1. Naruto/Naruto Shippuuden, A story about a teenager in the  world of ninjas. He has a fox demon sealed inside of him and he has to learn how to control and use it’s power.

Rated:8-Above. Has some violence, fairly low adult content (women bathing with mist to cover).

2.Bleach: A story about soul reapers/death gods, Ichigo has to stop the hollow (evil spirits) and release the good spirits to Soul Society (heaven). Goes deeper than this but is the starting plot. 

Rated: 9-Above Has violence (a little more serious than Naruto). No adult content.

3. One Piece: A story of pirates in which a cheerful pirate (he is a “good” pirate who helps people and goes pirating for the adventure) named Luffy is in search of the One Piece, the treasure of the world.

Rated:11-Above. Has some violence. Some adult content (reveling clothing, women bathing ). 

4. Rosario + VampireRosario + Vampire Capu2: A student  mistakenly gets sent to a school for monsters in which the monsters are learning how to live peacefully with humans. The student falls in love with a girl who is a vampire (her real self is sealed with a rosary). However other girls start liking him too falling into a love rival type of thing with some action. 

Rated 14-Above: Has some violence, Moderate Adult Content (Panties frequently shown, reveling clothing, sexual scenes).

5.High School of the Dead: Zombies invade! A group of friends band together to survive in the new zombie world. With a quest to find their relatives. 

Rated 14-Above: Gore, blood, violence. Some adult content (panties shown frequently, reveling clothing, breasts shown through clothing. 

6. Full Metal Alchemist(and Brother Hood series): A boy becomes a state alchemist with a quest to find the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s stone which ignores the alchemist law of equivalent trade to get their bodies back from which were taken when they tried to bring their mother back to life but failed as they did not provide trade in which the alchemy took Ed’s leg and arm and his little brother’s (Al) body. However Ed barely made it in time to put Al’s soul into a suit of armour.

Rated:9-Above: Some violence, some gore, blood, no adult content. 

 And lost myself for a while in that heady atmosphere’

A ruin now, the once proud stone

Set down, midst Beauvale land

Should haunt the ghost of Henry’s vilest past

And taunt him once again

Those Martyrs set their lives at nought

And never yielding, soon were caught

They could have chosen King ’bove God

They could have given ‘liegence to a mortal tyrant he

They could have hailed him as the grace

Above their own beliefs

They would have known his minions were too grand

Yet doomed to hang, they kept their faith

And did not bow to threats of his command

Centuries slipped away as visitors were welcomed to the cluster of tents: heraldic flags and banners-flying high, proclaiming we had reached the encampment of ‘Team Falchion’ fourteenth century re-enactment knights: dedicated to the memory of Sir Nicholas de Cantilupe, Lord of Ilkeston and founder of Beauvale Priory, and whose remains lie at rest in Lincoln Cathedral.

The pious knights, squires, levied peasantry and retinue were realistically dressed in the most natural way with artefacts and weaponry genuinely created, to accurately reflect living and working conditions of the time.

I entered a Roman Catholic knight’s cosy, circular tent, containing his bed, complete with decorative inner curtain and feather pillows, sheepskin rugs, laid on authentic matting. An iron banded wooden trunk sat just inside the entrance, containing his personal possessions and doubling as a low table. Spread over this, on an embroidered sleeve, lay his strung-bead-Rosary, tankard, and green-bohemian-glass goblets, his sheathed dagger, working knife and wooden food bowl.

We were treated to displays of ‘knights, in man to man combat’ Squires doing battle, full of enthusiastic violence: if not such skilful moves: archery exhibitions with the longbow and demonstrations of field manoeuvres by fully armed soldiers. These included pikemen and bowmen and the new musketry of the time, loading and firing (we were told these weapons would never catch on – far too slow and ponderous.)

There were yeoman farmers and their wives and monks and minstrels mingling with the crowd.

Robin Hood was alluded to, and Dougie the Wood, had his beautifully crafted artefacts on display.

