ononehand

The use of civilians can be used to create added realism in wargaming. Firstly, It is well documented that during the latter part of ww2, when the elite german SS forces entered the war, they committed widespread war crimes against civilians and captured soldiers. Deliberate attempt to induce fear into the Russians/allies and destroy their morale. However, this had the opposite effect, as the Russians/allies fought harder ..to the death…and they knew they would die anyway if they surrendered to the SS. So in terms of wargaming. Before,during and after the battle, civilian and militia or resistance fighters can 1)slow down the enemy advance, offer help to the Russians or germans in the case of the ukranian traitors…by sabotaging supply lines etc ..which will reduce ammo supplies for the next battle. 2) provide local intelligence information which can help you decide what units to choose for the next battle. Then you can decide whether you need additional reconnaissance units. 3) civilian resistance units could join the battle as well. After the battle. Once you’ve rounded up the civilians(the ones that havent’t been killed during battle or crossfire) and surrendered enemy soldiers, you could have the option to release them, send them to a camp or massacre them. If your own morale is quite low, you may decide to massacre them, as this ought to raise the morale of your own troops. The enemy new recruits will see their morale plummet, however the morale of enemy seasoned veterans will rise as they will be more willing to fight to the death. So as a commander you will have to make realistic tough decisions- before, during and after battle. This is consistent with WW2 military history. Afterall, if you have lost nearly all your units trying to take a well defended building and the enemy decide to surrender just as you are about shell the life out of them, wouldn’t you want to massacre them anyway out of revenge/frustration?

The PC version of conflict desert storm, although slightly childish it has to be said, is selling extremely well. Its very controversial at the moment which you know only serves to increase sales. The most controversial aspect of desert storm is not that it may upset the arabs, but that there are civilians in the game and you can massacre them if you choose to. So come on battlefront, lets have more controversy, more blood and limbs, more civilians and the option to massacre both civilians and captured enemy soldiers according to real history.

The most unrealistic aspect of this game are the civilians or lack of them. The introduction of civilians would provide an interesting edge to wargaming. Afterall civilians can provide intelligence information. And considering the number of atrocities and war crimes commited during ww2, the game should allow you to recreate these atrocities. Including the option to save or even massacre civilians and captured soldiers and officers. This is warfare afterall. That would be very realistic.

I understand that this game is suppose to be realistic, but where is the blood? When an infantry soldier is hit by artillery, I would expect limbs to fly everywhere. Orthopaedic realism please. Perhaps we will have an "18 rating" for the next game then. After all, warfare is for adults not kids.