Book Review: Medieval Warfare

 

This book is interesting as it doesn't simply go into the weapons and tactics used during the time period. Instead a large portion of it is devoted to how the armies were raised and the societies that were in place to facilitate such armies being raised. 

This then is a book discussing the logistics of medieval warfare back towards the late Roman empire period at least. It is a fascinating read as a result because it demonstrates the resources leaders back then needed just to field a single knight. It also demonstrated that the simple view of "Kings used knights who owned fiefs to fight for them" was a lot more complicated in reality back then (as it is now; as are many things). 

A count of France for example made a contract with the King of England to provide his services for a set amount of time annually but that he would not fight against the King of France. And should France and England go to war he would do his best to dissuade the French King. 

Complex contracts; oaths and fealties crop up all over the book which makes one wonder at how they managed to keep track of all these things without a modern civil service. Fact of the matter is that they didn't manage it sometimes with ensuing casualties as a result. If anything one thing that can be seen throughout the book and in every other conflict zone is that where war and their makers go; the civilians are always the ones to suffer the most. A timeless truism that repeats itself across history. Unless you're a civilian living in the right place. The right place being the place not being sacked by roaming horsemen. 

Would I recommend the book for a read? It is hard to say; you'd definitely have to be interested in history and this time period. It was good for me as it underscored the difficulties of government on pitiful resources and the all important first concern of warfare which was raising and maintaining an army. 

Games and Introspection

The title of the post comes from how I decided to play Fallout 3; a First Person Role Playing Game set in the post apocalyptic 1960's esque America with hovering butler robots and powered armor. I decided to play the game as close as I would react to in such situations with my current mindset and world viewpoints. Rather than the old mindset which was "How much did the designers anticipate players mucking about and absolutely abusing the physics engines for hilarity?"

In fact if anything else this place was a good place to test reactions in stressful situations considering one of the earlier scenarios involves you fleeing the only place you've known as home due to your father's sudden disappearance. Your actions do have effects on the game. The most basic being if you shoot someone they're not exactly going to be around later (this isn't a issue in other Role Playing Games; non-hostile characters are untargetable for attacks. Not so in Fallout 3. Careful with the splash damage on that rocket launcher)

The games immersion is dependent on how much you feel you can soak yourself into it, like a bath in the games many radioactive pools.  My immersion for me was absolutely cemented one day when I told a friend (who was watching me play in real life) that I was going to find this drug dealer who lived in an abandoned railway station and offload all the drugs I had accumulated through my travels  (mostly through shooting and looting bandit hideouts). A issue cropped up when I arrived there to find that the dealer had absolutely no money to buy things off me. I considered that since his utility to me was now squat that it might not be a bad idea to kill the dealer and take his stock to sell somewhere else. What is one less drug dealer in this blasted hellscape? Unfortunately (fortunately for him) as I shouldered my Chinese made Assault Rifle and sighted on his face he referenced my Karma level (basically scales from Very Good to Neutral to Very Bad depending on your actions in game. Which affects how people treat you) and said "Its so nice to know that there are still good people like you in the wasteland" Could not shoot him. Could not press the moue button to gain a few thousand dollars worth of drugs over a dealer's corpse in a nuclear hellhole. My friend would not stop laughing about it, but I simply could not pull the trigger. I slung my rifle and went off dumbfounded into the distance.

What I appreciate about the game was that due to the Post-Apocalyptic setting most of your responses were written weighted towards the cynical end. Which was more in line with my mindset rather than "I'll do this quest for free because I am the stalwart hero of the land" writing I normally encounter. Bugger that, if you want me to end up knee deep in ogre guts I'm asking for double standard pay. Whatever standard pay for this nonsense is. Also, sometimes you come across non-hostile people who are downright obstructive in your travels. Not hostile, just obstructive. In most RPG's you have to do something for them to get around it. In Fallout 3; happily, the option to use your various assortment of weaponry is always an option. However if you need them for something in future then well, maybe you should have been less hasty cowboy.

