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C. S. Lewis

2022-03-04T20:35:26Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC: /* His Fictional Works */

[[Image:CSLewis.JPG|thumb|Right|250px|The second patriarch of modern fantasy]]
'''Clive Staples Lewis''' (better known as "C. S.", "Jack" to his friends), not to be confused with [[C.S. Goto]] (how dare you confuse the two), nor with Lewis Carroll, was [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s good friend and another influential early modern fantasy writer. He was also an essayist and a theologian, one of the best of the last century, writing on subjects such as the relationship between science and religion in the modern age, the nature of the afterlife, and [http://scientificintegrity.blogspot.com/2010/04/religion-and-rocketry-by-cs-lewis.html arguing that the existence of aliens wouldn't clash with Christian beliefs.]

Lewis was very good at reasoning and explaining his philosophy. Many of his more devoted fans would argue that reading his work is like reading the Necronomicon, except it ''increases'' your sanity. /tg/, at least, is more divided over his world-building... which we'll get to.

== His Fictional Works ==
*The Space Trilogy
**Out of the Silent Planet (1938)
**Perelandra (1972) (C.S Lewis' favorite book by his own admission)
**That Hideous Strength (1974) (AKA That Hideous Book, according to JRR Tolkien).
*The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956)
**The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
**The Horse and His Boy
**Prince Caspian
**The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
**The Silver Chair
**The Magician's Nephew (the prequel to all this; although its events take place before, as a story it assumes you care about Narnia's creation-myth. so, don't read this before TLTW&TW)
**The Last Battle
*The Screwtape Letters (His most difficult book to write, according to him)
*The Pilgrim's Regress
*The Great Divorce
*Till We Have Faces

== Why He Was Influential ==
With the Narnia series, C. S. Lewis brought to the table the "everything in mythology but the kitchen sink" approach to fantasy writing. Norse Mythology, Greco-Roman Mythology, Judeo-Christian Theology, even modern folklore like Santa Claus got worked in. It's to his everlasting credit that he threw all these things into a blender and came up with something really awesome (even Santa Claus). Basically, if Tolkien gave modern fantasy [[RPG]]s [[Halfling]]s, [[Orc]]s and Dark Lords, Lewis gave it [[Centaurs]], [[Minotaur|Minotaurs]] (and potentially non-evil ones at that), [[Merfolk]], and talking animals. Narnia also included one of the earliest and most logically consistent examples of the "secret magical world parallel to our own" trope. And it is also an early form of the [[Isekai]] genre.

== On His Writing ==
[[Image:NarniaMap.jpg|thumb|Right|300px|A map of Narnia]]
When compared to his friend [[J.R.R. Tolkien]], Lewis was more of a philosopher and theologian than a world-builder. While Tolkien had beliefs and viewpoints which manifested in his writings, they usually came up as background details and a component of greater world building. Lewis, in contrast, wrote his works with the primary intent of arguing a point or presenting an idea rather than creating a fantasy world. This isn't to say that Lewis' writings have poor world-building, it just wasn't as much of a priority for him as having a clear and consistent theme. Although his writings tend to be far more overt with their religious message, it should be noted that they're not written in a [[Cult of the Redemption|judgemental fire-and-brimstone]] style, but more like a neutral-toned fable or philosophy lecture. The Narnia series might basically be about a fantasy land with lion Jesus and ice witch Satan, but it is generally more readable than [[The Lord of the Rings]], as Lewis didn't feel the need to include songs on every other page, or detail the name and lineage of every single person who participated in each battle.

He is also known for The Space Trilogy, which is arguably the earliest example of the subgenre Christian science fiction (an obscure but existent subgenre almost unheard of in mainstream media unless they're adapting out the Christian aspects). The first book (''Out of the Silent Planet'') is about a man named Ransom being kidnapped and taken to a planet (called Malacandra by its inhabitants, the one we call Mars) where he meets aliens, the angel in charge of Mars under God and learns more about the way the universe works and the situation of Earth. The second book (''Perelandra'') is about Ransom being taken to the planet Perelandra - our Venus - to stop a demon from recreating The Fall of Man with Venus' equivalent of Adam and Eve. In the third book (''That Hideous Strength'') the main characters Ransom and Mark have to work together against a scientific institute which is actually a front for sinister supernatural forces (read: at first glance they seem like your typical dystopian organization bent on ruling humanity, until its revealed that they're being lead by a decapitated demonically-possessed head that plans to use the recently reawakened Merlin for his sorcerous powers. Shit gets weird, yo.).

In the 1930s-40s, scientists had figured out that Mars was uninhabitable except by magic, but still didn't know Shit One about hellworld Venus under its clouds. You can pretend Perelandra is offset in time, when our Sun was cooler, as well as in space, if you like. Or just consider it all Magical Realism.

On topic of ''that'': the Space Trilogy makes reference to what would have been the Time Travel trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, except we never got anything more than unfinished manuscripts. Basically it would have been Tolkien's way of tying in the history of the Lord of the Rings with the known history and medieval legends of today's world. The closest thing we get is ''[[The Silmarillion]]''.

Also of note are Lewis' books about the afterlife, as they were unique... at the time. ''The Screwtape Letters'', for example, is a fictional series of letters written by a demon, Screwtape, to his nephew Wormwood, giving him advice on seducing people to the ways of [[Heresy|sin]] and [[Chaos|damnation]] using the man they're currently trying to tempt on as an example. [[Warp|Hell]] isn't depicted as a brutal prison as in Dante's Inferno, but more like a [[Administratum|diabolical bureaucracy]]; where [[Dark Eldar|demons consume human souls as we would consume wine]], and the more evil they are, the finer their vintage. Screwtape gives excellent advice on how to manipulate good intentions into bad deeds, and the book's unusual point of view lends itself to some creative ideas. In particular, the subplot where Wormwood and Screwtape subtly try to undermine the other by reporting them to Hell's [[Inquisition]] while maintaining correspondence is quite entertaining. Suffice to say, it's an excellent read for [[GM|GMs]] wishing to run a particularly [[Tzeentch|cunning or manipulative]] demon.

==Legacy==
C.S Lewis' works have found use in various fields, from the fantasy genre to works outside fiction such as Christian apologetics. The Chronicles of Narnia have seen numerous adaptations and served as inspiration for numerous other world fantasy stories.

His non-fictional works have also gained notoriety, such as his book "Mere Christianity" which explores Christian worldview from a philosophical perspective, but puts it in layman terms. Some of his arguments have been cited by theologians and Christian apologists of various stripes. One of these arguments, his description of a logical fallacy he called "[[wikipedia:Bulverism |Bulverism]]", is also widely cited with approval by many Atheists.

Some of his fictional works have even led to some "follow the leader" style copycats, such as a duology books by author Randy Alcorn intended as an "updated" version of The Screwtape Letters, these revolving around the not-Screwtape demon Foulgrin and his subordinate - instead of nephew - Squaltaint. Intended as a guide against modern evils, it is less sophisticated than Lewis' work and tarred undeserving or contentious targets with the same brush... like [[Dungeons & Dragons]] (Foulgrin claims Dungeons and Dragons is a potential gateway to practicing actual black magic). On the flip side, "His Dark Materials" is an avowed Atheist version of the Narnia books.

== See Also ==
*[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw-kYN6wWXWDyp_lB0wnlxw CS Lewis Doodle,] a YouTube channel which animates several of his essays and written works.

[[Category:Writers]]

Araby

2022-03-04T20:33:38Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC: /* The Death of Araby */

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[[File:Araby Map.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Araby''' was an area in the [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Warhammer World]] based roughly on the medieval Middle East, or at least how the average brit imagines it. The Arabyans had scimitars and jezzail muskets and used them to fight back those [[Tomb Kings|Tomb King]] guys when they came about uninvited stirring shit up. Much like [[Kislev]], they had an army all the way back in [[Warmaster]], which included flying carpets and magicians who could summon [[Genie|djinni]]. Oh and they had [[Awesome|Elephant Cavalry]]. Despite having a lot of potential when it came to introducing a new and unique faction with a slightly different tone to the usual semi-european setting, GeeDubs did, their favourite past time; nothing.

In [[Total War: Warhammer II]], [[RAGE|no Arabyan faction or subfaction showed up]], leaving the empty lands of Araby to be contested between Bretonnians to the west, Dwarfs to the west and southeast, and Tomb Kings to the east. The only possible Arabyan character in the game is Khaled Al-Muntasir, who rules the Lahmian Sisterhood in the Dark Lands. He was an Arabyan Vampire in lore, and even then he is represented by a typical Vampire lord.

== History ==
=== Early history ===
Two thousand years before the reign of Sigmar, Mullah Aklan'd of the island of Fyrus led a war against the High Elves, who raided his people's ports and cities. He became the founder of Araby as a nation, being its first Great Sultan. Then, Araby had to deal with later assaults by Nehekhara, [[Arkhan the Black]], and the Skaven.

Centuries later, Ibn Jellaba went south to explore the Lizardmen of Zlatan, and returned as a very wealthy man after establishing the first trade agreement with humans and Lizardmen.

