#I cut a lot from this one

[thetruearchmagos]

Straight Shooters: Marksmen Of The UC Army

Hey folks! I've been having some fun with graphics, and this post's a little bit of a teaser to what promises to be a very long, and has already been a very difficult to make, resource on some of the units of the United Commonwealth Army.

Tagging, if I may @athenswrites @hessdalen-globe @caxycreations @thatndginger @theprissythumbelina @avrablake @maskedemerald

Size: Team of Six.

Purpose: Reconnaisance, Observation, and Execution.

Skilled, accurate shooting has been a point of pride for the United Commonwealth Army since its inception. This legendary proficiency was best exemplified by those handpicked few who earned for themselves and their units the moniker of Marksman.

---

------ Origins ------ The 'marksmen' of the modern Army draw their roots from the Light Infantry of the old "Armies of the Coalition", in the days of black powder and thick ranks and before the creation of the single, unified Army of the Commonwealth. While these soldiers were still chosen for an exceptional skill in sharpshooting, their deployment as skirmishers at the leading edge of a line of battle distinguishes them from the breed unto their own that were the Marksmen of the UCA. The term and what it meant would change with the ages, but the trade of sharpshooting would come into its own in the various peacekeeping crises and operations that were the bread and butter of the Army throughout the 60's A.S., a mere twenty years after its formation as a unified service. These conflicts would see a fundamental shift in the way the Army fought and organised itself, and the need for change was brought to the forefront after the disastrous fate of one expedition conducted on Commonwealth soil, in the Battezid Empire. Among the many changes instituted throughout the era was the formal codification of Marksmen as their own discrete, distinct trade within the overall structure of a battalion of infantry, and their removal from the traditional linear structure of infantry battalions in the field of combat. Instead, the newly created field manuals dictated the creation of specialised sections of Marksmen independent of the 'bulk' of a battalion's bayonet strength, and specifically trained to conduct highly independent, flexible activities in support of their parent battalions.

---

------ The Issue At Hand ------ The catalyst for these reforms was the Fremont Report, the product of a deep-cutting inquiry conducted in the wake of the fiasco that was the Siege of Pazotin. In the analysis of that battle and the broader peacekeeping campaign leading to it, one key deficiency diagnosed in the eyes of the board of inquiry was the shoddy state of the Army's intelligence, reconnaissance, and observation functions at the battalion level and below. Groups of irregulars numbering over a hundred each and making use of their knowledge of the complex local terrain had caught entire outposts off-guard, enabling the groups to overpower the outnumbered and surprised defenders without a hope for reinforcement. The lack of timely, useful intelligence had made itself acutely known well before the siege. Over the course of the UC's peacekeeping duties both within Battezid and on foreign shores, the conventional doctrines surrounding scouts and cavalry had proven entirely ineffective at rooting out criminals, separatists, and other irregular forces, however useful they may have once been at keeping track of an enemy army in the field. A number of factors went into explaining these failures. One criticism levied against those existing scouting forces was their total lack of discretion. Enemy settlements and concentrations usually had hours of advance notice of Commonwealth advanced guards and scouts before they flooded into an area, as the troops of cavalry or columns of marching patrols did little to conceal their movements and their sheer size made them easy to keep tabs on. Furthermore, as much as the Army could claim and tell itself that it had control over wide areas of territory, few troops were allowed to stray beyond the walls of their scattered forts and outposts, making constant surveillance, especially at night, more myth than fact anywhere out of sight of a base’s watch towers. Lastly, the patrol routes and paths taken by UC patrols or convoys were well known to any who bothered to keep track, and shortly after the necessary materials had been provided by Fuhrati smugglers many would be well mined or otherwise prepared for ambushes.

