World War III Playoffs: First Round

[Plutarch]

First Round:

1. United States vs. Brazil. Quite possibly the two greatest powers in the Western Hemisphere.

2. France vs. United Kingdom. Beef that dates back to the Middle Ages.

3. South Korea vs. Russia.

4. Germany vs. Spain.

5. India vs. Thailand.

6. Pakistan vs. Israel. Pakistan refuses to recognize Israel.

7. China vs. Japan. Another classic beef.

8. Turkey vs. Iran.

I will post my opinions for this round in a while, but just in case of any confusion, let me recap the Wild Card round voting results:

1. Brazil defeats Canada in a tough one with a vote of 3 to 1.

2. United Kingdom defeats Ireland in a blowout with a vote of 5 to 0.

3. South Korea defeats North Korea in a somewhat surprising blowout with a vote of 5 to 0.

4. Spain and Mexico tied with a vote of 2-2, but it seemed like the argument for Spain was stronger, so they advanced.

5. Thailand defeats Saudi Arabia with a vote of 3 to 1.

6. Israel defeats Syria soundly with a vote of 4 to 0.

7. Japan defeats Taiwan with little resistance with a vote of 4 to 1.

8. Iran defeats Egypt soundly with a vote of 4 to 0.

Link to the Wild Card round thread: community.allhiphop.com/discussion/489045/world-war-iii-playoffs-wild-card/p1

 

[whar]

1. US over Brazil

2. England over France (I assume Scotland and Wales are included. Closest fight on this bracket)

3. Russia over SK

4. Germany over Spain

5. India over Thailand

6. Pakistan over Isreal. (176,000,000 Pakis will eventually beat 8 million Isrealis)

7. China over Japan (size wins this match)

8. Turkey over Iran (Another close fight but Turkey has twice the GDP of Iran. Also good ties to the west so spare parts are easy to get. Iran flies F-15s which have issues getting spare parts.)

 

[janklow]

01. United States over Brazil. enough said.

02. United Kingdom over France. if i am not mistaken, the UK actually fields a larger military, is more battle-tested and has a much better track record. i will legitimately defend the French military on many grounds, but they lose this fight.

03. South Korea over Russia. Russia is larger and this might be a larger challenge if the issue was "try and conquer Russia" (wait, is that the challenge?) ... but their military is kind of a corrupt, hollow mess. and South Korea has a surprisingly large, well-trained military. this could go either way, i guess.

04. Germany over Spain. eh, what the hell has either of them done recently.

05. India over Thailand. i am still wondering where the hell VIETNAM was in this little game.

06. Israel over Pakistan. so not impressed with Pakistan. however, i want to be clear that i am not that impressed with Israel either, and if they win this round, i vote against them no matter who they face.

07. China over Japan. this is all about a) where and how the fight takes place and b) how shitty the Chinese military is. remember, it's not like we actually see them DO ANYTHING with it. that said, while i think Japan could win a battle or a smaller-scale thing, if it was for all the marbles, China can outpunch them.

08. Turkey over Iran. SO not impressed with Iran ...'s conventional military.

 

[LUClEN]

Didn't Japan already whoop the Chinese in WWII though? I'd presume they could still do it again, being one of the financially strongest countries in the world and all

 

[janklow]

Didn't Japan already whoop the Chinese in WWII though? I'd presume they could still do it again, being one of the financially strongest countries in the world and all

they did kind of whip them for years prior to WWII. severely. but that was also a much weaker China. don't get me wrong, this is why i am allowing for the Chinese to be underwhelming.

 

[reapin505]

Did japan get its military back? I know it was completely dismantled and such after WWII but I dont remember if they got it back

 

[kingblaze84]

Co-sign Janklow on this one

 

[janklow]

Did japan get its military back? I know it was completely dismantled and such after WWII but I dont remember if they got it back

they have their SDF, which is presumably ONLY to be used for, well, self-defense, but which is, let's be honest, a military. they also occasionally explore the idea of changing their constitution in order to do overseas stuff in support of whoever, but that has not happened yet.

