Capitaine Vengeur

The EU has already designed the lightwhip and guard shoto (light tonfa); I'm still waiting for the light nunchakus, light shurikens, light bolas and light boomerangs. After all, we're still lacking Asian- or Latino-looking Force-users, it verges on political incorrectness.

"Add more TIE!! Can we have this big slug really gargatuan? Why should the Death Star be as large as a little moon, when we can have it as large as a big moon?" Like it or not, it's Lucas' ambition for "more and more" which gave Star Wars the truly Galactic dimensions it has. Just remember the way we discover how gigantic an Imperial Destroyer is in Episode IV, and how bigger than several Destroyers an Executor Dreadnought is in Episode V... -- George Lucas: Making all other Hollywood megalomaniacs insignificant since 1977. --

God save England... Nobody else will do... Newcasucks!

Both the heavy tanks German A7V and British Mk.I to Mk.V ('male' version) had 57mm guns with a length over 40 calibers, but of limited use and aiming, as not mounted into a rotative turret. Same thing for the French Schneider and St-Chamond, with respectively a short-barrel Schneider 75mm gun and the powerful, long-barrel original version of the famous 75mm gun. Armor-piercing ammo were of little use, at least on the Allied side, as the Germans did not believe in those rolling monsters, favouring Stosstruppen for their own breakthroughs, and they never lined up over 150 tanks at their apex (mostly captured British tanks and a few dysfunctional home-made A7V). A lethal mistake that some junior officers like young Heinz Guderian never forgot. The Germans designed armor-piercing 'K' bullets, five of them theoretically provided to each infantryman, but mostly supplied to machine-gunners. The first AT rifles with extra-long barrel appeared during the year 1918 (13.2mm caliber). I do not know if the Germans designed during WW1 AP rounds specifically intended to be direct fired by guns against tanks. The gun mounted into the SPAD XII was a slightly different model of 37mm weapon from the SA18 gun the FT.17 tank had, with lower muzzle velocity but alleged higher rate of fire, designed as well by Puteaux in 1916. The SPAD XII had little success, as the gun placed between the pilot's legs produced much smoke when fired, and had to be reloaded after each shot (these operations and faults in action can be seen in the excellent comics "Le pilote à l'Edelweiss", discussed about on this site, volume 2). It may have been the same mess into the FT.17's cramped turret. However, Guynemer, first user of the SPAD XII, seemed to have liked what he called his 'avion-canon'. French and U.S. infantry also made a large use of these 37mm guns during the breakthroughs of the last months (the French had one per battalion by 1917, attached to the battalion's MG company). This model, somewhat heavier to move than an MG (108 kgs, mounted either on wheels or tripod), was intended to fire HE or shrapnel rounds at sustained rate in direct fire, to eliminate the German fortified MG nests. It did quite well.

The monument to the French tank crews of WW1 is located at Berry-au-Bac, North of Reims, on the place from where the French tanks were launched in action for the first time, on 16 April 1917. Some 250 slow and unreliable Schneider and St-Chamond machines, it turned into a slaughter. The commander, Cdt Bossut, having stated that this involvement was prematurate and doomed, had required to advance as the spearhead tank, to avoid facing the families of those lost; he was KIA as expected, like half of the crews involved. The French developped later the outstanding Renault FT.17, first tank with a rotative turret hosting either a MG or a 37mm gun able to blast fortified MG nests by direct fire. Quite reliable, acting in large swarms of small targets, overrunning the strongest German defenses, the FT.17 was a key in the final breakthroughs in the French and U.S. sectors of the Front. What is interesting in the monument at Berry-au-Bac, is that it displays two quotes that summarize quite well the developmement and impact of this new weapon: "Victory shall belong to the first one who will design an armoured machine, able to advance on any ground, and armed with a cannon." (22 August 1914 - Colonel Estienne, then CO of the artillery of 6e D.I., he is considered as the father of the French tanks) "There is no more any chance to prevail, and the first decisive factor having led to this result, is the tank." (8 October 1918 - Deputy of the German High Command before the Reichstag)

"Mighty oaks from little acorns grow." [in French slang, it takes a special flavour as gland, i.e. acorn, may stand for, say, kids wearing silly vests doing thankless jobs.]

