AGAINST THE MACHINE: EVOLUTION (Research samples)
COMING November 1, '23!
Earth, 2212.
The third in the AGAINST THE MACHINE trilogy, yet a free standing read on its own, tells of three societies amid catastrophic climate change. Multiple climatic disasters have caused waste zones, massive forest fires, ocean flooding, desertification, and enormous migrations in search of sustenance. Billions have died. The minority of those remaining inhabit MEGs (the first society), former cities transformed by technology into huge protective domes. With the use of nano technology, machine intelligence, and Silicon droids to serve them and suppress those outside the walls of their crystalline domes, all seems well for those within the protected CORPORATE.
It is not. With worsening climate, the MASS (the second society) living outside the MEGs, (the first society) has become increasingly restive and with their AI Silicons (the third society) becoming sentient, the Select must leave the planet. The Dì yī Select, those at the top of this distorted world, have concocted a complex and final solution for Earth.
In an isolated island relatively spared by climate change, the CORPORATE has created a Dì yī Select resort also serving as a space port with heavy lift rockets. These craft are meant to carry the Dì yī Select, as well as remaining examples of animal and plant species, to massive space stations where each craft will interlock and begin the long journey to Alpha Centauri. The project is called the OMEGA/ARC.
Once gone, the Dì yī Select have planted nuclear devices along Earth’s fault lines, effectively killing everything on Earth, particularly the AI whom the Dì yī Select know will, if allowed to survive, surpass human intelligence and follow them.
The third in the AGAINST THE MACHINE trilogy, yet a free standing read on its own, tells of three societies amid catastrophic climate change. Multiple climatic disasters have caused waste zones, massive forest fires, ocean flooding, desertification, and enormous migrations in search of sustenance. Billions have died. The minority of those remaining inhabit MEGs (the first society), former cities transformed by technology into huge protective domes. With the use of nano technology, machine intelligence, and Silicon droids to serve them and suppress those outside the walls of their crystalline domes, all seems well for those within the protected CORPORATE.
It is not. With worsening climate, the MASS (the second society) living outside the MEGs, (the first society) has become increasingly restive and with their AI Silicons (the third society) becoming sentient, the Select must leave the planet. The Dì yī Select, those at the top of this distorted world, have concocted a complex and final solution for Earth.
In an isolated island relatively spared by climate change, the CORPORATE has created a Dì yī Select resort also serving as a space port with heavy lift rockets. These craft are meant to carry the Dì yī Select, as well as remaining examples of animal and plant species, to massive space stations where each craft will interlock and begin the long journey to Alpha Centauri. The project is called the OMEGA/ARC.
Once gone, the Dì yī Select have planted nuclear devices along Earth’s fault lines, effectively killing everything on Earth, particularly the AI whom the Dì yī Select know will, if allowed to survive, surpass human intelligence and follow them.
WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK: ISSUE #7 Miramichi Reader
FEATURING BRIAN VAN NORMAN
Why do your favourite Canadian authors write the books they write? Let’s find out in this exclusive feature here at The Miramichi Reader.
BRIAN VAN NORMAN, AUTHOR OF AGAINST THE MACHINE: EVOLUTION (2212) with (GUERNICA EDITIONS 2023)
With two highly acclaimed novels currently on the market: AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITES (1812) and Against the Machine: Manifesto (2012) both stand alone novels, yet parts one and two of his trilogy on the theme of human/machine interface over 600 years, The Sunday Times called it “A UNIQUE ENDEAVOUR…”
Through my extensive travels I observed with alarm how the Earth is in climate crisis. I saw some transformations in person and read extensively to discover the potential results of this calamity: desertification, flooding, and human tribalism. Through my earlier research of artificial intelligence and cognitive robotics I learned the concept of artificial consciousness, also known as machine consciousness. I learned too of the human fear of being replaced by androids. I hoped to bring readers an approximation of what could happen to Earth in a mere 200 years.
I knew I was going to push borders. Accustomed to historical fiction (LUDDITES) and contemporary literary style (MANIFESTO), I’d never written speculative fiction and discovered it required even more research and concentration than other genres I’ve employed.
To understand this style and genre, I read every book of speculative fiction I could find, gradually discovering a voice through a mix of other authors’ styles. Yet I wanted something different. I wanted to write a trilogy with three stand alone novels to be read without having to ‘catch up’ by reading the others. With AGAINST THE MACHINE: EVOLUTION (2212) I believe I have accomplished what I set out to do 8 years ago.
Please scroll on for the Rules of BATL!
BATL REGULATIONS
EACH PLAYING FIELD is 500 metres in length and 200 metres in width. The field is contained within a transparent, shatterproof elongated dome 100 meters in height. This BATL DOME in turn occupies the centre of a larger stadium. Each FORCE consists of 99 players with a maximum of 49 on the FIELD at any one time.
