Planetary Assaults & Invasions

We continue our look at Space Warfare by examining the notion of assaulting and invading planets. Often seen in fiction as vulnerable locations at the mercy of space-based weapons and fleets, we will see that they are far more hardened targets, able to serve as bastions against attack.
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Credits:
Space Warfare:
Planetary Assaults & Invasions
Season 4, Episode 20
Writers:
Isaac Arthur
Editors:
Derek Hightower
Keith Blockus
Sigmund Kopperud
Producer:
Isaac Arthur
Cover Artist:
Jakub Grygier www.artstation...
Graphics Team:
Jeremy Jozwik
Justin Dixon
Legion Tech Studios
Sam McNamara (Rapid Thrash)
Sergio Botero www.artstation...
Narrator:
Isaac Arthur
Music Manager
Luca De Rosa [e-mail]
Music:
Dracovallis, "The Bard and the Warrior" dracovallis.ba...
Stellardrone, "Comet Halley" stellardrone.b...
NJ Mandaville, "Swell" / nj-mandaville
Denny Schneidemesser, "Uncertain" / denny-schneidemesser
Kai Engel, "Endless Story About Sun and Moon" www.kai-engel....
Stellardrone, "Ocean of Galaxies" stellardrone.b...
Miguel Johnson, "Attack on the Colonies" / migueljohnsonmjmusic

[@hafor2846]

THEY SHALL KNOW NO FEAR! - Isaac Arthur, God-Emperor of Mankind, 18M3

[@peytondix3877]

Ullrich Pfeiffer that’s heresy

[@WadcaWymiaru]

18M2 not 3...

[@julianbraunbeck7632]

@@WadcaWymiaru no, M3. M1 is from 000 to 999 M2 from 1000 to 1999 and so on

[@paulpolito2001]

Haf Þór - Thanks, until I read this, the wh40k ‘calendar’ kinda didn’t click, also, lol. The Emperor protects.

[@enklaev1933]

They shall know no feuw

[@nickwest932]

"If you are looking to blow stuff up, just use a missile." I'm dying.

[@thunderspark1536]

Or use a laser.

[@Megalomaniakaal]

giant space lens. edit: sorry, giant expandable space lens.

[@ultimateanthony1883]

Better use a shotgun 😕😈

[@Sereze001]

Guided torpedo with an anti matter warhead.

[@freedomloverusa3030]

And is that stuff is holding your family hostage?

[@MrKago1]

That scene in star wars was just the writers and directors not being interested in the lore of star wars. "Making the jump to hyperspace" means entering another dimension that exists just outside our own. Only truly massive objects like stars, planets and black holes can effect this dimension and that dimension cannot effect ours at all. When she jumped into hyperspace she should have passed right "through" those ships without touching them.

[@joshuarichardson6529]

That drove men nuts too. The ship wasn't even in RealSpace when it jumped, or it couldn't have hit FTL speeds. We're talking about stuff that's been established as part of Star Wars since the 80's, but the writer and director couldn't be bothered to do the least bit of research.

[@MrKago1]

Joshua Richardson worse than just not doing research. MARK HAMILL WAS RIGHT THERE. ffs he even brought it up. rian jhonson was more concerned with the scenethan the story behind it.

[@beowulf2772]

That would work in star trek tho. Warp 9 then disable safeties XD

[@garethbaus5471]

@@beowulf2772 warp drives work in a way that doesn't build inertia in proportion to the apperent speed of the vehicle which which makes it less effective as a weapon than a regular relatevistic missile. Although it would still probably have a devastating effect.

[@basedimperialism]

Even if for some reason it WOULD have worked, only the flagship would have been destroyed. There aren't any particles in space to carry any kind of residual kinetic energy from the impact, and any debris would have been vaporized by the friction of an object moving at lightspeed colliding with it. ONLY the Supremacy could have been destroyed if the hyperdrive kamikaze actually worked in lore. The rest of the fleet would be totally physically fine.

[@JerryWilliam63]

"1st rule of warfare"; that one of the few jokes that gets funnier by the episode.

[@iainballas]

We need to get this as a meme.

[@DaemianLucifer]

Well,as we all know,the first rule of warfare is repetition.

[@blugaledoh2669]

DaemianLucifer lol

[@brianfediuk]

The first rule of warfare is to avoid using memes.

[@ronschlorff7089]

once upon a time the "first rule of warfare" was to win!!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Arthur's Note: We will be having a bonus episode celebrating reaching 250,000 subscribers sometime in the next couple days, looking at the current subscriber totals we ought to hit that this weekend. For folks wondering about the game footage, that's from Hades 9, where I'm on the development team, and there are actually several episodes of us discussing this or that aspect of scifi or the game on the LegionTech channel: kzbin.info/door/j6w867uhSKjwr3H3M55wBA

[@jeffg6924]

The subs should start snowballing to over a mill. This was a long time coming, too long, and much deserved. Good job Isaac & team.

[@Drew_McTygue]

Incredible Isaac! You have always produced high quality and interesting content. You only had a few hundred subs when I first subscribed, and i remember congratulating you on 10^3 subs and I remember thinking "this guy will a million subs!". It's only a matter of time

[@davidmurphy563]

A remarkable achievement. I thoroughly look forward to sitting down, making a snack, sipping a cold bottle of beer and thinking big when Thursday rolls by. 250K is suitably a big number but it's the individual impact that I'm grateful for.

[@ivan-Croatian]

Isaac congratz on your 250K subscribers!!!! You deserved every and each one of them and I hope you to hit the Million very soon!

[@LordofSyn]

Thank you for the continued deeply thought out and presented content. It is amazing as to which fictional concepts our species has latched onto throughout the ages to turn into reality.

[@captain_torket3254]

"Star Wars 8 was visually gorgeous but made no sense." Thank you :-) By the way, your content is even more addictive than series. Keep the good job.

[@barrybend7189]

SDF Macross episode 28: when in doubt base Delta Zero.

[@TheRezro]

SW has own logic, so it is hard to debate about it in SF sense.

[@odile8701]

He meant it made no sense because it was the only one that made sense, and made you question why no one else had done it. Since it would actually work even better than depicted.