The place was actually German for most of the War. One explanation I've heard for the name Dragon's Lair was after a Germanic mythological beast with seven heads, as the caves network had seven entrances (on both sides of the ridge, which was a pain in the back for the attacking French in 1917). The place became German in January 1915, the French could not capture it back before June 1917 after terrible fights in complete darkness with grenades and knifes. The Dragon's Lair was once again German for additional short time after the 3rd Battle of the Aisne (27 May 1918), but the front had moved far away South at that time, and the subterran citadel was not garrisoned. No graffiti that I can remember, but there were many traffic markings in German written with black paint on the walls.

No graffiti that I could remember, but there was an interesting German altar patiently carved in local stone. The black crosses on the wall behind marked the graves of those dead at the nearby first-aid post. This comes from a set of old pictures, when the ground was not levelled and the light kept limited.

An exception of note is the Battle of Verdun in 1916, when the French enjoyed no main railroad network, having but a narrow-gauge single way railroad to the heart of the salient. The French staff had to organize a constant rotation back and forth of a large fleet of Renault trucks on the Bar-Le-Duc to Verdun road, an artery of life and death renamed La Voie Sacrée (The Sacred Way): one truck every 14 seconds by day and night, bringing in supply, ammo, guns and fresh cannon fodder, bringing back depleted and exhausted regiments. This system was nicknamed la noria (the waterwheel). It prefigured the next step of warfare, liberating staffs from the dependence on railways: mass motorisation. Voie Sacrée - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not everywhere alas... One of the key German strongholds of the 2nd Battle of the Aisne in April-May 17, The Dragon's Lair (La Caverne du Dragon/ Die Drachenhöhle), a network of quarries linked together by tunnels, close to Craonne, went through many transformations; the last one is a disaster. This once memorial site, full of emotion, has been turned into a gallery dedicated, not to the glory of the soldiers of WW1, but to the fame of some fashionable "artists" with suitable connections. The ordeal of the poor chaps who fought there in complete darkness is now but the pretext to flatter some disputable vandals, self-called "artists", lacking any respect for the site and its overwhelming history. I liked the place when I was a kid, you had to use ladders, be careful on poorly lighted uneven ground, you had the feeling of being some speleologist. Now I'll never go back there, to keep these good memories and not spoil them with this former memorial site turned into a levelled underground parking for lazybones and fashionable yuppies. What a damned waste! And more and more memorial sites seem doomed to be turned into such Disneylands...

File Name: WW1 Pilots Pack - Beyond the Western front File Submitter: Capitaine Vengeur File Submitted: 11 December 2013 File Category: First Eagles Hanger, Menu Screens A new batch of pilots pics covering the non-Western fronts: Russians, Italians, Austro-Hungarians and Ottomans. This mod exists in two files: with or without national flags inserted. November 2014 Update: adds Ottoman pilots and many new pics for existing nations, including Russians in colors. |Total: 28 Italians, 20 Russians, 30 Austrians, 10 Turks] Click here to download this file

Done, updated on this Armistice Day. Enjoy.

Pyotr Nesterov was indeed the first to loop the loop. He was punished for having endangered the Czar's property, while Pégoud won awards and international fame for the same feat performed later. As such, he teached many foreign pilots, including Germans. Nesterov was also the first pilot to destroy an enemy plane in air combat, an Austrian Albatros B.II by ramming on 25 August 1914, one month and half before Frantz & Quénault's first air kill, actually but the first crew to down an enemy plane and come back alive to report it. Adolphe Pégoud may have been the first pilot in History to shoot or force down 5 confirmed enemy aircraft. He was killed on 31 August 1915 by UOff Otto Kandulski, one of his former German students. Kandulski and his observer came back later to drop a funeral wreath over the place, as tribute for an internationally respected airman. During obituaries, a French journalist called late Pégoud "L'As", the Ace, and it seems to be the origin of the word for a 5-kills champion of the air.

A terrible way to learn such a loss, to see it by oneself. My condolences and wishes you both will conquer this memory...

Most of this could be said about Hobart's Funnies (British 79th Arm.Div.). And yet they worked, and quite well besides.

The news swept up the corridors the 10 at morning when I was in German class at high school. Excellent topic to start a conversation in German.

