From: j.clarke.873638@gmail.com   
      
   In article ,   
   jrs9jrs9@gmail.com says...   
   >   
   > On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 5:57:10 PM UTC-5, Tim Bruening wrote:   
   > > On Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 12:38:45 PM UTC-8, Your Name wrote:   
   > > > In article <54beb1d2$0$19658$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>, Dimensional   
   > > > Traveler  wrote:   
   > > > > On 1/20/2015 9:26 AM, John Reiher wrote:   
   > > > > > On 2015-01-20 00:52:44 +0000, Tim Bruening said:   
   > > > > >>   
   > > > > >> Major Nit: Near the end of Starship Troopers, a large number of   
   troop   
   > > > > >> ships approach bug infested Planet P to land troops in order to   
   > > > > >> capture a "brain bug".  The bugs are firing some sort of plasma   
   weapon   
   > > > > >> up at the troop ships.  The troop ships make absolutely no effort to   
   > > > > >> defend themselves!  They don't take any evasive action, or fire   
   > > > > >> defensive missiles at the bug plasma balls, or raise any shields!   
   > > > > >   
   > > > > > It's worse than that. The orbital velocity of the ships would be   
   around   
   > > > > > 2 km/s and those plasma farts are barely doing 100 mph! They   
   wouldn't be   
   > > > > > over the danger zone for more than a few seconds and they can easily   
   > > > > > outrun the farts. It's Hollyweird science!   
   > > > >   
   > > > > It was recreating WWII amphibious assaults IN SPACE!!!  (Those last two   
   > > > > words should be said in an echo chamber.)   
   > > >   
   > > > Sounds like typical military strategy. The Generals and Majors aren't   
   > > > there, so why bother wasting money on things like shields, evavsive   
   > > > movement fuel, defenseive missiles, etc.?? Simply send in a pile of   
   > > > cannon fodder as always and hope that some will get through - that   
   > > > leaves more money to pay for the tea and choccy biscuits in the air   
   > > > conditioned offices back at HQ for the higher-ups to sit in comfy   
   > > > chairs congratulating themselves on a "job welll done".   :-\   
   > >   
   > > But wouldn't the Generals want as many troops as possible to make it to   
   the surface to maximize the chances of capturing that brain bug they wanted?   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > Picture it a lot like the US tanks in Europe in WWII.  The Shermans   
   individually were no match for the Tigers, but if you could build them at a   
   50-to-1 rate over that of Tiger production, you can afford the higher loss   
   rate.   
      
   The conventional wisdom is that Shermans needed 5:1 vs Panthers, the   
   best common German tank.  In the Battle of the Bulge the Germans lost   
   309 Panthers, while the US lost about 320 Shermans.  That's roughly 1:1   
   Shermans vs Panthers but it ignores the fact that the Germans had other   
   models of tank in the battle.   
      
   As for Tigers, they were so rare as to not be a major factor in the war.   
      
   By the way, one reason that US tanks in WWII were so poorly developed   
   was that one Leslie J. McNair believed in a silly doctrine in which   
   tanks supported infantry and when it was time to fight other tanks then   
   heavily armed and lightly armored "tank destroyers" were the proper   
   tool.  The M10 was in service throughout the war, and the M36 went into   
   service in 1944.  Note that a few M26 tanks did finally make it to the   
   ETO despite resistance from the US ground forces commander, on whom   
   somebody was good enough to drop a bomb in July 1944.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)