|
100 Years Ago Today we take a moment for a quick look at the activities of one Armin T Wegner, a German Army medic who's currently guarding the Berlin to Baghdad Railway construction near Der Zor. This put him in a perfect position to exhaustively document the Auschwitz of the Armenian genocide. We've also got brief dispatches from the Alps (it's still poo poo) and Evricourt (it's still lovely), where Herbert Sulzbach is settling in.
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2015 18:34
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 27, 2024 17:25 |
|
|
Trin Tragula, your PM inbox is full.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2015 19:17
|
|
|
One last addendum to the flamethrower chat. I found a video that adequately demonstrates just how small you can get a potentially dangerous flamethrower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5_ogU4Jzt4
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2015 19:34
|
|
|
Potentially dangerous is overstating it. He shoots that thing at bread multiple times, and it toasts the outside mildly. The point of a military flamethrower is to use a slow burning gelled fuel, so that it sticks to stuff.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2015 20:06
|
|
Yes, it's like a lava lamp.
|
PittTheElder posted:Potentially dangerous is overstating it. He shoots that thing at bread multiple times, and it toasts the outside mildly. The point of a military flamethrower is to use a slow burning gelled fuel, so that it sticks to stuff. i mean it's definitely potentially dangerous to at least one person
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2015 20:15
|
|
|
HEY GAL posted:nobody says "czech yourself before you wreck yourself" in it though, which is a disappointment imo I used the handle Reality Czech for a while, does that count? :iamafag:
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2015 20:22
|
|
|
I have a CZECH ME OUT t-shirt, does that count?
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2015 20:25
|
|
|
PittTheElder posted:Potentially dangerous is overstating it. He shoots that thing at bread multiple times, and it toasts the outside mildly. The point of a military flamethrower is to use a slow burning gelled fuel, so that it sticks to stuff. It seems like a common misconception that flamethrowers are just big propane torches. TV shows and movies often use just that, since spraying a sticky burning liquid is impractical for obvious reasons, and in video games it's not much better, since both liquids and fire are difficult for computers to simulate.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2015 21:07
|
|
|
I know this thread occasionally spergs about tanks, but has it ever sperged about the T-72? A friend of mine is trying to do a writeup on the history of the T-72 as a whole, and I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for sources besides searching DTIC and the like.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 01:23
|
|
|
LostCosmonaut posted:I know this thread occasionally spergs about tanks, but has it ever sperged about the T-72? A friend of mine is trying to do a writeup on the history of the T-72 as a whole, and I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for sources besides searching DTIC and the like. If you can find then, model-nerd books are actually very good for this. Publishing houses like Osprey will have books written on just the T-72. e: looking at that link, I can answer one of those questions, viz. "Export variants and variants produced outside the Soviet Union. How do they stack up? Exactly what variant(s) of T-72 were the Iraqis using in 1991?" Generally, export variants and versions produced outside of the Soviet Union were slightly worse than the ones produced internally - I think the T-72M1 (the initial export version) had steel armor on the turret, as opposed to composite armor. (Somewhat hilariously, the Soviets also wanted to see how their Warsaw pact allies would manage production without the Soviet Union backing them, as if war actually came they figured production of T-72s would be simplified and streamlined anyway.) The gap between T-72s becomes huge when the Soviets (via Syria and a captured Israeli M60) discover that the Americans have developed a new high velocity gun that can punch through the T-72 at any angle. The Soviets begin a large upgrade program, making a thicker composite turret and liberal use of ERA armor. This changes the gap between Soviet and non-Soviet T-72s from pretty small to very large, as most export T-72s never see any of these improvements. As for Iraq, they had T-72M1s. I know Osprey has a book called M1 Abrams vs. T-72 for the Iraq war, and it's a very interesting read; while on paper, the two vehicles are not all that different, incremental improvements in American technology and tactics lead to the most one-sided victory in modern military history. P-Mack posted:Little direct combat takes place, as the remaining rebels mostly flee the city, and the imperial troops rushing in to occupy are much more concerned with looting, burning, raping, and killing the hapless inhabitants of the city than with chasing down the rebels. By the time it is over several days later, half the city is in ruins; a stark contrast to the nearly bloodless seizure of the city with which the revolt began. Man, civil war is bad enough without troops like this. Nebakenezzer fucked around with this message at 01:44 on Aug 3, 2015 |
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 01:33
|
|
|
Man, arguing with people on facebook about military history is great. Did you know that you shouldn't doubt anything that Belton Cooper wrote because he was there? And that I don't know anything because I went to college?