Many other enthusiasts were present, giving displays and selling their medieval wares, including ‘The Knights of Skirbeck’ from Lincolnshire with interactive displays of food, cookery and games, as well as armour and weapons (all their equipment being freely accessible.)

All credit to Abbey Farm’s proprietors; Anne and Tony Whyte: for having the inspiration, commitment and determination to present this vivid spectacle of medieval life: for one unforgettable, fascinating weekend, the past was king.  

Photo: crowds in the dry moat at Goodrich Castle awaiting start of the fight (photo by author)

The lead knight whipped the crowd up as he set the scene, telling how the fight was to be a test of his prospective new squire and regaling us with gory details of the unfortunate fate of his last one! As he talked, the new squire was buckled into his armour (a ‘harness of armour’ not a ‘suit of armour’ as we were told) and then demonstrating how flexible it was by rolling, jogging and jumping. The stories of knights unable to get back up due to the weight of their armour are just myths, we were told, with the armour being in the region of 60 to 80 lbs and perfectly wearable if the weight it properly distributed. The real enemy of the armoured man was heat, not weight.

The two warriors set about each other first with poleaxes and polehammers. These are poles around six feet long with blades, points and bludgeoning hammers on the end, designed to batter and pierce steel plate armour. They were the dismounted knight’s main weapon at this point in the Middle Ages, vicious weapons which could cleave armour or bash it in upon the wearer.

Photo: men-at-arms fighting at Goodrich Castle (photo by author)

The men-at-arms then discarded their polearms at went at each other with swords, a knight’s secondary weapon. The clang of blade upon armour echoed around the castle, just audible above the cheers and jeers of the crowd. Finally one man was downed and the other made a show of calling to the crowd to see whether he should give mercy, before kicking his unfortunate opponent… well, somewhere rather painful!

The showmanship of the two re-enactors was superb and really made the event as far as I was concerned. Afterwards there was a chance to meet them and see and discuss their armour and weapons.

Note: this is a companion article to my main one on Goodrich Castle itself, which can be found here.

There is always light at the end of the tunnel, except for the fact that light is a train and you’re standing on the tracks, it is more like  you know you’re falling and no one calls 911 or worst. If one of the partners is the bread earner it could easily end up into self pity for the other, the incessant bludgeon of not doing enough compared to their spouse causes bitterness. The adaptations made to re-shape the lifestyles accordingly eats away all the charm that is left to the dreamy bubble, reality hits hard and blows out all the affection. For better or for worse vows tilt the equilibrium to worse side and sharing the worse becomes a challenge. It does not merely stops at being a problem related to earning enough dough and no single plan can workout for such marriages. It requires numerous modifications and compromises since there are no bailouts and no fairy god mothers.

Erasing debts and mopping out the economic dust that accumulates under the carpet of life is not an easy procedure and calls for resilience and patience. Till then it is safe to stop aiming for objectives that are out of reach and focalize the priorities. Enjoy the simple pleasures of life because the rosy glow of pre-marriage romance may not be there. Talking things out on a regular basis and dishing out concerns honestly, is one way of getting the load of the chest. Sinking down under the weight of financial woes could be an easy escape but to stay afloat one needs courage and endurance.

At higher levels of command, the terminology is the same for all arms of service. One can talk of tank divisions just as one would talk of infantry divisions, and similarly tank corps and even on occasion tank armies (occasionally created for the massive battles on the Second World War Eastern Front).

Note, though, that whilst an infantry division has only infantry as the combat arm, with some artillery supporting it, a tank or armoured division has a mixture of tanks and infantry together. Tanks without infantry are very vulnerable in anything but wide open countryside, they are poor at securing the ground they have taken (one needs infantry to winkle the last remnants of a beaten enemy out of their trenches and fox holes) and they are poor at defending the ground they have captured. So except for a few failed experiments at the start of the Second World War, all tank divisions have a decent infantry component too.

