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HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME

The Entire Universe posted:

...pages and pages of leisurely talk of Landsknechts and (H)Arquebusiers? :krad:
My posting, like my progress toward my dissertation, is indeed quite leisurely.

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Nenonen
Oct 22, 2009

Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa

Slavvy posted:

IIRC encirclement wasn't really tactically feasible until Hannibal did it? I remember reading something about evidence of encirclement in the Peloponnesian war.

Keep in mind that in ancient times most warriors were also farmers and couldn't fight year-round. By extension, winning a major battle decisively wasn't just a tactical victory, but a strategic one too because it would cripple your opponent's economy. Not that anyone thought in those terms, according to what people have said earlier in this thread. I get the feeling there wasn't much to it beyond "go there and gently caress their poo poo up" until much, much later.

Recorded history of war extends much further back than Rome or Greece, all the way to Megiddo ca. 1457 BC. The ancient Egyptians and their enemies then already had a pretty good idea of how to battle in a sensible manner, even if they just about as often hosed it up.

Wikipedia posted:

Thutmose seized the opportunity. He set up camp and, during the night, arrayed his forces close to the enemy. The next morning, they attacked. It cannot be established if the surprised King of Kadesh had managed to invert his front lines in time, and prepare for battle. Even if he did that, it did not bring him much help. His forces were on high ground adjacent to the fortress. The Egyptian line was arranged in a concave formation, consisting of three wings, that threatened both Caananite flanks. Both the Egyptians and the Caananites are estimated to have had around 1,000 chariots and 10,000 infantry. The Pharaoh led the attack from the center. The combination of position and numbers, superior maneuverability of their left wing along with an early, bold attack, broke the enemy's will; their line immediately collapsed. Those near the city fled into it, closing the gates behind them.

The Egyptian soldiers fell to plundering the enemy camp. During the plunder they captured 924 chariots and 200 suits of armor. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, during this confusion, the scattered Caananite forces, including the kings of Kadesh and Megiddo, were able to rejoin the defenders inside the city. Those inside lowered clothing to the men and chariots and pulled them up over the walls. Thus, the opportunity of a quick capture of the city following the battle was lost.

The city was besieged for seven months and the King of Kadesh escaped.[6] Tuthmoses set up siege-works and encircled the town, eventually forcing its occupants to surrender. At Karnak it is recorded that the victorious army took home 340 prisoners, 2,041 mares, 191 foals, 6 stallions, 924 chariots, 200 suits of armor, 502 bows, 1,929 cattle, 22,500 sheep, and the royal armor, chariot and tent-poles of the King of Megiddo.[7] The city and citizens were spared. A number of other cities in the Jezreel Valley were conquered and Egyptian authority in the area was restored.[7]

That sure sounds like some fine tactical thinking. Which makes sense - you don't become a God King of a rich realm simply by kindly asking people to join under your command, you have to crush some skulls first and do it better than other skull crushers.

As for encirclement, what is a siege if not that?

Teriyaki Hairpiece
Dec 29, 2006

I'm nae the voice o' the darkened thistle, but th' darkened thistle cannae bear the sight o' our Bonnie Prince Bernie nae mair.

a travelling HEGEL posted:

Why do you ask--are you writing a character in a work of fiction that is an Otto I expert?

...is it for Call of Cthulthu?
It's much less interesting than that, I was having a conversation with a friend earlier yesterday about what it takes to be considered an "expert" on a subject. I thought Otto I was obscure enough but also broad enough to be a good example.

Kemper Boyd
Aug 6, 2007

no kings, no gods, no masters but a comfy chair and no socks

a travelling HEGEL posted:

I actually made the same switch from studying Nazism to the Early Modern. Reading Nazi stuff depressed me too much--the guys I study now may lead grim lives of almost unrelieved horror, but apart from that they're normal people. Nazis write like random word generators designed to spit out bullshit; Early Modern guys write like human beings.

There's also the issue that beyond a semi-ambitious master's thesis I can't come up with poo poo to say about the Nazis, when it comes to the whole issue of Nazi Germany and religion. There's only that many words you can squeeze out when your end result is "they didn't have their poo poo together and their policies were all over the place."

Raskolnikov38
Mar 3, 2007

We were somewhere around Manila when the drugs began to take hold

Kemper Boyd posted:

There's only that many words you can squeeze out when your end result is "they didn't have their poo poo together and their policies were all over the place."

