der Kuchen ist eine Lüge

A Rant on Infantry Training

2011-02-25T18:25:00.002+08:00

There is a huge difference in the way we train our soldiers and the way armies which actually fight wars in the modern day (or probably in the past as well) train their soldiers. The average soldier in our army is very sure that he (or Singapore for that matter) will not be involved in any large-scale conventional warfare in the near future – no conflict involving himself or those he knows anyway. The same cannot be said of armies who live ‘on the edge’ so to speak. Although commanders explain to him the purpose and application of the training, and although he himself may understand in theory, he is not willing to put effort into the training commiserating with the important function it ultimately serves – to save his life. Even commanders are tacitly willing to lower training standards because of this, or otherwise accept less than what their soldiers are capable of. There is no life-threatening purpose to spur higher training standards. Even the safety culture may be perceived to encourage this – the message is sent out: it is not worth injuring or killing oneself in the course of training over these two years, even if it means lowering training standards; one’s own life ahead of these two years is more important than the army’s developing its fullest capability to fight especially in terms of psychological preparation. This tacitly implies that not risking our life is more important than developing full combat potential – it is difficult to preach both at the same time, yet we do. When we imagine all the possible ways in which soldiers can be trained to more fully realize what it means to fight in a war, the idea that “safety culture without compromising training standards” probably rings hollow deep within us. The soldier’s purpose is to be prepared to sacrifice his life (or more accurately, make his enemy sacrifice their lives) to achieve his nation’s purposes, much like soldier ants in the natural world; the most sacrifices many of our soldiers make is to work overtime or not book-out. More angst is given to these sorts of sacrifices more than the sort of sacrifices soldiers really make when the bullets fly.

I will comment on urban operations training as I feel more confident in my apprehension of it in general. The first thing soldiers are taught are the basic drills: room-clearing, window-clearing and all variations of it; team-level, section-level, with or without grenade. There is nothing wrong in practicing drills; it is a good thing in fact, to train the reflexes and subconscious of soldiers. The training cannot stop there however, and it is the onus on unit commanders to engineer ways to develop the proficiency of soldiers further than what the textbook teaches; doing that will increase survivability. Unfortunately, there seems to be very little active emphasis on this. To be a good combatant, especially in UO, one must receive training of the mind, whether formal or informal. It is said that UO requires high levels of initiative and flexibility at the small unit level; very true. At the higher levels, officers also require good command and control in the urban environment but I shan’t touch on that so much since I’m a spec; I’m not so qualified to talk about it authoritatively.

What does it mean to train the mind? It means so many things. For example, if a grenade appears in front of a soldier at a stairwell, how does he react? There are many things he could do; 1) be stunned and die, 2) shout ‘Grenade!’ and amble down the stairs with his comrades, 3) yell at the top of his lungs ‘GRENADE’ and dive down the stairs, 4) throw the grenade somewhere away from the team, 5) throw the grenade back in the direction of the enemy 6) jump on top of the grenade and sacrifice himself to save his fellow soldiers. What determines which option a soldier will take? His mind. The soldier’s mind apprehends, or fails to apprehend the variety of options available to him (badly trained soldiers usually fail to apprehend all options except 1). To say that the quality of a soldier’s mind is dependent on the amount and quality of experience he has had is correct. I feel that it will not do to educate a soldier’s mind with theoretical slides trying to detail every single possibility in UO, nor will it be very effective to exhort soldiers to do ‘A’ when presented with ‘B’. This is because it does not breed creativity, but rather fixes the soldiers on formulaic scenarios, which is not what we want to achieve in training effective urban fighters. The best way, in my opinion, to train soldiers’ minds, is to strip the game down to its bare minimum. Yes, it is a ‘game’ so to speak; a deadly one. The barest minimum is: our side must win and the enemy must lose. No other outcome is acceptable. Often the extensions of this basic objective are: 1) Lose as few soldiers as possible, 1A) Evacuate friendly wounded as fast as possible, 2) Kill as many enemies as possible, 3) Achieve our mission objectives as fast as possible, 4) Conserve ammunition as much as possible, 5) Survive; so on and so forth. Once soldiers truly grasp this fundamental objective, as well as the fact that survival (but above that, victory) depends on it, they will start to feel purpose, and therefore motivation, and therefore be more receptive to training, if not show more initiative during it. Furthermore, once they grasp this and realize the near-infinite ways of winning and losing in the UO game, they will start to become smarter. The next thing soldiers need to know after the fundamental objective of the game is understood, is the tools they have at their disposal to achieve it. Weapons, equipment, environment, actions, comrades, the enemy’s own perception, one’s own body are tools to achieve victory. Again, as with the case of the grenade, it is the soldier’s mind which apprehends or fails to apprehend the variety of tools he has available. Once soldiers become proficient at using their tools to beat the game; that is when they have become good UO fighters. All these are really not very complicated ideas, yet we tend to lose sight of them very often for some reason.

ASLC LLST

2010-06-14T00:32:00.003+08:00

Army life is taking unsurprising turns yet again. So much for going to armour. As far as I'm informed, seems like ASLC is a popular choice for IB students, or rather the other way around.

I write in shorter sentences than ever before. Everyone seems to blog less too.

+ve mindset.

ASLC is said by some to be one of the most fun parts of trainee life. I hope they have a point.

Now that my fate is sealed and my vocation is decided anyhow, I shall have no holds barred any longer.

Garang is the way to go now.

1. SOC must be passed.

2. Public speaking improved.

3. I will be godly at technical handling, or as close as I can get.

4. Perform is always a useful skill.

Emo begone! J-Coy here I come!

With Pride we lead, got food will eat

2010-04-16T21:25:00.003+08:00

Well, I can think of much worse places to be. A prayer for all those in AI and to all those in AIRCRAFT CARGO RIGGER WTF STOREMAN FOR AIR FORCE

Spiral of Despair

2010-04-12T20:02:00.004+08:00

The idle mind is the devil's workshop.

The feeling the one gets when one doesn't do very much at all. Something like an indescribable void, like a black hole but more subtle and less harrowing. Then again, it probably isn't simply being idle when one feels this lack of purpose, one also needs to have nothing to look forward to - no hope.

I'm currently fulfilling both conditions, with nothing to look forward to in the near future except most likely running around in jungles, unless CMPB doesn't mind wasting some combat fit stock in a desk job or saikang.

Today's main sense of purpose dissipated after I finished weaving back my now-clean LBV and achieved the Ascent to Transcendance Victory on SMAC.

It has been a long time since I've embellished my little, cherished fantasy world and now methinks I should actually get things written down. On paper.

To my surprise, Sora no Woto was actually quite a quaint little series. There was even outfield, FBO, wild boar and sergeants stunning stuff.

Exit the Dragon

2010-04-10T17:55:00.003+08:00

All muscles and joints busted. Body roasted to a crisp, courtesy of 39 degree fever. That's what happened after 24km, then drill squad and then immediately running back to form-up area for GP.

YES we didn't drop any rifles.

I dreamt I was posted to police. Now I really wouldn't mind that.

In the event that something like that doesn't happen and if I happen to be thrown to Guards or Infantry or AI, maybe I'd actually consider the NUS med application seriously. 5+ years of civilian life (better still, studying life) followed by lepak at MOCC and various medical centres sounds like a nice prospect to the side of me who doesn't really like chionging around as a spec or other army lifeform in the middle of assorted jungles.

Meat is my friend.

2010-02-13T22:50:00.006+08:00

Sitting in the comfort of home actually makes me think the past few days wasn't so bad after all. Meat has worked wonders on morale and muscle alike and now I can do more than 1 pullup again since getting the crap wacked out of myself from Dragon PT. 10 hours of sleep has also brought some writing power back up to scratch. I don't even feel the lack of hair that acutely - exception being that showering is faster and putting on my headphones is easier.

It's been as unromantic as I imagined, but if you ask me now, a mix of high points and low points made confinement week a very tolerable experience.

Positive mindset.

No matter how I look at it, some parts were pretty damn funny too.

The sergeants make our life tough enough so I'd rather not add to my own misery. Think about it this way: it's the heat shock period right now. Getting out of BMT would most likely mean less siongness unless you go to command school - wherein some token rewards await our survival through a second BMT. I'm optimistic for my fitness. OC and meat makes me confident that I'll be able to keep up and maybe even get an IPPT gold or manage to do SOC. At the very least I think I'll survive.

There's also the question of what we're purporting to defend I guess. As much as physical survival occupies most of the mind, maybe some thought ought to be given to the question instead of simply loving Big Brother or wallowing in cynicism. The first is kinda sickening and the latter without a solution accelerates decomposition the way I see it.

The idea of 'us', the sovereign state defending ourselves against the powers that be that could profit in Singapore's destruction. Fighting or training to defend a large group of people (and then some) called a 'nation'. That's our job. We kill a group of people to save another group of people. Why? Because we identify with the group we're saving more.

As a friend mentioned, most would conceivably fight to defend their families. Extend that circle of whom one would fight for to include close friends and other loved ones. It's altruistic and feels kinda noble. Propaganda extends that circle to include everyone who's a citizen of Singapore and if we're feeling charitable PRs. But immediately, that extension somehow doesn't feel right. There's this gap between what we defend and what we consider part of what we ought to defend. With regard to what I think I ought to defend, suppose I don't stick to the neatly defined boundaries of Singaporean citizens. Suppose I have an inkling that all humanity is possessed of some goodness. That's how war becomes tragic.

Unlike an American grunt, we don't even have a notion of 'freedom' to fight for. In the absence of a well-defined group of people (or thing) we're convinced we must fight and lay down our lives for, we fight for infrastructure. And the material possessions of Singaporean citizens. But that's a poor excuse at electrifying a man's soul, to borrow Napoleon's words.

In the necessary attempts to assuage the public, our government has had to downplay the gravity of what it means to be a soldier. I don't quite blame them for the cynicism and emptiness that rises inevitably from that. I guess it sort of saddened me to think that doomed youth didn't quite realize how doomed their words actually made them, and that they didn't snatch their rifles from their officers - it was thrust into their hands rather. One only hopes that such unresolved problems of national identity don't come back to bite the country in the ass when real shit hits the fan.

I felt like crying when I got my rifle. But I didn't.

Enter the Dragon

2010-02-12T22:29:00.003+08:00

All muscles and joints busted. Hands roasted to a crisp, hot plate style. That's what happens when one has an Ironman for an OC.

Somehow I felt like crying when I got my rifle. Of course, I didn't. Like everyone else, I just shouted "with this, I will defend my country".

Goodbye

2010-02-04T11:33:00.001+08:00

Will be back after the break.

By Wilfred Owen

2010-01-31T20:56:00.002+08:00

What passing bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle

Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;

And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.

The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Now what?

2010-01-14T01:02:00.004+08:00

In the end, gaming can't distract me forever. CnC Generals Hard campaigns and challenges get done, TF2 achievements run out, VC was done a long time ago and I don't have a PS3 anyway.

When it comes to more sordid matters of social advancement, I have been considerably luckier than I expected. So many others deserved more but I probably got more than I deserved anyhow. Still, I think it dangerous for the soul to be defined by one's results, good or not so.

I don't feel as if I have grasped what the end of formal education means, or 'adulthood' for the matter. I know a lot of people who are starting to make applications, and I remember wondering if I ought to be like them and get the show on the road. But then I felt it wasn't exactly the 'right' time for myself - I am waiting for something. Of course, it makes for some insecurity not knowing what exactly that is, but somehow I'm contented to wait.

I postulated that it is a calling perhaps. It's believable that I could be in need of a new life vision. Not that I'm completely clueless about the man I want to be. I think I want to be 'great'. What that entails and how to get there are probably more complicated. Perhaps it would be 'great' to be able to live rightly and justly - to be saintly. To do that, I'd need to know God and all the beautiful things that are the glory of God. That probably means to meet God and His World.

I wonder if I can find what I'm looking for in the army.

It's one thing to actually find a career there. On the other hand, I have few doubts that if I looked with the right eyes, I would glimpse God and the World there. And it is never a bad thing to experience the glory of God.

Thus, I look with anticipation to seeing the world.

I thought to myself; the state will bring the world to me, I won't have to move from here till they drag me away. When they do so I won't resist anyway. But then I also realized: am I really 'not moving' where I am now? Sure, life seems slower nowadays, but then the pace makes me think and realize things about the past I never thought of before. Isn't that a form of experience as well?

I wonder if I could possibly live out the rest of my life like this. Of course I can't do that, realistically speaking - things would happen to me. But would it be spiritually 'good'? Probably not. Not forever at least. Maybe it may be good for a time, but my lifespan is limited and the World is so large that it would be a pity if I lingered too long in one place.

I shouldn't stay more than 3 days in the same town.

49

2010-01-07T09:28:00.001+08:00

WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!!!!

On zombie invasions of ACS(I) Part 2

2009-11-29T23:52:00.000+08:00

Perhaps the most pressing issue to be discussed by those who make it alive and unbitten into the safety of the second line of defense is that of long-term survival, both in a physical and psychological sense. The first and most fundamental (existential) truth that must be admitted openly both by the survivor government and the society being that all will die.

It is a conclusion most mortals will make, subconsciously or not, even given the well-being and relative luxury of living in a zombie-free world (especially for those in developed countries). But many readers will grasp why this question needs to be addressed and put out in open forum from the outset rather than being left to fester in the recesses of the survivor's psyche - wherein it will speed up the decomposition of other mental, spiritual and psychological faculties - hence making us zombies in all but the physical sense. I see this as the primary importance of doing so: it is one of the only fundamental philosophical truths the survivors will have to agree on. It's folly to agree on, for example, the aim to have everyone survive this episode or even profess that the governmental institutions care for the well-being of each individual survivor. The former is only a superficial attempt to assuage one's self or audience and the latter could possibly be an outright lie.