The basic unit of the artillery is the battery, a grouping of 4 to 8 artillery guns firing together at one target. Usually, 3 or 4 batteries will make up an artillery regiment, though some nations use the term artillery battalion. Normally no higher level exists for the artillery, as artillery regiments are built into the infantry and tank divisions. The exception, once again, was in the two world wars. The British in the Second World War created artillery groups of several regiments, called Army Groups Royal Artillery (AGRAs) which were basically large reserves of artillery firepower which could be sent to add weight to a pre-attack bombardment of any corps or division that needed the extra boost. The Germans and Russians did similar things, and on the Eastern Front there were even artillery divisions, massive groupings of guns that could create bombardments outweighing even those of the First World War (usually thought of as the artillery and machine gun war).

In the next part of this series I will give examples of some military formations, to add life to these rather dry explanations.

Links to other parts of this series:

Part 1: infantry formations, divisional level and below: http://socyberty.com/military/terminology-of-military-units-part-1-infantry-formations-divisional-level-and-below/

Part 2: higher level formations: http://socyberty.com/military/terminology-of-military-units-part-2-high-level-formations/

I’ll start from the smallest unit type and working upwards, beginning with the infantry then moving on to other arms such as armour (tanks) and artillery in later parts.

Section:a group of about 8 to 12 infantrymen with one or two light machine guns to give them firepower, usually led by a corporal. Might be divided into two ‘fire teams’ so that one can give covering fire to the other as it advances, but these teams aren’t usually permanent units so I’ve not included them in this list. In armoured infantry or mechanised infantry units, the section will travel together in an armoured personnel carrier (APC) or infantry fighting vehicle such as the UK Warrior or the US Bradley. Doesn’t usually operate on its own in battle, though for patrolling and other peacekeeping operations a section can be an ideal size to send out from a base as it is capable of defending itself but not so big as to be provocative.

Platoon: a unit of around 4 sections, so 40 to 60 men. Commanded by a lieutenant or a senior sergeant. Might also have a few support weapons such as a light mortar or an anti-tank rocket launcher. Usually considered the smallest unit that can launch an attack as it has enough sub-units to keep a small reserve and also send a section to work round the enemies’ flanks as well as attacking the front.

Company: a unit of around 3 or 4 platoons, say 200 to 300 men. Usually commanded by a captain or a major. Most of the platoons in a company will be ordinary infantry platoons (sometimes called rifle platoons), but often there will be one support weapon platoon with mortars and possibly heavier machine guns for sustained fire (the light machine guns used by the individual sections are more designed for short bursts of fire).

Battalion: a fundamental unit of 600 to 1000 men, usually in 3 or 4 companies, commanded by a lieutenant colonel. Again most of the companies in the battalion will be ordinary infantry companies, but there will often be one support weapon company with machine guns and mortars. In the infantry, the battalion is usually the smallest unit that will be sent to the theatre of war – an infantry battalion would be sent abroad as a whole, rather than sending some of its companies.

Regiment: anything from 1 to 4 battalions. In some armies, regiments are combat formations that are usually kept together. In the British Army the regiment is an administrative unit and its battalions (if it even has more than one) might be serving in different countries. In the British Army, the regiment is the focus of a soldier’s sense of belonging, and the traditions and battle honours belong to the regiment as a whole.

Brigade: a unit of several battalions or regiments (depending on whether the structure includes regiments as a separate level). This is the point where we start to get into large operational units (maybe around 5,000 strong), led by a general (a brigadier general), and with headquarters that are capable of planning sustained operations. It is also the level at which units from other services start to be attached. A brigade might have its own artillery attached, for example. If other combat units, such as armour (tanks) are attached then it might be termed a brigade battlegroup.

