Matrix Games Forums

One of the big attractions of Spwaw for me is its comprehensiveness. If I get tired of GER vs US '44 or GER vs USSR '42, I can play a Spanish Civil war game, or a Japan vs USSR battle either in '39 or '45! Literally anything in the WWII time frame (in a broad sense) is possible. Every theatre of war holds some interest for me. My fave is whatever I'm interested in at any given time [:D]

Not intereseted much in the desert, nor pacific. Terrain is also more varied in eastern/western europe and ya know,..I´m a terrain freak![:D]

Eastern Europe! is my favorite but I'm not scaggy of fighting a battle in the desert or the pacific.

Gvaihir

I like the eastern front more because the countries have such a different philosophy.

Eastern front all the way.......

Its big, bloody and easy to loose yourself in for a few hours.

I picked the Eastern Front for two reasons:

Stalingrad and Kursk

I would then pick North Afrika for two reasons:

El Alaimein and Torbruk

Then I would pick the Western Front for two reasons:

D-Day and the Bulge

And then I would pick the Pacific for two reasons:

Tarawa and Okanwa (sp)

ORIGINAL: dlazov
Okanwa (sp)

Wha? [&:]

I'm not surprised at these stats. They show simply where the interest lies. I've never been quite sure of the appeal of the Eastern Front to players in the west unless it is just that. But then the enormity of it, coupled with some of the largest tank battles in history are enough to catch anyone's attention.

Myine is the Pacific. Again, I'm not sure why.One thing I do know, the Far East and the Pacific are NOT a series of the same battles over and over again. Each island was different with different obstacles and different objectives in reaching the main one, VJ Day.

I really love 'em all, but my predilection witll always be the Pacific.

Wild Bill

Btw, I voted for the Eastern Front, and no explanations needed, hehe.

And I guess dlazov ment Okinawa with funny spelling. [;)]

It wasn't until I started playing SPWaW that I really gained an appreciation for the ground-pounders. Oddly enough, a game that is geared for mechanized warfare encouraged me to take a fresh look at the infantry.
To my mind, the ultimate in infantry combat is the desparate battles of the Pacific Theater--I've gained much respect for not only the US Marines, but the US Army units, the ANZACs, the Brits, the Filipinos, the Chinese and the Russians who fought & died in widely-varying terrain and conditions during a war which actually began in 1931 and lasted for months more after Germany was defeated in Europe.
Arguably, you could say that the Pacific was an active theater of war for much of the twentieth century, starting from the Spanish-American War & Philippine Insurrection until Vietnam.
That being said, this theater also offers much more for possibilities in SPWaW scenario & campaign design.

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin
-I've gained much respect for not only the US Marines, but the US Army units, the ANZACs, the Brits, the Filipinos, the Chinese and the Russians who fought & died in widely-varying terrain and conditions during a war which actually began in 1931 and lasted for months more after Germany was defeated in Europe.

So no respect for the Japanese?

ORIGINAL: Keke

ORIGINAL: KG Erwin
-I've gained much respect for not only the US Marines, but the US Army units, the ANZACs, the Brits, the Filipinos, the Chinese and the Russians who fought & died in widely-varying terrain and conditions during a war which actually began in 1931 and lasted for months more after Germany was defeated in Europe.

So no respect for the Japanese?

Well, there is only such much time and space.

I respect the IJA as much as I do the SS......*

and for a lot of the same reasons.




(*which is to say not at all)

ORIGINAL: harlekwin

Well, there is only such much time and space.

I respect the IJA as much as I do the SS......*

and for a lot of the same reasons.

Politics aside and just from the military point of view...AFAIK there are no atrocities in SPWAW. [;)]

ORIGINAL: Keke

ORIGINAL: harlekwin

Well, there is only such much time and space.

I respect the IJA as much as I do the SS......*

and for a lot of the same reasons.

Politics aside and just from the military point of view...AFAIK there are no atrocities in SPWAW. [;)]

Nope. The men scream and suffer in silence as they are gunned down. Only a vehicle warrants a loud bang [:'(]

ORIGINAL: Keke

ORIGINAL: harlekwin

Well, there is only such much time and space.

I respect the IJA as much as I do the SS......*

and for a lot of the same reasons.

Politics aside and just from the military point of view...AFAIK there are no atrocities in SPWAW. [;)]

I think both bodies were full of very zealous over-indoctrinated amatuers compared to the majority of western armies. The SS had a lot of guts but not a lot of sense, and the IJA showed how stellar they were against the soviets. Political platitudes make a poor substitute for good initial training and a decent sense of self-preservation.

The political bent while influencing my judgement does not dominate it. The Wehrmacht would have done more with the gear the SS got and The japanese were toast with less than 25% of our might directed at them. Fanatics just make more noise when they fall.

As for the Japanese, no doubt they gained respect if not admiration for their fighting abilities. I believe the USMC-Jap war was fought with as much, if not more, mutual hatred than was exhibited between the Germans & Russians during the Eastern Front campaigns.

ORIGINAL: harlekwin

I think both bodies were full of very zealous over-indoctrinated amatuers compared to the majority of western armies.

I think western armies had as much zealous over-indoctrinated amateurs...what made the difference was much better resource management.

ORIGINAL: harlekwin
The SS had a lot of guts but not a lot of sense, and the IJA showed how stellar they were against the soviets. Political platitudes make a poor substitute for good initial training and a decent sense of self-preservation.

Late war SS was a mixed bag, and IJA showed its prowess at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Soviets, while serving political platitudes like none other, would have kicked western butt by 1945 with their operational art.

ORIGINAL: harlekwin
The political bent while influencing my judgement does not dominate it. The Wehrmacht would have done more with the gear the SS got and The japanese were toast with less than 25% of our might directed at them. Fanatics just make more noise when they fall.

It's all about resource management...and how much one has them in the first place...

Well we could debate what MAY have happened in WW3 1946, but the fact is that a) I agree with your assertion on logistics and resources, b) the IJA was in the unique position of being on total defense against amphib assaults, and c) and we largely agree on the prowess of the "SS" I bet.

Speaking of the Invasion of Japan, there's a campaign being circulated that is mentioned in the Scenarios/Campaigns forum. In its documentation, it evens mentions the idea of using atomic bombs on the beachheads prior to the landings. This was actually considered by American planners. Couple this with the massed kamikazes, and the Japanese government urging the entire population to sacrifice itself to defend the homeland--this is an Armageddon-type of war that is nearly impossible to imagine. It isn't politically correct to say so, but we have much to be thankful for in Fat Man and Little Boy, which were the nicknames for the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I choose east front because it was the biggest show of our last century. Second would have to be pacific because of the impact on strategy that the insanity of logistics across an ocean as big as the pacific.

Tomo