Caesar

I like their flag...and will also be nervously awaiting the results...

Will get on that

There really is something about that generation. My own grandfather, God rest him, chased down someone who was trying to steal his lawnmower at the age of 82, forcing the thief to abandon it to escape. I'm glad this guy defended himself and his property.

Looks hot!

I'm in. Could probably work best with the "New to ThirdWire" and "Beginner Modding" based articles.

Well, I think historic realism is a pretty good idea personally. If you wanted to you could cover from say 1965-1985, that'd get the Vietnam War along with some of the other conflicts that happened in the timespan shortly after (Med, Middle East) and maybe a limited selection of a/c. F-4 won, so there's your backbone, but keep maybe 3 allied and 3 OPFOR kind of like LOMAC for a little versitility? Just a suggestion.

Concur, done right is exponentially better than done quick. Lookin' great!

F-14 F-8 MiG-21 Main reason for the F-14 is the last hard-core (or harder-core) Tomcat sim I remember is Fleet Defender. The F-16 has Falcon 4.0, LOMAC covers the F-15 and Su-27, Janes F/A-18 covers the F/A-18 (duh). It's been a while. *EDIT: The Su-33 obviously wasn't in service before 1980!

You rock, Kei. Those some of the new AC6 skins?

"Where aaaaaaaare you? There you are!" *BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM!!!* Well, I'm personally greatful that the missiles don't talk like those damn turrets in Portal. Didn't know optical backup was modeled in the game...lack of attention to detail on my part.

I don't know about that. Didn't Joe Stalin have a hand in the abolition of religion in (then) Soviet Russia, and murder millions? Even if he's not the one who actually abolished it, those who practiced were punished severely. I mean, I agree with you historically, people used religion as justification for terrible actions eventhough the religion by the book doesn't actually support them (Crusades, for example; I can't find it in the New Testament where Jesus says "and thou shalt kill anyone who holds the holy lands but Christians"), but even athiests are not blameless in the realm of atrocities.

Glad to know that there's people dying so that this dipsh!7 can speak his mind to the world. Honestly, I have no idea what the hell is with these people, it's as if they think "I have this right, why not abuse it?" And it's sad because it is a right that people stood for long ago, and which people continue to die for today, but the abuse of that right disgusts me. A matter of a lack of etiquette IMHO. Sure, you can say what you want, but do you really want to piss that many people off and blatantly dishonor their sacrifices? This guy ought to go to the fight, risk his own life for his liberties rather than rely on better men and women than himself to protect his rights for him.

Thanks, gents!

Gotta go with the Thud. Although I personally think the Voodoo was the sexiest of the century-series, the Thud's history and capabilities makes it my favorite.

Looks fan-freakin'-tastic!

S!

Not a bad grasp on it, Zur, but balance between cut and thrust capacities was had by many swords, European, Japanese, Middle Eastern or otherwise, that is, to an extent. A blade that cuts well usually doesn't thrust as well, and vice-versa. A sword like a hand-and-a-half (bastard) was a good blade for cutting or thrusting and is commonly seen in German manuscripts for both blossfetchen (unarmored/clothes fighting) and harnischfetchen (armored fighting). The biggest difference is that in unarmored fighting, a whole range of cuts are part of the mix with the trusts, and the whole body is a viable target. In armored combat, rarely is a cut thrown, instead the envelope is limited to thrusts and hilt-attacks, especially aimed at the head, arm pit, or even the hands at parts not covered by the metal of the gauntlet. The katana could be seen as the Japanese cut-and-thrust sword, in my own opinion, because although more aimed at the cut by the beveled edge and wedge cross section, it can thrust well also. The bastard, on the other hand, has a tapered blade (gets thin at the top) and usually a diamond or hex cross-section, so it is more designed for the thrust, but can cut well also. True two-handers are generally cutting weapons, with long, straight, flat blades, but come to a sharp tip, making them well suited for thrusting, but not as much so as the tapered bastard sword. Kind of see what I mean?

