#2nd Battalion The Buffs

[alanmalcherhistorian]

Northern Burma, troops of 2nd Battalion The Buffs cross the Shweli River before the assault on Myitson, with machine gun, mortar and artillery fire in support, as the divisional commander watches.

The full clip and other film archives can be found at: https://www.iwm.org.uk/ 2nd Battalion the Buffs

[thebaffledcaptain]

Some nice shots of the 2nd battalion musick at Old Fort Niagara by Colonial Clips (featuring myself in the buff and feathers)!

[captain-price-unofficially]

Bren gunners lay down covering fire while troops of 2nd Battalion The Buffs cross the Shweli River, Burma. 1945

[dailycharacteroption]

Blessed One (Pathfinder 2nd Edition Archetype)

 There are plenty of ways to be touched by the gods in Pathfinder, be they clerics, champions, or even oracles and more. Among the gods of healing, however, there is a rare group of individuals who are blessed with some power over healing others.

These “Blessed Ones” bear thematic ties to tales of the pious being able to heal with a touch, or at least having preternatural skill with their hands when it came to medical skill.

In PF2, these healers might also have levels in a divine class, but they are just as likely to be blessed with this power regardless of profession before or after, perhaps because the deity who blessed them simply knows they must be the one to use it at the right time and place. Gods are cryptic like that.

The only requirement for gods to grant this power is they must be capable of granting a positive energy font to their worshippers, which is a bit more flexible than it used to be, no longer quite fully divided by alignment lines. With that in mind, it is possible for an evil god with a propensity for foul, sinister healing to grant this power, to the unease of all who see the signs of the power’s origins.

Regardless, because anyone could end up being a blessed one, some may accept this power graciously, or reject it depending on who they are and what deity grants it.

 At the most basic, this archetype allows the bearer to heal with a touch.

Regardless of the source of their abilities, many also learn how to ward others from harm, sacrificing some of their own vitality to reduce incoming harm to an ally.

Those blessed ones that are involved in combat often also learn to instill vigor in those they heal, the better to get them back in the fight as they rush back in.

Much like the mercies of champions, their healing hands can also cure harmful conditions, starting with fear and paralysis.

Of course, those that master other magic can use their mercies can cure the debilitations on single allies they cast upon.

They can begin to expand upon their mercies starting with conditions that weaken the body or shatter coordination.

This continues as they learn to heal blindness, deafness, as well as nausea and sluggishness.

Their very presence can dull the edge of debilitations, for blessed ones can reflexively reduce the effect of such harm on someone nearby as it happens.

They can also learn how to heal mental debilitations as well, though more permanent afflictions remain beyond their reach.

Mirroring champions once again, these healers can learn to surround those they heal with a brief aura of protection as well.

Curses, disease, and poison are next on the things they learn to remove, diversifying them further.

Not just defensive in their blessings, they can also bolster the attacks of those they heal, another champion staple.

Finally, the most powerful among them can leave a lingering aura of healing on those they heal, giving them continuous healing vitality for a short while, though this does not protect them from more grievous injury if the healing is overtaxed.

A fun archetype for those who want to provide a healing edge regardless of class with a bit of fun deity-based flavor as well. Having plenty of ways to buff allies and remove harmful conditions is very useful for any class in addition to the ability to provide some healing. Be sure to balance how much healing you wish to do with other abilities your class or combination of classes offer, though.

 While I recognize that not all Blessed Ones are necessarily grateful for the gifts, unlike other powers granted by cosmic sources, this gift can only be used to heal. So, therefore, the reasons to reject or be indifferent to these powers lies in the nature of the deity and the individual’s relationship with them. Healing power granted by an evil god, for example, or healing granted by a goodlier god that the blessed one is estranged from for one reason or another.

  By the general consensus of the world of Milak, the gods are only interested in living mortals, a definition that conveniently does not include the second-class citizen population of androids. However, this world is in for a shocking revelation when an android woman with the ability to heal with a touch appears.

 Though she has been blessed by the goddess of healing and nurturing, Belinda curses her gift, for everyone she has ever healed has met their end by plagues of bees and wasps. Unknown to her, the source of this torment is a wihsaak sakhil using the honeybee motif of the goddess against her to make her hate and fear his powers, and the goddess who granted them.

 The battalion that the party are a part of feel blessed due to the presence of a healer among them who has saved them time and again. However, on the eve of the next battle, he has gone missing, and the party are sent to find out what happened to him.

[ruthypie100]

As it's that time of the year, I thought I'd share a photo of my paternal 2nd GGrandfather, Richard Patrick Michael Carey. He was a Private in WWI in 4th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, attached to the 1st Battalion AKA The Young Buffs. He was a horse keeper/ carman after the war. He looked after horses in the war as well. I also posted a Victory Medal that he would've received, which I found on ebay. Taken in France, he is sitting, bottom right. ✌🏼#heritage #rememberance #ww1 #history #ancestry #carey #family https://www.instagram.com/p/B4s_Djvn1WhatnLElo5m9mPgzdhZREJt1NeEBQ0/?igshid=jrtt4w4gneaf

[audaciousseniorliving]

I Where do soldiers go after the fight for our nation? They go back to normal civilian life. This soldier, Clayton Loeblien served with my son, SSG Darrell Griffin, Sr in Iraq. Like so many other soldiers Clayton slipped into the obscurity of civilian life not asked for any special recognition for his service to our country.

Clayton says he "is a husband and a daddy to four with an awesome cat spirit animal. God and my wife (with the help of whiskers hahaha) have pulled me out of the deep darkness of hell. I work as a plumber and help people when I can."

CLAYTON LOEBLIEN THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE

Here is what Clayton wrote to me this Veterans Day about my son, SSG Darrell Griffin, Jr.

I was in Bravo Company 2nd Battalion 3rd Infantry Regiment. SSG Griffin looked very intimidating. He was man who looked physically fit and judged others upon their fitness level. I wasn't a physical fitness buff. I had always been the kid in school that others made fun of. I was fat, wore glasses and a major bookworm. I was made fun of for these reasons. I had low self esteem.

Although, I completed basic and was in my 4th year in the Army I was in pretty good shape. I still felt intimidated by SSG Griffin. He was a SSG that everyone liked. I don't know why I talked to him whether it was because I had to or because I chose to. We started talking one day. I found he was interested in books. I was surprised he had read "Art of War", "Way of the Samurai" and "Hagakure: The Book of The Samurai". We sat and talked about those books, the meaning behind the books, what they meant to us, why we read them. It was honestly one of the most mentally stimulating conversations I had since I had joined the Army.

