Brick Fight

because moar bullits is always bettah.

Weren't there unconfirmed reports that Humvees with more guns were statistically safer to be in that ones with better armor?

So, what are the funniest possible replacements for the G-36?  I think it would be glorious if the Germans bought FX-05s.

 

It's rather surprising how quickly this all blew up.  Was it brewing for a long time?

G11 is coming back. Get hyped.

But seriously.

Heh, so WT has copied WoT and split apart the T95 and T28, and not given the T28 the outer tracks. Only difference is the WT T28 is a premium

Yeah. Always thought that was pretty dumb. The only reason I could ever see doing that is that right after Devers asked for more more armor, they did the T95 name switch. I don't think they were ever tied to each other.

Not trying to be rude or insulting, but it just doesn't feel like you guys are actually looking at that from an objective point of view.

Heads up, I will be a happy fool during a debate until someone says the word "objectively" like it's some kind of trump card. I've known Ross for about 3 years now, and I've argued this same thing over and over again with him.

A lot of those things about how the tanks look better are his opinion. That's fine. The tank turning thing can be negated with manual control or by investing in driver skills. Him saying WT player base is more cowardly is hypocritical after the hours I've spent playing WoT with him and listening to him literally scream the entire time about how cowardly WoT players are. The issue of not knowing how to kill a tank was a very big problem acknowledged by the devs and resulted in kill cams and the "X Ray" key that give a better idea how the damage system works.

Re-reading this, it comes off as me being mad and short. Sorry if that's the case. I kind of just slammed this together, so if I come off as a jerk, it's entirely unintended.

While most War Thunder matches result in players hiding in bushes and exchanging fire at extreme ranges or rushing to their deaths, the same events usually take longer to transpire in WoT. Players tend to be more aggressive, and will actively move into crucial positions even if it puts them at risk of being hit. In fact, the most oft-complained about things in the game are those which punish that aggressive play, such as high-alpha tank destroyers, autoloaders, and artillery.

I love Ross, but he is so obviously full of shit with this type of stuff. Play with him, and he will literally scream non-stop that WoT players are not being aggressive enough, and that they're hiding too much. He also wrote that after playing something like five matches in the first go of beta.

I prefer War Thunder because it's just less of a slog. The grind is much less of a pain. I don't start from scratch with a tank that requires 20 wins to get the tracks, 20 wins to get the turret, 30 wins for the next gun, and 40 wins for the top gun, then another hundred for the next tank. They have the booster system if you want some extra boons with or without premium. You're also not given the finger purely over a loss. You can do more damage than anyone on either teams in WoT, and get big bird for your trouble, but I've rarely felt cheated after a good performance during a loss in WT.

If I set up my gun just right and hit a guy where his ammo rack is, then I just destroyed that tank. In WoT, suddenly my 17 pdr. is only 1/15 shots needed to kill a tank. I can (and have been able to) kill tanks ranked well above me with a single-placed shot.  There's still a reward for being a good player without running into the issues of hard numbers. Maybe it's from hanging with hardcore CW spergs in WoT, but I am so freaking sick of numbers and counting. I just want to shoot a tank in the ammo rack or knock out his two drivers, and be done with it. I just find a system centering around the disabling parts of a tank to kill it or make it less effective to be more rewarding and open to different tactics. It also negates a lot of the balance issues that WoT has.

I don't touch Arcade battles, especially for ground. RB is good for planes, because it requires strategy and knowledge of what planes can do, and people can use different tactics based on if their planes are good for turning/energy/whatever. Ground just got better in RB because they recently took away markers. This lets you capitalize on offensive and defensive tactics, as you're not being lit up for the whole map to see while sneaking around to the enemy's side.

I do have complaints with WT. Extinguishers should not be an unlockable module. They should stop using win rate so much for balance decisions. They need to cut their Wehraboo fanbase (it's worse now than WoT's ever was). They need air starts for some planes in some events.

This is just from someone who prefers one game over another. I feel like with less free time lately, War Thunder has been the way to go.

Yeah, regulars here from the WoT forums suggested I come here for a nice haven. I've been reading FW for a while but never even thought to look at the forums.