Most probably, the government will declare its aim of prolonging survival for as long as possible - perhaps a reasonable objective (or rather the only objective a government could meaningfully undertake). This aim makes the assumption that its citizens unanimously wish to survive (hence they are 'survivors'). This may not be so, as there may be some who do not see the point of prolonging their existence any longer for whatever reason (perhaps they have been satisfied with their part in establishing the institutions within which those less willing to accept the fact that they will die can live a little longer). Whatever the reason, some wish to die. They should be granted their wish once the laboratories have produced either enough suicide pills (or as a reader has contributed, trained enough doctors to administer much more efficient lethal injections). From the utilitarian point of view which the government would naturally take given their role and aim as an institution, this is efficient conservation of food for those who wish to survive. Some may take the idea further and suggest that the corpses be used as fertilizer for any agricultural enterprises. However, this might not be recommended given the psychological impact it could have on the rest of the population especially if such an outcome was against their express wishes (alternatively one could, via the propaganda machine, attempt to portray the suicidees as heroes sacrificing their bodies to recycle compounds for food and therefore justify their voluntary or involuntary use as fertilizer after their deaths).

Is there any alternative to a utilitarian ethical system from the point of view of the government? Provided their aim is to ensure the survival and well-being of as many survivors as possible, I would suggest: no. Readers are free to disagree and advance arguments to the contrary. Within the context of a human-threatening zombie apocalypse, perhaps any idealistic system based on something more unempirical than utilitarianism already may be could amount to empty moralizing at odds with the whole idea of 'survivor'.

One could of course argue that while moralizing as a general term will not make us live longer, it instead will confirm our sense of humanity (in a vague sense perhaps). Which brings me to the other possible desirable end other than "as many people as possible survive" - "everybody dies in a beatific way, completely at ease with their own humanity and with God". In other words, when everyone is willing to die, and dies in a way pleasing to themselves. That also could be a meaningful end, having come to terms with life, death and literally what's in between. If that is possible, then why not?

However, given a somewhat more pessimistic view of human nature, I doubt everyone will be able to die in such a way - therefore I do not see a realistic alternative to (either authoritarian or socialist, the choice between which depends on human nature) utilitarianism. For those (who may be understandably) unable to accept such a reality, heaven is a better place and as mentioned, paths should be provided in that direction.

I will discuss the more pessimistic scenario:
The fabric of society will be held together by an authoritarian government which will use whatever means, morally dubious or not, to achieve their aims. And an authoritarian government needs apparatus to effect its authority - a police force and propaganda being two important arms with others aside.

(Part 3 to follow since I need to gather my thoughts again after leaving this off for so long)

Mind over Chatter

2009-11-29T21:57:00.002+08:00

I refer to Lee Wei Ling's article "Morals and morale" on page 31 of the Sunday Times, the 'think' section.

To be sure, I doubt if it is even meant to be an article more than a sort of autobiography short. Only the last 4 and a half paragraphs expressed any kind of text relevant to the issue. But then, as a friend pointed out, I ought not to waste too much time on this.

Basically, the audience interested in the issue does not need to know that the author and her brothers' ability to be bilingual affected the decision to make all ethnic Chinese students be like her in that respect. Neither would they be terribly interested in the fact that the author loved memorizing the classics and that she also had a nice view of the Istana grounds to work at it in front of or that she never got below 90 marks for moxie. How moxious. Or that the author had little problem memorizing facts in medical school owing to the way Chinese refined her memory faculties to its current awesomeness. Or that she was good enough to have her essays printed in Chinese newspapers as a teenager and be paid for it (even if it was 'only' $10 apiece or so). And that above all she learnt to be honourable and cultured like the ideal Confucian junzi.

And after recognizing that not everyone can be like her, she suggests that Chinese should be taught in a way that students can understand and find useful, no elaboration, the end. Oh, and also that it will be transformed somehow by the use of IT.

Alas, we weep for the death of tissue which once conveyed nutrients and water to useful photosynthetic parts of our natural world.

Wishlist

2009-11-19T16:07:00.008+08:00

I agree with Juzzie's philosophy:

25th Nov - Birthday wishlist:
- iPod Classic
- Call of Duty 4
- CnC3 + Expansion (Levin calls dibs tentatively)
- Any nice anime figurine (preferably from a series I've watched or something)
- Any nice anime poster (also preferably one I'm familiar with)
- A copy of Goethe's Faust (Jx calls dibs)
- Any Murakami Haruki book (except The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Norwegian Wood since I already got those)
- 5x5 rubix cube (I need this for lasertag on 4Dec)
- World peace

Some items aren't that cheap, so go ahead and pool if you like.

Then came the Man

2009-11-02T00:25:00.001+08:00

Only a few more days of living by the spinal cord like a small animal; then the rebirth into a brave new world!

He died for the Fatherland

2009-10-19T16:26:00.003+08:00

Eintritt in der Wehrmacht: 4 Feb

Enough black tape will make everyone your friend.

impact...impact

2009-10-15T22:50:00.004+08:00

In the mood for HidaSketch (and maybe therefore also in HidaSketch mood) in recent days it seems.

Yea - that's the stuff

2009-10-10T13:00:00.005+08:00

Possibility 1: Gastric ulcer
Possibility 2: Subconscious psychological triggers.

The likelihood that Possibility 1 in isolation causes the bouts of nausea lately would be strange but possibly not totally off the mark. No alarm symptoms, no high-end scale pain and viable (albeit reduced) appetite point to less serious stuff though to be fair, having symptoms for 2 weeks is already a bad sign, even if life is sort of going on near normal (being too manly to admit that something worse might be afoot). A fact however which points to Possibility 2: 'stressful' situations trigger symptoms (amongst other possible triggers such as vigorous exercise, eating and in some circumstances, talking so don't call me, msn me). Possibility 2 in isolation fails to explain certain things as well: firstly, it does not account for the sudden onset and secondly, my doubt if the body can be affected solely by a screwed up superego (in the psychoanalytic sense) without alarm being communicated first through the ego.

I do hope I'm being rational enough for a casualty, even if uninformed. On the bright side, it gives me some personal impetus to mug bio (hand-written notes for entirety of last year's work completed in 6 days). Drug dose increased too.

Farewell comrades

2009-10-04T23:16:00.006+08:00

See you on the other side!

In other news, no more CoH, Close Combat 5, Starcraft, Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom, RO2, etc until after IB.

Appreciation to gaming m8s and game provider:

CoH: Gwin, Herr, Jarrel, Jx, Yang, Jonny, Bevan, JonSeah, Mr Seah, my bro and the Light (for letting us kope his acc eternally)
Starcraft: Juzzie, Jonny, Z, Jarrel, Jx
RO2: Herr, HJ
Emperor: Mr Kan

On Wanton Disrespect for another School

2009-09-27T03:59:00.005+08:00

Actually, it's quite an interesting challenge:

Not that I'm sore at all about it, but I can't help but point out that their plan has numerous flaws from a military science perspective.

I will attempt to rectify them to the best of my abilities. Perhaps after zombie articles.

On zombie invasions of ACS(I) Part 1

2009-09-26T02:02:00.005+08:00

Admittedly there are too many variables for a totally realistic discussion of how the school should be run in the event of zombie invasion, but these are some ideas anyhow. Readers are very welcome to contribute / improve the plan / point out flaws in reasoning or new, unaccounted for variables.

Firstly, the premise:
Manpower: 200 (a fraction of the Y6 cohort)
Zombies: Mindless, do not actively scheme of ways to spread Solanum, physical capabilities of an average human but a bit more sluggish.
Supplies: Food - stocks for 3 weeks, water unknown duration of supply, power also unknown.

Worldwide zombie apocalypse - hospitals are overflowing with the living dead. Militaries and police caught off guard but far from totally annihilated. In the event, military rescue is the most likely option for long term survival provided they have as mentioned, not been totally destroyed. Even better still if they hold and maintain key utilities such as power and water. However, there is probably less of an incentive to rescue 200 random living people walking around all on their own throughout the city - most will be presumed dead and a waste of resources to get to. Therefore, having a make-shift safe zone will encourage military rescue on two counts, firstly because all 200 people are concentrated and organized in a single area and secondly because there would be minimal zombie interference with helicopters.

The school in its current state is not that well prepared for zombie invasion. It can however be made much more defensible and potentially support 200 for some time - with development of agriculture even self sufficient to some degree. Certain measures can prolong survival though most likely not indefinitely.

In almost all scenarios, the commodity I wish we had more of is solid barricade material such as concrete or long spars, possibly even second to food.

First line of defense: Perimeter
Second line of defense: Old block and 4th, 5th level of IB block connected by short stretch of 3rd level IB corridor + bridge.
Third line: 3rd level of old block upwards.
Fourth line: 4th level upwards.
Fifth line: Fifth level.
Last line: Roof top - by then it's probably a matter of denying the zombies and committing suicide.

First line of defense: Perimeter of the school itself. If this can be held, survival becomes comparatively very easy. Trouble is, if they start climbing the fences, massive breaches will be inevitable wherever there is no barbed wire. Moreover, some sections of the fence are highly dubious such as that near the tennis courts. Also, the ITE zombies will have a fairly easy time getting over their low fence. UWC zombies are less of an issue because of the better fences and canal between us.
Reinforcing this perimeter if possible would be highly recommended. Barbed wire along the top of the fences curled in an appropriate way should deter the decomposing zombies along with patrols of people with long sticks to knock any climbing zombies off should work at least for the short-term. This first line of defense however most likely cannot be held for more than a few days if the zombies are vigorous enough. Fences can become dislodged and breaches made (if our own students can do that - why not a horde of zombies?) A real pity because the sports fields (not the astroturf) are a potential source of agriculture - being well irrigated as they are.

In the meantime, while the barrier holds, all efforts should be made to transfer essential equipment and materials to more defensible locations. This should be the period of time where the proportion of mobilized fighters should be the highest. Almost all should be involved in physical labor of some sort. About 150 to defend and watch the perimeter at all times should be all that can be spared. Of these some should take Estate walkie talkies and move to suitable observation points to direct reserve divisions to any zombie incursions. An engineering corp should work at dismantling the tennis court fences to provide substantial amounts of new fence to plug holes.
Food supplies and refrigeration equipment should be moved ASAP to the top floors of the old block (I believe the old block to be more conducive for long term survival since key facilities are located in higher levels such as the concrete water storage tanks as well as laboratories which could be essential). All lab materials, horticultural equipment and useful tools (manual and power) should be removed from the IB laboratories to the 4th and 5th level labs as well as a sizeable amount of IT equipment (such as the macs and the IT department room stuff). It is also recommended that library books be removed upstairs. UYO cabins (especially scout room and BB storeroom) to be looted for the infinitely useful survival equipment and even sections of the prefab metal from the walls and roof - probably among the most robust barricade materials. If it is also possible, loot the generators from the top of the IB block (this is the only reason why the second line of defense includes the IB block - for the essential equipment in the utility rooms at IB lvl 6). All barricade materials to be removed and put in more useful places (such as the very nice grilles from the grey level com labs). Gym equipment and sports stuff should also be looted.

By the time the zombies have breached the first line considerably, as much of the above should be completed - it is permissible to consume more generous rations for the first few days in order to accomplish this. From here, a withdrawal should be made to the old block, barricading:
- The old art room area
- The SAC
- The central staircase
- The greenhouse area
- Near LT 4
- Spaceframe entrance
- Audi 'Route B' staircase
- Depending on whether the IB roof generators were removed, the bridge.

A centre of government should be established perhaps in the yellow level staffroom to house administrative records and essential stores such as food - along with a loyal detachment of fighters equipped with good weapons and armour (even the limited ranged weapons) to act as possibly totalitarian police (to be discussed later).

The newly established science sector at the 4th and 5th levels should begin production of suicide pills, enough for everyone.

End Part I

But hey

2009-09-10T19:52:00.002+08:00

The Devil is a poor excuse for sin.

YES YOU HERRICK

Thy Kingdom Come

2009-09-03T23:12:00.003+08:00

The Kingdom of Heaven is realized on Earth when divine love manifests in the soul of Man.

Oh

2009-09-01T14:05:00.002+08:00

God alone bears witness to the multitude of humanity's secret and beautiful thoughts.

Or hardly unloving

2009-08-31T15:42:00.004+08:00

A fitting end to possibly the last Teachers' Day of its kind we'll be experiencing in our long, hard unloving lives!

Die Macht der Volk

2009-08-30T12:42:00.004+08:00

The government of any nation resides in the hearts and minds of its people.

The Tea Society

2009-08-29T22:30:00.004+08:00

Had a nice discussion with some friends about a variety of topics over cake and (ice lemon) tea today. I'm not much of a physics person, but then the subject presented itself to me in a very interesting way. There was also some philosophy and sociology. That was fun too.

All that in two hours of casual discussion, even the random Year 5 in the vicinity had a meaningful contribution to make regarding black holes.

And since we were on the topic of formal education.

I wonder why education can't be done collectively. I mean, I think I learnt a fair bit in that time, think of what could be done with more. A group of interested people discussing a wide variety of issues. Sure that makes focused syllabi very difficult, but if you cover enough topics in enough depth (which is very possible in my opinion given enough time), think of the collective intelligence that would result.

