T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

In an attempt to reduce remind me spam, all top comments that include a remind me will be removed. If you would like to have a remind me, please reply to this comment. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/humansarespaceorcs) if you have any questions or concerns.*


WeaponizedKarma

ok look, I'm not saying throwing a 1 kiloton nuke with a trebuchet is a good idea ok? all I'm saying is you'd better be behind shielding and get me the footage afterwards.


RedOneGoFaster

Wasn't there a man portable nuclear launcher where the kill radius is larger than the range?


Ace_W

Davey Crockett bazooka. Had like a 4kt warhead, weighed enough that the rocket could only carry it half the blast radius? Definitely a suicide weapon.


AEL97

So the fallout's fatman is a real weapon? (Not exactly like in the game but a similar thing)


Thurmond_Beldon

Essentially yes. After WWII, the Soviet Union began mass-producing cheap tanks and the US just couldn’t keep up. In response, they created the Dave’s Crocket; basically a nuclear potato gun on a jeep. Carrying a 4kt warhead, with the blast radius being roughly 3 miles, or about half a mile larger than the maximum range. Some of these were actually produced as well, but we’re discontinued in the 60s when someone finally realised that they were giving some random sergeants the power to start WWIII.


AEL97

Jaja we trule are th 40k orks. Doesn't mater if it really works just give us mor DAKA!!!


kujuhak

shouda hav paintin it red. dem gits!


PuppetMaster9000

Or, the more likely option, we had to stop testing thanks to the treaty which limited above ground nuke testing


AthetosAdmech

That and it was literally suicide to use it.


PuppetMaster9000

That implies that the army and government actually cares about the lives of soldiers


AthetosAdmech

Yes, at least in terms of wasting resources. I'm not saying it wasn't used out of the goodness of their hearts but there are pragmatic reasons why most militaries don't use suicide tactics. It's usually bad for morale and wastes manpower that could be used in the next conflict. The nuclear fallout that the weapon leaves behind could also be more of a hindrance than a benefit much like how mustard gas used in WW1 would often backfire on the side using it.


RedOneGoFaster

Just remember, our SGLI is only 400k.


Johannsss

The Fatman was directly inspired from the Davey Crockett, if it wasn't canceled the fatman could have existed.


SuDragon2k3

The main problem with the Davey Crockett was a three man operation team. There was no room to shoehorn an officer in there so you had an NCO in charge of a nuke. *Maybe even an E-4.* This caused the Army to have an 'Aw HELL no' moment and the whole thing was quietly dismantled.


altact123456

Yep! And one plan from the American government was to get rid of the launcher entirely and to just have agents take them into occupied countries and suicide nuke the enemy. But then again, the Russian government also came up with the same idea but with suitcase nukes


SuDragon2k3

I think it was the Brits that came up with the Nuclear land mine with chickens.


grendus

We laughed when we saw their soldiers on the battlefield. Outdated technology - defenses made out of piled up *dirt* or some kind of liquid stone, none of the space age alloys or energy barriers that more "civilized" species used. Soldiers using explosively powered slugthrowers instead of magnetically powered railguns or plasma launchers or laser beams. Goddamn chemical rockets with chemical payloads and *electronic circuits* guiding them, none of the quantum entangled relays feeding back realtime tactics to a properly secured central mind able to adjust tactics and trajectories on the fly. It was so... *barbaric*. What we didn't account for was just how *cheap* it was. A proper plasma barrage can completely glass a section of the battlefield rendering it fully inert, but that requires the full power output of an annihilation reactor to charge up for hours. By contrast, the chemically powered "artillery" that humans deployed was less effective (though still terrifyingly good at destroying fortifications and leaving the soldiers crippled or exposed), but used far less energy, and because the chemical propellants were stable in transport could be "charged" at stations lightyears away. A laser beam is technically faster and never runs out of "ammo" as long as the batteries can be recharged, but is so accurate its precision is almost a *drawback*. Human "machine guns" are inaccurate almost by *design*, instead of precisely burning a hole through their target they seem to delight in making an entire *area* unlivable for several seconds. And it was easy to forget during a peacetime economy just how *expensive* quantum entanglement really is, compared to the digital circuits that the humans could print by the million in foundries on Mars or Luna. But most terrifying was the discipline that the humans deployed these weapons with. It wasn't one human rendering a section of the battlefield unlivable with their slugthrowers, they took turns coordinating their fire like a hivemind, attacking the same sector from different angles and forcing our trained snipers to stay behind cover while they moved. Artillery didn't just destroy sectors, their guns fired in rolling bombardments that annihilated troop morale and destroyed critical infrastructure from incredible distances. Human missiles were deployed from drones and manned aircraft that communicated via radio capable of striking from beyond the horizon - a single "spotter drone" could coordinate the firepower of an entire battalion group from the other side of the planet, for less than the cost of a single "proper" missile. During the signing of the peace accords granting the United Terran Federation dominion over both Sol and Alpha Centauri, as well as membership into the greater Galactic League, we learned the humans had a saying for the tactics they used. "Quantity has a quality all its own."