[@pierrelambert4872]

@@odile8701 Yes that the problem. It make sense and no one thought to throw one at a death star, for exemple, before. In one of the old thrawn book (now non-canon) they use it and have counter measures though.

[@garethbaus5471]

That is a good summary for the entire sequel trilogy, it simply ignored a lot of the original series it used for marketing.

[@DrShaym]

There's also the issue that if you can't travel faster than light and you decide to go invade somebody in another star system, it could take you years or even centuries or millennia to get there, and their technology could be far more advanced by the time you arrive. If your enemy knew you were coming, you would be bringing a knife to a gun fight unless you could also develop your military technology on the spaceship as you traveled, which would be difficult given the limited resources and testing space on board. This would be made worse by time dilation. If you were going to attack somebody a hundred light years away, and you were going 99% of light speed, the enemy would have 101 years to prepare, but you would only have 14.

[@Sir_Budginton]

Well, probably a few hundred (maybe thousand) years from now we would have reached the limit of technology. The point where you literally have the best technology physically possible and it’s impossible to create anything better. If that’s the case then technology isn’t really going to change between an invasion force leaving and arriving. Of course if your a huge interstellar civilisation, you could probably build a couple thousands/millions of spaceships, orbital defence platforms, and other defences before they arrive. Then again if your enemy is considerably older than you, they could easily send millions upon millions of ships your way regardless. So....yeah. There’s that too.

[@edthoreum7625]

there is nothing out there except death & cosmic radiation. The next exoplanet proxima centuri is 4lya ,it will take 1,300 years to get there?

[@annoyed707]

There is nothing inherently wrong with ALSO bringing a knife to a gun fight.

[@simontmn]

No the enemy would only see you coming a year before you arrived. And you would look VERY blue shifted!

[@EgoEroTergum]

Unless you are at the Zenith of technology. There is a finite amount of information we can glean from the universe due to quantum uncertainty, simply put the IRL tech-tree ends. Somewhere, we don't know where, but it does end. After that there will be no more research, just engineering and gardening; all of science in a big book titled Physics, Chemistry, and Math: Final Edition, or alternatively The Complete Rules of the Universe. If you are there then simply put the person with the bigger fleet or bigger computer wins, travel time or no. No tech save for the finish, all you can do is build ships and hope you have more than them when they arrive.

[@thealleys]

Holy crap this was a fun episode. Issac needs to be on the Intergallactic High Command- should we ever need one.

[@hawk7825]

Issac is the Intergalactic High Command

[@iainballas]

Wait, is he an escaped military AI secretly leading us to enlightenment, in 20-50 minute segments?

[@DavidEvans_dle]

Most likely he would just convince the enemies that mutual cooperation was best for both parties. We would just traverse the universe enlisting other alien races.

[@ltcshow6175]

I think you are 100% correct David Evans now to go to the door for my snack...

[@destrobatman5640]

what.is he a wise caring diplomat and a capable millitary man and commander?

[@taotechnique]

Isaac Arthur, you are litterly the best. Every single video, without exception, is top notch quality. Very informative, factual, educational and entertaining, all at once. Every thursday, when i get that notification for a new video, my day just gets infinitely better. The way you present your topic, is very captivating.

[@ktopaz]

I get these notifications while still at work, and they immediately brightens up my day with expectation for tonight's episode, I love this channel so much!

[@benjamincrom7276]

I support all of the above opinions! Keep up the great work Isaac. 250,000 subs coming up quick!!

[@mastertek383]

James Bradley Mercer And it's like being read to by Elmer Fudd. I'm sure he's never heard that before.

[@benjamincrom7276]

Nubbins His speech impediment has gotten far, far better over the years.

[@mastertek383]

Benjamin Crom I don't even think of it as an impedement anymore. It's a welcome break from the cookie cutter narrator

[@Anacronian]

Only true reason to invade a planet is if the planet has superior space bacon!

[@roblaquiere8220]

Yes, what kind of unique resource could a planet have that would warrant using a planetary invasion to acquire it (so that the planet remains intact)? Space Bacon.

[@Kamagel007]

Awesome pun!

[@Kamagel007]

Also, a reference to another video :D

[@Kamagel007]

Also, a reference to another video :D

[@Giganfan2k1]

Anacronian have you heard the rock opra album where the antagonist is invading for coffee?

[@Drew_McTygue]

All your base are belong to us!

[@annoyed707]

All your base are belong to bank.

[@jolez_4869]

*money and belongings

[@zigzagduck952]

+annoyed707. Laughing out loud and crying on the inside.

[@death_parade]

We knoes you never go past third base.

[@SloZao]

I'm so glad I found this channel!! Quality binge

[@iainballas]

Hope you packed your bags, it's gonna be quite a trip! Hey Issac, can you make a good introductory playlist?

[@Giganfan2k1]

I suggest you click one of the play lists, get a cup of coffee and a snack. You will be here a while.

[@deathmetal11111]

I personally think binging is not a good idea. Every single one of his episodes packs in so much information that you need to give it time to let it sink in and ponder about it. Watching 5 of his episodes in a row, either your brain will explode or it's in one ear and out the other and you learned nothing.

[@miserychickadee]

The main difference between the Starship Troopers film and book is that the film is anti-fascist satire. And I'm not calling Heinlein or the book fascist, by the way. It's just that the director's intent couldn't be more obvious, and he's said as much in interviews. Apparently, growing up in Nazi-occupied Europe leaves a lasting impression.

[@letmemakeafuckingque]

Thank you

[@RobinTheBot]

The model of government he advocates can be classified as fascist under some reasonable definitions. The real problem is how flimsy the word "fascist" is.

[@kennethleo4471]

Sargon of Akkad has a good video explaining the ideas of the original book.

[@TheRezro]

@Nix91 It is same problem Ender Game has. I put aside if authors really shared this world view or not (sadly too common), but simple fact is that it is sometimes hard to show specific society and make clear that it isn't what humanity should be, even if you strictly don't criticize or promote it as you simply need it for story to work. Sometimes even if you do actually criticize it people still could confuse it with promotion, especially how commonly misused this world is.

