Gromnir

a quick caution regarding intimidation: in real-time, chasing a frightened foe is annoying. if you use dazzling display to cause fear in a mob o' foes, then the annoyance factor increases as those foes, on a large enough map, scatter to the four compass points. in tb, the frightened foe runs away round one, and even if you fail to be in range to intimidate 'em round 2, the foe needs run back to you, exhausting their move action in the process. in tb you won't need waste effort chasing fear broken foes unless doing so is to your advantage. unrelated: tb mounted combat is now mostly working correct, so for dlc prep, we were considering a mounted main and a party heavy on mounted companions. unfortunate, the build we kinda wanted to use, a beast rider/sohei, obvious won't support azata or trickster. am s'posing we could do some kinda legend build. could go cg and cavalier vanilla or cavalier + something-not-monk. oh well. am holding off on doing more wotr 'til the new patch is no longer beta or when the dlc is released... whichever comes first. am suspecting those events is simultaneous, but maybe the patch is released a bit earlier than the fifteenth? HA! Good Fun! ps a downside for mounted combat is related to the tandem trip bug for animal companions. is possible to choose tandem trip for a bully animal companion, but the feat will disappear at some point and you will be left with nothing to show for the wasted feat slot save the dreaded question mark icon on your critter's character tab. not a huge factor, but annoying.

one level o' thug is needed 'cause those who would be rendered shaken by your intimidation is instead frightened. might as well make level seven a thug level. gotta think hard on what you want from sosiel. for most o' the game the priest's best abilities/features is cast outside o' combat, so is possible to ignore any non combat feat, but going intimidation means you delay/lose outflank and other teamwork feats which is an issue if you want sosiel combat focused... and another reason for going azata as we functional save two feat selections by getting 'em free through life bonding friendship. so your first three feats is: 1) weapon focus: glaive (prerequisite for dazzling display), 2) dazzling display (not necessary, but reducing the entire screen o foes to a pants-wetting state is desirable,) 3) intimidating prowess. is possible to flip intimidating prowess and dazzling display, and such might be recommended if you play on core or higher difficulty. as often as not, fear locking a single powerful foe is more desirable than terrorizing the mobs, and bosses require a high intimidation check to be successful. IF you are staying focused on combat, and that is recommended, am gonna suggest your remaining feats be outflank, improved critical: glaive, shattered defenses and shake it off... not necessary in that order. make certain you invest a point into your persuasion skill at every level. worth considering: currently the animal domain is broken to your advantage. acquire an animal companion through a domain functional gets you the benefits o' boon companion for free, but am thinking this gets patched at some point. so if you take impossible domain: animal, then you may need consider adding the boon companion feat. drop shake it off. is many items which boost persuasion and intimidation specific. we mentioned a few/most o' the notables in the following linked post: with buffing spells such as greater heroism, you will have a +90 intimidation modifier by the end o' the game... if you go azata 'cause there is a couple spells and a sleep bonus which will add another +8-10 to your persuasion. even w/o azata, +80s is still kinda fantastic. HA! Good Fun!

camellia sux at intimidation. apologies for being blunt. she doesn't have great strength or charisma and chances are you ain't boosting strength and or charisma. is a waste to be intimidating mobs. late in the game characters such as sosiel and camellia will have access to frightening aspect which causes shaken w/o any save or intimidation check, so intimidating display becomes genuine useless at some point. intimidation is a skill-based dc check which ignores sr and has no actual save. most bosses, save nocticula, is vulnerable to fear effects, but such foes tend to have stratospheric will saves. intimidation is a fear effect which does not offer a will save. sosiel has a background which switches charisma with wisdom for persuasion checks, and intimidation is a persuasion check. is some medium armour in chap 4 which boosts intimidation, which is kinda ideal for sosiel if you go intimidation, but is not a big factor considering all the other intimidation/persuasion boosting gear. most important is you are gonna be building sosiel to take advantage o' strength and wisdom and with the intimidating prowess feat you are gonna add both strength and wisdom modifiers to your intimidation efforts. is something we ain't seen anybody other than Gromnir suggest, which is so strange considering how op is intimidation in wotr, but one level o' thug for sosiel results in a companion who will fear lock most wotr bosses, including deskari, baphomet, and playful darkness as well as dragons and numerous other tough encounters. you not need any complex strategy or scheme for dispatching playful darkness if playful darkness is unable to take any action other than running away from your party. baphomet is no more intimidating than the staked goat from jurrasic park once you got him fear locked. etc. however, if you do not use sosiel for intimidation, camellia as a replacement is teh sux, 'cause a character whom you is building 'round dex will be a relative weak arse intimidator. you don't need a party intimidator. however, if you are gonna spend the feats and abilities on intimidation, you might as well get use outta it. not camellia is a good way to go. HA! Good Fun!