---

------ In The Field ------ One recommendation made to remedy this deplorable state of affairs was inspired by the comparatively successful experiences of another battalion. The 1st Stretport Guards Rifles was one of the earliest battalions to arrive in Battezid, and had spent an unusually extended period of time on deployment to the region. Fortunate itself to never have encountered as daunting a crisis as that which had faced the 2nd Tomikawa at Pazotin, it had still suffered the same creeping attrition and infuriating lack of success which marred the experiences of nearly every battalion in the southeastern provinces. However, its soldiers and commanders were apparently a more creative cohort than their peers, and operating with the usual sort of independence afforded to experienced battalions had crafted a solution to their issue. At the behest of its commander, Lieutenant Colonel - and future divisional commander in the Chainbreaker War - Malcolm Wyett, every platoon in the battalion’s ranks was to submit its six best shooters to his headquarters for a special assessment. There, they underwent a specialised training course in the field of observation and an early version of camouflage supposedly inspired by Wyett’s favourite pastime of  hunting, and issued field binoculars and primitive optical scopes for their rifles. After this abbreviated course, each group would be sent back to their platoons, with a handful of the top performers kept at battalion headquarters under the direct supervision of Colonel Wyett. Once returned, these soldiers were not reintroduced into the ‘Lines’, which made up the bayonet strength of the platoon. Instead, they remained an independent ‘Section’ under the direct control of the Platoon Commander, though they were just as often assigned to the Company’s headquarters where needed. These Sections were given considerable independence, and the Sergeants who commanded them were encouraged to spend as much time as possible beyond their camps. They would spend days, even weeks on end in the field, positioning themselves on terrain features that granted them good views across their platoon’s or company’s sectors, and simply keep tabs on the comings and goings of everyone in sight. While their skilled shooting was a point they were selected for, those on such missions were specifically instructed to hold fire, simply noting down contact reports and submitting them to their commanders at the end of the day.

---

------ Silver Sniper's Bullet? ------ By these methods the battalion had steadily chipped away at illicit activities within its area of operations, and more than halved its casualty rate on routine patrols. Now with a tool that allowed his troops to go into the field in a state other than blindness, Wyett resolved to take more aggressive action. Civilian authorities, whose work had been much eased by the diminished violence, had been a key source of intelligence for the Colonel before, and now informed him of a massing of separatist forces within his jurisdiction in preparation for an uprising at a scale to replicate the disaster at Pazotin. The call was put out to 11th Regiment HQ, 1st Stretport’s superior formation, for reinforcements, but Wyett had no intention of sitting still and waiting for what was to come. Bringing together thirty of the most successful marksmen from across the battalion under his headquarters, the assembled force devoted itself to close observation of the gathering threat. Over the course of many days, the battalion’s intelligence picture grew, supplied through multiple avenues but with Wyett’s marksmen among the most prominent. When the time came to drop the hammer, these sharpshooters would put their skills to good use in putting down those they had identified as being particularly important leaders in the separatist camp. Instead of facing down a unified, well organised force with the element of surprise, the uprising would be nipped in the bud, reduced to a disorganised force scattered before the assembled battalion in a full strength raid against its camps and gathering places. When the dust settled and the last few bands were rounded up, Wyett’s soldiers had good reason to feel accomplished. As successful as the 1st Stretport’s example proved to be, there had been countless times when lessons were learned, put to use, and just as soon forgotten with passing leadership and rotated units. This time, though, the need for change was too obvious and too dire in the eyes of a suddenly incensed top brass to ignore, and in what could very well have been a hasty decision the good work of the 1st Stretport would become the template for a revitalised peacekeeping force. The freshly appointed commander of the Battezid Military District, Lieutenant General Mazhar Ayberk, would play a key role in promoting these reforms across his command, with his staff and himself doing much to overcome the material deficits and institutional inertia that had long stymied the process of military change.

---

------ The Trade ----- What made a marksman was a great deal more than their shooting skills. Above all, operating without the direct supervision of officers or with clear lines back to friendly forces, a high degree of autonomy and self sufficiency was demanded of those who wished to become marksmen. Small ‘sections’ developed closely knitted teams, and for the sake of success under constantly shifting circumstances required them. As the eyes and ears of their parent battalions or other formations, patience and good judgement generally overcame aggressiveness, for marksmen had to remember that their job was to enable the activities of the unit as a whole, not just their own. To do their work marksmen were variously equipped, just as much determined by what was at hand as by what fit best. The recently standard issue "Pinpricker" Model 48 bolt action - forefather of the Model 62 that the UC Army would one day enter the Chainbreaker War with - did the sharpshooter's job well enough, and each in a team of two carried their own rifle. More important than the gun itself, however, were the scope mounted to it, and the field binoculares issued. These were what allowed the watchful observers to surveil their domain, and a lucky few units received a highly experimental lumi-crystal lense attachement that granted limited low-light vision with a clear enough night or soon enough after sun down. Finally, as highly independent troops marksmen had to look after themselves, unable to rely on the static and reliable supply chains that kept their Line comrades sustained. When going into the field, the recommendation in Wyett's battalion was for each sharpshooter to carry enough food for a three day stint, field camping equipment for both of them, maps and other navigation gear, and a spare set of boots. These soldiers would be doing a great deal of walking, in between long sessions of sitting very still and pretending not to be there.