I like using games as introspection into one's own character. I think how you decide to play to some extent does reflect upon your core character. Not all the time. When I was playing GTA I certainly didn't have vehicular murder in mind to act out in real life. It really depends on how much escape you seek in a game. But at the same time video games aren't that different from any other form of games or recreation especially when played with other people. Your character shows through. And I find it interesting to reflect upon those.

I'll give an example with the latest game I've been playing so far "League of Legends". A game belonging to the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genre. The basic idea of the game is two opposing teams have a headquarters building. The first team to destroy the opposing headquarters wins. Battle takes place on a symetrical map with headquarters on opposing sides of the map. Team composition normally consists of up to 5 heroes/Chamipons each with different abilities and playstyle. A good team is one that combines the ability of all its members to take down the other team quickly and push on towards the headquarters.

The different classes can be split into 3 main generic classes with further sub division along the way. The 3 main classes being tank (a person who bears the brunt of the damage for the team.) Mage (person with a lot of spells slinging high damage fire balls around. Very frail) and Carry ( person who has abilities late in the game that can decimate the other team quickly normally but requires babysitting early on to not die. Very frail as well)

In a lot of low level/public matches you can find most people picking a Carry because they want to simply get the highest kill rate (ignoring the actual objective of the match) and then immediatly lock their choice in. Then start demanding someone tank (normally whoever hasn't picked yet) These are the sort of people who never stop to discuss with rest of the team what a balanced composition should look like and that maybe perhaps everyone shouldn't be fragile people with no early game presence. The games have a lot of nuance but I was hoping to illustrate with this that the people who actually choose the tank class are much rarer (willingness to scarfice for the greater good by absorbing the damage). Those who can tank well are even rarer. In this sense I feel you can tell some aspect of a person's character from how they game.

I was chatting to a friend's brother about these games and I asked him what he played  "A carry uncounterable by disorganized teams was his response (well, not accurately, but that was the hero type he chose). Unsurprisingly he was boring conversation...

Well, this ramble on games has gone on long enough. I'm curious if others use games as a means to test themselves in stressful simulations and see their character. Leave a comment!

NB. The picture of the post is a Operant Conditioning Box. Yes, aspects of it have been used in games. Fun stuff. 

Ps. I play tank and nuker if you're asking. I go mad if I try carry. I do enjoy it from time to time. Just don't have the solo-hunter mindset. In the middle of chaotic battles the good carry is the perfect assassin. Picking off vulnerable targets swiftly and departing. The mage throws spells from safety. The tank wades in and disrupts the enemy's plans as much as possible.

Calmer Addendum to Previous Post

A government must govern fairly and justly for the benefit of the people. It is subject to the rule of law of the nation and its rulers do not abuse their position. When this doesn't occur, and the people feel that they have no other recourse, things turn violent.

A government will always make mistakes. In as much as humans always make mistakes. The same mistakes, the same excuses affect us because we are at the end of the day homo sapiens. Where the Singapore government has to always pay attention is that its perceived demands on the population require a equal if not greater amount of ability in governance. 

I'd tentatively say that this is the current case even with the new blood of leadership within the country. There have been mis-steps. The issue right now is how fast the missteps can be corrected and how to prevent future ones from arising. The global situation has caused many governments to misstep. Singapore having avoided a recession is only a result of some good financial safety nets somewhere even if the population took a bit of a ding. 

The important thing for the government is it should always strive to improve its standards and abilities. As opposed to most governments. Which is to simply get bloody re-elected by pandering to voters. Witness Australia's Tony Abbot's keeness to "STOP THE BOATS" and the fact that he received nearly half the votes inspite/or rather because of that. 

What I would prefer in a country is less censorship. Some things are just not needed really. But good with the bad isn't it in life? 

Commentry (well... more rant if I'm honest) on the Singapore Dissident

Well, this is the first time I'm writing up a blog post just off the cuff like that but I stumbled upon the Singapore Dissident blog whilst I was trying to do research on Defamation Law. I don't what else to say really. At the moment my feelings regarding the secrecy of government movements is up in the air. How much transparency should be demanded of a government? Ho much is actually given? I do get annoyed by the constant name calling of the country a Fascist Dictatorship and how much better the Western Democracies are to have free speech.