Nazi_Germany.txt

the JJ
Mar 31, 2011

The Entire Universe posted:

'Serial numbers filed off' was the phrase I couldn't quite remember someone posting in a thread! I remembered it was something implying a near 1:1 story, but couldn't recall the wording. Thanks! Good to know I was on the right track not really seeing the level of similarity that implies.

I'm a possibly-ex-to-be History major (pushing 30 and no BA - for shame, I know, but I'm finding, far too late for comfort, that my love for all things historical extends to hobbyist levels but not necessarily "Gollum of the Primary Sources" levels. I've knocked out a few undergrad final papers and am finding I'm more satisfied with idly reading the sources and not using them. It has helped me with my job as an AML analyst when putting together narratives, so there's that. :suicide:) and really like that the thread's putting a lot of effort into stuff like the early modern era. Any schmuck can write a thousand pages on what made McClellan so cripplingly deliberate, but pages and pages of leisurely talk of Landsknechts and (H)Arquebusiers? :krad:

To take a big step back in time, what are the earliest feasible references to military tactics beyond "surround the other guys and smash/stab/sling?" I don't mean artillery placement, but more like stuff such as separation of combat roles, strategic movements, etc. What was the level of strategic battle planning when people like Ashurbanipal were stomping around the fertile crescent?

It's a bit after Ashurbanipal, but I'm going to recommend Xenophon for like the nth time. His Anabasis is basically one long running fight from Anatolia down to Mesopotamia and back. Xenophon, aristocrat that he was, takes the time to argue about the necessity of cavalry,* basically that a cavalry wing could cover a routing infantry force or chase a routing enemy. Good cavalry made losses bearable, and made victories meaningful. It also details the organization of the march, selecting and using skirmishers and archers to counter the hill people they fought in Anatolia, discusses all manner of supply problems and leadership issues. Xenophon's Cyropedia is his sort of 'utopian' work (though, again, stick in the mud conservative that he was, it's a throwback to an idealized past. :allears:) and he takes the time to go over what he thinks is an ideal army makeup/training and management methods, and has a great Clancy-esque hypothetical throwdown at the climax, complete with an ex-enemy redeeming himself with a glorious death and his beautiful wife committing sympathetic suicide**. His Hellenika also has his take on Leuctra (and the final defeat of his dear :agesilaus:)

Thucy is also real good, the disaster at Pylos and the whole Syracusan debacle are both quite gripping and great examples of both Athens and Sparta shooting themselves in the foot so perfectly in line with their cultural stereotypes.

*the Greeks, once Cyrus died and his allies fell in line behind the King, had none. Without it, they were sort of in a 'they only have to get lucky cause a rout once, but we have to get lucky every time because we won't be able to kill anyone after they start running and they'll just come back the next day.'

**And taking some of her slaves with her, but Xenophon, embodying :agesilaus: as only a man who wrote a loving eulogy to the actual :agesilaus: could, doesn't really count them as human.

hogmartin
Mar 27, 2007

the JJ posted:

**And taking some of her slaves with her, but Xenophon, embodying :agesilaus: as only a man who wrote a loving eulogy to the actual :agesilaus: could, doesn't really count them as human.

UGH, my mom made me take Xenophone lessons when I was like eight and I HATED them. I still can't play the drat thing.

What possible status could Jews have had, if any, in a German-ish speaking country's military before, say, the 18th century? My family's Jewish, our name is German, and it implies military status. I've never been able to find out what sort of circumstances could have led to that. My impression of Jews in that area and period is of ghettoed merchants or tradesmen with various degrees of acceptance depending on the local nobility and clergy, but I don't know any examples of Jews in military service.

I can PM any of the thread regulars that I recognize with the actual name if think you might be able to help, but I'd rather not just post it outright because ~ Internet Detectives ~

e: or maybe bankers or something among the Sephardim but we ain't, and that still doesn't translate to military service as far as I can see.

hogmartin fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Dec 31, 2013

steinrokkan
Apr 2, 2011



Soiled Meat
Dunno about other states, but in Austria, Joseph II enacted a series of reforms that aimed to makes Jews fully integrated into the regular legal structures of the state. It culminated in 1788 when he made Jewish conscription not only possible, but even mandatory. And unlike other Josephinian reforms, this one remained in place after his death and numerous Jews were called to serve in Napoleonic wars and in Hungary against the Turk.