[@TheRezro]

@@RobinTheBot From my experience more commonly problem is that idiots deliberately misuse it just to cause affair. It is literally what Godwin's law is about.

[@rynieryarom4277]

This channel just give so much for creative ideas. I wrote many short stories because of this channel, and trying to learn animation to realise them

[@iainballas]

Do it! Can't wait to see them, I'll sub to anything based on this channel.

[@rynieryarom4277]

Everything is quite crude. They're just short stories. But thanks for the motivation

[@zack41564]

It's helped me fill in some blanks in a novel I've been writing.

[@fallendevonish1869]

I hope the black guy isn't fat, old, or gay

[@rynieryarom4277]

Fallen Devonish Huh? If you're asking about the characters, the mostly are people in suits, robots and a few particles. I don't think I have written anything talking about their sexual orientation. But nothing SJW stuff

[@BeerByTheNumbers]

Better practice by playing Space Invaders

[@username65585]

Beer By The Numbers Damn, you're everywhere.

[@xDeath35]

And the mass effect series and halo series

[@mikeloeven]

You were talking about reasons to invade a planet but you left out the possibility of planets specifically designated as war-zones where various political groups would send soldiers to fight a war by proxy as a way to avoid large scale wars wrecking your dyson swarm by triggering massive debris storms. Or perhaps just for sport ie welcome to paintball world.

[@TheRezro]

@Arusiek90 Why not use VR?

[@Arisudev]

@@TheRezro if there's an option of VR vs real life combat with your consciousness backed up somewhere, I bet some people will still choose the latter one. Those people must be rich as fuck though.

[@hamentaschen]

Congrats on that 250k (a little early). I remember when you hit 100k. I discovered you at 1.4k. Its been an awesome few years now enjoying and watching your channel grow. Thank you for all you do! And Happy Arthursday!!!

[@buenaventuralosgrandes9266]

same bro. back then i was like "this dude had a great content why is it only have 7k subs, while stupid jerk like paul brother got million of views that have literally trash content" glad his channel growing steadily fast for recent months

[@yumazster]

Seems to be snowball effect :) Congratulations!

[@EmilyXiong1999]

He has an adorable lisp.

[@vahangood5999]

Thank you for your service - both in real life and the virtual one. Your efforts are much appreciated!

[@SleepySteve79]

"ROFL-Stomp" this was gold. haha.Nice video again Isaac, thnx.

[@Ian_sothejokeworks]

I loved that, too. It's gonna be a LOL-ocaust!

[@noaha.b.8197]

-Early plans made by Isaac Arthur, who later became the first Grand Admiral of the Solar Empire (dont question the name, im not creative :D )

[@Nethan2000]

Allbuch [DE] The name is okay. It means that the Empire is based around Solar System. It's especially fitting if the capital is a Dyson sphere.

[@jtillman8251]

Would be interesting to see your take on the warfare in the Total Annihilation/Supreme Commander genre of computer games. They envision a future where what are essentially heavily armored Von Neumann machines are dropped planetside without warning and rapidly start claiming resources and producing local military production facilities in order to capture a planet, escalating quickly to all out nuclear exchange. It's frankly a bit terrifying to contemplate such a thing and I think the horror of this vision of future warfare isn't really talked about much. Also not sure if there's any basis at all to think such a combat system would ever exist, but the Bolos in Keith Laumer's stories always seemed like an interesting take on planetary defense infrastructure.

[@michaelharasymiw4137]

I love the way you dissect your topics, and provide the pros and cons of various ways of implementation. Your videos are really thought provoking. Definitely thumbs up 👍

[@the1andonlytitch]

I honestly think I learn more from these videos than I did in any lectures

[@fredricknietzsche7316]

we have laser targeted "shoot by wire" rifles now. they make anyone a super shooter. the sniper selects the target and the rifle only fires when kill shot is lined up.

[@ricraftz76]

"The sources is that i made it the fuck up"

[@nyalan8385]

@@ricraftz76yeah this definitely doesn’t exist or if it does the government sure as hell ain’t gonna talk about it for a hot minute

[@ricraftz76]

@@nyalan8385 well,if it does,i damn know our friend here wouldnt have that information lol

[@j-pbelliveau4439]

Probably my favourite sci-fi planetary invasion is Helghan from the Killzone series - The whole thing boils down to them dropping a lot of guys into the enemy's capital and forcing their leader to order a surrender, and then having to run like hell into the woods after he calls their bluff.

[@iainballas]

Finally SFIA Thursday is here! My brain, she is educated! I always try to catch your episodes before work... even wake up half an hour early to do it! Edit: My mom saw this comment and asked why I can't get up half an hour early for church tho. Heh.

[@milkhbox]

Iain Ballas Because science is far more important than religion.

[@EgoEroTergum]

May I speak to you about the Omnissah?

[@iainballas]

Actually, I lean towards a Deist view. I figure balance of probabilities, I live a good life according to my beliefs, and maintain a rational view. I mean, wouldn't a creator god want its creations to explore and learn about all of its creations? The closer you look at things large and small, you really can't help but wonder what else could be out there. Thats just my two bits, didn't mean to start a religious tangent.

[@jamesburleson1916]

I'm of the opinion that if there is an all powerful god, he/she couldn't give a crap about the minutia of our lives, and if there is a god that cares about what I as an individual do, and requires a certain level of commitment, they are not all powerful. My take has always been that it doesn't matter what we humans think the universe is. We have been sticking labels on the universe and how it works for millennia, and for the most part we have been wrong, but the universe doesn't care, it just keeps being what it is, regardless of what we think it is. Whether there is a god or not, I don't much care, I simply operate under the assumption that if there is one and he gives a shit, he'll let me know at some point. Until then I'll just do me.

[@Macitar1]

The only place left for God as far as i can see it is pre big-bang. I cant deny that the creation of the universe might have been due to a being of such unimaginable scale/power etc. Nobody can really deny anything from before the dawn of evidence. But i have seen absolutely nothing since that makes me think such a creator still exists, had anything to do with earth or the life on it or is ever going to return. The universe is too large and so thoroughly unsuitable and inaccessible for us that i highly doubt it was made by anyone or for anyone. In short, A God or whatever might have begun the universe, maybe even written the rules of reality, but the rest has been a chain reaction of causality with no predetermined purpose.