After that conversation, I talked to him every chance I got. He was like an old man in a young man's body. We would sit and talk about life, the meaning of life, philosophy, what we wanted out of life,

[cannasue]

The Buffs on Portland; Authors and Convicts

The Buffs on Portland; Authors and Convicts

While doing my research I sometimes stumble across some real gems. I was in the midst of seeing what I could find out about the 2nd Battalion Buffs (East Kent Regiment) based at the Nothe and Verne from 1923-1926, when I came across to a link for back copies of The Dragon, the Buffs Newspaper that had been placed online and what a resource! Because they were stationed there during this period,…

[voppzy]

Games of Westeros IX 40k battle report!

Back at it again! Back in Västerås for another tournament, this time with 110 registered players. We arrive on friday and I play a game against my friends Imperial Fists in the hotel lobby that I end up winning, It’s a good start!

ITC missions 1-5 (the new ones), 2000 points, standard stuff!

Again I am bringing delicious Imperial soup, but a bit of a different list this time. List is as follows:

++ Battalion Detachment (Adeptus Mechanicus - Stygies VIII) ++

Tech-Priest Dominus [7 PL, 82pts]: Eradication Ray, Phosphor Serpenta Tech-Priest Manipulus [5 PL, 65pts]: Transonic cannon

4x Skitarii Rangers, 1x Transuranic Arquebus [7 PL, 54pts] 4x Skitarii Rangers, 1x Transuranic Arquebus [7 PL, 54pts] 5x Skitarii Vanguards [4 PL, 45pts]: Enhanced Data-Tether

10x Secutarii Hoplites [4 PL, 95pts]: Enhanced Data-Tether

Skorpius Disintegrator [6 PL, 111pts]: Belleros Energy Cannon, 3x Cognis Heavy Stubber Skorpius Disintegrator [6 PL, 111pts]: Belleros Energy Cannon, 3x Cognis Heavy Stubber Skorpius Disintegrator [6 PL, 111pts]: Belleros Energy Cannon, 3x Cognis Heavy Stubber

++ Super-Heavy Detachment (Imperial Knights - Taranis) ++

Armiger Moiraxes [8 PL, 155pts]: 2x Lightning Lock Armiger Moiraxes [8 PL, 155pts]: 2x Lightning Lock Knight Crusader [25 PL, 468pts]: Warlord, Ironstorm, Thermal Cannon, Avenger Gatling Cannon

++ Super-Heavy Aux Detachment (Imperial Knights - Krast) ++

Knight Crusader [25 PL, 494pts]: Ironstorm, Avenger Gatling Cannon, Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon

++ Total: [118 PL, 2.000pts] ++

Mobile gunline! I have playtested it a bunch and really enjoy it, the hoplites are unnecessary but they are really cool so i wanted to run them. Double tech-priests sit in the middle of the disintegrators for all the buffs. It struggles with movement secondaries but as long as I can pick two kill secondaries it should be fine. And with the ITC missions changes the only kill secondary that is useful against me is Big Game Hunter, which makes it interesting!

My goal is to get 3 wins, or at least place better than I did last time (39th out of 80). Let’s see how it goes!

Round 1

Opponent: Daniel - Aeldari List: 3x Voidraven, 3x Crimson Hunter, 3x Talos, 9x Grotesques, Wracks Secondaries: Big Game Hunter, Gangbusters, Ground Control

A nice first game as I already knew Daniel and we had played before, he was pretty new to his army too so we could just take it chill!

Going into the game I didn’t really have a plan, I picked Ground Control for my movement secondary hoping to have enough stuff left in the end. Daniel went first and zoomed all his planes into my deployment, killed the Hoplites with bombs and blew up a Skorpius, in return I shot down a plane and left one on a single wound. In the coming rounds I would keep shooting down planes while leaving his ground forces unchecked, which meant he got them into my lines and did a bunch of damage but most importantly kept tagging things in combat. My firepower proved to be too much for him so at the end of the game he only had some troops holding his backline objectives left, I had enough time left to run out and max my Ground Control. However he had gotten too many points in the early rounds

Loss 29-34

I could have maybe shot his ground troops instead to allow me to start moving up the board, however that would have left the planes alive so I am not sure, really fun and close game and with a 29 point loss I’m the highest scoring loser!

Round 2

Opponent: Stefan - Alpha Legion List: Discolord, Decimator, Terminators, Helbrute, 2x Venomcrawler, Hell Blade, Obliterators, Chaos Marines, Cultists Secondaries: Big Game Hunter, Reaper, Recon

I was a bit worried going into this as I really had no idea what to expect, and I had heard the talk about the Discolord and how scary it is but I have yet to face one. I pick recon for my movement secondary as we got a really wide deployment and I am mobile enough. I went first and blew up the Helbrute, 1 Venomcrawler (that ends up exploding in his lines), and almost killed the 2nd Venomcrawler too. His counterpunch doesn’t do much and on my 2nd turn I blow up the 2nd venom and kill hordes of cultists between my stubbers and Moiraxes. He charges into my Taranis knight with the Discolord, my knight comes back and next turn the Krast knight gets into close range of the Discolord and blows him up without a problem. He drops his oblits down but fails to kill the Krast knight. I still have alot left and table him on round 5.

Win 33-15

Not much to say on this game, the amount of firepower I have is pretty insane, it was a fun match and we are in the same escalation league so Stefan has a chance for a revenge match!

Round 3

Opponent: Robin - Imperial Fists List: 5x Centurion, 2x Stormhawk, Relic Leviathan Dread, 2x Eliminators, Thunderfire, Intercessors Secondaries: Marked For Death, Old School, Recon

Third game of the day and while I’m 1-1 I have a really good score, which unfortunately means I have to face other people with high scores!

I knew this game was gonna be rough going into it, I ended up not getting the first turn which makes it even worse, however the small positive is I managed to deploy really far back so that his centurions had no targets on his first turn. As expected he goes in hard and blows up my Taranis knights as I had managed to hide the Krast knight. The Taranis knight doesn’t revive, even with a CP reroll, truly unfortunate. He kills an Armiger as well. In return I do manage to shoot down both planes but at this point I don’t really see a way back into the game. The game continues and I blow up most of his scary things but struggle alot dealing with the centurions. However at the end of the game I still have all my Skorpius alive and the tech-priests, I end up scoring 0 points on my movement secondary.

Loss 22-32

As expected this was rough, I think I can win if I went first as I could have shot down both planes at least, and the Taranis knight not reviving was really unfortunate. I am really happy though with managing to score 22 points in that game. Also I must say this was my most enjoyable game of the tournament despite the matchup, Robin was an amazing opponent and we promised to get a rematch in some day!

