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  1. Shouldn't be too much longer. Real life sometimes interferes with my schedule unfortunately.

    Shouldn't be too much longer. Real life sometimes interferes with my schedule unfortunately.
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  2. Not abandoned, just on hold.

    Not abandoned, just on hold.
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  3. Should be this week.

    Should be this week.
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  4. Impact of steam driven tanks on the American Civil War?

    The British Army did actually use armoured traction engines during the Boer War, and the traction engine was an 1860's innovation, so it might be possible to have them during the American Civil War I suppose.

  5. Other ways Britain could become a republic other then Cromwell’s Commonwealth succeeded

    Not sure how "full fledged" it might be but if the royalists had lost the Second Baron's War and parliament wanted to prevent them trying again that's a possible PoD I suppose. Lord Protector Simon de Montfort of the Republic of England. ;)

  6. How would a British-ruled U.S. have dealt with slavery?

    It's actually one of the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence, to wit: "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us" This does render the earlier phrase in the document "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their...

  7. The Maddest Minute

    They knew full-well about the SMLE OTL, and that it had a considerably better rate-of-fire that their Gewehr 1898, but didn't think that mattered for much so the issue wasn't given much attention. I suspect the same would be true of the F-H. If that sounds daft think of it this way. The last...

  8. The Maddest Minute

    According to Modern Firearms.net the Farquhar-Hill measured 1042mm versus 1132mm for the SMLE Mark III so the F-H is actually shorter. The F-H does have a longer barrel though, 686mm versus 640mm.

  9. The Maddest Minute
    Threadmarks: Part II

    Kaiser Bill is feeling ill The Crown Prince he's gone barmy We don't give a fuck for old von Kluck And all his bleedin' army British Expeditionary Force marching song, August 1914 (sung to the tune of The Girl I left Behind Me) ----- Nimy Village, Belgium – Saturday August 22nd 1914...

  10. The Maddest Minute

    Beyond the Schlieffen Plan issue Zuber apparently has a bit of reputation for overestimating the proficiency of the Germans in WWI and underestimating their opponents. It's the sort of thing that leads to sources being selectively used or dismissed. First hand accounts from the British side do...

  11. The Maddest Minute

    That comes from the testimony of the Fusiliers actually there. I would caution you to not necessarily accept everything Zuber has to say incidentally, just look at all the historians that have major issues with his rather controversial arguments regarding WWI.

  12. The Maddest Minute

    The actual numbers of casualties are certainly disputed, however given that the Germans initially arrived in close-order formation straight into the teeth of machine-guns and rapid-fire rifles it's highly unlikely they didn't take considerable losses at the start of the battle. The Fusiliers at...

  13. The Maddest Minute

    The thing is I don't want a "perfect" semi-auto rifle, I think it would stretch the scenario too far to give the BEF effectively a ten-shot Garand (minus "Garand Thumb") at the start of the Great War. A modified version of a largely existing, albeit imperfect and flawed design that isn't the...

  14. The Maddest Minute

    The idea that occurred to me was merging the military and civilian models, since the latter already had a fixed internal box magazine. Why not have a detachable "fixed" ten round magazine assembly that simply slots into the rifle exactly like the drum does. One that can be reloaded from above...

  15. The Maddest Minute

    Yes. We move forward to August 1914 in the next part.

  16. The Maddest Minute

    Here's a video of the Farquhar-Hill rifle for those that might be interested. It looks extremely Heath-Robinson, and it's certainly not pretty, but works better than you might expect.

  17. The Maddest Minute
    Threadmarks: Part I

    “There is only one alternative left to us. We must train every soldier in our Army to become a ‘human machine-gun.’ Every man must receive intensive training with his rifle, until he can fire – with reasonable accuracy – fifteen rounds a minute.” Maj. Norman Reginald McMahon, Chief Instructor...

  18. Semi-automatics for British army WW2

    If the Farquhar-Hill had been adopted in 1917, and proved its worth during the 1918 Spring Offensive, I suspect you would likely see an improved "Mark II" version with a box magazine in the 1920's based upon wartime experience. Of course if we're talking hypothetical scenarios for the...

  19. Semi-automatics for British army WW2

    The Farquhar-Hill was a surprisingly good rifle. The fact it held a twenty-round magazine might change British infantry tactics quite a bit because even a single platoon of men armed with the thing are going to be able to put an awful lot of well-aimed lead downrange very fast. Here's a video...

  20. AHC: Spacecraft in the 19th Century

    No but as you say they tested the basic idea with the "Putt-Putt" (the nickname for Orion being "Bang Bang"). I found a video of "Putt-Putt" in action. I also found Goddard's patent for an explosive-powered craft circa 1914. .
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