Agiel

As of now the most irritating thing about playing team games is being teamed up with too timid players, people who don't understand that a Relic RTS is all about map control, even more so than Starcraft and League of Legends all the kids are into these days (these same players also seem to think we get enough fuel income just by building fuel points, rather than helping me take the natural ones on the map, spending valuable manpower on that instead of additional grenadiers or conscripts). One of these days, Relic should put a splash screen on their games that's required to watch every time you launch the game that says: "DO NOT TURTLE WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE AT LEAST HALF THE GODDAMNED MAP!" Also with the mortar-centric meta now, I've gotten in the habit to listen closely for the tube launches. I micro a capping unit to dance around the point as mortars shells land around them, and break down an MG-42 ASAP to re-position. Putting infantry into scout-cars/half-tracks during blizzards also finally clicked with me, ninja-capping the other guy's fuel during blizzards on the winter maps. Speaking of which, a pair of Sdfkz 222 Scout Cars with autocannons raiding a Soviet player's rear lines and icing 4 Studebaker trucks with Katushyas mounted on them is glorious. I really hate artillery-centric players, you see.

I don't exactly have a lock on my personal data here overall given that half the people on this board decided to shoot me in the head at one point or another. Dude... I manage a bunch of 15 and 16 year olds. Imagine how old I must feel with something like Sugar Ray or Bare Naked Ladies comes on the radio and I start rocking out while they ask who the hell is singing. Also when it occurs to you that you're older than Aaliyah when she died

All I know is that if the best looking games looked as good as Battlefield 3 does now for the next five years with relatively mild graphical improvements over the years, I would totally be okay with that. I'm still having a blast with Mount and Blade and Steel Beasts even though they look ugly as sin (and they are among the few in my library I can run on max settings), but they still play utterly fantastic. I'd rather see a sustainable games industry that isn't reliant upon selling at least 2 million copies to break even and developers who don't live in constant fear of being laid off once their part on the project is finished.

24. That feeling you get when they don't even ask for your ID anymore at bars... (well, it happened once)

When I was getting my license, they walked me through Microsoft Flight Simulator first, which was in my case more of a formality. Hard part was getting used to the responsiveness of the controls in the real aircraft as opposed to it with an off the shelf flight stick (the instructor sat next to me ready to take over the controls if things started looking pear-shaped). As for DCS, the game started as an avionics training simulator for pilots of the Air National Guard converting to the A-10C, and after some time the company that developed it, Eagle Dynamics, was allowed to produce a commercial version. Keep in mind that the sim is modeled after the 2nd block of upgraded A-10Cs where the USAF and ANG have just now filled orders for the 7th block and the capabilities of certain top-of-the-line equipment like the Sniper XR targeting pod remain too classified to be modeled accurately in the sim as well.

Pretty cool. But then again I love CoH1's graphics. I've got it ramped up to maximum for everything and it's purdy. I think you'd like the weather effects, the blizzards are very atmospheric I had to put a woolly hat on. As for other observations --- I agree with Drowsy that they have resorted to one concept of the theatre, which in Multiplayer I would suggest is Kursk - Berlin (i.e. later war tactics) will be interesting to see what's occurring in the campaign... So for LordCrash the campaign is a totally different data set from MP. So you might see very different units and mechanics in single-player. Agiel: You can get 88s in this game as a Commander ability and move the suckers around, too. There is a very fair split between on and off-map arty. The PaK-43 at the moment seems to be just a specialist anti-tank unit with not much more anti-infantry power than the Panther, takes an agonising time to build, is particularly vulnerable to at that stage in the game ubiquitous Soviet artillery, and costs way too much in the way of upkeep.

Well at least the Soviets have a lot of artillery, they called it the "God of War" for a reason. About the only artillery that's an actual unit and not an off-map global ability the Germans have are mortars and the Walking Stuka (the latter if you're kind of up a creek if they miss). At the moment, there have been quite a few complaints that "German Steel" has a dominating advantage against Soviet armour, but given that the Soviets have to count upon spam tactics and they have plenty of immobilising abilities (ram for T-34 and their basic conscripts having easy access to the CoH 2 equivalent of riflemen sticky bombs) and that the Ostwind is weak as hell this time around, I don't really see where they're coming from. I would definitely like to see the 88 back in this game. Anti-aircraft, anti-tank, and anti-social!

Actually possible: http://www.koryogroup.com/ Just make sure if you go with a friend you bring a small whiteboard and dry erase marker, your hotel room will be bugged. Joking aside, might I suggest the south of France? Sure, Nice is a bit too easy, but it's easy for a good reason. I've been all over, but I haven't seen oceans as blue or beaches as sunny as that.

Probably the most impressive engine sound I ever heard was from a Harrier I watched at an air show. I frequently go to the House of Blues in West Hollywood for the Summer Slaughter tour, but even listening to ear-shatteringly loud death metal doesn't beat the sound of a Harrier doing a STOL takeoff in terms of decibel levels.