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 03:19
|
|
|
Ah yes, the mechanic that gets fundamental technical details wrong is for sure the guy you should trust 100%.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 03:40
|
|
|
ponzicar posted:It seems like a common misconception that flamethrowers are just big propane torches. TV shows and movies often use just that, since spraying a sticky burning liquid is impractical for obvious reasons, and in video games it's not much better, since both liquids and fire are difficult for computers to simulate. Napalm was a US WW2 invention, so for the most part it's not a misconception actually. Well, there's still the liquid part to it. But it wasn't sticky.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 03:53
|
|
|
I always feel kinda bad for trashing Death Traps, since Cooper did go through some real poo poo and was pretty old when he wrote it/had it ghostwritten, but the legions of people who act like it's the be-all end-all on WW2 tank combat are the worst. If Cooper should be trusted because HE WAS THERE and he hated the tank, what does that mean for Dmitri Loza's book where he said he loved it? 
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 03:54
|
|
|
He was a Russian, and anything written by a Russian is automatically propaganda. Only German memoirs can be trusted, and also American ones, but only if they say the Sherman was bad.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 03:57
|
|
|
Hey EE, do you what was the "on paper" rate of fire for the T-34/76 (F-34) with the early turret vs the hexagonal Stalingrad plant one, if there was any known difference? I'd imagine it's still quite bad for both since they are cramped and the loader has to use his left arm to push the shell in, instead of his right.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 03:57
|
|
|
I read 6 RPM for the early turret, haven't read anything for the hexagonal one. I don't think it changed significantly.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 04:01
|
|
|
Ensign Expendable posted:I read 6 RPM for the early turret, haven't read anything for the hexagonal one. I don't think it changed significantly. That was quick, thank you!
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 04:06
|
|
|
Nenonen posted:Napalm was a US WW2 invention, so for the most part it's not a misconception actually. I'd imagine it was. The fuel for the Flammenwerfer 35 (and presumably 41) was made by mixing the petroleum with tar. chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Aug 3, 2015 |
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 04:09
|
|
|
Cythereal posted:I brought this up with a Chinese-American coworker of mine, and she was surprised by the idea that she'd read any kind of newspaper about what's going on in China. Why the gently caress does she or any other Chinese-Americans in the area care what Beijing thinks, they're Americans. Anecdotal but amongst the relatives that I know well, most of whom are first-gen immigrants (foreign-born) from Guangdong, only one of my uncles tends to be fervently pro-China. He didn't believe last year's Hong Kong riots were real. My father has a very barebones grasp of English so Cantonese television is his main source of news and information but I don't know the biases there. Everyone else tends to think a little bit fondly of their homeland but tend to be anti-Chinese government.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 05:41
|
|
|
Xerxes17 posted:I'd imagine it's still quite bad for both since they are cramped and the loader has to use his left arm to push the shell in, instead of his right. Did they try using left-handed loaders to compensate? While I'm at it, how many commanders through history have used lefties either for specialized jobs or in some kind of all-left-handed regiment?
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 06:35
|
|
|
Argas posted:Anecdotal but amongst the relatives that I know well, most of whom are first-gen immigrants (foreign-born) from Guangdong, only one of my uncles tends to be fervently pro-China. He didn't believe last year's Hong Kong riots were real. My father has a very barebones grasp of English so Cantonese television is his main source of news and information but I don't know the biases there. Everyone else tends to think a little bit fondly of their homeland but tend to be anti-Chinese government. As far as I'm aware, the general Chinese attitude towards the government is "We know they're a bunch of corrupt assholes, but they seem to be doing an OK job for now and I certainly can't think of a realistic better alternatives, so just live with it. Hopefully the non-corrupt non-assholes can rein in the others." Chinese nationalism can be pretty strong at times and this has been encouraged by the government, but the government's control over and association with that nationalistic fervor is more theoretical than otherwise. Given that that's what people in China itself think, it's pretty unlikely that anyone who grew up in another country entirely really gives much of a drat what the government party line is.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 06:50
|
|
|
chitoryu12 posted:One last addendum to the flamethrower chat. I found a video that adequately demonstrates just how small you can get a potentially dangerous flamethrower: I want this man to die.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 07:23
|
|
|
Rodrigo Diaz posted:I want this man to die. Given his hobbies its only a matter of time.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 07:42
|
|
|
Rodrigo Diaz posted:I want this man to die. It's like someone gave Fred a flamethrower.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 08:39
|
|
|
Rodrigo Diaz posted:I want this man to die. Don't be so jealous.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 08:40
|
|
|
chitoryu12 posted:Don't be so jealous.    Is DARPA military history? This guy is what DARPA would be if it only had $5 and a junkyard to raid for parts.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 08:58
|
|
|
I want to read stuff about Romanians and Hungarians in WWII. FoW books don't paint a pretty picture. Also, if Warlord games now the poo poo their writing, Stalingrad losses are 
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 13:07
|
|
|
JcDent posted:I want to read stuff about Romanians and Hungarians in WWII. FoW books don't paint a pretty picture. That was not an English sentence, but yes, Stalingrad was .
