Star Trek

Consensus: Star Trek reignites a classic franchise with action,

humor, a strong story, and brilliant visuals, and will please

traditional Trekkies and new fans alike.

http://www.startrekmovie.com/

Insulae Mucronis - Legion

The core of the Expeditionary Forces are the Legions, division-sized formations of professional, long-service infantry, lavishly equipped with heavy weapons and with many motorized support elements. This is translated into stands for use with Not Quite Mechanized, and represents a Legion as of the start of the Great Central War.

Headquarters –Command stand (s3), Signals van (S3)

3xInfantry Regiment

HQ - Command (s2), 45mm AT gun (s3), 75mm pack howitzer (s2), 81mm (s3), Engineer stand with flamethrower (s3), mounted FOO stand (s1)

3xCohorts - Command (s1), 3xRifle Stands (s3), MMG (s3), HMG (s3), ATR (s2) 81mmmortar (s3)

Artillery Brigade

2xRegiments (1 horse drawn, 1 motorized)

Regiment Command stand (s2), Signals Van, 3xFOO (s1), 3xJeeps

2xLight battalions – 1x75mm, truck or limber

1xMedium battalion – 1x105mm, truck or limber

Cavalry Battalion – Command stand (s1, mounted) 3xRecce Stands (s3, mounted), 1x81mm mortar (s3)

Engineer Battalion – 1xCommand stand (s1) 3xEngineer stands with flamethrowers (s3), 3xTrucks

Anti-tank battalion -- 3x45mm, 3xtrucks

Anti-aircraft battalion -- 3xAAMG, 3xtrucks

Empire of the Sun and Flame

A mix of Persian and Japanese transplants were the dominant influences in the mix of city states and rural regions ruled by fortress-dwelling robber barons that would be united approximately a century prior to the Great Central War by the Toyahota Family (Motto: "You want it, you got it") in the name of the Divine Shahenshah Artabanus XVI.

Culturally, most of these regions were very similar, having a strict caste system overseen by a hereditary caste, although a merit- and education-based bureaucracy organized on almost Confucian lines provided a means for social mobility for the best of the lower classes. Warfare was stylized and dominated by mounted nobles and their retainers, the mass of the populace being largely unarmed by law and custom, with the exception of certain tenacious hill peoples who provided light-armed infantrymen in lieu of taxes.

Religion is a variation of Zoroastrianism along with a strong ancestor cult and a bushido-like warrior code for the aristocrats.

The Toyahota Shogunate was ushered in with mass armies equipped with rifle-muskets with conical rounds, socket bayonets, and standardized field artillery. However, in order to coopt the various noble houses, after unification the regular infantry was reduced and de-emphasized in favor of the noble muster of horse and the provision for nobles to maintain and command their own infantry regiments or battalions. This system persisted until the beginning of the Great Central War, when its weaknesses were made blatantly obvious by a series of disasters opposing the Swordpoint invasion of the Empire.

Insulae Mucronis

The polity referred to as Insulae Mucronis (Literally the Swordpoint Islands) is officially referred to the “Republic of the Romans” (Respublica Romanorum), a reference to the fact that is has largely been a collection point for a variety of groups who considered themselves Roman.

The original groups dropped off were a mix of Romans and Gauls scooped up indiscriminately from the middle of a clash between isolated units during Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. The Roman culture and organization was greatly superior, and the fact that the next group deposited was a cohort from the 2^nd century Legio XV Apollinarius, scooped up along with native wives from what is today Uzbekistan reinforced the cultural dominance.

Byzantine line troopers and a handful of Hunnic mercenaries from Justinian’s expedition to Northern Africa that were believed lost at sea also were deposited in the same area, and as they were recognizably Roman and Latin-speaking, they were easily assimilated. The same could not be said for the Apache tribe deposited shortly thereafter, who remain a recognizable cultural minority to this day.

There were several more occasions where Byzantines of progressively later eras were deposited, then a gap of several hundred years, followed by the deposition of a group of Greeks of the 1919-1922 war with Turkey, cut off and surrounded by Turks, who remember only a bright light and awakening on a beach.