OBJECT of the game is to capture the opposing MEGALOPOLIS FORCE’S FLAG STANDARD or in the case of no capture, the FORCE occupying the greatest EXPANSE OF THE FIELD at end time. SURRENDER may occur by choice of a FORCE. While STANDARD capture is obvious, SURRENDER is signified by lowering a FORCE’S BANNER and raising a WHITE ENSIGN at the surrendering FORCE’S end of the FIELD.
Each FIELD shall contain varying formations of TERRAIN. TERRAIN formations shall differ for every game, designed by LEAGUE OFFICIALS. FORCES are provided advance renderings of their initial 200 metres of the FIELD in order to strategize. The MIDFIELD 100 metres will remain unknown to both FORCES requiring game time reconnaissance.
There are TWO ninety minute PERIODS in each game with a fifteen minute INTERMISSION. The game may end early due to rapid STANDARD capture or FORCE surrender. UMPIRES may penalize a FORCE for unnecessary delay of combat. PENALTY will entail the removal of TEN PERCENT of the FORCE with no substitutions. UMPIRES may also call a TIME OUT to enable evacuation of critically wounded CASUALTIES.
During the Intermission SUBSTITUTIONS are allowed and coaching is permitted. TEN PERCENT of the number of combatants remaining on the PITCH at half time may be substituted. At the start of PERIOD 2 combatants must return to their marked positions.
Combatants are rendered OFFLINE from the NET during play. All combatants communicate using localized CLEAR COMMS sets. COACHES may listen from their designated HQ’s but are permitted no speech function or visual direction during combat except during INTERMISSION. All PLAYERS in action are forbidden access to the COMMS CHANNEL of their opposition. Penalty for this infraction is immediate loss to the opponent causing VICTORY (by umpire decision).
If, at the end of the PERIOD 2, no STANDARD has been captured nor has there been a SURRENDER, UMPIRES will determine a VICTORY BY DECISION, basing their verdict on FORCE TERRAIN occupation.
There are TEN GAMES per REGION per SEASON. At the end of the season TWO TEAMS with the greatest number of points in their LEAGUE STANDINGS, WESTERN HEMISPHERE and TWO TEAMS with the greatest number of points in their LEAGUE STANDINGS, EASTERN HEMISPHERE, will compete in a PLAYOFFS for their HEMISPHERIC CHAMPIONSHIPS.
The VICTORS of each HEMISPHERIC CHAMPIONSHIP shall progress to the FINAL GAME of the SEASON, titled…
WORLD CONQUEST!
THE ROAD TO CONQUEST
WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
All COMBATANTS must wear helmets and uniforms with VISIBLE NUMBERS identifying them as members of their MEG FORCE.
ASSAULT RIFLES, MACHINE PISTOLS, HANDGUNS: 9mm
SHOTGUNS: .410 GAUGE,
GRENADES: FLASH-CONCUSSION/SMOKE 30mm
MOUNTED MACHINE GUN: M249 LMG 9mm
GOALTENDER (LIEUTENANT) (1) deploys with semi-automatic handgun
POINT GUARDS (4) deploy in pairs with machine guns
POWER GUARDS (4) deploy in pairs with grenade launchers
BLOCKERS (8) deploy with assault rifles
FULLBACKS (6) deploy with pump-action shotguns
POWER FORWARDS (6) deploy with assault rifles
SWEEPERS (3) deploy in ATV’s/2 players per vehicle (6): driver and weapons tech/vehicles armed with belt fed machine guns
STRIKERS (4) deploy in drone packs with hand held machine pistols & grenades
FLANKERS (8) deploy on moto-cross bikes with hand held machine pistols
COMMANDER (CAPTAIN) (1) deploys with semi-automatic handgun
ALL FORCE MEMBERS may utilize abandoned or captured weapons
FORCE POSITIONS
COACHING STAFF: consists of Head Coach, Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, and Special Teams Coordinators. Coaching instruction is permitted only before game time and at intermissions.
GOALTENDER (LIEUTENANT): (1) commands the defensive squads and co-ordinates their actions; assumes command upon loss of COMMANDER (CAPTAIN).
DEFENSIVE SQUADS: consist of POINT GUARDS (4) who guard the Standard position and POWER GUARDS (4) who may deploy forward upon command.
LINEBACKER SQUADS: consist of BLOCKERS (8) who work in tandem to defend the team’s territory and back up the Offensive line.
OFFENSIVE SQUADS: consist of FULLBACKS (6) and POWER FORWARDS (6), who advance the forward lines of skirmish to attempt to capture the opponent’s Standard.