Division:until the advent of the brigade battlegroup this was the lowest all-arms formation and in the case of all-out war the basic operational unit that would be sent into the theatre of war. By all-arms I mean that an infantry division would have artillery as a permanent part of its structure, along with reconnaissance units in armoured cars or light tanks. Main battle tanks, however, are usually concentrated in specialised armoured divisions for launching the main punch attacks, with infantry divisions forming the backbone of an army. There can also be specialised airborne divisions of paratroopers. It is also at the divisional level that various support services appear in significant numbers: the medical services, the signallers, and even postal units – everything that is needed to keep a group of men that can be up to 20,000 strong functioning. When you think that this is the size of a small town, but a nomadic town that can be expected to be shifted to another part of the world at short notice and still function, you can begin to imagine the sort of support services that are needed.

In the British Army, the division is the highest level that currently exists. Only when the army is swollen by called-up reservists and conscripts are there enough men together at one time to make larger operational units like corps, armies and even army groups necessary, formations I will discuss in a later part. And if the above seemed a bit dry, I’m going to give examples of some famous and less famous formations to bring them to life and illustrate the terminology in action.

Links to other parts of this series:

Part 2: higher level formations: http://socyberty.com/military/terminology-of-military-units-part-2-high-level-formations/

Part 3: tank and artillery units: http://socyberty.com/history/terminology-of-military-units-part-3-tank-and-artillery-units/

Tankfest 2010 was the first one I attended, a birthday treat from my wife, and also the first time I had been to the Tank Museum since the refurbishment which included the building of the superb new outdoor arena.

Figure 1: German Jagdpanther driving around the arena

The focus of the event was a succession of vehicles driving around the arena, in groups representing different periods of the development of the tank, accompanied by superb and knowledgeable commentaries over the public address system. Each vehicle would drive at least once around the arena before climbing the mound in the middle so as to be visible to all spectators.

Figure 2: the outdoor arena seating embankment

The arena is overlooked by a large curving embankment where spectators can sit, giving a superb overall view. It is also possible to stand up against the stone wall of the arena for a closer look at each vehicle as it thunders by.

The arena displays stopped for lunch, giving one time to eat in the museum cafe and look round the museum’s five indoor halls of tanks (though there were gaps where some vehicles had been taken outside for display).

Figure 3: a view of just part of one of the five indoor tank halls that make up the core of the museum

The afternoon commenced with a parachute display team drop, before the post Second World War vehicles were put through their paces. The day ended with a mock infantry battle based on the ambush of a patrol and road-clearing operation in Afghanistan.

In addition to the arena displays, there were also static displays of vehicles both from the museum’s collection and from private collections, and a chance to see closer-up the tanks which had driven past in the arena.

All in all, it was a superb day out and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to any vehicle or military history enthusiasts. The 2011 Tankfest will be on 25th and 26th June 2011, so if you are in the UK plan your day out now! And if you can’t make it for the Tankfest, the museum’s normal indoor displays are well worth a visit at any time of the year. Almost 300 armoured vehicles to look at should keep you busy all day. Just remember that you’ll owe any non-tankie members of your family a serious favour after indulging your interest!

More information can be found on the Tank Museum website: www.tankmuseum.org

Other tank articles by the same author:

Little-Known Tanks of the Second World War: British Matilda I

http://socyberty.com/history/little-known-tanks-of-the-second-world-war-the-matilda-mark-i/

Little-Known Tanks of the Second World War: British Churchill AVRE combat engineer tank

http://socyberty.com/military/little-known-tanks-of-the-second-world-war-the-british-churchill-avre/

Little-Known Tanks of the Second World War: German Panzer I command tank

http://socyberty.com/history/little-known-tanks-of-the-second-world-war-the-panzer-i-command-tank/

Little-Known Tanks of the Second World War: French B1 bis heavy tank

http://socyberty.com/history/little-known-tanks-of-the-second-world-war-the-french-char-b1-bis/

Little-Known Tanks of the Second World War: French FT17

http://socyberty.com/history/little-known-tanks-of-the-second-world-war-the-renault-ft-17/

Little-Known Tanks of the Second World War: French Renault UE tracked supply vehicle

http://socyberty.com/history/little-known-tanks-of-the-second-world-war-the-french-renault-ue-chenillette/

Gladiatrices Amazon and Achillea on a relief from Halicarnassus, Turkey: Image via Wikipedia

Imagine the scene – the roar of the crowd under a hot summer sun echoes around the round stone structure, then two warriors enter and the crowd falls silent at the sight of them. The two gladiatrices Amazon and Achillea face off in the centre of the arena as the roar begins again and grows to a crescendo. Gladiatrices were female gladiators in the Roman Empire.

