Just out of interest.....

[Sabre21]

My interest in the military and military history date back as far as I can remember. I think I was born with it in my DNA. My dad served as an infantryman in the Pacific during WWII, primarily new Guinea and the Philippines. I've had relatives that have served in nearly all the theatres of all the various wars the US has fought. I had an uncle killed near Salerno in WWII and a great uncle killed in France in WWI. I had relatives on both sides in the US Civil War and several that fought in the Revolutionary War.

I served 26 years in the US Army, much of it in recon or the air cav and have always enjoyed games that involved detailed tactics and strategies considering that stuff had been drilled into my head for a few decades. Squad leader has always been my favorite but WiF is up there.

I consider my knowledge of WWII pretty good and it is my favorite era, but I read up on all the various conflicts with the US Civil War and the Napoleonic Wars as two more of my favorites. I have had the pleasure of being able to visit a variety of battlefields worldwide and its a humbling experience to stand above Omaha beach or Gloster hill and think about what transpired there.

[ecz]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

Interested to know a bit about those that play (M)WIF in terms of their appetite for WWII history.

I assumed that everyone that plays a game like this or WITP-AE or WITE must be WWII / history buffs who, if they are not playing and planning, are reading military books. But from reading various forums over the years I do not think that is necessarily the case, and for every gamer that can tell you the precise wingspan of any aircraft that ever flew, there are those whose knowledge is "light" at best. Absolutely nothing wrong in the latter - I assume that its the gaming that is the important factor for these people, rather than the history.

So if you fancy it, would be interested to know:

- what is your key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history?
- what is your level of WWII knowledge?
- Main interest in WWII - e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics.
- what started your interest in WWII history

1) game. I see wargaming as something like chess, but much more fun
2) I'm not a schoolar, but hands down WWII is the part of history I know better. 95% of my wargaming life, btw, is dedicated to wargames about WWII
3) Being today a full time ASLer I should answer the tactical level of land combat. But I also like the "grand-strategy" behid the main battles and events. Probably the naval part of the war is the one that hits less my interest.
4) my brother's toy soldiers and WWII comics when I was a child.

[Courtenay]

1) I play the game for the game; I read history for history.

2) Reasonably decent knowledge of WW II.

3) No particular interest, but a parochial bias towards the US.

4) I have no idea; remember reading many of the Ballantine Illustrated History of WW II books when I was in junior high school, but that was a reflection of an existing interest, not the source.

[micheljq]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

So if you fancy it, would be interested to know:

- what is your key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history?
- what is your level of WWII knowledge?
- Main interest in WWII - e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics.
- what started your interest in WWII history

1. Both of them.
2. Quite deep, but some here have a lot more deeper knowledge then me.
3. High level strategy, naval, battles, personalities of the leaders.
4. I was reading books when young, played Axis & Allies board game. I also like the napoleonic era a lot and I played Empires in Arms, the board game.

Michel.

[Cad908]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

So if you fancy it, would be interested to know:

Here goes

- what is your key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history?

The game.

- what is your level of WWII knowledge?

High, lots of reading over the years.

- Main interest in WWII - e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics.

Grand strategy and economics.

- what started your interest in WWII history

My uncle served in the 29th Infantry Division during WWII and was in the first assault wave on Omaha Beach. He was a hero to me growing up, and I seek to honor his memory with this hobby.

-Rob

[Dabrion]

ORIGINAL: warspite1
- what is your key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history?

Game (doesn't reflect history well, still a great game)

ORIGINAL: warspite1
- what is your level of WWII knowledge?

films, books, formal education

ORIGINAL: warspite1
- Main interest in WWII - e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics.

naval, high level strategy

ORIGINAL: warspite1
- what started your interest in WWII history

can't quite remember

[brian brian]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

- what is your key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history?
- what is your level of WWII knowledge?
- Main interest in WWII - e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics.
- what started your interest in WWII history

1 - both. Playing World in Flames is like creating an alternative history of the war.

2 - high perhaps, in some areas. In college I took a grad level course in 20th Century German History. I wrote a paper about how the ending of WWI and the subsequent entry of the various Freikorps into various political activities in the Weimar Republic led to a normalization of using violence in politics which paved the road to the events of the early 1930s. I got a B. I was very content with that considering I was only a junior at the time.

3 - all

4 - My father collects military relics, both via purchase and via finding them with a metal detector. So when I was young I was always visiting battlefields on the American east coast, from the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, as well as learning how to research things like where a regiment camped on a march. Unfortunately he is only interested in reading and collecting and will never play a wargame.

When I moved from elementary school to junior high I made some new friends who were into plastic models, mostly of tanks, and soon got into buying the small pre-assembled ones for wars in the sandbox. One day the owner of the hobby shop suggested we take a look at what was inside this box he had just received. On the front it said "Panzerblitz". We were hooked instantly and soon got into Squad Leader just as it came out (missed the purple box though). My friends liked to play Panzerblitz/Panzer Leader by playing all the German counters vs all the Allied counters. Also right then I read Churchill's history of the war, which I have read twice more since.

