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Some Interesting Military Data

Timerover: The "solitary arboreal" bit was dropped from the Alien Module version.

I would agree that a lion is a good comparison - same ecological role, same environment, similar group dynamic - provided the mass difference is accounted for.
 
Interesting that when the subject of Rations comes up, comments always follow. Maybe I should post something regarding the rations for War Dogs and Horses/Mules in World War 2, which would give some idea of Vargr and K'kree food requirements, given that the K'kree average 550 kilos per Mongoose Library Data. And I would suspect that the food requirements for an adult Terran Lion would be a reasonable approximation for the Aslan.

Every generation of whatever military complains about their field rations. Heck, when US vets complain about the newish MREs, I tell them about the five fingers, and beef brick, and the dehydrated pork and beef patty. When they fielded the ration heater sack (just add water), just that was like night and day.

The T-rats are actually quite good, but people get tired of them quick (the new field kitchens are mostly a place with water heaters for the trays, a place to mix drink mixes, and a washing area).

In 1105 there must be 3I Marines bitching about the paste in the battledress, and the (probably) quite good field rations when they can take the BD off for a while.
 
GT AR 2 - arboreal - later still ;)

Wonder what MgT says :devil:

Neither of those is core to the Traveller lines. AM1 is.
MT does use Arboreal in the Encyclopedia, but not in the Reb SB.

Also, we know from the existence of Referee's Library Data that the main library data is in-universe perspective, and not always true. The AM is written from an authoritative truth standpoint.

Still, aslan are no more Lemur Like than we are - on many levels.
Lemurs are mostly insectivores or herbivores.
Lemurs are generally small.
Lemurs are nocturnal.

None of which are good comparisons to the gaze-hunting aslan. Aslan similarities to lions are strong.

If you're going that route, then the parallel niche for the aslan ancestor is something like a leopard, in the same way that our ancestor is something like a chimp. (noting that we are only a few million years divergent from chimps.)

Also note: AM1 implies quite strongly that their recent spurs off are all deceased on Kusyu... the Fteirle killed off all the other top predators. So there is probably no surviving presentient close split species surviving - the Fteirle killed them as they're all predatory.
 
DGP's Solomani and Aslan mentions forest dwelling forebearers and even states that Aslan historians ( pov writing) believe that the manipulative hands developed to aid in hunting tree dwelling prey.
 
If you're going that route, then the parallel niche for the aslan ancestor is something like a leopard, in the same way that our ancestor is something like a chimp. (noting that we are only a few million years divergent from chimps.)

Like this leopard, who has hauled his impala lunch up to his bedroom some 30' above the ground?

Leopard-in-tree-e1309215799228.jpg
 
Every generation of whatever military complains about their field rations. Heck, when US vets complain about the newish MREs, I tell them about the five fingers, and beef brick, and the dehydrated pork and beef patty. When they fielded the ration heater sack (just add water), just that was like night and day.

The T-rats are actually quite good, but people get tired of them quick (the new field kitchens are mostly a place with water heaters for the trays, a place to mix drink mixes, and a washing area).

In 1105 there must be 3I Marines bitching about the paste in the battledress, and the (probably) quite good field rations when they can take the BD off for a while.

I got a taste of C-rations, from the Korean War, in Boy Scouts. The troop I was in was hosted on and sponsered by a military base. About 1965.

We got two boxes of them, some of it was stale. The Scout Master took the cigarettes. But I got the tropical chocolate. A better deal as far as I was concerned.
 
may I say that, dispite my bitching about the puddings, I am quite partial to compo rations, and will happily eat them in preference to, say, a pot noodle or microwave meal, if i can get them. most of my coworker would aggree. it's a constant battle by our QMs to stop rations going missing at the end of a exercise.

i'm told that british rations have been above average for a long time, and that a british soldier in the Gulf in 1990 could pretty much get anything he wanted off a american for a few boxes of compo.
 
After Gulf War I the MREs got much better because prior to and during was when we had the beef brick, five fingers (REALLY tasteless small hot dog/sausages surrounded by tasteless but slimy jelled grease), and the two awful dried out meat patties. So many people bitched after eating them for months straight the army got off their duffs and stepped up the meal taste and texture quality.

Which makes me think of a plot point or color. Field rations prior to and after the FFW. Prior to they are for all major races, and therefore tasteless and poorly textured for all. Afterward there were so many complaints that even sector courts and the Moot asked questions, and now the meals are divided by race, and pretty good eating. The issues are two fold: There are still hundreds of millions of pre-change meals in the supply system and storage; and supply and logistics just got 4 times harder, which means a huge chance of screwing up the correct mix for a unit.
 