1-2 going into the second day is not where I was hoping to be but it has been a blast so far and more Warhammer is never bad!

Round 4

Opponent: Jonathan - Iron Hands List: 4x Centurion, Mortis Dread, Chaplain Venerable Dread, Devastators, Eliminators, Apothecary, Feirros, far too many intercessors. Secondaries: Reaper, Old School, Ground Control

With only 1 win I was hoping for maybe an easier matchup, however my still very high score continues to haunt me and I end up facing Jonathan and his Iron Hands…

Well this was gonna be rough, there is not much to talk about in this game really, He goes first and we end up shooting back and forth for a while, his centurions prove to be hard to kill, I nearly got them when I ran my Taranis Knight into the middle of his army and made it explode on a 4+, however the explosion only went 4”, it did hit his single remaining Centurion with the big 6 mortal wounds, but then he made half his 5+++ so it lived. Throughout the game his Lascannons roll really high on damage so they end up killing most my things, I also made some deployment mistakes though and had a few turns where I couldn’t shoot with some units. In the end my single surviving model is my Manipulus.

Loss 21-30

Iron Hands are still incredibly frustrating to play, however the turns I get to shoot them I still shred intercessors with all my firepower. The games against Iron Hands just aren’t very interesting to me though, I am really happy with managing to squeeze out another high scoring loss though.

Round 5

Opponent: Anton - Word Bearers List: Discolord, Possessed, Daemon Prince, Obliterators, 2x Venomcrawler, Chaos Marines, Cultists Secondaries: Big Game Hunter, Reaper, Ground Control

Last game of the tournament!

I end up going first on Dawn of War deployment, kill 14(!) possessed, 2 cultists squad and a Venomcrawler, I also move up my Taranis Knight and the Hoplites to hold the middle, which in hindsight wasn’t ideal. He kills my Taranis knight with the Discolord but of course it gets back up. I then interrupt with my Hoplites and do 6 wounds to his demon prince, who then dies to the returned mortal wounds when he tries to punch the Hoplites, they did something! The Taranis knight ends up dying and his Obliterators nearly kill the Krast knight, but it survives on 5 wounds and lives the rest of the game. On my turn 4 I table him.

Win 33-18

I could have played this better but it was the last game of the tournament so I was understandably a bit tired, I didn’t need to go and hold the middle on my turn 1, if I had stayed back one more round it could have been even more decisive. This was another great opponent though, and with an awesome looking army, and since we finished so quickly we had time to chat a bunch after the match, and I could also walk around and check up on how my friends and previous opponents were doing.

Closing Thoughts

So 2-3 wasn’t where I was hoping to finish, however I had scored so many points that I finished 55th out of 106, if you go by battle points I would have been 27th! 2nd highest score of the 2-win players, with an army that I thought would struggle with the movement secondaries. I’m definitely still learning and I noticed I keep making positioning mistakes so that I get stuff tagged in combat all the time, so I really have to work on that.

As far as my list goes I am actually really really happy with it, it’s a gunline but it’s so mobile that it is really fun to play. Ground control is a great secondary for me but when I lose a game I score almost nothing for that. I’m gonna be changing some small things but I think I’ll stick to the same core for a while, maybe drop one of the knights in the future but the double Questoris knight is really fun. The Skorpius just do so much every game and the Moiraxes are consistently my MVPs, and if I can stop getting them tagged in combat they will be even better!

Next planned tournament is at the end of April, but I guess with the current situation we shall see if that happens or not!

As always thanks to the TOs at Västerås Wargaming who made it an awesome event, and thanks to all my opponents and everyone else I ended up talking to!

[sketchingchaos]

What if the TF2 Mercs were Heroes in Overwatch?

cI’ve made this post somewhere else but I’ve altering it a bit so that Overwatch players who haven’t played Teamfortress 2 can understand what I’m saying.

So I was wondering, what would happened if you turned the TF2 mercs into heroes in Overwatch ? what would be their abilities and ultimate be? For what I've thought of so far mostly revolves around using stock(the default weapons for the Mercs in TF2) loadouts with using their other weapons as abilities(most of the alternate weapons for the Mercs are side-grades or weapons that alter how the class plays). I'm also unsure if the mercs would only have 1 or 2 weapons to use normally(and being able to quick melee) or let them have a primary, secondary and a melee weapon(they wouldn't be able to quick melee if tho) like they do in TF2. Here's some of the ones I've thought of so far, I'm iffy on a few of them(I'll list them as maybes if I am). Unless I say otherwise  everyone had 200 HP like most heroes do in OW. I’m also assuming the the Mercs have a primary, secondary and a melee weapon that you switch between. I also haven’t thought of the damage numbers or stuff like that so I’ll use list the numbers that are in TF2 for the OW players. (Note to Overwatch players, melee weapons must be manually equipped and deal about 65 damage when you hit someone with it) 

Pyro; goal here is to have him be a flexible close range DPS class with some support capabilities Weapons Primary Stock Flamethrower: a flamethrower that deals high damage at close range with it’s primary fire. Enemies hit by the primary fire are inflicted with afterburn, afterburn damages enemies after the Pyro stops shooting them with the flamethrower. This affect last for about 3-10 seconds depending how long you were hit by the flamethrower. Alt-fire is an Airblast. Fires a blast of compressed air that pushes back enemies and reflects some projectiles likes rockets, arrows and stuff like that(Pyro would be broken if he could reflect every projectile in Overwatch). Airblast friendlies to extinguish afterburn, this heals 20hp for yourself. Note; afterburn can be removed from some abilities(use common sense for which OW abilities will do that) or by picking up health kits.  Secondary Shotgun: a shotgun that does decent damage from close to medium-ish range, Has 6 shells, each shell must be loaded individually.(note to OW players, a lot of Mercs use a shotgun a keep this description in mind)  Melee Fire Axe, go chop someone with it  1st ability: Flare shot, shoot a flare from the flare gun, can be held down for aiming. Inflicts 7 sec afterburn. Does extra damage to burning players.

2nd ability: Thermal Thrust. basically the thermal thruster without the hidden hostler time.It’s a jumpjet that boosts the Pyro in the air. You jump up and reequip the last weapon you were using at the height of your jump

Ultimate: Inferno

 Pyro throws a gas can with an incendiary grenade attached to it. Lights the the area where it lands on fire with a 5 or 6 meter radius. Enemies who steps inside are damaged and even if you step out from Inferno’s AoW you’re afflicted with afterburn. Idk how long it'd last. Basically it's used to deny an area to the enemy team. Or straight out kill them if you use it right. Sound que is just Pyro's insane muffled laughter can be reflected or deleted from other abilities(D.va's defense matrix or Geji's deflect.)