I still enjoy gaming and study of other wars but spend the most time with WWII.

[warspite1]

Great - thanks for the responses peeps. Keep 'em coming.

We have a few ex-servicemen amongst us I would expect - same in the WITP-AE forum. Didn't ask ages but I get the impression the average age is north of 40.

Surprised that parents do not seem to be a particularly big influence on becoming interested in history - just a few mentioned that, although other members of the family having served came up a few times.

I see one has a parent who actually does wargaming - how cool must that be? [:)]

One thing is clear though, there is an interest (to a (mostly) greater or lesser extent) in WWII, but its the sheer quality of this game that brings us here (and hopefully keeps us here as the bugs are ironed out and the game develops).

[Centuur]

Parents... Well, that came later for me. My father was a history teacher and had a lot of books on WW II (among those the ones I read as a boy...). I raided his collection when I was a teenager (helped by the fact that according to my wife I can read a book in an amazing short amount of time. See once timed me -without me knowing it- reading a 200 page book in less than 2 hours. To her, that was amazingly fast. I don't know if it is, since that's normal for me...

Also, I found out when I was 16 that I had two family members who were in the war. One as a grand-uncle in Austria (from my mothers side. After he died his war diary came available to the family. He never talked about the war to anyone...). He fought in the Sturmpioniere in Stalingrad (got wounded there and was shipped out on one of the last planes leaving), the other my oldest uncle on my fathers side, who got away to England during the war and applied for the Dutch navy.

This strange fact made my already existing interest for WW II even higher...

[AxelNL]

Strange feeling that WWII was mid last century - and for the younger generations already further away than WWI was for us.

One of my parents survived the Amsterdam hunger-winter of '44-'45 and the other walked from Breda to Antwerp twice during that war (at age 4 and 9). First to escape the coming conflict (Breda features our military academy) and at the end to escape the liberation conflict. She still has memories from strafing fighters, having to plunge into the gully next to the road.

[Dabrion]

Reserve navy officer, learned my share of (German) naval history there. I enjoy visiting vessels of any kind and age

Also in Germany the (geo-)political developments from the after 1914 to 1939 are a compulsory part of high school curriculum. I remember I enjoyed the lectures, and although not directly about the war, it set me up with some knowledge about the political structures in Europe during the first half of last century. Something I would not have gotten into on my own. A friend of mine has quite the library about WWII, sadly 90% is in French (not my strong suite), so I sticked to the ones with the pictures

Grandparents were born in the 30's, and my great grandparents wouldn't talk about the war (to a child).

[tom730_slith]

What is My key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history? Both game and history. My first war game was Stalingrad by Avalon Hill back in the late 60's. World in Flames was my favorite but like so many games took so long to set up and took up so much space that I haven't played it in over a decade. I was delighted to learn they had finally converted the game to PC.

What is My level of WWII knowledge? I was reading "Life's Picture History of World War Two" since I learned to read! I used to belong to a Military Book Club and my father and I used to routinely buy WW2 books as gifts for each other.

What is My main interest in WWII (e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics)? Strategy and politics.

What started My interest in WWII history? My father was a gunner in B-17s in the Eighth Air Force, flying out of England during the war. I actually bought him a book on the Eighth Air Force for Christmas one year and as he was thumbing through it he found a picture of himself and the rest of the crew he flew with! He was sitting on the wing and was only about 17 or 18 years old. It was AMAZING!

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: tom730

What is My key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history? Both game and history. My first war game was Stalingrad by Avalon Hill back in the late 60's. World in Flames was my favorite but like so many games took so long to set up and took up so much space that I haven't played it in over a decade. I was delighted to learn they had finally converted the game to PC.

What is My level of WWII knowledge? I was reading "Life's Picture History of World War Two" since I learned to read! I used to belong to a Military Book Club and my father and I used to routinely buy WW2 books as gifts for each other.

What is My main interest in WWII (e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics)? Strategy and politics.

What started My interest in WWII history? My father was a gunner in B-17s in the Eighth Air Force, flying out of England during the war. I actually bought him a book on the Eighth Air Force for Christmas one year and as he was thumbing through it he found a picture of himself and the rest of the crew he flew with! He was sitting on the wing and was only about 17 or 18 years old. It was AMAZING!

warspite1

Welcome aboard tom730. Nice story [:)]

[Maucat]

What is My key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history? Both game and history and an interest in alternative history (what if...) due to my passion for SF. My first war game was Third Reich by Avalon Hill back in the late 70's. World in Flames was my favorite but like so many games took so long to set up and took up so much space that I haven't played it in over a decade. I waited the PC version for all this years and now I'm delighted finally to play it again.

What is My level of WWII knowledge? I think very good, I'm an History fan so my home is filled by hundreds of books (I read them all) and almost half of them are on WWII.

What is My main interest in WWII (e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics)? Strategy, economics and politics.