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 13:47
|
|
|
WW2 Data Continuing on with the 76mm projectiles, we see more armor-piercing tracer and high-explosive anti-tank rounds. Which one(s) were fueled by lend-lease supplies? What unusual feature is seen on the HEAT rounds? All that and more inside. No more double updates, since I've finished up my backlog. After finishing up the Soviet projectiles, I will either do Satellite projectiles, then Imperial Japanese Navy, followed by German rounds. If people would rather see French, Italian or other stuff first, let me know.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 15:40
|
|
|
xthetenth posted:That was not an English sentence, but yes, Stalingrad was There was supposed to be a "not" in there. How did the soviets deal with divisions melting before the eyes? I mean, how do you keep the morale and send more men into it?
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 16:15
|
|
|
they were pretty good at information control and messaging
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 16:17
|
|
|
Polikarpov posted:Given his hobbies its only a matter of time. "My skin has recovered pretty well from the last burn incident." As an engineer he's pretty interesting to watch in his "making of" videos. As a manically exuberant boy he gets to be a bit too much with 20 seconds or so during his reveal videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypIGeNdJbJ4
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 16:23
|
|
|
JcDent posted:There was supposed to be a "not" in there. Soviet commanders knew that they were drawing in a disproportionate amount of German troops into the city who were not having a great time either, and knew that if they could draw all of 6th Army in (which they eventually did) the Soviet army would be able to encircle the city. They had a plan and were sticking to it. There was also the element that they had heard what the Germans had done to other occupied areas (whether true or propaganda) and so were willing to fight ferociously to stop the city falling into German hands. Many of the Soviet commanders were wrecks by the end though. Chuikov ended up being covered in bandages - he was so stressed by the whole ordeal that his skin broke out in rashes and lesions all over his body.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 17:35
|
|
|
JcDent posted:There was supposed to be a "not" in there. I'd think the biggest would be making it clear that they wouldn't die pointlessly, that they'd be fighting to keep the Nazis from destroying their nation in every sense of that word.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 17:51
|
|
|
MikeCrotch posted:Many of the Soviet commanders were wrecks by the end though. Chuikov ended up being covered in bandages - he was so stressed by the whole ordeal that his skin broke out in rashes and lesions all over his body. It was a nice bit of symmetry that Chuikov was one of the chief Soviet generals involved in the capture of Berlin a few years later.
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2015 18:53
|
|
|
This is dumb and vague, but how the gently caress do Warrant Officers work? It came up (reading a British book), and from skimming the Wikipedia I'm just getting more and more confused. So the Royal Navy had a halfway thingy between commissioned and non-commissioned officers and somehow this has died like 7 times but also keeps coming back in different branches with different levels of prestige? I got from context in the novel that it was a middling rank (the guy seems to be bossing around a sergeant, but he was still on loan to MI5 so he can't be too high up), and looking it up out of curiosity has actually made me so much more confused. It also apparently exists in the US too and I've just never heard it? 
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2015 02:53
|
|
|
Tomorrow I start a multi day road trip across Virginia Maryland and Delaware. We're hitting something like 15 civil war battlefields. The only major one were skipping is Gettysburg because everyone has done that one already. I am loving pumped
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2015 03:04
|
|
|
Are you just hitting the major battle fields or are you gonna work some minor ones into your trip plan?
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2015 03:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 27, 2024 17:25 |
|
|
Xiahou Dun posted:This is dumb and vague, but how the gently caress do Warrant Officers work? It came up (reading a British book), and from skimming the Wikipedia I'm just getting more and more confused. Isn't it basically for people who warrant the rank of officer but are in a career path where having them command more than a team of draughtsmen or tech janitors would be a serious disaster?
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2015 03:55
|
|