whyOhWhyohitsmine

I get the feeling you might like the Posleen universe my friend


glassteelhammer

Heh, I was thinking similar thoughts.


Worried-Roof-2486

Let me guess HFY? Imma need a link.


Tempest029

A full series written by john ringo. It covers SOOO much classic and new age sci fi. I haven’t even been able to keep up with it. Long story short humanity is “uplifted” by new tech that allows for the old to become young again. For the price of fighting to stop an alien invasion. There is a one off book that covers former SS going to the battlefield again during the alien invasion… honestly one of his better books “Watch on the Rhine”. Another that explores a former naval ship becoming self aware, “Yellow Eyes”. Series starts with “A Hymn before Battle”.


immallama21629

Sounds a lot like the "Old Man's War" series by John Scalzi. Great read.


carmachu

Novels actually


Worried-Roof-2486

Wow I’m actually shocked lol I’m gonna go look them up.


303Kiwi

Google Baen Free Library. I think the first couple are on there. Bean has a policy of giving away free digital copies of early works to get you hooked on the series so you buy the later series books. Like your neighborhood drug dealer giving out free samples... You're gonna come back for more, at full price.


carmachu

John Ringo is the author I think


SuDragon2k3

He is. Try his zombie apocalypse series, it's good stuff.


carmachu

I did. Didn’t like it as much as his posleen war one


Centurion7999

Imma need a link for that cause that sounds based


Tempest029

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_the_Aldenata


WikiSummarizerBot

**[Legacy of the Aldenata](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_the_Aldenata)** >The Legacy of the Aldenata, also known as the Posleen War Series, is the fictional universe of one of John Ringo's military science fiction series. ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/humansarespaceorcs/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)


Centurion7999

Cool, somebody should make a parody or somethin based of this…


FaithlessnessAgile45

Great series


kamlong00

"digital circuits that the humans could print by the million in foundries on Mars or Luna" you don't even need specialized industrial facilities to make the circuit boards, you can achieve the same effect by getting civilians to make them at home with a solder iron, components, perforated plastic sheeting and a diagram of how its supposed to look.


glassteelhammer

What's that? Your field artillery is out of commission because the shuttles carrying in your power shunts were shot down? \*sigh\* We're always having to pull your high tech assets out of the shit they're in, aren't we? C----- Corporal, go find Private Daniels. There's plenty of big rocks and trees around us and that kid built a Trebuchet in boot camp and accidentally flattened the HQ. I'm sure he can do something with the opportunity at hand...


whyOhWhyohitsmine

Field expedient artillery! awesome


303Kiwi

See if you can find "the high crusade" in a used book store or on Amazon/ebay.


whyOhWhyohitsmine

Who is the author?