What started My interest in WWII history? My father fought the WWII during the invasion of Jugoslavia in 1941 and remain there until 1943, my uncles fought in North Africa from 1940 to 1942 and a my father's cousin fought in Russia in 1942, They were lucky to survive the war and their tales and their old creased photos when I was child kindled my interest in the history. I like all history from the Ancient to Modern but my favorite periods are the Roman History (I'm italian...), Napoleon's campaigns and WWI/WWII (I consider the two wars at one, WWI was the first time and WWII was the second time).



PS I apologize for my English is certainly not accurate [;)]

[Tankograd]

What is My key driver for playing (M)WIF - game or history? Well military history is my job, and also my passion! I started to play wargames with Air Force and Third Reich by Avalon Hill in the 1980s, and I never stop [:D] Throughout these years, World in Flames will have been my favorite game, and like Maucat and so many other Wif players, I looked forward to the PC version! I ve to say that since I installed the game on my computer, I sleep not much at night![>:]

What is My level of WWII knowledge? I m the chairman of a French company (Caraktere - sorry, I can't post a link as I'm a newbie on the foum) which publishes six magazines of military history in France, and I also write books, among which recently a biography of general Patton. So, I hope to have a good level in military history (at any rate, better than in English)! I¡¦m also a reserve officer of the armored branch of the French Army.

What is My main interest in WWII (e.g. land, air, naval, high level strategy, battles, personalities, economics)? Strategy, battles, weapons, personalities and economics.

What started My interest in WWII history? I began to be interested in the history of the Second World War at the beginning of 1980s, when I was 11 years old. It is moreover like that that I learnt English, because most of the interesting books were in English. Among the friends of my parents and relatives, there was former numerous soldiers and officers who had made the Second World War, some among the allied armies, others within the German troops. Some among them agreed to tell me their story, and so I began to be interested in the war.

[Extraneous]

Caraktère presse & èditions?

[ url = address from address bar ] Your description [ /url ]

Do not include the spaces except in the "Your description" area.

[Tankograd]

Thanks for the explanations Extraneous [:)]

[Empire101]

ORIGINAL: Centuur

Parents... Well, that came later for me. My father was a history teacher and had a lot of books on WW II (among those the ones I read as a boy...). I raided his collection when I was a teenager (helped by the fact that according to my wife I can read a book in an amazing short amount of time. See once timed me -without me knowing it- reading a 200 page book in less than 2 hours. To her, that was amazingly fast. I don't know if it is, since that's normal for me...

Also, I found out when I was 16 that I had two family members who were in the war. One as a grand-uncle in Austria (from my mothers side. After he died his war diary came available to the family. He never talked about the war to anyone...). He fought in the Sturmpioniere in Stalingrad (got wounded there and was shipped out on one of the last planes leaving), the other my oldest uncle on my fathers side, who got away to England during the war and applied for the Dutch navy.

This strange fact made my already existing interest for WW II even higher...

Fascinating!! A very lucky soldier to have not only survived the horrendous fighting, but also to have been lucky enough to get out before the terrible end. No wonder he was so reluctant to talk about his experiences.

ORIGINAL: tom730
What started My interest in WWII history? My father was a gunner in B-17s in the Eighth Air Force, flying out of England during the war. I actually bought him a book on the Eighth Air Force for Christmas one year and as he was thumbing through it he found a picture of himself and the rest of the crew he flew with! He was sitting on the wing and was only about 17 or 18 years old. It was AMAZING!

How amazing is that!!! I bet that photo bought back some memories.

ORIGINAL: Maucat
What started My interest in WWII history? My father fought the WWII during the invasion of Jugoslavia in 1941 and remain there until 1943, my uncles fought in North Africa from 1940 to 1942 and a my father's cousin fought in Russia in 1942, They were lucky to survive the war and their tales and their old creased photos when I was child kindled my interest in the history. I like all history from the Ancient to Modern but my favorite periods are the Roman History (I'm italian...), Napoleon's campaigns and WWI/WWII (I consider the two wars at one, WWI was the first time and WWII was the second time).

Another fascinating family history! Reading this and many other posts here shows the rich and varied family histories that many have who are interested in MWiF.

One of my uncles fought at El Alamein in the Artillery, and was rather reluctant to talk about the war.

My mothers father was gassed in WWI, and never really recovered. My mother told me he NEVER talked about WWI.

A Great Uncle fought at Jutland, and he could'nt stop talking about it!!!


Keep it up chaps!! Great thread Warspite!

[Maucat]

The amazing common thing of all this thread is that the parents or grandparents of all of us fought the WWII on opposite sides and now we're all here to speak friendly each other telling our old family's stories all around the same "digital" table of MWIF...

Thanks Warspite for this thread...[:)]

[Extraneous]

My father was in the United States Navy in WWII and parked P-40's in Pensacola, Florida. He was scheduled to go overseas as a radio operator for a PBY Catalina but the war ended.

My uncle on the other hand was in the United States Marines in WWII. He started at Guadalcanal and continued throughout the Pacific until Japans surrender. The only thing he ever had to say about the war was that he felt President Truman saved his life ending the war. Otherwise he would have been part of Operation Coronet during the invasion of Japan.