Seriously though? The right to call the Prime Minister a tosser is a critical part of debate in a country is it? I wouldn't have minded it so much if the Prime Minster was a tosser, but lets face it. You don't get to be chummy with Kissinger if you're a complete dolt on how the world works. The country is nothing if not firmly meshed within real politik.

One thing the Western Democracy advocates need to learn to wake up and see that there all governments have ugly dark sides. Some at least aim to work for the betterment of their country. I've heard all the allegations of self profit, but I hardly see what they're referring to. Read a bit of world history. Just the modern stuff, all the new actual dictators. Do you see Idi Amin transforming Uganda from where it was Colonial wise to a bustling city enterprise? Did you see the West helping? Read the modern history of Africa, South America, Asia. Tell me, did you see the fucking benevolent enlightened democracies helping the people there for their own good? Or have you seen places completely buried under crushing debts by foreign banks made by their (Actual!) dictators to buy nice Mercedes Benzs. The largest democracy in the world is India. And let me tell you, that system sure seems to be working for their poor. No oppression at all or incompetence on the part of the government. No sir. Democracy isn't a sodding catch all solution to everything. It is one form of governance that is it. When the government loses its legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of the populace you get the current Middle East situation. When we're mostly fed and content... well, what more do you want in life? Are you fed and content? Can you go to work to earn so your kids can get a good education? Can you earn the money to emigrate if you want because you'd like to be on the dole in a foreign country? Well go right ahead, because you can earn enough if you work hard until your fingers drop off. But that is the sodding same everywhere. Do what you want if you can get the cash... as long as there is a chance for you to work towards it, then work.

Do you think these lovely Western Democracies and their human rights could be to blame for the current situation in Iran in a chain lock of bloody events back into the 1950s? Yes they are. Look it up. Who took in all the Nazi rocket scientists who built the NASA rockets? Yes, good old human rights record U.S of A. I can't really condemn it, at the end of the day, international politics is real-politik. If I was in power then I'd probably grab them too, because screw the damn Commies. But seriously, don't hold yourself up to be a shining example. It gets annoying. You're better. But not in that many areas. So your style of governance doesn't exactly show much benefit for people looking for a swap when a country is down and broken. Because when a country is down and broken, nothing is more critical than everybody yelling to be heard to get it out. Cohesive, central direction is needed when a country faces a crisis. Otherwise it is a load of yelling. And this isn't even governance. Talk computer games for example (Right, thats for another post)

And you want to talk about their more stellar record as a democracy? What f-ing bullshit. Human rights? Their own people can't even fly on the no-fly lists while actual terrorist suspects get on board. They got the right to free speech to protest? Except they don't do they? Check the history of protests at Republican rallies? What happened to the protesters? Isn't much more elegant if you apply for a permit in the first place? So you didn't get it. Oh well. Did you think your protest was going to change something anyway? Do you think the protesters change anything in America? in the United Kingdom? These are not the same protests that they are in the Middle East keep in mind. There it is a complete societal upheaval. And I'll tell you this. It isn't a sodding street party when that sort of stuff happens. You really have nothing much to lose in life if you do that.

When a whole society decides that they have nothing to lose through bloody revolution, then they protest. Take Egypt, take Libya, you have no money, your relatives disappear. You have no job, no way of improving your lot in life. Death by government bullet doesn't seem to hold that much of a dissuasion as opposed to fighting for the chance of a better future.

Do you see the same situation in Singapore at all? Do you see a wealthy rich class hell bent on oppressing the poor incessantly? Do you see the rich clamouring for more tax cuts? We have a terrible poor-rich gap. I cannot deny that. We also have a top notch public transport system compared to many other countries. There is good and bad in everything. Am I arguing that the Singapore government is perfect? No I'm not. That'd be ridiculous. They are only human like the rest. But humans can strive to achieve if they put their mind to it. The government's secrecy is an asset and liability all rolled into one. Asset because other countries cannot outguess the Republic's moves and liability because of the uneasiness of the citizens about the secrecy. But that is life for you. You never got a rose without some thorn.