is a number o' ways to build lann so he has access to domain powers. am kinda a fan o' hunter (divine hunter) and inquisitor (sacred huntsmaster) when combined with either one or three levels o' zen archer. crusader is an excellent route for lann particular if you do want a bit o' additional heals. a full shifter build druid should be an option for lann, but we need us our domain powhaz, and am not wanting to make 1/3 o' sosiel's mythic abilities impossible domain:__________. healing becomes increasing less important as you get deeper in the game, particularly for a lich, but am s'posing it kinda depends on how you play the game. HA! Good Fun! ps complete aside, but another good reason for choosing an azata sorc is aivu. even with the new nerf from the beta patch, aivu is a fantastic late game healer so you may have sosiel or the assimar do other more useful chores. bugarup found azata silliness and whimsy unappealing, which is perfect understandable. even so, as a blaster caster, is arguable the azata route is most effective in spite o' the lack o' merged spell books.

sosiel's major contribution to our parties is from intimidation, a few select buffs and domain abilities. the buffs is useful, but is likely the lich will be able to replicate many o' those buffs. however, based on the way we play wotr, lack o' sosiel is well-nigh unthinkable. am often using sosiel as our party intimidator. unless you play as a trickster, whomever you choose to use for intimidation will likely suffice, but sosiel is the one potential companion who has near guaranteed fear locking potential v. mid and late game bosses, even on unfair. sosiel also has access to domains abilities, and a few domain powherz is representing the best buffs and debuffs in the game. if you do not use sosiel, then you are gonna need look elsewhere for the community and madness domain abilities... or you need do w/o. don't need sosiel buffs. don't need sosiel intimidation. don't need sosiel domains. have played lich a bit and am knowing we don't need such. however, we would much prefer a party with sosiel and seelah 'cause while we don't need 'em, they is the two most valuable companions from our pov. ... camellia is also a top tier companion in terms o' what she may do to enhance party efficacy, but is no way am keeping camellia around longer than necessary. HA! Good Fun!

our pov with having played an azata sorc blaster appears a bit at odds with a few other posters. by level ten, still relative early in the game, our azata sorc/vivsectionist/arcane trickster 5/1/4 were doing impressive damage with ascendent element cold scorching rays. additional, we were generating 12 potential casts o' haste per rest, and haste remains from early to late one o' the best party buffs available. we were able to do a bit o' crowd control, but am admitting it weren't our focus. by the end o' the game, boss battles were laughable brief on core and hard as our blaster single-handed erased stuff, and we likely coulda' been even more effective if we went enchantment/evocation 'stead o' conjuration/evocation on spell focus efforts. the azata waterfall spell ended up being a dud, but we coulda' had impossible high dcs for our enchantment spells simultaneous to going blaster. also, 'cause as we noted how waterfall is depressingly meh, fire is the way to go with a blaster given all the fire boosting gear. is shocking how easily overlooked is a few o' those stacking 1-point-per-die elemental damage boosts. sorc is a good choice for azata as there is a couple abilities/spells tied direct to the azata's charisma modifier. for example, is three teamwork feats we near always take for party members, including animal companions: outflank, seize the moment and shake it off. we didn't realize life bonding friendship functional nullified the usefulness o' last stand, so our seelah had one useless mythic ability, but consider how with a party o' 3-4 animal companions, aivu and your full compliment o' companions, by taking life bonding friendship and making sure you got seize the moment and shake it off (or whatever), you are feeing up ~20 other feats for your party. life bonding friendship, now that it works correct, is linked to your charisma modifier-- the number of additional hits a deadish companion may endure before they go from mostly dead to all dead is linked to the azata's charisma modifier. is just one example. *shrug* low level casters tend to suck in pathfinder and wotr follows the pnp trend. pnp pathfinder sorcs become arguable op from level twelveish (our opinion) onwards, and with wotr mythics, sorcs is effective a bit earlier than level twelve. in HA! Good Fun!