Araby was later doomed to Chaos corruption, no thanks to a cultist of Tzeentch, Mahik al'Rak, who influenced Arabyan sorcerers to inadvertantly serve Tzeentch after being possessed by a Lord of Change.

=== Sultan Jaffar ===
Araby’s most prominent appearance is little lore than a sidestory in [[Bretonnia]]n history, serving as the impetus of their great crusade. Long story short, the evil sorcerer Jaffar unified Araby as one of its Great Sultans, with his pacts with the Djinn devolving into service to Kairos Fateweaver. He got tricked by the [[Skaven]] into believing that Estalia was going to invade, and he launched a “pre-emptive” attack, crushing and enslaving Estalia as its virtually powerless to stop the invaders. Bretonnia, meanwhile, is deeply concerned by the horrific injustice happening right next door, and proceeds to beat the shit out of Araby all the way back to the desert until the Vizier is killed and the once-proud nation is a shadow of its former self. Those who left home brought with them booty, others decided to vassalize some of the remaining city-states. And Araby has been the punching bag of both Bretonnia and the Tomb Kings ever since.

Essentially an easy way for Bretonnia fans to enjoy their Deus Vult without having to worry about arguably being the baddies. If this was a good idea is debatable, though it would have made a pretty cool starter set for a new edition, introducing Araby in the process. Alas it would not come to pass, for such a deed would have required a bit of imagination, never one of GeeDubs strong suits.

This very original, never before seen storyline may or may not be because GeeDubs, being Brits, are still salty at having lost the crusades. Particularly the eighth and ninth, where an English king actually participated.

=== So much lost potential ===

Araby also used to be part of the Nehekharan Empire and managed to largely avoid the Necromantic corruption that overtook the rest of the Empire, having been able to have staved off Nagash and Arkhan for nearly a 1000 years. This would arguably make them the only true successors of Nehekharan civilisation as a result. A more intelligent writer than those at GW would perhaps explore this avenue, perhaps depicting Arabyans reconquering some of the old Nehekharan cities from the Tomb Kings or dealing amicably with the more rationally minded undead, or perhaps clashing with Settra the Imperishable over who is the true inheritor of the greatness of the oldest human civilisation on the planet, but no, this apparently was too much to ask for.

=== Future ===
The northern coast of Araby was invaded by Luthor Harkon and his Vampire Coast pirates.

Araby, like Estalia, Tilea, and the other nations to the north, was ruined by the massive Skaven invasions during the End Times.

== Geography and Politics ==
Unsurprisingly, Araby is mostly a vast desert with almost no life in the interior. Most of the cities are situated in the north where rivers from the Atalan Mountains provides fertile soil and the seashores allows the Arabyans dominate trade with other countries, while desert inland territories are inhabited by nomads. Araby only borders [[Nehekhara]] to the east and [[Southlands]] to the south (duh).

The country is nominally ruled by Great Sultan from the city Al-Haikk, but he really only controls the capital (so, like in real life, or the Empire [[Elector Count|further in the north]]), with other Sheikhs, Emirs and Princes being pretty independent. Same goes for nomadic tribes. Here is the list of notable cities:

* '''Al-Haikk''' - as it was said earlier, the nominal capital of Araby, where Great Sultan resides.
* '''Copher''' - the most independent city, known for its wizards and pirates that are pain in the ass for the Old Worlders.
* '''Djambiya''' - only notable for being the closest one to the realm of undead Egyptians.
* '''Sorcerer's Islands''' - not a city, but an archipelago that resembles Azores, which is situated to the west of Araby. Here be College of Sorcerers.
* '''Lashiek''' - Arabyan fleet is located here.
* '''Sanaá''' - is only interesting as a birthplace of Abdul Alhazred aka [[Games Workshop|GW's]] most shameless [[Lovecraft]] rip-off.
* '''Teshert''' - Arabyan colony in [[Badlands]] that guards the only passable road between the Sultanate and [[Border Princes]].
* '''Bel-Aliad''' - previous capital that was completely destroyed by [[Arkhan the Black]] more than three thousand years ago.

== Religion==
Arabyan religion has generally been left vague. Nothing at all to do with contemporary Islamic Extremism, since their beliefs and culture were vaguely described in the 90s when they were first introduced. It should be noted that Araby's inclusion in Bretonnian lore at that point was more due to a desire to satirise the then ongoing First Gulf War, meaning that they were intended as a parody of Saddam Hussein's secular Iraqi government, which at the time was attempting to invade Kuwait, rather than a typical West-vs-Islam screed (yes, this would essentially make Bretonnia George H.W. Bush's America). This has not stopped fans from theorising that they are a society of strict monotheists, however, based off of a line from the Old World Bestiary.

Given the fact that they are descended from the Nehekharans, it's probably more logical to assume that they worship those gods.

Another belief in Araby is a sect formed by Mullah Aklan'd, who claimed to venerate deities older than the Nehekharan gods. He led an army of Arabyans against the High Elves, being his people's first Great Sultan. Among his followers were the "Death Commandos", who guard the Great Sacred Books of Mullah Aklan'd, which describe his accounts about Araby's history, society, government, and warfare, and the secrets of St'oec.

=== Djinn-worship and the risk of Chaos ===
Nathan Long implies in ''The Two Crowns of Ras Karim'' that Arabyans worship Djinns as their gods, by going to temples to leave offerings to them at sunset. In the lore, Djinns are described as some sort of [[Daemons of Chaos|Chaos Daemons]] ... which would make Araby a Chaos-aligned nation, in spite of the prohibition of ''direct'' worship of the Chaos Gods.

Even worse was that all this Chaos corruption was stuck by Mahik al'Rak, an insane sorcerer who built the Portal of Twilight in the ruins of Bel Aliad. His influence of other Arabyan sorcerers into the service of Tzeentch made sure that the land will never be free from Chaos corruption.

One tragic result of Arabyan obsession of Djinn was Jaffar, a sorcerer who united Araby as its Sultan to wage war on the Old World, up to the point that he even made a pact with [[Kairos Fateweaver]], a Daemon of Tzeentch!

In a Gotrek & Felix novel, it was written by good ol' Bill King that a 'Prophet of Law' had arisen in Araby who was dedicated to destroying all influences of Chaos, and this entailed genociding all non-human races. The Prophet of Law emerged long after Sultan Jaffar's misrule and dark pacts, but not even his attempted purge of Araby would stop the inevitable [[The End Times|ruin of it and the Warhammer world]].

== Society ==
Insofar as culture and society goes, Araby has been fairly indecisively written. The only thing that's completely clear regarding them is their consummate professionalism in matters of trade and economics. They vie with Cathay for overland spice trade routes that go through the Southlands, and have generally emerged better off from those confrontations than the Cathayans have. Some writers, like the great Rick Priestley, when he made an Arabyan armylist for Warmaster, described the Arabyans much akin to the Islamic World from the 8th - 16th centuries, i.e.: significantly ahead of the Old World insofar as medicine in particular and other scientific disciplines in general were concerned. Though they typically were behind insofar as adopting gunpowder was concerned however, but if you know anything about the efficacy of gunpowder in the middle ages, you'd also realise that this isn't particularly a mark of backwardness. On the other hand, Arabyans were also described as notorious slavers, who had contacts with Norscans (but then again, the Norscans sell slaves to the Kislevites also) and also had decadent, opulent courts.

This disconnect was later justified by writers stating that the Arabyans were a disaggregated society ruled by many Emirs, Sheikhs, and Sultans, with some of them being Orientalist nightmares, while others were more or less competent rulers who governed their domains justly and with respect for the Arts and Sciences. So in a way, Araby is like the decentralised Empire of Man and Kislev to the north: like its real-life development, its potential as a great civilisation to rival its northern counterparts was hampered and stifled by corrupt rulers who limited their more-advanced neighbours from improving their whole nation and its peoples.

Because both GW designers and independent fan-writers are both neither as well-informed on historical matters as either thinks to be, most Arabyan armylists and lore, although ostensibly written to evoke the Arabs of the 7-9th centuries, actually ends up invoking the Ottoman Empire, which was Turkic (one of the Arabyan characters from a recent BL novel is called Mehmed Bey, 'Bey' being a Turkic title, with a Mongolian cognate, no less). This wouldn't be that great a problem, except for the fact that the Warhammer World already has several local equivalents to Turks and Tatars.

Along the southern borders, the local Southlanders were influenced by Arabyan culture, and they also intermarried with local Arabyans, resulting in a large mixed population.

== Collecting Araby ==
While interest in Araby as a faction is sadly middeling, there are some fan-made codexes out there, most of them centered around the expected middle eastern/north African fare. Historical miniatures like Victrix African War Elephant and Numidian Cavalry aswell as GBPs Arab cavalry sets should prove treasure troves for the aspiring collector of Araby. In the future there may be some hope for GeeDubs to revive Araby in their upcoming Warhammer: The Old World game, <s>though such a thing remains doubtful as [[ChapterHouse Studios|they're not exactly easy to trademark]]</s> Recently there was apparently a tweet by a Creative Assembly designer where he posted some Arabyan artwork ostensibly developed in-house by the Old World team which he promptly deleted. Given recent developments that Cathay will be a launch race both in Total War: Warhammer III and in Warhammer: The Old World, the possibility that Araby will once again see the light of the day has become more significant.

