You're the Independence Day aliens. What cities do you blow up?

[glass]

Slightly more seriously:

Why blow up cities full of civilians at all? I'd have though military bases and munitians factories would be the first priority, and they don't tend to be in the middle of major cities!


glass.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

1. Hollywood

2. LA.

3. (Well lets just go with the major metropolitan area that is Southern California.

4. Vancouver.

5. Any other major media market that sends millions of hours worth of useless crap into the galaxy.

Don't you realize that Earth is the Ultimate Spammer in the galaxy?

Aliens throughout the universe are getting Jerry Springer & Simple Life Re-runs while being told what medicines will give them a bigger penis (any many of them do not even have penises). Actually, considering travel times, they might only be up to such 1970's hits like BJ & the Bear & Turner & Hooch. In which case our deaths shall be extra painful.

They are blowing up earth to get rid of Spam.

 

[Jdvn1]

Actually, considering travel times, they might only be up to such 1970's hits like BJ & the Bear & Turner & Hooch. In which case our deaths shall be extra painful.

They are blowing up earth to get rid of Spam.

That means even after they blow up the earth, they'll get spam for 30 more years.

 

[Ambrus]

I blow up the ship with nimrod who decided invading Earth would be a good idea; once you've got a fleet that can cross interstellar space, there's pretty nearly nothing you'd want on earth that you can't get more easily from asteroids or gas giants -- which don't have annoying humans that shoot back.

Except for solid ground to stand on with a large functioning biosphere already in place.

I'm surprised Mexico City isn't on everyone's list; it's the single largest city on the planet. I don't know if aliens would bother tracking global economic trends to determine where to attack first. I'd just aim to clear out as many humans as possible in the first strike. Once everyone on the planet is alerted and panicking they're all going to start leaving large population centers and then it'll take my people forever to hunt down and destroy the millions of small isolatedd groups of refugees in the forests, mountains and deserts. :\

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

That means even after they blow up the earth, they'll get spam for 30 more years.

Yes, but at least the end will be in sight.

 

[Jdvn1]

Except for solid ground to stand on with a large functioning biosphere already in place.

I'm surprised Mexico City isn't on everyone's list; it's the single largest city on the planet.

Like I said, I could be convinced to put Mexico City on my list. Thing is, I wouldn't expect much of a retaliation from the Mexicans--there are other powers out there that would be much peskier.

Plus, it depends on why the aliens want the earth. In Independence Day, they just wanted earth's resources. I wouldn't care if there were humans left, really, as long as I could build whatever I wanted and take whatever resources I wanted. Let the humans scatter. Clearing out whatever land I want when I get there isn't going to be difficult.

 

[cjyoung1]

What about Detroit?

I would think that Detroit would be high on any list of cities to destroy. It has one of the largest manufacturing bases in the world. Remember World War II and the arsenal of democracy? That was refering to Detroit.
Even with the current decline in the automotive industry the plants can be switched over for military use very quickly (even the mothballed ones). Something that the aliens would not want us to be able to do.

 

[Jdvn1]

Yes, but at least the end will be in sight.

Assuming they can even get through the 70s and 80s. That wasn't easy.

If we can delay them until they get the 90s news, they might think we would have died in y2k thing, though.

 

[Umbran]

Why blow up cities full of civilians at all? I'd have though military bases and munitians factories would be the first priority, and they don't tend to be in the middle of major cities!

The best reason I can see is that the current standing armies may not be the biggest problem for an invader. Remember that the overall goal is not to defeat the armed forces - that's only one step to a larger end - taking and holding the land. The current standing army is small compared to the 300 million people in the US - If I were trying to take over, making sure those 300 million do not or cannot effectively resist would be key.

By destroying the major cities, you demoralize everyone, the military included. You disrupt communications and supply for everyone. And, you remove huge numbers of potential combatants in a very short period of time. That sounds like a strategic win, to me.

Even with the current decline in the automotive industry the plants can be switched over for military use very quickly (even the mothballed ones).

Maybe relatively quickly. Maybe surprisingly quickly. But not quickly in an absolute sense - it would takes months, at minimum, to retool production, and that type of time simply isn't available in this scenario.

 

[Henry]

That's what I'd choose - the heavy-machinery industry sectors, as well as the NORAD complex and equivalent facilities in the UK, France, Russia & the -stans.


And then maybe send another couple of motherships to the south side, and park 'em over NZ and Australia & guard against those shifty Merric & Hypersmurf dudes. You never know what they could be planning.