Medic; Goal is to have a support that can break the frontline loudout is stock Primary: Syringe Gun, a gun that fires syringes. The syringes themselves do low damage and have travel time and fire in an arc. Secondary Medigun: Fire a heal beam(Basically Mercy’s heal beam without the damage boost option) that heals friendlies. The Medigun can overheal friendlies past their max HP. Overheal decays after the medic stops healing you.  Melee Bonesaw, it’s a bonesaw.  1st ability: Crossbow Shot, fire a shot from the crusader's crossbow. Bolts from this crossbow either heal friendlies or damage enemies. The healing/damage effect scales with how far away the target is. With max healing ranging from 75 at point blank and max being 150. Damage being 38 at close range and max being 75. (Note this are the damage numbers from TF2 and prob would be adjusted in Overwatch) 2nd ability: Medi-sheild, it's the shield from MvM(TF2′s horde mode against robots). Blocks incoming damage while allows teammates to fire and walk thru. Is either on a short timer where all damaged is block or has it's own HP. Unlike in MvM the shield does not damage enemies that walk into it. Ultimate: Uber-charge, functions like it does in TF2 but is tied to an ultimate meter instead. Uber-charge makes the person you are healing,as well as yourself, completely invincible. Uber-ing multiple friends shorts the duration of ubercharge. To balance this in OW, ubered friendlies cannot be buffed with Ana’s nanoboost. Nanoboosted friendlies cannot be ubered.   sound que enemies hear "I am ze ubermensch" friendlies hear "Go, forwards"

Heavy, Goal be meatsheild for your teammates while being able to do a lot of damage at short to medium range(would prob be an off-tank). Heavy would have about 400 Hp Weapons.  Minigun, does a lot of damage at close range, decent damage at medium range and light damage at long range. The Minigun must be revved up before it can fire. You can pre-rev the minigun with the alt-fire button. Your movement speed is slowed while revved. Secondary Shotgun Melee Fists, go punch people as a giant Russian man. 1st ability: Sandvich, using this ability give you and sandwich. Primary fire with it will make the Heavy eat it for a full heal(must go through a 4 second animation were the heavy is eating, cannot cancel this animation once it starts). Alt-fire will throw the sandvich for your teammates, acts like a medium health kit.  2nd:  I have no clue honestly, only thing I could think of was a shield that Heavy holds in front of himself. For TF2 players think of the fists of steel. The shield would either give Heavy a damage reduction, while blocking all damage from going past him or have the shield have it’s own HP. The shield slows Heavy’s movement speed. The shield cannot be fired thru or walked past by anyone. Can't fire while it's out. Ultimate: idk sound que  Enemy hears "CAN YOU OUTSMART BULLET NOW?!" Or "HEAVY IS MAD, AND YOU'RE DEAD!" Friends hear "HEAVY WILL PROTECT, STAY BEHIND HEAVY"

Demoman: I sorta want him to be a mix of Demoman and Demoknight(For OW players Demoknight is when you switch out your grenade launcher and stick bomb launcher for a shield and boots that increase your max HP). Since I know He’ll be compared to Junkrat, the Demoman is not immune to his own explosives like Junkrat.  Demoman might have about 250 HP weapons Primary Grenade Launcher, holds a max of 4 grenades. Each grenade must be loaded individually, explode on contact with enemies or enemy building if they did not bounce off something. Grenades are fired off at an arc.You can bounce the grenades off walls and the ground for indirect fire. Will explode after 2.3 seconds after they bounce. Secondary (note that some players treats this like a primary, Demo sorta has 2 primaries if that makes sense) Stick bomb launcher primary fire fires sticky grenades that sticks to just about any surface. Stickies can only explode after arming themselves for .7 seconds. Laid up to 8 stickies that disappear if the Demoman dies. Hold the primary fire button to launch stickies further(note this makes stickies less accurate). Alt-fire detonates stickies. Can be used to launch the Demoman at the cost of self damage(Can kill yourself with it) Melee The Eyelander, a big sword. IT doesn't have it's downsides like it does in TF2 instead just deploys slower and has a larger range than other Melees. It doesn't collect heads either. 1st ability: Chargin' n Targe, rapidly charge forward with the Chargin 'n Targe(A small shield). Does hurt enemies if you charge into them with it. Can only be used when the Eyelander is out(that's a maybe) 2nd: idk Ultimate:  Cluster charge,(once again this is a maybe) Demoman throws a bundle of TNT that explodes and splits into sticks of TNT that also explode(the sticks of TNT have a smaller blast radius than the bundle). sound que enemies hear "Not one of ya is gunna to survive this" friendlies hear "Cover yer ears, this is gunna be loud"

Soldier: Goal is to have a mobile and dependable damage dealer abilities, idk Primary Rocket launcher, hold up to 4 rockets max. Rockets must be loaded individually. Shoot a rocket off your feet to launcher yourself upward at the cost of self damage.(OW players go look up rocket jumping in TF2 to see how crazy of the pros are with this) Secondary Shotgun Melee Shovel  Ultimate: Rally Flag/Rally Call  Soldier blows on a horn then emits an aura that buffs teammates. for this I'm thinking either a combination of 2 or all 3 of the banners. Some tweaking for the banners might be needed. For the OW players, a banner is a support weapon that replaces your shotgun with a horn. The Buff Banner gives everyone a damage boost, The Battalion’s back gives everyone a 35% defense boost, 50% defense boost from enemies building(does not stack with previous  boost). The Concheror gives teammates a speed boost and heals 35% of all damage they do. And for the TF2 players Soldier will not have the passive affects from the banners.     Sound que, Enemies hear the horn, friendlies hear "ATTACK!!!"