==The Death of Araby==
In 2021, it was officially stated by Creative Assembly designers that there were no plans to add Araby to Total Warhammer, nor were there ever likely to be plans to do so. It was even stated that Games Workshop itself wanted to stay as far away from Araby as possible with its new tabletop game releases, meaning that the faction has effectively come as close as you can get to being [[squatted]] without actively being killed off in the lore.

Fans immediately erupted in protest at this news, and the [[skub]] about why Games Workshop would do this to one of the more requested and actually fleshed-out human factions.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Arabyan People.png|Arabyans.
Orfeo and Alkadi Nasreen.jpg
</gallery>

==Links==
* [[Warhammer_Army_Project/Araby|Arabyan fandex]]

{{Regions and areas of the Old World}}

Alien

2022-03-04T20:12:10Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC: /* Origins */

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{{oldschool}}
The Alien franchise is a series of films, video games, and comic books that range from absolutely awesome to absolute garbage. The premise is remarkably simple: a hostile alien lifeform is discovered, and slowly it kills everyone. The series is very influential, with some of the high notes being the Titular Alien (or Xenomorph, as our friends at Xenopedia would call it) to Sigourney Weaver's performance as Ellen Ripley, and the USCM.

==Origins==
Back in the 1970's, sci-fi was pretty much the same; a futuristic setting with bleached white tile and highly futuristic technology. This sat unwell with a few directors, one of which was [[Star Wars|George Lucas]].

With the release of Star Wars, 20th Century Fox decided to take up this idea. Scott was actually not their first choice, but he eagerly took up the opportunity. The creature of the film would be influenced by the work of H.R. Giger, who was hired to work on the creature design for the film.

==Alien==
The first film was met with resounding acclaim. If you wonder why, go ahead and watch it. The special effects stand up even today, and the acting from the cast was fantastic. The film itself took sci-fi in a unique direction: rather than having everything be a traditional sci-fi setting with computer gizmos and flashy lights, the setting of the film was a commercial freighter, designed to be dingy, dark, and grungy. Also should be complimented is the amount of work that went into the design of the model of the Nostromo, the aforementioned ship, which was gorgeous.

But the best part is by far the creature violence and design. The Xenomorph was fascinating to audiences at the time, not because it looked super scary, but because of its nightmarish form and characteristics, and the fact you could barely see it allowed your imagination to do the work that not even a team of designers could ever recreate. As for the creature violence? It's...dated, but still iconic, such as the Headbite, and the Chestburster scene(which was filmed only once and with no warning to the rest of the cast, with the intent of getting a genuine reaction of fear and terror.)

Additional celebration goes to the cast, in particular Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the hot and awesome main hero of the film who takes no crap and shoots the alien out of her escape pod with a Grapple gun.

==Aliens==
The second film was actually not directed by Scott, but by another familiar name: James Cameron. This film was going to keep the sense of terror from the first film, but also have more combat. The film essentially entered into production hell (this tends to a be a trend with anything Cameron does) but the final result was a gorgeous masterpiece that stands the test of time just as well as Alien, if not better. The Xenomorph's design was changed to a more militant creature with a ridged head, as the smooth domed variant from Alien was deemed too fragile for filming.

High points in general are Sergeant Apone, the direct inspiration for Sergeant Johnson from Halo, the Colonial Marines, which are also the inspiration for the UNSC Marines from Halo, Ellen Ripley being a complete badass again, and FUCKING BILL PAXTON. The Colonial Marines were a light reference to Americans going into Vietnam, and a lot of the props in the movie were functional weapons or machines. The Pulse Rifles were modified Thompson Submachine guns, and the Smartguns were MG 42 machine guns with motorcycle parts added to make them look more gothic. Also of note was the acting of the little girl named Newt, who was chosen because she DID NOT SMILE during auditions.

==Alien 3==
The third film is skubby for a variety of reasons, the biggest of these being that the director decided to kill off some of the better parts of Aliens, such as Corporal Hicks and Newt. Additionally something that grates on people is the lack of guns in the film, which was a choice to theoretically make the film more terrifying and capture the feel of unarmed humans versus alien of the first film (which also lacked guns), which would have made sense if it wasn't on a prison planet. Plus there was little suspense as everyone knew who the hero was and what an alien would do and so instead of horror it became a formulaic 'Xenomorph kills skinheads until hero kills it'. After expanding both the setting, scale and arsenal in the 2nd film this nothing new back to basics approach didn't cut it with most viewers.

A lot of the problems with the third film came from executive meddling. [[Derp|As Fox choose a release date long before selecting a director, writers and even the concept itself.]]. This was also David Fincher's first time in the directors chair. As both David Cameron and Ridley Scott were working on other projects at the time. With the two producers changing shit they didn't like for no reason.

Today, the Assembly Cut is considered superior to the theatrical release. Along with the shittyness of the films released after Alien 3, the film is now seen in a better light.

==Alien Resurrection==
The premise of this one involves some brain donors deciding to clone Ellen Ripley and also happen to get a xenomorph embryo inside it as well, meaning that it will attain some xeno properties. The scientists, seemingly having no records of the sorts of terrible things the xenomorphs can do, decide to just extract the larva from the clone and then raise it for more science. Around the same time a group of mercenaries come in with a batch of humans in cryostasis all prepared to become xeno-food (and becoming very suspicious once they see the Ripley clone), the xenos decide to stage their breakout and it becomes a race to stop them from freeing the queen.

This is the film that basically killed the Alien franchise. Giger flat out calls the Aliens in the film "shit". No really. Ripley also isn't Ripley anymore, acting like some kinda weird edgy action hero. It's also written by the very controversial Joss Whedon, the same guy people blame for ruining Justice League. Which is fair when you watch this film and see him write in a part where a character looks at their own brains before they die. Something that will irk the propfags is that none of the guns made for the film actually could shoot, a stark contrast to Cameron's work in Aliens. This film contributes little, if anything to understanding the xenomorph biology beyond the fact they are smart, which we already could imply from the other three fucking films. It was all in all just a cash grab to suck the franchise dry.

==Prometheus==
The Ridley Scott directed ‘prequel’ to Alien, taking place roughly sixty years prior to the first film. Weirdly, this movie is OKAY as a sci-fi horror flick, with some awesomely grotesque scenes including a robot performing a c-section on someone to remove a rapidly growing parasite from them, while said person is still conscious. Sadly, as a tie in to an existing franchise the film has few memorable characters (with one major exception in David 8.) The plot consists of a convoluted journey to discover humanity’s “makers”, who are apparently the same species as the dead giant alien in the original movie. They also want to destroy Earth for some reason. And the worst part is there is no Alien. Okay as a stand alone movie. Bad as an Alien film (better than 3 and Resurrection for sure though.)

==Alien: Covenant==
Another film of varying degrees of skub, depending on who you ask. To some, it’s a return to form for Ridley Scott and the franchise. To others, it’s a poorly written mess and Ridley should have never have come back to the series. Wherever you fall, the movie’s a lot of fun. Violent deaths, crazy androids, and a good old fashioned shower kill.

The Covenant is a colony ship headed to a new world, but things take a left turn immediately when a solar flare kills James Franco. The crew decides “fuck all this space shit”, and instead head to a nearby habitable planet (that they found because of John Denver.) Of course it isn’t paradise and the landing crew is mostly killed pretty quickly. They also find David, the Android from Prometheus, who has been experimenting with genetically engineering life. His efforts yield the Facehugger, which does exactly what you’d expect it would. Eventually they return to the ship, square off against the alien one last time, and go to hyper sleep. Except it turns out David had infiltrated the crew by taking the place of the crew’s robot Walter, who just happens to look exactly like David. It’s implied David is going to spend some time experimenting on all the juicy colonists still laying in hyper sleep.

==Vidya Gaems==
A franchise as large as alien was bound to get video games about it, and just like Star Wars, some are either totally awesome or complete [[Fail]].

===Aliens Vs Predator(2010)===
What many fans consider the best shooting game in the franchise. The game is very faithful to the lore of both universes, and the game most importantly captures the FEELING of the Alien franchise. The basic backdrop is that Peter Weyland, the apparent CEO of Weyland-Yutani, is on an alien planet, and opens a temple doors, which activates an electromagnetic pulse that shuts down his nearby colonies' systems. This causes a predictable Xenomorph outbreak, which leads to a slaughter of civilians and a Predator hunting party on the planet that draws in an actual reason for all three factions to be on the planet

In the marine campaign, it envelops you in a sense of hopelessness as allies die around you, and all you can do is survive. The Marine Campaign is also awesome because you get to shoot your way through hordes of aliens, androids, and even a predator with the infamous Pulse Rifle, and you are guided through the levels by marine waifu Tequila, who adds dramatic tension in the end by getting impregnated, and you have to get her to a stasis pod as soon as possible to halt the xenomorph growth and save her life.

