Posts by SWTarget

Reserve unit or not, interesting that those 152's were still in service that long after WWII.

Quote from Elf Man

I racked up 20,000 perk points in the Hurricane IIC.

The 190A-8 had the best guns package of all the 190's.

It's been a few years since I've played so it could be that this is a case of mistaken identity.

Well, good of you to admit that after you insulted me and then doubled down on it. Could have saved me a lot of eyestrain.

190A-8 having best gun package makes sense then for what I saw. Most of your kills vs. any LTARs were in either the Tempest or the 190A-8. All of the A-8 kills were in one tour . . . likely you had a good vulch going on or were BnZ while they were defending a base. At any rate, cumulative score because it would take too darn long to type out by tour:

Tours 77 to 96 (when LTARget existed):

Elfie vs. LTARget, 0-0

Elfie vs. all other LTARs, 34-27

Of 34 kills,

18 were in Tempest (4 vs. bombers),

8 in A-8 in single tour (perhaps your "seal clubbing" memory),

3 in Typhoon in tour 88 (poor man's Tempest, you had no Tempest sorties that tour)

5 in anything else

Elfie vs. Bronk 1-1 (didn't see any others, but admittedly wasn't looking for it, either)

LTARget vs. all other LTARs 2-3 (fricking gangers) tour 83 (one of our few attempts at country swapping)

LTARget vs. Bronk 1-3 (again, wasn't really looking for it)

Two kills of Bronk vs. LTARget in MW arena tour 93, B-25H killing Tiger I (wonder what was happening there )

I'll send you the bill for my next prescription upgrade.

Quote from Gina

How in the fuck do we present this guy to the world as our president?

Maybe you'd prefer he resign and give us President Harris?

*ducks*

Quote from Elf Man

This should be interesting because no one's memory is perfect. I just might stand corrected.

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Noticed that other than the Tempest your go-to plane seemed to be the 190A-8. Remind me of the appeal of the A-8 vs. say the A-5 or the D-9? I didn't fly the 190s much and memory fails me about the differences other than the D-9 I think was faster / accelerated better.

Only up to tour 89 and my eyes hurt. No Elfie vs. LTARget to here. I think it is really neat that HTC has all the data, just wish there was a better way to access it. An actual query tool against the databases would make things like this so much easier vs. having to click 42 times within each tour and eyeball results.

[/endthreadhijack]

Quote from Gina

Actually ever since I bitched to the corporation with my letter there's been whole chickens at the store. Lol!

Sometimes that's all it takes is someone bringing it to the attention of the higher-ups. They can't enforce standards if no one tells them where said standards are lacking.

Quote from Elf Man

Yes.

OK, cool. This might be fun. Or maybe I'll get bored with it quickly . . . . We'll see.

My first tour as LTARget was #77, in June of 2006. Since Hitech puts all his stats on his webpage, we can see how many times we encountered one another and in what. Not surprisingly, no encounters.

I had 93 kills (+4 in ships gunner), 83 deaths. Better than even, but nothing to write home about.

Elfie had 398 kills and 120 deaths (nice!).

Best vehicle, Tempest with 167 kills and 5 deaths. One of these kills was LTARhntr in a Spitty XVI,

Also found that one of your kills in a Yak 9t was LTARaven in a F4U-1D

Also found one of your kills in an F4U-1 was Bronk flying an La-7.

In your death stats, one of your worst vehicles is the PzIV with 13 kills and 40 deaths.

Of those 40 deaths, LTARghst killed you once from a PzIV, LTARcnuk killed you 5 times from a 4, and LTARaptr killed you 2 times from an Osti.

Also found Bronk killed you in your F4U-1 while flying an La-7.

SO:

Elfie vs. LTARget, 0-0

Elfie vs. all other LTARs, 2-8

Elfie vs. Bronk 1-1 (just because it made me giggle to see it)

Heading to bed, probably 18-20 tours to go to see if your seal clubbing memory holds up.

Quote from Elf Man

I do remember you as LTarget and I don't recall you ever really putting up a fight so yeah, it was kinda like clubbing a baby seal. Not that I've ever actually clubbed a baby seal...

I don't have any of my old films so....

Funny, I don't remember you at all.

Was your ingame name Elfie?

Quote from Elf Man

That would explain why it was like clubbing a baby seal.

That said, the sentiment involved in just letting people beet you? There isn't a single brain cell in my head that can comprehend that.

I doubt you remember clubbing me in anything, but we all looked (mostly) alike, and some weren't very good pilots. Most of the squaddies used the R in LTAR to make their names. LTARokit, LTARifle, etc. or ignored it completely like LTARmoil, LTARmedc or LTARcnuk. Don't remember a whole lot of them anymore, but it was quite a full squad when I was with them.

I was LTARget. "Proudly drawing fire so my brothers may pass unharmed."

That's in my sig for a reason. No one really dies in a cartoon game, so I had no problem playing the rabbit. Others were better shots than me in the Osti (there was no Wirbie then), so while they all ran GVs out, I upped planes to bring in the vulchers, or came from a nearby base to drag chasers across the field swarming with squaddies gleefully making fireworks.

So in that context if you remember vulching me several times or pwning me when I was heavily outnumbered in the first place, sure, I guess so. I never considered myself to be the seal to anyone's club. Unless I was flying buffs. Never got the hang of being the tail gunner for whatever reason.

Oh, and 999000 . . . Maybe one time in 30 he didn't make me feel completely stupid for coming within 1.0 of his 17s.

Oh, sorry, forgot that there was always a standard reply for that . . . ."FILM, OR IT NEVER HAPPENED!"

Quote from Elf Man

One thing about the LTard's, if they were in GV's it was time for me to leave.

