Vorlonagent

...but it's hard to avoid ending up with a result that isn't great in any role *cough*F-35*cough*

Definitely my error. before this conversation I thought Yamato was built during the war but come to find out it was completed about a week before the Pearl Harbor attack.

I have heard this strategy called "la gueirre de course" and it was a preoccupation of world navies since the US Civil War. While the US Confederacy lost the war their commerce raiders proved the effectiveness of the strategy. It led to huge increases in warship speed or combat power. You either wanted a ship that could outrace the enemy's best raider in order to both run that ship down and do your own raiding and it also needed to be bigger than the enemy's raider in order to win the fight. Alternately you wanted a big block of seagoing iron or steel to hide behind which was big enough to stare down the enemy blocks of iron or steel. Hence the Washington Naval Treaty. IIRC, the Japanese had no shortage of surface ships, including battleships, at Midway. How similar to Germany scrapping its advanced aircraft programs because "the war would be over before they would be ready"... ..making the shift to kamikaze tactics close to inevitable. IIRC the Germans had something similar. A bomb with a sticky coating that a soldier ran at a tank with. They didn't work very well either.

Only because we cranked out 5 or 6 times the ships...

Those crazy rebels. Playing hopscotch in the middle of a crowded mall...

That's why I say "not in 1941". There was still plenty of room for self-delusion in 1941. This makes sense. Germany was really still recovering from the depredations of Versailles and the Great Depression. There was only so much industrial output available, so they got done the minimum needed to go on a land offensive. They always seemed to have some to spare production for projects like jet aircraft, ballistic missiles and a thousand-ton tank, of which only the turret was ever built. Thinking about horse-drawn supply, I had in mind limits to German industry, especially the sorry state of the Kriegsmarine. The few ships they had were good but not nearly enough to contest with the Royal Navy. Production simply wasn't there to put a serious navy into the water so the Germans built both surface ships and submarines designed to reduce or with luck interrupt the flow of resources from the US. They mostly built one aircraft carrier, the Hindenburg, and puttered around with it over the entire war without ever finishing itto the point of going to sea with it. Agreed. That was the Japanese plan. Quick, vicious war and hope the isolationist Americans would not want to dig in and fight. Newer sources say that Yamamoto was actually very contemptuous of the US. I grew up hearing that Yamamoto esteemed the US highly as well. What I hear now He may have had had an accurate grasp of what we could do if we wanted, but he considered us to be shallow and decadent, which I guess is why he thought the "quick war" plan would work. The "floating fat man" of Hitler's inner circle but with less intelligence and guile. Goring's qualification for his job was loyalty not expertise and it showed. ...which speaks that much better for Patton's military ability. IIRC, the Japanese had worse resource problems than the Germans. One historian I read suggested that the Japanese could have built 50 of their innovative destroyers with the resources they sunk into the Yamato. But the Japanese admirals believed in the "decisive battle" theory of sea warfare where there would come one perfect battle that would decide it all. They mostly kept the Yamato and its sister ship the Musashi in reserve for that expected battle, which never came (or occurred without them at Midway). Japan just got whittled down. They needed carriers and experienced pilots and sheer US production, as well as fast-evolving US carrier planes, chewed both those resources up far faster than the Japanese could replace them.

I'm not sure punishment would be apropos to declaring war on the US. Not in 1941. It does sound like Hitler made the decision past the tipping point to madness. It could have been sheer accumulated frustration that had Hitler declare war. Hitler had to know we were supplying both the British and the Russians with equipment despite calling ourselves "neutral". Germany failed at the Battle of Britain which meant Germany couldn't invade and US help to Russia undoubtedly made the job of taking Russia down harder. (One of the big things we sent Soviet Russia were trucks. It still boggles me a little how much technologically-focused Germany relied on horse-powered supply and support). I think the Germans also looked down on the US. Goering was once quoted as saying words to the effect that the US made decent enough cars and razor blades, but combat stuff? yeah, right. Sources I've read suggest that none of the axis powers really grasped the US ability to crank out sheer amounts of stuff and way over-estimated the importance of their own tactics, training, ferocity and general racial superiority. There's even some truth to what Georing said. The legendary P-51 just wasn't that great with it's US-made Pratt and Whitney engine. But the Rolls Royce Merlin made it sing. I think it was the Sherman tank whose poor performance was greatly increased by giving it a British gun as well.