we played on hard with our sorc blaster and did need two rests in the shield maze. the rests were kinda temporal proximate. we only do the water elemental after making sure lann has a composite bow and seelah has a decent weapon as well as the ring o' protection and whatnot, so water elemental is gonna be near the last thing we do before hosilla. animal companions take cold damage from attacking the elemental and we ordinarily lose one. we have seelah use the one resist cold potion available in the maze, activate camellia's spirit power, and buff as much as am able: enlarge person on seelah as well as bear endurance and shield of faith along with bless and the prayer scroll for the party. our sorc character contributed near zero to the fight. keep in mind am always making lann a hunter these days so he gets an animal companion too, though the elemental is neutral-- no benefit from the velociraptor smite. gonna observe our sorc were near useless in the hosilla fight as well as he were afeared due to the marching terror effect. spent initial part o' the battle running away and then getting almost dead from the spawned quasits. lann used the cold iron javelin 'gainst the quasits 'cause we were too cheap to purchase cold iron arrows from the mongrel vendor. good times. low level pathfinder casters kinda suck, and low level wotr on higher difficulty is disproportionate challenging 'cause you got so few options and limited action economy. the water elemental and hosilla on hard is more difficult than any demon lord fight on unfair save nocticula. HA! Good Fun! ps we actual took ear-piercing scream (and grease) for our sorc as we find the daze effect is particular useful at low levels.

kinda thinking the problem is people more than religion or faith. erase any memory o' the sky fairy and you think people would be more kind and compassionate? erase existence o' the bible and sudden the people o' the world become more tolerant and less bigoted? is not difficult to point to nations which is largely antagonistic and/or ambivalent regarding faith and yet they is capable o' the exact same stoopid as those primitives who continue to believe creation fables and follow the guidance o' long dead (and perhaps neverwere) prophets. we suggest the fundamental problem is a failure to recognize human nature, and people is the one constant you is never gonna be able to remove from any social, political, religious endeavour. am willing to be critical o' religion but the problem for us is the recognition religion is inextricable linked to personal and varied notions o' faith. 'course once every couple o' years is enough to remind us nobody is ever gonna have their mind changed 'bout religion based on the crpg board posts from a guy who tortures pronouns. is a dead end issue, so the rest o' you may feel free to crucify or canonize religion w/o us. HA! Good Fun!

both pg&e and smud serve sacramento county... edit: we see you got clarification. HA! Good Fun!

am part o' smud, the sacramento municipal utility district. ordinarily our most expensive bill o' the year is the one which covers december, which is curious 'cause january is usual the coldest month. *shrug* our december bills (we do get a bit o' propane delivered which is just for our oven) were $213.42. ~2800sqft home. is a mistake to think o' a california rate. is massive differences 'tween what we pay compare to humboldt county v. san jose. we can't complain. the costs o' utilities is govt. subsidized, so places where is extreme cold often get a lower rate. am actual most surprised by how little, relative speaking, we pay in july and august compared to december january. am from the midwest, so winters don't feel particular cold to us in sacramento. summer is when we has had rolling blackouts, so you would assume sky-high rates. HA! Good Fun!

a few stations is having a bit o' fun with the news. edit: philly wasn't gonna let this opportunity pass. HA! Good Fun!