Admittedly, a bunch of that is embellished. I have so far mastered the 50+ step start-up procedure, taking off and landing, aircraft maneuvering, basic navigational display management, basic weapons employment, and coordination with the joint-terminal attack controller. That said, there's at least five hundred functions to the aircraft I haven't learned (advanced management of the CDU, multiple JDAM drops, trouble-shooting some CICU errors, etc) and I probably only know about a third of the total material from the 700+ page manual. I do however have a small plane license and experience with flight sims since I was eleven (I am 24 now), so that helps.

*BWWWWAAAAAAA* The GAU-8 thunders. The GCAS warnings ring and a female voice, "B****ing Betty," protests "Altitude! Altitude!" as Baldie ceases fire and pulls up. "Playboy 3-1, request BDA." Baldie says as he drops another series of flares. He waits for a moment before Playboy is on the horn again. "Hawg 1-1, three trucks destroyed, re-attack is authorised. Turn 180 degrees from your heading and reference secondaries. Remaining targets are 300 meters to the west, over." While the A-10 is not a quick aircraft by any stretch of the imagination, it's straight wing set-up means it has an incredibly tight turn radius, Baldie is quickly ready for another run. "In hot!" He cries. The altitude warnings ring again as Baldie pulls up barely 500 feet above the deck. Baldie continues on course before Playboy's voice cackles on the radio again. "Hawg 1-1, targets destroyed. No further tasking available. Nice work! You may depart." Baldie affirms and egresses along the Georgian coast, contacts the air-traffic controller at Batumi International Airport, the makeshift airbase for NATO forces at the moment. He lines up with the runway, lowers his landing gear, and extends the flaps. Code one. As Batumi International Airport was not necessarily intended as a military airbase, the airstrip is rather short, which necessitates extending the airbrakes along with applying the toe-brakes for the landing gear. As the aircraft slows to under 50 knots, Baldie taxis the Hawg to the parking area and powers down the aircraft. The crew-chief will at least be satisfied that Baldie returned his "baby" no worse for wear. Another job well done!

