User:Lancer1289

User Page Archive: Archive

About me
I am a huge fan of the Mass Effect Universe, however when I started editing here way back in 2008, I only made around 60 edits or so before the release of Mass Effect 2. After the release of ME2 is when I really started getting involved in this wiki and now I have well over the amount of edits I thought I would have. Even so, I do know quite a lot about the games, the books, and getting better at the comics, so I do know what I am talking about, usually. I will admit when I am wrong so you have no worries there.

As to my schooling I am in college and enjoying it. I live in the suburbs of Chicago and attend the College of DuPage, the best community college in the United States. That is the opinion of many major educational magazines and not mine. As to what I am studying, I am studying Video Game Design and Development and enjoying it. I am also studying for a degree in music, mainly an AFA degree.

Because I wrote a lot of the walkthoughs, or in the process of rewriting them, I take a personal measure to keep them free of spam. I don't remove anything good but if something completely false is added, I will be removing it. Also if there are new walkthoughs, you can probably bet I will be creating the pages or at least updating them after they are up. I can write a major walkthough in about a day, give or take a few hours. So as new DLC packs come out, I will be writing the walkthoughs for them. As to my knowledge of the walkthoughs, I have 20+ completed ME walkthoughs and at present 15+ ME2 walkthroghs.

Wow, today I hit a milestone, well to me anyway, edit number 5,000. I thought it would take me well over a year to get to this point. Oh well, 5,000 and counting, as I don't plan to stop anytime soon. Ok enough with my self-indulgence trip. Lancer1289 04:19, June 4, 2010 (UTC)

Battle of the Week
Because I absolutly love military history, every week I will display a battle here with a few detais and a link to the Wikipedia article. I will not add links for every possible thing however, too much typing on my part. Enjoy

This Week:Battle of Normandy/Operation Overlord War: World War II

Allied Forces
 * Leaders: General Dwight D. Eisenhower
 * Forces:
 * 1,000,000+ Men
 * 50,000+ Armor
 * 20,000 Artillery Pieces
 * 5,000+ Aircraft
 * Over 6,000 Naval and Landing Vessels
 * Losses:
 * 226,386 KIA, WIA, MIA, or Captured
 * 4,101 Aircraft
 * Around 4,000 Armor and Artillery

German Forces
 * Leaders: Gerd von Rundstedt(Local Commander) Erwin Rommel(Overall Commander)
 * Forces: In the immediate area around Normandy
 * 500,000 Men
 * 2,500 Tanks
 * 3,000+ Artillery Pieces
 * Unknown Number of Aircraft
 * Miles of Prepared defenses, including
 * Hedgehogs
 * Mines
 * Concrete Bunkers
 * Pre-sighted artillery and machine guns
 * Losses:
 * 300,000 KIA, WIA, MIA, or Captured
 * 2,354 Aircraft
 * 2,500+ Armor and Artillery

Because this battle is so huge, I am only going over the operations on June 6th. This is for what the SSV Normandy and Normandy SR-2 are named for, and because it is June 6th, I figured it was appropriate.

Overview: Operation Overlord remains to this day the second largest amphibious assault in history, Okinawa or Operation Iceberg being the largest. This was the invasion of France that was to open a second front on the Germans, and something that Stalin had been demanding since the Yalta Conference in 1943. Overlord was planed out over the course of two years, ever since Operation Torch, the Invasion of North Africa. This battle opened the Western Front in WWII, and gave the Germans much more then they could handle.

Background: The Operation was planned to every detail, as was its deception plan. Because the large buildup of troops on Britain’s southern coast would attract a lot of attention, Allied High Command came up with a brilliant solution, create a deception plan as large as the operation itself. To confuse the Germans even more, they “leaked” information that the Allied invasion would come at the most logical place as Calais, create phony tanks, infantry training schedules, false barracks, false everything. To top it all off, put the general the Germans most feared in charge, General George S. Patton Jr. Patton was compensated for this after the battle by being given command of the US Third Army in France.

In the weeks leading up to the battle, the camps were placed in full lockdown and no one was allowed in and out. Even civilians working with the troops weren’t allowed in or out, however all the civilians understood the secrecy of the project. The camps for the false landings at Calais were made to look like they were the real thing, and the Germans took the bait. Hitler took it hook, line, and sinker.