Rather than having individual examinations taken in a formal setting, how about giving groups (the size and membership of which being up to the members) difficult problems and seeing how the collective intelligence responds? Sure it's a kind of educational ideal, but I think the prospect is rather intriguing. The way I see it, the main thing which stops that from happening is the focus on the individual in our society. Individual performance, wealth, connection and the like. The culture upon which this is based is of course, widespread and pervasive, dating back to ancient times, if not primordial. But supposing one had the power to remould human society at large to view the group as the greater entity rather than the self as the greatest (or most relevant at least), the society resulting from which could be interesting to say the least.

Who knows where that would take humanity? It's rather communist I suppose, too bad for Marx that human self-interest got the better of his idea in the culture that we live in.

The Tea Society is a CCA.

Its members have a room, where tea-making implements, a table, and enough chairs are found to be seated comfortably. Every CCA day, they come in and have tea. They have a discussion on various topics of interest on the side. A recorder is permanently present, with enough tape or hard drive space to record conversations. Each of the members are intelligent people (in their own right) with something (no, lots of things) to contribute from the recesses of their minds from a wide variety of fields. Maybe, they sometimes work on their previous conversations, translating those into papers.

I imagine they'll have a library full of said papers.

2009-08-11T21:51:00.002+08:00

How much better is the sting of the cane,
than idle dwelling without experience!
Of all the little victories Major
This perhaps could yet be the greatest one.

I just pray it'll not be Pyrrhic, or cost
Too much.

O fool, I shall go mad!

2009-08-10T01:04:00.004+08:00

Despair and brink of insanity. I appreciate the greatness of God's grace more and more each day.

More than patience, faith.

notepad: mending wall

2009-07-03T22:54:00.004+08:00

No one seems to think it unnatural that people behave toward each other in the way they do; rather, most people think it natural for a certain kind of relationship to be in the norm. We're all humans of course, but I do wonder how far we can empathize with that ideal in the end.

I like sharing my observations regarding life with other people. Not a lot of people pick up the line with which I (or he, depending on the initiator) commence the meta-conversation; those who can I count my closer friends - perhaps simply because I can share and attempt to express life from my perspective. On the other hand, the bait is withdrawn from those who cannot; it's unreasonable to expect everyone to be sensitive to every variety of social signal after all.

It did prompt me to think about the kind of people whom I had this sort of relationship. Suddenly I recalled the fact that someone booked me as a chem tutor a year in advance (yes, ego boost, but that's not the point); he's just a year younger. Yet I'll be expected to fill the role of...a teacher; which in our society connotes a position of seniority. Sure I'll be able to mimic that kind of role, but I had an idea: wouldn't it be helpful for him to treat me as a friend coming over to study rather than as a formal tutor-figure? I figured I'd wear the old black school corporate T or something to signal to 1) remind him that we're not as disparate in age as my role may suggest and 2) create the impression that I'm a fellow student.

On hindsight, when one of the Y7s came back to be an officer, I had felt this most strongly. He's a decent fellow, smart guy; still is. But somehow something had changed and it wasn't his personality. I now believe it was his social role - now having a new kind of authority and consciousness of the social expectations placed on him, he seemed to me just - different.

I as a senior and as a junior. Just a year difference could mean so much in the end.

What of years of difference? Or even decades for that matter. I wondered how many adults I had a relationship with that could be comparable to that between me and my closer friends. I thought about teachers - given that I was just thinking about my chem tutorhood (and the standard I would have to reach to be worthy of that).

To be sure, I have thrown the meta-conversation bait out to my teachers (whether school or private). I did not expect to get a response, firstly because they cannot afford to give me a privileged position by taking the bait (even if they do see it), especially in front of other students. People are perceptive - misinterpretation of signals would be far too risky for said teachers to respond in a completely natural way. In spite of that, I sensed he left a subtle opening - a glimpse of his observations on life. I was satisfied with that.

Tutors don't have the same restrictions and for the most part, they understand my intent when I put out the line. A couple of adults from this category I speak my mind to. It feels strange to talk to adults in such a way so disparate from the usual expectation of a Singaporean student-teacher relationship. I much prefer the master-apprentice dynamic: an acknowledgment of the elder's superiority (an earned respect for demonstrated skill rather than an assumption based off age) and understanding of one's own developing status. I find this latter kind of relationship more meaningful - much like the relationship between closer comrades in my age group.

Age is probably just one of the things which determine our social role and hence the relationships we have. I mean, there's gender, intelligence, interests and all those other things. Gender's a huge barrier for me - I put it up myself last year in fact. But that's another issue.

I sometimes wonder why we can't all be really close friends and share our observations on life with the people who we talk to. I like doing that. It makes me more conscious of my life as a journey (yes, whatever, I may be able to guess what you, the possible IB reader are thinking) where I gain something meaningful in every communication with another mind (not just 'mind' - people are more than that of course).

Why the need for barriers then? Artificiality. Readers will draw their own ideas of this word in this context, but sometimes we're 'artificial' without even thinking. I know decent, artificial people who build fences without even knowing it, without any malice some of us may associate with the idea of an 'artificial appearance'.

Yet, for a rationale as yet unknown to me, society needs barriers.

Thus sprach groß Bruder

2009-05-25T19:56:00.005+08:00

"Changes to Singapore's political system are in the works and yesterday, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong spelt out three principles that will guide these amendments...One, they must be fair to all political parties; two, they should result in a strong, effective Government after an election; and three, they must ensure diverse views are represented in Parliament."

But!

2 > 1

And we already have 3.

We just love our freedom of speech don't we?

2009-05-20T23:06:00.001+08:00

Da Comrade!

Breaking News To-day

2009-05-08T20:51:00.004+08:00

Victory in Europe has been achieved to-day; mainly by American forces over a period of 3 years and with some help from Allied powers.

Steh Volk!

2009-05-03T21:05:00.001+08:00

Probably the closest thing to a revolution Singapore will get.

A is for Aryan

2009-04-10T22:57:00.006+08:00

"Afternoon sir."
"Please sit down."

-Creak-
"File please."
"Oh right, here."
-Scribble-

"Do you have any family history of sudden death?"
"Nope, except that my grandfather died suddenly when the VP counter hit zero."

"Are you or any of your family members unusually prone to bruising or otherwise mundane injury?"
"Guess not. Except for burns. Last I checked, my armour type was infantry_elite."

"Any phobias?"
"Dead scared of big cats. Like pumas, panthers and tigers. Erk."

"Describe your eating habits."
"Lemme think...I eat weapon teams for breakfast."

"Do you smoke?"
"Yes."
"How often?"
"One every 60 seconds, tops."

"Any particular religious beliefs?"
"I'd not say...but I stick to my doctrine."

"How's your damage per second?"
"Pretty good at close range."

"Reinforce cost?"
"55."

"Your hobbies?"
"I fly and crash gliders regularly if that counts."

"Any mental illnesses?"
"Let me know if you think so."

"Anything else you'd like to let me know of?"
"Well, I've seemed to phase through stuff every time I land on a glider run recently. Like barns. Think that's a problem?"
"Shouldn't be, can be patched up if you ask me."
"Oh, ok."

-Scribble-

"Right, PES A. You're in the commandos, boy."

CoH/VC ep1: Deploy Handgranaten

2009-04-08T20:29:00.012+08:00

Using Grenades:

Knowing when and where to use grenades is essential in high-level CoH play. In strict terms, grenades are a gamble between:

Spending:
Munitions
(In some cases, health)

Possibly inflict on opponent:
Loss of health/manpower
Loss of attention resource

The better the opponent's micro is, the less likely he is to lose health and the more likely he is to lose attention resource. Losing the latter is the far better choice at most times. Therefore, the good player should know how to dodge grenades instinctively and consistently; watch for the "reaching for pocket" animation if you don't already know how to do so (there's a trick which takes advantage of this, to be discussed later).

The featured grenade happens to be a German stick grenade. Such grenades have longer range than the US and Brit Commando nade, but do less damage. Both cost 25 munitions. The US nade has to be upgraded; the Wehr one doesn't. In addition to the standard HE grenades, there are many grenade type weapons (sticky bombs not counted):

US:
Grenade: Riflemen, Rangers, Airborne
Satchel charge: Airborne

Wehr:
Stick grenade: Grenadiers (duh)
Bundled grenade: Stormtroopers
Assault: Volks, Grens, Storms, Knights Cross Holders

Brits:
Rifle grenades: Tommies w/ rifle grenades
Smoke rifle grenade: Tommies w/ rifle grenades
Grenade: Commandos

PE:
Incendiary Grenade: PGs
Anti-tank Grenade: PGs
Anti-building incendiary grenade: Fallschirmjaegers

Basic grenade use: 1. Always use hotkeys for grenades, the standard is 'N'. This helps minimize the amount of attention resource needed to deploy a grenade, and it also helps you to be Korean.

They shoot equally well as their Star Wars counterparts. Oh, they're in yellow cover too.
Grenade time.

2. Use grenades against units in cover: grenade damage values do not take penalties against infantry in any sort of cover.

3. Throw grenades from as short a range as possible. This helps reduce the window in which your opponent can micro away from it. Such a technique is known as grenade spiking. That being said, there is a minimum range at which you can throw your grenades and if iirc, grenades do friendly fire (may be used in conjunction with another technique later).

4. Use grenades only when and where they will matter. Killing 3 volks individuals in a fight pitting 4 rifles against 3 volks squads and an MG isn't going to help much. Killing the MG crew on the other hand, is far more worth it, since you kill the centrepiece of the Wehr early game and may or may not get to run away with the weapon. Plus you remove the suppression unit and get to kill the unupgraded Volks at close range.

Advanced grenade techniques:

Zerocrack's door grenade trick: It's no big deal for a good player to micro his infantry out of a building when he sees the animation. This trick anticipates this and hence, the grenade is thrown at the door of the building rather than the building itself, which is quite cool if you can pull it off. Of course, it depends on the opponent seeing the grenade and getting out in time, which shouldn't be a problem against good players until you start using it too much. Also, know where all doors of the building you're throwing the grenade at are, since you don't want to waste 25 munis throwing it at the wrong door and hence fail.

Masking throwing animation: CoH AI causes infantry units in the open to jump into nearby cover; this 'involuntary movement' can be used to mask the grenade throwing action. Click near, not on a piece of cover, and hit the 'N' key on the target the instant the units' Ai begins to move them into the cover. Executed properly, it's more difficult for the opponent's peripheral vision to pick up the grenade throw, and should hopefully help reduce reaction window further.

Grenade damage in buildings: Many buildings in CoH are rectangular or almost so. When a unit garrisons a building, the infantry units basically align along one or a number of sides of the rectangle. When an enemy unit comes into range, as many of the units inside the building align to the most convenient side to shoot the approaching enemy unit.
Applying that and the logic that individuals which are closer together take more damage from grenades (same reasoning for why grenades are so good against trenches), consider when individuals garrisoned in a building are closest together: when they are aligned along the breadth of the rectangular building. Hence, individuals aligned and shooting from the breadth take most damage from grenades.
This has implications for flanking, especially for riflemen vs the MG42. It would hence be ideal to approach the MG from the breadth of the building, since garrisoned MGs, once they have acquired a target, cannot be retargeted unless the target enemy dies or is retreated, or the MG gets out of the building. Once the MG opens up after aligning itself with the breadth, another rifle squad should approach the building from the length and throw in a grenade through one of the windows on the length-wise side. This should ensure that maximum damage is done to the 3-man MG squad by ensuring that the MG is in the most closely packed arrangement as possible: an arrangement which can be determined by the attacker.

And to end off with some discussion of other grenade-type weapons:

Comments on other grenade weapons:
Satchel charge: Don't bother using it against anything which moves; it has a 4+ second timer last I remember. Using it to clear Wehr medic bunkers is a good idea though, and even if it won't kill the bunker outright, it should kill the MG team inside it unless he micros out, in which case the bunker is still heavily damaged anyway.

Incendiary grenades: My least favourite grenade, except against trenches. Few players sit around in the flaming spot and wait for their infantry to die.

Bundle grenades: This is what makes storms so deadly against trenches. Because the units are clumped so tightly in trenches, they take massive damage from bundled nades (and for that matter any grenades). Thing is, storms camo and can sneak up. The only way for the Brit player to avoid the bundle nade is to use the usual wire and mines precautions for defending against storms or press "delete""delete""T" in rapid succession when you see the grenade thrown.

Assault: I've mixed assessments of this ability. On one hand, a big red flashing FX tells everyone that lots of grenades will be thrown. On the other hand, it can actually be quite good at short range because of the aforementioned advantages of shorter range and less reaction time (where only fire up or retreat can escape). Best used with Volks since by late game they don't have a lot to do and since they have the largest number of individuals in a single squad and therefore throw more grenades at a go.

Anti-tank grenades: There're better AT weapons, but against an immobilized M8 or something, it does pretty ok. Another trick is to use AT nades to trigger teller mines and cause a huge explosion; great at the classic mine spots on the 1v1 maps.

That's all for grenades.

For the record, grenades can't be used FROM buildings.

Can you imagine Assault from garrison o.O

Breaking news: Freak, the Aussies got ToV already?

CoH - An analysis of the Four Knights Opening US vs Wehr

2009-03-28T17:53:00.004+08:00

US:
Engineer 2: 140MP
[Barracks]
Rifle 1: 270MP
Rifle 2: 270 MP
Rifle 3: 270 MP
{Grenades}
Rifle 4: 270 MP
{BARs}

A pretty standard US start, going solid on the barracks units. Getting 4 rifles helps with the capping power early game, though swapping Rifle 1 with Jeep 1 confers a few things:
- Intel
- Jeep utility moves such as the Jeep push (with requisite micro)
- Sniper hard counter
- Unsuppressable unit for flanking

At the cost of:
- Firepower
- Capping power
- Health

Only recommended if you know how to get the most out of the Jeep push and early harassment to force capping pioneers to retreat. Do not engage Volksgrenadiers without rifle support (since such a matchup depends a fair bit on cover, which Jeep push solves and hence can tilt engagement in favour of rifles). Buying more than 1 Jeep is generally not recommended since Panzerfausts and any AT obsolete them later.