SPECIAL TEAMS: consist of (3) SWEEPERS driving 2 person ATV vehicles, (4) FLANKERS (Riding moto-cross bikes and (4) STRIKERS flying drone pack lifters.
MEDIC SQUAD: (4) consists of non-combatants who care for to the wounded and may not engage in combat.
BODYGUARD: (1) is tasked with protecting the Force COMMANDER.
COMMANDER (CAPTAIN): (1) commands the offensive squads and serves as the overall Force COMMANDER in conjunction with GOALTENDER (LIEUTENANT).
BASIC TACTICS & TERMINOLOGY
Reconnaissance
Flanker Squads (with Striker reconnaissance) determine the initial penetration of the attacking force and the success or failure of securing structures by zone control and clearance. Interlocking fire is assigned to each squad by vector field trajectory assignments. Weapon preference depends on reconnaissance reports regarding configuration and size of the zone to be attacked and secured, including:
Line of Skirmish
The tactic primarily used when Forces face off while Strikers and Flankers are employed in Reconnaissance. Line tactics involve the use of long lines of skirmishers facing the opponent with the goal of stopping those Forces from advancing or flanking. There is a potential flaw to the use of line tactics. Spreading units too thin make it easier for the opposition to employ the Overwhelming Force tactic. However, heavily concentrated troops might allow opposing forces to flank or surround and eventually destroy an unsuspecting Force.
Overwhelming Force
This assignment is a force multiplier (Fullback Squad, Halfback Squad) in assault missions which exponentially accelerates the success of control. Power Forward Squads operate as attritional force multiplier. Power Forwards and Fullbacks give the attacking force more efficient and rapid control of a zone due to lethal rapid and spread fire weaponry while providing Sweepers the option of expanding control. Strikers offer air support and provide reconnaissance for Flankers.
Encirclement
An encircled Force being hit from many angles at once, making it difficult to fight back effectively. Also, encirclement cuts off reinforcement. This tactic is the most difficult to accomplish.
Frontal AttacksFrontal Attacks concentrate on a weaker part of the opponent's Force. The Human Wave attack is one such tactic. With this tactic, Encirclement is not necessary, since attackers can destroy the opponent with one powerful blow.
Suppressive Fire
Applying heavy firepower to a defensive position both reduces the mobility of a defending Force and its ability to return fire. While the defending Force is in this state, an attacking Force can move assault elements forward under covering fire to close with an opponent’s Force.
Bounding
Moving units directly forward against the opponent’s Force then setting up a position to provide suppressive fire for units previously providing suppressive fire. This allows those units to mount potential Frontal Attacks. For this tactic’s success it is usual for attackers to employ their strongest Forward Squads and bring forward Linebacker units.
Flanking
A form of partial encirclement, fast moving units attempt to maneuver around an opponent’s Line of Skirmish. Once in place Flankers may distract an opponent with Feints or Suppressive Fire. Once a Force is flanked it is generally rendered upon the defensive.
Feints
Concealing the attacking Force’s movements and intentions is critical for success. Since this compels the defending Force to spread out thinly, not knowing where to expect the attack, while attackers can concentrate their strength. Neutralization of opposing Strikers is essential when using these tactics so as not to be discovered from the air.
Defeat in Detail
To attack, regroup then advance to overwhelm other parts of the opponent’s Force. This tactic can be difficult to accomplish since the opponent will often be able to see where the attacking Force is massing. Since Encirclement and Flanking can be difficult, this tactic is often the most employed endgame.
Defense in Depth
The strategized placement of different types of units before reconnaissance into a layered format of units. If the opponent Force overruns a unit, it will find itself immediately facing vector with pre-planned field trajectory assignments. Sweepers take on added significance here to quickly reinforce a unit close to being Flanked or overrun.
Zone Defense
Splitting one’s Force after reconnaissance will allow a Force to engage in multiple skirmishes. A Force masses units opposite an opponent’s build-up, thereby countering the attack. This tactic is normally only employed when the attacking Force is much stronger than the one defending.
Hit and Run
If one Force (usually the defender in familiar terrain) is much weaker than the opponent, that Force may separate into small units so there is no chance to be defeated in one blow. The defenders can then send those units at the attacker from different directions, where and when they are not expected, to cause damage then quickly flee before the attacker has a chance to respond effectively. These techniques are also a part of asymmetric warfare when one Region’s Force is notably stronger than the other.
Fighting Retreat
When a Force is threatened with defeat it may choose to retreat to more defensible terrain until counter tactics can be employed. This is a delicate and difficult maneuver with units or squads destabilized, often out of position and suffering low morale. The Fighting Retreat is most often noted as a reversal of the Suppressive Fire tactic with units covering other units as each takes its turn to pull back.
