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[scriver]

Now mistake me if I am correcting, but wasn't Xenophon loytal to working for Darius until he was assassinated by the Rogues' leader Luthor?

[brewer bob]

2,400 years of "will you stop invading FOR ONE SECOND"

Yeah, I've understood that this is something Kurds joke about. "We're used to it," was one reaction I heard about them (probably) getting fucked over once again.

[Loud Whispers]

Now mistake me if I am correcting, but wasn't Xenophon loytal to working for Darius until he was assassinated by the Rogues' leader Luthor?

Xenophon was working for Cyrus the younger, who was a claimant of the Persian throne who died in battle against his reigning brother Atarxerces after Atarxerces did some palace intrigue to remove Cyrus from the line of succession. Cyrus the younger is named after Cyrus the great, who depending on who you believe either died in battle against an Iranian nomad Empress or died peacefully in his sleep. It is somewhat annoying that you can find constant references to Kurdish tribes (or indeed, what people presume are Kurdish tribes since the names are similar) always mentioned on the peripheries of Mesopotamian empires but never any further elaboration besides "oh yeah those guys live over there and they fight fiercely." It's like the Georgian issue where most historical references to Georgians is just "these guys are crazy don't mess with them, anyways how about them olive oil prices" but stretched out over 3,000 years
I can excuse Xenophon at least since he was more interested in getting home alive than asking pertinent questions about their foreign relations but everyone else has no excuse

[scriver]

To be fair, up until Antonio Banderas invented travelling to the people you were writing about to get a first hand account, "oh yeah those guys live over there and they fight fiercely" was pretty much the total sum of people-ology, at least Roman such

[Loud Whispers]

To be fair, up until Antonio Banderas invented travelling to the people you were writing about to get a first hand account, "oh yeah those guys live over there and they fight fiercely" was pretty much the total sum of people-ology, at least Roman such

That got a sensible chuckle out of me

[Starver]

Interesting article about tanks, and how they should-be-but-aren't-being used. Not much new there, for those who have even table-top wargamed, but the idea of drone-tanks (not new in itself, but surely ripe for a UAV-type update for semi-autonomous/remotely-commanded outriding of manned tanks) is raised.



And not knowing where else to say this, just to report that PM Johnson has gone/is now going... Officially. So a lot less personal calls to Zelensky in the near future. I imagine .uk will still be behind .ue, but there seems no need for more announcements of support to prop up our beleagured regime, so we can hopefully let the actual military experts say and do the right things rather than a blustering buffoon probably mess up everyone else's best efforts.

ETA: He wants to stay on until the autumn, as his own interim caretaker, while they work out which of his many rivals/allies/both-at-once-the-backstabbers-the-lot-of-'em is his actual successor. Even if pressured to step down earlier, doubt it will happen before the first week in August, because you just know he will have to serve as PM for longer than his predecessor, the one he forced out for being too reasonable. Sorry, not very Ukraine-related, except that Russia is saying that his downfall is because he acted against their interests... Something to do with boomerangs, apparently. ... ETA2: ...part of this article...

[Loud Whispers]

omg are tanks over? carriers? hello? imagine using infantry when BULLETS defeat them?

[EuchreJack]

Apparently, Russia's problem in deploying tanks is that they're not using enough cannon fodder.

[Lord Shonus]

No, they're not properly using infamtry to screen ahead for AT units. Tanks have needed an infantry screen since 1917 or so - the onky real difference is that ATGMs have replaced towed AT guns that replaced AT rifles that replaced shoving the bullet into the case backwards.

That has nothing to do with "cannon fodder".

[EuchreJack]

No, they're not properly using infamtry to screen ahead for AT units. Tanks have needed an infantry screen since 1917 or so - the onky real difference is that ATGMs have replaced towed AT guns that replaced AT rifles that replaced shoving the bullet into the case backwards.

That has nothing to do with "cannon fodder".

We apparently have different definitions of cannon fodder.

The variety I'm referring to is the type that rides on the tanks and could presumably shoot at incoming drones, in the same way that SMG-equipped infantry would ride on Russian tanks in the later years of WWII.

Or at the very least, ride in trucks behind the tanks and flush out infantry controlling the drones.

Cannon Fodder, dying to keep tank casualties down. Apparently Russia isn't doing enough of it. I stand by the point, even though it was originally a (bad) joke.

[Strongpoint]

Russian infantry, on average, has worse training, less combat experience, worse equipment, worse morale, and, most importantly, they haven't mobilized enough of the "take this boomstick and point it to the enemy" and "stand on a checkpoint and look pretty" kind of guys.

Long-range missiles, artillery, airforce, and tons of tanks and other AFWs are what lets them take ground at this stage. They are far ahead in all of those.

And they will keep coming. Speaking of tanks, Ukraine has destroyed something like 10% of Russian pre-war stocks.

[King Zultan]

What about using Russian soldiers to armour the tanks would that make them last longer?

[Starver]

It sounds like Russia is moving its ships away from Crimean seas/ports (and shouting about how it would be a big mistake to actually launch attacks on Crimea), possibly in response to an increased influx of anti-ship capabilities by Ukraine. Running scared of several more Moskvas happening? Not that I'd blame them for being scared, but it doesn't enhance their attempt to seem 'on top of things' against the mere nuisance of Kiev's forces.

On the other side of things, Zelensky has fired two of his top people (Security Chief and Chief Prosecutor), citing the high numbers of individuals (tens of individuals, I think it was said, but clearly significant) from their respective departments who have acted for the Russians in various ways ('treasonously', which might be indeed be a correct description). Not sure of the details, but probably includes some of those who consciously took up (or continued?) puppetted positions under the enforced Russian administration, and likely a number of more active betrayals than merely allowing an occupier-friendly continuation of local-level autonomy. Again, could be necessary (I don't know how much can be ascribed to their failure to rein in the effective defections, surely no personal complicity is suspected, though). And, again, may not really look good. In this case, I hope that it's truly worth it and has been considered rather than been a knee-jerk.

[Starver]

It seems official that the UK will host Eurovision 2023. Celebrating in a Ukrainean way, it is promised[1], on behalf of the nation that probably will have hangover issues even if there's no longer a clear and present danger.

Several possible host cities on the cards, but will doubtless be bedecked yellow-and-blue for the occasion.


[1] By Johnson, but probably still counts, him being (hopefully) long-gone by the time it happens.

[Loud Whispers]

They probably just did a mixup on UKR and UK when filling out the paperwork