Oh hey, there's even an English encyclopedia article about this topic: http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14438-toleranzpatent

And since this law chronologically coincided (roughly) with the requirement that Jews must adopt German names, I would say there's a good chance it answers your question.

steinrokkan fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Dec 31, 2013

HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME

hogmartin posted:

What possible status could Jews have had, if any, in a German-ish speaking country's military before, say, the 18th century? My family's Jewish, our name is German, and it implies military status. I've never been able to find out what sort of circumstances could have led to that. My impression of Jews in that area and period is of ghettoed merchants or tradesmen with various degrees of acceptance depending on the local nobility and clergy, but I don't know any examples of Jews in military service.
During the Middle Ages, Jews, like some other social groups, were not "weapons capable"--this refers to their status as unfree and unsuitable for military service, not to whether or not they literally carried things that could be used as weapons (of course they did). For this reason, one of the quid pro quos given to Jewish communities by the rulers of the areas in which they lived was that he or she would protect them--attacking a Jew, like attacking a member of the clergy, breaks the civil peace of the local authority. If a Jew did decide to take up arms, he'd lose that "right of protection."

But despite this status they did, sometimes--in the Early Modern period, there were Jewish mercenaries, like Salomon Ricco, of Italian origin, who served as a landsknecht during the Italian Wars. According to him, his comrades knew that he was Jewish--and, since they called him "the Modenan" rather than "the Jew," they may not have cared too much. Numerous Jews also served as cavalry officers in the sixteenth century, as well as soldiers or guards during the Thirty Years' War. There was also at least one Jewish fencing-master.

However, their society seems to have been less violent. According to the archival evidence, Jewish men were less likely to get into fights with one another than Christian men, and in the Early Modern period Jews typically wore swords only when travelling or celebrating. Jewish images of violence also tend to depict it in a negative light, rather than as positive or routine. They also didn't beat their children, at least according to Christian observers.

From The Martial Ethic in Early Modern Germany: Civic Duty and the Right of Arms, except for the part about beating children; I forget where that's from.

steinrokkan posted:

And since this law chronologically coincided (roughly) with the requirement that Jews must adopt German names, I would say there's a good chance it answers your question.
My answer is more swashbuckly and dashing. :colbert: A Jewish landsknecht! Your entire view of the period has been changed.

HEY GUNS fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Dec 31, 2013

hogmartin
Mar 27, 2007

a travelling HEGEL posted:

My answer is more swashbuckly and dashing. :colbert: A Jewish landsknecht! Your entire view of the period has been changed.

Thanks guys, that helps a lot. If anyone else has further insight on this topic, this is something I'd obviously be interested in hearing more about.

I also just realized that I should clarify that when I said "ghettoed", I meant more in the sense of a 20th century Chinatown than of the WWII Warsaw Ghetto, i.e., a segregation and localization that is more or less preferred by both the "ghettoed" minority and society at large, rather than a city-section prison camp or something.

e: My dad and I are both veterans, so maybe we were unconsciously fulfilling our :jewish: :black101: heritage?
VVV Yeah, guessing that didn't happen very often...

hogmartin fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Dec 31, 2013

Nenonen
Oct 22, 2009

Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa
Nazis giving honorary military names to Jewish survivors of the Warsaw ghetto uprising would certainly be impressive!

HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME

hogmartin posted:

e: My dad and I are both veterans, so maybe we were unconsciously fulfilling our :jewish: :black101: heritage?
VVV Yeah, guessing that didn't happen very often...
Dude, you may have had a Jewish landsknecht ancestor. How sweet is that?
Actually, that's way too early to give you a last name out of it. It would rule, though.

steinrokkan
Apr 2, 2011



Soiled Meat
Wel, at times situation in the Empire was worryingly similar to 20th century persecutions. Relatively mild forms of anti-Jewish sentiments took form of forced exodus from cities where non-Jewish population lobbied to make away with competing Jewish merchants and masters. Ferdinand I's rule is notable for a large scale migration of Jews out of German territories, mostly to Poland (it's quite possible members of this diaspora could find fortune as mercenaries, as Hegel suggested). 16th century also saw reintroduction of ancient laws that forced Jews to be marked by cloaks / hats and yellow badges, and breaches of these regulations were often followed by confiscation of property. Two examples of much harsher approach could be found in Charles VI who decreed that numbers of Jewish families within his domain couldn't exceed certain numerus clausus, and effectively all sons of Jewish families except the most senior ones (who inherited their fathers' place in the clausus) were stripped of all their rights. The second example I wanted to mention was Maria Thereza who caused great upheaval when she ordered all Jews into exile, and made identification and segregation rules much more strict.

