Agiel

Guilty Gear Xrd coming to Steam tomorrow. Unfortunately we PC players will have gotten the shaft again by fighting game developers and will have to settle for a release behind the PS4 version and will not be able to play as Jam or Dizzy.

For those who don't have it yet, you can try Dawn of War II: Retribution for free on Steam this week. And if you want to give the skirmish (or the adversarial multiplayer, if you're daring) a try, make sure to pick up the Elite mod, which offers balance changes and a considerably expanded unit roster. All these new events for the game as of late gives me hope that Relic has something exciting to announce for the series soon. If there's a new Dawn of War game coming out, I just hope you can play as someone other than boring 'ol Space Marines again in the campaign.

Snazzy motion graphics courtesy of Raytheon: The 155mm AGS firing the Long-Range Land Attack Projectile. This makes this "Destroyer" ostensibly a "Battleship" in all but name (in terms of providing on-call fire support at stand-off ranges for ground forces, that is).

There is that upcoming action MMO, Blade and Soul, that was best described as Tera with a Wu Xia face. That said, how much that excites you sort of depends on whether or not you enjoy MMOs to begin with.

It would actually be my second favourite Infinity Engine game behind BG2. The barebones plot (get your party from the left of the screen to the right, occasionally do it from right to left) doesn't get in the way of the superb encounter design and the sheer joy of experimenting with different party builds. Oh, that, and DnD RPGs finally dropped THAC0.

I could die feeling like I lived a fulfilling life if a Bayonetta/DMC-style game where you play as a Harlequin was made.

Not accurate, at all. The SA-21 is simply too important to relocate from defense of Moscow, particularly to a place where their control over their territory is tenuous. What the Russians do have is a Slava cruiser off the coast of Syria with the navalised variant of the SA-10, the SA-N-6, which has a kinematic range of about 50nm, which is probably enough given the amount of coastal territory the Syrian government controls. And in any case, can't risk the Israelis somehow making off with the thing.

Relevant video from Super Bunnyhop:

I found the Ardennes Assault expansion campaign more exciting than the campaign of the base game, but that may have had something to do with me playing a lot of multiplayer which that campaign owes more to (and even on normal can be a kick in the ass if you're not already well-versed on the American faction). The campaign of the stock game was a more directed experience you can play at your own pace more often than not and has its moments (such as trying to take down a Tiger I with only PTRS rifles and creative employment of smoke grenades and demolition charges).

There were eight Soviet Frontal Aviation aircraft shot down by the Pakistanis during the course of the Soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan, and five MiG-21s flown by clandestine Soviet flyers were brought down by the IAF towards the end of the War of Attrition, so this isn't exactly something totally without precedent. This can be especially egregious given that in certain visibility conditions (i.e. Beyond Visual Range-engagement, angels below 25, so no contrails), the pilots could potentially have absolutely no idea an Alamo was on its way at any point during those five minutes and forty seconds. Most missile approach warning systems can only detect a rocket plume from so far away (and probably not in the case of a BVR missile with a kinematic range of up to 70nm), and radar warning receivers make no distinction between being put in a continuous wave track by a Su-27 or being illuminated for a SARH missile.

Was thinking they were dead ringers for the Dark Eldar from 40K myself. Don't forget you can shift-click Kerrigan to blast problem units (Siege Tanks, Brood Lords, Collosi, etc) and the thingies that spawn the smaller bastards. It pauses her progress bar, but buys you crucial time to block off the ramps with Supply Depots, build your impenetrable wall of Siege Tanks and bunkers, and build a fully-upgraded QRF of MMMs, Banshees, and Vikings.

The Marines were first formed in a Philadelphia tavern (*hic* Hey I have an idea! *hic* We'll row a perfectly good boat to shore and jump out of it!") on this day in 1775. This makes the USMC an institution that is older than the United States itself!

Bones and Hawgs gassing up:

Washington transiting the Strait of Magellan on its way back to Norfolk:

Unfortunately that development will probably mean Boeing is out of the running for the F-22/F-35 follow-up competition, and an end to the McDonnell-Douglas line of fighters: http://aviationweek.com/defense/opinion-lrs-b-and-military-aircraft-industry?NL=AW-19&Issue=AW-19_20150129_AW-19_838&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&YM_RID=CPEN1000000434923&YM_MID=1622 The American industry is looking decidedly Russian in how delineated the roles each of the big 3 combat aircraft companies manufacture for with LockMart handling Tac-air (Sukhoi), NG doing bombers (Tupolev), and Boeing handling support and airlift craft like the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, the KC-46 Pegasus tanker, and the C-17 Globemaster (Ilyushin).

F-16 Falcon Collection now on GOG. http://www.gog.com/game/falcon_collection Includes an installer for the original Falcon 4.0, so you can enjoy the superlative Falcon BMS 4.32 supermod.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/22/africa/al-shabaab-faction-isis/index.html Glass half-full, if they turn out to be the source of resurgent piracy in the Gulf of Aden, it could make the introduction of the LCSes timelier than was originally thought.

Assembled the last pieces for my Snake Plissken Halloween costume. Auspiciously, this year's Halloween feature at my local movie theater is The Thing.

Probably one of the more interesting things I saw coming out of that was the M8 AGS (designed back in the Cold War for the 82nd Airborne's requirements for an air-droppable tank to replace the Sheridans) making a comeback. https://player.vimeo.com/video/142385228

At least I can rest easy knowing that the chances of my car getting overturned or torched due to World Series win euphoria have drastically gone down.

Lawmakers Weigh Cut in Fed Payout to Banks. More than $1 billion a year would go to pay for highway construction I confess I had to check my calendar to see that it wasn't April 1st.