The Alien Campaign has you follow an alien know as Specimen 6, and are a somewhat sympathetic character despite you being a murderous homocidal killing machine. The gameplay for the Alien is also fantastic including stabbing things with your tail, the infamous headbite to add some swag to your kills, and the ability to crawl and climb on walls which culminates in an epic duel between you and a predator, where you impregnate the thing with a chestburster.

The Predator campaign is also highly unique, in that while with the Marine campaign you simply shoot things to death, and the Alien campaign you have to be somewhat clever in getting around the AI and overwhelming guards and the like, the Predator Campaign is what one would consider the "advanced" mode. You start out with very little in terms of weaponry: a mask , a Plasma gun, stealth field, and claws. You can also leap absurd distances and hide in trees, waiting to plan each attack and strike you make. Of particular note is that you get to rip people's skulls and spines out of their bodies in glory kills. Later in the game, you get the death Boomerang, enhanced vision, and a javelin that will kill even the toughest non boss enemies in the game in one shot. The predator campaign ends in an epic battle between you and a Predator-Xenomorph hybrid in a lava cave shortly before you detonate the temple on the planet, destroying the technology and preventing humanity from getting access to it's technology.

It was praised by fans and gamers alike for it's faithfulness to the lore and more importantly to many, the absolute goriness of it that nearly got it banned in Australia. The environments were beautiful, the AI was fantastic, and the game was al around just a fantastic lover letter to both franchises.

===Alien:Isolation===
Remember how we said that the best shooter was Aliens Vs Predator? Well for many fans, Alien Isolation the magnum opus of the alien franchise. The AI was developed by the Creative Assembly, and the plot was written by none other than Dan Abnett himself.

The tl;dr of it is you play as Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley, and are coming to this small station in the middle of nowhere because you heard there was news about your mother's disappearance. After arriving and nearly dying, you discover that the place is completely screwed and there is an alien infesting this place, so you have to go to work.

The appeal of this game is the horror, accuracy of the environments and their faithfulness to the original works, the survival aspect, the oppressive atmosphere, and the AI of the game being Absurdly intelligent to the point where it learned from it's mistakes. But what was even more awesome is that though there are weapons that you can use to kill weaker enemies, like rogue humans and [[Servitor|“working Joes”]], you can never use them to kill the alien, as it is impervious to death and can only be temporarily scared off by the weapons you possess.

The sad thing about this game is that it will never get a proper sequel because the White Collars at Sega didn't feel like the sales justified greenlighting a new project. Which while fair when compared to the sales numbers, is sad for all fans of the franchise.

===Aliens: Colonial Marines (sigh)===
{{Fail}}
Where as the above two games are considered masterpieces, Aliens: Colonial Marines is at best considered a massive disappointment. After all fans were hyped, the Colonial Marines are always awesome, and the trailer was amazing.

Colonial Marines problem lies in part due to bad programming, and that unlike the 2010 Aliens Vs Predator, it acted more like Call of Duty: Alien Warfare than it did an Alien game. People die, but not enough to really zero in on that oppressive terrifying feel the franchise is notorious for, and you rarely even connect with some of the characters in the game meaningfully. The worst part is that the developers had at least a rudimentary understanding of what made AVP work so well, as it made it into an entire level where you have to run unarmed from a darned mutated ugly super-xenomorph.

You have like 3 or 4 characters who survive throughout, which isn't a problem for Tequila in AVP, but is for literal combatants as it lowers the stakes of whether or not they will live. The ending reveals that Hicks, who allegedly died in Aliens, actually didn't die, and in DLC it's revealed it was some other guy who died in the pod who was misidentified, which was somewhat skubby. The plot was overall ok, but the sheer awfulness of the graphics and the boring repetitiveness of gameplay made the game controversial.

It wasn't the worst game, but it was far from what it was supposed to be. Unlike No Man's Sky(See the internet historian video), this game never got better. It's bugs and issues remained for players to fix.

In 2018 the folks at ModDB discovered that the Alien AI wasn't falsely advertised but rather broken because Gearbox can't fucking spell the word tether and instead spelled it as teather. This ability for the Aliens to tether onto walls and ceilings seen in the trailer was suddenly made possible. Except it was never patched.

===Aliens: Fireteam Elite===
An upocoming new release for the alien franchise that appears to be a coop squad based survival shooter set in the alien universe. Gameplay could be sketchy, but the lore will at least be faithful and Focus Home Interactive (the same blokes who made both battlefleet gothic games) will attempt to make the game fun. While they are not great at coop strategy, they are conciously aware of how to make a fun multiplayer at least, so they have that going for them

Alien

2022-03-04T20:11:03Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC: /* Alien 3 */

{{stub}}
{{oldschool}}
The Alien franchise is a series of films, video games, and comic books that range from absolutely awesome to absolute garbage. The premise is remarkably simple: a hostile alien lifeform is discovered, and slowly it kills everyone. The series is very influential, with some of the high notes being the Titular Alien (or Xenomorph, as our friends at Xenopedia would call it) to Sigourney Weaver's performance as Ellen Ripley, and the USCM.

==Origins==
Back in the 1970's, sci-fi was pretty much the same; a futuristic setting with bleached white tile and highly futuristic technology. This sat unwell with a few directors, one of which was [[Star Wars|George Lucas]].

With the release of Star Wars, 20th century fox decided to take up this idea. Scott was actually not their first choice, but he eagerly took up the opportunity. The creature of the film would be influenced by the work of H.R. Giger, who was hired to work on the creature design for the film.

==Alien==
The first film was met with resounding acclaim. If you wonder why, go ahead and watch it. The special effects stand up even today, and the acting from the cast was fantastic. The film itself took sci-fi in a unique direction: rather than having everything be a traditional sci-fi setting with computer gizmos and flashy lights, the setting of the film was a commercial freighter, designed to be dingy, dark, and grungy. Also should be complimented is the amount of work that went into the design of the model of the Nostromo, the aforementioned ship, which was gorgeous.

But the best part is by far the creature violence and design. The Xenomorph was fascinating to audiences at the time, not because it looked super scary, but because of its nightmarish form and characteristics, and the fact you could barely see it allowed your imagination to do the work that not even a team of designers could ever recreate. As for the creature violence? It's...dated, but still iconic, such as the Headbite, and the Chestburster scene(which was filmed only once and with no warning to the rest of the cast, with the intent of getting a genuine reaction of fear and terror.)

Additional celebration goes to the cast, in particular Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the hot and awesome main hero of the film who takes no crap and shoots the alien out of her escape pod with a Grapple gun.

==Aliens==
The second film was actually not directed by Scott, but by another familiar name: James Cameron. This film was going to keep the sense of terror from the first film, but also have more combat. The film essentially entered into production hell (this tends to a be a trend with anything Cameron does) but the final result was a gorgeous masterpiece that stands the test of time just as well as Alien, if not better. The Xenomorph's design was changed to a more militant creature with a ridged head, as the smooth domed variant from Alien was deemed too fragile for filming.

High points in general are Sergeant Apone, the direct inspiration for Sergeant Johnson from Halo, the Colonial Marines, which are also the inspiration for the UNSC Marines from Halo, Ellen Ripley being a complete badass again, and FUCKING BILL PAXTON. The Colonial Marines were a light reference to Americans going into Vietnam, and a lot of the props in the movie were functional weapons or machines. The Pulse Rifles were modified Thompson Submachine guns, and the Smartguns were MG 42 machine guns with motorcycle parts added to make them look more gothic. Also of note was the acting of the little girl named Newt, who was chosen because she DID NOT SMILE during auditions.

==Alien 3==
The third film is skubby for a variety of reasons, the biggest of these being that the director decided to kill off some of the better parts of Aliens, such as Corporal Hicks and Newt. Additionally something that grates on people is the lack of guns in the film, which was a choice to theoretically make the film more terrifying and capture the feel of unarmed humans versus alien of the first film (which also lacked guns), which would have made sense if it wasn't on a prison planet. Plus there was little suspense as everyone knew who the hero was and what an alien would do and so instead of horror it became a formulaic 'Xenomorph kills skinheads until hero kills it'. After expanding both the setting, scale and arsenal in the 2nd film this nothing new back to basics approach didn't cut it with most viewers.

A lot of the problems with the third film came from executive meddling. [[Derp|As Fox choose a release date long before selecting a director, writers and even the concept itself.]]. This was also David Fincher's first time in the directors chair. As both David Cameron and Ridley Scott were working on other projects at the time. With the two producers changing shit they didn't like for no reason.

Today, the Assembly Cut is considered superior to the theatrical release. Along with the shittyness of the films released after Alien 3, the film is now seen in a better light.