Grenades help during flanking maneuvers, especially against the almost inevitable MG42 the typical Wehrmacht player will use as his centrepiece. Of course, there should be sufficient units with which to flank with, hence the rationale for getting grenades after Rifle 3. Munitions may or may not be in short supply at this point, depending on whether an engineer has been upgraded with a flamer or not, or if mines have been built. BARs will likely make unsupported Volks obsolete, except maybe MP40 volks at short range.

In any case, this build order goes up against the following:

Wehr:
Pioneer 2: 120MP
[Wehrmacht Quarters}
Volksgrenadiers 1: 280MP
MG42 1: 260MP
Volksgrenadiers 2: 280MP
MG42 2/Sniper 1/Bike 1: 260/340/180MP

Later:
Volksgrenadiers 3: 280MP

The typical Wehrmacht opening is very much more variable simply because of the sheer diversity of units which can be built from T1. While the US start depends heavily on flanking with Riflemen, the Wehrmacht T1 can afford to use specialized units to open their game. The MG42 will likely be the focal point of all flanking efforts at this point, which is why the build order has 3 Volksgrenadiers queued; these should be kept in the vicinity of the MG in order to inflict heavy damage on any flanking or grenading riflemen. The MP40 comes in handy for this role, especially with the 2.400 buff. In addition, having a higher number of Volks around lets you recrew the MG if it dies (only do this after the engagement is over, but if possible, do not let it fall into US hands). Focus fire on any flame engineers, or use a sniper if you have one.

The main objective for these two openings will usually be:
US: Push Wehr off the map
Wehr: Inflict losses while holding on to territory

The US objective really is a reaction to the Wehrmacht one. Because of the immobile nature of MGs, it favours the Wehr player to start capping and fight when the Riflemen are encountered, where the MG is subsequently deployed in the Fog of war and sprung upon the US player. Thus the US player retreats, and the Wehr player moves on. This is a more conservative playstyle which usually ends up in the Wehr player stopping at a good part of the map where a medic bunker can be set up and the MG put inside. Hence, it is the US player's ideal objective to be able to keep this bunker from happening; to do that, the US player must push the Wehr player off with a good flank. Bearing in mind that Riflemen have a higher cap rate than Volks and Pioneers, consistently getting pushed off the map (and hence losing map control) is a bad thing for the Wehrmacht player.

On the other hand, while it is in a way easier for the Wehr player to play defensively and with a greater diversity of tools, the US player can afford to be pushed off a couple of times before the bunker goes up and the game becomes hard to dominate at this stage. Also, while putting the MG out of the equation is a main objective, do not forget the Volks, since they are the real damage dealer. Any Wehr player worth his salt should support his MG with Volks around it or around the building it's in. In order to avoid the Volks, a diversion is usually necessary, which involves letting one of your rifle squads get suppressed by the MG42. Then, immediately after that rifle squad gets suppressed (cover is a must for slowing damage taken), take the rest and flank around, putting them into pieces of cover around the MG; a flame engineer and grenade works here too. MG42s in buildings cannot re-target, which means it will keep shooting at the baiting rifle squad until the rifleman dies or retreats, or until the MG42 gets out of the building. It's usually safe to flank it from at least 3 directions.

Still, the US player should try to end said engagement quickly, because, assuming that 3 rifles have been built, and are up against 2 Volks and an MG, chances are a 2nd MG, Bike or maybe sniper is on the way, the timely appearance of which could upset your attack. Therefore throw as many useful units as possible into the fight, such as engineers which can be upgraded with flamers. Even the Jeep can contribute: Given sufficient micro skill, you can Jeep push the Volks around, causing their damage output to drop drastically, and which gives your rifle squads or flame engineers the window of opportunity to run in and kill the MG without taking too much damage. Should the MG be nulified in this way, the superior close range firepower of the riflemen should kill the Volks too (especially if the Volks are still being pushed around). Of course, the Wehr player won't stick around to get killed; at most to stall if he has sufficient Volks left to put up a good fight (which is where grenades and grenade techniques come in handy). In any case, by taking out the MG without too many losses, the US player will achieve his objective, which should be followed by capping in that window of opportunity (until the next attack or harassment).

Qn6.

2009-03-19T01:32:00.002+08:00

Farewell, Siddhartha!

GAH

2009-03-18T02:22:00.001+08:00

Qn 6.

ein kleine rhyme

2009-02-04T21:57:00.004+08:00

How many rumors and warnings until it all begins

How many moments of unease until the nation sins

How many regular meals until each family runs low on food

How many warming fires until their homes are as cold as their mood

How many alarming sirens until hope is hopelessly shaken

How many mothers' cries until their sons are not taken

How many lonely children until their fathers won't say Good-Bye

How many brave young men until no one has to willingly die

How many mourning families until someone's life is preserved

How many near-death incidents until rest is deserved

How many dark invasions until all the cities are torn down

How many stabs of pain until the killer's smile becomes a frown

How many bloody fields until the fighting is all done

How many gruesome battles until the end has begun

How many soldiers' deaths until a white flag is risen

How many shouts of protest until someone will listen

How many bombs thrown until the hatred will decease

How many more days of war until we are at peace

- Alexandra MacLellan

Extract 1

2009-01-30T21:56:00.008+08:00

"When people die, it's so cool."

Her mouth was next to my ear now, so the words worked their way inside me along with her warm, moist breath.

"Why's that?" I asked.

She put a finger on her lips as if to seal them.

"No questions," she said. "And don't open your eyes. Ok?"

My nod was as small as her voice.

She took her finger from my lips and placed it on my wrist.

"I wish I had a scalpel. I'd cut it open and look inside. Not the corpse...The lump of death. I'm sure there must be something like that. Something round and squishy, like a softball, with a little hard core of dead nerves. I want to take it out of a dead person and cut it open and look inside. I've always wondered what it's like. Maybe it's all hard, like toothpaste dried up inside the tube. That's it don't you think? No, don't answer. It's squishy on the outside, and the deeper you go inside, the harder it gets. I want to cut open the skin and take out the squishy stuff, use a scalpel and some kind of spatula to get through it, and the closer you get to the centre, the harder the squishy stuff gets, until you reach this core. It's sooo tiny, like a tiny ball bearing, and really hard. It must be like that, don't you think?"

She cleared her throat a few times.

"That's all I think about these days. Must be because I have so much time to kill every day. When you don't have anything to do, your thoughts get really, really far out - so far out you can't follow them to the end."

She took the finger from my wrist and drank down the rest of her cola. I knew the glass was empty from the sound of the ice.

____________________
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle No.1.
Selected extracts for EE.

45

2009-01-14T00:34:00.004+08:00

Nice to have, but I'd like to be more ambitious; risk more to gain more.

Like that tank

2009-01-12T19:41:00.003+08:00

Game was good. Please don't screw up.

Just maybe

2009-01-11T01:35:00.002+08:00

I may have picked the wrong thing to be pro at.

I have more respect for Herrick and Jin Yu.
----
I may also have strange dreams.
----
This is the life Jonny.

A manly utterance indeed

2009-01-02T23:33:00.001+08:00

"They taught us that anywhere a tank can go is tank country - even the tops of mountains."

The trouble with the world spinning round is that we always end up back where we were.

2009-01-01T12:50:00.001+08:00

Well, at least we get to know the place a little better.

animu fest 08

2008-11-26T00:30:00.001+08:00

I'm finally blogging something that isn't a random thought or CoH.

I wish a couple of things: that I had gone for the first day and that I had a better camera. Actually my bro has a better camera, but I don't know how to use it properly and it isn't nice taking it without his permission or at short notice.

Narrowly avoided death by chicken nugget in the morning. On the way to Suntec, I dropped by the War Memorial Park and sat around a while, then moved off. Overland around that time is much calmer, more my kind of place than Citylink; only two other people in the park besides me, and they were taking photos.

There wasn't much of a ticketing queue around by the time I got to the hall, so I just picked mine up and walked in. The ticket was slightly reflective and I wondered how they were going to keep track of the pass holders who went in and out. I supposed it was a stamp-like thing, which was right. There were a couple of cosplayers hanging around, but not as many as later. A few I couldn't recognize, but I wasn't surprised since I don't consider myself into animu hardcore-like anyway. The place was smaller than I had imagined, but still pretty big and noisy still.

I was supposed to meet JY, but he didn't respond for the moment. Not that I didn't have anything to do on my own. I walked around the booths, took a look at KKnM, took a look at its queue, and went somewhere else. Had my eye on some figurines in the meantime, but couldn't decide whether to buy them or not. I don't like to spend money on a whim. There was a nice Shining Wind one, but it was $90, and I had $100 for everything including meals and the slightly shiny $5 red ticket. There was a figma Rin, which I would get later in the day, but of course I didn't know that at 10.32am. So I spent an hour browsing for would-be loot. Also walked through the Sky Crawlers and Genius Party sections. The planes thingy looked interesting, but I forgot to look it up at home. A few minutes was spent in front of the Toradora TV. There were some domo-kun shirts and some CDs at the far right end, near the prints, but I suddenly lost interest when I saw the Odex logo. There were figurines to be bought with the money in any case.

Found JY, or was found. Went and watched Melty Blood a while. But fighting games aren't really my type, so I resumed walking around some more after watching the same guy beat coms and random challengers with Nanaya Shiki, trying to come to some sort of decision about where my money was going. Got some general advice about figurines from JY, which will most probably govern my choices in the future. I got the figma Rin when Ian and Dian came, putting an abrupt end to the need to decide if I was going to get a more expensive $90 figure. A decent buy, well within the budget, and great with the lighting where I have it at home. Well-positioned yellow light, dark backdrop and dark wood flooring makes most figurines look good. I'll take a photo with my bro's camera some time. After lunch, Ian, Joel's and Dian's departure, stoning near the Melty Blood corner was the order of the day. I tried reading Paddy Clarke Ha^3, but dozed into half consciousness for about 15 minutes. Guess I shouldn't have played CoH automatch and slept at 2 the night before (and got up at 7). I did win though, against a Brit player who went too heavy on the anti-infantry and died when I did my tank call-ins and vetted my infantry. On hindsight, I could have ended the game earlier by playing less conservatively, like flaming his centre mortar pit, calling in the StuH sooner and sleeping earlier.

Dneo came later, and after some walking around again and purchasing an A3 Hatsune Miku print, which is still waiting for a place on my wall, I watched him play Melty Blood. He played pretty impressively and beat more or less everybody who came around. But he said he wasn't really that good. My eyes and hands are untrained at fighting games anyway. He offered to let me play on his credit, but I didn't want to embarrass myself. I'm content with feeling secure with CoH and RTS anyway.

I felt awkward when Dneo and JY were walking around with me, pointing out things that were cool, while I could only respond with a 'mm' or raise an eyebrow, even though I did think those things were pretty nice. Some really nice figures in the display section. Noticed how they did the lighting. I had seen some of the pieces while browsing online before, like Alter's Chua Churam and a gigantic angel-thing that looked really cool and expensive too.

I don't really need to say much about the May'n concert. One of the first actual concerts I'd gone to that I had taken an interest in. As I looked around, I saw more hardcore fanboys/girls. There was a scary lady, who was jumping up and down. Alas so much for no photography. I liked the songs, loved them Live. The bass sort of reverberated through me and the crowd. And I thought my subwoofer was pretty good. It's striking how much difference in the sound quality there is when you bend down into the crowd to reach your bag.

Got more animu-smart thanks to JY and Dneo yay. Too bad Herrick wasn't around. But I'm sure he's doing good work in Sabah. Next year, we'll all be free from IB. More chalet and more conventions.

=)

When Man meets Alien

2008-11-20T20:59:00.002+08:00

A good number of captivating sci-fi series feature human soldiers fighting for their lives against a zerg/tyranid/xenomorph/bug-like alien race bent on the extermination of mankind or all other sentient life. Inscrutable motives of the aliens aside, all our protagonists really want out of these inter-galactic conflicts is their ass, intact. Popular fiction arms them with futuristic assault rifles, sleek Armoured Fighting Vehicles (I like the one from Aliens) maybe an anthropomorphic mecha-like battle walker and other shizz.

Unfortunately, to the dismay of our heroes, lots of the side characters die, usually a horrible death in front of the audience. Sure such fatalities serve a plot function, most often to create tension and suspense, but suddenly one day, I wondered how many deaths could have been prevented by better equipment and tactics. Mankind's vaunted strength, celebrated in so many movies, is his ability to innovate and adapt, and just as history has shown the evolution of man's military thinking, up to the modern day, the next step would be to think about what happens when we're confronted with an inter-species war.

