People of the Internet, I have returned! (As if a little over a week was a hiatus)

That's perhaps what MacArthur would've said, had he been born about 90 years later, and was a cyber warrior. Yeah, a bad joke. Get used to them. That's usually my shtick. But, enough about that, what happened to all the posts? We were getting like two a day man, what the hell? Well, the answer is simple. School. I could list all my little problems that are associated that, but, that's beside the point. The point is that the wheels are turning again, so, the content stream will be coming back. The next thing to cover will The Sacks of Rome by me, and equipment and weapons by Lopes. Oh, also, the poll that was up has now closed, so, pending further changes to what we want to, we're hitting the seas for our next big content package. Hope to see you not only there, but as we travel back to Rome in the 400's and 500's AD!

Thanks for reading,
Augie

Roman engineering at work.

     Hello again everyone! So our beloved friend Augie discussed the events and battles of the Punic wars, this war is important in history because it began the start of the expansion of the Roman empire outside of the Mediterranean. But let's talk about some of the weapons and technology that helped win these magnificent battles.

  The Corvus (as pictured above) was vital for the Romans during the First Punic War, Rome were not as skilled of seafarers as the Carthaginians so they developed the handy Corvus. The Corvus was used as a walkway for Roman soldiers during a naval battle. The roman ship would pull alongside the enemy ship and drop the Corvus, and prongs on the underside would punch through the decks of the opposing ship for a good grip. Then the Romans would run across and engage in hand to hand combat to defeat the enemy. As easy and simple it may sound, the Corvus had some drawbacks. If the seas were rough it would make using the Corvus impractical and could damage the host ship. Also another issue was that the Corvus was bulky and any shipped armed with a Corvus sacrificed maneuverability. Shortly after the First Punic War the Corvus was replaced with newer and better ways of boarding a ship.

     Another fantastic invention which I personally happen to love is the Ballista!

This beauty was an example of early forms of artillery. The Ballista was originally a Greek designed weapon but when Rome absorbed the Greek city states, they in turn learned about torsion mechanics and well, the Ballista was born. The ballista design varied in size and name but the design principle remained the same. designs such as the Scorpio were used as a "sniper weapon" to pick off troops, where as the Ballista was more of a siege weapon. However apparently the Ballista was still used to pick off troops. Making it versatile like a Howitzer would be in the modern world! Well that's all for now and Coming up soon will be an "about me" post from the both of us. -lopes

Next up... Carthage!

So, now that we've covered the Greco-Persian wars, we'll be moving on to the next big war, the three Punic Wars. We'll give you a general overview of each war, the new weapons used by both sides, and why this is such an important conflict. Hope you check it out!

Augie

A Nut like me

So, anyone who had visited my 2 day old blog yesterday, you may notice the contributor list has... doubled! That's right, I found someone as bonkers as me to help write content for this blog. Mr. Lopes will be writing more about equipment and vehicles, rather than the history. But, he has no parameters to follow, so, he may pop a history article or two in there! I hope you're as excited as I am that the JTF now has two writers!

-Augie

Sound Reveille!

So, either by accident or choice, you've stumbled upon my JTF. Well, welcome! You might be asking, this guy seems nice, but what does he think he's doing? I'm glad you asked. I am a bit of nerd for the Military, in all its forms, even though I have a bit more love for Navies. In this blog, I'll be talking to you, dear serviceman/servicewoman about well.. Military stuff! Anything from great battles, to the newest tank that is coming out. Now, I'm a quite well read person on this subject, but, I'm not gonna be perfect. That's where you come in. Instead of picking up your M4, pick up your keyboard, and give me suggestions on what I might have said wrong, or what you think I could be doing better. I'm doing this as a creative outlet for all the knowledge I have, and all the knowledge I have yet to learn, so, I hope you'll find your posting here worthwhile. Again, welcome to Augie's Joint Task Force!