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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 23, 2016 9:57:46 GMT
Very nice! Have you thought about doing them in resin? Uh, the name of my company is PAPER Terrain
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 22, 2016 22:10:24 GMT
Highly unlikely that I will attempt a tripod. Maybe a constructor machine...
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 22, 2016 21:28:20 GMT
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 22, 2016 13:32:45 GMT
Thanks Icp! Word-of-mouth advertising is always the best!
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 21, 2016 23:07:33 GMT
Thanks to all of you who have bought my book! Don't forget to post a review on Amazon!
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 21, 2016 0:41:36 GMT
Brevet ranks were very common in the Civil War and were still being used as late as World War II. In 1942 Eisenhower was wearing 3 stars, but it was only a brevet. His permanent rank was Lieutenant Colonel!
The army used brevet ranks during times of rapid expansion so they could fill all the new positions being created in the table of organization. Getting a formal promotion approved could be a lengthy process, especially at the higher ranks, so the brevets allowed them to fill those positions quickly without all the paperwork. Brevets were common in the Civil War, WWI and WWII (and, of course, the Great Martian War).
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 20, 2016 20:38:37 GMT
Hi Guys! Back from Cold Wars! I met with my publisher and my editor for dinner and we made some general plans for the next eight books in the series This is all very tentative and will depend greatly on sales (so far they are very good) so don't get too excited. But if things go well there could be three connected trilogies. In other news, a friend of mine put on an All Quiet game which was well-attended. One of the dealers had quite a bit of ALL Quiet stuff and it seemed to be selling. And I'm exhausted!
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 17, 2016 14:09:41 GMT
Thanks much! I hope you enjoy it!
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 16, 2016 13:03:33 GMT
An excellent point! I remember on the first forum where some people argued forever about how the game was broken because machine guns were too powerful and then they produced all sorts of 'ideal' US forces with all the tanks carrying nothing but machine guns. I pointed out repeatedly that a real commander couldn't do that because he was supplied with tanks armed with cannons rather than machine guns. He had to fight with what he was given, not with what he might want. My words fell on deaf ears As for the US organization, after the chaos of the Spanish American War where you had regulars, volunteers, and state militias all jumbled together, the government passed the National Defense Act of 1903 (which is still in effect, if I'm not mistaken). This officially absorbed all state militias into the National Guard. Technically the Guard was still under state control (until just about 20 years ago), but in practice the Federal government had the say on how the Guard was trained and equipped (the same as the Regulars). The states went along with it because the Feds paid for almost all of it. So by the time of The Great Martian War, this would be the situation. Of course in the war fervor that would erupt, I would expect there to still be a mob of volunteer units springing up at first. These would probably disappear as time went by--but that's up to you!
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 16, 2016 0:16:48 GMT
One thing that hasn't bee talked about much is the extreme vulnerability of the far north. Canada, once you get away from the lakes regions was/is very sparsely populated and almost totally lacking in roads or railroads or navigable rivers. Now this doesn't bother the Martians at all, but it is going to make forming a defense line almost impossible for the humans. If any Martians land in central Canada, they can march east and then hug the southern shore of Hudson's Bay and get all the way to Quebec City before they would run into any resistance. Look at Google Earth and you will see that even today that whole region is almost completely empty. No roads, tiny towns and no place an army could even be supplied for long. A very difficult problem for the humans.
And that doesn't even consider the winter weather. The cold and snow won't bother the Martians at all. In fact they will probably be even more mobile once the ground is frozen and they don't have to deal with mashes and swamps like they will in the summer months. But keeping a human army in action in the winter will be close to impossible. Yes, Canada is going to have some real problems holding a line. They may end up defending pockets along the lakes and the St Lawrence.
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 15, 2016 11:13:39 GMT
As I see it, the Martians have three major strategic weaknesses. Almost blindspots, really. First is water. Especially large bodies like the Mississippi, the Great Lakes, and the oceans. Mars is a cold, dry planet, so the utility of moving supplies and troops by water is out of contex to them. I would expect any successful offensive to involve flanking the Martians vja the Great Lakes. Memphis held out not by force of arms, but by the massive river Martians had to cross. Second is air. Flight, other than new drones, which may be a response to witnessing human flight, Martian technology is strictly *ahem* terrestrial. It doesn't get off the ground. The militarization of the vertivle dimension should take Martian High Command completely off guard. Finally, it is the wheel. The source document describes how Mars never invents the wheel. Thus they should consistently underestimate the speed in which trains, autosteamers, and flivvers can move. Light troops, mounted on wheeled vehicles with sufficient anti-tripod weapons should wreck havoc in the Martian rear areas. Thus, the strategic concept for a winning Human counter-offensive is born. Some good points. Although we've commented in the past about the fact that the Martians don't really have "rear areas" in the way human armies do. Their redoubts are (so far) impregnable and their mining and manufacturing seems to take place inside the redoubts. There are no bridges or rail lines to be blown up or poorly guarded supply dumps to attack. Raiding parties are going to find a very target-poor environment.
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 14, 2016 19:20:11 GMT
Hmmm, perhaps I spoke too quickly. There is the whole copyright issue. If I start making use of other people's ideas I'm leaving myself open for lawsuits and such. Have to give this some thought...
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 14, 2016 17:43:36 GMT
Well, now that I'm writing this without any oversight from, or commitments to, Ernie, I am much freer to discuss what I'm doing with you folks! So I might well throw out some ideas from time to time and see what you think
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 14, 2016 16:26:29 GMT
Oh, it's not due out until December, sadly.
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Post by scottwashburn on Mar 14, 2016 12:57:53 GMT
Germany was able to project power in modest ways. They had colonies in East Africa and the Pacific. In 1902 they nearly went to war with the United States over their attempts to project power in Venezuela (in violation of the Monroe Doctrine). In my second novel we will see them do that again with Roosevelt's very reluctant permission
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