@ Say What!? Weight really isn't a factor, and it's one of the most common misconceptions about medieval and rennaissance European blades, thanks much to the rise of the smallsword in the late 1600's. By that time, because the sword had lost favor on the battle field and had largely started its career as a dueling weapon, thinner, feather-weight, single-role blades began to rise as the so-called "perfect" swords (called thus around the 1800's) and older weapons, designed both for the cut, and thrust, and designed to face off against men with pikes, pole axes, arquebuses and wearing armor, were considered heavy and barbaric. How much did a European medieval or rennaissance sword weigh really? It depends on the sword model, but here's some figures: Single-handed viking or anglo-saxon swords: 2-3.5lbs at 35-43" length Long-Swords and later Bastard Swords esp. German ca. 1450's: 2.5-3.5lbs at 40-48" length Great swords ca. 1350s: 3-4lbs at 44-53" length True Two-hand swords (Zweihander) ca. 1500: 3.5-5lbs at 60-72" length (From "Medieval Swordsmanship" by John Clements) Or you could try to find some of said weapons and actually handle them. Also note that this is a pretty basic outline, there's weapons that are longer, smaller, weigh more or less. Later model two-handers were usually around 6lbs, with more elaborate hilts and parrying hooks. Going much over that and you find ceremonial swords never intended for combat known as paratschwert (parade sword) or bearing-swords, usually carried in (you guessed it) parades, much as ornamental parade armor was never intended for combat. A katana falls in the range of a Long-sword or bastard sword, closer to the 3.x pound range, though I'm sure Sixgun could get more in-depth with variances. Meanwhile, those smallswords I was talking about earlier could weigh less than one pound...yeah, so of course a weapon that weighs in the area of 3 pounds is going to feel slow in comparison. Good luck with a smallsword on a battlefield though...

Anyone here ever see "At Last the 1948 Show"? Pre-Python by a year or two, black and white starring Cleese, Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor among others. The Four Yorkshiremen sketch came from there initially and was redone during Python. The original is pretty friggin funny. http://youtube.com/watch?v=QsWd5QC7K5E

Proud owner of a two-hander (nowadays, not historically, called "Zweihander") here.

Fubar might be on the right track. Anyone see the ESPN post-game? It was as if all of the Patriots had been literally killed in some battle. *cue with Saving Private Ryan camera* "Everyone remembers wins for a little while, but everyone remembers upsets forever! 60 minutes ago there was hope..." etc.

My God, the first civilized person I've ever run into with the East/West sword debate! I salute you sir, and agree, "I guess we will have to agree to disagree." *Edit: I say "civilized" because I normally end up trying to explain that every blade can cut to anime fanboys, vehimately backing the sword using references to shows, rather than experience, "t3h catana iz t3h uber 1337 hax" types...

I really just can't agree, because there are so many swords to compare the katana to, and across a long timeline. It'll cut better than the tapered straight sword, like a bastard or late longsword because of the design of the blade, (wide, flat blades cut better than thin ones, but are poorer at thrusts) but that's not to say straight swords can't cut well, or better against different materials. As for forging and shaping methods, Europe has gone through all sorts of techniques, from "damascus" pattern welding, to the folding so commonly associated with the katana, to twisting in a "false damascine" pattern of soft and hard steel, to later forges made of one high-quality bar of steel. But compare the cutting capacity of, say a falchion, grossemesser or the kriegsmesser, or a non-european blade such as a shamshir, and they'll cut similarly. http://www.thearma.org/Videos/NTCvids/test...ndmaterials.htm Check some of the test-cutting videos from the International Gathering in 2003. With a flick at the wrist, a messer cuts through a rolled straw mat, but fails to damage the maille, while maintaining the blade edge without damage. A well-made sword should hold its edge when striking even a metal target regardless of where it was made, Europe, Asia or otherwise and punching through a steel chair is no surprise to me, as I can get my two-hander's parrying hooks through a thin steel target without damaging them. Modern SCA armor or soft steel is not a good show of penetrating power. Unfortunately, very few people are willing to drop a thousand bucks+ on a well-made breastplate for test-to-destruction purposes. I know I wouldn't!

Well, I mean, if you're going for an area effect, I think the answer is pretty obvious, it's the gas.

Holy Hell! The GIANTS win!?