juan_gigante

Here's an idea for a taunt: A really good taunt (Note: it's an old WWII comic book cover. Trust me, it's funny.)

I don't know, I don't think it even took Montgomery this long to set up a defense. Come on, Sir 37mm, where's that turn!

And if anyone gets mad at me while playing for NOT using the correct procedures, I'm calling arty on their men.

Well, (1st) I've been trying my darndest to destroy Sir 37mm on the field of battle once again, but it's kind of difficult considering that he HASN'T SEND ONE GOD DAMN TURN YET!!!!!! I sent him a setup, and whoop, that's the end of that. Later he made some lame post about "taking a long time to set up", but I think he's just afraid of getting soundly walloped again. (2nd) I think it will difficult for me to irritate Berli, as he never seems to be around anymore. Which is too bad, because he was always my favorite Olde One. Perhaps those two facts have something in common... And (3rd), I thought the whole Seanachai underwear episode completed that whole "Essay on why Seanachai is a wonderful, caring and sober person who should be loved by all and sundry for his meaningful contribution to society." sufficiently, even if I technically didn't particpate in any way to either to story or the telling thereof. So here's what I have to offer - despite a few minor setbacks, you should soon have a delightful AAR to read wherein I slap stoat around (with lots of pretty pictures!), and a promise that if Sir 37mm comes around here again, I'll harass him for a bit. Hopefully this is enough to last until I can complete my quests in full.

Whoa, whoa, back that train up! Is this true? My dad made me eat a carrot every day for about 10 years straight, saying it would help my eyes. Was I lied to?

Hey stoat - my e-mail service sent me some **** I didn't really understand about the turn I just sent you, so I don't know if you got it or not or what. So if there's no turn in your inbox, I guess the internets swallowed it again.

I agree with Zimorodok. One of my favorite engineer/FT combo tactics is for thick woods fighting. Say you're advancing through an enormous wood, and expect many small enemy ambushes. Short LOS, and all that. Two lines of infantry and a third line of FTs behind those, all very close to each other. Move to contact forward. An enemy squad or two or MG or whatever pops up in ambush. First line troops take a casualty or two and hit the dirt. Second line continues to move until they have contact, then they return fire, and pin the enemy shooters. Then, the first line recovers as FTs move until they have LOS to the enemy. FTs fire, enemy instantly breaks and runs, and the rifle infantry mow them down. In thick woods fighting, this is an almost fool-proof tactic.

Essentially forever, IIRC. The question is, how long will our supply of places to put extremely dangerous waste last if we start slapping reactors into all sorts of things in the manner that concept suggests?

The Justicar will be angry that no sodding off is mentioned. And you know how he gets...

Is stoat even in high school? 15, right? I guess he's a sophomore in high school. Y'know stoat, my sister's 15, but the whole "Her having a boyfriend" and "A few thousand miles between you" might make the relationship tough.

CM:ST? CM:ST? Whoa, I'm posting in the wrong forum! I was looking for CM:SF! Look lad, let me give you a piece of advice. Before Seanachai comes around to inform you that's he's got more wit and intelligence in his pinky finger than you've got in your whole body, I recommend you leave. Now. Sod off, in fact. If you really must stick around (don't, really - we don't want you), then go back to the first post and read the rules. Then, the Justicar will be along with some "important matter of the Justicariate", and then someone will post a song that I won't read, and then I'll be bored. If all that won't deter you (I feel like I'm writing the damn rules all over again), then challenge someone. Lord, no, not a knight - not even a squire like myself. Considering your calibur of posting, I don't think you're even qualified to play a serf like young stoat. I'd write more on how much I don't like you, but I've lost interest. Now, begone, and n'er return to this place!

This was my favorite part: Looks like the husband's duties go beyond "Senior Security Officer"!

It doesn't just suck, it Hoovers. It's emptier than the emptiest vacuum between the stars. It is totally vacuous, empty, null and void. Completely worthless, it is even of negative value, worse than nothing at all. A total ripoff.</font>

I'll agree with pretty much all the "General Comments". The point about Chinese reliance on sea routes is especially interesting, and is the reason why the Chinese are rapidly upgrading their navy from a coastal defense force to a full high-seas power-projection force. The biggest thing I've taken away from all this talk about China - I think maybe I should start taking classes in Chinese. Because in 20-30 years, when I'm a full-on adult (and, if all goes to plan, running for the U.S. Senate ), that might be a handy thing to know.

I actually found 112 to be the easiest of the three. I was used to using combined arms to attack a position, and felt a little handicapped without them in 110 and 111. Different experiences, I guess. And on the facing issues, one way to solve it is to have the computer free setup. It dilutes Jason's image of the battle, but it means that some interesting and unexpected tings happen. Like all those people saying to area fire on the trench? What if the MGs not in the trench? With free setup, that might happen (did to me).

Bigduke6 - Foreign Affairs has a special web section on the end of the Hong Kong round of the Doha trade talks. 6 articles, by guys like Jagdish Bhagwati. I think it's open to the public, and it's very good. Man, I love that magazine. Between Foreign Affairs and the Economist, I don't really need to read a newspaper anymore! Peter - I do disagree with you on a few points. First, we can't assume equal productivity, and probably won't be able to for a long time. American workers are so much more productive than Chinese workers, I think that after correcting for productivity, those low Chinese wages aren't quite as low compared to American ones after all. And besides, those 50% of workers in agriculture and the 20% unemployed? No way China could mobilize them just like that. They don't have the infrastructure. The government is trying like mad to get people from rural areas to the cities to work on services and industry, but it is a very slow and long process. There literally aren't enough seats in the factories for all those people to sit in, much less places for them to sleep. No, you can't consider the enormous rural population to be much of an asset if a trade war happens.