As for the talking about why its important for other countries not to know the Republic's next move, every single damn country worth its salt does the same thing. We are in competition here. Financially, militarily. All countries compete to some extent because they aim to benefit their populations first and others second. If you do not watch out for your best interests, no one else will. Not even if you're all getting slaughtered slowly with machetes.

Which brings me to another quick rebuttal. Do I understand people disliking Conscription? Yes I completely emphatize with it. Can I say that there really is no other military option? Yes I can too. They're not mutually exclusive. I can understand not liking the prospect. I can also understand the viewpoint of the government vis a vis regional security. Wealth doesn't mean we can hire mercenaries, because if the Middle Ages showed anything, its that you really shouldn't rely on mercenaries to do the fighting for you. Cross reference the Italian city states. It does get to me sometimes. People not doing their sodding reading and then criticizing. I don't blame a person if they're young, and don't have exposure to research and read these things up properly. Or if your education doesn't shape you to doing that. But for the love of FSM if you're a professional covering the area do a bit of sodding reading. Just a little bit. A page wouldn't kill you. Wikipedia isn't that inaccurate. My medical friends all used Wikipedia to get through University. Which is a half scary prospect but I'm alive even after having taken their advice so well, what you going to do anyway. It is the roulette of life, the house wins.

Don't draw stupid bloody comparisons if you want to debate the merits of the government. And as I said before, do some bloody research and try to understand why some things are being done. The problem is hard to comment on some times because a average citizen like me or many others do not have access to the intelligence reports that Intelligence Agencies gather. Like many things in life the best decisions you can make are the ones where you have the most information and then you make the choice. It is hard to make a judgement call on Singapore personally in my view. If the government views (and they do) that the country is on a constant knife edge struggling to keep ahead in the world, then its hard to say what should or shouldn't be done. Most countries don't have that knife edge living. Most countries wouldn't deteriorate rapidly if anything untoward were to happen. They have the size, they have the manpower to survive hits. Singapore has approximately zilch.

The education system gets a thrashing as well sometimes. Saying that it obviously is insufficient because we need to keep importing foreign talent. They could have implemented that one better from what I heard but sodding hell, all countries education systems have problems. I hear they are actually looking into it now for Singapore at least. In comparison to say... other countries where the education budget gets slashed more and more when the economy tanks.

In conclusion, holy crap, this blog was supposed to be about more than just Singapore and look at my latest few posts. Maybe its more annoying because a lawyer can't even get the definitions straight. Singapore isn't a Fascist state, nor is it a dictatorship. The country got compared to North Korea by the BBC. North fucking Korea. I mean seriously. "Oh people get caned for graffiti" Yeah well mate, in the United States the wrong person ends up incarcerated because prosecution just railroad the whole damn thing through. So don't start drawing comparisons to North Korea when a country looks better than most of your cities do.

No joke, first time I went overseas to a western country I was seriously seriously disappointed. They always seem so much better when other people talk about it. But really, the governments are weak, uninspiring and often just bloody one minded thanks to the multi-party system. Ironic isn't it? See, when you're in power you can consider ideas that actually work for the long term. When you have to worry about re-election constantly you're just appealing to the masses. And what the hell about the masses. I am part of the masses. Get me drunk enough and I'd vote for anybody. I'd vote for a politician that targetted/benefitted my demographic at the exclusion of others. I don't look to what is best for my country overall. I ask, are you giving me a sodding tax cut or what.

That is the relaxing thing about blogs. At least I didn't have to write this to the standard of an essay. Something to look forward in new blog posts. Computer games! And the education of the next generation. Something else. Next post will be about something else.  Maybe a koala or something. Like an albino koala. It'll be so adorable.