==Alien Resurrection==
The premise of this one involves some brain donors deciding to clone Ellen Ripley and also happen to get a xenomorph embryo inside it as well, meaning that it will attain some xeno properties. The scientists, seemingly having no records of the sorts of terrible things the xenomorphs can do, decide to just extract the larva from the clone and then raise it for more science. Around the same time a group of mercenaries come in with a batch of humans in cryostasis all prepared to become xeno-food (and becoming very suspicious once they see the Ripley clone), the xenos decide to stage their breakout and it becomes a race to stop them from freeing the queen.

This is the film that basically killed the Alien franchise. Giger flat out calls the Aliens in the film "shit". No really. Ripley also isn't Ripley anymore, acting like some kinda weird edgy action hero. It's also written by the very controversial Joss Whedon, the same guy people blame for ruining Justice League. Which is fair when you watch this film and see him write in a part where a character looks at their own brains before they die. Something that will irk the propfags is that none of the guns made for the film actually could shoot, a stark contrast to Cameron's work in Aliens. This film contributes little, if anything to understanding the xenomorph biology beyond the fact they are smart, which we already could imply from the other three fucking films. It was all in all just a cash grab to suck the franchise dry.

==Prometheus==
The Ridley Scott directed ‘prequel’ to Alien, taking place roughly sixty years prior to the first film. Weirdly, this movie is OKAY as a sci-fi horror flick, with some awesomely grotesque scenes including a robot performing a c-section on someone to remove a rapidly growing parasite from them, while said person is still conscious. Sadly, as a tie in to an existing franchise the film has few memorable characters (with one major exception in David 8.) The plot consists of a convoluted journey to discover humanity’s “makers”, who are apparently the same species as the dead giant alien in the original movie. They also want to destroy Earth for some reason. And the worst part is there is no Alien. Okay as a stand alone movie. Bad as an Alien film (better than 3 and Resurrection for sure though.)

==Alien: Covenant==
Another film of varying degrees of skub, depending on who you ask. To some, it’s a return to form for Ridley Scott and the franchise. To others, it’s a poorly written mess and Ridley should have never have come back to the series. Wherever you fall, the movie’s a lot of fun. Violent deaths, crazy androids, and a good old fashioned shower kill.

The Covenant is a colony ship headed to a new world, but things take a left turn immediately when a solar flare kills James Franco. The crew decides “fuck all this space shit”, and instead head to a nearby habitable planet (that they found because of John Denver.) Of course it isn’t paradise and the landing crew is mostly killed pretty quickly. They also find David, the Android from Prometheus, who has been experimenting with genetically engineering life. His efforts yield the Facehugger, which does exactly what you’d expect it would. Eventually they return to the ship, square off against the alien one last time, and go to hyper sleep. Except it turns out David had infiltrated the crew by taking the place of the crew’s robot Walter, who just happens to look exactly like David. It’s implied David is going to spend some time experimenting on all the juicy colonists still laying in hyper sleep.

==Vidya Gaems==
A franchise as large as alien was bound to get video games about it, and just like Star Wars, some are either totally awesome or complete [[Fail]].

===Aliens Vs Predator(2010)===
What many fans consider the best shooting game in the franchise. The game is very faithful to the lore of both universes, and the game most importantly captures the FEELING of the Alien franchise. The basic backdrop is that Peter Weyland, the apparent CEO of Weyland-Yutani, is on an alien planet, and opens a temple doors, which activates an electromagnetic pulse that shuts down his nearby colonies' systems. This causes a predictable Xenomorph outbreak, which leads to a slaughter of civilians and a Predator hunting party on the planet that draws in an actual reason for all three factions to be on the planet

In the marine campaign, it envelops you in a sense of hopelessness as allies die around you, and all you can do is survive. The Marine Campaign is also awesome because you get to shoot your way through hordes of aliens, androids, and even a predator with the infamous Pulse Rifle, and you are guided through the levels by marine waifu Tequila, who adds dramatic tension in the end by getting impregnated, and you have to get her to a stasis pod as soon as possible to halt the xenomorph growth and save her life.

The Alien Campaign has you follow an alien know as Specimen 6, and are a somewhat sympathetic character despite you being a murderous homocidal killing machine. The gameplay for the Alien is also fantastic including stabbing things with your tail, the infamous headbite to add some swag to your kills, and the ability to crawl and climb on walls which culminates in an epic duel between you and a predator, where you impregnate the thing with a chestburster.

The Predator campaign is also highly unique, in that while with the Marine campaign you simply shoot things to death, and the Alien campaign you have to be somewhat clever in getting around the AI and overwhelming guards and the like, the Predator Campaign is what one would consider the "advanced" mode. You start out with very little in terms of weaponry: a mask , a Plasma gun, stealth field, and claws. You can also leap absurd distances and hide in trees, waiting to plan each attack and strike you make. Of particular note is that you get to rip people's skulls and spines out of their bodies in glory kills. Later in the game, you get the death Boomerang, enhanced vision, and a javelin that will kill even the toughest non boss enemies in the game in one shot. The predator campaign ends in an epic battle between you and a Predator-Xenomorph hybrid in a lava cave shortly before you detonate the temple on the planet, destroying the technology and preventing humanity from getting access to it's technology.

It was praised by fans and gamers alike for it's faithfulness to the lore and more importantly to many, the absolute goriness of it that nearly got it banned in Australia. The environments were beautiful, the AI was fantastic, and the game was al around just a fantastic lover letter to both franchises.

===Alien:Isolation===
Remember how we said that the best shooter was Aliens Vs Predator? Well for many fans, Alien Isolation the magnum opus of the alien franchise. The AI was developed by the Creative Assembly, and the plot was written by none other than Dan Abnett himself.

The tl;dr of it is you play as Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley, and are coming to this small station in the middle of nowhere because you heard there was news about your mother's disappearance. After arriving and nearly dying, you discover that the place is completely screwed and there is an alien infesting this place, so you have to go to work.

The appeal of this game is the horror, accuracy of the environments and their faithfulness to the original works, the survival aspect, the oppressive atmosphere, and the AI of the game being Absurdly intelligent to the point where it learned from it's mistakes. But what was even more awesome is that though there are weapons that you can use to kill weaker enemies, like rogue humans and [[Servitor|“working Joes”]], you can never use them to kill the alien, as it is impervious to death and can only be temporarily scared off by the weapons you possess.

The sad thing about this game is that it will never get a proper sequel because the White Collars at Sega didn't feel like the sales justified greenlighting a new project. Which while fair when compared to the sales numbers, is sad for all fans of the franchise.

===Aliens: Colonial Marines (sigh)===
{{Fail}}
Where as the above two games are considered masterpieces, Aliens: Colonial Marines is at best considered a massive disappointment. After all fans were hyped, the Colonial Marines are always awesome, and the trailer was amazing.

Colonial Marines problem lies in part due to bad programming, and that unlike the 2010 Aliens Vs Predator, it acted more like Call of Duty: Alien Warfare than it did an Alien game. People die, but not enough to really zero in on that oppressive terrifying feel the franchise is notorious for, and you rarely even connect with some of the characters in the game meaningfully. The worst part is that the developers had at least a rudimentary understanding of what made AVP work so well, as it made it into an entire level where you have to run unarmed from a darned mutated ugly super-xenomorph.

You have like 3 or 4 characters who survive throughout, which isn't a problem for Tequila in AVP, but is for literal combatants as it lowers the stakes of whether or not they will live. The ending reveals that Hicks, who allegedly died in Aliens, actually didn't die, and in DLC it's revealed it was some other guy who died in the pod who was misidentified, which was somewhat skubby. The plot was overall ok, but the sheer awfulness of the graphics and the boring repetitiveness of gameplay made the game controversial.

It wasn't the worst game, but it was far from what it was supposed to be. Unlike No Man's Sky(See the internet historian video), this game never got better. It's bugs and issues remained for players to fix.

In 2018 the folks at ModDB discovered that the Alien AI wasn't falsely advertised but rather broken because Gearbox can't fucking spell the word tether and instead spelled it as teather. This ability for the Aliens to tether onto walls and ceilings seen in the trailer was suddenly made possible. Except it was never patched.

===Aliens: Fireteam Elite===
An upocoming new release for the alien franchise that appears to be a coop squad based survival shooter set in the alien universe. Gameplay could be sketchy, but the lore will at least be faithful and Focus Home Interactive (the same blokes who made both battlefleet gothic games) will attempt to make the game fun. While they are not great at coop strategy, they are conciously aware of how to make a fun multiplayer at least, so they have that going for them

Tiger II

2022-03-04T15:58:00Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC:

The Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B (Sd.Kfz. 182), has several names: as the The Tiger II by many contemporary Axis personnel, as the King Tiger by the Allies, as the Konigstiger (German for Royal or Bengal Tiger) by the Germans post-war, and as the Panzer VII for those slotting it into the production-series for 'common' Axis tanks.

It was the heaviest conventional battle tank deployed by the Wehrmacht during World War II. It is notorious for being one of largest wastes of war material during the war, perhaps beaten out only by the Ferdinand assault gun and the Pz. VIII Maus project.

It was also stupidly effective, both as a tank and as the production-variant, the JagTiger tank destroyer. Just ask Otto Carius.