Co-sign Janklow on this one

incidentally, you know this means we're BOTH voting Israel in this road. ridiculous!

 

[Plutarch]

1. United States def. Brazil. I've heard and read great things about Brazil, but the American military is too powerful.

2. United Kingdom def. France. I like the British. There's a reason why they are our close(st?) buddies. Well-trained, coordinated, and very adept at least on a small-scale. Besides, France doesn't see too much action nowadays besides brief North African excursions.

3. Russia def. South Korea. I'm surprised at the South Korea pick. Russia has the technology, and if that fails, they still have the numbers. Not downplaying SK by any means though. Oh, and Vietnam DOES NOT exist!

4. Germany def. Spain. Sounds right to me.

5. India def. Thailand. Numbers game, and India is no pushover.

6. Israel def. Pakistan. I'm not so sure about this pick, and I may be overestimating Israel, but I think that Israel has the modern technology, training, experience, and military culture and structure to succeed.

7. China def. Japan. I would pick Japan if it wasn't for China's numbers, and I still think that Japan could win, but China is too powerful?

8. Turkey def. Iran. This was another hard one. Both countries can defend themselves well and have been pressured and are being pressured (at least, Iran) many times to do so. But I think that Iran's experience does not match Turkey's experience. I have also read that Turkey's military is quite capable financially and population-wise.

I'll tally all the votes in about a week or so.

 

[janklow]

3. Russia def. South Korea. I'm surprised at the South Korea pick. Russia has the technology, and if that fails, they still have the numbers. Not downplaying SK by any means though. Oh, and Vietnam DOES NOT exist!

hmmm... i suppose the question i ask myself is "when was the last time the Russian military displayed serious competence?"

 

[Plutarch]

3. Russia def. South Korea. I'm surprised at the South Korea pick. Russia has the technology, and if that fails, they still have the numbers. Not downplaying SK by any means though. Oh, and Vietnam DOES NOT exist!

hmmm... i suppose the question i ask myself is "when was the last time the Russian military displayed serious competence?"

Point taken, but we're talking about South Korea. I don't think that South Korea has the technology, the numbers, the money, the status, experience, or culture to match Russia. Despite the occasional pebbles that North Korea has thrown, South Korea has largely been in a state of peace. Russia deals with violence regularly and settles it effectively. Just ask Chechnya and Georgia. Russia will never be conquered. Just ask Napoleon and Hitler.

 

[janklow]

Point taken, but we're talking about South Korea. I don't think that South Korea has the technology, the numbers, the money, the status, experience, or culture to match Russia. Despite the occasional pebbles that North Korea has thrown, South Korea has largely been in a state of peace. Russia deals with violence regularly and settles it effectively. Just ask Chechnya and Georgia. Russia will never be conquered. Just ask Napoleon and Hitler.

well...

technology? i'm not really sure what Russia brings to the table that demonstrates they have a technological edge over SK.

numbers? the thing i hinted at before is checking out how surprisingly large SK's military actually is. yes, Russia IS bigger in the end, but...

money? one of the biggest problems with Russia's military is that it's not as lavishly funded as you might expect (and thus the issues this breeds). they can't all be Spetsnaz units.

experience? we'll come back to this, i guess...

culture? i really don't know what kind of edge Russia gets here, to be honest.

now, while we call them "occasional pebbles," it's an ongoing threat that keeps SK perpetually in a state of readiness. whereas Russia dealing with violence effectively? well, you mention Chechnya, but that took TWO wars, an incredible amount of repression, and that conflict still isn't actually resolved (not to mention it spreading to neighboring republics). and Georgia? okay, i suppose it's fair to say Georgia literally started that war and Russia DID come out on top... but if you look at the conflict, it's not really a very flattering portrayal of Russia's prowess.

i mean, hey, it's your vote and Russia could win a war against SK, i could see it happening, but...