Assault rifles: Really, not much has changed in assault rifles from the now to Starship Troopers and the Alien series. A round or two from today's assault rifles can down the average man, but ever notice how futuristic assault rifles spraying lead at onrushing insectoid aliens fails in many cases to stop them? Not like the shots are missing at a 5 metre range. True, when it's convenient, the charging alien dies, but then another comes and attempts to finish its predecessor's job. And if the poor guy's a disposable character, the job gets done eventually. Even if you argue that the current assault rifles are better than nothing (which I suppose they are), they're still really uneconomical. Judging by the amount of small arms munitions expended on a single creature, it would be a really bad strain on the long-term war machine to produce enough ammunition to kill swarms of monsters which take upwards of 50 rounds to kill. Ergonomics also matter when fighting. It's not so bad if the future soldier gets overrun while shooting, but it's a real pity if he gets gored while reloading. Hence, reducing that reload window would be great news.
Therefore, a successful anti-alien assault rifle design would:
- Come with copious amounts of Armour Piercing ammo, fewer bullets used to kill more aliens.
- Short, wieldy, for fights in claustrophobic infested settings
- Quick and easy change of magazine

Machine guns: While the souped-up anti-Alien assault rifles might be better in closed-in settings, the galactic military might want to invest in superior heavy machine gun technology when faced with a Starship Troopers scenario, with billions of aliens swarming on an open plain. Again, AP rounds and a 'shoot less, kill more' philosophy will help. Of course, machine gun barrels do overheat fast at the rate the movie guys use them (real machine guns are usually fired in bursts btw) so a more efficient coolant system will keep them firing longer. Also, a return to the WW1 style of organizing troops into Machine Gun Battalions would reduce the number of situations where there's a single effective MG post defending an outpost while every other idiot is pointing an otherwise puny little assault rifle at the alien horde running around on the plains. Since the claustrophobic settings are done for, the bulkier MGs can be brought in and ergonomics relegated to the back seat.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Apparently, aliens mostly have diamond hard, razor sharp claws capable of rending through armour plate. If they don't, they have acid of some kind. The express purpose of tanks' armour is to protect the crew from machine gun fire, that's why it was invented anyway. But now that the foe doesn't shoot at you with machine guns, but instead swarms you and stabs through your metal plate, why not invest in them not getting to you at all and ditch some of that armour for more guns? Proper anti-alien AFVs should be more like massive gun platforms rather than tanks in the conventional sense of the word. After all, if they don't get to you, you need not worry about having to protect yourself. Wonder if anyone thought of alkali armour for those occasional acid attacks though. But I suppose a little armour is fine for making the occupants feel protected.

Melee: While 40k-esque power swords might not be a bad deal, note that the average alien usually has more dangerous limbs than a human. Each human can wield a single two-handed power sword, the average alien has two scythe like limbs and usually, its (more than 2) legs are dangerous too. Mankind should forget the melee idea as a real plan, other than emergency use. We'd be much better off plucking schoolgirls from Japan and giving them huge swords and plot armour.

Y'know, that might actually work.

Mechs: Once again, I am of the opinion that barring Japanese schoolgirls in seifuku with swords, humans are a shooty race. I can't deny that well-designed mechs can look really cool, but they are less practical than conventional vehicles as gun platforms. And when the number of guns go down, so do your chances of survival against an infinitely more melee-proficient alien race.

Artillery: On the plains, there's no 'enough'. Learn from the Siege Tanks.

Air support: Against especially choppy alien hordes, I think humanity's pretty miserly on its air power in the movies. A well-placed air strike is like artillery that starts from the air and ends on the ground, unlike land artillery which goes from ground --> air --> ground again. I saw it being used once in a Starship Troopers clip, no more. Bomb moar!

Coming: Shotguns, flamethrowers, logistics

Something Has Happened

2008-11-05T12:35:00.001+08:00

Combat Skirmish Post-battle analysis Part 2

2008-11-04T22:04:00.001+08:00

w.r.t topography of previous post.

Gametype: Rubix Assault
Each team has a Rubix Cube in a certain strategic location:
Red: Wishing Well
Yellow: Outside 5.17
The first team to solve their opponents' Rubix Cube wins. Otherwise, the team with a Cube in a visibly more completed state will win at the end of the time limit.
Red and Yellow swapped bases, with Yellow beginning in the IB block, and Red at the Old Audi.

One major difference between Round 1 and this round: Lives are henceforth expendable. The last round depended on inflicting more casualties than those taken, hence truly aggressive play was curtailed by the requirement of survival. Such a criterion is removed in this round, and as a result, the ability to take and hold ground is now of a higher importance than survival. This is because the objective (i.e. solving the Rubix Cube) depends on infantry (since that's pretty much the only basic unit around, save for perhaps support units like MGs or snipers) holding the area around the Rubix Cube long enough for the 'engineer' to solve it.

The most significant action in the early game took place at the IB bridge, with the bulk of Red and a significant mass of Yellow forces engaging there. Yellow committed fewer forces to the bridge, as a decent number, at least 10 were seen in the vicinity of the Admin Office. Another action which would have an impact on later game map control would be Yellow's occupation of the level 4 IB balcony (near 5.1, otherwise known as the Sniper's Nest): 2 MGs, 1 Sniper and 1 SMG.

As with the previous game, the firefight at the bridge produced a similar stalemate in the early stages, but once a base of fire had been established at the Sniper's Nest, Red started taking fast casualties, as there was no cover where Red infantry could simultaneously take cover from the support fire and resist Yellow's infantry on the bridge effectively. As such, the bridge control began to swing in Yellow's favour. Yellow's sniper was delirious with an almost sick kind of pleasure.

Despite the intense early-game action at the bridge, the main theater, if you may have it, of concern would have been the Spaceframe, the control of which would give either side a springboard to solve their opponents' Cube. Unfortunately for Red, the MG/Sniper positions at the SN ensured that any of Red's attempts to exert control over the Spaceframe would be blunted, at least until the SN was cleared. Which it was never, save for one possible close-call instance around mid-game.

Most of the mid-game was composed of pushes and retreats on the part of Yellow at the Spaceframe, likewise with Red, the main difference being the deeper advance of Yellow and hence greater success at solving the Rubix Cube. Effective leadership on the part of Yellow also ensured that pushes were made boldly and regularly. For Yellow, there were 2 components aiding in the success of their advances: Infantry and Support. Groups of about 8+ Yellow ground infantry would contest the Spaceframe, supported by the Support MGs and Sniper in the SN, the latter having a very large field of vision (and consequently, number of easy targets) due to their elevated position. The Spaceframe would be relatively easily taken, as MGs took out what they could see in the Spaceframe and shot at the legs of those at the Wishing Well, aiding the ground advance. Once inside, at the Wishing Well, the ground advance was on its own, unable to receive any support from the SN. Coupled with the ever-increasing numbers of newly respawned Red troops, I imagine it wasn't easy solving the Cube. Nevertheless, at the end of the game, Yellow's Cube was in a more completed state than Red's, thus winning the round. This success in pushing the advance forward came at the cost of more casualties among the assault troops of course, who as in the previous game seemed to all come back to respawn at the same time.

Inevitably, after a Yellow retreat, came the Red counterattack. However, despite the temporary advantage in numbers, Red pushes were not as effective in getting to its objective (the Red Cube). Also, when Red defeated the Yellow blob around the Wishing Well Cube, it inevitably came into line of sight for the SN's support fire crew, who blunted Red's advance at the Spaceframe with volume of fire, giving time for Yellow's ground troops to regroup and push again. In this way, Red barely got to their objective Cube, except for one instance when a small group of Red troops managed to get past the MGs to the General Office area, engaging 2 Yellow troops, including Yellow's SMG guard/close-quarters defence, causing the SN's support crew some short-lived panic.

This round was much more chaotic, and hence more difficult to assess map control as compared to the previous round, but the end found Yellow with a lead in the state of completion of their Rubix Cube. Frontlines kept changing with each push, but for the most part few Red troops managed to push as far as the IB Cube.

The strategic control the SN exerted on the battlefield was significant. The support fire crew at the SN had a full view of both the bridge and Spaceframe, essentially controlling all possible avenues of travel from the Red base to the IB Cube. This dominance was used to devastating effect at the sparse-of-cover, small bridge, with the bridge falling into Yellow's hands early on and staying there. On the Spaceframe side, it served as an obstacle to Red's advances, stopping or at least delaying the advances until Yellow could reinforce with ground infantry. Also, Red made few attempts to remove the SN, with only a few shots being fired at the general direction of its slightly high occupants. Few other vantage points in Red's possession could compare to the geographical advantage provided by the SN. One possible exception was the Old Audi windows, also on the 3.5th to 4th level, and these were used late-game to shoot at the Yellows on the bridge, inflicting some casualties. However, these snipers were spotted by the SN crew, who, mistaking them for dangerous counter-snipers, shot at them a lot, forcing them to withdraw.

Not to forget the ground advance of course, the basic point of playing aggressive and rushing infantry en masse worked yet again. Somewhat crude, but effective, especially against unsupported positions. Red displayed some excellent examples of localized diversion, where one member of the squad charged out as a distraction, while the others followed behind later to complete the killing.

Again, I have less of an idea how Yellow control of the bridge affected the game overall, though it is a high possibility that the action there tied up substantial amounts of Red's attention, easing the resistance encountered by the Spaceframe attacks.

Part 3 maybe coming...

Combat Skirmish post-battle analysis Part I

2008-10-11T18:15:00.001+08:00

Unfortunately, this most probably won't be as objective as the word analysis belies, but that's always been a problem for war historians, or for that matter any sort of historians. To remedy that, there's always the comments section. Nevertheless, today was, as a friend put it, quite a lesson in tactics. Both of us were on the more or less winning team; most of those who I discussed the games were from Team Yellow, with a few Team Red dudes here and there. As such, most of this is from Team Yellow's perspective.

It's generally politically incorrect to label a winning and losing team, but then this discussion wouldn't get awfully far with the mindset that the losing team needed to be tricked into believing they didn't lose, or that it was a tie. More than a complete ignorance of the actual results, it'd be a disservice to their actual merits and the parity of average combat skill, which unfortunately was trumped by various factors, resulting in, from my humble perspective, clear defeat for Red and victory for Yellow.

On viewing the map in preview mode, I don't think it's all that clear, but that's okay since most of my intended audience should know the place pretty well already.

Abbreviations:
SAA: Area outside the admin office, IB block.
NML: Assembly ground, wide open space
SN: Sniper's Nest, 'Balcony' area just outside 5.1
Yellow Cube: Yellow Team's Rubix Cube, outside 5.17
Red Cube: Red Team's Rubix Cube, at Wishing Well

First round was a deathmatch, team with more kills wins. Red occupied Team 1 base on the IB block side, Yellow occupied Team 2 base in the old block.

Yellow opened with a massive push toward the spaceframe, with a large part of the push later diverting to the bridge.
The existence of this action is quite well corroborated by observations from both Red and Yellow; I myself am pretty sure I saw this happening, in my role as defense fire support. My interpretation of this action and its results was that pressure was put on Red to rush reinforcements to the fronts at the Spaceframe and the bridge. The action was an initiative on the part of Yellow, in line with the aggressive strategy we were generally pursuing. This resulted in the bridge and SAA being contested, with Yellow holding slightly more territory than Red due to the aggressive forcing of the front by Yellow.
In any case, Yellow ended up with a slight advantage in map control in the early game, as well as quite a serious amount of casualties. A wave of dead Yellows came in for respawn right after we secured the bridge, setting a curious precedent for more or less the rest of the games: Yellow tends to push in waves, die in waves, respawn and rush back in waves. That's infantry good old WW1 style I suppose.

While such a high initial casualty rate was worrying in the beginning, on hindsight it did pay off by map control. By the end of the early-game, Yellow had a foothold on the IB block; an important foothold since the heavily-contested bridge would divert Red attention and forces from the Spaceframe and NML, and allow for the late-game encirclement and pinning of Red. In my estimation, the mid-game opened with action at NML (the assembly ground area).

Despite the seeming lack of cover at the Spaceframe and especially assembly ground, I'm inclined to agree with a friend when he commented that you more or less can always find some sort of cover when you're looking for it. Anyway, within the mid-game, Yellow crept up from the Spaceframe to the SAA (outside Admin Office). I say 'crept' because Team Red's resistance from the SAA managed to suppress the advance considerably, until Yellow flanked from the small side-lane near the flowers, and overran the SAA, hardly a blitz there.

There was a major Yellow spearhead led by an officer advancing along the buggy parking lots, and a smaller one of about 4, including myself, advancing along the flower lanes. Team Red had about 3-7 defenders at the SAA at any one time. The spearhead advanced slowly and for the most part, attracted the defenders' attention; so a major firefight enued between them there, accounting for why the advance wasn't too fast. Meanwhile, the Yellow team at the flowers had managed to attract some fire from a well-placed sniper at the stairwell, which led to us getting pinned down for some time. I'm not too clear on what lifted the suppression, though I'm guessing that the main Yellow spearhead with their close-range assault weapons had gotten too close for comfort and started putting pressure on them.

By now, at around the 16 minute mark when I checked my handphone time, late-game had started for a while already. What happened from here would from my perspective, be rather straightforward already. Once the SAA was cleared, the flanking team moved in and enfiladed the corridor, very bad for Red in a couple of ways:
1) Red pinned in corridor
2) Because the corridor is of course, rather narrow, it greatly increases the likelihood of TKing, which quite a few Red players reported.

In short, the corridor became a killing ground, whether or not from Yellow's MGs or TKing will be a question Team Red players are in a much better position to answer. In either case, there was plenty of killing. One thing I'm curious to know is whether Red managed to take back the bridge, or if Yellow's hold on it held for the entirety of the round. If so, that would confirm a few observations.

Nevertheless, it would seem to me that an aggressive strategy, while incurring high casualties in the beginning, was in the end a boon for Team Yellow. Pushing forward first and clearing opponents later does help, since, as a short post-battle discussion brought up, by taking a place and filling it with your infantry in a short time does cause enemy troops to naturally, fall back. Casualties are of course inflicted on your force, as can be seen, but the net result in this case was that territory is gained, and slowly the front is manipulated into a shape advantageous to your team, as can be seen in the late-game, where Red probably took most of their casualties from TK or regular kills.

CoH: Experimentation: Mortar smoke

2008-09-13T01:17:00.002+08:00

The setup was as follows:

Axis:
- 2 MG bunkers covering a single choke point (Angoville right flank, hedgerow high fuel pt).