What? You mean to tell me that you don't sense his presence? You don't feel his eyes on your back as you plot turns? You don't glance behind yourself while walking down an alley at night, and see a shadowy figure in an authentic WWII Canadian uniform dart behind a dumpster? You don't lie awake at night, suspecting he is under the bed, but being too scared to check? Man, you've got it easy.

"Um, Major, me and the boys were talking, and we'd really rather not attack that town. Yeah, we're feeling a little tired..." Didn't that kind of happen a year or so back? I remember something about some convoy that refused to go on their mission because they thought they weren't protected enough or something.

Chinese oil demand is a very interesting issue, and one where there is a lot of information. Unfortunately, I was not impressed with your source. Statements like this tend to turn me off: Personally, I felt the reporter was a little biased. Several things said there were true, though. China is getting lots of oil from Iran - and this is good for them if the balloon goes up. One thing I think we can all agree on - if it were possible to somehow cut all foreign oil from either China or the US, that country would not be happy. And barring US soldiers physically interdicting the oil transports or cutting pipelines, I don't think there is anyway we could convince Iran to stop selling to China. And China's reliance on Iranian oil is probably going to go up. But another key piece of the China-oil puzzle is Africa. China is also heavily reliant on African oil. If I may quote from the magazine Foreign Affairs: Foreign Affairs: China's Global Hunt For Energy I'm not sure if non-subscribers can see it, but it's worth a shot, I guess. Incidentally, it's a great magazine, and many important policy and theoretical ideas are revealed in its pages, and y'all should subscribe. Anyways, I'd count that as another oil source in China's pocket if the **** hits the fan. Not to mention Latin America and Venzuela (Who's Chavez going to pick when it comes down to it? If I may quote him speaking to a group of Chinese businessmen, "We have been producing and exporting oil for more than 100 years. But these have been 100 years of domination by the United States. Now we are free, and place this oil at the disposal of the great Chinese fatherland."). China's willingness to cooperate with "bad guy" states would be quite an advantage. In fact, China is making inroads into traditional American spheres of influence. From the same article: I'm seeing a trend beginning. I think the assumption that everyone will naturally be in America's corner when the cards are on the table is not one we can make so easily anymore. 5 years from now, it might be one you can't make at all. Well, doing research on Chinese oil, I came across something interesting. Here's an article from the Economist. Are You Being Served? China's service sector is apparently by far the fastest growing part of China's economy, growing much faster than manufacturing. If I may quote a few bits: A growing service sector is a sign, to me at least, that China is steadily growing less reliant on foreign markets. I'm going to call it a night. Maybe I'll try to find some more stuff tomorrow morning. We'll see.

What, the 6 files I've sent you today have been insufficient? Also, calling arty on your own position just as I attacked was... unexpected, I guess.

And in regards to American military supremacy, I think that $20 for a pair of socks might test the American people's will to continue the fight, especially if the war was started in any way other than China launching some sort of Pearl Harbor-like surprise attack on America with no provocation.

I'll go backwards. That's just how we do things where I'm from. I don't think that. The point is, we rely on them more than they rely on us. And the same thing is true of the U.S. China needs stuff from abroad? So do we. I ask - what is it that China needs that they can't make? Some numbers from Bigduke: * 75 % of oil produced at home * 100+ % of electricity needs produced at home * 100+ % of natural gas needs produced at home * $609.9 billion foreign currency reserves. As we've gone over, many other goods (steel, cement) the Chinese need are produced in nearby SE Asia countries that we couldn't stop from trading with China. And let's not forget the damage the Chinese could do to the dollar. Most of those 609.9 billion is in dollars. If they wanted to unload their dollars, they could make the value plummet like a rock. Think that would be good for America? I'm not denying that ending of trade relations with China wouldn't hurt them. I just think that it would hurt us more.

No! Stay up and finish your goddamn setup for me! Arrgh!

This a very interesting debate that I don't want to interfere too much in, but I do have some minor quibbles to voice. Not necessarily. I could, most likely, become a hermit and survive all by myself, be self-sufficient. However, if I am a part of society at large, I will still survive and my quality of life will be far higher. Same with China. Just because they could be self-sufficient if they had to doesn't mean that they will choose to be. To mangle Mark Twain, rumors of China's dependence on the rest of the world for markets are greatly exaggerated. Luke said that to the Emperor. When it comes to Star Wars, you're dancing with the devil here.

I like big scenarios because it generally means more fun toys to play with. In an 1000 point scenario, you get what, two companies, a tank, and one arty module? In a 3000 game, you a battalion, a company of pioneers, two platoons of tanks, and more arty than you can shake a stick at. 6000+ you get even more, though that is pushing it. I think one of the best types is the "High-point operation". 6000-8000 points, spread as reinforcements over 5 battles. You start small, but a constant flow of reinforcements means you don't get too low, and should you choose, you may be able to husband your resources and really build something up.