Wellington is depicted in some realistic way, in the sense that he had more than once displayed the deepest comtempt towards his own enlisted men, "the scum of England" says Plummer here, 'volunteers' pressed into service by hunger and misery. It was especially the case after the battle of Vitoria, 1813, when the plunder of the abandoned Royal Spanish luggage by the troops ordered to pursue deprived him of a more complete victory (and of wonderful spoils of war). He also distrusted his own cavalry, rightfully when seeing here his Union Brigade keeping on charging in spite of orders to its own destruction. Napoleon is treated in a very severe and partial way, totally unpleasant from the opening to the end, probably to flatter the Anglo-Saxon ego. The character of Blücher is not even sketched, but here it is rather the Soviet point of view, trying to underplay the German part of the victory. Fortunately, this also spares the audience the merciless mass slaughter of wounded and surrendering Frenchmen by which the Prussians tarnished their victory on this this battlefield. Several expressions are still used in French 200 years after this battle. "It's Waterloo!" still means a complete fiasco, "the last square" (seen in Russo's scene) still refers to the very last upholders of some idea, and "the word of Cambronne", well, needs no explaination.

By the way Gepard, what was the field of equipment and training for that matter in the DDR Army? Portable launchers? Magnetic mines or sticky bombs? Mining and camouflaged ambushes on mandatory ways of advance or retreat? Camouflaged ditch traps? Use of unstable rubble in urban combat? Yet several of these means can work only against moving tanks.

Gepard, the "Tommy-Cooker" reputation of very inflammable tanks actually concerned the first versions of the Sherman. The later models like "Fury" enjoyed a "wet stowage" for ammo, storing them with more security. The game I talked about above, "Patton's Best", gives lots of tables and designer's notes to explain that. The M4, M4A1, M4A2 & M4A3 with 75mm gun do not have this option, the "Jumbo" (over-armored) models and all of models with the 76mm gun are equipped with it. In the game, a Sherman without this equipment has 75-80% chance to catch fire if hit and penetrated, only 15-20% if having "wet stowage". And well, Dave, the French in WW2 scored some nice feats regarding tanks. I was talking above of historical occasions when Allied tanks facing heavy Panzers at very close range preferred to ram them straight on, rather than oddly draw esoteric circles around them hoping to have the German crew vomit. I thought especially of one occasion during the Liberation of Paris, when a French Sherman from 2e D.B. faced a big Panther across the famous Place de La Concorde. The Panther had been disabled and deceived by the French M10 "Sirocco", and Sgt Marcel Bizien's Sherman "Douaumont" rushing onto its flank could place a hit on its relatively thin turret side. But it happened to be a smoke shell! No time to reload and the Panther's turret was turning to face the new threat. So Bizien ordered to accelerate and ram the Panzer, yelling "On board!". After the clash, the German crew took advantage of the smoke to evacuate and run away. Commanding from an open cupola, Bizien was killed the moment after by a German sniper. The whole scene can be seen in the movie "Is Paris burning?" where Sgt Bizien was played by Yves Montand. The main mobile group from 2e D.B. involved in the Liberation of Paris was commanded by Colonel Pierre Billotte, who had himself signed some years before another nice armored feat comparable to SS Tiger commander Michael Wittmann's famous death ride at Villers-Bocage in 1944. In may 1940, Billotte was a lieutenant and tank commander (and incidentally, he was also the son of the general commanding the French 1st Army Group, whose fate was to be trapped in the Dunkirk Pocket). During the hard-fought battle of Stonne, Ardennes (South of Sedan), Lt Billotte ventured his lone B1bis tank "Eure" into the hamlet that had just been taken back one more time by the Germans. Regarding gunnery and armor, the B1bis was in 1940 the same terror the Tiger was in 1944. Before falling back out of ammo, Lt Billotte had single-handedly scored 11 Pz.III, 2 Pz.IV, and 2 PaK36 AT guns. His tank was fleckered with over 130 hits between 37 to 75mm, none of them decisive.

Not always. Our French Marseillaise is a Revolutionary anthem, and I have always found it more significant when chanted disharmoniously by a defiant angry and hungry mob, rather than played in a pompous and starched way by a bourgeois orchestra. About "God bless America" as an anthem, it would sound like the Canadian neighbour's one, something peaceful yet proud. But some nations have to live with the fact that they have been born in the blood of those who fought and died for or against their independence.

