If I Were To Say 'El Bruiote'

You Would, Obviously - Of Course! - Immediately Think Back To 1588

This is the year the Spanish - do we have a derogatory name for the Spanish at BOOJUM! yet?  If not I shall have to work on it - attempted to invade England with their Armada, which was a serious problem as the English army was not especially large and this was looooong before the age of airplanes; no RAF to the rescue.  Art!

     What England did have was both a navy and Sir Frances Drake, the former being quite formidable and the latter being as cunning as a fox.  He had intelligence about the Armada anchoring at Gravelines overnight, and so resorted to the above: fireships.  These were old, obsolete or derelict ships which were piled high with lumber, pitch and gunpowder, set alight and allowed to drift into enemy formations.  In an age where ships were composed of wood, such an incendiary intrusion posed severe risks, and the Armada ships were forced to cut anchor cables and disperse.  Which meant they then had to re-assemble, all plans being thwarted for the time being.

     What brought all this on?  O I thought you'd never ask!  You may recall the Ukrainians being present at the SPIEF on the 3rd of June, despite not being invited.  Art!

It means 'Spy File'

 

     You cannot deny this is a Ruffian fire ship.  More accurately, a ship on fire.  O how it is on fire!  It is the corvette - the smallest type of naval warship - 'Boykiy' and it was in dry dock undergoing maintenance or repairs.  The Kozaky hit it with a pair of drones, no details of what they were but they carried a substantial payload, because the Boykyi is engulfed within by raging fires and the radome mast has collapsed.  This is an ex-corvette.  Art!

     The Boykiy in happier days when it could still float.  Note that this ship cost $330 million when new, replacement cost estimated at $440 million, and destroyed by a couple of drones costing no more than $100,000 at most.  Quite a return on investment.

     Speaking of investments, remember that 20% of Ruffian houses have no toilet; they resort to ghastly latrines outside.  However - a word you surely knew was coming - Putinpot has endless monies available for weapons used to kill Ukrainian civilians.  The strike on 2nd June consisted of:

33 Iskanders, the ballistic missiles that are hardest to intercept.  Art!

     11 were intercepted, which is actually a pretty good rate for this type of missile.  At $3 million each the strike cost $99 million, of which $33 millons-worth were shot down.
8 Zircon anti-ship missiles, all of which hit targets.  Art!

At $10 million each, that's $80 million in expenditure.

5 Kalibr cruise missiles.  Art!

     Of the 5 launched, 3 were intercepted, so at $2 million per unit, they spent $10 million and $6 millions-worth were shot down.  

27 Kinzhal missiles.  Art!

     They launched 27 of these, of which 26 were shot down, an excellent interception rate.  At $10 million per unit, that's $270 million expenditure and $260 millions-worth shot down.  A bit of an Ouch, that one.

656 Shahed drones.  Art!

     We're going to go with an average of $35,000 per unit, as the original basic model had needed to be upgraded with armour plating, electronic warfare-resistant systems, jet engines and - until recently - Starlink.  So, a total of 602 were shot down, meaning $21 millions-worth.

      Overall the interception rate was 95%, with $360 millions-worth of missiles and drones being shot down, from a total expenditure of $482 million.  Almost half a billion dollars spent in a single night, and the residents of Buryatia live like this.  Art!

Could be worse.  Could be living in Norilsk.

     The Ruffian bombardment of Ukrainian civilians, with the occasional military target thrown in, contrasts sharply with the current Ukrainian drone campaign against the orc supply lines in the occupied south of their country.  Art!

    Thank you 'Jake Broe' - now back from holidaying in Sorkland - and Clement, whom goes to great lengths to confirm actual drone attacks and then geolocates them.  Which means the real total of Ruffian supply vehicles hit is actually considerably more than you see here.  Krim is now suffering from this blockade, and it's hurting them.  Art!

     Nor is the shortage limited to fuel.  With supply vehicles either being destroyed or not running at all, thanks to drivers not wanting to die, food rationing is already being introduced.  Art!

     No more than 3 bags of sugar, buckwheat or pasta.

     Conrad did a bit of digging, as I am wont to do, and for the population of Krim, 2.4 million people, they need just over 2,000 tons of food supplied PER DAY to eat sufficiently well to sustain life.  How can they do this if the land bridge is cut off and they can't use the Kerch Bridge?  Using small ferries to ship tankers and trucks in doesn't provide enough tonnage and is even now causing backlogs of up to 5 days to load said ferries.  They might be able to fly food in, but how do they then distribute it without fuel?  Use helicopters to stock supermarkets and expect people to walk there and back?

     Watch this space!

Progress Report

You may have seen cryptic comments as I post daily links on Youtube and Twitter about Hawkeye or The Hulk.  All will become clear.  Art!

     From port to starboard that's Hawkeye, Iron Man, Captain America and The Hulk, all pretty much complete.  All I have left to do now are Black Widow and Thor.  

     I like to keep you informed.  

Bullet Bitten

Last night I finally committed to doing what ought to have been done ages ago: I wrote down in longhand all my Official Histories, noting if they were the originals or the Battery Press reprints from the Nineties.  They total 60 volumes and map sets and I need to record them on Word to have a permanent record of what I've got.  Art!

     Then I re-sorted them in the bookcase, in chronological order from top port, 'France and Belgium' first.  Art!

     Getting hold of 'The War In The Air' in the original editions is highly problematic, I've only got Volume 1.  Ah well, persistence will prevail.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO INFORM ME!

For your information, many of the above tomes were acquired via 'Abebooks', which has a function that enables you to see how much you've spent on books, which I dare not even glance at.  Then this advert came up on Youtube in between listening to cyberpunk soundtracks.  Art!

     Yes yes yes, I KNOW!

More Less Than Gentle Shoeing

If you want hard physical evidence that Donold Judas Trump has all the wit and class of a screw worm, look no further than the bizarre Ultimate Fighting Championship infrastructure being erected on the White House lawns.  Art!

     One has to ask whose idea this was?  Probably the UFC themselves, whom definitely paid millions in bribes to King Piggy to stage an event that will cost at least $60 million and is unlikely to net more than $30 million.  The organisers are already looking to bring in South Canadian Army personnel to fill seats if not everyone turns up.

     It did bring a rewarding Photoshop riposte from persons unknown.  Art!

Ten-ton toddler tanting

Bring On The Popcorn!

As you should surely know by now, Conrad Your Humble Scribe cares not one whit for the ballfoot game, except to read the citric and venomous commentaries that the BBC permits on their 'Have Your Say' pages, which are hilarious in that swearing is forbidden, so people have to manage other ways to express their loathing for other ballfoot teams.  With that in mind - Art

     Apparently England were playing a friendly against New Zealand, which I think means that, regardless of outcome, it has no effect on official scores or rankings.  The venue was a Tampa stadium of 69,000 seats, with tickets going for £225, or $300.  If that seems spicy, bottled water cost $8.75 and a 'large beer' which is under a pint, cost $17, or £12.70 in proper money.  FIFA has also banned refillable water bottle in order to gouge fans even more.  How utterly utterly  unexpected!  
     Fan attendance for the Brits and Kiwis was 25,000, or about one-third venue capacity, and frankly more than I expected.

     

Finally -

I need to get some bread and walk Edna before the rains arrive.  Wish me luck!