I'm usually lost in the technical and mechanical discussions, but I try to read up on what people say to get a basic understanding of machinery. I'm more interested in the political side of defense, and not in the "political debate" sense. I'm powering through some of David E. Griffith's books right now if that gives you an idea. This stuff with Germany's forces right now is especially interesting because it could be reaching into other EU countries and cause some problems in the EU's soft power structure.

With only 5 strong maneuver brigades, Germany has in essence checked out of NATO and tacitly accepted a US nuclear umbrella.  

 

France and Germany about twenty years back signed that white paper that assured each of mutual home defense.  At the time NATO planned for Germany to provide for 15 brigades out front - the core of the European footprint.  The US it was believed would have another 15 brigades in Europe, and smaller NATO allies would undertake an individual brigade or team up to do combined brigades.  France was out of this picture but it was assumed they would provide crucial strategic reserves.

 

The problem with the Franco German plan is they both planned to take advantage of it to reduce forces.  15 Brigades?  Germany saw a chance and said, well France can provide the 10, and we will provide the 5.  Money saved (and so much for strategic reserve).  To make things look good we will do a combined brigade on the cheap with wheels.

 

France also said the same thing.  NATO wants 15 brigades in the shop window?  Well Germany can do the 10 and we will do the 5, and yeah, we can throw some effort into the wheeled brigade - the French army is nothing but filled with wheels.  Although back in NATO informally they like to be independent.

 

So they ended up with 10 brigades and no strategic reserve.  As for the idea that the US would put 15 brigades in the window - they went south with the US believing Europe could handle its own policing while they concentrated on the WOT.  The 170th and 172nd went home and no more US heavy brigades.

 

That leaves Poland (9 heavy brigades), the Czechs (2 heavy brigades), the Slovaks (2 heavy brigades), Belgium (1 brigade), Hungary (2 brigades), Romania (6 brigades, plus some strong leg units) and Bulgaria (2 brigades) guarding the front door.  Poland is a scary customer and very able.  The Czechs and Slovaks could be good but there are indications that they are having issues.  Romania is surprisingly good.  However all of these countries are in need of modernization.

 

A group of friends and I have been agitated for congress to donate about 2000 M1 Abrams to Poland and Romania.  About 210 A10 and 250 F16 are also boneyard ready for return to service.  

 

As for Germany and France - that ship has sailed.  They won't ever again have a heavy land army sufficient to counterbalance Russia, and both plan on initial use of nuclear weapons to occur on first invasion, thus allowing them to feel justified in their draw down.

This is stupidly interesting to me. I love the political ends of this sort of thing. Do you have any books or materials you can recommend about this subject?

Guys the G11 is gonna come back, I swear.

But seriously. This is a pretty big thing. I can't imagine a recall and upgrade being worth the effort, or even possible at all. That may result in Germany dropping the gun, and buying a new one. If H&K's burned enough bridges with the government as much as they've done with private consumers by now, they may not even hope for increased 416 sales. But then completely re-arming isn't exactly easy, either, and they can't exactly sell them off to legitimate or desirable people. So, it's going to be expensive, and they're going to either do it cheap, or do it right. Knowing that countries like Germany are under pressure from their population to keep spending down, I don't think a whole new weapons program or caliber switches being in the cards. Problem is that they have no real domestic options besides H&K. As a result, we may see FN, Steyr, or (huge longshot) Colt try to step in.

I wonder if this will spread, now. The EU now seems more focused on getting involved with Syria and other conflicts, and it's hard to flex your military for political capital when your stocks are going un-tested or under-maintained for this long.

I'll get that scan on Sunday. I don't have access to the doc until then.  

 

I'm a little surprised that 29% of hits to the front hull of Panthers and Tigers penetrated. Blows a hole in the "invincible from the front" argument even though most hits came from the sides anyway.  

Was this purely with American guns, or does it include British? It's impressive either way, but even moreso if the former.

That looks like an RDF (LT).

 

Reminds me of that experiment they had where they mounted the 75mm Ares on a Sheridan.

I feel like the scale on this graph may be goofed, but I get the point overall.

FACT: All Shermans look beautiful in the glow of the late-afternoon sunlight.

Also, I never wanted to really complain, but I always thought this guy should have been marked as an M4A1E8, but I'd feel like such a nerd for even suggesting it