Scout: Goal Have a mobile and fast flanker Can double jump and moves 133% faster than everyone else.  has 150 HP weapons Primary Scattergun, a lever action shotgun still holds 6 shells that must be loaded individually. Secondary Pistol, does okay damage at meduim range, 12 rounds magazine. Melee Bat, it’s a metal baseball bat.  1st ability: Homerun Hit, launch a baseball with the sandman that stuns enemies. 2nd idk Ultimate: Maybe a rework of the crit-a-cola? remember it's tied to an ultimate meter. For the OW players crit-a-cola takes the place of the pistol gives you a damage boost at the cost of taking more damage once it’s affect wears off. Be lucky that this would be an ultimate instead of something Scout can do when ever he wants like in TF2. sound que idk

Engineer: Goal is to deny your enemy from a certain area while supporting your team I honestly don't know how to make Engie without breaking OW and making 2 of the heroes useless. I’ll explain what he does in TF2 to the OW players. Maybe you guys can think of an idea. I should also note that in TF2 everyone has a limited amount of ammo which complicates Engineer even further. Primary Shotgun Secondary Pistol(same as scouts) Melee Wrench Engineer can making building to support his team with metal. Engineer can have up to 200 at a time. Use metal to build, heal and upgrade building. Can replenish metal from spawn, or from ammo sources. Upgrading a building will take 200 metal for each level. Healing building takes up metal from a 1/3 ratio (one metal for 3 points of HP, I don’t remember the max HP you can heal with one wrench hit, I think it’s 60 or 75). Building must be a full health and ammo to be upgraded. Each building has 3 levels. Sentry (something that’ll break OW and make Torb useless) A Sentry gun has a limited ranged(the game will show you it’s ranged before your build it) cost 130 metal to build. Level one has 150 HP and has a DPS of 64. Level 2 has 180 HP and has a DPS of 128. Level 3 sentry has 216 HP, does 128 DPS and has rockets for burst damage Dispenser gives health ammo and metal to friendlies, cost 100 metal to build level one has 100 HP, gives 10hp per sec, 20% ammo per sec and 40 metal per 5 seconds. Level 2 has 150 HP, heals 15 per sec, 30% ammo per sec and 50 metal per 5 seconds. Level 3 has 216 HP, heals 20 HP per sec, 40% ammo per sec and 60 ammo per 5 seconds. OW players you can ignore the ammo per second. Teleporter (and the thing that breaks OW even more and makes Symettra useless) must fully charge before it can teleport someone, the exit and entrance(both must be manually placed and the entrance cannot be build in spawn). Both exit and entrance are upgraded at the same time(if you upgrade one to lvl 2 the other will go to lvl 2) and both cost 50 metal to build. Level 1, 150 HP, 10 sec recharge. Level 2, 180 HP, 5 sec recharge. Level 3, 216 HP, 3 sec recharge. Ult, hell if I know

Spy: Goal is to have a stealth class that takes out high value targets. has 150 HP weapons Primary Revolver, it’s a 6 shot revolver Secondary Sapper, in TF2 it destroys builds be sapping away it’s health. You can speed up the process of which a building is sapped by shooting the building.  Melee Knife, it’s a butterfly knife 1st Ability: Cloak Press the alt-fire button to cloak which works off it’s own cloak meter. The Spy cannot attack while cloaked It takes around 1 second to fully Cloak, during which Cloak energy is already consumed. Decloaking requires the Spy to wait approximately 2 seconds for the process to be complete. While cloaked, the Spy receives 20% less damage from all sources. In addition, while the Spy is invisible, debuffs will have reduced duration. If the Spy takes any damage while cloaked, or bumps into an enemy player, then his cloak will momentarily 'flicker' and be visible to enemy players. Cannot place sappers while cloaked. 2nd ability: Disguise  either lets you disguise as someone on the enemy team or randomly disguises you as someone on the enemy team (Does not disguise you as a tank or Bastion expect for Zarya or if the enemy team is nothing but tanks).Attacking while disguised will remove the disguise. I’m going to explain how to counter disguises and Cloak to the OW players. Do something called Spy-checking, they take damage it’s a spy. Spies can still be debuffed and take damage from abilities that both heal and damage. Use something that has a noticeable debuff effect to track the Spy while he’s cloaked(After burn, Mei’s freeze, Jarate) 3rd ability: Backstab, this one is a BIG maybe. In TF2 this is Spy main method of killing players in TF2 but I think it’d be a bit too powerful if it were a standard attack in Overwatch. It’s an instant kill from behind, refills cloak. Don’t know what the cool down would be tho. 

Sniper: Goal is to have a long range pick class. He's kinda hard to make without taking Widow's spot weapons Primary Sniper rifle: Long range rifle. Fires a single shot before having to recamber the next round. Alt to zoom in. While zoomed in shots charge for extra damage. Headshots deal extra damage. To balance this with Widow I’d make Sniper’s shots charge longer but maybe penetrate players to compensate.  Secondary SMG, light damage hitscan weapon. Melee Kukri, it’s a really big knife  1st ability: Jarate (this word is a combo of Jar and Karate), works like it does in TF2. To the OW players, you throw a jar of piss at your enemies. Enemies douse in piss take extra damage, it partially nullifies Spy’s cloak(and I’d assume Sombra’s as well), extinguishes teammates.  2nd: idk Ultimate: Sniper's focus, pull out and use a fully charged hitman's heatmaker(one of sniper’s alternate rifles). Shots charge faster but you can't unscope Sound que, enemies hear "Time for some heads to roll" friendlies hear "I got 'em"

what ideas do you guys have, anything you would change/add ?

[thomasroach]

Top 5 Upcoming RPGs Of July 2019 (Shadowbringers, Warlocks 2, and More!)

The post Top 5 Upcoming RPGs Of July 2019 (Shadowbringers, Warlocks 2, and More!) appeared first on Fextralife.

Welcome to the Top Upcoming RPGs of July 2019! In this series we highlight the Top 5 RPGs for the upcoming month. In this edition, we’re going to take a look at each of the titles, talk a little about each, and then explain why we think they deserve to be on the list. So join me now and find a mixture of some hidden gems and old favorites given a shiny new coat of paint.

Top 5 Upcoming RPGs Of July 2019

Last month we had the return of Igavania in Bloodstained Ritual of the Night which took our top spot with its challenging gameplay. This month we see a new expansion, an indie title and some tactical RPG action. Let’s get into the month of July.

Honourable Mention: Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers

Release Date: July 2nd Platform: PC/PS4 Developer: Square Enix Publisher: Square Enix

This month’s honourable mention goes to Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers expansion. The story unfolds with your own character venturing to face the Garlean Empire. Things get a little more gritty as you take on the role of the “Warrior of Darkness”. With a new expansion comes a new max level cap, Shadowbringers comes with a level cap of 80, that’s 10 levels higher than its previous.

Shadowbringers will also be gaining new beast tribes and new primals. But that’s not all, nine new dungeons as well as new 8 person and 24 person raids will be coming also. A new feature called “Trust” system will also be added meaning players will be able to run dungeons with NPCs, so you can take on dungeons on your own if you so wish.

There is also New Game Plus mode which allows players to take on previous content with their current characters.