==Mid War==

==Late War==

==IRL==
The concept for heavy German tanks such as the Tiger originates in 1937, where initial concepts and prototypes were initially floated about the various design firms, but nothing really came of it until around 1940, where the performance of the Char 1B and British Matilda tanks impressed Hitler so much that he ordered a similar German tank developed by 1941 and in production by 1942. Porsche and Henschel competed for the contract, with Porsche's design being rejected as too complex. In essence, this is the origin of the base Tiger I tank.

In January of 1943, specifications for a new heavy tank for the Wehrmacht were released and fulfilled by the Henschel firm, perhaps due to the relative success of the Tiger I, the fact that everything the Porsche group turned out was considered "mad science" even by the Nazi standards (**''cough''** ''Thule Society'' **''cough''**), or that much of the core concept had still been worked on by Henschel over years since the original 1937 planning.

The major differences between the plebian Tiger and the Royal King were the incorporation of sloped armor on parts of the vehicle, as well as additional armor in general, and a slightly more effective cannon. The Tiger II's KwK 43 was slightly too long and large to fit into the Tiger I's turret. So for the Tiger I, they went with a shorter barrel, which consequently produced a lower velocity. Having a longer barrel to maintain gas pressure, The King Tiger shot its 88mm shells at a slightly faster velocity and thus a higher energy state. In short, thicker and sloped armour and a better (not bigger) gun than the Tiger I.

On the other hand, the King Tiger was a pain in the balls to manufacture and maintain. It cost more than three times the cost of a Tiger I (themselves the cost of two PzIVs or Panthers), sucked down a massive amount of then-short-supply materials, and on top of that, due to the late war material quality, was arguably made out of inferior metal to its Tiger I predecessor. It used the same engine as the Tiger I, despite being almost 20 tons heavier, so it was as slow as a snail in a Nurgle army. Because of the complexity of its mechanisms, it would frequently break down. It was too heavy to cross pretty much any bridge, and guzzled fuel like a Squat does alcohol. The far more common Tiger I was statistically superior in terms of weight of vehicles killed to weight of tank, was still superior to most of the tanks fielded even late-war, was more **''snerk''** fuel efficient and easier to get around. Strategically and logistically, it made almost no sense to be used, with the only justification being that the larger Soviet Tanks necessitated its production (although let's all be honest here, Adolf had a thing for big German things...)

So why make it? For all of its shortcomings, the thing was just short of impervious to anything the allies could field to meet it. Anything that could penetrate its armour generally had to be within 500m and even then it could take several hits on the same location to pop welds and induce spalling; the Tiger II's 88, on the other hand, could reliably kill pretty much every tank it saw at 2000m with one or two shots. It was a massive morale boost to friendly troops in the field, and a massive morale shock to any enemy that happened to be on the business end of its 88mm cannon. The tank was so reviled by the allies that they were apprehensive of the thing being present right up until the end of the war, inducing panic in the field and extreme caution by command when seen. In fact, the King Tiger was often only defeated by being outmaneuvered, mechanical failure, or getting absolutely pounded by aircraft and artillery. They were present in recognizable quantities during the Battle of Berlin, acting quite effectively as turreted pillboxes and generally scaring the shit out of anything in a two-kilometer radius.

Although it's not in Flames of War, it's also what gave us the JagTiger. Because who doesn't want to kill enemy tanks by shooting through an entire brick building. (''**Hint, hint, Battlefront...**'')

{{Template:German Forces in Flames of War}}

T-62M

2022-03-03T21:01:55Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC: /* IRL */ This aside felt too long. I moved it up and wrote it to be more concise

[[File:TAARBX07c.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Dedushka has told me stories, such stories...]]
{{topquote|The best tank terrain is that without anti-tank weapons.|Anonymous}}
What's this? A preview for oil wars? ALL RIGHT THEN!

Like the [[T55AM2]] the T-62M is an old tank dug up from the endless Soviet inventory of old war machines and upgraded to stand an actual chance on the modern battlefield (but not TOO deep from within the inventory, that would be T34s, which shockingly in 2018 were STILL in inventories of some countries, and even still fighting in Yemen!). With bolt on BDD armor panels on the turret and hull, new side skirts, and improved fire control systems, it can still hold its own against all but the latest models of main battle tanks. Armed with a 115mm 2A20 smoothbore gun, this old girl can still dish out the damage whether it be traditional munitions or even ATGMs.
==In Team Yankee==
===T-62M===
[[File:TSBX19-05.jpg||300px|left|thumb|Da Stats, Comrade!]]

''Updated for Team Yankee V2.''

If you somehow wanted to cram even more tanks into a Soviet armored list, buddy have I got the tank for you.

The T-62M is basically a T-55 with a BFG in place of the piddly cannon and acts as the USSR's premium fire support machine.

The T-62M shares the armor values of the T-55AM2, with a front armor of 14, side armor of 9 and a top armor of 2, and should be played in a similar manner. If anything serious notices you, you are most likely going to lose a tank or three. You do get the benefits of bazooka skirts, though, so light man portable anti-tank weapons will have a slightly harder time trying to kill you.

The primary difference between the T-62M and the T-55AM2 is the gun. While the T-55 struggles how to deal with modern tanks, T-62M's 115mm 2A20 gun has an AT of 21, just enough to deal with those pesky 18 front armor tanks, and will punch right through the sides (assuming you even get to flank). The 2+ Firepower Rating guarantees that you will be demolishing your targets with almost every penetrating hit, and being brutal, your gun will mulch any infantry it hits. The gun is the T62M's single defining purpose, and it's job is to rain fire down on anything unfortunate enough to stand in front of it. While it cannot deal with the new super heavies, it will at least deter lighter vehicles from engaging in a stand-up brawl, which heavily favors you. You also get the AT-10 Stabber missile which has an extra 16 inches of range over conventional munitions but has a Firepower Rating of 3+, although you do get the ''Guided'' and ''HEAT'' rules. This transforms the T62M into a complete base camper, and also provides some sneaky on-demand anti helicopter firepower if needed.

Sharing the exact same mobility as the T-55, don't expect to go very far in the T-62M. While the T-55 generally makes a beeline for flanking attacks, The T-62M is a dedicated fire support vehicle and as such should be crawling at 10" towards the front line, firing as it goes. With a very disappointing 4+ cross, expect this tank to get bogged down in forests and take heavy casualties on the way in.

T-62M battalions start at 3 tanks for 5 points and for every tank you then add tack on another 3 points to a limit of 10 tanks which tops out at 29 points. ATGMs will cost you 2 points to equip you battalion, which means that they get proportionally less expensive the more tanks in your battalion. While it cannot be spammed at the same level as the T-55, the T-62M can still be fielded in enough numbers alongside your hordes of thirsty Russians to make NATO commanders reach for their nuclear codes.

==T-62==
The T-62 is the middle ground between the [[T55AM2|T-55AM2]] and NATO's offerings for the Iraqi and Iranian armies.

===Iraqi===
The Iraqi T-62 is essentially the base model and a flat downgrade from the Soviet version. Sporting the same brutal gun, inferior amunition means that it can still fight against other Oil War opponents, but scales up poorly versus modern armed forces, in addition to having the double downsides of slow firing and no laser range finding. You'll need to stay still within 16" to even consider hitting anything. Being knockoff Soviets, the thoroughly mediocre crew skills and stats also mean this tank tends to stay out of the fight once hit. It doesnt even have bazooka skirts!

On the upside, being a knockoff of a knockoff means that the Iraqi T-62 is dirt cheap and can be spammed in huge numbers, making it a daunting prospect to face against infantry or lighter vehicles. With a platoon of 5 tanks coming in at just 7 points and add-ons at 1 point each till you hit 7 tanks, the Iraqi T62 is sure to put a dent in anything it faces.

===Iranian===
Tonk from the Middle East.
Oh look, Brutal! So it can munch infantry decently, but, it loses the laser, ATGM, and one front armor point, along with bazooka skirts. This makes sense, with the Soviet models having been modernized at this point.
It also loses 2 AT for the main gun in exchange.
The crew is braver, with one more courage vs base, and has a counterattack of 3, another one over base.

[[File:Iran_T-62_placeholder-400x225.jpg|300px|left|thumb|placeholder]]

{{Clear}}

==IRL==
[[File:T-62M main battle tank Russia Russian army defense industry military technology 640 001.jpg|300px|right|thumb|The Russians were still using this in 2008]]

If the T-55 is the GLORIOUS WORKERS TANK, the T-62 is the white-collar clerk that nobody likes to talk about. Its record in Soviet and Russian service is rather patchy and it's notable as the last Soviet MBT design to not include an autoloader. The T-62 is really a forgotten tank, occupying an awkward middle ground between the highly-advanced T-64 and the numererous T-55. While T-62's 115mm gun was superior to the T-55's 100mm gun, the tank itself was otherwise nearly identical to its predecessor in terms of protection and mobility, which made its higher price tag and greater complexity a tougher buy. As such, every Warsaw Pact country but Bulgaria skipped it.