Mission: Provide CAS (Close Air Support) to NATO ground forces blocking a Russian advance to the city of Batumi. Package: 2x A-10C (Hawg 1), 2x A-10C (Boar 1), 2x F-16C SEAD (Colt 1), 2x F-16C CAP (Enfield 1). Execution: Upon reaching initial point, contact ground JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller), callsign "Moonbeam 1-1" for tasking. Time on station is 0h+30m. ------ Welcome to my office. The A-10C is an upgrade to the venerable Fairchild Republic A-10A which has seen service since the early 70s. The upgrade included an updated avionics suite and a precision-guided munitions delivery capability, which augments the "Warthog's" already formidable ground attack capabilities all the while helping to minimise "Blue on blue" situations: I power on the Hawg's engines and avionics, as well as uploading mission data from my data cartridge and check navigation data and weapons profiles. The process takes ten minutes, after which I taxi to the runway and await take-off clearance. "Hawg 1-1, airborne." Captain Jordan "Baldie" Roe (despite the callsign, he has a full and sumptuous head of hair, honest!) says as the aircraft clears the runway. He raises his landing gear and retracts the flaps, "Wheels up." "Grrrr... I'm angry... grrr... I've got a giant gatling gun sticking out of my mouth... grrr..." The key identifying feature of the Hawg is the GAU-8 Avenger 30mm gatling gun that juts out from the nose of the aircraft. It fires a "Combat Mix" of four depleted uranium armour-piercing 30mm rounds for every one high-explosive incendiary round at a rate of fire of 4,200 rounds per minute. It was designed to counter hordes of T-55s and T-62s pouring through the Fulda Gap in the event of a Soviet Invasion of West Germany, but it is still retains its effectiveness against more modern armoured vehicles against the weaker side and rear armour, as well as from a steep dive angle against the top. Upon reaching the initial point, Baldie could make out dark columns of smoke emanating from burning tanks in the distance. The Russian forces are mostly comprised of T-72Bs, butter for the A-10's GAU-8 gatling gun. But they outnumber a single NATO mechanised infantry battalion that stands between them and Batumi, and the Russians will win unless the fast-movers can turn the tide. Baldie tunes his radio to Moonbeam 1-1's frequency: "Moonbeam 1-1, this is Hawg 1-1. Two A-10s 9nm west of IP Adder at 1600. Armed with AGM-65D, GBU-12, CBU-97, 2300 cannon. Play-time is plus 30. Available for tasking, what do you have for us?" A moment before the radio cackles: "Hawg 1-1, this is Moonbeam 1-1, type two in effect, we have trade for you, advise when ready for nine-line." the JTAC responds. A "nine-line" brief is a standardised format for requesting air support which includes the following conditions: The IP for the aircraft to begin his or her attack from, the heading of the target offset from the attacking aircraft's nose, distance from the target, the target's elevation in MSL, the type of target, its GPS co-ordinates, what it is being marked with, location of friendlies in proximity to the target, and finally the suggested egress. "Ready to copy." Baldie says as he circles NATO ground forces below him. "Line is as follows: Adder, three-five-zero, 12 nm, 270 feet MSL, tank column, coordinates Kilo Mike five one seven four five zero, marked by Willy Pete, friendlies southeast 2000 meters, egress east." the JTAC sounds off. "Advise when ready for remarks and further talk-on." "Ready to copy remarks." Baldie responds. "Requesting AGM-65D. Zeus and MANPADS 3 nautical miles north. Make your attack heading 70-290. Stand-by data." Some of the key features of the A-10C's upgrade package were a tactical awareness display (TAD) using NATO's ubiquitous Link-16 situational awareness data-link and a LANTIRN targeting pod that can be slaved to the SADL. Whereas before A-10 pilots would typically locate targets using their Mark I Eyeballs, forward air controllers can now upload GPS co-ordinates to the A-10's TAD, minimising the time between nine-line briefing to rounds on target. Moonbeam sounds off: "Report IP inbound." "Hawg 1-1, IP inbound." Baldie says as he begins his approach. "Roger, continue." Moonbeam responds. A loud "fwump" could be heard over the radio. "Mark is on the deck." The JTAC had launched a white phosphorous "Willy Pete" grenade into the general vicinity of the target. Baldie spots the smoke emanating from the grenade a short time later. "Contact the mark." Baldie cooly says. "From the mark, 50 meters. Cleared to engage" the JTAC replies. Baldie slews the view of the targeting pod accordingly. The T-72s are lit up like a Dutch Brothel when viewed through the LANTIRN TGP's thermal-imaging mode. Baldie switches on the Master Arm of the aircraft and changes the sensor of interest (SOI) to the AGM-65D's seeker head. "Hawg 1-1, in from the west. Rifle!" he cries, as he lets loose three Maverick missiles. While the A-10's trademark weapon is the GAU, the deadliest weapon in its arsenal is the AGM-65 Maverick series of fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missiles. Loaded with a 125 pound shaped charge, the "D" infra-red seeking variant is capable of defeating almost any armour. "Shack!" the JTAC reports that the three missiles have hit home. "Hawg 1-1, targets destroyed." Baldie switches on his countermeasures program to pop a series of flares in the event a Russian Motor-rifle manages to launch a SAM in retaliation. Then, a new voice sounds off over the radio. "Hawg 1-1, Magic, divert to IP Towel and stand-by for re-tasking." "Magic", an E-8 JSTARS operator reports. "Special operations team has identified OPFOR C3 assets coordinating the Russian advance. Contact Playboy 3-1 for tasking, over." "Copy that." Baldie responds. He turns 10 nautical miles to the north where he then contacts the spec-ops team's forward air controller. "Playboy 3-1, this is Hawg 1-1. Available for tasking, what do you have for us?" "Hawg 1-1, we've got multiple trucks 1200 meters west of our position. Looks like a Russian CP. Stand-by for laser spot, code one two one four, requesting gun run, over." The LANTIRN targeting pod also has a built-in feature that can locate a target being painted by an encrypted infra-red laser being fired by a forward air controller. After spotting the laser, all of the A-10s sensors are immediately slewed to the target. "Copy, I've got your sparkle." Baldie says as he spots the trucks, some with communications antennae sticking out of them. Some of the trucks were lined up in columns, ideal for a strafing run with the Avenger. "In hot!" Baldie says as he begins his run. "Cleared hot!" Playboy cries.

As someone slightly left of center yet still pro-military, I couldn't help but shake my head when people in America were celebrating in the streets and in front of the White House over the death of Bin Laden. I agree that his killing was needed to send a message to his ilk that "kill our civilians and we *will* find you," but I viewed the deed as more like putting down a rabid dog than something to break out the champagne over (as I also felt over the death of Gaddafi, who I feel should have been brought before the Hague than suffer at the hands of a lynch mob). I guess what I'm trying to say is that even if you feel that strongly about something or someone, at least have some tact.

Should be noted that while the comments section for that post on RPS mentioned in the OT is closed, that hasn't stopped the community from commenting on post on the forum. The general opinion is that while most (if not virtually all) agree with the sentiment to at least some extent, the closing of the comments section stinks of silencing opposition and insisting that the community that has stuck with them since the very beginning is an enemy for not wholeheartedly agreeing with the post (whereas most of the commenters would simply just add to the discussion or presenting other points of view for the sake of the Socratic method).

Paid $35, if only for the artbook.

