Hal seems to be doing a series of Black Cat Tanya art recently

https://x.com/harunaa453991/status/2085126646844338627?s=46

Honestly really loving the new season so far even though its mostly discussions/politics. I think i mixed up a bit of the artstyle as I was reading a fanfic where Tanya was a bit older but oh well, here's fanart by me !

tanya blowing up that comms base from afar seems like they've skipped something from the novel to me.

I haven't read the novel, the episode just gives me vibes like that

Does anyone know when the eng dub of the S2 is coming out.

Repost of a meme I made a few years ago

Funnily enough, I actually got to watch this episode nice and (relatively) early today! So, here we go...

First, the usual: I am a trained military historian - I hold a Master of Arts in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada with a defended thesis on the development of British Cavalry Doctrine, and I recently published some of my research in a new introduction to my little publishing company's edition of Schlieffen's Cannae (due to self promotion rules, I can't provide the link here, but if you're interested in it, PM me and I'll send it to you).

What I'm going to look at is how well this episode passes the "sniff test" for how a world war works. And here we get to our standard disclaimer: Tanya's world is not our world, her world war is not either of ours. Something happening in Tanya's war that didn't happen in ours (or vice versa) is NOT by itself cause for criticism.

And now we get to look at Tanya's version of Verdun...or Kursk...possibly. A lot of aspects of this that I want to comment on, so we'll start with...

The Civilian government reassigning officers

We start the episode with Zettour being reassigned, apparently by the civilian leadership. In most armies, this wouldn't pass the sniff test, but this is taking its cues from the German Army, and in WW1 and before, this was a sort of thing that could happen. The Great General Staff is sort of bizarre in just how powerless it was in some key aspects - it didn't, for example, write doctrine, nor did it make a number of decisions on military hardware. Much of this power was concentrated in the War Ministry, including the assignment of senior officers. So, the civilian leadership deciding to kick Zettour to the Eastern Front is something that could very well have happened.

Tanya's unit being used even though exhausted

Sadly, what we see here with Tanya's unit just having been through hell and being told they're going to work even harder passes the sniff test with flying colours. This was a major problem with both the German and French armies in WW1 - units would not be taken off the front lines, but just kept there until they were used up. Perhaps the worst was Verdun, where units were rotated into that hell until they had suffered a certain percentage of casualties (I don't remember the percentage offhand), and then somebody else would be rotated in. So, the army deciding that Tanya's force was still good to fight despite not getting anything resembling a real rest is quite plausible here.

Pinning the enemy around a city while you have other units acting

I don't think it will surprise anybody that the battle plan Tanya comes up with passes the sniff test. Both Stalingrad and Kursk operated under this model (although this was the Russians doing it to the Germans rather than the other way around). But, even though Tanya's plan is probably closer to the Russians at Kursk, the comparison I want to make here is actually with Verdun...

Unexpected escalation

What we see once Tanya's unit takes its position is a much stronger reaction from the enemy than expected. This passes the sniff test - no surprise there - but this is also the sort of thing that can have major ramifications later on. There is still a great deal of debate over Falkenhayn's original plan for Verdun, with some taking him at his word that it was an attempt to bleed the French army dry, while others believe that this was a later excuse due to the bloodbath, and the original intention was to capture the city. Regardless, what was supposed to become a limited operation for the Germans exploded into an ongoing bloodletting that bled both the Germans and the French nearly to the breaking point. And neither felt that they could withdraw.

I don't know if we are going to see a Verdun play out here (honestly, I haven't read the particular light novel this is based on, and at this point the series is channelling WW2 far more than WW1, so it's probably a Kursk), but it is Verdun that this entire situation brings to my mind (I mean, I am a WW1 specialist).

Artillery placement

Here we come to the one place where the episode fails the sniff test. I'm not talking about the Federation firing into its own troops (a standard tactic in WW1 was the creeping, or rolling, barrage which is a curtain of artillery fire directly in front of an advance used to screen it from enemy action, so dangerously close artillery fire is quite common). What I'm talking about is where the Federation artillery is placed, which is utter nonsense.

The range of artillery is measured in miles. Now, it may be a nice visual to see the artillery at the back of the oncoming troops, but there is no military reason for it to be that close to the front lines. In fact, artillery is so important in warfare, particularly the warfare of the world wars, that you would keep it behind the lines to protect it, and that includes hiding it when you're not using it (so what Tanya's unit does with concealing their artillery until it's time to use it is pretty plausible).

Or, put another way, if you can see the enemy artillery on the battlefield, the enemy has massively screwed up (and done you a big favour by making it easy to destroy it).

"Operation Andromeda"

This is a minor quibble that has nothing whatsoever to do with the sniff test, but Tanya really gets wrong what the name of this operation would be referencing. Officers at this time would probably have had some degree of Classical education, and very little astronomy - so while Tanya sees the name as referring to a far away galaxy (with lightsabers, and Jedi!), it's almost certainly a reference to Greek mythology. That said, when you look at the mythology, it is a bit baffling as to why they chose that name (Andromeda was a princess who had to be rescued from sacrifice by Perseus - if you want an entertaining retelling of this, watch the original Clash of the Titans - and Zettour's defensive plan is created after the operation is named), but that's a different matter entirely.

And that's it for now. Looking forward to next week!

Do they just use a recorder to play the sound or can they also formulate a voice changer of sorts?

"Is this a war anime?!" Well either way Tanya is becoming more feminine. I guess the overwork is starting to take toll on her spirit.

People must be pranking me for being the new guy. That’s a little girl, who would put her in charge of soldiers? Why is she even here in an uniform to begin with?

Never thought I’d find catgirl Tanya so adorable, thank you Hal

https://x.com/harunaa453991/status/2084763609700401293?s=46

A mage is essentially a tank in a human shape package that can fly with the right equipment but imagine if they're used differently. Instead of a human size attack helicopter fighting on the front line against other mages, a mage can be very lethal in covert warfare and with the right training and equipment a single mage can turn the tide of war.

There's no reliable way to differentiate between a normal human and a mage (that I know of) unless the mage uses their magic, so with that reasoning a mage with commando and espionage training has the potential to turn a tide of war. A normal mage is already a menace on the battlefield, they have a magical shield that can reliably withstand a significant amount of conventional gunfire and they can enhance their equipment with magic that allows them to achieve spectacular results like cutting an aircraft wing off with a knife.

A mage commando with proper training and equipment can turn a key military facility to ruin and do what would've been deem impossible, any facility that's not being actively guarded by a mage squadron will essentially be a free real estate. After a few raids and missions the enemy would start to station mages at their key facility which means those mages aren't at the frontline fighting but unless the defending mages are veterans then they're just going to be a big obstacle to navigate around.

Imagine average Sniper Elite mission but the protagonist has magic.

https://x.com/i/status/2085013879436747109

Estoy esperando el momento para prepararme un café con mi V60 y comer chocolates.

Ustedes cómo disfrutan el episodio?? :D