grease and glitterdust are two of the best spells in the game and they remain useful until act vi. however, you need apply both the heighten and selective metamagic feats to get use from them past the early levels. shield, mirror image and barkskin is gonna be regular casting options from start until well into late game. we have archers using hurricane bow and sense vitals the entire game. etc. there is numerous useful lower level spells. the thing is there is a whole lotta pathfinder spells we would never use and quite a few spells which eventual become useless, but unless you know pathfinder and owlcat's take on pathfinder, is improbable you know which spells and feats and weapon categories is worthwhile and which is bloat. HA! Good Fun! ps owlcat decided creatures who is able to fly is immune to prone, including prone effects from grease. however, not all creatures who is capable o' flight in pnp and/or have visible wings are immune to wotr prone. as such am gonna suggest owlcat actual is a bit more generous with stuff such as grease than would be the ordinary pnp gm who needs ref encounters with high cr foes. be thankful for this fact when fighting the ubiquitous endgame gallu warmongers. converse, in pnp it often feels as if every high level pathfinder spellcaster is flying and a significant % o' cr+12 critters is otherwise capable o' flight... a situation made worse by the fact archers tend to suck in pnp pathfinder with the exception o' inquisitors.

for camellia, take fencing grace at level five if you are concerned 'bout early damage output. use o' a buckler does not count as rendering your off-hand otherwise occupied. so, with a high crit weapon in the hands o' a high dex character such as camellia, particular when she adds spirit hunter buffs to exploit mythic elemental barrage at some point, camellia will be doing admirable damage... but as early as level five you should be able to squeeze decent damage outta her via fencing grace. 'course is other ways to go with camellia, but if you want early damage improvements, take fencing grace at level five, which is gonna happen before assaulting the gray garrison, yes? HA! Good Fun! ps (edit) via the beta patch, the aeon receives a whole bunch o' new gazes options. https://imgur.com/a/dKtqZUM ... damn.

@Guard Dog as an aside, europe is nice enough, but with spring not far off am gonna recommend the american southwest, in particular a few places in arizona. @ShadySands is gonna be offering better insights regarding arizona than we may provide, but is few places on the planet more stunning than arizona deserts in the spring. admitted, our last couple trips to europe kinda turned us off to a return 'but that was a few years ago when many places in europe were struggling to come to grips with the recent influx o' immigrant populations. maybe the situation has improved, but for somebody who looks like Gromnir, we found european welcomes far less friendly than when we had visited back during our post university days. were disconcerting. regardless, if you ain't been to the american southwest in spring, and you is looking to travel, our suggestion after a bit o' reflection would be to ask shady for arizona recommendations. HA! Good Fun!

had one o' those "best-laid plans" moments yesterday... brilliant scheme were undermined by all too predictable Gromnir error. mr. cash woulda' understood. HA! Good Fun!

is indeed an exploit, and is part o' the reason we only use on unfair. after all, from our pov, unfair is 'bout having a scheme to take advantage o' pathfinder and owlcat loopholes. however, for the folks who look at wotr enemy stat bloat and see as inherent unfair, there exist in the game numerous exploits similar to cackle extending the duration o' protective luck and fortune... stuff no real flesh and blood gm/dm would ever allow. seeing as how the fan base doesn't want such exploits o' pnp rules addressed and recognizing that owlcat has eschewed near any effort to close pathfinder loopholes, am suspecting the recognition o' cheese such as our observed cackle is part o' wotr design. HA! Good Fun!

san sebastián. am not a resort town person our self, but for a week duration trip is worth considering. am recommending not so much for the beaches n' whatnot but rather for the food-- is our second favorite euro city for food, and #1 is in eastern europe, so... HA! Good Fun! ps is in basque country, so you can hit the other basque highlights as well.

