OpForce against OpForce

cthia wrote:"Fox2!"]Sonja Hemphill

We don't have any texts of Sonja as a tactician or strategist at the fleet level. She is known more for being a staff weenie. An effective staff weenie at the WDB, but a staff weenie.

And I know, the RMN likes to rotate senior officers between staff and fleet assignments. Bit we haven't seen her in command.

Somehow, I don't think she would be an adherent of the Jeune Ecole school of attrition if she had had to write The Letter. Two or three thousand times.[/quote]

SharkHunter wrote:There is a single example very early on; she was in command of one of the attacking fleets at the very beginning of OBS; and she's not much of a tactician, more of a battering ram. It took some fairly senior captains to convince her to let Honor and CL-56 Fearless build a sneaky plan into the first fleet exercise.

She even opposed some of the better ideas coming down the pipe early on, like the missile pods. What she became fiendishly good at was seeing small tactical evolutions and having her tech weenies at GRAM/Weyland turn them into effective ship- and fleet-level technical revolutions.

Of course you are referring to her actions in the fleet games, where it was also divulged that she had a reputation of tactics akin to a battering ram. However, I always wondered if her rep came from the sole assessments of her previous performances in past fleet games or if she had her ticket punched in a few actual bona fide battles of her own.[/quote]


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See Flag in Exile --
Sonya had a SD Squadron staged for the re-taking of Candor. Her placement led Wesley Matthews to commandeer RMN Adm Henries and take 1/2 the GSN SD's to re-take the system.
That left Honor and GSN 1st Bat Sq for 4th Yeltsin

-- Stewart

cthia wrote:

Dauntless wrote:as you say you would lose detail unless we are talking one of those daft sets where the pieces are 3 feet tall.

with further thought i'dd add LACs as pawns and replace the DN with a CLAC.

admittedly that does restrict you to navies that have a CLAC which is only the manticore alliance and haven but manticore only had as many DNs as it did as it could not then afford to do SDs

Did you say that sets with 3 feet tall pieces are daft?

My sister once thought that too. When asked now if she still considers it silly. "I no longer think it's silly. But I do think it's stupid - if you don't want part of your home commandeered by pirates!"

After remodeling, my sister had a considerably large space that she needed to do something with off the side of the breakfast nook which my niece talked her into making into a chess room. A little over 3 feet tall pieces with the entire floor as the board. It is so popular that her guests make appointments to play on it. She was once offered a grand to entertain a game. Players get so enthralled into a game that my sister realized that she had once left her home to go shopping for the day and returned late with players still in her home - still playing!

One night she got up for a snack and heard all of the commotion. Yep, players still in the chess room. They are all very close friends of hers but still. I recall one of my sisters telling me about it. "She couldn't get them out of her home. One more game. One more game. Then I saw her disappear a bit frustrated. You know that look she gets when she's frustrated."

"Yea I do."

"Well I'm thinking she's going to get her shotgun. Instead, she had other, more sinister plans."

"What?!"

"About 15 minutes later Tierney, half asleep dressed in her pink pajamas saunters into the room. I peer past her and see your sister smiling. Less than an hour everyone bolts out of the room heading home. Tierney was taking them all on and kicking ass!"

" "

So you see Dauntless, I'm assuming you've never had the pleasure to play on a floor specifically designed for pieces that high. It gives you a god's eye field of view of the layout. I've played my best chess on that floor. It's amazing how well you see the battlefield. I'd wager it to be more addicting than heroin. In fact my sister teases "They're in the crack room playing chess." Sis calls it an intellectual form of the highly addictive crack.

My sister could charge rent space and make a fortune. Don't knock it 'till you try it. Each visit there my niece is grinning like a cheshire cat because she knows we'll end up there -unless my sister forbids us to get lost in it for hours. Which we'll do!

