dicedtomato

I've had the same crash. It happened the first turn, as soon as the Axis ended their turn (I was the Allies).

I've had the same crash. It happened the first turn, as soon as the Axis ended their turn (I was the Allies).

Good idea, Dave. I'm gonng to be taking a break myself. I usually do after after I get that hollow, futile feeling that inevitably comes when you argue on the Internet. DT

As Judge Holmes said, "The right to free speech does not give you the right to shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theater." Chris G has many public venues where he can express his opinions. This is a private forum. If it's okay to argue here that the Holocaust is a hoax, then it must be equally acceptable to advocate sex between adults and children. As to what Chris G actually said, he referred to the Holocaust as a "holohoax". That's not a word that's used casually. It specifically means that the Jews faked the Holocaust. If some of you want to give Chris G the benefit of the doubt, then be my guest. Holocaust Deniers love that. It's a little trick they use: "Oh, no, we're not saying that no Jews died. We're just saying that it was only 200,000, and they died from typhus, not gas chambers. And, you know, it really was their own fault. They shouldn't have made the Germans mad..." I'm not playing that game. DT

Don't argue with Chris G. That's what these mental defectives crave. They want intelligent people to debate them. Because if there is a debate, then this must mean that the Holocaust Deniers have an argument, as if rational people could really disagree that the Holocaust ever happened. Chris G is a moron. The people in his life treat him like he's a moron. Deep down, he knows himself that he's a moron. Treating him with intellectual legitimacy is like awarding a college degree to a chimp. Let Chris eat bananas and scratch himself. DT

Hearts of Iron is a weird sim, but it handles the concept of national morale well. Nations have dissent levels, which rise for things like declaring war. As RJ points out, that makes better sense for the democracies than for Germany and Russia. On the other hand, SC2 doesn't reflect the strains of a long war. By 1944, both Germany and Russia were scraping the bottom of the manpower barrel. The Germans had "stomach battalions" of men who could only eat white bread. An easy way to model this would be to assign lower morale values to German and Russian reinforcements as of 1944. DT

The same mythology was applied to the Japanese. They were supposed to be natural jungle fighters, thus reflecting their "simian" roots, as seen in the hideous monkey-like figures in the propaganda posters. Lucky for the propagandists that the Allied public was too lazy to look at a map. Japan is on the same latitude as Los Angeles. It's about as tropical as Nova Scotia. DT

Another wargamer wet dream. Let's see, it's June 1945. Britain is bankrupt, France is devastated, Western Europe is freezing and starving, and the U.S. is still fighting Japan. We haven't tested the atom bomb, but we have told our troops for four years that the Russians are our friends. So what do we do? We let King Patton the Looney attack two million Soviets. They're armed to the teeth, but no worries. As our new German friends assure us, the Soviets will collapse like a house of cards. Just like they predicted in 1941. DT

"Friendship with the world is enmity with God"??? Now we know who Jon Rambo is. He's Bin Laden. [ May 25, 2006, 01:24 PM: Message edited by: dicedtomato ]

Excellent, Dave! DT

Jon, does it occur to you that Desert Dave's "friend to the world" attitude presents a much more favorable image of Christianity than you do? You remind me of a pamphlet written by some Southern Baptists determined to convince Hindus to convert to Christianty. It said that "we pray that Hindus give up their evil, idol-worshipping ways." Evidently, a Hindu was supposed to read this and think, "Evil? Idol-worshipper? Yup, that's me. Jesus, here I come." DT

You shouldn't feel guilty about winning as Germany, Jim. I'm Jewish, and I've played Germany many times, and enjoyed winning. The thing to remember is that you're playing Germany, but not ROLE-PLAYING Germany. Guys with photos of German generals on their wall don't understand that. DT

Jon, You've said that "great Legendary Americans" are Christians, which suggests that those who aren't Christian are not great, "Legendary" or American. Chris G believes that Jews are evil. Can you explain the difference between you and Chris G? DT