Speaking of which - it's true that while Jews weren't allowed to serve in the army, they did have contracts as suppliers for the military (and so Marie's decision to exile them caused a lot of distress amongst her officers who suddenly lost a chunk of their logisitcs).

SO perhaps it's possible that the origin of your family name could be because of background in trading with the army rather than serving in a combat capacity?

FAUXTON
Jun 2, 2005

spero che tu stia bene

What kind of names did people get out of Landsknecht service?

I have a whole wing of family ancestry in Sweden and they have names like Lindell or Roos.

E: I like that the M3 Lee was a lovely abortion of a tank that nobody liked or wanted, and it was the Sherman that resulted from smarts looking at that uggo pile of poo poo and saying "we should put that fuckoff 75mm in a goddamn turret and also how about we not make the front armor almost vertical."

E: "BTW let's design an actual glacis and not use this oil drum looking poo poo kthx"

FAUXTON fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Dec 31, 2013

Comstar
Apr 20, 2007

Are you happy now?

the JJ posted:

Thucy is also real good, the disaster at Pylos and the whole Syracusan debacle are both quite gripping and great examples of both Athens and Sparta shooting themselves in the foot so perfectly in line with their cultural stereotypes.

I know about the Syracusan debacle, but what happened at Pylos, and why were they both examples of both Athens and Sparta shooting themselves in the foot so perfectly in line with their cultural stereotypes?

Power Khan
Aug 20, 2011

by Fritz the Horse

hogmartin posted:

UGH, my mom made me take Xenophone lessons when I was like eight and I HATED them. I still can't play the drat thing.

What possible status could Jews have had, if any, in a German-ish speaking country's military before, say, the 18th century? My family's Jewish, our name is German, and it implies military status. I've never been able to find out what sort of circumstances could have led to that. My impression of Jews in that area and period is of ghettoed merchants or tradesmen with various degrees of acceptance depending on the local nobility and clergy, but I don't know any examples of Jews in military service.

I can PM any of the thread regulars that I recognize with the actual name if think you might be able to help, but I'd rather not just post it outright because ~ Internet Detectives ~

e: or maybe bankers or something among the Sephardim but we ain't, and that still doesn't translate to military service as far as I can see.

Joseph II. made it mandatory for jews to take a german last name, so that's where these typical names like "Goldwurm", "Letzergroschen", "Nirnstein", et al. come from. I can picture an ill tempered bureaucrat handing out these lovely names left and right, just for giggles. These names that I gave are actually to be seen at the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, in the jewish department.

So, I'm curious what your last name is. If your ancestors came from Austro-Hungaria and the name dates back to this wave it could implicate an interesting story. Either said bureaucrat was mocking them, or it could mean that they already held a position in the military. Which would be not so unusual given the special relation of jews and the state - you could read a pretty good summary of that in Hannah Arendt's "The Origin of Totalitarism".

To make it short, a number of influential jews called "Hofjuden" catered to the financial and material needs of the emperor - in absence of a modern system of taxation. Thereby gaining special status and direct access to his majesty. Interestingly it is extensive warfare and maybe foremost, standing armies that made it necessary for the Emperor to look for new sources of money. Common jews would enter a patron/client relation with these people, using them to bypass local nobles and gouvernors in case of trouble and appeal directly to the emperor. These jews with access to the Kaiser had special protection and rights and formed a strata not unlike nobility. Ironically these people jealously guarded their privileges and were a major factor as to why the situation of the common jew only slowly improved up until the constitution of 1867. And of course you can also find lower nobles who had jewish connections for their financial needs.

By the way, it's not so unusual to find places like this, which were mostly jewish.