Just watched it this morning: good mark. I find that Germany turned mad, ruled by Götterdämmerung fanatics, bogged into the April mud, is a much better stage than Normandy in Summer seen in "Saving Private Ryan". The soundtrack works fine too, supporting the apocalyptic ambiance. Good scene with the stream of heavy bombers passing high, letting countless white trails behind: a true Twilight of the Gods. The asymmetrical crew of odd characters spending their time bawling out each other, a delight for any psychanalyst, is typical Hollywood, but would be a whole crew of burnt losers in real action. We find the usual raw stereotypes with the Bible-licker, the unreedemable toerag (how could such an ugly tall ape be assigned into a small tank!?), the ethnic minority, the ingenuous boy-scout... Brad Pitt is some repetition of Tom Hanks in "Saving Private Ryan": a well-educated man, yet a living god and war emblem for his gang of beasts, breathing war yet still having some heart. During the first part of the movie, I found quite realistic the obstacles met by the advancing Yanks: harassment by mines and small AT teams waiting in cover, AT guns at the edge of the woods, MG nests in the towns, sporadic fire from enemy arty... It reminded me of encounters experienced in my favorite solitary boardgame, "Patton's Best" (Avalon Hill 1987), a jewel. This running part of the movie got me in the mood for letting the game out of the locker. Things get somewhat odd from the clash with the lone Tiger (Fubar's scene above). Why would this tank wait next to some small grove in the middle of large open fields, hidden from the road but spottable by any of the ubiquitous Allied Jabo? And why would the Yanks, having reached pistol range, dance a dangerous tango around the Tiger rather than just ramming it straight on, to neutralize the advantage of its terrible 88 and put the chances on an even sharing in close combat? Some other Allied crews did it in real history And things get completely wrong with the final battle of Alamo. Typical Hollywood: 5 Yank heroes locked into a disabled coffin, versus 200 SS at close range with Panzerfausts? No sweat, will be back by lunch. The tactics (or rather lack of any tactics) displayed there by the Krauts are irrealistically dumb and expensive, with cannon fodder keeping on running stupidly around the immobile tank, while their marching column had been seen previously with Panzerfausts ready to use at shoulder, about one for 10-12 men. The crew should have survived for the duration of a cigarette butt (for besides, they did not even think to empty the tank fuel before the pitched battle). Fubar is right, the last vertical pic giving some idea of the body count around the disabled tank is telling, but really, I don't buy the Alamo thing. Yet, I can't but recommend "Fury" as a movie to be seen by all addicts of rolling armor.

Very nice jewel. The colored pics of these days are awesome. The pic of Omaha Beach is telling: in this area, Norman beaches at low tide may be a terribly long distance to cross. The places that could be swiftly liberated, like the near-coastal villages seen here, or the centers of towns like Bayeux or Carentan, may have not changed much. Some places that were hotly contested have been devastated (over 95% for St-Lo, "the capital of ruins"). The original zoning map has often been restored; sometimes, reconstruction/reconsolidation was made with original local stone to restore old character, but most often, the priority was to rehouse displaced people as soon as possible. In some cities, the destruction was the occasion to give up the medieval zoning map to enter the motor era. Also, the Germans had levelled lots of the buildings on the sea front, which of course has been rebuilt today as a place of touristic high value. For instance, the movie "The Longest Day" shows some historical inaccuracy, as the Casino of Ouistreham,, assaulted by the Free French Commandoes, had actually been levelled to its concrete high-ground floor, turned into an AT stronghold.

Strength and honor !

Brad Pitt was interviewed at the French TV this evening. Sure I'll go and watch, and possibly appreciate it, if it is a good small-crew story, "Memphis Belle" style. I just hope they won't overdo the usual Hollywood paper heroism. For example, the band of heroes here has to face Tiger tanks, of course no less, not the less impressive yet sturdy and dangerous SPGs that were most commonly met by that stage of the War...

A topless Scarlett Johannson could have created some mess within the movie crew, and male actors. Everyone has already seen Ewan McGregor with an ignited lightsaber pointing to the stars, it was no use to show a second time this appaling view...