[@Darkrunn]

Love this video series! As a side note though, even today we technically live in a world where warfare should be "impossible" because of nuclear weapons, but there have been many conflicts since the advent of those weapons. Perhaps a planetary invasion in sci fi could be seen as a type of "low-intensity conflict," even though I cringe using that term.

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

I’ve always been puzzled by this mindset. Wars happen even though nuclear weapons exist. Nuclear powers have gone to war anyway. We all acknowledge that nuclear arms are debatably the least ethical weapons that have ever been used, second only to weaponized diseases, which we have successfully gotten everyone on the same page about destroying as enemies of our species. Even if nuclear weapons are exchanged, this doesn’t mean either side would “have to” surrender. Japan didn’t, if you look into it properly. It’s not something any human wants to see, so we go to great lengths to make sure it doesn’t happen, but thinking that it can’t is dangerously wrong.

[@kennethgray2003]

Wow, another great episode Isaac. I really look forward to your videos every week. Your insights constantly amaze me.

[@Slycarlo]

Warhammer 40k has a perfect axample on how to conduct a planetary invasion, and they also have those tactics you mention like ramming enemy battleship but not in a light speed

[@mba321]

If you need to blow something up……USE A MISSILE! Love your tone there, Isaac, you sound like a father lecturing his son because he used antimatter weapons to blow up his adversary when a simple weapon would do.

[@Mewithabeard]

Absolutely love your input when it comes to real combat. As a fellow former soldier, (granted I was only in the Royal Signals so I saw only a small amount of actual combat), I appreciate the personal touch when it comes to talking about the subject. It's really not as simple as many think it is.

[@TheTonyMcD]

Your animations are getting really strong lately. I know it's a hell of a lot of work to get that level of animation, and am very happy for the people that provide you with these amazing clips.

[@strategossable1366]

"Childhood is wanting a future like star trek. Adulthood is realising that Warhammer 40k is more realistic."

[@rommdan2716]

Three Words: Space Hell Dimention

[@MrViki60]

And based.

[@thek2despot426]

@@slevinchannel7589 Um... no. That *is* how it works. As has been explained on this channel (which means you should know this, so I don't understand how you could get this wrong), if you can accelerate *any* mass to such velocity such that space travel, be it intergalactic, interstellar, or even "merely" interplanetary, is practical, that same means of propulsion technology and energy source could be used to make bombs of such temperatures or projectiles of such speeds that they would be able to destroy entire planets. You could, _as has been said on this channel before,_ even just make your spaceship itself get up to max speed and careen right into a planet, and if that speed ends up being even a fraction of a fraction of the speed of light, that *will* devastate the planet or even destroy it; just imagine the doomsday impact that wiped out the dinosaurs... _but multiplied thousands, millions, or even billions of times over,_ and that will *definitely* blow up a planet like something straight out of Dragon Ball Z.

[@chrismath149]

40k is many things but realism isn't something I'd add. The IOM would have fallen a long time ago (because the creator's pet can't fall it is still around), the Orks would rule the galaxy or the Tyranids would have devoured it. Earth would be lifeless husk (or at least devoid of human life). A status-quo would hardly hold for ten thousand years. Especially with new races and old ones who have better technology available appearing constantly. Star Wars is often more realistic (at least when it comes to politics and military induced changes of government - The GE not simply disappearing but breaking apart into smaller warlord-lead factions is one such example).

[@chrismath149]

@El ku klux klan El ku klux klan The entire nature and history of humanity up to this point. The Roman Empire (breaking apart due to internal conflict and invasion of barbarians). Carthage (being lost following a few decisive defeats). The Holy Roman Empire, the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Soviet Union. As for human nature: We aren't terribly nice to people who want to rule over us but do so with an iron fist (and incompetence). Considering the inability of the IOM to communicate with its member planets in an effective way, a secessionist group of planets would quickly form. But not just one. Hundreds of them. It demands a constant tithe, demands the abduction of large parts of the population, tortures, imprisons, transforms people into machines, blows up entire planets...The Imperium would be ripped apart from inside. The few loyal planets could not stem that tide and keep exterior threats at bay.

[@tywinlannister6118]

#savetheexpanse

[@MrMusicalee]

I can't believe it got cancelled.

[@justsomeguy4517]

IKR cause we can't be having any shows around that isn't another fucking comit book movie!!!!!!!

[@Giganfan2k1]

MrMusicalee WAIT!!! WHAT?!???! IT GOT CANCELLED?! O.O

[@MrMusicalee]

Sum Arber. Unfortunately, yes. Something to do with rights discrepancies. Alcon Entertainment are pitching it to other networks. Someone needs to pick it up ASAP.

[@Giganfan2k1]

MrMusicalee if Amazon Prime would just pick it up I would be even happier. That way it would cut out the TV middleman for me. :P Surely in this day and age someone will pick up a truly brilliant show.

[@7lllll]

24:15 fighting the entire planet in a very literal sense, and the whole ground turning into smart war machines is a very interesting idea. picturing it just in my mind for the first time was awesome. hopefully there will soon be a movie where that actually happens on the screen

[@joshuawest5130]

I love this channel, because after a long, weary Thursday, I know that when I get home I have you to look forward to.

[@willow9571]

I think that the first part of a planetary invasion would probably involve terror groups that would be planted on the planet multiple years before that battle and would try to create mini revolutions/sabotage the planets defences

[@TheRezro]

That is only part of the tactic. Why cause minor incidents when you can become a president?

[@nerowulfee9210]

Thats a lot of first rules of warfare. My favorite is "Pillage, then burn"

[@HalNordmann]

Incidentally, this is also the first of 70 Maxims: www.ovalkwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries

[@oliwer125]

The Reapers are comming. We have to unite and destroy them.

[@nickwalker4936]

Commander Shepard commander, go home, you’re drunk. I think the aliens from Bellicosi-3 are more of a pressing threat.

[@jonathanryan9946]

Do I shoot them with the red light, blue light, or green light?

[@hellyeah8055]

/u/Decent_Compound?