Allies:
- 3 Rifleman squads (3 x 6 = 18 men)
- 2 Mortar squads

Procedure:
1. Set-up experiment
2. Charge riflemen at MG bunkers
3. Record time taken for the riflemen to be suppressed
4. Record number of casualties taken in first 10 seconds
5. Qualitative assessment of charge as an offensive maneuver
6. Repeat steps 1-5, using mortar smoke to cover riflemen's advance.

Without smoke:
Time taken to suppress infantry: 1.5 seconds
Casualties taken after 10 seconds: 5 out of 18 dead
Assessment: This replicate demonstrates the usual results of charging unsupported infantry straight into machine gun bunkers head-on. Absolutely ineffective and wasteful of initiative and resources.

With smoke:
Time taken to suppress infantry: None, infantry were not suppressed.
Casualties taken after 10 seconds: 0 out of 18 dead
Assessment: A significant improvement over the previous replicate with excellent results. No squads suppressed, no casualties; the riflemen were able to charge past the bunkers almost unharmed, slight damage observed but again, no men lost.

Conclusion: Where outflanking is impossible, such as choke-point heavy maps like Vire River Valley, Hinderdam, The Scheldt, etc, mortar smoke barrages are highly recommended to make infantry charges effective.

CoH: Experimentation: Blitzkrieg and blob squashing

2008-09-13T00:50:00.001+08:00

Ranger blob: scourge of the newbie/uncreative/one who lets it get too big. Although the ranger blob is very beatable with combined-arms, not all situations allow an Axis commander the luxury of having a well-configured anti-blob taskforce. Therefore, it is imperative that new, innovative ways of putting an end to this phenomenon. It's always fun to find novel ways of beating the ranger blob.

An investigation of Blitzkrieg: On Squashing infantry.

Independent variable: Use of Blitzkrieg doctrine power.
Dependent variable: Number of rangers squashed.
Controlled variables:
- Number of rangers: 6 x 5 = 30
- Veterancy of tanks (Vet 1)
- Gradient of battlefield (Flat, Angoville left flank)
- Obstacles on battlefield (None)

Replicates 1,2,3: 30 rangers vs 1 Stug, no blitzkrieg
Result:
- Average rangers lost to squashing: 0 of 30

Replicates 4, 5, 6: 30 rangers vs 1 Stug, WITH blitzkrieg
Result:
- Average rangers lost: 2.33 of 30

Replicates 7,8,9: 30 rangers vs 1 Panther, no blitzkrieg
Result:
- Average rangers lost: 0 of 30

Replicates 10,11,12: 30 rangers vs 1 Panther, WITH blitzkrieg
Result:
- Average rangers lost: 1.33 of 30

Replicates 13, 14, 15: 30 rangers vs 1 Stug + 1 Panzer IV + 1 Panther, WITH blitzkrieg
Result:
- Average tank survival rate: 2.67
- Average rangers lost: 14.7 of 30

As such, it can be seen that the chances of squashing the blob increase with increasing numbers of tanks, particularly in replicates 13, 14 and 15. However, it must be noted that in cases where only a single tank is involved, survival rate is 0, making it an expensive tactic, along with the 150 munitions cost for the Blitzkrieg ability. Also, very few rangers were squashed with single tanks.

Hence, the Blitzkrieg ability as a ranger squashing tactic is generally:
NOT advised.

Just in case

2008-09-09T21:46:00.001+08:00

Not dead, maybe pretty close. If anyone cared. :'( // // d8

CoH guides after exams, now with screenshots.

The definition of the individual

2008-07-30T19:01:00.002+08:00

Individual = 4 million divided by 4 million

World Domination

2008-06-30T17:05:00.004+08:00

My mother tells me that when I was small, I liked to ask her whether there were any small islands out there unclaimed by people where I could found a country. On the way across from the mainland peninsula to Penang, there'll be these small islets scattered here and there around the strait, and between the other cars whizzing by on whatever business they had set out to do, I'd be fixated on the largest of those isles.

"Mummy, do those islands belong to anyone?"
"Well, I don't know."
"Because if no one wants them, I'm going to take them. I'll set up my own country there one day."

Even now, I haven't forgotten this ambition. It was memory from which I drew this idea, not so much my mom's recollection. I probably never really forgot it. The only thing that's changed are the ideas having become more sophisticated and detailed over time. I remember that there was a point of time that I realized people would need to get around in the country. No matter, a nice system of monorails complete with modern-looking stations. I suppose they'd look like MRTs. Except that the roofs will be made of tinted glass; on a sunny day it wouldn't be too glaring, but pleasantly warm, and of course everyone would like to have a roof on rainy days. Every other day people could look at the sky while waiting for the next train.

What about food? Because the ruler of the country likes nice food, it will be that everyone in the country follows suit and has enough of the nicest-tasting food as they want. Like pasta. No one would be hungry, but no one would be too fat at the same time, since they'd all be working hard at jobs they really like, and wouldn't mind working a bit more than needed if it would help everyone else.

Schools would be fun. We'd all learn what we wanted to, and anyone could go to school, even adults. I didn't particularly like learning Chinese, and neither did the citizens have to unless they really wanted to. There wouldn't be bullying in the schools, because teachers would keep a good look out for the smaller kids. When they grew up, each kid would become a great person. Maybe they'd go and get their own islands. Then I would have friends! With islands.

What would happen if other bad countries came and attacked my island? That would be mean. So I'll probably need an army. They'd have the best guns, the best food and the best commander: me. That way, I'll be invincible. No one would dare attack my island.

The weather would be cool. There would be winter too, and snow. Because I liked spacecraft, the country would have a space centre, and a rocket launchpad. I'd like to go to space. It would be such a perfect country. The people would love me since the country was run so well. I would be treated like royalty. I'd be the little prince. The only real problem was what would happen if so many people wanted to come to my country that the island had no space on it. As supreme ruler, I had to think about what I would do if that happened.

The answer was simple, invade other countries. Of course, doing so by force would be mean. After all, I didn't want that happening to myself. I'd have to have something to offer in exchange for me conquering them. What if I turned the other country into a place as good as my own? That should be an agreeable settlement. After all, the people of that country would want to have a nice country too, like mine. No one would complain. Everyone would welcome my little army with cheers as we marched around, changing the world.

Soon the world would be as great as my country. With nice food, clean-looking trains, a good army to protect us from aliens which were undoubtedly out there somewhere (maybe we would change their world too after we made friends with them), fun schools and the works. Everyone would be happy everyday.

"Well, I don't know if there are any islands out there that no one wants, but you can try sailing around the ocean to find one. You'll probably find one somewhere."
"Oh, ok."

Close this world, open the next.

Tactica 004

2008-06-19T21:54:00.001+08:00

It'll be a great day when education gets all the money it wants and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy bombers.
-Author unknown, quoted in You Said a Mouthful edited by Ronald D. Fuchs

COH: The Wehrmacht and the Tools of Maneuver Warfare

2008-06-16T00:14:00.001+08:00

A great deal of people are undoubtedly aware of the German Army's famous blitzkrieg campaigns to some extent. Bearing that in mind, let's take a look at how the concept of highly mobile warfare works out in COH. I'll be trivializing quite a lot of the real-life theory and practice behind the strategy, but so does the game. Anyone with any knowledge of game design will know the difficulties of implementing real tactical/strategic mechanics. For now I'll discuss the general usefulness of each non-doctrine specific unit and demonstrate the fluidity of Wehrmacht teching and how this influences a combined-arms strategy so important (in my philosophy) to good and flexible gameplay.

One very important aspect before considering the maneuvers one uses on the COH battlefield is the tools with which you execute your moves. Like chess, you can't normally expect to win against a fully stocked opponent with just a pawn and your king. Because you'll most likely be pwned hurhur nvm. I consider Wehr as a faction ideal for doing this because of their teching style and build options.

Tier 1: The Wehrmacht Quarters builds your Volks, MGs, Snipers and Motorbike. This allows you to counter either a US WSC or Barracks start; all you have to do is see which one he builds. Then there's the British, who starts with Tommies and maybe a Bren Carrier, no choice. As can be seen, there's fluidity in choice even at the first step. If he churns out MGs, use a sniper to pick them off. If he spams riflemen, use volks to skirmish them, with an MG behind to support; he can't do the same thing to you since his rifles and MGs are built from separate buildings. If he is an idiot and spams snipers, get a bike and squash them for massive exp. This ability to build everything from the same starting building is invaluable.

Tier 2: What we got earlier was the early game stuff; functional, adaptable, but it's not the best idea to go on using them again and again while your opponent techs higher. Luckily, Tier 2 still demonstrates the same adaptability, this time packaged with more resilience and firepower: Grenadiers; or Grens, Halftracks, AT guns and the Mortar. Grens are excellent infantry, and any player should get at least a squad or 2 of them to maintain infantry superiority. Decking them out with panzershrecks is a good idea to counter the US fast Greyhound strat. The AT gun normally isn't so important just yet, but it's useful to get one especially on wide-open maps, since it's long range can kill those light US vehicles fast. If he's going heavy on rifles, or you suspect ranger spam, bring out a mortar, very useful to have around since it doesn't really need micro, and kills quite a lot of enemy infantry without drawing as much attention as a rattling MG. For those who automatically think of AT-gun when faced with tanks, shreck Grens are a very good alternative, and very much more mobile. Halftracks are also a decent support option, since you can put rocket artillery or double infantry-killing flamers on them, which is cool.

Tier 3: Some choose to bypass this tier in favour of Tier 4. Nothing wrong with that (I stop at Tier 2 sometimes), but T3 does have plenty of nifty stuff, especially the appearance of your first armour. The Stug is your first "tank", a solidly armoured piece which can deal serious damage to any light vehicles and threaten careless allied tanks. Always a nice addition when well-supported by infantry like Grens. The Puma Armoured Car is an deadly infantry killer, and fast too. Nebelwerfers help a lot against entrenched positions and infantry concentrations; not bad at all for 4 popcap. The Officer is pretty low on my priority list, though some of his abilities are fun to play with like forcing his infantry to retreat, leaving his armour devoid of any infantry support, whereupon you can run in with shreck squads and tear his tank up.

Tier 4: Panzer Command. What we've been waiting for, the heavy armour. The tanks you can build here are top-of-the-line, unchallenged in their respective roles by any other faction's tanks (except perhaps the British Firefly, which is pure awesome on a stick). On the Ostwind and infantry, it just kills, kills, kills. The Panzer 4 is a decent MBT to have around, with good armour, anti-infantry and AT capabilities handled by the reliable main gun. The Panther is a serious threat to any allied tank force, with excellent frontal armour and anti-tank ability. But before it scourges your opponents' armour, it'll make a serious hole in your pocket, so get a good economy up. Knights Cross Holders, or KCH, are elite close-combat infantry which just don't die. On the expensive side and limited in tactical repetoire, a single squad is nice to have when you don't have a tank to soak up MG fire, but not a good choice to replace Grens with them.

Contrast this teching scheme to the more compartmentalized US way of teching, and we'll find that it leaves many options open to flexible play, especially in the critical early game. MGs and light infantry come out at the same time, allowing the MG-supported Lt Inf to overcome even heavy infantry like the British Tommies. The MG, played aggressively and shielded behind Lt Inf, is less vulnerable to snipers since the Lt Inf can charge down the sniper and kill it. Using this example, this is one way weaknesses of both the Volks (low health and firepower) and MGs (low mobility and vulnerability to snipers) can be greatly reduced by using them together, as well as bringing forth their strengths: Volks (maneuverable, fast), MG (high firepower and suppression, very impt when fighting tough Tommies). This is but one example we can use to showcase the idea of combined arms and unit synergy.

Hopefully there'll appear another post on the actual maneuvers and ideas of movement warfare, there's no time now; it's 1:17am and I have history classes in less than 9 hours.

The Ceiling in my Grandma's House

2008-06-09T21:14:00.001+08:00

I was in Malaysia one day lying comatose on sofa looking at the ceiling. It was white. And taller than most house ceilings, being about 5.5 metres up (compared to my own room's 3 metres). But I guess we can't afford that kind of head space in Singapore, what with our land scarcity and need to expand upward without constraining our airspace too.

I say about because I never really did measure it.

Anyway, I decided that I had had enough of the white ceiling. It felt like a colossal waste of time. Just then, it suddenly occured to me that I wasn't supposed to be loafing around. I could be doing something more constructive. Just then I remembered why I wasn't doing anything; it was because I was supposed to do work, which I didn't want to do just then. I wasn't supposed to be doing anything else. But I didn't want to, so I was doing nothing.

Also, it struck me that precious time that could be spent doing things other than work or nothing was being wasted. Unfortunately, my brain refused to move my body without a concrete plan. Fine then, let's see what I'd like to do:

Minor hobbies:
Drawing: I'd like to devote more time to increasing technical skill here, but I somehow haven't. It's an immense satisfaction to turn out something (I view as) nice, even if it really isn't very. Well, there's always the future, better skill and more experience to look to; I comfort myself with that.

Learn Language: I consider myself ambitious in this respect. Japanese is the one I've made most progress in (though that's not saying a lot). German and Russian are stuck until I figure out how masculine/feminine/neuter verbs function. School has killed my interest in Chinese. Hebrew and Greek would be good to learn if I'm ever going to read the Bible in the original languages.

Painting and modelling: This used to be a major hobby, but with the advent of IB has downgraded all the way here. I considered myself good at it, having a rapid growth in technical skill from Sec1 to Sec2, tapering off at Sec3 with the more intricate Grey Knights. Then GW became too expensive to upkeep, and I switched to the much cheaper WW2 modelling, which occupied my until IB.