---

------ Finishing School: Castle Almakand ------ The lesson carefully learned by the early marksmen of the 1st Stretport, and the first handful of battalions instructed to emulate their work, had been immensely valuable in their own right. Keen to capitalise on a successful venture, General Ayberk was given the latitude to create a common course and programme for the training of marksmen. The old imperial fort at Castle Almakand was selected to host the trainers, made up of the first grade of sharpshooters across Ayberk’s command, specifically to train cadres of marksmen from recently arrived battalions and to provide the insight into how things really were at the green troops new home. In a time when the professionalised, standardised systems of training and doctrinal development were in their infancy for a young Army, this particular policy would do much to make sure ‘new’ soldiers would learn the same lessons and gain the same insight of their veteran comrades without having to pay the same price in blood.

[inkskinned]

having good & true friends will literally save and protect you in a million unfathomable ways. like okay we have written so many times about lovers. but the way a platonic friend laughs and cries with you. the way they hold your hand at 14 years old and at 34. the way they keep a little silver tie to you, touching base over and over and over. how you can go years without talking, only to re-meet and discover: oh shit! you're still cool!

there are people who have been in my life for more than half of it, and i have loved every version of them. do you know how fucking beautiful that is. yeah love will save the world. but the way friends love you is gonna save the you.

[artkaninchenbau]

People keep on asking for more Baby Robin and Papadile so here is more Baby Robin and Papadile. Now never ask anything from me ever again

[girlboyburger]

had an identity crisis, prime time for a slight sona redesign!

it's cow! (again!)

+ a closeup because i'm really proud of the eyes

[payasita]

God's Mouthpiece (Echo + Narcissus)

silent protagonists, yknow

[ffcrazy15]

There's this way of doing female-ness in Christianity that I call "pastel flower journal Christianity." I've got nothing against pastel flower journals per se, but for some reason people believe it's the end all and be all of female spirituality, and I think it's a real disservice towards young Christian women.

One of these days I'd like to start a prayer-and-reading group or something for young women, but there would be no floral themes or over-focus on how "God thinks you're beautiful even if the world doesn't" (a true statement, but it's wayyyyy too often the focus in women's spiritual reading). Instead we would be reading:

Seneca's Letters from a Stoic

Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning

Sheed's A Map of Life

Portions of Pieper's book on leisure

Kreeft's Three Philosophies of Life

Guardini's The Lord (or something similar)

Therese's Story of a Soul

and some select portions of the Nicomachean Ethics.

(Also they're all getting the porn talk. I don't know why we give the porn talk to young men but not young women. There's this idea that women don't use porn and they only need the talk about "guarding their heart." Bullshit. There's porn on the YA shelves of Barnes and Nobles and before that there were bodice rippers. Young women need the porn talk too.)

Every young woman needs to be getting a basic grounding in virtue ethics, logic, natural law, scholastic philosophy and Biblical hermeneutics if they're going to get by in today's spiritual landscape. Enough faffery and emotionalism in young women's spiritual education! Give them real food to chew on, not pasty sentimentalism!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Normal boy spotted.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[cubbihue]

Hi! this is kinda an art request if u dont mind. And it's angst related, can you draw like where wanda and cosmo obvs have seen for a while how (human) timmy has been treated by his real parents. I just want to see like the "last straw" which lead Cosmo and Wanda wanting them to make Timmy as their own. (IM HAPPY THAT TIMMY HAS A FAMILY THAT LOVES AND CARES FOR HIM)

The "Last Straw"?

Cosmo and Wanda have seen humans at their best. They've seen humans at their worst. They've seen anything and everything that they've gone numb and used to what humans get up to.

But nothing's shaken them quite like Timmy's case did. Nothing has ever made a Fairy feel such strong human emotions than what Timmy made them feel, on that one particular night.

The thing that broke Cosmo and Wanda was Timmy himself.