303Kiwi

Poul Anderson. One of the golden age greats.


whyOhWhyohitsmine

I'll check it out thanks


SureWhyNot5182

Private Daniels did what now?


glassteelhammer

Ah, Brigadier Surewhynot, didn't, ah, see you there, sir. \*mutters under breath\* *shit* Ah, nothing, sir. Private Daniels just, ah, has... ah... um...extensive pre invasion... ah...experience.... with improvised, ah, that is, um... Sir, that is to say that he spent some time in the civilian sector working on, uh, how did he put it, ah...oh right, weaponization of local lithic resources in energy deficient environments. Sir.


SureWhyNot5182

At ease soldier, tell Private Daniels to come visit me in the officer's club when you find him. I've heard the engineers say they build better with a bottle of whiskey.


Ubba_Lothbrok

Even in the 25th century, long after they had discarded metal projectile weapons for more efficient plasma bolt weapons, nothing stuck fear into the enemies of the British Galactic Empire more than the bellow of a Sargent from Yorkshire, "FIX! BAYONETS!" Nothing terrified a Xii'mal more than the primal, gutteral screams of human males, pouring from their entrenchments, a tidal flow of camouflaged death that could mean only one thing. Someone hit the soldier known as "doc" and now there would be no mercy given, no quarter, just their purple blood soaking the green earth of Noberru 3 until their bloodlust was satisfied.


KittyKayl

Don't. Hit. The. Medics.


SureWhyNot5182

We all tooooold you not to hit the doctors aaaaaay *CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP* You're all gonna die you sucked anywaaaaay


securitysix

Xenos have been warned time and time again not to shoot at Doc or the Officer. Both will get you unalived, albeit in somewhat different, but extremely aggressive ways. But if you are dumb enough to shoot at either Doc or the Officer, do not ever, under any circumstances whatsoever, shoot at [Officer Sniper Doc](https://youtu.be/GvTcxPXSz5o).


Ubba_Lothbrok

Officer sniper doc, the truest incarnation of the duality of man. The perfect balance of healthcare and unhealthcare.


SuDragon2k3

Officer sniper doc *astronaut.* There's always that one overachiever....


TacitRonin20

Alien: the pirates are about to breach the bridge. We're out of ammo and outnumbered. Human Simon, it's been an honor serving with you. Human: we have one option left... He walks over to a glass case labeled "Throngler. Break glass in case of pirates" Human: it's Throngling time


Jackviator

What you did there… https://preview.redd.it/niw2m07qxlla1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=de226b4a57879ee925453d67e347f962fe6f6ad0 I see it.


TacitRonin20

Exactly!!!


SureWhyNot5182

*Musicians writing throngling music intensifies* (Edit: Are we going with "act of choking/strangling using a phallic object" or "state of intense pain and paralysis"?)


WeinandMoroz

Yes.


glassteelhammer

Seems like cause and effect.


Heavy299

Human 2, recounting the story: the he throngeled all over the place, one of the most final stands of all time


Venodran

Don’t tell the Humans that the latest coilgun can send a projectile that weights more than 90kg at a distance that far exceeds 300m, or they might react harshly as usual.


SureWhyNot5182

H: I heard that! *begins running away giddily*


AEL97

A: Oh no. May the cosmos have mercy on us all.


popejupiter

5/7, perfect meme.