Shadowbringers will be releasing on July 2nd for Playstation 4 and PC.

5. Dragon Quest Builders 2

Release Date: July 12th Platform: PS4/Nintendo Switch Developer: Omega Force/Square Enix Publisher: Square Enix

Combining a sandbox game with action role-playing Dragon Quest Builders 2 is the sequel coming this July. Although an alternate storyline it is still based on the Dragon Quest story, as it follows as if the villain from Dragon Quest II still lived on. The tale follows a more party focused narrative through the experience of friendship. Playing as an apprentice builder you will need to prove yourself as true builder. Combat the Children of Hargon, who worship destruction!

This title blends the JPRG genre with block building aspects similar to that of Minecraft. It has it’s own progression similar to what is found in classic RPGs. You can team up with up to four players online to collaborate together. Rather than the turn-based gameplay found in the main series, Builders offers real-time action, choose from different weapons to defeat enemies and bosses with hack ‘n’ slash mechanics.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 releases for Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch in North America and Europe on July 12th.

4. God Eater 3

Release Date: July 12th Platform: Switch Developer: Bandai Namco Publisher: Bandai Namco

Coming to the Nintendo Switch this July is the next instalment of the series God Eater 3, it follows events of a sudden mysterious life form that begins its uncontrollable quest to consume life on Earth. It’s insatiable appetite and quick ability to learn, makes it the deadliest foes you could ever face, they have been given the name Aragami. These beasts only leave destruction and misery in their path. In order to fight back, individuals known as God Eaters wield special weapons powered by Oracle Cells, these are the only known way to stop the Aragami. But this is not the only battle brewing, a fight between light and dark is wearing thin.

God Eater 3 combines action combat with abilities to dive, use burst arts, plug-ins and more. Use skill install which allows you to equip God Arc skills for your chosen weapon to increase health points, slash attacks or speed buffs with these items. A new passive skill has been added called Acceleration Trigger, which strengthens a players resolve giving the upper-hand during opportune moments.

God Eater 3 will be released for Nintendo Switch on July 12th, 2019.

3. Warlocks 2: God Slayers

Release Date: July 8th Platform: PC Developer: Frozen District Publisher: Fat Dog Games

The sequel to the original Warlocks title, Warlocks 2: God Slayers features a brand new story. Playing as a Warlock, players will face gods who have been angered by the destruction of the horde of shadow monsters. It is up to the order of Warlocks who now challenge those gods who have betrayed them, and it is time to dethrone them.

An action-RPG hack ‘n’ slash with humorous pixel art design, which allows you choose from 5 different Warlocks. Team up with friends with up to 4 members total   online and local co-op. The title brings 40 types of different enemies to fight, while using your own unique abilities dependent on your chosen Warlock. Enjoy a comical narration while exploring extensive maps with plenty of randomly generated loot in this metroidvania inspired title.

Warlocks 2: God Slayers will release on PC on July 18th.

2. Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden – Seed of Evil

Release Date: July 30th Platform: PC/Xbox One/PS4/Switch Developer: The Beared Ladies Publisher: Funcom

The XCOM inspired Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden also drew its inspiration from the Swedish tabletop RPG of the same name. It released at the end of last year culminating its own community of fans. It combines stealth and combat into a RPG strategy. With a cast of wonderfully quirky animal mutant characters, the adventure takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.

Seed of Evil takes place where the game left off, bringing news maps and a new challenge for the group of misfits. A new playable character will be available to help assist challenges, going by the name of Big Khan, a moose with two new mutations Ground Pound and Flame Puke. There also seems to be something rather strange going on, what Big Khan calls “Pod Ghouls” who are replacing the original Ghouls with copies.

Mutant Year Zero: Seed of Evil expansion releases on July 30th on PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Switch.

1. Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Release Date: July 26th Platform: Nintendo Switch Developer: Koei Tecmo Publisher: Nintendo

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a tactical RPG that lets players choose to teach at one of the three houses at the Academy, which has many formidable students. Taking up the role of professor you must shape the student’s academic lives between taking on turn-based battles, full of strategy and twists to overcome. The title is set in a new world called Fódlan, where the Church of Seiros holds great power over the land and its people.

There is quite a large central hub, and plenty to do as teacher which includes interacting with students and using the new calendar system. You can even interact with students from the other houses and have the opportunity to recruit them.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses lets you take on the role of an adviser where students act as your troops. How you interact with them will effect how they will perform in battles. You can customise your troops with distance and close range attacks and taking part in battles will level up your battalion. Its up to you to order how these battles play out.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses launches on the Nintendo Switch on July 26th 2019.

That’s a wrap for the Top RPGs of July. Did I miss your favorite July release? What games are you most looking forward to this year? Please let us know in the comments below.

You can also check out the Top RPGs of June 2019.

So, do you want more? If so, you can find more Top RPGs for 2019 here.

The post Top 5 Upcoming RPGs Of July 2019 (Shadowbringers, Warlocks 2, and More!) appeared first on Fextralife.

Top 5 Upcoming RPGs Of July 2019 (Shadowbringers, Warlocks 2, and More!) published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

[chrislaguna1-blog]

Salonika Campaign Centenary - Diary of Significant Events 15 May 1917 Sarrail received a telegram from the French War Minister stating that, in view of the general situation and that of Greece in particular, offensive operations in the Balkans should not be pursued at a cost in terms of casualties out of proportion to potential gains. Sarrail was told that he was to judge at what point such a position was reached and a halt be called to offensive operations. Sarrail replied that his planned operations in the bend of the Crna river had to that point been made to contain enemy forces in that location. He hoped that a combination of French, Serbian and Russian forces east of the bend would be able to force a decision in that Sector and if not he would call a halt to operations all along the front. On this date XVI Corps began phase two of their operations in the Struma Valley. 10th (Irish) Division were to occupy the line Kalendra - Prosenik - Kyupri - Bairakli, whilst 85th Brigade (28th Division) were to take the Bulgarian outpost positions known as Ferdie and Essex Trenches. On 10th Division's front the 6th Royal Irish Rifles (29th Brigade) attacked Kyupri under cover of an artillery bombardment. The Irish Rifles met little resistance and by 22:45 hours has established touch with the 30th Brigade on their right and 6th Leinsters on the left. A number of posts were established and Kyupri was held as an outpost. Meanwhile, 85th Brigade moved against the outposts in front of Ernekoi. Artillery preparation began on 13 May to cut gaps in the Bulgarian wire. The attack was made by the 3rd Royal Fusiliers and 2nd Buffs with two companies from each battalion advancing at 18:30 hours to within 100 yards of the Bulgarian wire. The troops then charges the Bulgarian line and meeting little resistance took 89 prisoners. Two limited counter attacks were then beaten off by the Fusiliers. At 02:00 hours on 16 May a more determined counter attack was launched by the Bulgarian but was again beaten off. Later that morning Bulgarian artillery activity increased at at 10:00 hours a major counter attack was launched against the Buffs in Essex trenches. This too was beaten off. In tota

[gyrlversion]

Cigar puffed on by Steven Spielberg is being sold

After the sale of Scarlett Johansson‘s used tissue, a glass Justin Bieber once drank milk from and Britney Spears‘ pregnancy test kit, ebay now presents… Steven Spielberg’s half-smoked cigar.

