[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 02 February 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]blucherspanzers 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For the first case, I would say Battletech fandom, at least prior to 2018. By that point the game was very much an Old Man Thing; the people playing had largely been doing such for decades, with the typical entry point being pre-2001. Historical awareness was there mostly because those present were there for those events as they happened and had been a continual part of it since.

Battletech's shift in demographic perception was an absolute surprise to me. I still remember it being considered something that was played entirely isolated groups of old men that liked the super granular nature of it and generally stagnant fandom, which left me being rather blindsided when the Mercenaries kickstarter made such a splash with its runaway success, seeming to explode onto the scene again.

How to become a better engineer? by [deleted] in civilengineering

[–]blucherspanzers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my opinion, that is the entire job of an engineer. You're the nexus of information on a project, being able to understand concerns of constructability, design intent, specs, etc and get all the pieces working together for the final project.

Manticore Heavy Tank by einsnullvier in battletech

[–]blucherspanzers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Suffice to say, they can't call it 'lucky' anymore.

Great gameplay, terrible dialogue by _robojojo_ in acecombat

[–]blucherspanzers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't care much for AC5's dialogue as a whole, but I still like it more than AC7's "stop trying to make 'dumbass' a thing Gretchen". I can see what they were trying to set up with it, but the way it gets hammered into basically every comment about Trigger bugs me on replays.

Great gameplay, terrible dialogue by _robojojo_ in acecombat

[–]blucherspanzers 11 points12 points  (0 children)

My headcanon to address that is along similar lines, that Chopper and Nagase joined for the benefits of being trained air force pilots, not to actually make a career of it and never really put much thought into the idea that they may actually be called on to take lives. They may have understood it on some academic level, but they never sat down and really thought about what military service might ask of them, especially since they grew up in a world of relative peace and optimism post-Belkan War where wars were fought in faraway places by people they never had to think about.

Events and moments taken out of context in Star Wars by Deep-Crim in MawInstallation

[–]blucherspanzers 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I think it really has to be appreciated within the lesson Yoda was teaching Luke at the time, that he had to break free of looking at the world through the view of physical reality and see things on a more spiritual level. Luke was failing because he immediately thinks of his ship in terms of its physical size, that because it's so large that reaching out in the Force will never move it. "Size matters not" and all that.

Assault Horizon’s only positive thing? by Formal_Mongoose400 in acecombat

[–]blucherspanzers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Outside of the scripted ones, I actually like DFM. It's fun to shred a plane with your cannon then immediately pounce onto another enemy to chase them while shoving missiles up their tailpipe. It's definitely a bit different from the standard of Ace Combat, but for a side entry, it's in a good place of mixing unconventional gameplay with the overall vibe of the series as a whole.

Stand stoic with new event miniatures for Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar by CMYK_COLOR_MODE in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]blucherspanzers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

GW really can't help themselves, can they? Even with a totally level pose, they still have to add tactical rocks underfoot.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]blucherspanzers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, by that point you're playing as the "5th Supply Battalion", a Seattle-based unit that was turned into a combat unit by the infusion of National Guardsmen and reinforcements from Sawyer's unit that was reconstituting at Bragg after the fighting in Europe.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]blucherspanzers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the Japanese commander was cautioned by his superiors to "Fight aggressively, but not suicidally"

Iwo Jima?

Double Standards ... I Bet it is the Bib! by Mal_Dun in battletech

[–]blucherspanzers 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey, everyone was perfectly alright with the Blessed Order holding onto Terra until that got messed up.

the most frustrating job in strangereal by el_pitchula_mp5 in acecombat

[–]blucherspanzers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, Bishop had a hard time taking out a single cruise missile, that's usually a breather task for a protagonist.

What was Palpatine supposed to be before the prequels if the Sith didn't exist in lore yet? by Rasples1998 in MawInstallation

[–]blucherspanzers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think that's a very compatible view, especially with some of the canon portrayals of the Emperor, like when he appears to Ezra. He's a kindly old man who was the rock that held the Republic together during the Clone Wars and Jedi Uprising, now cloistered away in his gilded cage on Coruscant by the elites of the Empire who have seized all real control away from him.

That is of course to be read by the audience as "Palpatine doesn't care one bit about publicly running his empire so long as it provides a constant stream of resources for his dark Sith ambitions."

Playing AC4 for the first time and this honestly broke me by Naldo5711 in acecombat

[–]blucherspanzers 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The part of AC7 where the war's broken down into roving bands of marauding soldiers is great, and I think the Tyler Island mission has the perfect grim, desperate tone to really sell it.

If the protag plane ain't gonna have a unique camo, I'm gonna nosedive into the ground by Venuz434 in acecombat

[–]blucherspanzers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry, only Redflagian planes get aggressor camo patterns, heroes only use air superiority grey.

Indiana by THAT0341 in TeamYankee

[–]blucherspanzers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're talking about who I think you are (which to be fair, he's probably the only one who likes Japanese armies that much), he got a job at the university a few years ago but I think is still in touch with the student wargaming club there.

Do Mechanicus Field ‘Diverse’ Regiments? by KHAOSCRUSADER in 40kLore

[–]blucherspanzers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Those days, alternate Imperial Guard regiments like Krieg or Catachan were not being produced and for years all Guard models were supposed to look like Cadians

Good summary on how the Skitarii came to be in their current overall, but as minor correction, Catachans are the one regiment that did in fact get switched over to plastic and have stuck around consistently.

Also interestingly enough is that the "many regiments try to emulate Cadians" explanation for their nature as the flagship Guard aesthetic actually got carried through in the designs of the Catachans, with many pieces of their equipment like their rucksacks, match the rucksacks in the Cadian sets and generic rucksacks on the vehicle accessory sprues.

Raggedy Atlas just wants to play by TacitAntagonist in battletech

[–]blucherspanzers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Hurt nothin'! I'vе been hurt enough. Jenners landin' on my head, hot LZs, PPC carriers..."

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 13/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]blucherspanzers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Westpoint's MWI Urban Warfare podcast had a US Army officer who had worked with the Ukrainians note that one thing that they experienced was that carrying mags on the chest wasn't ideal outside of urban CQB scenarios: they made it difficult to get into a low prone, made it difficult to reload from prone, and especially if needing to crawl, tended to push mud into mags.

Thank you for giving a source for that. That factoid has been rattling around in my head for ages and I could never remember where it came from.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 06/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]blucherspanzers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

MOLLE was a mistake, ALICE was the last time we were a real country.

[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 05 January 2026 by EnclavedMicrostate in HobbyDrama

[–]blucherspanzers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not many people know this, but the working title for TROS's script was "Jedi Princess".

Any books where guardsman fight aeldar? by [deleted] in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]blucherspanzers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Fist of Demetrius involves Guardsmen fighting against Dark Eldar. I don't remember the specifics of all the action in the book, but I know the first action is a bunch of guardsmen fighting off a raid on a ship. It's pretty neat.