Am I turning into a Grognard?

[iggi]

Heh, coming from a red alert background , I can id stuggs and shermans. Looking at this photo: from http://www.techpubs.wwiionline.com/ I can recognise the mg42 and 34. What can I expect after I get to see all those wonderfull 3D models on the CM cd?

Will I become a Grognard? Will I know armor ratings, effective ranges by heart?

[This message has been edited by iggi (edited 05-13-2000).]

[iggi]

Checkout more of this weapon <A HREF="http://www.hyperscale.com/mg34ps_1.htm">here<A>

[This message has been edited by iggi (edited 05-13-2000).]

[CoolColJ]

Ohhh thats some nice paintings there!

ccj

[Joe Shaw]

I've said it before, I'll say it again You're not really a grognard 'till someone else calls you a grognard. It's not a title that is self awarded (inflicted?) but rather one that is earned by constantly harping on minor issues (... the dust under the toenails is the wrong color for Thermopalae) or unimportant issues (... you spelled Thermopalae wrong)

You'll know you're on your way, however, when you watch a rerun of that old movie "Battle of the Bulge" and turn it off in disgust when the "King Tiger" tanks come rumbling through the forest.

Joe

[Guest Ol' Blood & Guts]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joe Shaw:

I've said it before, I'll say it again You're not really a grognard 'till someone else calls you a grognard. It's not a title that is self awarded (inflicted?) but rather one that is earned by constantly harping on minor issues (... the dust under the toenails is the wrong color for Thermopalae) or unimportant issues (... you spelled Thermopalae wrong)

Joe<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Couldn't have said it better, Joe. That's why I've tried to remain a logical and practical (war)gamer, throughout this whole waiting period. You don't see me saying, "Hey, that Panther model/texture doesn't show that special little doo-hicky thing on the side like it is supposed to." You know why, 'cause I don't care. Just as long as they are convincing enough, that's good enough for me.

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"Why don't we say that we took this one chance, and fought!"

"Stupid humans. Hahahahahahaha!"

--from the film Battlefield Earth

[Hakko Ichiu]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joe Shaw:

I've said it before, I'll say it again You're not really a grognard 'till someone else calls you a grognard. It's not a title that is self awarded (inflicted?) but rather one that is earned by constantly harping on minor issues (... the dust under the toenails is the wrong color for Thermopalae) or unimportant issues (... you spelled Thermopalae wrong)

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's "Thermopylae", you Theban dog.

Ethan

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Ethan

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Das also war des Pudels Kern! -- Goethe

[Joe Shaw]

Your honor, I rest my case. Take the bastard out and shoot him at dawn ... and then again at sunset.

And it's a Theban PIG, you Spartan ... uh ... {quick, what's a bad name for a Spartan?}

Joe

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"Son," says I to him, "you're a Dragon. And a Dragon ACTS like a Dragon or he doesn't act at all."

Smrgol, Dragon

[Fionn]

If he was a Spartan then the two greatest insults would be to call him either a LOSER (the implication is that he lost a battle and lived (true shame) ) or a COWARD.

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Ask me politely and you'll get a complete and polite response. Act impolitely and I'll ignore you forever. Your choice.

This sig is so NO-ONE can say they haven't been warned about my stance on this subject.

[Joe Shaw]

Thanks Fionn, and I couldn't help but notice that he has dirt under his toenails. Has this thread gone far enough off topic yet?

Joe

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"Son," says I to him, "you're a Dragon. And a Dragon ACTS like a Dragon or he doesn't act at all."

Smrgol, Dragon

[Fionn]

Joe,

I don't know.. Maybe we should examine the TYPE of dust and compare it with dust in Thermopylae and THEN extrapolate from that the type of dust present at the correct date (taking into account irrigation factors and global warning).

Until such time I'm sorry to say that I'd have to say Ethan's modelling dust is flawed and, as such, he should be taken out and shot (or speared if we want to stay true to the timeline).

Yes I'm a grognard but sometimes all the nits picked just annoy the hell out of me .

[hnh3_cm]

Y'all should read Colonel Trotter's column in the June issue of PC Gamer.

[Lee]

Wow, what a magnificent MG-34 model. And built from scratch, no

less! Good grief, that guy is a real pro modeller. I want him to

work on my all my models.

[Hakko Ichiu]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn:

Joe,

I don't know.. Maybe we should examine the TYPE of dust and compare it with dust in Thermopylae and THEN extrapolate from that the type of dust present at the correct date (taking into account irrigation factors and global warning).

Until such time I'm sorry to say that I'd have to say Ethan's modelling dust is flawed and, as such, he should be taken out and shot (or speared if we want to stay true to the timeline).

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

FLAWED!?!? FLAWED?!?!

You wouldn't know the dust of Thermopylae if it came up to you, handed you a business card reading "Dust of Thermopylae, 480 B.C.E.", then kicked you in the shins.

Besides, there was no dust at Thermopylae. It was forested terrain. And it was muddy because it had rained that morning. I know. I was there. In a previous life. I can still smell the sweat and stink.

My head hurts where they put in the implants.

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Ethan

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Das also war des Pudels Kern! -- Goethe

[Fionn]

Ethan,

How do you type with your hands in the straight-jacket?

(just funnin' with u )

[This message has been edited by Fionn (edited 05-14-2000).]

[Joe Shaw]

Ethan, do what I do ... I find that if I mold a Spartan helmet from three layers of heavy duty Reynolds Aluminum Foil it cuts the pain down AND keeps that annoying, whiny little voice from complaining that I don't take it out often enough ... or is that my wife?