Politically, the structure of the Republic owes much to the Republic. Senators elect a pair of Consuls, who however remain Consul for Life. Unfortunately, the politics within the Senate are so vicious and violent that over ¾ of the Consuls die violently. Succession crises are fairly common.

Prior to the Great Central War, Swordpoint forces were a mix of heavy infantry units and cavalry in the Expeditionary Forces, questionable home defense forces, and a powerful Navy with ground forces of its own.

Insula Mucronis

G.I. Joe Official Site

Your official source for everything GI Joe. Watch the latest GI movie trailers, view GI videos online or play GI Joe online games.

http://www.hasbro.com/gijoe/en_US/

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

Based on the popular Hasbro toy line and comic books. From the Central Asian mountains to the Egyptian desert, through the crowded streets of Paris to the Polar Ice Cap, the elite G.I. Joe team journeys on an action-packed adventure. Using the latest next-generation spy technology and military equipment, they fight to stop crooked arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious COBRA organization from plunging the world into chaos.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1046173/

Happy Halloween!

Zombie War

In the first half of the show, Ian was joined by

researcher and author of The Zombie Survival

Guide, Max Brooks, for a War of the Worlds-style

radio report on World War Z, the war with the

zombies. Brooks, who documented the oral history

of these events*, said the zombie plague originated

at a lake in China, where a man and his son were

diving for relics. The father disappeared, the boy

came up with a bite mark on his foot, and from there

it spread, he noted. According to Brooks, the Chinese

government covered up the ensuing outbreak and

never alerted the international community to the

impending worldwide apocalypse.
*******************

Many countries fell to the walking plague, Brooks

continued, including Japan, North Korea, and part

of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

Israel was one of the few nations to initiate a

nationwide quarantine in time, extending a security

fence around the entire country (1967 borders). The

island nation of Cuba came through unscathed,

Brooks added. In all, the zombie war decimated the

human population and, even though the worst of it

is over, the undead still pose a significant threat to

humanity.
********************

Brooks said land areas known as "White Zones" remain

infested with zombies. The walking dead roam the ocean

floor as well, perhaps in the millions, he warned. Colder

areas of the planet must deal with outbreaks every spring,

when frozen zombies thaw out and begin searching for

humans to consume. Brooks also briefly spoke about some

of the heroes of the war, the role religion played during the

crisis, and how the U.N. has assisted in the rebuilding process.
********************

*The events depicted in this story are fictitious. Any

similarity between persons living and (un) dead is purely

coincidental.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2009/10/17

Mad Max...Once Again

Nothing new under the sun, is there?

Army To Use 'Mad Max' 4x4 To Fight Taliban

A 'Mad Max'-style attack vehicle is to be used by the Army

to tackle the Taliban in Afghanistan. The new 4x4 vehicles,

described by one serving officer as 'like a Land Rover on steroids'

with a gun platform bristling with weapons. It will be also be fast

for a four tonne vehicle, with a potential top speed of 80mph. The

new machines are technically known as MWMIKs (Mobility

Weapon Mounted Installation Kit) but are known as Wimiks by

the troops who use them.Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-480098/Army-use-Mad-Max-4x4-fight-Taliban.html#ixzz0VADIglKY

Fifth Element - ZF.1

http://www.papermodelers.com/forum/design-requests/2463-fifth-element-zf-1-a.html

Dromonia Under Siege

Tiger Meet!

The origins of the NATO TIGER ASSOCIATION go back to the mid-fifties, when a casual meeting of RAF Hunter pilots from 74 Squadron and F86 jockeys of the 79th Fighter Bomber Squadron led to the realisation that both used the tiger as their emblem. The use of aggressive animals in heraldry, of course, goes back even further to the beginning of time.

http://www.airsceneuk.org.uk/airshow01/kaybee/tigers.htm

Fun With Camouflage

Have some fun with your camo ...what the heck it's Sci-fi!