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[chimeride]

A hydra, but each head has jaws and teeth specialized for different food like a one-creature set of the Galapagos Finches

[theoldkyokodied]

Uploading all my Tomgreg art at once from the past few week before season 4 hits, who knows in what kind of mental state i'm gonna be once it does :')

[mohntilyet]

continued rook-lucanis sketches from the last week or so <3

[forgettable-au]

What do we think? I think he's like the coolest scientist to ever science

HEY HAPPY 2000 FOLLOWERS‼️HOW DID THAT HAPPEN SO QUICK?????

I'm genuinely so shocked about that I'm so so glad you're all enjoying this AU so far hehehe:D

Also I just made the 1000 followers celebration post like a month ago or something??wow

Here's the guy ‼️‼️ I wanted to practice drawing him quickly and in different poses. I think I achieved that, all this was made with just the lasso fill tool it was soooo fun and I loved not being worried about details just SHAPE

ALL SHAPE (and colors)

[anyroads]

British people: these avocados must go they're past their prime please won't someone eat them

The avocados:

[ultravioletbrit]

“warn” - Jegulus microfic - @into-the-jeggyverse - 562 words

“James Fleamont Potter!” Regulus bursts into James’ living room.

“What did I do?” James immediately stands up from the couch and is promptly smacked in the chest.

“You didn’t tell me what Barty did.” Regulus snaps.

“Erm…?” James looks at him very confused.

“He gave you the talk.”

“Er, Reg, I already know where babies come from, and we don’t really need to worry about—”

“Not that talk, you idiot. The… the shovel talk… or whatever it’s called.”   

“Oh yeah, he gave me that talk a few weeks ago.” James says simply.

“And why am I just finding out about it now?” James just sort of shrugs, he honestly doesn’t understand why Regulus is so upset. “James!” James gets smacked again but this time he catches Regulus’ wrist and pulls him into his chest.

“Reg, it’s fine. He just wanted to warn me not to hurt you. Which I never would, so it really wasn’t a big deal.” James wraps his arms around Regulus’ waist.

“He said he threatened you.” Regulus pouts.

“Well, yeah. It wouldn’t be much of a warning without a threat. But honestly, his was the least threatening of them all, so—”

Regulus pulls out of James’ arms. “What do you mean ‘of them all’? How many were there?”

“Erm… Three?… and a half?”

“A half?”

“Yeah, there’s Barty, and he just threatened to kill me, so that’s not too bad. Then there’s Sirius and he was a bit scarier, but only because he knows me so well, so he knows what would hurt me the most, and he was not afraid to threaten me with it. Then there’s Remus, but he was sort of half you, half Sirius. He cares about you, so he obviously doesn’t want me to hurt you. But if I did, then Sirius would have to follow through with his threats, so Remus would also have to deal with whatever Sirius-level drama comes after that, and that’s never fun. So, he threatened me half because of you, half because of Sirius. And then…” James feels a literal chill run down his spine. “Well… then there’s… erm… there’s Pandora, and she was truly terrifying.” James finishes with a shiver.

“Pan… Pandora?” Regulus asks and James nods. “Soft, sweet Pandora, whose best friend is a caterpillar, was the most terrifying?”

“Yes!!” James yelps. Regulus gives him an incredulous and slightly amused look. “Have you ever been threatened by Pandora!?” James asks.

“No.” Regulus chuckles.

“I do not recommend it. I had nightmares for a week!” James shivers again just at the thought.

“What did she say to you?”

“I will not repeat that!!” James shrieks. “I’d probably accidentally summon some horrible creature!”

Regulus laughs under his breath and walks over to wrap his arms around James’ neck. James instinctively wraps his around Regulus’ waist, pulling him as close as possible and takes a deep, steadying breath.

“I’m sorry they did that to you.” Regulus whispers.

“It’s really okay.” James whispers back. “I was sort of expecting it, and I would’ve been more surprised if they didn’t.” Regulus looks at him curiously. “You have a lot of people who love you, Reg. I knew they’d want to make sure I would never hurt you. And if I ever did, I’d deserve everything Pandora threatened, and more.”

Regulus rolls his eyes, but his cheeks also turn a lovely shade of pink. “You’re ridiculous.” He tells James, pulling him in for a kiss.

[rocketbirdie]

Cloud Strife

1 in 3 chance for each played 7 to create a Planet card when scored.

[endlesslytired]

Penacony.

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