Speaking of said cemetery in Vienna, right behind the old jewish section, there's jewish war graves from WWI, where you can find lots of jewish officers, surgeons, etc. Lots of graves in the other sections mention the occupation of it's owners, it's a surprisingly high density in jobs that have close proximity to the state's apparatus or within the bureaucracy.

the JJ
Mar 31, 2011

Comstar posted:

I know about the Syracusan debacle, but what happened at Pylos, and why were they both examples of both Athens and Sparta shooting themselves in the foot so perfectly in line with their cultural stereotypes?

The Athenians had established a minor fort on a peninsula the Peloponnesian coast from which to raid out and supply their ships. The Spartans decide that they don't want to let the Athenians have a staging are so close and besiege the fort. Now, for some reason,a bunch of decided to camp out on an island off the peninsula because... actually Thucy wasn't very clear on why they all piled onto this island, it's not like they could have set up coastal guns to interdict Athenian supply ships, but regardless, a bunch of Sparta's best and brightest strand themselves on this island and the Athenian's begin to circle like sharks.

Sparta immediately sues for peace. They've been regularly tramping all up and down the Athenian countryside. They've fought proxy fights all across Greece. Athens has been reeling from the plagues. But as absolutely hardcore as they were, the threat of losing ~150 full on citizens is hands down 100% a reason to start looking for a truce. The Athenians push too hard, in the end, but it's a very close decision. The Spartans resist the demands in part because they're allowed to feed the men on the island and figure (correctly) that they'd be able to sneak a few row boats of food over to the trapped soldiers some nights.

Of course, having a bunch of Spartans on the island is one thing, but blockading them indefinitely is getting somewhat tiresome. Bot no one is really eager to try and amphibious landing against a bunch of Spartans and try asking them to lay their arms down. Eventually, some Athenian rear end in a top hat* runs his mouth about how good he is and a rival calls him out. This being the time honored motivation-by-spite-and-rhetoric that was so good, and bad, for Athens.

Anyway, Cleon's got a chip and need to prove himself, he grabs a bunch of Demosthenes' peltasts**, lights fire to the island, lands, and posts up on some hills. When the Spartans try to storm a hilltop his men retreat uphill while the other forces come down from the hill to toss at the Spartan's backs. They turn around to face the new threat, wash rinse repeat. The Spartans fall back to their own minifort they put up on the island, but a clever detachment of Athenian allies sneak around a cliffside, more or less, and emerge above and behind the defenses. Then the unthinkable happens; Spartans surrender.

Athens basically tells the Spartan that if they invade Attica and burn the Athenian crops, they'll kill the hostages. Meanwhile, they're still able to raid from Pylos, and the focus of the war shifts once again to the proxies. Even after the Spartans take Amphipolis, the treaty signed a few years later returns all of the captured cities back to Athenian control, while the Athenians get to keep some of the gain they'd made. Only then did the Spartans get their prisoners back.

tldr version: The Spartan soldier was world class, but an elite of an elite that made them irreplaceable. One stupid mistake and the Spartans were tripping over themselves to get their citizens back. By the time Thebes rolls in as the new Greek hotshots the Spartans simply don't have the manpower to police their own slaves, much less contest hegemony.

*Cleon, I think, the same guys who led the whole 'gently caress your peace terms how about we dismantle your whole empire?' school of negotiation. Thucy was not a Cleon fan.
**Demosthenes being something of a skirmishing/asymmetrical war savant, and really the true hero of this little fight since he's the one who baited the trap and sprung it.

Pump it up! Do it!
Oct 3, 2012

The Entire Universe posted:

What kind of names did people get out of Landsknecht service?

I have a whole wing of family ancestry in Sweden and they have names like Lindell or Roos.

E: I like that the M3 Lee was a lovely abortion of a tank that nobody liked or wanted, and it was the Sherman that resulted from smarts looking at that uggo pile of poo poo and saying "we should put that fuckoff 75mm in a goddamn turret and also how about we not make the front armor almost vertical."

E: "BTW let's design an actual glacis and not use this oil drum looking poo poo kthx"

In Sweden soldiers got soldier names in the allotment system, which people then took as surnames during the end of the 19th century so you have people here with surnames such as dagger, shield, mountain, brave, blade, victory etc.