am recalling back in october @Agiel mentioned the usefulness o' the protective luck hex, particular when used with cackle. slipped our mind at the time, but as we were indulging in prebuffing cheese for an unfair pathetic quasit fight, we sudden 'mebered we were gonna share a curious exploit but got distracted with other things. you may use cackle outside of combat, and you may spam it. as such it is possible to extend the durations o' the protective luck and fortune hexes to minutes as 'posed to seconds and you may do so before you enter combat. the fortune hex is limited to one use per day per character/companion, but with cackle and a willingness to spam cackle for a bit, you may provide your entire party with the benefits o' both protective luck and fortune and those hexes will remain effective for the duration o' a boss fight. is tedious indulging the silliness we describe, so is not something we do other than unfair boss fights and even then we limit to a couple characters, but the hexes is extreme powerful as agiel recognized and with pre battle spam o' cackle, the one shortcoming to the hexes (their duration) is eliminated. HA! Good Fun!

talk 'bout gaslighting. "the soviets declarations and their intent to invade Hokkaido ahead of a planned US invasion o' the Japanese mainland is considered by modern historians to be as much a cause o' japan surrender as were the dropping o' the bombs." was the quote you responded to with your manchuria and hokkaido observations. we keep referencing the soviet deceleration o' war as a 'cause and you did indeed reject saying were the collapse o' japanese forces in manchuria a week later... and that the hokkaido fears were never meaningful. is not a quibble. you focusing on timing o' hokkaido has always been deflection. can read our old posts. we said bombs weren't enough and were soviet declaration o' war and fears o' lost japanese homeland territory which eventual resulted in capitulation o' japan. you rejected this position, and you were very much focused on your curious hokkaido timing silliness, ignoring what is common held belief 'mongst credible historians (see the half dozen or so links we has made) that the soviets did indeed have designs on hokkaido. was soon as soviets declared war and invaded manchuria that the calculus changed dramatic for the japanese, though not enough to cause immediate surrender. regardless, fears o' a hokkaido invasion were anything but fanciful at this point. so selective quote all you want. again, 'cause we need do again, again. "no sooner had the marriage of convenience uniting right-wing Japan and the communist Soviet Union broken down than the Japanese ruling elite’s fear of communism sweeping away the emperor system was reawakened. to preserve the imperial house, it would be better to surrender before the USSR was able to dictate terms. on august 13, rejecting Anami’s request that the decision to accept U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes’s counteroffer (the “Byrnes note”), which rejected Japan’s conditional acceptance of the Potsdal terms, be postponed, Suzuki explained: “if we miss today, the Soviet Union would take not only Manchuria, Korea, [and] Karafuto [sakhalin Island], but also Hokkaido. this would destroy the foundation of Japan. we must end the war when we can deal with the United States.”[68] furthermore, when Shigemitsu had a crucial meeting with Kido on the afternoon of August 9 at Prince Konoe’s request, which eventually led to Kido’s meeting with Hirohito that persuaded the emperor to accept the “sacred decision” scenario, Shigemitsu stressed the negative effect of further Soviet expansion on the fate of the imperial household.[69]" august nine were contemporaneous with the soviet invasion. the bombs, soviet declaration o' war, the very real threat o' a soviet invasion o' japanese islands all contributed, but as has been stated many times over, the japanese were very much aware o' soviet plans and desires to occupy hokkaido and by now anybody but zor would admit the soviets clear had designs on hokkaido. the loss o' soldiers on the mainland were not what were gonna give the soviets leverage to "dictate terms." fighting continued in manchuria until september 2 btw, the actual end o' the war. regardless, the japanese had previous believed they had 'til 1946 to need worry 'bout the soviets. declaration o' war and simultaneous invasion were a curious surprise and changed the game entire. the bombs weren't enough. and 'round we go with you deflecting and cherry picking. so, say something new, 'cause by now just 'bout every historian mentioned in this thread has disagreed with you regarding japanese concerns regarding hokkaido and the soviet intentions to invade. HA! Good Fun!

am suspecting merkel stepping down played a part in putin's choice to instigate this situation now as 'posed to earlier. from our pov, germany has been the nato member most notable for their absence o' concern regarding russia insofar as the current ukraine situation. is hard to imagine merkel remaining taciturn. given covid mishandling, the world bank projections on diminished growth for 2022, and the recent protests, putin no doubt needed the win you were referencing. however, while is likely an overstatement, merkel stepping down in december is possible worth considering as an overlooked contributing factor. HA! Good Fun!