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Which makes me think of a plot point or color. Field rations prior to and after the FFW. Prior to they are for all major races, and therefore tasteless and poorly textured for all. Afterward there were so many complaints that even sector courts and the Moot asked questions, and now the meals are divided by race, and pretty good eating. The issues are two fold: There are still hundreds of millions of pre-change meals in the supply system and storage; and supply and logistics just got 4 times harder, which means a huge chance of screwing up the correct mix for a unit.

"aww, man! Aslan Rations AGAIN? my bayonet is going blunt trying to cut all this steak!"
 
As this appears to have turned into a discussion of rations which, while near and dear to my heart, is not the purpose of the thread, would it be possible for one of the moderators to move everything including post 248, excepting post 250, to another thread specifically for rations?
 
Lol, says the one who said he would look up the dietary requirements of lemurs :)

The thread will get back on topic after a bit, this stuff tends to happen with long threads.

I take it you are ok with the two pages about the my little pony tank? :devil:

Please, just keep posting the stuff you dig up, it is usually very interesting; and look at it this way. You are stimulating discussion and getting people to think about stuff.
 
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As this appears to have turned into a discussion of rations which, while near and dear to my heart, is not the purpose of the thread, would it be possible for one of the moderators to move everything including post 248, excepting post 250, to another thread specifically for rations?

In no way is this unusual for this site. The thread that started with a military topic. Many people had ideas to share. From there people took the conversation in a number of directions about the development of the military methods/equipment, and now we are talking rations.

If you have a good point about how the 1105 military(ies) developed, please share. I have read a bunch of ideas and viewpoints already that are new to me and great observations.
 
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You do have a point, however, I do have several volumes covering rations development for the US Army (note, I am not kidding about the several volumes), to include the distinction between rations for French troops supplied by the US under Lend-Lease, Moslem troops, civilians, civilians working for the US Army in some way, Prisoners of War, and Prisoners of War performing work for the US Army. The following quote comes from the US Army Quartermaster history of supply in the war against Germany, available for download from the Center for Military History.

The terms of the Geneva Convention provided that prisoners would be fed a type A ration equal in quantity and quality to that of custodial troops in base camps, but it soon became apparent that this allowance could not be provided. When reports were received that American prisoners in German camps were suffering from malnutrition and that the average ration in the German Army approximated 2,700 calories, the OCQM decided that there was no justification for providing the German soldier with a ration increase of 25 percent merely because he had achieved prisoner of war status. General Littlejohn contended, in fact, that it would be wasteful to feed an American ration of 3,700 to 4,000 calories to prisoners who were accustomed to less than American soldiers

Hmm, thinking about this leads to some interesting ideas as to PoW treatment in Traveller. I can just see the Aslan taking great pleasure in offering the K'kree the standard Aslan ration, while I suspect that the K'kree probably do not take Aslan or Vargr prisoners. Feeding them would be a bit difficult. That might be a though for another thread.

General Littlejohn argued that this menu was not likely to lead to malnutrition: "Definitely I do not intend to go along on a ration which will cause prisoners to starve to death, or throw them into our hospitals. Neither do I intend to be a party to a ration which will make the Germans fat." (Emphasis added by yours truly.)

General Littlejohn was the Chief Quartermaster for the European Theater of Operations.

As indicated in my signature, I do think that studying logistics if fun. I have read all of the US Army logistics histories of World War 2. Reading about the attempts to organize supplies on Bataan in the Philippines at the start of the war is a bit depressing, while reading about supply in the South Pacific after having been to the Solomon Islands is absolutely fascinating.
 
I applaud your restraint. The forum rules ask us to show reasonable restraint with digressions, the original poster (you) asks to bring the focus back to topic (which if I understood the first post correctly, related historical military data with Traveller skills), and you get blowback in response. I admit I am enjoying the digression - and I very much enjoy the additional information you bring to us on that subject. I am perfectly willing to accept a discussion of the culinary arts of war as an extension of the military data discussion, if the OP is. However, I'm not entirely sure that I could have treated such discourtesy to the OP with the same level of civility.
 
You do have a point, however, I do have several volumes covering rations development for the US Army (note, I am not kidding about the several volumes), to include the distinction between rations for French troops supplied by the US under Lend-Lease, Moslem troops, civilians, civilians working for the US Army in some way, Prisoners of War, and Prisoners of War performing work for the US Army.

Do you have a copy of the 1920 USN cookbook?

U.S. Navy cook-book 1920
 
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