ask me about military history

f-22 "raptor" ace · **on:** August 11, 2009, 10:12:36 PM

As the name implies ask me your questions on military history.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #1 on:** August 11, 2009, 10:48:12 PM

How come King Henry I was able to take Normandy with foot soldiers when Hitler couldn't do it with tanks?

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #2 on:** August 11, 2009, 10:57:08 PM

He used a reserve force to flank his enemy while his other two groups of infantry charged at the linesand envolped his foe in a pincer movement. (That's what I gathered from reading about it on wikipedia)

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #3 on:** August 11, 2009, 11:12:29 PM

I've heard about some WW2 ships classified as Cruisers, Light Cruisers, Heavy Cruisers, and Battlecruisers. What makes each type different?

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #4 on:** August 11, 2009, 11:25:47 PM

Quote from: Mirumoto_Kenjiro,Aug 11 2009 on 10:12 PM

I've heard about some WW2 ships classified as Cruisers, Light Cruisers, Heavy Cruisers, and Battlecruisers. What makes each type different?

Heavy Cruisers are heavily armoured and have heavy guns usually 8inch guns, light cruisers are less armoured and usually have 6inch guns both are bigger than destroyers but smaller than battleships. A battlecrusier is like a battleship in size but has less armour though it still has the heavy guns of a battleship but it's speed makes it great for short quick attacks.

F-14 Ace · **Reply #5 on:** August 12, 2009, 12:06:48 AM

I think battlecruisers in the British Navy were bigger than battleships. The HMS Hood (a battlecruiser) was bigger and more heavily armed than the HMS Prince of Wales (a battleship).

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #6 on:** August 12, 2009, 01:27:20 AM

Why is Sun Tzu's The Art of War the longest lasting successful military treatise of all time?

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #7 on:** August 12, 2009, 05:29:02 PM

the tactics and lessons in it are just as viable today as they were when he first wrote it.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #8 on:** August 13, 2009, 05:44:00 PM

Who's more realistic: Gordon Freeman or John 117?

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #9 on:** August 13, 2009, 06:31:00 PM

John 117 because you never want to piss off a spartan.

Malte279 · **Reply #10 on:** August 14, 2009, 04:43:16 PM

What set the battle of Malvern Hill (July 1st 1862) apart from any other major battle during the the US Civil War?

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #11 on:** August 14, 2009, 08:59:01 PM

Robert E Lee Continued to attack in in rows straight into the guns of the Union infantry even after another Confederate general told him attacking around behind the hill where the hill was less steeper.

Malte279 · **Reply #12 on:** August 15, 2009, 05:40:35 AM

That's not so unique. Lee did launch uphill attacks against fortified federal troops before (e.g. at Mechanicsville and Gaines Mill just a few days earlier) and he would do so again at Gettysburg. The unique aspect about the battle of Malvern Hill concerns the victims / casualties of the battle.

Malte279 · **Reply #13 on:** August 15, 2009, 08:36:24 AM

Uhm... I think I may possibly have misunderstood the whole point of this section posting quiz questions rather than real questions on which I don't know the answer. I'm sorry about that and if you want to I'll just give away the answer to the above question

There is one other question though where I really don't know the answer but would really hope to get the answer from the experts (and knowing many of you live in a more heavily armed country than I do I may be successful about a question that concerns ballistics

).
I have read in many contexts, but specifically with reference to the American Civil War that soldiers were usually ordered to "aim low" because especially inexperienced troops tended to aim so high that they shoot way over the heads of their enemies. On some battlefields bullet marks on treetrunks way above a man's size bore wittness to the frequent too high aim of the soldiers. I never heard any reason why this was so. Can anyone tell me why aiming too high was so common an error or the 19th century (and I think not only the 19th century) marksmen?

Serris · **Reply #14 on:** August 15, 2009, 10:54:48 AM

According to a book on Civil War weapons (Arms and Equipment of the Civil War by Jack Coggins), the bullets fired by these rifles tended to have a somewhat high trajectory. Also, marksmanship training was somewhat lacking in most Civil War commands.

And having fired a crossbow and a BB gun, I theorize that overcompensating for the "drop" in the projectile may also be a cause.

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #15 on:** August 17, 2009, 06:33:24 PM

By the end of WW2, most of those responsible for the war are dead. I know Mussolini was murdered by a mob, Admiral Yamamoto (the one who planned the Pearl Harbor attack) was shot down by P-38's, and Hitler committed suicide in a bunker. General Tojo was the one who took control of the Japanese military and sent japan to war, but what did happen to him by Japan's surrender?

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #16 on:** August 17, 2009, 09:15:44 PM

He was found guilty of war crimes and hanged in 1948.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #17 on:** August 17, 2009, 09:58:36 PM

I remember reading about some war that lasted 72 hours or some small amount like that. What were the details on that war?

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #18 on:** September 13, 2009, 02:04:00 AM

Where did you come up with your character names Hans and Werner Donitz for the Darwin's Soldiers RP?

f-22 "raptor" ace · **Reply #19 on:** September 13, 2009, 11:06:05 AM

Sorry about getting behind in this.

To answer your first question I looked but could not find anything about a war lasting 72 hours.

As for your second one LB&T I was originally think of Admiral Donitz when I thought of them but they are not related to him.