Discussion of Military, real or fictional

[mlooney 3,417]

3 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

You could be both.

Yeah, I know.  One of the knights in my SCA household is former USMC scout/sniper and former US army MP.  His dress uniform looked a bit odd.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Armies loosing the will to fight.

I like the long table contrasted with hanging with the troops.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Just an opinion, the performance of the Wagner Group and Blackwater are both serious indictments against governments employing mercenary groups. The callous disregard for the rights and welfare of noncombatants does not speak well of those that employ them, regardless of alleged 'results'. Holding territory is much harder than taking it, and fostering ill will and hostility makes it more certain that you will loose the ground you gained. Fear works just so far, then all you do is drive the opposition into hiding and covert actions.Just look at the widespread partisans fighting Germany in WWII.

(Notes for the uninformed: Wagner Group is currently employed by Russia. Blackwater was employed by the US in the Middle East)

[mlooney 3,417]

No question the "private" military agencies are a bad idea. On the other hand the PRC uses a lot more than both Russia and the US do, they are just more secretive about it.
 

 

[The Old Hack 2,448]

5 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

the performance of the Wagner Group

I think it is time and past time that Putin switches to the lesser known Beethoven Group, which consists of deaf artillerists known for firing barrages to the tune of Beethoven's Fifth, or sometimes his Ninth. I hear he tried to get the Tchaikovsky Group famed for their mercenary marching bands but the Ukrainians got to them first and they are now accompanying the Ukrainians where they spend most of their time playing Marche Slava Ukraina.

10 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

Armies loosing the will to fight.

The absolutely most hilarious example from the Iraq war was when a squad of hapless Iraqi surrendered to an Italian camera crew (which was of course unarmed.) Unhappily I do not recall whether they were placed in a POW camp run by Italian TV. At least they could be fairly sure of excellent pizza and pasta during their captivity.

[mlooney 3,417]

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

I did not understand what they meant when they said the Russian Navy was the G.O.A.T.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Goats that float! New, advanced goat technology! "We have the best goats in the sea! No other country floats a goat as we do."

"Look, Ivan, they're finally supplying us with rations!"

[mlooney 3,417]

One tactic used by submarines is to sail directly underneath the target vessel and shoot an RPG upwards into the keel.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

"First trip, we teach you about the top side of the submarine. Later, advanced training, ride inside."

[Darth Fluffy 302]

We've been doing this for a long time.

[mlooney 3,417]

[Darth Fluffy 302]

"Kill the Wabbit, ..."

[mlooney 3,417]

Russia to withdraw troops from key Ukrainian city Kherson, the only regional centre they had captured since invasion began

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63573387

 

[mlooney 3,417]

Some actual results from NAFO fund raising.

https://twitter.com/ragnars/status/1590040986096656384

 

[mlooney 3,417]

[mlooney 3,417]

 

[mlooney 3,417]

[mlooney 3,417]

[mlooney 3,417]

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Couldn't they just steal better ones from the Ukraine?

[mlooney 3,417]

The Ukraine really hasn't gotten into the massive "anti tank" static defenses like Russia has.  And when they have used them they keep them covered by infantry/vehicles that will fire on things trying to cross them, which is the standard NATO rule for obstacles.  This make stealing them a bit tricky.   There is a US army saying "an obstacle not covered by fire isn't an obstacle"  This goes for mine fields as well as anti-tank things.

[mlooney 3,417]

Quote

The russian cope cones (pyramids) are useless The Ukrainian make the demo in this short video.
The tank easily drives over them. That confirms what other and I have said all along.

https://twitter.com/PStyle0ne1/status/1592153125401812992?s=20&t=FZUTgC3Arw-R2lHHBRQo4A

[Darth Fluffy 302]

2 hours ago, mlooney said:

The Ukraine really hasn't gotten into the massive "anti tank" static defenses like Russia has.  And when they have used them they keep them covered by infantry/vehicles that will fire on things trying to cross them, which is the standard NATO rule for obstacles.  This make stealing them a bit tricky.   There is a US army saying "an obstacle not covered by fire isn't an obstacle"  This goes for mine fields as well as anti-tank things.

Hopefully that can be accurately expanded out to "An obstacle that doesn't stop the enemy is not an obstacle, and an obstacle that is not covered by fire does not stop the enemy". That would make sense.

A passive barrier you can circumvent at you convenience is not likely to stop anyone determined to cross it. An unmanned but in some sense active barrier would be more difficult, but by no means insurmountable. At least until we foolishly crank out the Terminators that kill us all. I suppose you could consider them as 'manning'.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

I thought Switzerland was the only country to use Tobleron barriers.