And if you think it was muddy at Thermopylae you must have forgotten that morning at Waterloo. You looked funny as hell when you slipped under Neys horse just as it took a dump.

Joe

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"Son," says I to him, "you're a Dragon. And a Dragon ACTS like a Dragon or he doesn't act at all."

Smrgol, Dragon

[Mark IV]

Thermopylae was entirely forested with oak, according to Herodotus.

Weather conditions were shaded:

"One of the Trachynians [Persian army] told [Dieneces, the Spartan] that such was the number of the barbarians that when they shot forth their arrows the sun would be darkened by their multitude. Dieneces, not at all frightened by these words, but making light of the Median numbers, answered: 'Our Trachynian friend brings us excellent tidings. If the Medes darken the sun, we shall have our fight in the shade.'"

The Thebans were really there as hostages, as they were suspected by other Greeks of being friendly to the Persians.

The good fellows who refused to abandon the Spartans were the Thespians who elected to remain with them, and were also wiped out.

"Go, stranger,and to Lacedaemon tell,

That here, obeying her behests, we fell."

[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-14-2000).]

[Guest Babra]

Five thousand here

From Pelops' Land

Against three million once did stand...

Ah, the good old days. Now I'll have to go rent the 300 Spartans. One of you bastitches owes me a buck and a half...

[Fionn]

Oh God I might as well just tar and feather myself but I have to say it...

My understanding was that after the initial clashes the Greeks pulled back from the forested regions and into more constricted but less forested terrain?

P.s. Thebans always were good for nothing !

[Hakko Ichiu]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Joe Shaw:

And if you think it was muddy at Thermopylae you must have forgotten that morning at Waterloo. You looked funny as hell when you slipped under Neys horse just as it took a dump.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wrong side, Joe. I was the one who picked up Uxbridge's scotch egg after the Froggies shot it off.

Uxbridge (to Wellington): By God, Sir, I've lost my leg.

Wellington: By God, Sir, so you have.

Me: No, guv, I've got it right here. Ooh, this'll cook up nice with a bit of bacon and some horseradish.

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Ethan

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Das also war des Pudels Kern! -- Goethe

[Mark IV]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn:

My understanding was that after the initial clashes the Greeks pulled back from the forested regions and into more constricted but less forested terrain?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

They pulled back big time.

Thermopylae was to buy time, not stop the Persians (something like Reisberg- see this IS on topic). The navy was engaged nearby at Artemisium and fought to something of a draw; Thermopylae was chosen to make the stand because, of all the mountain passes, it allowed close communications between land and naval forces.

After Thermopylae the Persians fanned out into Thessaly and Attica, burning and pillaging, more or less unopposed. Athens itself was evacuated (the people didn't want to leave, but when the Holy Snake refused to consume its monthly honey-cake they were convinced), and the army and population withdrew to the Pelopennesus, or with the navy to Salamis.

The oracle had predicted all this, and said that Athens would be saved by a "wooden wall". Some thought this referred to the wooden palisade around the Acropolis and held out there; beseiged by the Persians they were burned and slaughtered.

It turned out that the "wooden wall" referred to the ships of the Athenian navy (with much of the refugee population on board), who shortly after destroyed the Persian fleet at Salamis and sent old Xerxes packing back to Persia. He pretended to have accomplished his mission of burning Athens, declared a victory, and left.

P.s. Thebans always were good for nothing !

This opinion seems to have been universal among Athenians and Spartans, who otherwise didn't agree on much.

[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-14-2000).]

[Joe Shaw]

Ethan, horseradish on Leg of Lord? You must have been in a Highland regiment, they'll eat anything, look at haggis.

Joe

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"Son," says I to him, "you're a Dragon. And a Dragon ACTS like a Dragon or he doesn't act at all."

Smrgol, Dragon

[Fionn]

Yeah, I actually learnt English by reading a lot of the old histories of Rome and Greece. Got interested in Sparta too when I got into wargaming .

5 Cool Points to the first person who tells me what was "special" about the Theban Royal Guard? Hint: there were always roughly 600 of them.. For the purposes of the question we'll assume there were 600... Hint to answer is "300".

[Mark IV]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Fionn:

5 Cool Points to the first person who tells me what was "special" about the Theban Royal Guard? Hint: there were always roughly 600 of them.. For the purposes of the question we'll assume there were 600... Hint to answer is "300".<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Possibly better known as the Sacred Band, it was an elite fighting force composed exclusively of pairs of homosexual lovers; undefeated until part of the general Theban defeat at Chaeronea by Alexander.

I don't know of any other example of this in history....

Perhaps the dirt under THEIR toenails would be indistinguishable, being painted?

[This message has been edited by Mark IV (edited 05-14-2000).]

[Lee]

Oh, that is disgusting!

Quick, bring up the homo lovers, the enemy is approaching!

LOL!!

That is just plain wierd!

[argie]

I think, the spartans used a very similar system of "companions": two men were attached together to the army and the social life for ever... Was usual they becomes lovers, as they were compromised from puberty and so on.

Sorry by my english.

Ariel

ps: The Special Forces in the modern world generally does something similar: in SAS, the companions are 2. In Israel Special Forces, 3. I think in USA are 4, but not sure about it. The homosexual element it's not comprised because the actual morality of the modern Armed Forces. The Ancient Greeks don't found the homosexuality questionable, as today's Western Christian's moral.