"carried out" is deflection. again, the japanese surrendered in part 'cause o' the soviet declaration o' war, which you keep insisting were not a significant part o' the japanese decision to capitulate, your stance being an out-o' touch and ignorant o' fact position dismissed as revisionist as noted 'bove by actual historians. after january 8, the japanese feared that if they did not surrender to the americans, the soviets would manage to acquire significant japanese territory. what the bombs failed to achieve alone, the soviet declaration o' war cemented. subsequent actions by the soviets, including their unrealized but not at all controversial hokkaido invasion plans were seen as validation o' japanese fears. as citied in an earlier source, again, the plan to invade hokkaido were anticipated previous to the sakhalin island operation... which occurred on? august 11, previous to surrender... not that the day o' surrender matters, or the actual end o' war which were september 2 btw. fighting clear continued after the 15th and soviets had every intention o' grabbing as much territory as possible, which, again, is exact what the japanese feared. freaking circles. 'course zor can't be bothered to cite or craft a decent rebuttal or do anything but deflect. *chuckle* thanks again. see you in three years on this same issue. HA! Good Fun!

different topic, so am indulging the dreaded double-post Many Trump Electors Facing Criminal Referrals Were Just Following Precedent Which is why the practice has evolved in a contested election of having both slates of electors cast their ballots on the day Congress chooses. In Hawaii in 1960, Richard Nixon had seemingly won in a very close vote. Hawaii’s acting governor so certified. A recount then determined that John F. Kennedy had in fact won. That recount was not completed until after the Electoral College had voted. Yet some smart lawyer advised the Hawaii Democratic Party to have their electors vote on the day set by Congress too. They did. Their ballots, certified by the governor, were then flown on a private plane, arriving in D.C. on the morning of Jan. 6, 1961. What the Trump electors did in 2020 was, in every case, close to this, though in critical cases, something much worse. Two states were quite clear about the contingency of their votes —New Mexico and Pennsylvania. But five states prepared documents that made it seem like Trump had in fact prevailed in their state. Those claims were obviously false. Filing false claims with the government can be a crime. So yes, what those electors did should be criticized, and perhaps prosecuted. They should have done as their fellow electors in New Mexico and Pennsylvania had done — and certified a slate of votes contingent upon their candidate being declared the winner in their state. That certification, then, would have to wait—either for some state authority to declare its candidate the winner or for Congress to determine that that slate actually represents the candidate whose votes should be counted. ... have seen confusion regarding the alternative electors part o' the trump campaign's green bay sweep efforts. were not necessarily illegal for republicans in "contested states" to create a second slate o' electors, but to be knowing part o' a plan to submit fraudulent slates indeed makes many electors subject to conspiracy charges, and 'course those who planned and coordinated the scheme to submit fraudulent slates should also be criminal liable. HA! Good Fun!

in the context o' the show, the biker gang reminded us o' the following: 'course the sw version is more sympathetic 'cause in their corner o' tatooine there is no jobs due to the capitalist oppressors exploiting the population. therefore, our youthful malcontents is instant swayed to join bobba's robin hood army 'cause in truth all they want is to be useful and so they do good as they ride into battle on their shiny but curious cheap looking bikes. doesn't help that bobba is a doughy and curiously stoopid protagonist who is nevertheless trying to channel elements o' robin hood and a man called horse. is not quite camp 'cause is an absence o' self-awareness. am not watching more o' bobba, so have not seen the mandalorian episode. maybe things get better but were not trending in such a direction. we didn't stop watching bobba 'cause o' the tunnel snakes, who woulda' worked better in ice pirates as 'posed to a sw vehicle, but they didn't help neither. HA! Good Fun!