Marshal Prolapse
Jun 23, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Nenonen posted:

Skis don't work too well in summer. Light infantry (Jägers) would use bicycles in summer, skis in winter. A bicycle unit couldn't operate fully on its own, though, and backpacks and tents etc. were carried on trucks and horse wagons. Skis are more versatile as you can easily load all of the equipment on man drawn sleds (ahkio), including heavier weapons like mortars so it's not just a light infantry transport.



My boss actually has a ski based Lahti behind his desk at work. It owns hard.

Libluini
May 18, 2012

I gravitated towards the Greens, eventually even joining the party itself.

The Linke is a party I grudgingly accept exists, but I've learned enough about DDR-history I can't bring myself to trust a party that was once the SED, a party leading the corrupt state apparatus ...
Grimey Drawer

Nenonen posted:

Recorded history of war extends much further back than Rome or Greece, all the way to Megiddo ca. 1457 BC. The ancient Egyptians and their enemies then already had a pretty good idea of how to battle in a sensible manner, even if they just about as often hosed it up.


That sure sounds like some fine tactical thinking. Which makes sense - you don't become a God King of a rich realm simply by kindly asking people to join under your command, you have to crush some skulls first and do it better than other skull crushers.

As for encirclement, what is a siege if not that?

If you take archaeological evidence instead of just recorded history, it even extends far beyond 1457 BC. Somewhere between 2191 BC until 2112 BC saw heavy fighting in Mesopotamien: First the southern part of the collapsing early Akkadian empire was overrun by a tribe called the Gutians, then the citystates of Mesopotamia fought them off again.

Then there was the war of Ur against one of its neighbouring citystates: Some trading city (I forgot the name) was sieged and conquered by Ur. I think that was even earlier then the Gutian war.

Edit:
Also apparently Ur used the distraction due to all these Gutians running around and wrecking poo poo to conquer Akkad itself. And some sources apparently say the Gutians weren't fully defeated until 2100 or even 2000 BC.

Well I guess even with the Sumerian obsession with keeping lists it would be a bit too much to demand perfect knowledge of a conflict which happened more then 4100 years ago.

Edit2:
I'm thinking about making an effort post about ancient Mesopotamien wars. There's a book from Hans J. Nissen I want to use as a source, edition from 1999 or 2012 if I can find it in one of our universitary libraries. Since it will take me quite a while (finding the book, reading it, writing a post), feel free to warn me if someone knows that book and thinks it's bad or something. (It's title is Geschichte Altvorderasiens), I almost forgot.)

Libluini fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Dec 31, 2013

FAUXTON
Jun 2, 2005

spero che tu stia bene

Lord Tywin posted:

In Sweden soldiers got soldier names in the allotment system, which people then took as surnames during the end of the 19th century so you have people here with surnames such as dagger, shield, mountain, brave, blade, victory etc.

Interesting. There's a Bergström and a Wärling in there as well. It looks like Lindell and Roos are possibly acquired ornamental surnames (rooted in words for Lime (tree) and Rose (flower or color, such as hair) respectively - which is hilarious given my love for gimlets) but from what I gather Wärling (previous generations used Werling) is apparently continental Germanic, possibly Norman, in origin.

Source documents available without a bunch of translation and/or letter-writing aren't really plentiful from the 18th century, so it's slow going. Thanks for the clarification, I wasn't sure if it was more dignified (I.e. estate grants with titular names) or if it was similar to the way (to return to a beaten topic) bastard children were handled in the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Know what's a pain in the rear end? Those patrilineal names when they get treated like the proper surname. When they came to the US that was used instead of the family name.

Immanentized
Mar 17, 2009
While not quite related to the discussion at hand, I hit up the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Arms and Armor exhibit last week and took a fewof pictures, mostly focusing on 15th century English swords and armor, but I did get a few pictures of the Ottoman muskets. Would anyone like me to post these up as an imgur gallery?

SeanBeansShako
Nov 20, 2009

Now the Drums beat up again,
For all true Soldier Gentlemen.

handbanana125 posted:

While not quite related to the discussion at hand, I hit up the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Arms and Armor exhibit last week and took a fewof pictures, mostly focusing on 15th century English swords and armor, but I did get a few pictures of the Ottoman muskets. Would anyone like me to post these up as an imgur gallery?

As a man who simply loves the ornamental design of wooden firearms especially from the 17th to the 19th century I would like to state this: HELL YES PLEASE.

