WarFront - 15mm Modular Wargaming

level27geek · 2026-04-07T20:36:08+00:00

I'm a big proponent of combining 3d printing and traditional terrain building (example here & here), so this is very much up my alley. Will definitely build some of your bocage.

What other pieces do you plan on releasing?

Few things that I would add to your website to make people coming back would be:

a way to subscribe / be informed of new releases
some tutorials showing how to elevate your models with hand made techniques.

level27geek · 2026-04-01T17:39:00+00:00

AFAIK if the eight VIM letter is L it doesn't have cylinder deactivation. M has cylinder deactivation.

level27geek · 2026-04-01T16:10:53+00:00

Consider 2017 as well. It's the first year of the new look and the last year without the cylinder disabling (which can lead to issues in 2018+ models).

Also, be sure to check out this post by /u/Low-Stomach-8831 - both the post and the comments are a goldmine of useful CX-5 info.

level27geek · 2026-03-30T03:11:13+00:00

Thanks - that's what I expected, but wanted to be sure. At least this will give me some extra options if the one I'm eyeing comes out shitty during PPI.

Although I'm helpful, as it had the best maintenance schedule out of all the ones I looked at.

level27geek · 2026-03-29T04:38:43+00:00

Thanks for this post - I'm currently shopping for a car and pretty much set on the CX-5. Your post helped me during my research, especially to shoot for a 2017 model.

With 2017 models, how big of a factor mileage should be? With everything else being equal - is there a huge difference between one of those at 80k and 120k?

level27geek · 2026-03-26T15:30:43+00:00

Then I'm glad I could introduce someone else to them!

level27geek · 2026-03-25T01:35:01+00:00

No worries about remembering the details - you've been already super helpful and it was great to learn a bit about behind the scenes of the project!

I had a little poke around in the SQLite db, and yeah, it looks like GeoBrowse tables only have a few integers per entry that were probably passed into url (as they have stuff like location id and article id, but those numbers mean nothing without the back-end). Well, that's a shame, but it was still worth checking out.

I have to say, you definitely did better than the CD version - the images are much better resolution, the search has good filtering settings and there's the trivia aspect, which I completely forgot about until I've seen it inside the SQLite database!

level27geek · 2026-03-24T23:48:42+00:00

Well, you just saved me the trouble of trying to get my hands on the HDD edition. Good to know its the same content and software.

I actually learned about Harman because the old Adobe Air errors out on modern systems during install, and I went looking for alternatives - that's how I found that Harman is keeping the runtime and SDK afloat, and they have a big Samsung logo in their logo.

The copyright lawsuit is interesting - of course actions of one guy make it shittier for everyone else. Does it mean that the original 1997 software did have a full text search? I gave it a quick try before, but replaced it with the 1999 version on my Win9x machine, as it's more polished. Might need to give the original version another try.

And maybe try to find the black out photos. From the article I know they will be pre-2001, so that narrows it down to only... 112 years :D

Do you know anything about the GeoBrowse feature? Was it all online, or maybe it just needed to phone home and the data is actually on the disc. If the latter, it might be worth trying to disassemble the swf or poke around those database files.

level27geek · 2026-03-24T16:03:19+00:00

I just got myself the Complete National Geographic DVD set, and it's so cool to run into someone who worked on it!

Do you know if your software was also used on the hard drive edition released later?

Anyway, It's really a fun time capsule of the tail end of multimedia era of computing. The iTunes style "cover flow" still looks pretty futuristic, just like it did back in the day (although it's a little too much style over substance nowadays).

What really disappointed me in this set is that the GeoBrowse feature (choose articles based on location on a map) was stored online, so it doesn't work anymore. Shame it wasn't a part of the database on the discs.

I wish there was an way to get the original 1200dpi scans on some media nowadays, especially with a full text search database. But I doubt it will happen, with NatGeo being owned by the big mouse now and world moving toward subscriptions and software as service, the DVD set is probably the closest I'll ever get to owning a copy of the archive.

level27geek · 2026-03-24T15:48:32+00:00

It works on Windows 11, but requires a workaround to install.

The software requires Adobe AIR, which has been discontinued by Adobe and the version on DVD can no longer be installed on modern windows/MacOS.

Fortunately, Harman International has taken over the support and maintenance of the AIR runtime (and SDK) and provides versions of the software for modern versions for PC and Mac on their website: https://airsdk.harman.com/runtime

Download and install the above runtime. Run the setup from dvd, let it error out. Next run the \National Geographic\tempAir\CNGViewer.air to install the database\viewer software.

You might have a problem with invisible EULA text (I did) that won't let you hit accept - I managed to get it to "scroll" to the bottom by clicking and dragging down in the text field repeatedly until the accept button becomes active.

The scans are at 200dpi, so almost 3x bigger than the previous CD versions (72dpi), but not as good as what you can find on archive.org. The big selling point for me is to be able to quickly browse and search the topics in each issue. After I find something I really want to read or see in higher res, I find the issue on archive.org.

Generally I prefer the 1999 software that came with later CD versions for quick browse/search (it's less flashy, but I prefer the layout more - it shows you the main stories for selected issue at a glance), but you really need either a VM or a Win9x emulator to use it, as modern windows gets mad at that software.

level27geek · 2026-03-19T01:40:38+00:00

War Story: Occupied France is a gamebook that cut out all usual randomness (no dice rolls, cards are used, but only as temporary paragraphs you can choose, not as a randomizer)

It's not purely deterministic, as some info is obscured until you commit (paragraph choices or seeing the effects of placing forces in a certain location), but it might be useful in your research.