However the invasion was almost called off due to the inclement weather that is common over the English Channel. The operation was supposed to commence on the June 5, but a small break in the weather on June 6, and that was enough for Eisenhower to postpone by 24 hours.

The Battle: The battle began with the US 82nd Airborne, 101st Airborne, and British 6th Airborne Divisions using transports airdropped into combat zones. However due to a lot of confusion, some drops were off by miles. However enough troops landed on target, or nearby to complete the majority of objectives. Most of which were sabotage, espionage, securing flanks, bridges, and other key targets. The Airborne Divisions were crucial to securing the ways out of the beaches.

One the morning of June 6th, the Allies hit the beaches on five separate places. The beaches were designated, Utah (American), Omaha (American), Gold (British), Juno (Canadian), Sword (British). However the landings weren’t without problems, most of the tanks the Americans had modified for the landings were swamped, only 2 of the 30 arrived at Omaha beach. The British had more luck with their armor because they didn’t use the amphibious tanks, they delivered them to the beach. Each beach had its own battle and its own story.

Utah Beach: Utah Beach probably had the easiest of all the beaches, mainly because they landed further south, and at a less defended beach than was planned. The troops defending this beach were conscripts and put up a token defense before surrendering. However because the plans were for the original beach, the only American, or for that matter, only General to land with the first wave, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of former US President Theodore Roosevelt, and distant cousin of current president Franklin Roosevelt, made impromptu plans that probably saved the operation. He welcomed each new boat in person and gave orders that directed them north up the road to the original beach. For his actions, Roosevelt was awarded the Medal of Honor. He is one of only two sets of father and son to earn the US’ highest award. The other pair is General Arthur MacArthur and his son, General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. (More on him in a later installment of Battle of the Week)

Omaha Beach: This beach was the toughest beach the Allies landed on during the Normandy Landings. It also didn’t help that the troops arrived during a training exercise. Originally the German troops were thinking that it was really accurate, but it only took a few minutes for them to realize the truth. Omaha was shaped like a crescent moon, so the Germans has the advantage in both the high ground and in being able to tear apart the invasion forces. The first waves were almost eliminated and the only two tanks to make it were destroyed by artillery. Until noon, most of the troops were holed up behind a sand rise in the center of the beach. Eventually several soldiers used Bangalore explosives to blow multiple holes, and troops stormed through the holes and stormed the bunkers. By the end of the day however, the soldiers had the high ground and had secured the beach.

Gold Beach: Gold Beach was an assault that almost went astray. Because of a massive wind, the tide covered many obstacles that the engineers had to deal with. However the first wave suffered heavy losses, but they still managed to blow most of the mines and other obstacles. The decision to not launch the D-Day amphibious tanks from their LSTs, made the operation easier than most of the American beaches. The LSTs were instead driven right up to the beach and offloaded their cargo. The successful landing of the tanks almost made the Germans run, but they stood their ground until the tanks breached the last beach obstacles and blew up the bunkers. Gold was also heavily supported by the Royal Navy and the cruisers and battleships provided fire support all day to their troops.

Juno Beach: Juno Beach was the operation conducted by the Royal Canadian Army and the most heavily defended beach targeted by the Allies. However if the beach wasn’t assaulted, there would have been to large of a gap between Gold and Sword. This is the same reason Omaha was assaulted as well. The naval and air bombardment did little to destroy the German defenses on the beach, however the Canadians managed to scale the sea wall just one hour after they hit the beaches, being the first off the invasion beaches. The Canadians also had tanks for the assault, but weren’t really used as the Germans were defeated quickly. The Canadians were also able to complete their D+2 objectives before nightfall. The Germans were also forbidden to counter attack, thanks to Hitler, until the next day.

Sword Beach: The main D-Day objective of the Sword invasion beach was to assault inland and secure the Normandy Provisional Capital of Caen. However this would take over a month to complete. Resistance was the weakest of all the beaches and within a few hours the main invasion force had actually outstripped the commando forces guarding their flanks. However the majority of fighting on D-Day was during the afternoon in one of the only counter-attacks of the day. The German 21st Panzer Division counter-attacked, against orders, and prevented the D-Day link up of Sword and Juno Beach. However the Germans managed to get to their defenses, however after a reinforcement drop for the 6th Airborne flew overhead in gliders, the Germans abandoned their positions and retreated. Allied Air Supremacy, British Tanks, or British Anti-Tank Guns destroyed the majority of tanks in the Panzer Division in the counter-attack. The Germans were forced to retreat by the end of the day and the British and Canadian forces linked up the next day.