MrYenko
Jun 18, 2012

#2 isn't ALWAYS bad...

gfanikf posted:

My boss actually has a ski based Lahti behind his desk at work. It owns hard.



Registered and active, or de-milled?

Lahtis and Solothurns make my loins quiver.

Marshal Prolapse
Jun 23, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

MrYenko posted:

Registered and active, or de-milled?

Lahtis and Solothurns make my loins quiver.

Registered and active. :) The ammo came with it, and that pic is missing the other mag he has.

He owns lots of cool stuff including, among other things, one of the few transferable Beretta 93R's and the only Factory Colt 1911 SMG, that was being worked on for consideration as a cheap easy to convert SMG for the field.

gradenko_2000
Oct 5, 2010

HELL SERPENT
Lipstick Apathy

handbanana125 posted:

While not quite related to the discussion at hand, I hit up the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Arms and Armor exhibit last week and took a fewof pictures, mostly focusing on 15th century English swords and armor, but I did get a few pictures of the Ottoman muskets. Would anyone like me to post these up as an imgur gallery?

Yes, please!

I'm also making it my 2014 mission to go to some Mil-Hist related tourist spots and take pictures for the thread. I'm going to Bangkok in April and hopefully other points in the Philippines later in the year.

Immanentized
Mar 17, 2009
Here are the first few, the selection is limited to the cases of English Smallswords and some French/Spanish/Other(?) manufactured pistols and muskets. I have a couple of other images of the various iterations of Henry VIII's armor as well as a couple of neat costume pieces I ran across. I'll need to post those later when I get home. Excuse the quality, I was using a phone.

https://www.imgur.com/a/tKaKs

Immanentized fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Dec 31, 2013

Nenonen
Oct 22, 2009

Mulla on aina kolkyt donaa taskussa

gfanikf posted:

My boss actually has a ski based Lahti behind his desk at work. It owns hard.



To be clear, the L-39 'skis' aren't intended for dragging it in snow (as you can tell just by looking at their location) but to prevent the 50kg weapon from sinking into snow and other soft surfaces. You'd also use the ahkio as a firing platform in winter if there's a lot of snow, those skis are still pretty small for a gun the weight of a young lady.

I found this series from 1942 that show a rifle being delivered to shooting position.





Late in the war there was also a dual purpose AA/AT full automatic version, as Soviets didn't bother with light tanks anymore.

Bonus shot: here's what happens when you fire it in mud.

Marshal Prolapse
Jun 23, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Nice pics. I've been trying to get him to shoot it, since he does have ammo for it.

I am actually planning to do an "unboxing video" (tongue and cheek treating it like people treat a Glock or very common gun, but still be extremely factually) on it in the near future.

Fragrag
Aug 3, 2007
The Worst Admin Ever bashes You in the head with his banhammer. It is smashed into the body, an unrecognizable mass! You have been struck down.

Nenonen posted:


Bonus shot: here's what happens when you fire it in mud.



Oh good you said mud, I thought a rabbit suddenly ran in front of the gun.

Power Khan
Aug 20, 2011

by Fritz the Horse

SeanBeansShako posted:

As a man who simply loves the ornamental design of wooden firearms especially from the 17th to the 19th century I would like to state this: HELL YES PLEASE.

Speaking of guns, since you're the napoleonic expert here: I've seen a bunch of french cannons here at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, is there any special reason why these cannons have only "Liberté" and "Egalité" engraved in them, but not "Fraternité"?

handbanana125, these muskets are pretty cool stuff. Are there any bows on display? I'd be especially interested in mughal crab bows.

Phanatic
Mar 13, 2007

Please don't forget that I am an extremely racist idiot who also has terrible opinions about the Culture series.

gfanikf posted:



He owns lots of cool stuff including, among other things, one of the few transferable Beretta 93R's and the only Factory Colt 1911 SMG, that was being worked on for consideration as a cheap easy to convert SMG for the field.



If you tell me he's got one of the Lugers in .45ACP I'm going to poo poo myself.

SeanBeansShako
Nov 20, 2009

Now the Drums beat up again,
For all true Soldier Gentlemen.

InspectorBloor posted:

Speaking of guns, since you're the napoleonic expert here: I've seen a bunch of french cannons here at the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, is there any special reason why these cannons have only "Liberté" and "Egalité" engraved in them, but not "Fraternité"?