Gladiators were the celebrity athletes of the Roman Empire. Unlike their portrayal in film, not all gladiators were slaves, although many were war captives. There was a gladiator’s school near Naples, Italy, and freepersons were permitted to join. Freemen lost their civil rights upon joining and were declared ‘infamous’. At Puteoli duels starred Ethiopian gladiators, race was irrelevant. Slave or not, they were, in fact, too expensive to throw away. They rarely died on the field, unless they were unfortunate enough to be in Rome’s Coliseum and performing in front of the Emperor and on the losing end of a battle and then the Emperor demanded their death. Huge sums would have been paid in compensation to the gladiator’s owner. Gladiators only fought a few weeks of the year and gladiatorial events lasted a few days.

In the film Gladiators there is a chariot driving gal. For a gladiatrix mainly one on one duels were allowed although there is a literary reference to a gladiatrix driving a Celtic style chariot, an essediarius. Female gladiators competed approximately a week a year. Nero sponsored games in AD 55 and AD 63 with gladiatrices. Domitian had gladiatrices perform torch lit duels against dwarves. It is thought gladiatirces fought without helmets and bare-chested. If some did wear breastplates the armour would have weighed 30 pounds and been lined with felt. It has not been determined if a gladiatrix trained at a school or under a private tutor, but there is a death notice from one school : “To the divine shades of Valeria Iucunda, who belonged to the body of the iuvenes. She lived 17 years, 9 months.”

Being a gladiator was a high-risk low status job. It was not considered suitable for women. Senators passed laws to stop gals joining; they made the recruitment of daughters and granddaughters of aristocrats and senators illegal. Severus tried to ban single combat because there too many upper class women joining the ranks of gladiators. Freeborn women who become gladiatrices did so for their own reasons. The job attracted fans and high fees. As they had joined voluntarily, they were guaranteed a minimum price per fight.

Archaeology supports the existence of the female gladiator. Achillea was from Halicarnassus in what is now modern day Turkey. Amazon and Achillea fought each other in Halicarnassus and both were declared winners. In Southwark, a female Roman skeleton, buried outside the main cemetery was identified as a gladiatrix. The Museum of London based this on various finds from the grave, including a pottery lamp of Anubis showing a fallen gladiator and bowls containing burnt pine cones, pine cones were burnt during the games. In Credenhill, Herefordshire, nearby what was the roman town of Kenchester, the body of a muscular woman was found. She was buried in the suburb rather than the cemetery, as was the law, and in a wooden coffin, as evidenced by the remaining nails and decorative bronze strips.

Women in the Roman Empire led fairly constrained lives, especially amongst the nobility. Outside of becoming a courtesan or priestess, being a gladiatrix, was for some high-born young women and wives, one of the few ways for them to take control of their lives.

For further information:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1291446/Archaelogists-muscular-body-female-gladiator-Britain.html

See also: http://authspot.com/poetry/under-the-foot-of-orion/

The British are credited with the first use of tanks in WW I. Following WW I, several plans were implemented in the following world war, with the tanks central to many plans. Many popular tanks were produced in this period. The M4 Sherman of the USA, the famous Soviet T-34, are just a few tanks which have changed the course of history.

Tanks are often deployed as “support” crew, with units of tanks supporting infantry and other vehicles. Due to their versatility, brutal strength and resistance, they have become the mainstay of modern armies and mostly look to remain that way for some time to come.

