[Heir of the Void]

Excellent epsiode this time around. Good action, especially the A-6 Intruders. Pity there were no Warthogs present; they have a tenancy to resolve problems rather effectively. Plus, they can also fly.

Overall, though, seeing Commisar-chan break down after being exposed to dangerous levels of FREEDOM was the best part of the episode.

Originally Posted by Maverick05

yet I will appreciate if someone explain to me why the US/West Germany wanted to get the spotlight rather than 666th squad. Or they just wanted to make sure they survive?

I really don't think that there was much consideration of spotlight-theft on the part of the US/EU forces. A fixation on saving face and controlling appearances is a common trend with dictatorial regimes in Real Life; the causes would be beyond the scope of this discussion, but the Soviets did a lot of it, and we're seeing the Chinese do it now.

To wit: in IRL WWII, the Soviets were pretty fixated on being the ones to capture Berlin; Patton was reasonably certain he could have beaten them there, but determined that the extra casualties caused by the much more (recklessly) aggressive tactics needed wasn't worth it.

The US/EU forces were probably just doing better because they are better; both in MLA and real life, NATO always had better stuff than the Warsaw Pact, both because of tech superiority and vastly better quality control.

Originally Posted by mergele

The brits are the one eating BETAs? Aren't the french the ones that eat everything?

European Cuisine Insults (ECI) is a rather complex subject. The basics are as follows:

The British eat fairly normal foods, but their preparation is awful, and the end results are usually unique. Haggis, though Scottish, provides and excellent example.

Conversely, the French eat weird shit, but usually manage to make it actually taste good, if in a unique way. Sometimes an acquired taste, usually ostentatious naming. Escargot would be a good example.

Generally, I'd imagine that eating BETA would be something that everyone accuses everyone else of. Sort of like having romantic feelings for sheep in the British Empire. Everyone else does it.

Originally Posted by mergele

The numbers for the ground forces seem a bit weird. Thousands of tanks, but just 30k infantry? Maybe they have proven to be very ineffective and therefore largely reduced in numbers, but 30k are nothing in a modern war.

Infantry really isn't worth that much in the BETA war; at least not as we've seen it used (that being the assault rifle + RPG kit the NPA guys have). If everybody was part of a Heavy Weapons Team (.50 BMG), it might help, assuming they just needed to slow down the BETA long enough for artillery to wipe them out. If they need to hold the line alone, the will be eaten.

The West probably doesn't deploy lots of infantry for the simple reason that they don't have to. Infantry here will almost always run high casualties, and isn't terribly effective at the best of times; the Western armies simply have objectively better options. I would guess that the majority of the TSFs present are US/EU, as are a significant minority of the tanks, with an overwhelming majority of the infantry being Warsaw Pact.

Originally Posted by mergele

In the end I was a bit confused of what all was going on. The east sent in some ship bombardement while their mechas engaged the betas in close quarter. I assumed a lack of communication capabilities, but then they got a warning about incoming bombardement. Didn't get why the political officer insisted on staying, after all now their artillery took over. The west sent in some artillery recons first then they also just send in the mechas, pretty unbothered with the bombardement from the easts ships. Where those rockets they fired the artillery they scouted for?

The Artillery Spotters were from the Western forces; they were F-5s. Maybe they were spotting for an artillery assault by the combined fleet assets, though I wouldn't be at all surprised if the East Germans were hoping to inflict some blue-on-blue fire on the EU forces.

I would guess that the warships were firing smart shells with their normal naval rifles; those have been around for a while. The Excalibur shell was an early 90s thing, so I don't think it would be unreasonable for them to have something similar ten years early. That would help explain the spotting team; providing precise targeting information through the AL cloud.