You also have to be sure that's the fleet you want to actually knock out. The fleet docked at Pearl were mostly older ships. The US was busily putting together an updated navy, but like the Doomsday machine of Dr. Strangelove, we just hadn't told anybody so it had zero deterrence value. Of course we were mostly building a surface fleet, but very quickly into WW2, The US started asking the same question of cruiser-size ships planned or being built, "can we turn this into a carrier?" Ironically, the Japanese had actually done the reverse already. They built aircraft carriers that were ready for a quick-conversion to cruisers if a war broke out. Backstory: Between WW1 and WW2, the Washington Naval Treaty and follow-on treaties set rigid limits on the number of surface ships that the signatory nations (which included Japan) could build and the sizes they could build a class of ship to. Nations were trying to outdo each other with ever larger ships (especially battleships, but not just battleships) carrying ever-larger guns and things were getting out of hand. Nobody understood the importance of aircraft carriers at the time so carriers were one of the few things that weren't limited. So the Japanese built carriers in order to cheat on the number of cruisers they were allowed. If the Pearl harbor attack was stupid, Germany's war declaration on the US was brain-dead. So much so that one wonders if it were the actions of a time-traveler trying to keep history on track.

You're about my older brother's height. I'm just taller-enough than Elliot to be able to claim 6' 0 I'm sure he bought her many nice things. OK then. I think we've established that everybody in EGS is at least a bit of a Tedd. We just don't know how yet. Tedd has matured and his his incomparable Teddness has literally changed the nature of reality. He has released his Teddic glory upon Moperville and those who were not Tedds before now find new aspects of themselves coming forward that they inexplicably always had because maybe magic can't do time travel but the true power of Tedd can. Because of the terrible Conservation of Teddosity, Tedd himself is actually outwardly less a Tedd than he used to be. Truly Tedd has paid a terrible price for the enlightenment of friends, acquaintances and strangers alike. But he can rest comfortably in the knowledge that Teddnancies, once planted can only flower and themselves mature, further spreading the Teddic Glory.

OK. Mind changed. I agree. I was thinking that the forms would need to equate to something else Ashley would be attracted to, but you could very well be right that being transformed by itself could be enough for Ashley.

Good points. i had forgotten Sarah's lingering physical attraction to Elliot. Until Sarah is willing to go with Elliot's indecisiveness there would always be tension there. I don't see that part of Sarah going away any time soon. Ashely, as you pointed out is just as indecisive and is such in sync with Elliot. Agreed. kind of the point of my original post, in fact. That classifies as a fetish in my head, not a point of physical or mental attraction. Except, I suppose, having a mate that's into the same fetish.... Friend for certain. More is up in the air. I don't think they've spent any useful time around each other. Agreed. The faining from jow would come from thinking of what she'd do (or want Grace to do) with Grace's abilities...

While I was very disappointed at the time to see Elliot and Sarah split up, it's obvious Ashley is the better girl for Elliot. Ashley might feel some lover's fears like Marigold in today's Questionable Content, but they'd be just as groundless as Marigold's. The SS ElliSarah has sailed, was mutually scuttled, and there's coral growing on the remains. I didn't see Sarah is trying to get Elliot back so much as happily messing with Elliot and being a huge Tedd about it. Your Point 2 for "Poor Ashley" is spot-on however. :) I see Ashley as idolizing Susan more than anything. I don't know how attracted she is. I think Ashley would be very attracted to Nanase. The only time they met had to do with griffins and such so Ashley had bigger fish to fry than thinking about baseball any time she was in the comic. I'd expect she had time while waiting for Elliot to get back. Since she likes busty girls I think she'd be doubly attracted to the Fv5 Nanase form Sarah is using. Sarah is harder to say. Sexually, I don't know what turns Ashley on besides boobs, so who knows? But Sarah is a fellow transformation fangirl and they'd be great fiends by that alone. I think Ashley would faint from joy if/when she meets Grace.