LTAR . . . Lead To Air Ratio.

Meaning, if you get the ratio correct, you are bound to hit something.

Quote from Elf Man

Heck, I think I beat you up a few times in AH.

You say that as if it would have been some kind of accomplishment. I took special joy in letting people take a shot at me.

Quote from Lord Soth

He makes for a great B-25 cannon test subject.

Case in point.

Quote from El Sluggo Loco

Nailed it!

This was always my favorite horoscope . . .

Casual Geographic:

Just wait until you start yelling at the kids to get off your lawn.

Quote from Toad

Japan was an industrializing forward looking country with a totally subservient to authority population. I think that was the reason for the success of the rebuilding there. They knew what they lost and wanted it back.

I was recently introduced to the Japanese concept of "Akogare." The literal English translation is either "longing" or "yearning," but in context is means to aspire to be something else, typically something better or to be admired.

The gentleman giving the talk about Japanese culture explained that in general, the Japanese have had this "Akogare" for western industrialization, strength/confidence, and culture. In the first part of the 20th century, they unfortunately latched on to the more nationalistic and militaristic notions of what it meant to be a western power, which quite literally culminated in them getting themselves nuked. Despite that, with the relative kindness shown to them by the American occupation, this sense of "Akogare" if anything became stronger in the post-war years. America was powerful, but also generous toward them, and this appealed to them. And they became a massive economic power as they aspired to be more like the US.

Like all things I am sure this is waning in these days, and Japan seems to be coming back into its own identity to a degree. But it I thought it was an interesting insight into the mindset of a very different culture.

Quote from FauxPas

I would imagine that the a/c seized were covered by insurance and more than likely leased as opposed to outright ownership.

Most insurance policies exclude loss due to act of war, which is likely how this will be seen by the insurers.

Quote from Toad

First you have to have a need for these planes to fill. Drilling holes in the sky really isn't a need. My question is what do they think they are going to do with them?

No need to have a need. It denies the use of the assets to others, and so is purely punitive. Think of it as just another form of "sanction" against foreign interests.

Quote from Chakana

That's an interesting observation.

I'm not sold on the West's narrative that Russia is weak or ineffective...it could be. It could be straight up propaganda or even a possum play by the Russians for some longer agenda.

I don't understand what Zelensky would have to gain by bucking the "plan" if indeed he was supposed to capitulate....unless there are other actors pulling on his strings that are still not clear.

I don't buy that he is a patriot willing to die for Ukraine...but I could totally be off base there too.

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Machiavellians don't require their pawns to be aware of the plans, and in fact usually make sure the pawns are ignorant of the true designs. I'm in no way saying Zelenskyy was ever aware of the plans. Most likely exactly the opposite . . . an outsider of the establishment, at least giving lip service to weeding out corruption . . . who knows, he may have been getting close to uncovering something even more damaging than the stories that the establishment are trying to put off as unfounded rumor.

They wanted him to go. They miscalculated how he would react. My $0.03 (see what I did there with inflation?)

Quote from Gina

I was just thinking how bizarre this whole situation is but I know that Putin is not irrational and he's very calculating and intelligent.

Is it possible that he has some compromising information about Biden or someone in our government? It seems plausible. Biden hasn't really reacted very sternly against Putin. I mean sure he has enacted the sanctions and all that but does it really hurt Putin, who is worth 200 billion dollars?

I'm thinking that Putin is taking this opportunity for a reason. I think that he knows we are going to do anything of substance that will change the outcome.

Given biden's connections with Ukraine, Hillary's connections with Ukraine, Romney's connections with you Crane, Hunter biden's connections with Ukraine. Something is not adding up.

And this is just my own brainstorming and I'm not saying that this is in any way something that could be backed up. It's just something I'm thinking about because I like to try to figure things out.

What Putin is doing doesn't make sense unless he knows that he is for sure going to get away with this.

Things that go against my little theory are that the rest of the world would not be involved and yet they are. What I mean by that is that if Putin had something on Biden or somebody else in the US, the other countries won't go along just to protect Biden. Would they?

But then again they follow our lead pretty much.

I think that this is the most heartbreaking thing I've ever thought about in my life.

By the way, CNN has really good coverage. What has changed with them? They seem like they are going back to their old school CNN. They have reporters and interviews all the time with people from Ukraine and on the ground in Ukraine.

These Ukrainian women that have been interviewed that I've heard? They are remarkably intelligent and well-spoken. They are calm and discussing the situation and they are in a horrible situation. They are polite and just incredible. I feel so badly for these people.

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This is my (most likely incorrect) line of reasoning . . .

1) As Russia was building forces on the border, US intel was being released about it. Almost as if they were trying to create a panic.

2) Biden / West were very specific about the "consequences" of invasion -- sanctions. Never mentioned military intervention.

3) Very shortly after invasion began, US offered to evacuate Zelenskyy (to which he famously replied he needed ammunition, not a ride).

Had Zelenskyy fled, it is not unreasonable to assume Ukraine forces would have collapsed rather than support a government that ran away.

So my belief with completely no other evidence is that all sides wanted Ukraine to collapse quickly. Putin gets more territory and a big win, NATO and EU avoid needing to live up to any kind of commitment that they really didn't want to make in the first place, and Biden / half of the US political establishment find it easier to bury several skeletons in closets about their complicity in Ukrainian corruption should that corruption actually find a way of getting rooted out.

Machiavellians doing as Machiavellians do.

Only their pawn didn't react the way they expected, and now all sides are in damage control. US/NATO can't be seen as having been weak and ineffective (too late), Russia can't be seen as losing (too late), so they are all still skittering about trying to figure out how to get the original plan to still work without their own house of cards being one of the casualties.

And the innocent are caught in the crossfire, as per usual.