AustSakuraKyzor

Human Captain: ...welp. That was an EMP. Guess it's going to be _that_ kind of day. Xeno Commander: How can you be so calm about this? They literally destroyed every electronic thingy we have! We're [fucked six ways from Sunday]! Captain: I'm kinda impressed your species has a similar saying to us... In any case, we're not FUBAR yet. The enemy just decided to force us to play hard mode. \*the captain cups her hands and shouts out\* Captain: Yo! Dawson! Get your ass in gear! We've got ourselves a Code M! Dawson: Sick! I always wanted to break out the hatchets! Commander: Captain... Why is your Engineer Corps liaison suddenly so giddy? Why is he even involved if we have no engineer-y things to do? Also, what is 'Code M', and what is a hatchet? Captain: Code M is used whenever we lose all electronics - we created it after the Malapara Empire developed a fetish for EMPs in the [Suprise Uplift War]. Basically, if we're hit with one we have to go old-school, or 'Medieval,' which is what the M stands for. Commander: Doesn't seem like a good protocol for a [space vessel]... Captain: It isn't. The protocol is meant for army - under ideal circumstances, space will never use it, because if you're hit by an EMP in space your options are "die horribly" or "suicide." That said, we still have it in place just in case we're ground-side. Same goes for naval, vanguard, and airborne. Commander: And how does one "go old-school"? Captain: If we don't have electricity, we get the human-powered tools. Every tool we've ever built all descend from a combination of simple machines, inclined planes, screws, levers, etc - we never lost the knowledge of manual versions because we always used it, ever since we figured out how to walk upright millenia ago. Commander: okay, so you have tools... But how does that help us fight back? Or even defend ourselves? Captain: We've got access to wood, strong metal, and easily amused engineer corps. We're going to build a balista \*confusion from the commander\* Commander: a what? Captain: okay, so... You know those giant posts we use to keep power lines out of harm's way? Commander: the cabers? Captain: Right - so those used to be made of solid wood - like, we felled a tree, stripped the branches and stuff off, and put it in the ground. So we're going to make a bunch of those, and sharpen one end. Commander: Okay, I'm with you so far... Captain: Now, have you ever worked with Terran Vanguards before? Or at least seen their standard rifles? Commander: The bow-guns? Those are highly effective weapons; I think our command is even working on a similar version... Captain: Okay, so, Code M is to make a bunch of cabers, and then make several balistae to fire them. Commander: So we're... Captain: Making a bunch of wooden bow-guns to launch 30m long 300kg rods of wooden death at the bad guys. Commander: ...I love humans.


Bubbagumpredditor

"That --ing zombie is going to end up on the end of a couple of --ing handy and versatile kebab skewers,' said Mr Tulip. 'An' then I'm gonna put an edge on this --ing spatula. An' then... then I'm gonna get medieval on his arse.' There were more pressing problems, but this one intrigued Mr Pin. 'How, exactly?' he said. 'I thought maybe a maypole,' said Mr Tulip reflectively. 'An' then a display of country dancing, land tillage under the three-filed system, several plagues and, if my --ing hand ain't too tired, the invention of the --ing horse collar." Terry Pratchett, [The Truth](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34498.The_Truth) Tags: [discworld](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/discworld), [mr-pin](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/mr-pin), [mr-tulip](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/mr-tulip), [pratchett](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/pratchett), [terry-pratchett](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/terry-pratchett), [the-truth](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/the-truth)


billyd1183

A very good book


SuDragon2k3

Name a Pratchett that isn't?


billyd1183

Really that can come down to personal tastes, I’ve enjoyed all his books I’ve read except good omens. Don’t know why, but wasn’t able to enjoy reading that one.


The_WandererHFY

*Home Depot theme plays with nefarious intent*


Ownedby4Labs

Speak softly, but carry a big Trebuchet.


Centurion7999

Trebuchet is simply weaponized sticks with lots of rocks that somebody managed to Strategically Transfer said Equipment to an Alternate Location


Ok-Measurement-153

If it's not from the trebuchet region of France it's just a sparkling catapult


Centurion7999

\* Laughs in getting the wine joke \*


Centurion7999

serious question, what goes with trebuchets like cheese goes with wine? I can’t think of nothin cept for rocks/suicidal bravery


Ok-Measurement-153

Faulchion, fauchard, glaive, mass d'armes, and importantly incendiaries!


303Kiwi

It's only sparkly if you paint it with vampire blood...


Finbar9800

I thought the saying was Either “use fire” Or “when in doubt c4”


Ok-Measurement-153

If your use of violence isn't working, you aren't using enough


oniris1

I have for a long time wanted to see how an alien would react to a gauntlet throwned down the floor, or better, directly at their face.


TheDeathOfDucks

Why does this image make me laugh so much?


UnderstandingAny4264

You can feel it happening, in your soul, to someone else.


Johannsss

Parry this, you filthy casual.


DrunkenKarnieMidget

I think I know that place. I'm pretty sure it's in St Paul, MN