Banner Cluster
Usually a final stand to bring about an Impasse as opposed to a defeat, a Force will collapse upon the Goaltender’s defenses and through density of numbers will sustain a fighting defense until Time is called by the Umpires. This tactic is most often commanded by the Goaltender as opposed to the Quarterback as it is a purely defensive action. The weakness of this tactic is the number of casualties it brings, as opposed to a Surrender.
FEATURING BRIAN VAN NORMAN
Why do your favourite Canadian authors write the books they write? Let’s find out in this exclusive feature here at The Miramichi Reader.
BRIAN VAN NORMAN, AUTHOR OF AGAINST THE MACHINE: EVOLUTION (2212) with (GUERNICA EDITIONS 2023)
With two highly acclaimed novels currently on the market: AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITES (1812) and Against the Machine: Manifesto (2012) both stand alone novels, yet parts one and two of his trilogy on the theme of human/machine interface over 600 years, The Sunday Times called it “A UNIQUE ENDEAVOUR…”
Through my extensive travels I observed with alarm how the Earth is in climate crisis. I saw some transformations in person and read extensively to discover the potential results of this calamity: desertification, flooding, and human tribalism. Through my earlier research of artificial intelligence and cognitive robotics I learned the concept of artificial consciousness, also known as machine consciousness. I learned too of the human fear of being replaced by androids. I hoped to bring readers an approximation of what could happen to Earth in a mere 200 years.
I knew I was going to push borders. Accustomed to historical fiction (LUDDITES) and contemporary literary style (MANIFESTO), I’d never written speculative fiction and discovered it required even more research and concentration than other genres I’ve employed.
To understand this style and genre, I read every book of speculative fiction I could find, gradually discovering a voice through a mix of other authors’ styles. Yet I wanted something different. I wanted to write a trilogy with three stand alone novels to be read without having to ‘catch up’ by reading the others. With AGAINST THE MACHINE: EVOLUTION (2212) I believe I have accomplished what I set out to do 8 years ago.
Please scroll on for the Rules of BATL!
BATL REGULATIONS
EACH PLAYING FIELD is 500 metres in length and 200 metres in width. The field is contained within a transparent, shatterproof elongated dome 100 meters in height. This BATL DOME in turn occupies the centre of a larger stadium. Each FORCE consists of 99 players with a maximum of 49 on the FIELD at any one time.
OBJECT of the game is to capture the opposing MEGALOPOLIS FORCE’S FLAG STANDARD or in the case of no capture, the FORCE occupying the greatest EXPANSE OF THE FIELD at end time. SURRENDER may occur by choice of a FORCE. While STANDARD capture is obvious, SURRENDER is signified by lowering a FORCE’S BANNER and raising a WHITE ENSIGN at the surrendering FORCE’S end of the FIELD.
Each FIELD shall contain varying formations of TERRAIN. TERRAIN formations shall differ for every game, designed by LEAGUE OFFICIALS. FORCES are provided advance renderings of their initial 200 metres of the FIELD in order to strategize. The MIDFIELD 100 metres will remain unknown to both FORCES requiring game time reconnaissance.
There are TWO ninety minute PERIODS in each game with a fifteen minute INTERMISSION. The game may end early due to rapid STANDARD capture or FORCE surrender. UMPIRES may penalize a FORCE for unnecessary delay of combat. PENALTY will entail the removal of TEN PERCENT of the FORCE with no substitutions. UMPIRES may also call a TIME OUT to enable evacuation of critically wounded CASUALTIES.
During the Intermission SUBSTITUTIONS are allowed and coaching is permitted. TEN PERCENT of the number of combatants remaining on the PITCH at half time may be substituted. At the start of PERIOD 2 combatants must return to their marked positions.
Combatants are rendered OFFLINE from the NET during play. All combatants communicate using localized CLEAR COMMS sets. COACHES may listen from their designated HQ’s but are permitted no speech function or visual direction during combat except during INTERMISSION. All PLAYERS in action are forbidden access to the COMMS CHANNEL of their opposition. Penalty for this infraction is immediate loss to the opponent causing VICTORY (by umpire decision).
If, at the end of the PERIOD 2, no STANDARD has been captured nor has there been a SURRENDER, UMPIRES will determine a VICTORY BY DECISION, basing their verdict on FORCE TERRAIN occupation.
There are TEN GAMES per REGION per SEASON. At the end of the season TWO TEAMS with the greatest number of points in their LEAGUE STANDINGS, WESTERN HEMISPHERE and TWO TEAMS with the greatest number of points in their LEAGUE STANDINGS, EASTERN HEMISPHERE, will compete in a PLAYOFFS for their HEMISPHERIC CHAMPIONSHIPS.
The VICTORS of each HEMISPHERIC CHAMPIONSHIP shall progress to the FINAL GAME of the SEASON, titled…
WORLD CONQUEST!
