Zonorhc

I learned how to co-ordinate counterbattery fire and light cavalry flankers against enemy artillery on Medieval 2.

To paraphrase a number of history professors I've actually spoken to, the History Channel and other representations that are marketed to the masses are, for the large part, a load of rubbish. I'm inclined to agree with them, considering that I've actually spent a good part of the past six months reading about this subject. Not quite right. The Spartan democratic institution was actually one of the most enduring systems in the ancient world. You said it yourself, right up to the Peloponnesian Wars, the Spartans hung onto their ephors and kings. Those were part of Sparta's democratic institution.

The History Channel is a credible source? Holy hell. You learn something new everyday, even when you are, you know, a student of ancient history at university. Ever since Lycurgus' reforms*, Sparta was essentially a democracy, with every man expected to serve on the Assembly once they could no longer serve in a martial capacity. The two kings had little actual power, most of that being purely symbolic and ceremonial, even though they were important parts of the Spartan hierarchy. In the same vein, the Ephors served in a largely religious capacity, with the greater part of legislative power residing in the Assembly. For the very large part, Spartan society was a democracy, provided that you were an actual Spartiate in the city state itself, rather than being a Helot or otherwise residing outside the city. *Although those are actually of debatable value as there is no evidence to really show that Lycurgus actually existed, rather than just being a fictional historical figure as the ancient Greeks tended to make when they wanted to justify some big change in their society or system of rule.

That's... not a strategy game.

Well, there's a ridiculous assumption. Darius actually allowed the Ionian city-states to retain their democratic institutions even after the Ionian revolt and the burning of Sardis. Xerxes did nothing to repeal this concession. There's no reason for him to have done away with Athens and Sparta's laughable excuses for democracy.

What's the big thrill? Okay, it has good graphics, but what else? Does it actually have anything more to offer than all the other GTA games? I suppose you still place some lowlife gangland schmuck who gets to kill people at random and steal miscellaneous vehicles while getting into gunfights over "turf" and women?

You're 16 years old and even in an addled state of mind you thought that giving away prescription medication to another minor was not a bad idea? Jesus cyborg Christ, they're given out on prescription for a reason. If you want to give away drugs to your friends, stick to over the counter stuff like cough syrup. It ain't as cool, but it sure as hell isn't as illegal, either.

The WH40K: Dawn of War series. Also, Medieval 2: Total War. Late game hint: Arquebusiers backed by pikes and with artillery support with a flying cavalry detachment to mop up. For classics, you don't get much better than Total Annihilation.

University student/market research interviewer.

That was precisely why they lost the battle of Salamis. Even after they sent their Egyptian squadron to the west to cut off the Hellenic escape, they still had far too many ships to fight in the narrow waters. Same deal as on land. Smaller ships get packed in, foul up each others' oars as they try to back away from the heavier Greek (mainly Athenian and Aeginetan) triremes that were chewing them to pieces (Herodotus viii.84-94). In an open engagement, such as at Artemisium, the Greeks were at a significant disadvantage due to their heavier ships, barring freak storms. (Herodotus viii.84-94) To be fair to Xerxes, those few thousand men he wasted on the Phocian wall did wear down the Greeks somewhat. Heavy infantry were not invincible. At any rate, Thermopylae was not the critical engagement at that point, since Artemisium had to be taken in order to keep the army supplied. If nothing else, throwing away all those lives was a sort of insurance against Artemisium failing: if the Greeks had held there, Xerxes would have counted those extra thousands of men as a liability. The Greeks, however, had to hold Thermopylae and Artemisium at all costs, since if one was lost, so was the other. Xerxes only had the problem of supply. If he lost Artemisium, he only had to throw away a few thousand more men to make up for the supply deficiency and establish a stronger foothold on Macedonia that the Hellenic league wouldn't have been able to dislodge him from in the first place.

Changing the Schlieffen Plan in WWI caused the German army unnecessary delays, and along with unexpected resistance from Belgium, contributed to the reduction of the war to a stalemate along the Western Front. Tactical blunder during the battle of Cambrai, when idiot Haig deployed his infantry well ahead of his tanks, dismissing the latter as useless. Infantry was chewed to pieces by German machine guns without tank support, and the tanks were later torn apart with German artillery and AP machine gun fire because the infantry couldn't neutralise them. Another deployment blunder in the battle of Agincourt, when French knights deployed ahead of their Genoese mercenary crossbowmen and infantry in order to get at the English on the other side of a muddy field. Unfortunately, smooth surfaces like armour and boot soles have a tendency to stick to mud, which they encountered rather rudely after their horses were shot to bits by English longbows. The ones who made it through didn't quite pay enough attention to the rows of sharpened stakes in front of the English position, either. If the knights had held back and let the crossbows do their work, the battle may have turned out quite a bit differently. Dismounted, the knights would have worked better as heavy infantry, since there was no way in hell to punch through plate armour short of crossbows and siege weaponry.

A commissioned piece for the World of Farland, a d20 campaign setting. Full view (deviantART link). Comments please. Constructive criticism preferred.

I can barely remember yesterday, and you expect me to remember that? I guess I haven't been gaming for very long, in a geological sense.

I don't know how many times I have to say this, but Honey Lee's breasts are way too far apart.

I like the macro one, actually. Not a big fan of the boxes of tools. There isn't much in the way of composition or lighting that you really need in black and white photographs. As for not really getting comments, hey... Didn't they tell you you're not supposed to post anything but pixel art and signatures in here? =P

Ask them to repeat themselves.

Yes, and I love it. It's the basis for our first-world consumerist society, didn't you know?

It's amazing how you can type so much blather in a heated state of mind, yet say absolutely nothing that's actually related to the topic.

So am I right in assuming that the people who are against assisted suicide now also wanted to keep Terri Schiavo alive?

I believe that was slightly unnecssary. :lol: Just a heads up for those of you who live in coastal cities. Expect flooding.

A research project. On ghosts. Is this serious? I hope to hell you're proofreading the end product as well. Oh, well. Might as well have a go at answering, then. 1) People who become ghosts are usually described as having an unfulfilled purpose in life, whether vengeance or the acquisition of some miscellaneous object. Or perhaps there was insufficient material to create a more awesome sort of undead, like a zombie or a vampire. Perhaps both. 2) Let's see you walk into a dusty, old house with all the furniture covered with white linen at night and not get freaked out of your wits. There's a reason why creepy horror chicks are always wearing white shifts, you know. White is creepy and it glows in moonlight. At least with people who wear black you know they'll only sap you and steal your possessions. The little girl who wears white and carries her doll around while speaking with a demure English schoolgirl accent? She's going to eat your soul. 3) This is a silly question. You can usually tell if they're fake when words come out of their mouths. Real psychics communicate via telepathy. Please supply said evidence so I can viciously (and hilariously!) disprove it.

My balls are huge. Seriously. Whenever I thrust my hips, gravity shifts and small coastal villages are swept away.

Korea's breasts are too far apart.

Japan. But holy hell, they both look about the same under all that makeup.

What is that? I can see what might be a face, but I'm not even sure there.