BruceVC

I think the West has provided lots of military aid to Ukraine but end of the day this is an offensive where the Russians have had months to prepare defenses like using landmines and progress will be slow to reduce casualties I have heard the view that there wasn't adequate training on some military equipment but Im not sure how that would change a reality of a field with hundreds of landmines? And airpower plays a part as well But the offensive is ongoing and if its slow then its slow. Only Ukraine can make the call to change its strategy if its not working

I was going to say " this is an outrageous post? How can you say you wont finish BG3" But then I read your post and I get your reasons, they understandable and based on what you enjoy from RPG. BG3 is just not for you and I think we need to accept that? Last point from me to try to convince you, Wyll has a hot Cambion patron as his side quest, if you don't continue to play BG3 you might miss the chance to Romance her or something similar? Are you prepared to take that risk Oh and how many hours did you spend playing it?

I about 20 hours into KA1 and Im having lots of fun, I am getting more and more comfortable with battles and effective strategy which includes using my cavalry and heroes effectively I am also going to follow the Old Faith, much hotter women like you recommended

Wormie what I have been saying for the last 2 years, BG3 is going to be an epic game. Larian would never let us down on such an iconic game

https://mothership.sg/2023/08/modi-brics-no-show/ Interesting link with the real fractures within BRICS, Modi may not be attending the summit in person because of the following ( our president has asked him after this to attend in person ) "Modi’s potential absence comes after India altered July’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which also included China and Russia, to a virtual format without giving an official reason " "According to the Reuters report, New Delhi is experiencing growing reservations about being part of China-dominated organisations like BRICS and SCO, given Indian’s increasing relations with Western powers" Indian-China relations have worsened since a border clash in the Himalayas three years ago left 20 Indian soldiers and 4 Chinese soldiers dead " Im not surprised, BRICS is basically a Chinese dominant union and India has its own reservations around China

You really peddling the anti-France propaganda on this one but it made me laugh ...you left out " and our resources are still being stolen by our former European masters " Always use that one when making this type of post, its another good one

Yes its KA1, what other difficulty recommendations or general tips do you suggest? Because I want to avoid playing for 40 hours and then the AI starts cheating and I cant win any battles

Yes absolutely but do you know where that mostly comes from? If you listen to anyone who thinks that they will always makes points like " black people cant be racist because they dont have power " and this comes from Steve Biko and some of his black consciousness views. But Biko was wrong about this because he lived and died in the Apartheid system and to him the Apartheid system was racist because it had the power. So he had an understandable misunderstanding of what creates bigotry You can be living in abject poverty and you can still be a bigot, you could be sexist, homophobic or racist. It has very little to do with power but you do find systems of power that espouse forms of bigotry Bigotry is normally inculcated and created in people through there upbringing, families or lived experiences. And its a choice and anyone can stop being a bigot if they really want But the point being anyone of any race can be a racist or another type of bigot, lack of agency or power doesn't mean you cant

It reminds me a bit of the selective understanding of history I sometimes come across in SA, some activists honestly believe that only white people committed slavery in Africa or globally and they always surprised when its pointed out " almost every nation of man committed slavery including black tribes in Africa who enslaved other tribes " And this history is well documented and accessible for anyone who has Internet access and a real interest in the subject

But countries like Niger still need that aid and it wont come from anywhere else And I am not talking about UN food aid, I am talking about Western aid that wont continue if its a military coup

I have some huge news....I have decided to play King Arthur Wargame as my next game Its an RPG\RTS game and I never play RTS because I always found the AI ends up cheating and I end up losing key battles and I would rage quit . Which is why the last RTS I played was about 12 years ago Anyway I have done some research on tips for this game and I will provide feedback

Thats is such great feedback, keep us updated about your non-spoiler views I am not joking when I say BG3 could be a candidate for "best RPG of the decade "

So the coup has nothing to do with France or Uranium but its expected we will blame them. The AU will suspend Niger like Mali and Burkina Faso but the end result will be same as other coups, things will just get worse for the citizens as Western aid will be cut and disinvestment will start if the coup continues ECOWAS may act this time militarily because by not acting they are setting a precedent

I like the way you think, now we just need those pesky NATO votes to agree

Sure but compromises will have to be made on both sides and Crimea is quite possibly one of them

Pre-war to me is since the invasion so that includes Donbas but not Crimea . But this whole peace initiative is about security guarantees by the G7 until Ukraine can join NATO So to answer your question, the people of Donbas should be happy because Russian troops will leave Ukraine and the security guarantees will protect Ukraine until they can join NATO. Thats my understanding?

Thats interesting, I wonder if its true? I like the parts "Security guarantees for Ukraine will be concrete, long-term obligations ensuring Ukraine's capacity to defeat and restrain Russian aggression in the future. These will be clearly drafted formats and mechanisms of support." He said the guarantees "will be in effect until Ukraine secures NATO membership." " He said an initial international meeting devoted to the peace plan took place in Copenhagen in June. In addition to calling for a withdrawal of Russian troops, Zelenskiy's peace plan also provides for the restoration of Ukraine's pre-war borders and the return home of all prisoners and deported children" It seems reasonable, the Ruskies will keep Crimea and I imagine get Western sanction relief?