You ask a good question, Jim. One that has costantly troubled me as a wargamer. I think there's a fascination with evil, whether it's the Nazis or the Mafia. Maybe it's because so many of us wish that we could cast aside all the rules and morals that govern our lives. I also think there's a wannabe syndrome here. Like tribesmen who believe that eating the hearts of their enemies makes them stronger, there are wargamers who seem to feel more powerful when they play the Germans side, or have photos of Tiger tanks on their walls. The problem is some gamers don't understand the difference between studying history, and becoming enthusiastic about it. It's funny that you mention Wiesel, because I sometimes use what I call the Elie Wiesel test. Wiesel's argument is that we must remember. So if he were to see us playing the Germans in a wargame, we could explain that we are merely attempting to remember history. But how do we explain those who insist that games have Nazi graphics, or those who always insist on playing the German side in any wargame? We should not be ashamed of being wargamers. But we do need to remember the history behind our games. DT

Here's how I like to explain this: You can be interested in Viking history and wear a Viking helmet on the street. People will think you're an American football fan. You can wear a Mongol helmet, and people will think you're going to a costume party. Wear a Nazi swastika, and you're making a political statement, even if you don't intend to. The swastika has become the symbol of choice for tens of thousands of neo-Nazis. Whether these skinheads have an understanding of Nazism is immaterial; the symbol makes a statement. Meet someone on the street wearing a Viking helmet, and you can laugh at the football fan. Meet someone wearing a swastika - especially if you're not white or Christian - and you are in fear of your life. If not playing with Nazi symbols ruins a wargame for you, then the problem isn't with free speech, but with you. There's a difference between interest in history and enthusiasm for it, and some wargamers cross the line. We're making a game out of war, and it's no hardship to occasionally exercise a little self-control. DT

Tying morale to cities is an excellent idea, except for one problem; yuo're creating the infamous Death Spiral. Russia loses four cities. Not only have they lost the MPPs, and not only have their armies taken a beating defending those cities, but now the surviving Russians suffer a morale loss, which makes it even easier for the Germans to keep advancing and harder for the Russians to counterattack. Like the saying goes, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. And we still have the problem of the Red Army panicking because Tobruk has fallen. DT

Jon, not everyone on this forum is Christian. Perhaps it's better to say that America has a lot of wonderful people of all faiths. It's our diversity that makes us great. DT

What the desert does for Dave, evergreen forests do for me. We moved from the Northeast to the Pacific Northwest to get away from noise, congestion and Darwinian struggle with other rats in the race. Soft light from a cloudy canopy over tree-clad hills. It's good for the soul. DT

Chris G is a Holocaust denier. In a previous post, he referred to the Holocaust as the "holohoax". The moderators have chosen not to respond to this, for reasons only they know. Following this post, I intend to ignore Chris G. I hope will others will do the same. DT

World in Flames uses a variable iniative system. There are several WWI games that track national morale. But you're right that no one has done it quite like Hubert, and he deserves applause for a clever idea. It just needs to be tweaked. DT

"Uber-Submarine" (with apologies to the Beatles) In the town where I was born there was a man who sailed the seas and he told of his life sinking the Royal Navy with submarines We all live in an uber-submarine, uber-submarine, uber-submarine... As we live a life of ease every one of us has all we need nuclear reactors and guided torpedoes in our uber-submarine We all live in a uber-submarine, uber-submarine, uber-submarine...

So in other words, the British get screwed? Sorry, Lars. Not historical and it doesn't help the game. The RN has enough problems in SC2. DT

I actually agree with Blashy (about the only thing we agree on) that it's tough to balance this kind of game without making Germany too strong or too weak. Blashy may also be right that there are pro-Allied rules in SC2. The problem is timing. Germany knocking Russian morale down 30 percent in 1941 has more impact than German morale plummeting 30 percent in 1944. D-Day doesn't help much if there's no Russia around. DT

But who plays historically? Or the better question, does the game encourage you to play ahistorically? I agree with Lars. We wargame because we enjoy doing better than history. But where's the satisfaction of alternate history if there are no alternate consequences? If your super-subs destroy the Royal Navy without a sweat, then all you've done is game the system. Conquer South America in Hearts of Iron as Germany; it doesn't feel very satisfying. If Lars is serious about changing subs to warship-hunters, then he devote some effort to devising the likely British response. The RN would not have passively let its navy be wiped out. DT

Don't worry, Lars. I guarantee that even without super-subs and carpet bombing, SC2 won't resemble history. But I do believe that with the game as is, you will get the same outcome each time; an Axis victory. DT