benteen
First Lieutenant
"Once An Eagle
Posts: 406
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Post by benteen on Mar 2, 2019 23:00:52 GMT
Hi Dan, that would be the English drummer and vocalist Phil Collins. I think he has donated a lot of it back to the alamo museum. I was a big fan of genesis even after they sold out in 1980. Hi Ian, You are correct. His collection was worth 10 million dollars and he donated it to the state of Texas. Just for my own knowledge, was he Knighted. Is he Sir Phil Collins? I know Elton John was. Be Well Dan Ps..."Follow You Follow Me" was one of my favorites
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Post by yanmacca on Mar 3, 2019 10:50:34 GMT
Hi Dan. No Collins has not been knighted as yet. He has sold more records than Elton, Collins has sold over 100 million world wide and only sir Paul McCartney has sold more. The album that 'follow me' came from is one of my favourites by genesis. Elton actually played an open air show in Widnes last year, I couldn't believe it. Me and Susan went. As Elton says in his song crocodile rock; "Me and suzy had so much fun"
BTW; The Widnes Vikings have risen from the ashes as Widnes RLFC, their original name from 1889 and they won their first game this afternoon.
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Post by yanmacca on Jul 27, 2019 15:14:50 GMT
Here is some info on a model of the Alamo, built by the late Ian Weekley, his models are well known in these parts for their excellent detail. You could have bought this piece if you wanted a model of the Alamo in your living room
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Post by quincannon on Jul 27, 2019 17:50:25 GMT
That appears to be an excellent model based upon the data available in 1989. It is a little off the mark, based upon data gleaned since then. For instance the walls seem just a bit too high, and some of the buildings that surround Alamo Plaza are in better shape on the model then they actually were. But again this last information is based upon data gathered after the model was built. The outline of the entire area is as far as I can tell completely correct, and I frankly am surprised that the model even includes an L shaped building that forms the south wall. The L in that building was used as a kitchen during the siege, and its existence was not known by Alamo scholars for quite a long time. You almost never see it in drawing and plans until about the time Weekley made this model which tells me that this fellow did his homework.
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Post by yanmacca on Jul 27, 2019 19:39:00 GMT
Yes Chuck, I wouldn't mind spending a few hours wargaming the battle of the Alamo with you using that structure, we would have to toss a coin to see who gets either the US/Texicans or Mexicans.
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Post by yanmacca on Jul 27, 2019 19:53:46 GMT
You do find some strange sites on the details of this battle;
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Post by quincannon on Jul 27, 2019 22:14:42 GMT
Yes. Wade Dillon is a very big force in the Alamo community. He does solid work, although with Mrs Dickensen he does not have much to work with in that she was an illiterate teenager at the time of the battle, and many of her subsequent post battle statements contradict one another.
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mac
Brigadier General
Posts: 1,790
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Post by mac on Jul 28, 2019 11:43:26 GMT
Yes Chuck, I wouldn't mind spending a few hours wargaming the battle of the Alamo with you using that structure, we would have to toss a coin to see who gets either the US/Texicans or Mexicans. I do not understand war gaming but ...given the circumstance wouldn't the toss decide the winner? Cheers
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Post by yanmacca on Jul 28, 2019 12:24:44 GMT
Hi Mac, like with most wargames, you would have to develop a scenario to make this battle winnable to both sides, for example, you give the game objectives and also limit the number of moves to a certain amount, say 20.
So if I was the Mexicans, to win the game I would have to capture the objective [the Alamo] in 20 moves to win the game, if Chuck was a defenders, and after 20 moves he still holds say two thirds of the building, then it is a draw, if he still holds the whole structure, then he wins, so basically I need to storm the place and capture it to win.
Another way you could make it more interesting is to give each Texican position a certain amount of points, like the major canon positions and the main buildings. This results in adding up the points for these positions after 20 moves and the person who has the most points wins.
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Post by quincannon on Jul 28, 2019 15:51:32 GMT
I think any war game involving the Alamo, must by necessity fall within one of two broad categories.