World War I saw the first tanks roll out on to the battlefield. The British were the first to begin production with the British Mark I tank the first ever tank to engage in battle. Although Germany were famous in their domination of the battlefield with tanks in WW II, they produced very less in WW I, with only about 15 of their A7V tanks on the field. Tanks at that time were being to produced mainly to negate the effects of trench warfare, which often created deadlock on both sides of the battlefield.

Although tanks were produced, they were huge, cumbersome, and slow. They couldn’t deliver on their promise of making trench warfare obsolete, but clearly, developments could make them deliver on that promise.

WW II was the first war for which tanks played an important role in the outcome of the war. Tactics were developed with massed armoured forces in mind, and this gave rise to the German idea of Blitzkrieg. The significance of Blitzkrieg was in that it did not involve superior arms, but it was based on superior tactics. It involved combined arms, which meant that the tanks would work in tandem with the infantry, skipping strongpoints and using radio to co-ordinate their attacks.

It was at this time when one of the most successful tanks of that era, the Soviet T-34 was built. Despite earlier failure, this tank became successful as the war wore on, forcing the Germans to build more powerful and larger Tiger and Panther tanks. Meanwhile, American developments saw the manufacture of the medium tank, the M-4 Sherman. It became the mainstay of the American armed forces during World War II, but although it was strong, it was no match for the superior strength and power of the German tanks. Several modified versions of these tanks were also built, including flamethrowing and mine clearing.

At the same time, tanks were exposed as vulnerable by the production of anti tank weapons. These included anti tank missiles, self propelling rockets, and tanks modified to include armour piercing rounds to destroy other tanks. Progress in the anti tank field seemed to rival advances in tanks, thus keeping them close to each other, thus making it impossible to create an indestructible tank or a superior anti tank weapon.

After the world war, tank development became a lesson of learning from previous failures. The Cold War period was characterized by huge leaps in tank technology, including larger calibre guns, use of sloped armour, powerful engines, and so on. These improvements made tank warfare a lot easier from the point of view of the operators. Famous tanks of this period include the M1 Abrams, Leopard 2, Challenger 2 etc.

The future of tanks seems quite mapped out. Advances in weapon technology have made the tank a seamless integration into the attack minded layout of modern armies. Materials like ceramics which are ultra light but very strong have been made, making tanks near invincible and posing more challenges to the anti tank industry. All these have only served to fortify the obvious. Tanks are here to stay. For a while, atleast.

History of the body armour takes place back at the days of ancient Greeks who wore linen and leather shirts with metal plates to protect chest, heart and shoulders, they also wore metal helmets and sandals to protect heads and feet, additionally Greek warriors had medium round shields to block opponents attacks from arrows, spears and swords.

Later days in the days of Roman Empire Roman foot-soldiers and cavalry wore armour of iron hoops which was called Lorica and was protecting the back as well as the front of the body. Romans also used mail, at first made of small metal plates sewn on leather jerkin, overlapping like tiles on roof.

Romans soldiers also wore famous Roman Square Shields, shields were big enough to protect soldier from his chin to the end of his feat and was perfect for making defensive formations like Turtle Formation

Later in days of Crusader Battles European Knights wore heavy Plate armours which protected every part of body and was very uncomfortable and very heavy that’s why knights moving speed was greatly decreased and usually knights with heavy armour fought on horses in battles.

After the First Crusade European soldiers started to wear Arabian chain males with combination of a thick linen and leather

After invention of gunpowder and firearms there were great change in the way of war and was also a great change in the body armour production steel plates could resist the power of the bullet and uncomfortably of the steel armour was affecting soldiers effectiveness, after this the Francesco Maria Della Rovere commissioned Filippo Negroli to create a bullet proof vest, after this bullet proof vest changed over years along with change of firearms till today, nowadays in modern warfare bulletproof vests have main role in saving the lives of soldiers. One of the most reliable and safe bullet proof vest nowadays is Dragon Skin created by Pinnacle Armour and can even resist gunshots of AK-47 and Heckler&Koch MP5 (9*19 mm).