Philosophy: I've been confined to reading wikipedia for this. Only recently have I been able to get my hands onto a university secondary text. I've never touched a primary text before except for Beyond Good and Evil, which a friend brought to school one day last year (if I recall correctly). TOK seems to be getting a major dumbing down as compared to the last 2 years, but that might be just in my class. (TOK IS philosophy technically btw).

Theology: I feel that doing study into this would add quite some depth into my religious life. Those who are more familiar with me will have an idea of where I stand on religion, but despite that I cannot abandon it completely due to some yet vague compulsion. And I'd rather not mill about in ignorance of the intellectual traditions of my religion, simply criticizing it in the capacity of a lay person. Opening this door may give me new insights into the issues, and hopefully provide some elucidation into why certain things are the way they are.

DnD: Despite my dislike of stats, I find the roleplaying fascinating. The only thing to do now is progress on with the campaigns and create some character dynamic. I suspect that we're a little awkward with roleplaying close character relationships; possibly due to a not-so-clearly defined line between in-game characters and the real-world us. Sometimes we do refer to our characters as "I", which I find could have significant implications to our subconscious. I'm still not bored of the rogue in any case; mayhaps I'll develop my unique brand of it.

Anime: It's illegal, it's ubiquitious, and it's here. Though, I haven't watched a lot of ubiquitious series to be honest. Not that they're necessarily bad, but maybe I'm affected by the elitist mindset left over from my earlier days into the hobby. I should give some more well-known titles like Code Geass a go. Well-known meaning with a strong public presence in the discussive sphere. Well, really I'm being vague; I'll apprehend that later. I'd call a few series fair game for literary analysis and contemplation; those gems deserve that status in my honest opinion. It pleases me to think that I'm becoming more independent in finding my titles and procuring them, all without torrenting anything. In any case, if I don't know about a good series, I won't be bothered having missed it.

Soccer: As I told a friend once, this one is firmly a side-activity. Sure it has the perks of keeping me fit somewhat; that's a bonus. The downside is my abnormally active sweat glands and the fact that I, like everyone else, have classes right after recess. It is fun. Well, duh that's why I do it. The previous notion will be the most ironic statement I make in this entry. I play, but never watch.

Moderately major hobbies:
COH: Strictly speaking, I don't play a lot. I watch my brother, and as I would like to believe, act as a useful adjutant for his online games. After all, he's said before, concentrating on micro is tiresome and sometimes distracts one's attention from the big picture. That would be where I come in. Little things like moving fresh troops to the frontlines or being the voice from above saying, "Get ready for armour, build AT," "you've got too much money, use it," "don't bang your head against that strongpoint, take the detour," "you're under attack over there too," "the decisive skirmish is over, get map control and he's outta here." Because of being able to assess gameplay with a detached-from-micro perspective, I imagine I've gained quite a good grasp of the units and where Relic needs to (or does not need to despite popular opinion) improve balance-wise. My own technical skill with micro isn't great, but good enough to beat all my friends at least. =P
So unlike all my other amateur interests, I actually have something going for me here.

Military studies: As some would know, I'm really interested in this. Not only have I looked at wikipedia, but I've graduated to primary sources, like the U.S. Army Field Operations Manuals. "Military studies" might be a bit of an erroneous label, since I'm also interested in war literature and philosophy, as well as the morality of it. But as I've come to realize, simply knowing a lot about guns and equipment isn't going to cut it. A macro historical perspective would be immensely useful. Luckily I ditched Econs for History then.

Major hobbies:
School: I do it, but I can't say I like it. This is possibly the most pertinent reason why all my other interests are minor or at least not major. It takes up the most of my time, energy, brainpower and in recent times has even fatigued my spirit. Many of the conversations I have will somehow bring school into the picture; even casual ones. I've made a few new acquaintances this year, and although I treasure their companionship, this is how our conversations go. Even while writing this, I have the nagging feeling that I should put down what I'm doing and go shore up my Chinese oral preparation.
Say I phrase it this way: "I'm interested in art, philosophy, theology, military studies, politics, learning languages but unfortunately I have exams after this holiday, and that is why I'm locking myself in this room and mugging."

Which I really did at my Grandma's house, before I decided to come out and stare at the ceiling, which brings me to the only other activity which shares as great a compulsion as school:

DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

:D

verlassen

2008-05-23T11:52:00.001+08:00

i'm hurtling through the air at unimaginable speeds in an aluminium can again escaping the reality that is the holiday which is not

The Crucial Years

2008-05-10T00:16:00.001+08:00

"Let us get down to fundamentals. Is this an open or closed society?" demanded Lew Kuan Yew in the Malaysian Parliament on 18 December. "Is it a society where men can preach ideas - the novel, unorthodox, heresies, established churches and established governments - where there is a constant contest for men's hearts and minds on the basis of what is right, of what is just, of what is in the national interests? Or is it a closed society where the mass media - the newspapers, the journals, publications, TV, radio - either by sound or by sight, or both sound and sight, feed men's minds with a constant drone of sycophantic support for a particular orthodox political philosophy? That is the first question we ask ourselves.

"And let me preface my remarks with this: that it is not only in communist countries where the mass media is used to produce the closed mind, because the closed society must produce the closed mind. I believe that Malaysia was founded, if you read its Constitution, as an open society, constituting peoples of various communities, of various religions, of various languages, of varying political beliefs, in which the will of the majority will prevail, and in which a large dissenting minority will not be crushed and intimidated and silenced.

(line 40, pg 227 to line 11 of pg 228 of Lee Kuan Yew, the Crucial Years, by Alex Josey)

"And in this Chamber the same technique - not the big men, they are gentle figures, but from the small fry, the hatchet men - howls of vituperation and abuse. Is this the open encounter? Is this the democratic system in which ideas compete for ascendancy? Not brawn or the strength of one's pharynx, but ideas - they cross frontiers, they have brought men into space - and if we try to keep our men rooted, glued to the ground, fixed in an orthodox political society which resists change, the world will pass us by. One day it will come down like a house of cards. It has not the resilience, the sturdiness, the stamina to survive.

(line 40, pg 228 to line 3 of pg 228 of the same)

It is an unspoken word. The Press know it, the public know it. Everyone in the coffee shops speaks of it. But to us in this Chamber it is taboo. Why? Make-believe! But for how long? Even the make-believe is wearing thin. I say let's pause and ask ourselves ... I am talking of the principle of the open society, the open debate, ideas not intimidation, persuasion not coercion."

(line 18 to line 25 of pg 229)

Holiday

2008-05-01T23:58:00.001+08:00

I'd really like a day off:

7:00am: Wake up
7:00-8:00: Watch either History Channel or catch NHK while eating breakfast very leisurely.
8:00-9:30: Stone and journal.
9:30-10:30: Read a book.
10:30-12:30: Art studies and drawing.
12:30-1:30: Lunch, while watching fish.
1:30-3:00: Chat and wiki.
3:00-4:00: Paint my tank, some huns and yanks.
4:00-4:30: Tea and chocolate break.
4:30-5:30: Stone and journal again.
5:30-6:30: Sprinting.
6:30-7:00: Hygiene.
7:00-8:00: Dinner, with news or History Channel again.
8:00-9:00: Read another book.
9:00-10:30: More art.
10:30-11:30: Chat and music.
11:30-12:00: More tea.
12:00-12:30: Stone and journal again.
12:30: z

In another language, a complete day of nothing at all.

Oh dear

2008-04-07T00:06:00.001+08:00

Gosh, all of a sudden I feel like I'm not thinking enough.

Mortality

2008-03-14T01:39:00.001+08:00

Life can be short. On hindsight, I should have wondered this myself when hurtling through treacherous mountain paths on a small metal box on wheels and sugar, driven by a complete but professional stranger, with a crew of 6-7 in the back half of the box. The view from a sheer cliff looks really pretty, so long as one isn't angling one's head down too much.

Another in/accident this week had, again on hindsight, the potential to change my life for the rest of its duration; however long or short that might be. If that van had come at higher speed, at a more acute angle, if those bushes weren't there, if the car wasn't on the slowest lane; more things than the car could have been damaged. The impact of that van would have had more than one shockwave. Luckily, my life wasn't changed all that much.

The consideration of the "what if" disturbs me. The privilege to go on living and the possibility of it being taken away all of a sudden hasn't entered conscious thought for quite some time already, if not ever. That I haven't thought of it all this time when life hung as fragile as it always does also disturbs me further, and more importantly, my own attitude toward being a mortal being. The sudden appreciation that one isn't invincible as one would like to be. Oh dear. Though we in relatively peaceful Singapore are less likely to be shot, blown into small pieces, get lynched, starve, freeze or dehydrate than other less fortunate people in the world, that's never stopped fate from being creative or being pure cruel.

I guess I don't have much of a right to assume much more since this experience wasn't anywhere near tragic or traumatic. I'll get my chance later.

How I learnt to stop worrying and love the Bomb

2008-02-27T18:43:00.004+08:00

"Gentlemen you can't fight in here, this is the War Room!"

CoH: On Tier 1 Infantry: Panzergrenadiers

2008-02-27T18:43:00.003+08:00

Since more people might be starting to play COH, I'll do some expositories every now and then. Today's review is the Panzergrenadier (abbv. PG), from the Panzer Elite faction. Requires Opposing Fronts.

Panzergrenadiers:
At a cost of about 250 MP, these would be the cheapest tier 1 infantry COH offers. But don't be fooled by their cost, I reckon they're at most as tough as Grenadiers (Wehrmacht) health-wise, which is pretty decent. Only they come in 3-man squads, which makes them more vulnerable to snipers, since snipers do take down a head per shot which is 1/3 the squad. Damage-wise un-upgraded, ok in the early game, enough to present a threat to a jeep, though they won't massacre jeeps. Which is why one should keep them in the vicinity of your kettenkrads, to prevent clever Allied players from killing them with an early jeep.

They're probably the most multi-purpose infantry units around, since they fight, build and repair all in one neat little package. They may be upgraded with G43s (50mun), which can actually be quite painful (sort of like better rifles) as well as suppress enemy infantry for a munitions cost.

They can also be upgraded with MP44s (75mun), which are basically close-range weapons. These are very good at their job, and were/are abused regularly prior to the first OF patch. They still are very useful now. They don't have to be upgraded with munitions, as PGs pre-equipped with MP44s can be bought from the Panzer Jager Command. PGs upgraded in this fashion excel at close combat and are called Assault Grenadiers or Ass Grens.

And what's the German Army without Panzerschrecks? This is the third weapon upgrade from PGs: the Panzerschreck (75mun). When upgraded with these, PGs are called Tank Busters. Arguably the best infantry wielded anti-tank weapon, they do plenty of damage to any vehicle (including AT guns) and should be a high priority target for any Allied armour. TBs should be used in a mobile fashion, flanking armour and hitting them in the side or rear for the extra damage.

PGs can also use 2 types of grenades (though these have to be researched). The Incendiary Grenade and the Anti-Tank Grenade. The incendiay grenade is, not worth its munitions cost when used against troops in the open, unless one's desperate. However, they're good against infantry in trenches, buildings or big bunches. It does damage over time, and the longer the unit stays on the flaming spot, the more damage it takes duh. In general, Incendiary grenades suck against stuff that runs around, like riflemen. But they aren't bad against MGs or AT-guns since it forces them to move, or die a nice warm death. Forcing these support weapons to move can be a very good thing. This is a good ability for ass grens, since things in buildings or trenches generally beat them in a firefight. Throw in a flame grenade, make them get out, and hose them down with the lethal MP44s. Either that or they burn. Note that however, these abilities have a very very long cooldown, unless there's a Munitions Halftrack nearby, in which case cooldown is almost instant.

The Anti-tank grenade is well, usually not as high a priority on my research list, sometimes not at all. Sure they do damage against tanks, but not that much. I reckon they'd be more useful against light vehicles, which tend to run around more. Not to say that they're useless. With the Tank Buster doctrine, the passive power "double AT efforts" gives it more teeth, since it allows PGs to throw 2 grenades for the price of 1, simultaneously. Again, long cooldown.

There's a research for PGs called "Increased Squad Sizes". As its name suggests, it increases squad size, to 4-man. It's a good upgrade, as it gives the squad more survivability, especially for Tank Busters, who're spending much time getting hit by the tanks and infantry of a player who realizes the importance of Panzerschrecks. Good for ass grens, since they're charging around and well, assaulting stuff. Actually its good in general; the real question is when you need it, which is a matter of priorities really.

A common feature of PGs is the tendency for human players to group them together. This is called "the PG blob". The research "Group Zeal" probably encourages this behaviour. It isn't a very good tactic against experienced players, who will know how to counter it, but against noobs it has a high chance of success in general, since they might panic and do all the wrong things against it. Details on its exact nature and how to beat it will come in a separate article.

Also, PGs repair stuff. This is good, because after a battle, the infantry can be useful, and repair damaged vehicles as well as reinforce the squad from say an Infantry Halftrack. A research: "Super Repair", makes them repair much faster; it's a really good upgrade if you're using plenty of vehicles. Note that units repairing under fire take extra damage.

There are a few other researches pertaining to PGs, but I don't know very much about them and their effectiveness since I haven't used them a lot.

That's the end for the PG unit description.

aroma

2008-02-16T01:03:00.000+08:00

I found a petal on my desk one day. Considering that date, it might not have taken much imagination to deduce where it came from.

It was still fresh, had a faint smell, a little moist, and rather flaccid.

But oh, it's time to learn some of the more technical aspects of it. I pick up and leave.

When I return, it's gone. Oh well, I suppose it'll have shrivelled up left there. A deep breath, and I notice for the first time; the room is filled with a whiff

of Its Aroma.