I suppose that the difference in my sister's implementation is that it is so tastefully and artfully done. The floor is marble - white's side features white marble with natural hints of brown grain and black's side is medium brown with natural grain. Expensive. The pieces were commissioned in Italy. Very detailed Staunton type pieces with intricate carvings. They look as if they weigh a ton each but are very light high impact plastic. White and brown pieces. She waited forever for those pieces to be delivered. And the entire room was a work in progress. Each end features very adjustable high-back stools she also combed Europe to find. Very nice, very comfortable and adjustable - if and when you need to sit. Most people prefer to mostly stand. The view of the board is intoxicating. You feel like a general for certain. The entire room sits between the main dining room and the breakfast nook with floor to ceiling glass walls where others can watch a game without imposing. It's very impressive. Very beautiful. Very addictive. Very artfully done. Over the years my niece has decorated the walls with the perfect items she has acquired while traveling or from something someone gives her. During one of our visits to Germany my niece purchased a full medieval knights armor made of six-and-a-half-foot-tall imposing polished brass that looms menacingly in a corner. A 3x5 foot framed rendition of Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima adorns one wall. (I can't count how many people have tried to purchase that.)

A nice painting once belonging to our grandmother from France of the Storming of the Bastille. A pastel of the French Revolution. Replica flintlocks, gun swords, Union rifles, Roman swords, etc., all hanging on the wall. A pallad bust of General Lee. A very nice pic of Geronimo. A recent addition of Stormin' Normin.

The chess battle room of dreams!

The same sentiment of everyone first entering the room, even inwardly or out loud, you can read their lips... "WOW!"

Goodness Cthia, as a chess-player myself I don't normally take giant sets very seriously - okay for spectator events but otherwise just a gimmick.
The way you have described that room makes me want to make a game there! That chess/battle room sounds amazing

Stuart wrote:
See Flag in Exile --
Sonya had a SD Squadron staged for the re-taking of Candor. Her placement led Wesley Matthews to commandeer RMN Adm Henries and take 1/2 the GSN SD's to re-take the system.
That left Honor and GSN 1st Bat Sq for 4th Yeltsin

-- Stewart

There's a line in House of Steel, where Roger and Jonas are discussing an encounter between Sonya and Hamish. The comment was made that Sonya, then Lt Cdr, needed some space time, and an eventual command, to improve her credibility with the "shooters" when the goodies from Gran start spilling out into the fleet. One of them makes a disparaging remark about her tactical skills, both socially and in combat.

BobfromSydney wrote:Goodness Cthia, as a chess-player myself I don't normally take giant sets very seriously - okay for spectator events but otherwise just a gimmick.
The way you have described that room makes me want to make a game there! That chess/battle room sounds amazing

It really is amazing Bob. It really is. Initially, I was surprised that my sister agreed to turn it into a chess room, and she had agreed to do so so quickly. But then she became so obsessed with getting everything so specific. My niece teased her that she was acting like a dictator and a general before the room was even complete. But now that the room is complete, Tierney and I yield to her obsession. My sister got everything just right - perfectly. Which brings me to an item I had left out of the details. My sister used two different colors of marble for the floor. White with brown grain. Medium brown with natural grain. We wanted black and white, my niece and I. My sister would make a puking gesture at the recommendation. Tierney and I were overruled - by the dictator. When it came time to have the floor assembled, my sister was throwing a hissy fit because we then found out that she had ordered yet a third darker color of brown for the borders of the floor; the darker brown was not sent. We thought it too much trouble and a bit much. After giving the company a piece and then another piece of her mind, and after an interminable delay, the floor was complete. The darker brown border pulls everything together and emphasizes the floor - makes it stand out. She was right, we were wrong. The border also emphasizes walking space along the perimeter of the battle field and base camp for each general at the top and bottom. I don't know how I left that huge detail out. It is a testament to my sister's design skills and foresight.