I expect you'd know better than me, but people can always subdivide more the easier it is to do it. The Scottish want another vote over breaking away from the British after all.

Demanding that all Serbian judges be placed by the Austrians sounds like de-factor annexation to me...

"you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave"... Oh sorry, that's the competing hotel chain.

Ashley could just as easily be jumping up and down screaming "Me next! Me next!". ...And when asked which she wanted, to be transformed or replace Elliot next to Fv5SaraNase, her answer would be "YES!"

So expansion to keep their disparate parts focused outward and thinking about conquest instead of secession? Russia has that same problem today. I have heard an idea, that Russia is either shrinking or expanding. Either the tensions between individual interests within Russia's boarders are all pulling away, or Russia is out conquering and everybody's unified behind the effort. Those errors literally cost them their empire. Stupidity is a capital offense,, sometimes even for nations. I somehow missed that Ferdinand was heir to the throne. I thought he was just a generic noble of some kind. I also wasn't aware of the internal pressures in Austria-Hungary that were impelling them to war. Thanks for new info.

It's possible. I'd have to do some historical research. I expect the last days of Czarist Russia were not its most powerful or prominent point in history. OTOH, it would be the perfect time for a rival power to try to conquer a corner of Russia's empire. Unification wasn't happening. They were just trying to keep the pace of war down.

I'm not too sure about that. The European royal families were all interbred because of the mistaken notion that family wouldn't fight wars with family. As time passed they also got a bit inbred as well. It's possible that their forces of personality could have held back war for a while, but not forever. Moreover, acquisitiveness and aggression have a tendency to to come out in those who are arrogant even under the best of circumstances.

Yes she did, though the realization might have gotten lost in everything else that happened. .

The interesting question is why Austria (technically Austria-Hungary) would declare war on Serbia knowing full well that Serbia had strong ties to Russia. They didn't have to to go to war, but from your description (I haven't studied WW1 that closely) It sounded like they wanted to. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand could have simply been the excuse the Austrians were looking for to declare a war they already wanted but couldn't justify diplomatically without some kind of provocation. If the Austrians were itching for war, then, and they weren't blind to the web of alliances across Europe, they would have to realize that Russia would intervene on behalf of Serbia. As it happens the Russians as a people always fondly looked on the Serbs as "little brothers", which is true even today. Bottom line: The Austrians believed that they could take the Russians in a fight, especially with the help of the Germans, who themselves wanted to empire-build after spending a long time divided against themselves and being relatively weak players on the European stage. Germany could well have attacked France because France was protecting countries Germany wanted to conquer. The takeaway is perception of international weakness, be it weakness of military or weakness of nerve (or both) is very dangerous. Enemies don't respect the wishes of countries that they see as weaker than themselves. Enemies also won't respect a strong power if they are convinced that the strength will never be used against them. This is the root of the addage, "If you desire peace, prepare for war."

Is Magic likely to use a name for Van that Tedd would know? If Van goes by his Dad's last name, there wouldn't be any part of his name Tedd would recognize. Even if Van used Norko's maiden name, would Tedd know what that is? He might but might not too. It wouldn't the last name Nanase uses.

I just noticed that Magic called Tedd by his full name. If Van is indeed Norko's son, will he know enough about his mum's past to pick up on Tedd's name as wonder if Tedd is related to him?

...but it might be fun to watch. The closest I've ever come to mixed-drink weirdness isn't very. I once told a Denny's waitress I wanted their "cola dujour". She thought I was ordering a mixed drink. all I wanted was the Coke or Pepsi they had on tap.

Bartender! A glass of your best hourglass for everybody!