Category Archives: Military

Warfighter: Middle Earth

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Dr. J.H. Watson

Originally posted on The Angry Staff Officer:
When I think of the six warfighting functions I always think of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. What, you don’t? Let’s be honest, one does not immediately think of fantasy or science…

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Purple vs Green: The Battle of the Spherical Space-cows

Posted on November 3, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

In the last article I talked about the situation in Gundam Wing, where Earth is in an armed standoff with her off-world colonies placed at the LaGrange points. As I said at the end, although both sides in the anime … Continue reading →

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Reinforcing Failure: Military Mistakes in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

If there’s anything that everyone knows about anime, even non-fans, it is that there are giant robots which fight each other. Well okay, that and the whole tentacles thing… but this article is about the robots. Specifically, the robots in … Continue reading →

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An Artillery Battery in Action

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

I read a lot. (Does that surprise anyone?) And most of the fiction I read is either fantasy, sci-fi, historical, or some combination of the above. All of those genres frequently involve armed conflict, and military action is one of … Continue reading →

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European History 101

Posted on August 25, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

I’ve talked a lot about Japanese history, but I haven’t touched on European history much. Obviously this needs to be corrected. European history over the last few thousand years is a very complex subject, and there are a lot of … Continue reading →

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Guns of the Samurai

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

When people think about historical Japan, samurai and their swords come immediately to mind. Perhaps we have images of masterless ronin wandering the lands and getting into thrilling adventures, or maybe we envision the noble families and their loyal retainers. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Japan, Military | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Four Horsemen of the Wehrpocalypse

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

The Second World War has had a big effect on our collective cultural worldview. Even now, more than 70 years after it ended, a surprisingly large number of people are still obsessing over it and going over every last detail. … Continue reading →

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The Katana

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

If there’s one thing everyone knows about Japanese history, it’s the katana. Samurai and their swords are perhaps the most iconic image of Edo-period Japan in our mass media consciousness, and they get used whenever a piece of fiction wants … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Japan, Military | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Japanese Castles

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

Ever since I arrived in Japan I was interested in Japanese castles. They look quite different to the stone fortifications my Euro-centric upbringing made me consider normal, and it took me a while to realise that it was because they … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Japan, Military | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Reinforcing Failure: Gate part 2

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Dr. J.H. Watson

At the end of the previous article, I asked the question “The JSDF in this scenario has massive technical and supply superiority. What could the Empire be doing to mitigate that and mount an effective counter to the invasion?” As … Continue reading →

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