Outcome: Completely successful invasion.

Despite some casualties, the Allied invasion was a complete success with most troops achieving their objectives, or most of them. Because Hitler had forbidden the Germans to counter-attack, believing until June 9th, that the Allies were going to attack at Calais, he refused to commit troops against the “diversionary invasion”. Normandy was the greatest amphibious invasion in history and rightly lives on in the spirit of many places, ships, and other things that are named for the famous battle.

I have three Wikipedia Articles here. The first covering the Battle in Normandy, the second the overall Operation, and the third was the landings themselves.

Wikipedia Article: Invasion of Normandy Wikipedia Article: Operation Overlord Wikipedia Article: Normandy Landings You can see the history here for 2010: Battles Archive If you wish to discuss the battle please do so here and scroll down to the appropriate section: Battles Talk Page Next Week We go to the Napoleonic Wars

Trivia

 * Because of the massive buildup of troops and equipment, vehicles crammed the streets of lower Britain, resulting in a massive traffic jam. Because the congestion was so bad, an ice cream truck, was accidently sent to France. However the situation was quickly rectified when the troops on the landing ship noticed the truck where a Sherman Tank should have been. The vender was compensated for the massive misunderstanding, and the troops on the landing ship got some ice cream before landing in France. The vender was also interviewed by the British Press for his story, which was very positive of the Troops. (Unfortunately I couldn’t find the story otherwise I’d post a link. Hmm, maybe I’ll do some looking.)
 * Currently there is a US Naval Vessel also named for the battle. The USS Normandy is a Ticonderoga-Class Guided Missile Cruiser currently deployed with the US Atlantic Fleet, and her home port is Norfolk. The vessel was the centerpiece of the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasions. The vessel was also one of the US Naval ships to assist in the Haitian Earthquake earlier this year.

Walkthrough Projects ME2
Current Project

Writting New Pack Downloads when it comes out: Overlord

Walkthroughs ME2

 * Illium: Conrad Verner
 * Omega: Aria T'Loak
 * N7 Assignments

Walkthroughs ME

 * Wrex: Family Armor
 * Garrus: Find Dr. Saleon
 * Double Checking all UNC Assignments

Planet Cleanup and Prereq Adds
After looking over the planet articles, some have prereq tags and others don't. Even if they are in the same system. So I'll be fixing that and adding some to the ME2 clusters, systems, and planets. This is going to take a while.

Checking planets, systems, and clusters for unnnecessary stub tags All must have
 * Picture
 * Accurate information
 * Codex Entry (Planets)
 * Minerals (Planets)

This will be an ongoing process for a while, I have to go though each cluster in order to not screw myself up. Current Location: Caleston Rift

I will also be looking out for any other articles that are missing the Prereq tag and add them.

Planet Completion Project
Now all we need is pictures, or updated pictures, and resource deposts for planets.

I'll also start scanning planets without resources first to finally get the job done.

The link below is currently where I am keeping an archive of all systems, clusters, and planets that either need screenshots or resources. Anyone who wants to help please take the time to look at the page and then please contribute either by scanning a planet and reporting accurate deposits, or take a screenshot of the planet, upload it to the site and post it on the appropiate article. As images and resource counters come in, I will be removing names under the appropiate section. Again anyone willing to help please just take a minute to pursue the page and contribute as you like. A link will indicate where either resources or an image is needed.

Because I now have ME2 for PC, I try to upload images as fast as I can, once I get some time.

The Planet Completion Project: Planet Completion Project

Enemies Pages
When I was using the Random Page Function, I saw that a lot of pages don't have tactics or a lot of details so I'll be working on them
 * Blue Suns Commander
 * Blue Suns Centurion
 * Sisterhood Initiate
 * Eclipse Operative
 * Eclipse Commando
 * Blood Pack Boom-Squad
 * Blood Pack Recon-Squad
 * Collector Drone
 * Collector Assassin
 * Collector Guardian

My Sandboxes
Sandbox Index Page

Favorite Pages

 * Normandy SR-2
 * Citadel
 * Destiny Ascension
 * Citadel Fleet
 * SSV Normandy