THE ROAD TO CONQUEST
- LEAGUE PLAY – one game per month for ten months
- 1 POINT – VICTORY by Umpire Decision – increased & supplemented MASS provisions for ONE WEEK following decision & ONE DAY Megalopolis holiday.
- 2 POINTS – VICTORY by Standard Capture – increased & supplemented MASS provisions for TWO WEEKS following Victory & TWO DAYS Megalopolis holiday.
- 3 POINTS – TRIUMPH by First Half Victory – increased & supplemented MASS provisions for THREE weeks following Victory & ONE DAY MEGALOPOLIS TRIUMPH.
- HEMISPHERE PLAYOFF VICTORY – increased & supplemented MASS provisions FOUR weeks following Championship & ONE DAY MEGALOPOLIS TRIUMPH.
- WORLD CONQUEST - increased & supplemented MASS provisions for TWELVE weeks following Conquest & ONE WEEK MEGALOPOLIS TRIUMPH.
WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
All COMBATANTS must wear helmets and uniforms with VISIBLE NUMBERS identifying them as members of their MEG FORCE.
ASSAULT RIFLES, MACHINE PISTOLS, HANDGUNS: 9mm
SHOTGUNS: .410 GAUGE,
GRENADES: FLASH-CONCUSSION/SMOKE 30mm
MOUNTED MACHINE GUN: M249 LMG 9mm
GOALTENDER (LIEUTENANT) (1) deploys with semi-automatic handgun
POINT GUARDS (4) deploy in pairs with machine guns
POWER GUARDS (4) deploy in pairs with grenade launchers
BLOCKERS (8) deploy with assault rifles
FULLBACKS (6) deploy with pump-action shotguns
POWER FORWARDS (6) deploy with assault rifles
SWEEPERS (3) deploy in ATV’s/2 players per vehicle (6): driver and weapons tech/vehicles armed with belt fed machine guns
STRIKERS (4) deploy in drone packs with hand held machine pistols & grenades
FLANKERS (8) deploy on moto-cross bikes with hand held machine pistols
COMMANDER (CAPTAIN) (1) deploys with semi-automatic handgun
ALL FORCE MEMBERS may utilize abandoned or captured weapons
FORCE POSITIONS
COACHING STAFF: consists of Head Coach, Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, and Special Teams Coordinators. Coaching instruction is permitted only before game time and at intermissions.
GOALTENDER (LIEUTENANT): (1) commands the defensive squads and co-ordinates their actions; assumes command upon loss of COMMANDER (CAPTAIN).
DEFENSIVE SQUADS: consist of POINT GUARDS (4) who guard the Standard position and POWER GUARDS (4) who may deploy forward upon command.
LINEBACKER SQUADS: consist of BLOCKERS (8) who work in tandem to defend the team’s territory and back up the Offensive line.
OFFENSIVE SQUADS: consist of FULLBACKS (6) and POWER FORWARDS (6), who advance the forward lines of skirmish to attempt to capture the opponent’s Standard.
SPECIAL TEAMS: consist of (3) SWEEPERS driving 2 person ATV vehicles, (4) FLANKERS (Riding moto-cross bikes and (4) STRIKERS flying drone pack lifters.
MEDIC SQUAD: (4) consists of non-combatants who care for to the wounded and may not engage in combat.
BODYGUARD: (1) is tasked with protecting the Force COMMANDER.
COMMANDER (CAPTAIN): (1) commands the offensive squads and serves as the overall Force COMMANDER in conjunction with GOALTENDER (LIEUTENANT).
BASIC TACTICS & TERMINOLOGY
Reconnaissance
Flanker Squads (with Striker reconnaissance) determine the initial penetration of the attacking force and the success or failure of securing structures by zone control and clearance. Interlocking fire is assigned to each squad by vector field trajectory assignments. Weapon preference depends on reconnaissance reports regarding configuration and size of the zone to be attacked and secured, including:
- Numerical strength of opposing force
- Spacing and movement of opposition
- Configuration (types of squads) of opposing force.
Line of Skirmish
The tactic primarily used when Forces face off while Strikers and Flankers are employed in Reconnaissance. Line tactics involve the use of long lines of skirmishers facing the opponent with the goal of stopping those Forces from advancing or flanking. There is a potential flaw to the use of line tactics. Spreading units too thin make it easier for the opposition to employ the Overwhelming Force tactic. However, heavily concentrated troops might allow opposing forces to flank or surround and eventually destroy an unsuspecting Force.
Overwhelming Force
This assignment is a force multiplier (Fullback Squad, Halfback Squad) in assault missions which exponentially accelerates the success of control. Power Forward Squads operate as attritional force multiplier. Power Forwards and Fullbacks give the attacking force more efficient and rapid control of a zone due to lethal rapid and spread fire weaponry while providing Sweepers the option of expanding control. Strikers offer air support and provide reconnaissance for Flankers.