[@protondecay3207]

Jonathan Ryan Oh no. Don't remind me of ME 3

[@freedomfighter2463]

WhoCares Hey whats up

[@liamimbriolo6066]

Why waste good imperial guardsmen, space marine regiments, and imperial resources on some backwater world and just Exterminatus?

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

:) Roboute Guilliman goes through an explanation why in the first Primarchs novel, when one of his captains suggests that. Basic reaosning though is that if you torch a place its hard to colonize it, and in the long term you get a lot more guard regiments, space marine chapters, and imperial resources by losing several million troops to take the place intact and using it grow people and build stuff.

[@liamimbriolo6066]

Isaac Arthur glad to see you are aware of Warhammer 40k. What's your favourite race? Mine's the Tau. I know I'm a filthy space commie but I love the mecha themes.

[@hemidas]

Why does everybody thinks that Tau are communists?

[@liamimbriolo6066]

Jovan Mitrić it's more of a laymans term and not literal. The main reason is because of their empires core philosophy: the greater good. For the sake of the greater good, the desires and dreams of the individual are put aside for the preservation, security, and prosperity of the empire. Also they are run by an authoritarian oligarchy (the ethereals) which determine all facet of tau life. Such as career, mate selection, social activities etc. Plus they have intense indoctrination programs and mental as well as literal castration is common. This is the reason, it bares some similarities to the Soviet Unions or other Communist countries policies, even though it's very broad. Also it's a funny insult.

[@hemidas]

I see. personally I see Tau as a space versions of Imperial China and Japan (they also had Greater Good philosophies and the vehicle design literally screams Japanese anime).

[@MashupsByMandy]

This and the AI series you have are perfect to talk about runaway AGI systems used for war (The Stroggs from Quake 2 and Quake 4), nobody is talking about them even though runaway AGI systems for war are a risk that automated defense systems will have for decades before ASI is established. Just in case you don't know, The Stroggs are a "race" created by an automated system, they pick up fallen or captured specimens useful for war, transform them into cyborgs and use them as soldiers and general cannon fodder, so every loss on your side has a price since they could join the enemy, it's basically Sci-Fi necromancy\Lich King. They were implemented in a civil war, the civil war ended up wiping both sides, and the system ended up killing everything else on the planet that was useful for war, including the usage of natural resources, since that would increase it's efficiency. After there was nothing left useful on the planet it decided to search and invade planets with good biological specimens, which is how they found us. The game is great, it looks sci fi even though everything high-tec humans use there is stolen from the aliens through reverse engineering, it's basically an alternate timeline where the earth is invaded at our current time (1997) and after 8 years since the war started humans finally reverse engineered alien ships so that we could also travel faster than light. Quake 2 starts with the humans invading the alien home planet to stop and disable it (which ends up being a sentient final boss because it's a game). Quake 4 shows more of the warfare side to it, including the price of that war, with probably the best sci fi intro ever done in a video game. I recommend watching both Quake 2 and Quake 4 intro\opening videos on youtube if you never checked it out before.

[@petersmythe6462]

I could actually see bullet-based projectile weapons using the same strategy as missiles in the future. Shooting dozens of rounds per second may not be necessary to hit a target, but it is definitely needed to overwhelm point defense, especially considering that such point defense systems need merely deflect the incoming bullet into a glancing blow or near miss, not vaporize it.

[@_BLACKSTAR_]

I click thumbs up before I even watch, cuz I know Isaac makes only top quality interesting videos, & I have yet to be disappointed.

[@SashEX]

they are right. you are actually the very best.

[@krisguntner4805]

"Armor" by john steakley is also an interesting read of power armor soldiers of the future. John scalzi's "old man's war"series is pretty good with genetically enhanced soldiers. While john ringo's posleen war series also has some very good power armor soldiers. Those are a few off the top of my head.

[@kevincrady2831]

Huh, it just occurred to me there's one alien invasion scenario-type you didn't mention: the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" type invasion, where they come as tiny virus/nanotech spores that infect and take over rather than bombard and drop power-armored infantry. An invasion like that would require far fewer resources to launch, and would have at least a degree of stealth, since the invaders would look more like a cloud of space dust than an attacking armada.

[@wilhelmu]

or like in parasyte the maxim

[@Horesmi]

6:29 *Stalin intensifies*

[@xavierrodriguez2463]

AlHoresmi not really.

[@TovenDo.O.Video-]

SAYOUZ

[@BigDictator5335]

Lel

[@curiousbrothers8374]

I love your depth Isaac!

[@jareitman0]

Starship Troopers is an amazing book. Extremely entertaining - love the descriptions of fighting in power armor and dropping a person from orbit.

[@AMC2283]

An advanced fleet might have to invade if they come out of light speed too close to the system, and the enemy has time to raise their energy shield, and it's strong enough to deflect any bombardment.

[@MatthewCampbell765]

@Warp-Ramming: IIRC Photon Torpedoes do actually have miniature warp engines on them. And presumably that warp engine is powered by the anti-matter inside the torpedo itself. So, theoretically warp-ramming your Starship into an enemy would just turn your ship into a giant Photon Torpedo.

[@valrond]

Too bad that Big Stomping Battlemechs are not the way to go in planetary invasions. Who doesn't like big robots?

[@prakadox]

Reality, apparently!

[@KuraIthys]

Reality generally doesn't like much of anything that's cool or seems fun. It also doesn't like fairness... And seems overly obsessed with recycling. Perhaps to a fault. In short, reality is rather annoying. XD

[@AshtonCoolman]

Battletech addresses the impracticality of battlemechs. Warfare was formalized during the Star League era. It outlawed orbital bombardments, nuclear weapons, and other methods of destroying a planet. All of those options ruin useful infrastructure amd production..... What I'm more fascinated about is how the galaxy could be filled with earth-like planets and have no remnants of any alien civilization anywhere LOL.

[@marcinnawrocki1437]

Logic does not like them.

[@TheRezro]

@@prakadox There are realistic battle mech designs. Problem is only dated approach to this subject.