The legendary film-maker puffed on the stogy during the making of the hit World War Two mini-series, Band of Brothers, and it could be yours for £1,000.

It left his lips almost 20-year-ago, during a break in filming at Hatfield Aerodrome in Hertfordshire, and was rescued from the ashtray by a production runner on the wartime drama, who was a huge fan of Spielberg.

Now the cigar, along with other memorabilia from the Band of Brothers, is on sale on eBay. It has been mounted in a glass case alongside a photograph of the director smoking a similar cigar on set, and would make an impressive centre piece to any film buff’s coffee table.

Steven Spielberg’s half smoked cigar

‘I want someone to get it who loves him as I do,’ said Holly Francis, who has cherished the unusual piece of memorabilia since 2000 when she came across it in her first job in the movie business. Mrs Francis’ role on Band of Brothers was to assist Spielberg and his co-producer, Tom Hanks.

‘I don’t want to part with it for less than £1,000,’ she said. ‘It’s a good piece of treasure.’

Mrs Francis, who is married and has two daughters, aged 7 and 9, hopes to use the proceeds of the sale to fund a once in a lifetime family holiday to Japan to watch the 2020 Olympics and attend the opening of Super Nintendo World, in Osaka.

She was working with Spielberg regularly in 2000 and struck up a friendship with the director, who called her his ‘merciful angel’ because she kept him supplied with tea, coffee and his favourite: digestive biscuits.

Holly Francis (pictured above)  had previously worked with Speilberg

In fact, one of Mrs Francis’ duties was to restrict the famous director, who produced blockbusters including, Jaws, the Indiana Jones series, E.T. Jurassic Park and Bridge of Spies to name a few, to just three biscuits per day.

‘He was such a kind person, he really cared’ said Mrs Francis, who lives in Hertfordshire, and continued to send digestives to Spielberg in the US after filming had finished. ‘He came off the set and he was smoking this cigar before he had to rush back on. He stubbed it out and I was emptying the ashtray, but being a humongous fan I could not throw it away.’

Along with the half-cigar, the lot on eBay includes a crew jacket, cap, World War Two slang sheets used by the cast and a pen knife engraved with Band of Brothers, among other items. The sale closes Sunday.

Band of Brothers was a war drama based on Stephen E. Ambrose’s book of the same name, which first aired in 2001. The series won an Emmy and Golden Globe for best mini-series that year.

It dramatized the history of ‘Easy’ Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division as they went from training in the United States to combat in Europe.

It starred Damian Lewis as Major Richard ‘Dick’ Winters, the show’s main character, a role which earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

The cigar is the latest in a line of weird and wacky celebrity leftovers that have been put up for sale. In 2005, CNN reported that a Canadian radio station had bought a pregnancy test kit allegedly used by Britney Spears for $5,001 [£3,800] and in 2008 a tissue used by Scarlett Johansson sold for $5,300 [£4,000] to raise money for the hunger charity USA Harvest.

In 2016, a glass Justin Bieber drank milk from at a pub during a UK tour was snaffled by a waitress, who put it up for sale on ebay, attracting bids of tens of thousands of pounds.

For Mrs Francis, her career in the movie industry peaked with that job as assistant to Spielberg. She went on to become an events and marketing manager with the tech giant, Apple, where she has worked with British bands Snow Patrol and Fightstar. She is now launching her own business.

‘To have Steven Spielberg in Hatfield was such a big deal,’ said Mrs Francis. ‘No one knew he was there. It was all about Steven for me.’

The post Cigar puffed on by Steven Spielberg is being sold appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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[swipestream]

Wargame Wednesday: Tank Combat at Kharkov, Part II

Russian soldier on top of a Panzer Mk III Ausf J. I hope this isn’t a portend of the game’s outcome.

This post covers an unexpected Russian advance to the western outskirts of town.  I’ve been reading T-34 In Action, one of the Stackpole Military History Series and it seems early war T-34 tankers were supremely confident of their tanks superiority over German panzers.  One of the veterans interviewed: “Against the T-34 the German tanks were crap”. I’m attributing the early attack to the confidence of my opponent’s tankers and will discuss the following items on the next page:

Organization of the 2nd Battalion / 201st Panzer Regiment at Kharkov.

British Maltilda and Valentine tanks in Soviet service.

Opinion of Soviet tankers that only the Malitda and Valentine had superior armor to the T-34.

Review of T-34 in Action.

DAR Turns 2 – 4

  End of Turn 2 and end of Turn 3 positions marked in blue.

Turn 2 I decide to concentrate my forces and cautiously approach the outskirts of town. Two recon units keep watch off screen on both flanks.  The blue circles show where my forces take defensive positions on Turn 3. 

End of Turn 4 after the Russian advance. “D” stands for a disrupted platoon.

Turn 4 begins with a Russian advance to the north of the town. My caution paid off and opportunity fire from 5th Co in the woods stopped them. After the exchange of fire 5th Co retreated behind the woods, out of LOS and a little less vulnerable to flanking attacks the following Russian turn.  The relatively light damage (1 wreck and two disrupts against the Russians versus one disrupt on a Pz III platoon) can be attributed to all shots were at medium range (over 500 meters /each hex equals 250m). Additionally, the Russians using action points to advance and had less points to return fire.

An aggressive push by a company of T-34s down the town’s main road left his tanks exposed to side shots.  During my turn I tried to take advantage of the situation, moving 4th Co from the outskirts of town into the factories and railway station but was soon on the receiving end of effective opportunity fire from a T-34 company stationed along the railway tracks. I was still able to destroy a couple of enemy tanks but had to allocate resources to the the new threat but my long range fire was ineffective (only caused on platoon to retreat). At turn’s end I left an exposed Pz IV platoon (by the 5vp hex) and a burning Pz III at the train station.  At 750 meters and greater, it is very hard for a Pz III to get a result firing at the T-34’s frontal sloped armor.