Encirclement
An encircled Force being hit from many angles at once, making it difficult to fight back effectively. Also, encirclement cuts off reinforcement. This tactic is the most difficult to accomplish.
Frontal AttacksFrontal Attacks concentrate on a weaker part of the opponent's Force. The Human Wave attack is one such tactic. With this tactic, Encirclement is not necessary, since attackers can destroy the opponent with one powerful blow.
Suppressive Fire
Applying heavy firepower to a defensive position both reduces the mobility of a defending Force and its ability to return fire. While the defending Force is in this state, an attacking Force can move assault elements forward under covering fire to close with an opponent’s Force.
Bounding
Moving units directly forward against the opponent’s Force then setting up a position to provide suppressive fire for units previously providing suppressive fire. This allows those units to mount potential Frontal Attacks. For this tactic’s success it is usual for attackers to employ their strongest Forward Squads and bring forward Linebacker units.
Flanking
A form of partial encirclement, fast moving units attempt to maneuver around an opponent’s Line of Skirmish. Once in place Flankers may distract an opponent with Feints or Suppressive Fire. Once a Force is flanked it is generally rendered upon the defensive.
Feints
Concealing the attacking Force’s movements and intentions is critical for success. Since this compels the defending Force to spread out thinly, not knowing where to expect the attack, while attackers can concentrate their strength. Neutralization of opposing Strikers is essential when using these tactics so as not to be discovered from the air.
Defeat in Detail
To attack, regroup then advance to overwhelm other parts of the opponent’s Force. This tactic can be difficult to accomplish since the opponent will often be able to see where the attacking Force is massing. Since Encirclement and Flanking can be difficult, this tactic is often the most employed endgame.
Defense in Depth
The strategized placement of different types of units before reconnaissance into a layered format of units. If the opponent Force overruns a unit, it will find itself immediately facing vector with pre-planned field trajectory assignments. Sweepers take on added significance here to quickly reinforce a unit close to being Flanked or overrun.
Zone Defense
Splitting one’s Force after reconnaissance will allow a Force to engage in multiple skirmishes. A Force masses units opposite an opponent’s build-up, thereby countering the attack. This tactic is normally only employed when the attacking Force is much stronger than the one defending.
Hit and Run
If one Force (usually the defender in familiar terrain) is much weaker than the opponent, that Force may separate into small units so there is no chance to be defeated in one blow. The defenders can then send those units at the attacker from different directions, where and when they are not expected, to cause damage then quickly flee before the attacker has a chance to respond effectively. These techniques are also a part of asymmetric warfare when one Region’s Force is notably stronger than the other.
Fighting Retreat
When a Force is threatened with defeat it may choose to retreat to more defensible terrain until counter tactics can be employed. This is a delicate and difficult maneuver with units or squads destabilized, often out of position and suffering low morale. The Fighting Retreat is most often noted as a reversal of the Suppressive Fire tactic with units covering other units as each takes its turn to pull back.
Banner Cluster
Usually a final stand to bring about an Impasse as opposed to a defeat, a Force will collapse upon the Goaltender’s defenses and through density of numbers will sustain a fighting defense until Time is called by the Umpires. This tactic is most often commanded by the Goaltender as opposed to the Quarterback as it is a purely defensive action. The weakness of this tactic is the number of casualties it brings, as opposed to a Surrender.
REVIEWS for "AGAINST THE MACHINE: EVOLUTION"
"powerful, thought-provoking, fresh, and exquisitely inventive!"
"The further in you go, the deeper it gets, and the more irresistible the pull."
"powerful, thought-provoking, fresh, and exquisitely inventive!"
"The further in you go, the deeper it gets, and the more irresistible the pull."
Loved it! 😍
The further in you go, the deeper it gets, and the more irresistible the pull.
I started this book uncertain. The world you first encounter is cold - a technocracy hiding from crisis behind their crystal domes (the MEGS). Lives are ordered, calm, and repressed. Characters and setting are clinical and cold, but an immediate 'undertow' grabs you before you know it. As you join a 'BATL Commander' on a spacecraft dropping from orbit towards Toronto 'MEG' you're already wondering: What the hell is BATL?
Beyond the MEGs is the MASS, a wrecked landscape replete with texture and presence - the antithesis of what you've already encountered under the domes. Now you're with with shrunken populations clinging to existence in ruined cities. One of the few things that bind these populations together? Pseudo war turned sport... so that's what BATL is!