The first would be the siege, then assault, which would involve a gradual build up of Mexican forces over a period of eight to ten days (turns maybe) until the final massing of Mexican forces on or about 3 March 36. Until the 3rd of March Santa Anna did not have sufficient forces to conduct an assault. After that date the arrival of his main body completed that day would make an assault possible. There was also a reinforcement of the Alamo to contend with. Sometime between 1 and 3 March the Gonzalez Mounted Ranging Company broke into the Alamo, sources vary and the most likely date is the night of 2/3 March for that reinforcement effort consisting of 32 personnel. The total number of defenders is also in question. Travis in his first letter after the siege began gave us an approximate figure of 150. When you add those from Gonzalez into the total you arrive at 182 total. The question is did Travis include in his 150 figure the sick, and those recovering from wounds received in the Battle of San Antonio the previous December. I don't know that answer, and don't know anyone that does. The names of the identified defenders would suggest he included the sick and wounded in the 150 figure, while the body count given by the people that disposed on the bodies of the defenders after the battle suggest he did not, enumerating only the effectives in the garrison at the start of the siege.
The second possibility is the assault only scenario. Numbers in the assault scenario suggest "no contest" The Mexicans will always win, as they did in real life. So any moves beyond say five or six would insure a game that is no game at all. In other words you break in and destroy the garrison in five or six, or it is a de-facto Texian victory.
Historical note: Texian is a person living in Tejas in 1830 of Anglo Saxon origin. Texican is a person living in Tejas of Spanish or Spanish/Indian origin. Small thing but it made a difference then. Both Texians and Texicans defended the Alamo, and died beside each other as brothers for something bigger than themselves. A lesson for us today perhaps?
My dog is coming home today after four days in the pet hospital, and not a few anxious hours on our part thinking she may never see home again. Christmas came early this year.
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Post by Beth on Jul 28, 2019 18:54:22 GMT
QC, I am delighted to hear that your dog is coming home and understand exact what you mean about Christmas coming early. I agree with your comment about Texians and Texicans.
Ian :I can not imagine the hours and the skill that went into creating that model of the Alamo.
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dave
Brigadier General
Posts: 1,679
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Post by dave on Jul 28, 2019 19:29:09 GMT
QC I am glad your baby came home! I understand the concern and love. Throughout this thread I kept reflecting back to August of 1959 when I first visit the shrine and stepped inside the restored chapel. Here nearly 60 years later, I still remember the shiver that went through me thinking about the men and women who were in this small structure before and during the siege. In all my other visits to San Antonio and the Alamo I ,get the same feeling as I do standing in the National Cemetery at Shiloh at the 6 cenotaphs of the 6 members of the 16th Wisconsin's Color Guard---buried near by in their regiment's section---overlooking the Tennessee River. Special places with distinct auras, never to be forgotten. Regards Dave
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Post by quincannon on Jul 28, 2019 20:53:08 GMT
I attended a two week long workshop at Fort Sam Houston in the Spring of 85. One night several of us went to River Walk for dinner, and I happened to drive by myself, and parked over on Houston Street, which were it there at the time would have bisected Alamo Plaza. The dinner broke up about 2200 hours and I climbed the steps from River Walk back up onto Alamo Plaza and walked in front of the chapel and long barracks. Although I had been there several times before, being there at night, with literally no one else around gave me a feeling, no more of a connection, that I have carried with me ever since. I have subsequently visited the Alamo several times, but that connection during that visit sits with me just as much when I write this as it did that night.
Metra is home, although not 100 percent and will not be for some days to come, but already it seems that the comfort of her surroundings has had the desired good effect. I should probably explain the name Metra. It is short for Metropolitan District, in that we found her, about six months of age hiding under one of the Metro Districts fire engines after she was abandoned by some dirty no good son of a bitch whom I would gladly shoot were I to learn who it was.
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Post by Beth on Jul 28, 2019 21:26:15 GMT
I feel the same about the person who took such a sweet dog as Casey was and made him into such a fearful creature. We could see some the scars of his former life, signs of a collar that was too tight and cut into his skin. Fear of feet being moved towards him (Discovered when the girls were in dance). For the longest time he was afraid of grass and we never got him over his fear of water-especially sprinklers and hoses. He was such a big hearted dog that just wanted to be loved and sit next to someone. He always seemed to know which girl needed him the most after a trying day at school. He's been gone for 6 months and I miss him every day.
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Post by quincannon on Jul 29, 2019 16:10:49 GMT
Casey sounds like he was a wonderful companion.
There is no excuse or is there any place in our society, or any for that matter,for cruelty to an animal. It cannot be tolerated, and a just punishment for such actions should be equal to that of such actions taken against a human being. People that do this are not redeemable in either the the eyes of God nor man.
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