Welp... ~$61,000 to go for Paypal slacker backers to reach that $4.5m stretch goal. I'd hate to beat Torment when it does come out and say to myself: "Man, we could have experienced the definitive vision of inExile if only it had gotten that much more."

Add me if you like, i'm AirfixPanzer on steam. Am currently level 6 as Ostheer, getting pwned by soviet infantry spam :/ Sent you the invite. Came from "Apokatastasis."

Playing the Company of Heroes 2 closed beta at the moment, which because of the NDA that's about all I can say about it for the moment (hell, hesitated to post this in the first place). That said, trying to get my practice in after spending months away from CoH 1 and Dawn of War 2 will bite into my time with Falcon 4.0 BMS and Tera (bet you I blew your mind with how diverse my taste in games is).

So do you think it's on track to beat Project Eternity all-in-all, Paypal included? Not knocking on either (I contributed to both, but truth told, my heart goes more with Torment), but I honestly thought Kickstarter fatigue would kick in when this was announced, but I'm glad I was proven wrong.

I load this clip up to remind myself that no matter how frustrating point-and-click adventure games can get (looking at you, The Longest Journey), they can't get more infuriating than this. In order to watch the full video, you'll have to purchase a subscription to Giant Bomb, which I actually recommend for their Random PC Game videos.

Not laugh out loud funny. But whenever I'm having a down day, loading up this clip always puts a smile on my face: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v6Gc7roJ6g WMS: Weapon of Mass Seduction

Most francophone BD collectors I know when conversing with English speakers usually use the term "comics," and unlike some anglophones don't insist upon the term "graphic novels" to give it an air of literary legitimacy, as oby pointed out that in Europe the form is already considered a serious artistic statement (hence the topic of the title, translating to "the 9th art," though shamefully my rusty French shows and I have forgotten that "art" is masculine and this forum's stupid edit limits makes it too late for me to make the correction). Among the defining traits of European bande dessinée is a particular fondness for large, elaborate scenes that can take up a 2-page spread, and with it, more detailed colour drawings, many times hand-painted (the above spread in Oby's post is from one I'm very fond of, Requiem: Chevalier Vampire drawn by Olivier Ledroit, who goes sinfully unnoticed outside of France. Seriously, I can't stress that enough). However, that does mean that a 50-100 page album has a turnover rate of months or even a year, where a British and Japanese artist does a 10-15 page black and white comic every week in a serial or a ~30 page colour comic issue every month (which isn't to say I'm knocking on those artists for sacrificing quality for quantity. It's understandable that with that approach it becomes easier to tell larger, sometimes more complex narratives than with the continental European tradition). I don't necessarily stick my nose up at American comics. I am a big fan of Garth Ennis' work (granted, he's British born and raised), though I am of the opinion that the superhero genre has interfered with the medium's artistic growth in the US.

I'm a bigger fan of the European tradition of comics (my view of American superhero comics can be adequately summed up by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill's Marshal Law and Garth Ennis' The Boys) and have recently discovered Izneo, which means I no longer have to wait an agonizing couple of daysto receive my comics ordered through Amazon.ca. Of late, I've been finishing up Monsieur Mardi-Gras Descendres (the first two volumes of four have been translated into English by Heavy Metal, though the last issue it appeared in was published in 2008). It's about a cartographer who dies (slips on his son's toy car in the bathroom and breaks his neck on the edge of the bathtub) and ends up in Purgatory where everybody walks around as a skeleton. Humourously, the Kafka-esque bureaucracy of the afterlife puts down on his death certificate that he perished in an "automobile accident". Have also looked at Enki Bilal's latest, Julia et Roem. This being Bilal, the story is quite impenetrable at first reading (though my only three years of high school French has something to do with this), but the art is still to die for:

Those rockets aren't too far-removed from the Katyusha rockets from the Second World War. Even then (as well as with its immediate successor, the BM-21 Grad), their conceit was volume of fire and mobility rather than accuracy.

The same "technological superiority" that makes them go to war in Georgia with incomplete GLONASS (basically the Russian home-grown GPS network) coverage and generals using mobile phones (which went through *Georgian* cell phone towers, meaning the Georgians could have easily intercepted Russian communications) to give orders to their troops because the radios weren't working? I believe Russia had been slated to sell SA-10 derived SAM systems (equivalent to, and in respects better than the American MIM-104 Patriot) to Iran at one point, then when the UN sanctions on weapons to Iran went into effect the Russians welched on the deal (I'd be lying if I said I didn't derive some perverse delight from this that makes me want to shake PutinMedvedev's hand that this happened after Iran's cheque to Russia had cleared). Iran later claimed they had purchased a similar system from Belarus, even parading the "TELAR" at one point. However, a defense analyst took a closer look at the erector and determined it to actually be 55 gallon drums welded together and mounted on a generic heavy lifter truck.