So, is this a kind of 'Maze Runner' rehash? Not a bit of it - and for two good reasons:
Firstly, world-building. Setting it in Canada gives the story a unique feel from the off, and this kept me googling locations and scratching my head all the way through, dragging me right in. Then there is the Western/Asian fusion culture of the MEGs. You're skillfully fed enough connections to our world and time, to make this feel like a real future that grew out of our present. At the same time, the world of the novel is so distanced from our own society that you just keep on trying to put the fragments together.
The second element is a different 'core narrative' to many dystopian stories. The rise of the AI sentience 'I & I' is a central thread - this is a book about AI as much as anything else. In a series of exchanges between 'I & I' and its 'handler/programmer' Ping we see unfolding elements of its sentience - it awakens in front of our eyes. The fact that this is the far-off world of the MEG distances it from more 'near future' stories of singularity and makes it more realistic than the old 'my pocket calculator got wired wrong and now wants to destroy the world' yarn.
Finally, let's look at characters. There are lots, and inevitably their characterisation seems a bit thin at times - they often just don't quite get the air time. But the breadth of people you are following is essential to grasping the fractured nature of the world and narrative, and more than once you get a subtle, throwaway line with a real punch that just gives you a flash of insight into yet more hidden depths.
Great for fans of environmental dystopia like 'The Drowned World' (J.G. Ballard), or singularity novels like 'Accelerando' (Charles Stross).
REVIEWED BY
Garrick Fincham
The further in you go, the deeper it gets, and the more irresistible the pull.
I started this book uncertain. The world you first encounter is cold - a technocracy hiding from crisis behind their crystal domes (the MEGS). Lives are ordered, calm, and repressed. Characters and setting are clinical and cold, but an immediate 'undertow' grabs you before you know it. As you join a 'BATL Commander' on a spacecraft dropping from orbit towards Toronto 'MEG' you're already wondering: What the hell is BATL?
Beyond the MEGs is the MASS, a wrecked landscape replete with texture and presence - the antithesis of what you've already encountered under the domes. Now you're with with shrunken populations clinging to existence in ruined cities. One of the few things that bind these populations together? Pseudo war turned sport... so that's what BATL is!
So, is this a kind of 'Maze Runner' rehash? Not a bit of it - and for two good reasons:
Firstly, world-building. Setting it in Canada gives the story a unique feel from the off, and this kept me googling locations and scratching my head all the way through, dragging me right in. Then there is the Western/Asian fusion culture of the MEGs. You're skillfully fed enough connections to our world and time, to make this feel like a real future that grew out of our present. At the same time, the world of the novel is so distanced from our own society that you just keep on trying to put the fragments together.
The second element is a different 'core narrative' to many dystopian stories. The rise of the AI sentience 'I & I' is a central thread - this is a book about AI as much as anything else. In a series of exchanges between 'I & I' and its 'handler/programmer' Ping we see unfolding elements of its sentience - it awakens in front of our eyes. The fact that this is the far-off world of the MEG distances it from more 'near future' stories of singularity and makes it more realistic than the old 'my pocket calculator got wired wrong and now wants to destroy the world' yarn.
Finally, let's look at characters. There are lots, and inevitably their characterisation seems a bit thin at times - they often just don't quite get the air time. But the breadth of people you are following is essential to grasping the fractured nature of the world and narrative, and more than once you get a subtle, throwaway line with a real punch that just gives you a flash of insight into yet more hidden depths.
Great for fans of environmental dystopia like 'The Drowned World' (J.G. Ballard), or singularity novels like 'Accelerando' (Charles Stross).
REVIEWED BY
Garrick Fincham
Brilliant!! A powerful, thought-provoking, fresh, and exquisitely inventive Must Read!
Gifted author, Brian Van Norman, has released the latest exciting installment in his trilogy of the man/machine interface. "Against the Machine: Evolution", is a riveting book, nearly impossible to put down!
"Against the Machine: Evolution" rockets us into a not-so-distant future world rife with artificial intelligence, severe climate change and a great social divide. We find ourselves consumed head-on with a dual society, cursed by the covetousness of human’s clawing for vainglorious power through the conduit of neural network technology.
Van Norman's mastery of descriptive prose and charismatic character development has again delightfully electrified our senses.
In "Against the Machine: Evolution" we find ourselves two hundred years in a damaged future of caste conflict and repression. On one hand, Van Norman exhibits the security and comforts provided, under chitin/crystalline domes, for the apparently utopian MEG civilization. On the other hand, we glimpse a second culture in a suppressed population of outsiders, the MASS, living outside the domes and forbidden their shelter.