I'm no expert, there are goons much better with this era in the thread. I think though those cannons might have been cast after the heady days of the Revolution when they stopped killing each other over the cut of their trousers during the days of Robespierres government or the Directory before Napoleon came to power?

I might be wrong. I'm sure the real answer is more interesting.

Marshal Prolapse
Jun 23, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Phanatic posted:

If you tell me he's got one of the Lugers in .45ACP I'm going to poo poo myself.

Alas, no to be the best of my knowledge he does not. Granted there is a poster in TFR who might, since he has some amazing historical firearms, including one of the Savage Trial Guns from the 1911 Trials.

Waroduce
Aug 5, 2008
My girlfriend and I are going to be traveling Europe this summer, and I'm a huge milhistory/foreign policy reader. I was International Relations in undergrad and have been an avid reader in that vein all of my life. I was hoping this thread could point me in the direction of some cool things to see while we are traveling. Our itinerary is roughly - We are doing 4 days in Germany (2 Munich/2 Berlin), a night in Amsterdam :catdrugs:, a day in Paris, and finishing in London. I'm primarily interested in WW2 and Cold War monuments/locations/whatever, however I enjoy every post in this thread so if someone knows some cool stuff from any point in history, I would take it under consideration.

In Germany, I want to see Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag and Dachau. Any WW2 or Cold War museums/locations of significance/missile silos/bunkers/aviation graveyards/ whatever that are near those two cities would be great, since this portion of the trip is primarily mine to craft.

In France, I'm going to see Normandy, but we are tentatively planing to stay in country for a day, so unless somethings right in Paris I probably wont see anything else.

London, I'd like to see Downing Street, and Shakespeare stuff, but if anyone has any other recommendations (from any time not just WW2/CW) I'd love to hear them.

Thanks MilHistory goons :)

also I know this isn't the thread for it but if Hegel or anyone else has any info on hostels or little tips I'd appreciate them.

Davincie
Jul 7, 2008

gfanikf posted:

Registered and active. :) The ammo came with it, and that pic is missing the other mag he has.

He owns lots of cool stuff including, among other things, one of the few transferable Beretta 93R's and the only Factory Colt 1911 SMG, that was being worked on for consideration as a cheap easy to convert SMG for the field.



This must be one of the ugliest things I've seen, give it a scope and it could be a Call of Duty weapon.

@Waroduce
Plan where you go in Normandy well, when I drove through I managed to go to a part of the beach where almost nothing was left. Also in Amsterdam, don't bother with any of the Weed/Sex/Stereotype museums as all of them are poo poo.

Marshal Prolapse
Jun 23, 2012

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Davincie posted:

This must be one of the ugliest things I've seen, give it a scope and it could be a Call of Duty weapon.

It's like the result of a drunken orgy with a 1911, a Thompson, and Luger/C-96/Hi-Power with a stock on it.

SeanBeansShako
Nov 20, 2009

Now the Drums beat up again,
For all true Soldier Gentlemen.
For London, I strongly suggest the Imperial War Museum.

feedmegin
Jul 30, 2008

AATREK CURES KIDS posted:

English is a bit like this, but only when touring foreign countries, since regional dialects cover large areas. If I ever meet another Albertan while abroad the speech becomes a lot faster and slangier, and I'm sure the effect is more pronounced for less Americanized dialects of English.

That depends on the country in question. My mum couldn't make head nor tail of my Geordie granddad for the first decade or so of her marriage. And let's not even mention Rab C Nesbitt...

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Godholio
Aug 28, 2002

Does a bear split in the woods near Zheleznogorsk?
I lived in England for a few years growing up. The historical things that I still remember are the HMS Belfast (museum ship docked in London), the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Framlingham Castle near Ipswich. Also in that area is Sutton Hoo, which is also amazing.

My list of places to visit would also include Warwick Castle (built by William the Conqueror near Birmingham), Bodiam Castle (closer to London, but south), Lincoln Castle (probably too far for your trip, but another of William's castles built over a Roman fort), Arundel Castle (south), Dover Castle (also involved in WWII), and probably a bunch more. I'd need a fair amount of time to knock out everything I want to see. For WWII, the Imperial War Museum would be a must.

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