@hborrgg.bsky.social
Sid Meier's Gettysburg already exists and is better than total war in just about every way.
January 14, 2026 at 3:32 AM
Sid Meier's Gettysburg already exists and is better than total war in just about every way.
- information to win modern battles," not so much for the sake of history itself.
This also happened to be a bit more straightforward when you could compare say legionaries to pikemen and velites to arquebusiers. But got less so when modern battles grew to barely resemble ancient ones at all.
This also happened to be a bit more straightforward when you could compare say legionaries to pikemen and velites to arquebusiers. But got less so when modern battles grew to barely resemble ancient ones at all.
January 7, 2026 at 8:43 AM
- information to win modern battles," not so much for the sake of history itself.
This also happened to be a bit more straightforward when you could compare say legionaries to pikemen and velites to arquebusiers. But got less so when modern battles grew to barely resemble ancient ones at all.
This also happened to be a bit more straightforward when you could compare say legionaries to pikemen and velites to arquebusiers. But got less so when modern battles grew to barely resemble ancient ones at all.
There was kind of a heyday if you go way back. The whole "military science" tradition that kicked off in the early modern period saw a lot of interest in analyzing classical sources and putting together descriptions of famous battles. But it was being done with an eye towards "how can we use this-
January 7, 2026 at 8:38 AM
There was kind of a heyday if you go way back. The whole "military science" tradition that kicked off in the early modern period saw a lot of interest in analyzing classical sources and putting together descriptions of famous battles. But it was being done with an eye towards "how can we use this-
I like the fun take on the Rembrandt painting
January 2, 2026 at 9:30 PM
I like the fun take on the Rembrandt painting
it's potentially a double-edged sword though, if say a Macedonian in the middle of a massive phalanx looks to his left and 100-200 meters away sees sarrisa points flailing chaotically and moving out of line, he might start to worry about the line's cohesion, which he was told his safety relies on
December 24, 2025 at 5:13 AM
it's potentially a double-edged sword though, if say a Macedonian in the middle of a massive phalanx looks to his left and 100-200 meters away sees sarrisa points flailing chaotically and moving out of line, he might start to worry about the line's cohesion, which he was told his safety relies on
There's a 16th c. source who mentions that "even in the eye" a deep square "massed throughout with pikes" looks far stronger and far more difficult to break than one where only the outermost ranks have pikes and the rest are armed with short weapons. Even if it's only the first ranks that fight.
December 24, 2025 at 5:02 AM
There's a 16th c. source who mentions that "even in the eye" a deep square "massed throughout with pikes" looks far stronger and far more difficult to break than one where only the outermost ranks have pikes and the rest are armed with short weapons. Even if it's only the first ranks that fight.
My assumption is that the reason pikes especially tend to be preferred in fairly deep formations is that even for a footsoldier on the ground at eye level, tall pikes make it very easy to see depth, and makes the difference between 8 vs 16 ranks, or for that matter 50 ranks, is extremely obvious.
December 24, 2025 at 4:57 AM
My assumption is that the reason pikes especially tend to be preferred in fairly deep formations is that even for a footsoldier on the ground at eye level, tall pikes make it very easy to see depth, and makes the difference between 8 vs 16 ranks, or for that matter 50 ranks, is extremely obvious.
Also I don't think they've ever really figured out the interaction between shooting and melee very well.
December 5, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Also I don't think they've ever really figured out the interaction between shooting and melee very well.
My experience is TW is able to do lines of gunpowder troops standing out in the open shooting volleys at each other but that is all it knows how to do, it can't do skirmishing, it can't do street fighting, it can't do moving and shooting or fluid fights, etc.
December 5, 2025 at 3:35 AM
My experience is TW is able to do lines of gunpowder troops standing out in the open shooting volleys at each other but that is all it knows how to do, it can't do skirmishing, it can't do street fighting, it can't do moving and shooting or fluid fights, etc.
Even if they seem 'obvious' (and you'll keep running into people who tell you they aren't)
December 1, 2025 at 5:18 AM
Even if they seem 'obvious' (and you'll keep running into people who tell you they aren't)
a greek guy saying "Hey, I've noticed that center grip shields are much better for fighting in duels and skirmishes but the aspis is better for fighting in a dense formation" any arguments to that effect remain rather speculative and weak. 4/x
December 1, 2025 at 5:17 AM
a greek guy saying "Hey, I've noticed that center grip shields are much better for fighting in duels and skirmishes but the aspis is better for fighting in a dense formation" any arguments to that effect remain rather speculative and weak. 4/x
HEMAists tend to get very anal about sticking closely to available sources as much as they can.
