Posts made by Wolfshanze

Thanks for the rundown Black Elk… ya… i got time to look over things… there’s definitely a lot to soak in.

Coming from your link regarding neutral rules (or the lack there-of) in 1942 SE… I see your political arguments, but what are the gameplay ramifications in-game?

I’m seeking reasonable neutral country rules that might be adaptable to the 1942 SE experience… because even A&A Classic had neutral army rules (lame as they were)… I don’t consider the “Neutral countries are to be considered like the Himalayas as far as gameplay is concerned” approach of 1941/1942 to be good solutions.

@IWillNeverGrowUp:

When people look at our chips and say “Those are expensive!” ($50 Canadian for 50 chips) I just have to realize they have never ordered custom, quality poker chips before. $1 a poker chip (Canadian) = about $0.70 each US right now and that’s cheap.

Well, if anyone is interested, I can sell some GENUINE LEGAL TENDER US 1$ Gold coins… only $5 US dollars per coin!  What a deal!  :-D

I haven’t bought anything yet, but i’m definitely window shopping and taking a gander at everything i’d LIKE to get, starting this weekend.  Still recovering from taking the kids to Orlando earlier this month!  Hands-on starts this weekend.  Couple more days, can’t wait, then I start playing around with stuff again!

@CWO:

As anecdotal evidence supporting Wolfshanze’s theory, I saw it when I was well past the age of 15 and I thought it was pretty awful.  And I’m not just talking about the cringe-worthy part about the wrong tanks standing in for iconic WWII models.  It’s one of the rare military movies that I own on DVD – and I own a lot – that I’ve never watched more than once.

Thank you… I am firm in the belief that anyone over the age of 15 who views Battle of the Bulge, and has at least some basic grasp of WWII’s history and equipment better also have an airsick bag handy when they watch the movie… i felt very queasy and seriously ill several times during the viewing of that film as an adult!

@LHoffman:

Ultimately… this isn’t even my topic. I am defending the inclusion of BotB because it fits the criteria set forth, not because it is a worthy historical piece. It has a lot of decent war action in it. Much more than most other films.

Ultimately… this isn’t my topic either… I was downing the inclusion of BotB, not because it doesn’t meet the criteria of “action”, but because it does NOT meet the criteria of “Top 10”… it’s a terrible movie… ugh.

Trust me… I’m not nominating Pearl Harbor for this list… I was using it as a comparison of quality of action with Battle of the Bulge… and the Battle of the Bulge action scens are pure fluff… its along the line of C.H.I.P’s and Dukes of Hazzard where explosions of any kind = that looks cool, so put it in, I don’t care if it doesn’t make sense.

At the end of the day, I don’t really care… I was just pointing out that of all the films on the top-10 list, Battle of the Bulge lacks big time in quality and reality compared to any other movie on that list.

Also, something like Letters from Iwo Jima DOES, by definition and comparison to other movies on this list as an action movie… if you’re going to put Das Boot and Patton on this list, Letters from Iwo Jima easily has just as much action-vs-drama as those films, so it would at least qualify for consideration, vs something like Downfall or Schindlers List.

Ok, ok… so maybe there’s more singing going on in these films then one might like… but you gotta admit, that random break out into song in Battle of the Bulge is the hokiest singing of the lot!

All good… gotta go get my kids from school!

Ya, I’m not in a rush to mess with the neutral rules… I’m just a tad taken aback that there simply aren’t any at all for 1942… I kinda expected as much for 1941, but I was shocked when 1942 had no rules for neutrals.

I was mostly wondering if anyone had worked out any decent custom neutral rules for 1942 (or I can run with the theory 99.9% of everyone on this forum just plays Global 1940).

I know this may sound silly, but when this forum seems to mostly focus on 1940 Global, which is comprised of 1940 Europe and 1940 Pacific, why do I seem to be the only one who can’t help but stare at the “to be released 2009/2010” dates given in the description blocks of these subforums?

Letters from Iwo Jima has a lot of combat scenes… not sure which film you watched. Downfall its not. You seem to be leaning back towards nominating Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor if all you want is action scenes and nothing else bordering on reality.

So now what… do we have to break down the action % on film to determine if it qualifies for the list? Your argument that there’s not enough action in Letters from Iwo Jima would likewise apply to Saving Private Ryan, which devotes nearly the same % of film time to “boring old drama” as opposed to Michael Bay-style action.

I’m sorry… this list is pretty good, but if you’re going “top 10 ever”, I can’t see Battle of the Bulge on the same list as Saving Private Ryan or Bridge Too Far… that’s a travesty. You’re really trying to thread the needle on % of action if your last and only justification of a pure fluff film like Battle of the Bulge qualifies while other films with action but “a tad too much drama” don’t qualify. Patton has way too much story to be considered if you’re going down that road. I assure you there is more action in Letters from Iwo Jima than in Das Boot which is at the top of the list.