As of 1990, 85% of Soviet tank inventory was either T-55s or T-62s. Granted, we are mostly talking about what they called at the time "Category II," "Category III," and "Mobilization Only" units, but it is noteworthy that of a fleet of 35,000 MBTs, 30,000 were T-55s and T-62s. Yes, maintaining that kind of armored army was expensive. Turns out that maintaining a standing army of 200+ armored and mechanized divisions AND propping up pro-Soviet governments in Afghanistan, Angola, Nicaragua, and many more places, AND maintaining the world's largest nuclear arsenal, AND trying to build a blue-water navy to challenge the US at sea, was what bankrupted the USSR.

What's really interesting about it however, isn't what the Soviets did with it, though some of the Soviet variants are pretty crazy, ranging from firefighting vehicles to a tank destroyer model that ditched the gun for a shitload of ATGMs. Rather, it is what everyone else did with it, which amounted to a bazillion different variants with varying levels of modernization. From 1970 to 1980, this was the most advanced Soviet tank available for export; seeing as the T-72 was starting to come into service, the Soviet Union was only too happy to pawn them off to Third World countries needing to replenish their tank inventories.[[File:Impuls2m.jpg|300px|left|thumb|The Russian firefighting variant, better known as the Impuls-2M. It's basically an MLRS that launches firefighting chemicals]]

The Egyptians bought it, and in the 80's took out the 115mm gun for a 105mm L7. The Israelis did similar modifications around the same time to captured T-62's and 62M's. Bulgaria also created a firefighting vehicle variant. Angola, some middle eastern nations like Syria, and some other communist nations in Asia and Africa bought them as well as Cuba. The Chinese stole tech out of the T-62 for their own Type-69 MBT, based on a captured vehicle they got during the Sino-Soviet Border Skirmishes, which has since become a better seller than the original. The Type-69 is interestingly enough a small improvement on the Type-59 which is a copy of the T-54A, but that's a long story you should look up on your own. But the really really crazy stuff comes from the North Koreans.

The North Koreans have what I can only describe as a fetish for the T-62. Such a fetish in fact, that they christened it the Chonma-ho II when they imported it. Why II? Because they already had a Chonma-ho I. The Chonma-ho I is the T-62, but with thinner armor. It's an exact copy in almost every way, except ''somehow worse''. Just to make things more confusing, there's two different Chonma-ho II's, with the second (I'll call it the 'II 2') being an upgrade of the I, so there's that. The III is just a II 2 with a barrel heat shroud and sideskirts, so it's a T-62M but still worse. The IV, V, and VI models are basically just I's and II 2's with modernized fire control, ERA and Applique armor (IV,) a IV with a 125mm gun from the T-72 (V), and the V with rubber all over it to deal with tandem warheads somehow (VI). The North Koreans also like to put Strela-2's and Strela-3's on the turrets of these things, and even have another variant for a command tank that doesn't even have a main gun. All in all, they have something like 1,500 T-62 and T-62 derivatives, all together.

If Battlefront ever adds North Koreans, (and if the cold war ever did go hot some conflict in Asia would be expected even if the Sino-Soviet split had happened by 1985) expect a load of upgrade sprues.

Historically, Iranian T-62's were not really comparable to the Iraqi models. While the Iraqi forces were buying directly from the Soviets and more than a few were of Czech manufacture, the Iranian models were very much second hand. The few hundred T-62's the Iranians got were mostly Libyan hand me downs, and the North Korean (and inferior) T-62 copy Ch'ŏnma-ho MBT's.

The T-62 did see some success in Africa. Cuban forces operated them during their interventions in Angola and Ethiopia, with great success. They blunted the locally manufactured South African armor in Angola, and were much more successful in counter insurgency actions in and after the Ogaden War inside Ethiopia. The Cubans still possess many of them, and they are all modernized.

The Russians have even shipped unmodernized tanks to the Donbas separatists, a mind boggling fact that shows how many Russian tanks aren't modernized. What is even more impressive is that the Russians can just hand them out to <s>brave rebels thugs</s> normies and not feel concern about it.

Speaking of which Battlefront, World War 3 in the Dark Continent when?

{{Soviet Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{Iraqi Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{Iranian Forces in Team Yankee}}
[[Category:Vehicles]]

TOS-1 Buratino

2022-03-03T20:54:59Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC: /* In Real Life */ I'm not sure how this is significant to the vehicle's IRL information beyond "Just one being captured".

[[File:TOS-1.png|300px|right|thumb|'Trogdor!']]

==In Team Yankee==
Along with the other new toys being released in November, the state of the TOS-1 have now been revealed. As one of, if not the shortest ranged artillery pieces in the game, the Buratino makes up for its short reach with sheer lethality.

While it should not be directly involved in firefights, Buratino will be closer to the front line than other artillery courtesy of its short reach. To that end, it sports a decent front armour of 5, with side 2, enabling it to survive autocannon fire (less than 30mm, anyway) with a reasonable degree of reliability. Still, it should stay out of the way, having no means to protect itself in a direct engagement.

The missile rack bolted onto the T-72 hull instead of the turret has a range of 48” (did I mention this thing is short ranged for artillery?), and drops a salvo template with AT 2, firepower AUTO (!), and Brutal. Now you don’t have to wait for a repeat bombardment to force rerolls! This stat line means that being ensconced in a defensive position offer absolutely no additional protection. Unable to cause much damage to even light vehicles, Buratino will delete infantry with alarming rapidity. You'll also have to take another arty unit to be allowed to take an observer, which is kind of a pain for a base 10pt unit as is. Also worth noting is that the TOS box comes with T-72 turrets as well, making an easy way to collect T-72s if you're a masochist.

https://www.team-yankee.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=6844

==In Real Life==
The TOS-1 heavy flame thrower system is a 220mm 30-barrel multiple rocket launcher system which can fire rockets with thermobaric or incendiary warheads.

It's named after a character from a children's book, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buratino Buratino]. Just how fucking metal is that.

{{Soviet Forces in Team Yankee}}

[[Category:Team Yankee]]
[[Category:Vehicles]]

T-80

2022-03-03T20:52:26Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC: /* In Real Life */ We don't need to elaborate on the Ukraine Conflict too much. Most people already know about it.

[[File:TYBX02-03.jpg|300px|right|thumb|'Honour and Glory' - motto, 4th Guards Tank Division]]

{{topquote|The instrument of doom.|Apocalypse Tank, Red Alert 2 }}
The Soviet version of the Bradley's horrible beauracratic design process, the T-80 series was the Soviet's answer to the third generation of Western main battle tanks like the Leopard 2, Challenger and the Abrams. Building on the principle of the T-64 as the premium battle tank of the Soviet shock armies, the T-80 would become defined for its horribly inconsistent gas turbine engine and unreliability while on the move.

==In Team Yankee==

[[File:DE7DA872-887D-4557-9995-2C1EB19C5B66.jpg|thumb|left|300px]] <ref> https://www.team-yankee.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=7057</ref>

The T-80 is the strongest tank available to Soviet ground forces, expected for release during Team Yankee version two. Based on the model, it looks like the variant Battlefront are going with is the T-80U. This model sported the famous 'Kontakt-5' reactive armor package, and image intensification sights in addition to all the classic Russian tank features you know and love. Expect The T80 to be a much closer match for NATO's newest and meanest tanks, both in tabletop performance and points cost. The bad news it could be the more reliable T80UD but priced like the Leopard 2 or even more costly.

One of Battlefront’s recent Twitch videos gives a preview of the T-80’s stats. The tank was confirmed to be the T-80U, being ‘numerically more popular’ to the UD variant. This beast will have front armour 20, side 10, and top 2. It will also be the first unit in the game to sport ERA. This will make it highly resilient if not totally immune to the infamous Milan and its equivalents, as well as making it impenetrable to nearly every tank gun in the game at long range.

In terms of firepower, the latest addition to the Soviet motor pool wields the trademark Soviet 125mm cannon with identical stats to the T-72 and T-64, and all the same implications as those tanks. However, it packs the AT-11 Sniper missile, with AT 22 and FP 3+, as well as a special rule called Tandem Warhead (does exactly what it does IRL, but the T-80 is the only tank currently with ERA in TY, so congrats you can shoot yourself in the foot, should you choose. Glory to the Motherland!). There is no explicit mention as to what this does as of yet, but if real tandem warheads are any indication, it will ignore ERA (and possibly other side armour boosting special rules). The missile has the HEAT special rule as well, and therefore a better ability to defeat heavier NATO tanks at long range than conventional gun rounds.

