New protective gear declared "Goofy"

[Righ]

Seperated at birth:

New armored body suit.

Raphael of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[tazelbain]

welcome back

[Strazos]

The Art of War is really something of a 3-way tug-of-war between Tactics, Armor, and Weaponry.

In Greece vs Persia, the armor and weaponry complements were comparable. The Greeks won with their tactics - The Charge at Marathon and the following Double Encirclement. Also, the Battle of Salamis, where the Greeks trapped the Persian navy within the Straits of Salamis.

At another point in history Armor was king. French Knights during the Hundred Years War were reportedly so laden down with armor that they had to be winched onto their mounts. A heavily armed knight could take many direct blows without even being phased.

Later, Weaponry would come to the forefront. Polearms were developed that could cut through a knight in plate armor, and then through his priceless mount. Crossbows, which required Very little training, could easily take down down a noble in priceless full plate armor with a single bolt. Constantinople, which for hundreds of years had been impenetrable, finally fell to the onslaught of the Turks.

The cycle comes around again in history. The "Americans" are able to occupy the British for far longer than their numbers and supplies should have allowed with "revolutionary" guerrilla tactics. In WWII, the Allies came awfully close to losing the ground battle in Europe and Africa due to the superior armor of the German tanks.

Now, modern western weaponry is seemingly insurmountable. Modern sabot rounds, using depleted Uranium darts, cut through armor like butter; they absolutely embarrass tanks such as the T-72, which were formerly quite formidable tanks. But now, this technology is proving to be not the "be all end all" of modern warfare when it's used against a force that is decentralized, that will not openly fight you, and in some cases has no concern for its own well-being.

[Righ]

If you've ever seen the film Gregory's Girl, Strazos is the guy who says that "40000 tons of cornflakes go under this bridge every day".

[Strazos]

That's probably an insult, but your avatar is too damn funny for me to care at this point in time.

[HaemishM]

At another point in history Armor was king. French Knights during the Hundred Years War were reportedly so laden down with armor that they had to be winched onto their mounts. A heavily armed knight could take many direct blows without even being phased.

Except for when those cunning English longbowmen used their superior archery range and discipline to poke sharp arrers in eyeslits and armor joints.

[Strazos]

Well, at the ranges most longbowmen were firing from, they were not aiming for anything in particular. The only reason they were able to get through the Fremch armor was the advent of the bodkin arrowhead.

[Jeff Kelly]

In WWII, the Allies came awfully close to losing the ground battle in Europe and Africa due to the superior armor of the German tanks.

I think it was mostly superior tactics and exploitation of the arrogance of the enemies. If the french military would have fortified the ardennes instead of telling everybody that it is impossible to get tanks through there the wehrmacht would not have been able to blitz france.

The allies needed a few years to get their act together and until they were able to find counters to the german tactics. That by 1941/40 Hitler was telling his very experienced generals what they should do was also helping very much.