Bob, it really is a joy to play on that floor. Your view of the board is astounding. The battle field appears as I have never seen it before. Things are going on on the Queen's side that appear totally separate from the King's side. On a regular board, they all appear as one mess of pieces. On that floor, each side of the board appear as another stage of operation and distinctly separate battle. You begin to think things in your head such as Company C and Company B, flanking maneuvers, misdirection and theaters of conflict. Then there is the middle of the board which easily appears as your main thrust of forces. And supporting your pawn en appui becomes a necessary and pressing strategy because it stands out like a stranded child if not. Brilliant combinations are conceived like brainstorms coming over the burnt horizon. It's a drug, that room.

The pieces. I cannot say enough about the pieces. The detail obtained in the intricacy of the carvings is amazing craftsmanship. The rooks look so much like castles of heavy stone. The knights become two of your most cherished pieces because they look so powerful on the board. Some say the floor actually makes them castle sooner than they normally would because on this board the dangers are more apparent. Some say they castle when they rarely did before.

At any rate, games played in that room sticks in your head for months. They get into your soul. Each move becomes a vivid stage of the battle. You take the games to bed with you in your head. Talk about feeling like a general. My sister has military friends that insist on playing with their uniforms on!

Tierney and I are now referring to it as The Pit - the War Room.

You will never ever forget a single game played on that floor. Win or lose. My sister says that her entire home could catch afire and burn to the ground around the current players - because they'd never notice it. They'd think the excessive heat was being generated by their opponent.


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Tierney and her mother have recently added Latin phrases along the hallway leading into the War Room. I don't speak Latin but they seem so apropos. The English translations are not included. It's amazing how many people recognize the phrases. They are conversation pieces in and of themselves. Taken directly from the net - with translations and source.

Cur ante tubam tremor occupat artus?
Why should fear seize the limbs before the trumpet sounds? (Virgil)

victis honor
Honour to the vanquished

veni vidi vici
I came, I saw, I conquered
(Julius Caesar's report of victory in 47 B.C. over Pharnaces, king of Pontus)

in pace, ut sapiens, aptarit idonea bello
In peace, like a wise man, he appropriately prepares for war

bella horrida bella
Wars, horrid wars (Virgil)

bella detesta matribus
Wars, the horror of mothers (Horace)

bellum omnium in omnes
A war of all against all

bellum internecinum
Internecine war, a war of extermination

bellum letale
Lethal war, deadly war

bellum domesticum
Strife/war among family members

My personal addition, stolen from my very first favorite author is the best, IMO.

In Henry VI Part III, 1592:

QUEEN MARGARET:

Off with his head, and set it on York gates;
So York may overlook the town of York.

cthia wrote: victis honor
Honour to the vanquished

I prefer Brennus's more dramatic "Vae victis" !

Shark Hunter wrote:

substitute Filareta in Janacek out.

From HoS, it seems that Janaceck was an Intel weenie, not on the tactical track. Would it be fair to include him in what appears to be a tactical/operational/strategic blow out?

Promotion Party! More beers on me!

(Dumps pitcher of Old Tillman over head)

Wait - does this mean I can't use the "Any Ensign/Second Lieutenant" parking slot at the Club anymore? Verklempt!

Fox2! wrote:

Shark Hunter wrote:

substitute Filareta in Janacek out.

From HoS, it seems that Janaceck was an Intel weenie, not on the tactical track. Would it be fair to include him in what appears to be a tactical/operational/strategic blow out?

Being an intel weenie is no reason for exclusion from strategist considerations. Pat Givens(or subordinates of hers in ONI) came up with the idea to set a trap for Parnell at Yeltsin's Star, after all - widely regarded as a brilliant strategical move.

However, I suspect that in Edward Janacek's case, he would be out of the running for many other reasons.

Munroburton wrote

...I suspect that in Edward Janacek's case, he would be out of the running for many other reasons.

Have we definitely established, through textev, that Edward Janacek is smart enough to seal his own shoes?

Fox2! wrote:

Munroburton wrote

...I suspect that in Edward Janacek's case, he would be out of the running for many other reasons.

Have we definitely established, through textev, that Edward Janacek is smart enough to seal his own shoes?

I think that he made it to Admiral is evidence of that--even the most highly placed patrons couldn't get him through if he were literally imbecilic.