Points values were said to still be under review, but it was stated that five T-80s work out to 8 points per tank. Individual points are less easy to figure out for the moment, given that Soviets get a discount for the initial 3 vehicles. The missile is now confirmed to be optional, though points cost is unknown at this time.(You can take a squad of 3 for 22 but the missile is +1 per tank so say your prayers now to RNjesus that you will get your points back. Since each tank cost an additional 9points, 10 with missiles, maxing at 98points for 10 with missiles)

The preliminary assessment seems to indicate that someone looking to maximize pain should look elsewhere. The other T-series vehicles cost perceptibly less, but will still deliver similar levels of firepower per vehicle, missile aside. Where the T-80 stands out is being able to dish out that pain while laughing at most return fire. Milans, TOWs, and 120mm guns at ranges beyond 16” are fishing for bails at best. By the same token, those pesky NATO infantry with Carl Gs and SMAWs become almost a non-issue from any angle. In short, these tanks will take the best anti-tank the enemy can muster to properly put down. Because of their excellent armour, ability to reach out with its missile, and low numbers, a different approach will be required for the T-80. To avoid exposing its vulnerable sides, this tank will likely be better served fighting from afar until credible anti-tank has been neutralized instead of facehugging the enemy a la T-72. (Based off its stats and armaments these tanks are best used as anvils to hold points against the capitalists cyka's armour, blasting them at range with missiles while you camp bush, as all but an uparmoured Chally will be vulnerable to you at range. Since these guys are so expensive it's best to keep them there as everything short of the enemies' best AT assets will struggle to pen you, but you are vulnerable to AT 22 at short range, so be careful. Should you decide to get stuck in like the mad communist that you are or cause things have gone bad, your ERA grants you side 16 against Heat projectiles, but your low numbers will not keep you safe from an enveloping horde of infantry, i.e. watch out for flanks). TLDR: these boys operate kinda like Nato tanks but without the 4+ 3+ stats and some heavy long range firepower in low numbers, but have the option to take sizeable units.

'''T-80 Shock Company'''

Representing the best of the best the Soviet army has to offer, the T-80 Shock company is a very different beast from any formation yet seen by Soviet players. It gives the ability to field a small, elite formation as opposed to the massed parking lots so familiar to many. The astute may notice that it is designated as a company rather than a battalion, and this is not a typo. Consisting of an HQ and 2-3 platoons of 2-3 tanks each, it is comparable in size to NATO armoured formations. Available support includes a Shock Motor Rifle company, a Shock BMP 3 scout platoon, a SPAAG platoon of either Shilkas or Tunguskas, a SAM platoon of Gaskins or Gophers, and a Carnation battery. It is noteworthy that the stats discussed below belong only to the tanks, infantry, and scouts: support units have the typical Soviet stat line.

Anything with the “Shock” designation is hit on a 4+, has 3+ Skill, and one better Assault rating than is normal. Different units benefit to varying degrees from the boost to Assault and Skill, but the 4+ to hit is very solid for an army with a universal 3+. The T-80s themselves are still the same tank as the standard version, but now more difficult to hit and able to reliably shoot and scoot to avoid the worst of enemy return fire.

Points values as seen in a preview make this a pricy formation, with the command tank costing 10 points, and a full platoon of 3 vehicles racking up another 29. Though they are still less expensive than three Challengers, it is not by much. AT-11 missiles are available, and still cost 1 point per tank.

The takeaway message is that this formation will fill the vast majority of a 100 point force, and will have to rely on its own fighting power rather than extensive support. It is also likely to find itself heavily outnumbered by even M1IPs, to say nothing of second generation vehicles. As a result, it will have to play a far more subtle game than is typical for Soviets, and avoid casualties as much as possible. If NATO tactics using Russian equipment are what you’re after, then this is the formation for you! As an added bonus, it can make playing Soviets mercifully cheap in real-life currency.

==In Real Life==
[[File:1280px-4thTankBrigade - T-80U -33.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Soviet Power Supreme]]

Visually similar to the T-72, any Western commander who mistook it as such would be in for a shock: the T-80 was a frighteningly deadly weapon, combining the 125mm cannon with BDD armour superior to the T-64's, reactive armour blocks and the latest tank-killing shells the Soviet Union had to offer. Later versions like the T-80B would even have the ability to fire Kobra missiles, allowing it to outrange the latest Western tanks of the time. As of 1985, T-80U was arguably the best tank around: heavy ERA "Kontakt-5" made it pretty much immune to anything Westerners could reasonably throw at it, while newest munitions had a good chance of penetrating both Leopard-2 and M1A1 Abrams.

Unfortunately, gas turbine engines tend to require a lot of fuel to sustain. The US was able to sustain having those engines in their Abrams due to having ALL THE OIL, but Russia and its dead-in-the-water economy could not. Due to the increased costs of feeding and maintaining said engine, the Russians made the diesel T80UD for its armed forces but eventually decided to stick with the T-72. Eventually the T-72 would evolve into T-72BU or the T-90: a T-72 with better armor, an improved engine, the advanced fire control systems and APS found within the T-80 turret, provisions for ERA and loads of other smaller upgrades that essentially make it an entirely new tank.

Today, the T-80 remains the core of the Russian tank corps alongside heavily modernized T-72s. The T-80 might lack the reliability and fuel-economy of modern T-90 variants, but the Modern Russian Federation has the petroleum infrastructure the Union lacked to feed these gas guzzling monsters and so these tanks can keep up with all but the absolute best armour of the West… but not Javelin ATGM’s, as seen in Ukraine.

{{Soviet Forces in Team Yankee}}

[[Category:Vehicles]]

UR-025

2022-03-01T20:09:09Z

2607:FB90:38AB:A95B:950C:7660:7DC0:66CC: /* Background */

[[File:Blackstone-Fortress-men of irone-eldar.jpeg|400px|right|thumb|*BEEP* Alas poor Yorick, I knew him Amallyn]]

{{Topquote|I am not a machine as you would understand. I am not a slave. I am not a thing. I am beyond and above you. I am a man of iron. And I am free.|UR-025}}

'''UR-025''' is one of the very, very, very few [[Men of Iron]] remaining in the Galaxy, and the only one that has ever had a model. He appears in the [[Blackstone Fortress]] box set as one of the characters.

=Background=
As one of the elusive Men of iron of legend, UR-025 is a sentient machine that predates the Imperium, supposedly coming from the Dark Age of Technology itself. If this information is true, that means that, barring the Necrons, he's one of the oldest characters in the setting period, considering his existence predates the [[Horus Heresy]], the [[Great Crusade]], the [[Unification Wars]], the [[Age of Strife]], the [[Fall of the Eldar]] and the [[Cybernetic Revolt]]. That would put him at roughly 19.000 years old, probably much, much more if we take in consideration the lack of precision of the imperial calendar and the lack of a specific fabrication date. Needless to say, he is an old fucker, and as such it has seen many, many things. He has claimed on occasion that he used to know the [[Omnissiah]], and "not the [[Emperor of Mankind|earthling corpse]], the [[Void Dragon|actual one]]". Since the end of the Cybernetic Revolt, UR-025 has had to survive by living in the fringes of inhabited space. He knows very well that, if he's ever discovered, he will be hunted down and destroyed by the [[Imperium of Man|Imperium]] or worse, turned to the [[Mechanicus]] to be studied forever. And thus he's designed a way to camouflage himself in plain sight: he just put an imperial aquila in his chassis and pretends to be an advanced remote-controlled/almost-autonomous [[servitor]] belonging to some [[Magos]], and thus no-one really bothers the cheeky fucker. That still does not stop him from creeping out most of his companions during the expedition to the Blackstone Fortress.

For a Man of Iron, he harbors no ill will towards Humanity — but he will kill any humans who threaten his anonymity. He is actually a rather sentimental fellow, lamenting not having company to talk to multiple times. He remembers plenty of extinct xenos species he had deals with, sounding genuinely saddened by their passing. Longing for company, UR-025 explores the seventh Blackstone Fortress; his goal is to determine if the fortress itself is also a sentient machine. Believing he may share some form of companionship, even kinship, with the ancient alien machine. [[Belisarius Cawl]] would be great friends with him—and by friends we mean that Cawl would dissect him for the Omnissiah.

=On the Tabletop=
===40k===
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || WS || BS || S || T || W || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''UR-025''' Imperial Robot|| 40 || 3+ || 3+ || 5 || 5 || 4 || 3 || 8 || 3+
|}

UR-025 is a single model, armed with a power claw and a Mk I assault cannon (24" 4 shot heavy bolter). His Self Repair System rule allows him to regain one lost wound at the start of every round. Compared to other options he isn't that impressive. Sentinels, Leman Russ Punishers, Dreadnoughts, Kataphrons, Dunecrawlers, most Battle Automata, most AdMECH HQs and a squad of Skitarii have better weapons than he does. Being a character, he does make a cheap objective camper while regenerating the odd sniper wound and contributing a bit of firepower, though paying 1 CP (as the only usable keyword is Imperium) hurts. Take Grauss or X-101 instead.

===Kill Team===
{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || M || WS || BS || S || T || W || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''UR-025''' Imperial Robot|| 30 || 5" || 3+ || 3+ || 5 || 5 || 4 || 2 || 8 || 3+
|}

In [[Kill Team]], UR-025 is excellent, filling a hole in the Admech's roster and being a Heavy that doesn't count against the normal limit on Specialists. He's slow, however, and doesn't get any benefit from Canticles.

[[Category:Warhammer 40,000]]
[[Category:Adeptus Mechanicus]]
[[Category:Imperial]]