Unfortunately no such sources seem to exist at all for ancient greece, and the gulf in what constitutes "common sense" is potentially even greater. So unless someone happens to find evidence of 3/x
Unfortunately no such sources seem to exist at all for ancient greece, and the gulf in what constitutes "common sense" is potentially even greater. So unless someone happens to find evidence of 3/x
December 1, 2025 at 5:17 AM
HEMAists tend to get very anal about sticking closely to available sources as much as they can.
Unfortunately no such sources seem to exist at all for ancient greece, and the gulf in what constitutes "common sense" is potentially even greater. So unless someone happens to find evidence of 3/x
Unfortunately no such sources seem to exist at all for ancient greece, and the gulf in what constitutes "common sense" is potentially even greater. So unless someone happens to find evidence of 3/x
very often their explanations do indeed turn out to seem extremely weird and unintuitive, as evidently what makes sense to a 16th century mind and what would make sense to a 21st century mind don't necessarily overlap that much. This is why a lot of 2/x
December 1, 2025 at 5:16 AM
very often their explanations do indeed turn out to seem extremely weird and unintuitive, as evidently what makes sense to a 16th century mind and what would make sense to a 21st century mind don't necessarily overlap that much. This is why a lot of 2/x
to be slightly less glib. Arguments of this sort about the form and function of different armaments over the ages have raged in certain corners of the internet for decades.
And notably once we get into the renaissance, when we occasionally do start to get sources that explain what they did and 1/x
And notably once we get into the renaissance, when we occasionally do start to get sources that explain what they did and 1/x
December 1, 2025 at 5:15 AM
to be slightly less glib. Arguments of this sort about the form and function of different armaments over the ages have raged in certain corners of the internet for decades.
And notably once we get into the renaissance, when we occasionally do start to get sources that explain what they did and 1/x
And notably once we get into the renaissance, when we occasionally do start to get sources that explain what they did and 1/x
That still doesn't explain why you'd want the shield to be a circle.
December 1, 2025 at 3:10 AM
That still doesn't explain why you'd want the shield to be a circle.
why would a round shield be considered optimal for close-order fighting?
If the idea behind a shield wall is to present a solid wall to the enemy without any gaps, circles don't seem like a very efficient shape for that.
If the idea behind a shield wall is to present a solid wall to the enemy without any gaps, circles don't seem like a very efficient shape for that.
December 1, 2025 at 2:06 AM
why would a round shield be considered optimal for close-order fighting?
If the idea behind a shield wall is to present a solid wall to the enemy without any gaps, circles don't seem like a very efficient shape for that.
If the idea behind a shield wall is to present a solid wall to the enemy without any gaps, circles don't seem like a very efficient shape for that.
You've been watching the new Ken Burns series?
November 21, 2025 at 4:43 AM
You've been watching the new Ken Burns series?
Why's he got blood dripping from his mouth?
November 5, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Why's he got blood dripping from his mouth?
Obligatory Kate Beaton
November 4, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Obligatory Kate Beaton
I've found you can actually solve this problem by blocking all the accounts that post the news.
October 5, 2025 at 4:19 AM
I've found you can actually solve this problem by blocking all the accounts that post the news.
That was never tried though because Biden's ego got in the way and Democratic strategists refused to believe they were actually up against a sizable incumbency backlash right up until election day.
September 19, 2025 at 11:39 PM
That was never tried though because Biden's ego got in the way and Democratic strategists refused to believe they were actually up against a sizable incumbency backlash right up until election day.
There was One Weird Trick though. Blame everything on Biden and pretend that whatever democrat you're replacing him is going to be completely new and different so that you can divert some of that anti-incumbent backlash towards electing one of your own guys instead of trump.
September 19, 2025 at 11:37 PM
There was One Weird Trick though. Blame everything on Biden and pretend that whatever democrat you're replacing him is going to be completely new and different so that you can divert some of that anti-incumbent backlash towards electing one of your own guys instead of trump.
which half of the United States is hamburger from?
September 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM
which half of the United States is hamburger from?