[@kingslushie1018]

One of the things I love about your channel Is how you first present an idea and then break it down in more sizable chunks, covering each subtopic with incredible detail. As a person who can’t help but be a little rooted in the realm of science fiction, I appreciate your realistic outtakes on the topics you present to us. :)

[@CompleteAnimation]

Thank you for recognizing that the Starship Troopers movie isn't anything at all like the novel! The power armor was the best part of the book, and the movie had none of it!

[@bryfunkenstein]

jodudeit there is an anime version of it on youtube thats a lil more faithful to the book. the power armor didnt happen in the movies until the 3rd (straight to video) movie

[@spykezspykez7001]

Nope, I think the best part about the book was the ideas it presented about morals, responsibility and government. Very idealistic, not 100% sure it would work, but very idealistic to expect everyone to have a sense of responsibility.

[@DFX2KX]

let's just forget that the other two movies existed as they where abysmal... And the movie is what it is in part because the director of the first film didn't share Heinlein 's philosophical take, which is why you see fascist undertones throughout the whole of it (I suspect Heinlein would have been pissed with that allusion, although given what Militarism is, it or Soviet undertones are both appropriate historical callbacks). I've read some of the book, and later tried writing my own back when that seemed like a natural course for society. In trying to write such a society myself, however, I realized there are some rather important questions Heinlein never bothered to answer (but I'll credit him for making me ask them) I suspect he wouldn't have liked the answers to at large. Militaristic societies NEED an enemy or common threat to function. In Sci-fi terms, this means they either expand until they find a civilization that can best them (and are promptly exterminated with all likelihood), decide that a portion of their own population is the new enemy (and if you're committing purges, you're a failed civilization), or implode into chaos when military spending interferes with basic functionality (the USSR model). That is not to say that a civilization that requires public service to have a say in things can't work, but if the *only* public service that qualifies is the military, you're civilization is in trouble.

[@spykezspykez7001]

Re: Yoroshiko’s starship troopers. Yes, that was more faithful to the book on some parts, but it failed to capture the Terran Federation very well, at least. I thought it didn’t. But I do remember they tried with the “why use a knife” question, which was commendable.

[@frederikspitra7832]

Well, the movie is a satire on the ideas and politics of the book and fascism. The whole stick of the movie is, that humanity is the evil aggressor.

[@ihaveyoud9553]

Hey Isaac, happy (almost!) 250k subscribers!

[@protondecay3207]

Hey Isaac, thanks for the great videos, always highly enjoyable :)

[@Darkstar1484]

I want to thank you very much for this series, this episode actually showed me some interesting insights and actually confirmed a few ideas that I had for a scifi novel that I'm working on. Thank you very much.

[@martintrobo7776]

I wait the whole week for Arthursday. It is always worthy. Thank you Mr.

[@Spellchecc1OO]

Issac Arthur, I literally look forward to Thursday mornings cause of you. I have spent hours upon hours watching your videos. My dad was discussing terraforming planets and I was like "I have the perfect person for you to watch a video of just that", and sure enough I got him hooked on your videos. Keep it up man, you got plenty of fans out here that love your content and how through you are with each video.

[@shanagbaimuru3926]

I've gotta say, watching this vid really increased my appreciation of how well the Halo universe (pre 343) handled the things discussed here. The reason for the covenant invasions is pure extermination so they'll glass entire planets, but on planets where there's significant orbital defensive networks or objects of religious importance ground troops are still recognized as crucial. Their religious motives direct the technology they have access to and the methods in which said tech is utilized (advanced combat AI's are viewed as heretical, military is highly honor bound to direct conflict so things such as signals intelligence and subterfuge is practically non existent, etc) The UNSC recognizes the extreme importance of orbital defensive networks, and presses the few areas where they're able to technologically keep pace and even surpass the enemy with its utilization of full AI's, deception, and super soldier ground troops. The interplay between the motives between the factions (and internal factional struggles) along with the balancing acts of technologies utilized by each faction works quite well. The extremely religious and imitative nature of the covenant gives valid explanation for their lack of total dominance in various fields. Including the varied species cultures and positions in the caste system further drives their tech and tactics to one of stagnation despite their much farther ahead starting point. The UNSC's adaptive nature and human culture/psychology allows them to capitalize on such weaknesses in hopes of survival. With the threat of pure extinction driving their internal politics. The crude nature of human slipspace tech prevents the "ftl ramming" scenario on their end since they'd use it if they could, but the covenant are once again bound by religious principle despite possessing the capacity. Little rant over

[@HalNordmann]

It is nice when somebody thinks of any posible problems in the universe, and thinks up plausible ways to avoid them.

[@howiefuzz6894]

Under-appriciated comment right here.

[@EgoEroTergum]

Increasingly the picture I get in my head when trying to picture realistic-scale sci-fi warfare is one of two barely separated back-lit clouds of black dust swirling around a star trying to eat each other. It's only when you zoom X 100,000,000 that you realize the dust is made of kilometer-wide battlestations, light-speed comms relays, and fully sentient mega-brains put on the frontlines to cut down on the light-lag for orders, and that that thin separation between the raging clouds is exactly one light-second wide.

[@morindilhrivanar]

great video as usual. just one little thing: ketracel white in star trek is not a combat drug. it was used to keep the jem'hadar troupers of the dominion bound to the leaders. jem'hadar were genetically engineered super soldiers who were made to be addicted to the white as an ensureance policy and contengency plan. in essence to make them dependend on the vorta (commanding officers) and the founders (leaders) who provided sayed drug.

[@NickPoeschek]

This topic reminds me of the original series Star Trek episode “A Taste of Armageddon” where two planets fight a simulated war and people are told to report for disintegration as they were killed in the simulated attack. That way there wouldn’t be actual destruction of the planets, just casualties. In some ways, robots fighting robots, each with multiple backups of their consciousness is a little like that. Casualties without actual casualties. In theory, you could simulate the whole conflict in a virtual reality and both sides could come to an agreement that one side would have such a massive advantage that their victory is guaranteed and agree to a settlement without the need for actual combat.

[@lastword8783]

the problem with this is the classic 'villain smashes the chessboard' scenario. he lost the simulated fight but wont be a good sport and starts a real conflict. Or maybe he knows he is too behind on simulated fight technology so instead arms himself for a real fight. In real conflicts there is an actual price to pay for losing and in a simulation, its an artificial price.

