forty-Eight Special. Of the two, I definitely prefer the Iron 1200. The Forty-Eight Special looks good, but it’s basically just a Forty-Eight with mini-ape handlebars and some other cosmetic changes. With the tiny 2.2 gallon peanut tank, you’re not going very far between stops. It’s a good-looking bar hopper, or a nice 2nd motorcycle for someone who already has a practical daily rider, but a good only bike this is not.

It's a really good looking bike. Just not one that would work in my garage. Image via Harley-Davidson

That Iron 1200 is a different story. I really liked the look of the Iron 883 that I rode last fall, but the 883 engine lacks guts, especially compared to the bigger displacement 1200. With the additional power, and a bit of wind protection from that bikini fairing, the Iron 1200 looks a lot more capable. That 3.3 gallon tank won’t let you keep up with the big tourers forever, and I’d think long and hard before trying an Iron Butt ride on one, but that’s still more than enough range to make a reasonable day trip. Plus with the range of customization options and aftermarket parts available, this could easily be turned into a daily rider, a show chopper, or almost anything else. With most Sportsters, the only real limits are imagination and budget.

I really think the Iron looks even better though. Especially with the blue tank graphics. Image via Harley-Davidson

Will either of these two replace Kristi in my garage? Probably not. But I’ll sure try to throw a leg over if they show up at the next demo fleet event I attend!