Very interesting, lots of historical things I didnt know about

https://www.africanews.com/2023/07/31/ecowas-leaders-give-niger-one-week-ultimatum-to-restore-president// ECOWAS has given the generals in Niger 1 week to restore Democratic rule or risk military intervention' This may work, it worked in The Gambia and they did nothing in Mali or Burkina Faso, except for suspension from the AU, and the military coups are still in place

Yes, BG3 is my most anticipated game of all time But Wormie remember my policy, I always wait 3-6 months to play new games so that the official patches are released and relevant mods are created Thats how I avoid a Cyb2077 disappointment and anger

I finished Gothic 2 after about 100 hours and as I mentioned in a previous post its a highly recommended, classic PB design game which includes all the things we love about PB games which are no level scaling and no map hand holding an open world and multiple ways to advance skills and lots of side quests I played as a Paladin and I also used scrolls in certain combat strategies. I adopted a good approach to defeat the dragons which included a Summon Demon spell and then I attacked while the dragons were distracted G2 gets a well deserved 70/100 on the globally respected " BruceVC game rating system " Now the next exciting question, what next to play? I have several options which I will post later

This is going to be my last comment on this topic with you because I feel I am repeating myself and after reading this post I am not sure we are even debating the same thing? This is not about " are African leaders polite and flattering to Putin in there speeches " of course they are. Thats normal diplomacy 101 especially when you visiting another country and you at a summit about closer economic and security ties. Its the same as the African peace initiative when various African leaders visited both Ukraine and Russia, they were very polite This is about the majority of African leaders asking Russia to restore the grain deal because by cancelling it you are going to increase food insecurity in Africa. There are literally 9-10 different speeches from different African leaders wanting the same thing including the SA president over the last 7-10 days and its covered extensively in our local media In fact its going to be much harder to find a single African leader supporting the cancelled grain deal and just being happy with the Russians free grain deal. But if you find a link like that post it and I will read it But in closing, the official AU view is Russia needs to restore the grain deal because cancelling it is not in the best interests of Africa. If you disagree with that then post the links? But my point has nothing to do with how polite African leaders are to Putin in speeches

You welcome to find another link quoting different words that the head of the AU said but he said ( which I directly quoted in a previous post} "But Assoumani pushed back against the Russian leader’s claim that Russia would provide enough grain to Africa without the need for Ukrainian supplies. Although Russia was “cooperating” to resolve the crisis, “our continent is currently being severely impacted by food prices. So we are appealing to all participants in the process with a big request to facilitate access to both Ukrainian and Russian food,” he said in comments translated from French into Russian" Its very clear to everyone but you that this means Africa needs both grain from Russia AND Ukraine. Then the head of the UN SG said "UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres responded to Putin's grain pledge, stressing that grain donations cannot compensate for the deal" All you doing is ignoring the obvious impact cancelling the deal will have on Africa ,which is a global impact ,but as its been explained it will hit Africa by far the hardest. Its simple, Russia is doing this to push grain prices up so they make more money and they put pressure to end Western sanctions. But these sanctions were only implemented because of the invasion of Ukraine so its food blackmail due to the consequence of there ill-conceived invasion It reminds me of what SA could have done during Apartheid, we faced severe sanctions and we had created what were called Bantustans which were black states within the borders of SA that were dependant on SA on most things for survival. The Apartheid government could easily have said " we cant afford to support these Bantustans because of the " evil, Western sanctions "...unless the West drops the sanctions we cannot economically ensure the survival of these regions" Bu even the racist, immoral Apartheid state didnt do that and do you know why? Because the system of Apartheid was self-created and the sanctions were self-inflicted so they had a responsibility to continue to support the Bantustans which were part of the Apartheid architecture The obvious solution is not for " Europeans to eat less hamburgers" but for Russia to restore the grain deal in the interests of global and African food security.

https://www.dw.com/en/african-leaders-urge-putin-to-consider-ukraine-peace-plan/a-66379268 Here is a nice summary link of the Africa Russia summit and it includes things we have already discussed but new information as well, I found this particularly interesting "During the summit's opening on Thursday, Moscow pledged 25,000 to 50,000 tons of Russian grain to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic each in the next three to four months. Under the now halted grain deal, the UN World Food Program shipped 725,000 tons of grain to several countries, including Somalia " So the free grain from Russia cant make up for what is lost through the black sea deal being cancelled

The Russia African summit is over and it was the predicted failure with only 17 African heads of state going and the AU dismissing the Russian offer of free grain as a way to address canceling the black sea grain deal. Russia cant supply enough " free grain " and the AU head urged Putin to restore the deal . To quote from the link below "But Assoumani pushed back against the Russian leader’s claim that Russia would provide enough grain to Africa without the need for Ukrainian supplies. Although Russia was “cooperating” to resolve the crisis, “our continent is currently being severely impacted by food prices. So we are appealing to all participants in the process with a big request to facilitate access to both Ukrainian and Russian food,” he said in comments translated from French into Russian " https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/27/africa-grain-russia/