Rotten Tomatoes:
Das Boot 98%
Saving Private Ryan 97%
Patton 95%
Letters from Iwo Jima 91%
.
.
.
.
Battle of the Bulge 67%

P.S.
There is more film time devoted to randomly breaking out into song in Battle of the Bulge than any other movie (or proposed movie) on this list… that should tell you something! :roll:

I think the only reason why people like Battle of the Bulge is because nobody saw it past the age of 15… memories are a wonderful thing, but I’m sorry… this movie is bad.  The acting was wooden and hokey… the script was terrible the “historical realism” just wasn’t there (and I’m talking beyond the equipment, but also most of the setup).  The combat sequences are probably where Michael Bay got all his ideas from how battles should look, but done cheaply and badly… Battle of the Bulge is a closer cousin of Hogan’s Heroes for realism than Saving Private Ryan, and it should not be in the same list with something like Saving Private Ryan. I was jesting with Pearl Harbor, I don’t think it belongs on this list, but putting those two together makes more sense than Battle of the Bulge being on this list.  Certainly something like Letters from Iwo Jima should rank higher than Battle of the Bulge… and OMG, the stereotypes in this movie and the “hokiness”…

Check out this terrible scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JDkdc246QQ

I might have to just fast-forward the 1984 MB A&A Classic rules into 1942 SE… not sure… i’ll review the classic rules on the matter and look more closely at the 1940 rules… I hate the thought of treating neutrals like solid blocks of insurmountable granite… there has to be a way to make it work with 1942.

Marc, we may have similar thoughts on WWII equipment representation in game, but I’m heavily leaning towards a Stanley 25-bin Removeable Organizer(s) over the Flambeau Zerust plastic tackle box(s).

Also… balloons vs dirigibles maybe funny… but nothing is funny as the World’s Funniest Joke… lethal at over 50 yards, seeing two words of it will land you in the hospital for weeks… it ended WWII, and Hitler never could reproduce something as funny, despite Nazi Germany’s best efforts at a funny joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ienp4J3pW7U

By Grabthar’s hammer, by the suns of Worvan, Flambeau’s Zerust plastic tackle boxes shall be avenged!

Awwww… bummer… I just read the rules to 1942 SE and realized (like 1941), there’s no rules for neutral countries other than "VERBOTEN".  How lame… even A&A Classic had Neutral country rules… I kinda figured 1941 wouldn’t but thought for sure 1942 SE would have them.

So I’ve seen a lot of people with custom neutral power armies and what-not… I guess I’m to assume neutral country rules are only covered in the 1940 game(s)?

I’d like to see what those rules are for neutral countries (assuming they exist in the 1940 games)… does anybody use neutral country rules with 1942 SE?  Either hijacked from 1940 or custom made?  Thoughts on the matter welcome.

So has anyone kicked their Axis yet?  :-D

@Colt45:

Contrary to what many will think, I am not racist. I am not anti-Jewish.

Communism- Came to power by murdering the Tsar of Russia. Backed primarily by international Jewry and many leaders were themselves Jewish.

[Starts to raise hand, then slowly lowers it back down]… awww… nevermind… it ain’t worth it.

So you list movies from American eyes… German eyes… British eyes… Russian eyes… but nothing from Japanese eyes? If this is an A&A forum, you should represent at least 5 major powers! :wink:
There are some GREAT movies with tons of action and great battle scenes that are not on this list but should be.

Letters from Iwo Jima, directed by Clint Eastwood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51lo2dpaZ_g

Battleship Yamato (2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4QWqDTCk2A
(apologize for the lack of subtitles in the trailer, but the DVD I have is subtitled in English… it’s a very good movie with top quality action sequences)

Oh, and if you want to bump something off the list, Battle of the Bulge needs to be removed… how that is in the Top 10 astounds me… it’s a terrible movie with corny acting, over the top stereotypes, bad action sequences with wrong equipment, set on false pretenses… nowhere near in the same category as the others on the list… I’d put Micheal Bay’s Pearl Harbor over Battle of the Bulge.

@Private:

Thanks for taking the time to reply Wolf. You make me feel quite “normal” which is not so easy!

Well, if you mean obsessing over little equipment issues that 99% of ‘normal’ people would never even notice, ya, welcome to the club.  Because of the way I think about equipment and what’s proper and isn’t, i’ll probably be ziplocking half or more of the 1941 units and tossing them to the side.  Of course half of the 1941 units is like about 20 units or so… lolz… looking at the units provided in 1941, man, they sure did cut the budget on that one for sculpts.

But I know what countries used what and what they didn’t.  Japan didn’t have any Tigers or Tiger copies, so to the ziplock bag they go… they won’t be in my storage trays for the game, and if I toss out 5 Japanese tigers, i’ll order 5 other Japanese tanks (that Japan did use) to fill the void.  I’ll do this for each unit in the 1941 box.  I’m fine (and actually prefer) having a variety of sculpts for the same unit type… so things like Germany having Tigers from 1941 and Panthers from 1942, both representing German armor, is perfectly fine with me.  If I can find unique sculpts for units that aren’t in 1941 or 1942 from the HBG site (either custom HBG or from the 1940 games), I may order them for variety to replace things like Japanese Tigers and FW-190s.

@Private:

Good to see the energy and enthusiasm you bring to the forum BTW.

Meh, I’ve been bored lately and looking for a new obsession… falling back on A&A just reinforces my WWII hobby… I’m mostly looking forward to seeing if I can get my kids into it.

Besides, like Groucho Marx once said… “I’d never join a club that would accept me as a member”.  :wink:

Sad to say, my daughter defeated me in Risk this week… her eye for strategy is in her genes.  I might have to introduce the kids to 1941 soon!