*chuckle* you saying preponderance is on your side is hardly convincing in light o' fact only person showing historian support is Gromnir, and potential soviet losses were likely not a huge concern for stalin anyway as the point were to get soviet troops to hokkaido before the US could force a surrender and 1946 would be far too late for that. https://journals.openedition.org/monderusse/9333 68On August 20, however, after Stalin received Truman’s August 18 telegram, Antonov sent Vasilevskii an order, telling him to instruct the commander of the First Far Eastern Front to prepare the operation for Hokkaido and the southern Kurils, but to initiate this operation only by special order of the Stavka and “prepare for an operation either for Hokkaido or for the southern Kuril islands.”78 69On August 21, Vasilevskii issued two directives to begin “immediately and no later than August 21” the embarkation of the 87th Rifle Corps from the Sakhalin ports of Maoka, Otomari, and Toyohira for the capture of Hokkaido and the southern Kurils. The commanders of the First and Second Far Eastern Fronts, the Pacific Fleet, and the air force were ordered to be ready for airborne operations over Rumoi and to make the air base available by August 23 for the occupation of the northern part of Hokkaido. In addition, Iumashev was to send two marine divisions in two or three echelons to Hokkaido. Finally, Vasilevskii reminded all commanders that he would personally give the order to begin the landing operations for Hokkaido, and that preparations for this operation should be completed by August 23.79 The Soviet war machine was about to claw its way on to Hokkaido. ... is mostly deflection by zor to focus on his belief regarding the potential success o' a hokkaido invasion. success or failure is speculative. regardless, is no longer controversial that the soviet were indeed planning and committed to such an invasion. furthermore, the soviet threat o' invasion, a very real threat, were a significant contributor to the japanese surrender at the end o' ww2 and is virtual no current support for the discarded position you are spouting. again, your position is now referred to as the "revisionist" position. gonna keep repeating, "Hasegawa fails to sustain his main arguments with the necessary evidence. At best, he leaves the revisionist case as he found it, in ruins. Indeed, he makes the rubble bounce by convincingly demonstrating that the Soviet Union very much was racing to get into the Pacific War in order to facilitate its expansionist policies in the Far East. Those who seek the definitive analysis on the end of the Pacific War will have to look elsewhere. A good place to begin is Frank’s Downfall." --prof. michael kort https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/How-the-Soviets-helped-Allies-defeat-Japan-3177012.php Despite the death toll from the atomic bombings - 140,000 in Hiroshima, 80,000 in Nagasaki- the Imperial Military Command believed it could hold out against an Allied invasion if it retained control of Manchuria and Korea, which provided Japan with the resources for war, according to Hasegawa and Terry Charman, a historian of World War II at London's Imperial War Museum. "The Soviet attack changed all that," Charman said. "The leadership in Tokyo realized they had no hope now, and in that sense August Storm did have a greater effect on the Japanese decision to surrender than the dropping of the A-bombs." is becoming spam... again. in three years, when we no doubt feel inclined to mention japan capitulation at the end o' ww2 we will no doubt need go through this all again and we will have to link same posts quoting same articles written by same reputable historians while zor repeats self into a corner... again. in any event, we should thank you for once again doing your tethered goat impersonation. does get old fast but every few years you cannot help self but give us another opportunity. HA! Good Fun!

@Guard Dogwe always assumed our client's were idiots, not 'cause we thought they actual were idiots, but some few (too many) would do something idiotic to self-sabotage their legal efforts during the course o' our representation. as such it were in our best interest to make things as simple as possible and to cover our own arse by stating verbal and in writing the dos and don'ts they need observe. polite. we were always polite, but many clients nevertheless were annoyed by what were obvious patronizing. the clients most annoyed by our KISS approach were preternatural in danger o' self immolation. were always tough 'cause you need clients to understand and follow instructions but if the clients believe they is being disrespected, some number will literal go out o' their way to do opposite o' recommendations, which is so strange. if genuine annoyed, then why not just fire us and get a new attorney? the client is paying considerable money for our advice and then to seeming purposeful or reckless ignore advice were kinda nonsensical from our pov, but as such happened more than once, we tried to balance KISS with the necessary ego strokes to get clients to actual follow the advice they were paying to receive. eventual, most jobs is actual sales even if you is only selling self to your boss. we were ok with not selling self to bosses, but nevertheless found self channeling our inner joe isuzu with clients. HA! Good Fun!