A Variation on Murphy's Law

2008-02-07T22:32:00.004+08:00

Friendly fire isn't, foolproof plans and recoilless rifles aren't, and suppressive fires won't.

The Gates of the Forest

2008-02-07T22:32:00.003+08:00

God made man because He loves stories.

Windows

2008-01-18T23:09:00.001+08:00

The windows in my class open out sideways. They used to open upwards, for the past 2 years, along with a sometimes interesting view of the rear carpark in the mornings. The cool air would blow in, and on a rare day, the Batmobile would drive by, which it really did once. I have the same view once again, just from a different angle. The same cool air blows in. Perhaps I'll return to my habits later in the year, and stop crashing the classes of my old classmates in the morning.

Last year, when I sat on someone else's table, opened the window and watched what happened on the road below, I felt a little lonely, especially early in the morning, when most people haven't arrived and those who have are sleeping or in a similar state. Then someone else comes along and joins me (sometimes I am that someone else). Eventually, a merry party gathers and we talk about random things or stone together, which brings a warm feeling all of its own to me. But, the bell's got to ring some time and it does.

I'd rather not be alone this year when I watch through the windows. Yet I can't possibly be crashing others' classes or making them crash mine all year can I? Ok, maybe I might be able to, but I'm not persistent enough at 7am for that everyday. And besides, what message would that send to my new classmates? To do that might be like looking out the window on a fresh, cool morning without opening the pane.

The question once more presents itself. But the perceived choice to be made bolts the windows to their pane. What should one do? Use a screwdriver of course. There's probably another option for those who start the answer with the outcome in mind, think of the method a little later and have the strong enough will to carry it out. The true and meaningful ending, for the corresponding solution.

The Melancholy

2008-01-16T22:45:00.001+08:00

So my usual lazy posting behaviour's out the window (XP) for this one. After all, if I have a topic at length, why not? The world waits, just time doesn't. Haha, just time.

The first two days of school have borne most resemblance to my first day in Primary 4, most of all. Unlike the first day of school in Secondary 1, I was no stranger to schooling. Unlike the first day of Primary 1, I had some friends whom I spent long enough with to consciously treasure, who left my immediate company. And unlike the first day of kindergarten, I was "self-conscious" (for lack of a better word).

Back then in 2001, circumstance had put me into a brand new class. Complete with new faces, opportunities and the like. Few of my friends or acquaintances came along with me from Primary 3, and zero from 1 and 2, though in later years a few from times of yore meet again and enjoy a friendship to the present day.

As hindsight would have it, it was my great privilege to spend the next 3 years of my life with that bunch. Some got off the train; we waved them goodbye, others got on; we welcomed them (for the most part). And so went the next 4 years.

At the present moment, life goes on. Some have gotten off again, many others boarded in. But for the most part, we've hopped or dragged our feet onto different bus numbers.

I shouldn't have been surprised or even shocked. Neither happened to me; but a disturbing, gnawing melancholy at times troubles me while walking the corridors at the early hours of a day. It disappears, or maybe is pushed down, as soon as the day kicks in (with bad luck into below the belt line), the work life begins and time to dwell on it is dropped. When the day quietens down once more, in preparation for dawn, the thought and feeling drifts back within.

What ails? I doubt I alone feel or am aware of this. It may manifest differently or otherwise, but most have a response, conscious or not to the problem that troubles me.

During class, I pay attention, take notes and digest the information. Internally motivated? Most seemingly so. Such a difference from my self the last 10 years of formal schooling. But perhaps it's merely a way of escaping from the question that tortures me: What now? Or "now what?" works too.

What action to take? I find a relatively straightforward answer; study hard, prepare for a working hellhole and have fun while I'm at it. In fact, I'm taking strides toward the realization of that goal. But to ignore the other part of the question would be to lose half my marks, and to get a 7 pointer, I can't afford to leave out any level of response. "What now?"

Looks like it hasn't gotten any simpler by beating around the bush. How about this: What about my old friends? The same guys whom I met on the bus back 7 years, some 4, but as treasured as the former. The problem becomes much clearer once I utter those 5 words plus the question mark. Admittedly, I'm reluctant to pen down or type the answer, no matter how long it's been swirling in my thought. Here comes the coward! But am I to be ashamed of him? Come, let us give him the question to think over. But we'll give the answer some other time, shall we?

While we're at it, let's give the answers some other time? But should he be given too much time to cloister up? Too late, I pick the answer.

Tactica 003

2008-01-09T20:35:00.001+08:00

"Contrary to popular belief, we aren't God. We merely borrowed His smite button."
- Anonymous artilleryman

Why?

2008-01-09T20:31:00.002+08:00

We do what we must because we can.

Mug

2008-01-02T19:39:00.003+08:00

I think I like my new mug.

Back at the lines

2008-01-01T22:04:00.001+08:00

Cheer up Chuck, we're being mortared again.

Im Westen nichts Neues

2008-01-01T00:14:00.000+08:00

Dear Mum and Dad,

I am officially somewhere else, where I am not at liberty to say. In fact, the whole of this land is TOP SECRET; no one is allowed to know where it is. Even the people here have been told to forget that they’re here. Unfortunately, the bloody Germans do know where this is, and they aren’t letting us have it. Anyway, I came here by certain ship, landed by certain transport, at certain time, certain place, all this I’m dead certain. We are allowed to mention the sky, so I’ll say that we have one, and that’s it right overhead, with enough space to stand up. In spite of this luxury, I’m writing this in a hole in the ground. Very convenient; if you get killed they just fill it in and stand in a chunk of rock there. That’s all the cheery news for now, will write again when the situation is less fraught.

Your loving son,
Terry

Rewrite: Spike Milligan

Tactica 002

2007-12-31T00:43:00.002+08:00

When your commanders tell you that you're mad, it's usually fine. When your foot soldiers start, you should be worried.

Europeans

2007-12-31T00:43:00.001+08:00

Heaven is where:
The policemen are British,
The chefs are French,
The mechanics are German,
The lovers are Italian,
and the administrators Swiss.

Hell is where:
The policemen are German,
The chefs are British,
The mechanics are French,
The lovers Swiss,
and where the place is run by the Italians.

From a little hotel in Switzerland.

Tactica 001

2007-12-04T00:21:00.001+08:00

Military strategy: The art of gaining unfair advantages for your troops over the enemy's.

29+ Fusiliers

2007-10-04T18:27:00.000+08:00

Joys will fade
and wounds will heal,
Will we forget?

Two Fusiliers

2007-09-19T23:12:00.000+08:00

And are we done with war at last?

Reflection

2007-09-12T15:57:00.000+08:00

Did you do any good while you were on earth?

Nope, but I did some reflections on it.

Spacehog

2007-07-19T22:22:00.000+08:00

The Descent Freespace series is one of my favourite games and I'll take the liberty to ramble about it:

Freespace is a nice, little-known in general, space piloting/combat sim. That's all the intro I think there is without going into details:

The way the storyline is presented to the players is very unique in that it somehow gets you (or me at least) to feel very involved in the plot, though you're really just a small fry flying around once capital ships and their big green/yellow/red beams get involved. There actually aren't really any major characters except yourself and the war machine, so it gives a suitable impersonal and military style plot development. I kinda like this compared to many other games which have emo commanders and officers performing a drama for you during the cutscenes. More reality.

Freespace 2 Source visuals are pretty good, no actually, pretty awesome. The fan programmers did an excellent job with the details and environmental graphics needless to say. Though I'm not picky with visual presentation mostly, it adds another level of appreciatation in itself.

My favourite fighter is and has always been the interceptor class, i.e. the Valkyrie from FS1 and the Perseus from FS2. Speed is good. Especially vs bombers or human players where you need the extra speed to get a nice range for dumbfire spam or to make someone else's targeting reticle go in fractal patterns.

But where would we be without capital ships? For one thing, the universe would be a lot safer for us fighters. While Freespace 1's capital ships were of little danger, while FS2's capital ships come equipped with a nice arsenal of flak turrets, anti-fighter beams and swarm missile batteries which make your screen shake and go red, knock your craft 120 degrees in some random direction, and basically kill you. Respectively. I dislike the middle weapon the most because it deals out both the second and the third effect. Then again, bombers would be out of a job without capitals and so would the plot writers. After all, a 6km long behemoth makes good storyline material.

This reminds me of Homeworld 2. Someother time.

Viaje

2007-06-30T15:19:00.000+08:00

As much as I love the comforts of home, the warm and familiar food my mom cooks, the sleek black CPU on my desktop and my own soft mattress on the wood floor, I like travelling a great deal as well. For that I'm extremely grateful to my dad, who leaves the house at 6:30 am and returns at 9 or 10 pm almost everyday to provide for my needs, luxuries and privileges such as many a nice little holiday overseas.

There are many great sights to be seen out there, from the Grand Canyon to sprawling glaciers, all awe-inspiring works of nature. Then you have man-made stuff; towering cathedrals, skyscrapers and the undescribable feeling you get at the discovery that you will be staying in a place where 80% of the food outlets are fast-food for a month.

As magnificient as the great sights are, they aren't necessarily the most interesting ones. There's something calming and satisfying about picking a nice bench in a little town, and just watching people go by. See them do their shopping, walking the dog, holding on to their hats as they rush to work after an alarm clock malfunction and again rushing home 11 hours later after working till too late.

One can learn a thing or two about the lives of people by just sitting still and observing them awhile. Walk around in a supermarket, pass by the meats section and see a teenager buying his contribution for a barbecue, pass by the chocolate shelves along with its retinue of eager kids. Some of whom will be disappointed, and some lucky ones. If you stay around long enough, the manager might come around and check on operations, and if you've been there too long or acting suspicious or if he's the paranoid or control freak sort, you get booted out promptly.

But that's ok, you have some time, and decide to continue wandering the town.

A different kind of sight is needed to see a different kind of sight.

Abfahrt.

2007-06-12T04:32:00.000+08:00

Almost everything's in Deutsch here, including the blogger interface. Anyway, there's a good wireless here so I take the liberty of posting a short.

If I can, I'll get on msn/windows messenger.

Switzerland's a pretty funky place. Lots of ye' olde shoppes around and flies. Once you come here you start the appreciate the agility and tenacity of Singapore flies. These ones're free frags.

Apparantly the Swiss eat cheese for every meal. The guy tending the bar/cafe very generously gave us quite a meal for 20 francs a head: Cheese Fondue, Macaroni and Cheese, Cheese and potato thingy, pizza (with cheese) and we have cheese every breakfast. It's not bad though.

Taking photos too, because I plan to make some Kanon/sola parodies with photoshop.

Stay tuned!

Post veroffentlichen...

Toodles

2007-06-07T20:06:00.000+08:00

And, off I go too, hurtling through the air at great speeds in an aluminium can.

I'll try to get stuff for all.

The Melancholy

2007-06-04T22:16:00.000+08:00

I actually was going to post on anime in general, but then again I would run the risk of generalizing too much, seeing as I've only watched a small fraction of the genre.

Instead, I'll just say what I think about each individual series I've watched. I'm rather bad at critique so I won't call it a review.

The first series I watched this year was none other than Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. This one sorta got me into watching all the rest, so it holds a special spot in my animelog.

Not a particularly philosophical or disturbing (with the exception of certain scenes) anime compared with some others it has led me to watch, SHnY is nevertheless a nice, enjoyable series. There's a very lovable character cast and as compared to the usual Western media I the anime beginner am normally exposed to, quite an unorthodox storyline.

Though a redundant statement for those who've watched the series, let's just say the title character was unlike anything (more than just anybody) I ever seen before. It's rather hard not to appreciate this rarity, though I find the aliens the most interesting characters. Our narrator also gets tons of points in the coolness section for not freaking out everytime the plot thickens with all manner of nonsense, when he's getting assassinated, and when he's filming episode 00.o.o

I also had the good fortune, to watch an anime with an awesome ED for my first. I have 13 versions of it on my WMP now.

Overall, a very enjoyable series, broad appeal enough to be beginner friendly, though not to mention a petri dish for otakus. Since it's late, I don't feel like discussing the light novels (just bought 1 and 4) yet; another time.

ITS ALIVE!

2007-05-27T22:11:00.000+08:00

Just back from my dad's uni class reunion in KL. First of all, I have to say the government administrative district there was pretty impressive, comparable to Singapore, though arguably with better taste. They sure have funky streetlamps there o_O. Didn't take any photos, but let's just say half of it looked like a Blue Zone out of C&C 3, and the other half looked like flat-filled Singapore... The catch to it being that there was close to no one walking around on the streets.

I wonder if O-levels being around the corner should worry me more; I spent around 4 hours studying Jap at the reunion dinner ._.

I have a new blog!

The days of being lazy and reading others' blogs has finally come to an end. When I visit peoples' blogs, I guess I kinda expect to see a certain style or whatever, reflecting their real world personalities and lifestyles somewhat. For the most part, I have to thank my friends for the many interesting/fun/angst-filled reads over my roughly 1 year blog-hopping, non-blogging tenure.

Finally getting to the point about what I intend for this blog:

...

Not really any over-arching goal in mind actually. Maybe I'll put up some lists, talk/rant about issues and happenings now and then. Pretty much the same as many blogs out there. But then again, that's not so bad, because a blog being written by someone one knows has a special quality to it that turns an otherwise perfectly normal blog into one that's particularly fun/thought-provoking/infuriating/disturbing/heart-rending/tear-inducing and particularly makes you want to tear your eyeballs out of their sockets.

Hope I manage to get this off the ground. ^_^

Test

2007-05-25T23:24:00.000+08:00

This one's way funner.