[@wilhelmu]

virtual reality is not reality. a person who played a lot of first person shooters in vr, is no soldier. The fact his life is not really threatened and he knows it, alone makes a huge difference.

[@destrobatman5640]

@@lastword8783 damn i wish i kbew about this months ago because you beat me the punch with your remark

[@Nethan2000]

I'm sick of hearing I don't need to fear death because my mind is backed up on some server. If someone's going to fight and risk death, let it be that backup, not me.

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

The backup is likely to feel the same and get backed up :) Point of a backup is to be on ice until needed, otherwise it rapidly diverges, actually our topic for June 7

[@Nethan2000]

Don't worry. I assume it's possible to make some changes to the backup copy. It doesn't have to be a perfect duplicate. I'll just remove those feelings. If that's not a point of a backup, then perhaps the idea of a backup is pointless anyway. Why constrict your civilization to 100% of your population when you can easily produce several thousand percents? And you're already thinking of them as expendable, so there shouldn't be any ethical concerns.

[@Nethan2000]

Or even better. Find the best soldier in your civilization and produce a trillion copies of him. Like Clone Troopers. This way you can have that huge invasion force without even bothering your regular citizens, who you'll need to keep the economy going anyway.

[@Xperim]

Isaac is talking about the camp of people who regard backups as actual immortality. If you're making edits to your backup to be imperfect then you are obviously not part of that camp.

[@Nethan2000]

There are certain differences between me falling asleep in the evening and myself waking up in the morning. It's a question of how much difference is acceptable. I suspect if people accepted that the copy and the original are one person, then the degree of tolerance would increase a lot. And then they'd start looking for other applications of this technology, some of which Isaac would probably not approve of. I gave some examples. Judge for yourself if they are practical, but unethical practices sometimes turn ethical just because they became common.

[@ShouldHaventJoined]

I'm a player in a warhammer 40k Black Crusade game. And I'm commanding a planetary surface raid. I had to reason with the other players and the GM on why and the objectives of the raid.

[@PerfectDeath4]

I own a series of Gundam: The Origin manga which does have an interesting planetary invasion: The invading side decides to try and force a surrender on the earth by gassing a massive space colony in orbit and deorbiting the dead colony on the earth military's main bunker base built into a jungle mountain range in Brazil. The colony ends up breaking into 3, crashing in other parts of the world, missing the target and killing half the earth's population. So, thinking all they have to do to finish the war is to invade a weakened earth they drop a ground invasion. They still havn't defeated the earth's space fleet and commit themselves to a massive ground offensive across the earth, eventually getting out done by the Earth who manages to hold out long enough to get their war economy going. It was a reasonably interesting political war that basically took WW2 and scaled it up to space.

[@wilhelmu]

why drop a colony, why not just some asteroids

[@NodDisciple1]

@@wilhelmu Which is more damaging to morale? Having your own buildings thrown on top of you or giant rocks?

[@TheRezro]

@@wilhelmu They actually did try that later. They simply have it at hand.

[@lordodysseus]

Where has this channel been my entire life?! What a great video.

[@cptnemo20kl]

Is the footage at the start, of the spaceships entering the asteroid field around the planet, from a game? Where is that footage from?

[@SargeRho]

Novus Aeterno, a Space MMORTS. I'm not sure if it's still in development, I stopped paying attention a while ago.

[@idontwantachannelimjustcom7745]

How about a colony ship that arrives in a system. Their population needs to split. In the time it took to travel to this new system native intelligent life has made it to 22nd century tech. The colony ship now has a problem. They need to refuel and split, and they won't make it to a different system in time. The natives have claimed the system and are preparing to expand. The colony ship sees itself as refugees and the native see them as invaders. Both sides are willing to fight to extremes.

[@AndresRamirez-fi5uw]

sounds like that can be a great book! I encourage you to write it :D and send me a link

[@RobertSzasz]

They wouldn't need a solarsystems worth or resources to resupply, build another ship, and bugger off. No need to fight. Merging civilizations offers benefits too.

[@nohaxmeh576]

People are unreasonable, which is why most issues that could've been solved diplomatically are warred over.

[@commanderboreal1343]

Robert, how do you merge with an alien civilization?! Maybe they don't have "eyes" or they can't even understand the concept of "infinite space". I mean how do you say hello to someone you don't even know if they have a mouth or a ear or a language or even the concept of "language"!

[@destrobatman5640]

so what thay either work together or fight. maybe the story of the universe

[@theh5099]

Just use PA/SupCom/TA commanders, you send one in the systems and in a few hours/days you've got yourself a full military-industrial complex in the system to fuel your campaign.

[@HYDRAdude]

This episode in a way presents a paradox for a society would need to be post scarcity to conduct a planetary invasion, which means the defenders could lose their entire planet and it would not phase them as they could simply make another one. So you point about wars being too destructive to wage has some holes in it I think since the factions would be able to reproduce what was destroyed almost as quickly as it is to destroy it. There was a decades long gap between the world wars because Europe needed that length of time to rebuild, and yet they still fought a second and more destructive world war. So I think the post scarcity society would actually care little about the potential destruction of war and be more eager for it if anything.

[@anthonyhall7019]

Great video! I cant wait for the fermi paradox one, i love that series! Dont ever stop making videos!

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

I think Planetary invasions and battles would be very rare one thing final like things, rare to happen but when they do they are like a prize fight, a event livestreamed to a degree to all the galaxy to see this rare event.

[@danguillou713]

Love these videos. Am currently going through the lot of them in more or less random order. So, one thing I’ve heard you say a couple of times now is that it would be trivial for a spacefaring civilization to collect the biodiversity of an ecologically interesting planet such as our own. I am not convinced. Most species are unable to live and function in vitro, outside of their ecosystem. They live in ongoing relationship with the sum total of all the other species in their ecosystem, and large parts of their genetic material just makes no sense in isolation. Secondly, if you take cell samples of adult humans, there is no obvious way of growing that DNA to an adult without a uterus, but to get a uterus you need a pre-existing adult human, which you don’t have if you only took cell samples. Furthermore, even if you bring detailed uterus blueprints or successfully reverse engineer the gestation mechanics, your adult humans will be constantly sick without their required symbiotic intestinal bacterial fauna. Also most species contain huge amounts of genetic diversity that will be lost to you if you just bring dna from sample individuals. And finally, 95% of all genetic material is rare, ranging from moderately rare to super rare and obscure. And the genetic diversity is constantly changing, morphing and expanding. Therefore I think that in a galaxy where simple microbial life is common, but complex life and complex ecology is rare, the most, perhaps the only, practical way of preserving it for further study, is to leave it growing and evolving in situ. This would be true regardless of whether you think it’s valuable and worth preserving for its own sake or if you just want it for bio-prospecting. That’s my 50 cents on the matter. Thanks again.