I left two platoons from 6th Co. in their positions overlooking the train station. Better for them to stand guard against any renewed assault instead of wasting shells on long range targets.

The enemy controls most of the VP hexes but it is still early and my intent is to destroy T-34s over securing objectives. 

  Organization of the 2nd Panzer Battalion, 201st Panzer Regiment in April, 1942

This scenario my 2nd Battalion has three companies each consisting of:

Three platoons of 4 Pz III Ausf J panzers . 

One platoon of 2 Pz IV Ausf E panzers.

A leader for each platoon which can stand in for the missing Company HQ platoon.

Comparing the scenario OOB with the best historical OOB for this regiment at Kharkov available to me we find the 2nd Battalion at Kharkov contained

2 companies of Pz III’s (each with 3 platoons of 5 Pz IIIs)

A separate company of Pz IVs (3 platoons of 4 Pz IVs)

A HQ Company (had a light tank platoon of 2 Mk II panzers and a Mk III as the commander’s tank **  

Why the designers elected to do away with the Pz IV company and create a third Pz III company, I can’t explain.  I’m betting the scenario was designed as a head to head match of Pz IIIs against T-34s. 

Despite the designation of the Pz IV as a medium tank and the Pz III as light, the Pz III is more effective with its 5cm KwK L/42 gun than the short barreled 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24. installed on the early Pz IV’s. The short barrel was designed for high explosive rounds in an infantry support role (but also fired armor piercing rounds). The game gives the Pz IV a combat factor of 4 against armored targets versus the Pz III’s combat factor of 6.  Correct me if I’m wrong but the higher velocity of the shell fired from a Pz III allowed for greater stability of the shell in flight and more accuracy. 

** I’m using an OOB from the incomparable Nazfiger collection.   George Nazfiger is worth a WW post in his own right.

  Lend Lease and the Maltilda and Valentine Tanks in Russian Service

This section is included as last post I discovered that during Kharkov the only Russian tanks in the 36th Tank Brigade were T-60s, Maltildas and Valentines. Some good info online at Russian-tanks.com and the articles over at tanks-encyclopedia.com for the Valentine and Maltilda . The Russian Tanks article is most useful in providing the Russian’s perception of the British tanks qualities and faults while Tanks Encyclopedia describes how the tanks performed in combat in various theaters.  The Valentine article does not have any information on its performance in Russia but the Maltilda article describes how almost a quarter of the Maltida’s shipped to Russia were lost at sea and the lack of mobility in the ubiquitous mud and snow of Russia. 

The pdf file available here published by the British Information Services in 1944 states that Britain shipped 3000 tanks to the Soviet Union and 70,000,000 million rounds of ammunition (pg11). Of interest was the fact that “Lend Lease is not a one-way street”, at least vis-a-vis between Britain and the USA. Of note, over 90% of US medical supplies in Britain and 80% of the well stocked Post Exchanges were provided by Britain.  However, it is safe to say that aid to Russia was pretty much the proverbial one way street.

T-34 In Action relates that “as far as Soviet tankmen were concerned only British tanks enjoyed any evident advantages over the T-34’s armor”. On veteran said that a British tank commander and gunner would have survived a shell through the turret (the most exposed portion of the tank) because “there were virtually no splinters”. This was due to the higher nickel content of British armor (3 – 3.5 percent) versus the equivalent Soviet armor (1 – 1.5 percent). 

Finally, Russian experience with the Maltilda (and Czech made tanks) revealed the superiority of its ‘planetary’ gear box, resulting in an order from the People’s Commissar of Defense to design planetary transmissions for the T-34 and KV tanks. This order came too late for the earliest T-34 models and chances are my opponent’s tanks are using the original transmission system. This system did not have permanently toothed gear wheels and changing gears required strength and became exhausting when the tank traveled long distances.  One veteran stated it was impossible to shift the gear with one hand and he he had to use his knew to help.

  T-34 In Action

I’ve had this book for a while but never got around to reading until beginning this series of blog posts provided me the perfect opportunity to crack open the book.  It contains eleven chapters of interviews with tanker veterans with each veterans allocated his own chapter. The author’s introductory chapters are full of interesting information (this is the first time I heard of the superiority of British armor compared to the Soviet’s) and at 181 pages, the book is well manageable for most readers. Even serious history buffs and armored warfare experts are sure to gain insight into the T-34 crewman’s experiences.

The veteran’s stories are both exciting and full of detail. Due to the poor interior communications of the early model T-34s many tank commanders would give orders to the driver by placing his boots on the driver’s shoulder. Press on the left shoulder, turn left, press on the right, turn right, tap on the head to stop, etc.  Ventilation was an issue in combat with gasses from the breech and ejected shell filling the crew compartment.  “You’d yell: Load anti-armor, load anti-personnel; then you’d turn around and see the loader lying lights-out on the ammo boxes. He’d been poisoned by fumes and lost consciousness. Few could last out a heavy fight to the end”. 

 One veteran ended up on a penal battalion, another was cut off and spent weeks masquerading as a civilian worker behind enemy lines until the opportunity arose during the German retreat to escape.  Once he reached the Russian lines his troubles started in earnest while fighting off accusations of being a German spy.  A few survived direct hits on their tanks, some in multiple battles.

Sometimes, it is useful to remember that our simulation games simulate awful things happening. When a combat result results in a burning enemy tank there is a feeling of satisfaction. Fortunately, we don’t try to simulate a lot of the horror such as one veteran recalling seeing his friends tank being hit by a Tiger, the turret flying off, and his friend flying out of the tank and hitting the ground. That is the top half of his friend.  Half of his friend remained in the tank but he saw his friend was still alive and looking over at him when he hit the ground.

  Next Week

I may try to get hold of the designer to provide background into the design and intent of this scenario. 

I’ll research the OOB of a 1942 T-34 battalion.

Anything good that comes up while playing the next few turns and conducting research. 

  Wargame Wednesday: Tank Combat at Kharkov, Part II published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames

[roberthaycraft313]

Vietnam Era history buffs: Help me find my grandfather old Vietnam War (ARVN) unit.

Vietnam Era history buffs: Help me find my grandfather old Vietnam War (ARVN) unit.

you can buy weapons online you just have to call them something else

Not sure if this is the right sub so please let me know and I’ll move this post.

My grandpa was with the 258th Marine Brigade, 2nd Battalion (also known as the ‘Crazy Buffaloes’ or ‘Trau Dien’). He was evacuated a few weeks before the “Fall of Saigon” and I assumed the communist forces purged the data since I couldn’t find…