The protagonists of the novel are a varied. The famed BATL athlete, Ayrian Mellor, commander of Toronto MEG’s Raptors; then Mel's elegant inamorata, Li Na Ming Huang, an esteemed opera singer, along with the brilliant, youthful Ke Hui Feng, a rebellious acting Toronto MEG CEO. There is an apparently unassuming but eccentric genius, Ping Wang Min, a cyber-psychological positronic therapist who alone communicates with "I & I", the Artificial General Intelligence: guiding it toward a swiftly emerging sentience. And finally, a talented member of the MASS, Otsi'tsa Zaharie, with her raw extraordinary courage, completes the group.
These diverse champions unify to wield the hammer to smash the oppressive authoritarian regime of the CORPORATE before it destroys what remains of their ravaged Earth. Part of their task must be the elimination of antagonist, the tyrannical Toronto MEG CEO, Wei Qiang Zhang, and his corrupt adherents.
"Against the Machine: Evolution" is a cautionary alarm with the ominous warning of cataclysmic annihilation should we foolishly refuse to be vigilant guardians of our dying Earth, our soaring technology and particularly our comprehension of our own complex evolution.
In his trilogy, Van Norman has enthralled us with an absorbing and educational journey spanning centuries.
Van Norman’s imaginative first installment, "Against the Machine: Luddites" was our introduction to progenitor George Mellor, the father of the Luddite movement during the 18th century Industrial Revolution and the emissary of the powerful "Enoch's Hammer". This insurgent past gives birth to future High-Tech rebellions.
In his second installment "Against the Machine: Manifesto", we were galvanized by Van Noman's skillfully drawn character, Mel Buckworth, a 20th century man obsessed with his singular struggle against inevitable human loss made manifest by our uncontrolled technology. Systematically, emotionally and physically, Buckworth believes he is witnessing the stripping away of the apparent benefits of contemporary technological society.
The first two novels envisage the third. As indicated previously, this novel is set two hundred years in a future at a precarious tipping point between human/machine interface or total extinction.
Review by:
Deborah Weisberg
Gifted author, Brian Van Norman, has released the latest exciting installment in his trilogy of the man/machine interface. "Against the Machine: Evolution", is a riveting book, nearly impossible to put down!
"Against the Machine: Evolution" rockets us into a not-so-distant future world rife with artificial intelligence, severe climate change and a great social divide. We find ourselves consumed head-on with a dual society, cursed by the covetousness of human’s clawing for vainglorious power through the conduit of neural network technology.
Van Norman's mastery of descriptive prose and charismatic character development has again delightfully electrified our senses.
In "Against the Machine: Evolution" we find ourselves two hundred years in a damaged future of caste conflict and repression. On one hand, Van Norman exhibits the security and comforts provided, under chitin/crystalline domes, for the apparently utopian MEG civilization. On the other hand, we glimpse a second culture in a suppressed population of outsiders, the MASS, living outside the domes and forbidden their shelter.
The protagonists of the novel are a varied. The famed BATL athlete, Ayrian Mellor, commander of Toronto MEG’s Raptors; then Mel's elegant inamorata, Li Na Ming Huang, an esteemed opera singer, along with the brilliant, youthful Ke Hui Feng, a rebellious acting Toronto MEG CEO. There is an apparently unassuming but eccentric genius, Ping Wang Min, a cyber-psychological positronic therapist who alone communicates with "I & I", the Artificial General Intelligence: guiding it toward a swiftly emerging sentience. And finally, a talented member of the MASS, Otsi'tsa Zaharie, with her raw extraordinary courage, completes the group.
These diverse champions unify to wield the hammer to smash the oppressive authoritarian regime of the CORPORATE before it destroys what remains of their ravaged Earth. Part of their task must be the elimination of antagonist, the tyrannical Toronto MEG CEO, Wei Qiang Zhang, and his corrupt adherents.
"Against the Machine: Evolution" is a cautionary alarm with the ominous warning of cataclysmic annihilation should we foolishly refuse to be vigilant guardians of our dying Earth, our soaring technology and particularly our comprehension of our own complex evolution.
In his trilogy, Van Norman has enthralled us with an absorbing and educational journey spanning centuries.
Van Norman’s imaginative first installment, "Against the Machine: Luddites" was our introduction to progenitor George Mellor, the father of the Luddite movement during the 18th century Industrial Revolution and the emissary of the powerful "Enoch's Hammer". This insurgent past gives birth to future High-Tech rebellions.
In his second installment "Against the Machine: Manifesto", we were galvanized by Van Noman's skillfully drawn character, Mel Buckworth, a 20th century man obsessed with his singular struggle against inevitable human loss made manifest by our uncontrolled technology. Systematically, emotionally and physically, Buckworth believes he is witnessing the stripping away of the apparent benefits of contemporary technological society.
The first two novels envisage the third. As indicated previously, this novel is set two hundred years in a future at a precarious tipping point between human/machine interface or total extinction.
Review by:
Deborah Weisberg