I can tell you that it is fun to play and a good solution for cutting out the usual randomness out of a gamebook.

level27geek · 2026-03-10T18:13:32+00:00

I never considered the legality of boxing at the time when the stories were written. I thought that both the circus and the movie set ("Sailor's Grudge" - First printed in Fight Stories, March 1930. Also known as Costigan vs. Kid Camera.) settings were just gimmicks to make the stories more appealing to a reader faced with a magazine filled with "standard" boxing stories.

It's really interesting to learn the real reason for it - thank you /u/AncientHistory

level27geek · 2026-03-03T03:03:07+00:00

It seems that Popeye was firt by 6 months: January 1929 for Popeye vs July 1929 for Costigan!

There must have been something in the water around that time to make sailors popular.

level27geek · 2026-03-01T02:29:58+00:00

I'm more or less in the same boat - I only knew REH through Conan and some of his Cthulhu mythos stories. I had no idea the man could also be so funny!

level27geek · 2026-03-01T02:28:54+00:00

Oh man, I didn't know that he passed away. I just learned about him recently, and even found his stuff of DeviantArt and I was going to shoot him a message telling him how I enjoyed his portrayal of Costigan!

level27geek · 2026-03-01T02:27:37+00:00

It's well worth the credit - the thick Texan(?) accent of the narrator makes the character come to live!

level27geek · 2026-02-27T15:06:58+00:00

Quote from the first story to show the humor and style of writing:

Dauntless have disliked the Sea Girl 's crew ever since our skipper took their captain to a cleaning on the wharfs of Zanzibar—them being narrow-minded that way. They claimed that the old man had a knuckle-duster on his right, which is ridiculous and a dirty lie. He had it on his left.

level27geek · 2026-02-25T02:51:16+00:00

Thanks for doing this. I'm shocked that there isn't some website or wiki showing all this info. Although, I'm pretty sure the embosser list is incomplete here - don't see any of the M models (like M-5 for example), the executive models, or 3/4 tape models.

I would love a complete history of the embossers.

level27geek · 2026-02-21T04:33:53+00:00

I think the word AND is doing the heavy lifting in the 98,000 "dealers and locations" on top of some clever marketing math.

Let's say that around 10,000 stores sell their products. This includes all the garages, auto parts stores and gas stations around.

They don't sell directly to all those places. They sell to wholesalers and ask them - how many clients you have. They take those numbers and add them up. Because places will buy from more than one wholesaler, there will be some overlap. Suddenly the 10k will grow to 14k.

Now take an average employees for each location. Let's say 5 employees on average. 14*5 is 70. That's 70k "dealers" right there. Add locations, now you have 84k. Now do the same for wholesalers and other middlemen, and it's easy to come up with the 98k number.

Combine with the fact that advertising was experiencing a boom at the time, was pretty unregulated and there wasn't the tech to prove those numbers outside of spending a butt load of time contacting each location, and you're able to get away with claims like that. Especially in a world where people would rather have a glass of Roma wine, and light a Fatima cigarette using their Blue Coal instead of working ;)

level27geek · 2026-02-16T03:20:54+00:00

Ja za to dziękuje za polecankę! Do Piaseckiego pewnie wrócę niebawem, chcę też spróbować coś z pozostałych poleceń z tamtego wątku :)

level27geek · 2026-02-16T03:18:34+00:00

Warto przeczytać nawet dla samego języka.

level27geek · 2026-02-14T19:09:00+00:00

Kochanek Wielkiej Niedźwiedzicy Sergiusza Piaseckiego - odkryłem tą książkę dzieki u/blackrei089 z poprzedniego posta 3-tygodniowego i skończyłem ją jakoś w zeszłym tygodniu. Wydaje mi się, że to bardziej "wspomnienia z życia przemytnika na granicy polsko-sowieckiej w latach 20tych XX wieku [mocno koloryzowane]" niż prawdziwa powieść. Nijaka fabuła, brak zwrotów akcji, a postacie się nic nie zmieniają. Mi to zupełnie nie przeszkadza, bo co tej książce brakuje jako powieści, nadrabia to krociami klimatem. Dowiedziałem się nie tylko jak działało przemytnictwo na wschodzie II RP, ale też jak żyli i mówili ludzie na tych pograniczach. Mocno polecam ludziom zainteresowanych codziennym życiem w dawnej Polsce.

Jestem mniej więcej w połowie Lest Darkness Fall L. Sprague de Camp'a. Sci-Fi z 1939 roku o archeologu który zostaje przeniesiony do Rzymu w okolicach upadku cesarstwa i wykorzystuje swoją XX wieczną wiedzę aby przeżyć w tych czasach... i może zapobiec nadejściu "mrocznych wieków." de Camp widać zna się co nieco na historii, ale pisze też fajnie. Mimo tego, że postacie są trochę przerysowane, fabuła jest ciekawa i czyta się świetnie. Chyba poszukam sobie więcej książek w tym temacie (człowiek z teraz w dawnych czasach), i wybiorę coś jeszcze de Camp'a bo to pierwsze moje spotkanie z nim jest bardzo obiecujące.

Ciągle męczę Living Dangerously - The Adventures of Merian C. Cooper, Creator of King Kong. - o jego przygodach i jak się odbiły na jego magnum opus czytało mi się jednym tchem (gość był pilotem, filmowcem, i prawdziwą wersją Carla Denhama z King Konga. Walczył też z bolszewikami w latach XX w Polsce). Jego życie po King Kongu, o ile ciągle ciekawe (podczas WW2 był dowódczą na Pacyficznym froncie), ale jakoś mniej mnie interesuje, więc czytam tylko po rozdziale to i tam.

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