[@davescott7680]

This discussion kind of reminds me of the plot to the computer game 'Total Annihilation', with the conflict between ARM and CORE. Clones vs Conscious uploaded into machines

[@rdooski]

Amazing episode! Very thought provoking... I've always thought the military should have a specific squad of soldiers whos first criteria was being a experienced, expert level "shooter" style gamer. I guarantee it would be one of the best.

[@wetcat833]

Starship Troopers is a great read and kudos for being the first to describe this type of warfare but I think Joe Haldeman's Forever War is one of the best novels about war in the future ever written. Congratulations on reaching a quarter million enthralled viewers. Well deserved. Please keep up the great work.

[@gem3020]

Great work as always brother! This was definitely one of my favorite episodes of yours!

[@TheMasonX23]

So many twists and counterpoints to the typical representations, that I think this one will require many viewings to fully digest. If your average video is food for thought, this is a banquet. Great video as always though! You never fail to impress and inspire, week after week. Thank you for all the great content and new ideas over these past few years! I hope it continues to the point where I someday spend an Arthursday watching with bionic eyes or having it beamed directly into my digital lobe.

[@s.sradon9782]

hi isaac, love your content, please don't stop making it....EVER!

[@jrosa__]

In B5 the Centauri used Mass Drivers (i.e. Asteroids) to force the Narn to surrender. That makes perfect sense.

[@Daikael]

good video, however at 20:46 there is a small issue in the script where you state "modern guns do not have computers in them" which is false as of recently, as one manufacturer named "tracking point" has been manufacturing weapons with an integrated ballistics computer, as well as a array of sensors to assist.

[@cannonfodder4376]

Isaac Arthur for Space Command Chief of Staff!!! A stellar and informative episode, I must say I have never thought about the planet actually having the advantage over the orbiting fleet until now. I can always rely on you to explain such topics from many angles in good detail.

[@benjaminmjones5021]

Merry Arthmas!

[@spaceman081447]

Thanks for giving respect to the BOOK Starship Troopers!

[@curiousbrothers8374]

We have a schedule?! Isaac you the man. I love the outward bound and Fermi series!

[@plasmaxl8626]

If there's anything this channel has taught me, it's that Stellaris is a bit more realistic than I thought

[@jamesfra1311]

Remember Reach.

[@phoenixmann8229]

james Fra 😢😭😢😭

[@Ian_sothejokeworks]

I've given thought to a last-ditch planetary weapon: basically, using the fantastic pressure of the liquid outer core to blast enemy ships with a targeted super-volcano. Downsides: environmental damage, earthquakes, ash clouds, space lanes filled with cooling igneous rock and other minerals. Slight chance of disrupting the magnetic field of the planet. Apocalypse, more or less. "Good" side: your enemies ships will be blasted with a massive firehose of pressurized liquid rock at the melting point of anything that melts. It's difficult to imagine what would survive it, but chances are, it will end the fighting. I don't know how plausible this is, but I remember reading about a supervolcano blowing rock into space at escape velocities, and wondering what that would do to ships in orbit. Then, I started thinking about the pressures, heat, and composition of the outer core, as opposed to just the crust and mantle. Thoughts?

[@tomrusson6126]

Fantastic video, really great stuff; even though I want Battletech to come true 🤞🏻

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

First tabletop game I ever played :)

[@TheKres7787]

Well there's a Battletech game that just came out

[@tomrusson6126]

And it's a bloody brilliant one

[@revermen3580]

The motivations "having outside forces who might jump in watching the war" reminds me of David Brin "The Uplift War" The invaded society you are describing is basically Dark Eldar btw.

[@fuckoffannoyingutube]

really great episode, Isaac. over time, watching your channel, I came to realize that there's quite probably only two real reasons for war between spacefaring species. we either cannot talk to one another, maybe see the other species as mindless animals, or it's some kind of religious dogma or zeal of racial purity. it makes little to no sense if it's about resources or just living space.

[@destrobatman5640]

how do we know what thay think?

[@littlehouseinthebigapple5716]

I'm sick and feeling horrible and this popped up in my feed and all I could think is OH JOY!!! I totes forgot it was even Thursday. Yay!

[@jacobyocom9598]

SFIA is still the the champ

[@joeq.publicus3616]

Another excellent episode Sir. As always insightful and original. Fred Saberhagen used ships crashing into A.I. enemies in his BERSERKER series of books in 1967.

[@LogicalMayhem00]

Love you Isaac keep it up

[@gregdamario5808]

As a big fan of Heinlein, I do love your comparison between the wonderful, thoughtful novel and the third rate movie.

[@Mentat13]

ROFL-stomp loved that. ^^

[@leandro3710]

It's awesome to be on commute to work hearing about planetary invasions

[@intergalacticthoughtcrimin9763]

This is all vary useful for my comic book!

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

:) I'm glad to hear it!

[@intergalacticthoughtcrimin9763]

Isaac Arthur, I'm also working on a fantasy novel! You can find videos on bolth of my projects on my channel

[@LOUDMOUTHTYRONE]

Intergalactic Thought Criminal What's your comic book?

[@intergalacticthoughtcrimin9763]

LOUDMOUTHTYRONE, check out my channel if you want to find out.

[@deckuofm]

Good topics are: 01) Making soil and nutrients of inorganic materials for growing crops on Mars, moons and asteroids. 02) Cheap and big life support systems on big spaceships. 03) Navigating a spaceship in the Solar system. 04) Powerful lasers and scramjets.