Order of Battle: US Marines

[Philippe]

Jarhead, maybe his pronunciation of the Marine Corps motto was just invoking the correct ancient Latin pronunciation?

???

Yeah, that was my thought too and probably the case -- still doesn't excuse the gaffe in the promo though -- anyone who knows anything about the USMC knows their motto is pronounced like JH says, with "Fi" having a long "I" sound.

As in "Fee, fie, foe, fum.  I smell the blood of an Englishman".

[Millipede]

I dunno...If we're talking about a game that is supposed to be about the Corps, but nothing in the game is actually about the Corps, largely due to ignorant mistakes, how can that not be a good reason to pass it up?

Anyway, do tell us if it is any good, otherwise.

I'm slow and methodical so it's taken me awhile to form an opinion. I'm enjoying it but we all have different tastes. As far as differences in re the Corps are concerned... I haven't discovered everything but some items are: Less disruption from amphibious landings, stronger than Japanese army units but similar to Japanese Marines and some new units... Brewster Buffalo (why would you want one?), Seabees (not as good as the in game Army Engineers but less expensive - 8 Seabees for the cost of 3 engineers) - Marine Raiders (quick and sneaky) - Marine Scouts (quick in any terrain) - Amphibious vehicles (LVT's and DUWK's). That's all I've found so far.

I am wondering if this new campaign is on rails...

Yep, it's still the same engine. As far as I can tell, the enemy unit count and type is the same every time you start a scenario but there is some variation in starting position and, if you screw up, they'll definitely painfully instruct you not to do whatever you did again. In the campaign, you have to start with the Tulagi landing in the Solomon's and once you complete that you progress to Guadalcanal, complete that and on to the next etc. If you don't complete all the primary and secondary objectives in a scenario, it will effect the difficulty of the following scenarios. For example, if you don't eliminate all of the opposition, they can show up later.   

[mikeck]

Jarhead, maybe his pronunciation of the Marine Corps motto was just invoking the correct ancient Latin pronunciation?

???

Yeah, that was my thought too and probably the case -- still doesn't excuse the gaffe in the promo though -- anyone who knows anything about the USMC knows their motto is pronounced like JH says, with "Fi" having a long "I" sound.

As in "Fee, fie, foe, fum.  I smell the blood of an Englishman".

The Greek letter "phi" may be pronounced as "fee" but here, "Fi" is short for Fidelis...so they are messing it up

[Philippe]

Jarhead, maybe his pronunciation of the Marine Corps motto was just invoking the correct ancient Latin pronunciation?

???

Yeah, that was my thought too and probably the case -- still doesn't excuse the gaffe in the promo though -- anyone who knows anything about the USMC knows their motto is pronounced like JH says, with "Fi" having a long "I" sound.

As in "Fee, fie, foe, fum.  I smell the blood of an Englishman".

The Greek letter "phi" may be pronounced as "fee" but here, "Fi" is short for Fidelis...so they are messing it up

What's Greek got to do with it ?

[airboy]

I've been playing it some.  Engine is the same as Order of Battle Pacific and Morning Sun.  I've been enjoying it, but have not figured how to best use the units.

[Gusington]

Still on rails...thanks Airboy/Millipede.

[mikeck]

Jarhead, maybe his pronunciation of the Marine Corps motto was just invoking the correct ancient Latin pronunciation?

???

Yeah, that was my thought too and probably the case -- still doesn't excuse the gaffe in the promo though -- anyone who knows anything about the USMC knows their motto is pronounced like JH says, with "Fi" having a long "I" sound.

As in "Fee, fie, foe, fum.  I smell the blood of an Englishman".

The Greek letter "phi" may be pronounced as "fee" but here, "Fi" is short for Fidelis...so they are messing it up

What's Greek got to do with it ?

Because the narrator is pronouncing it like the Greek letter Phi. Can't think of any other reason you would say "fee". Someone mentioned that was the correct pronunciation of FI and I was simply pointing out that no, I think that's the correct pronunciation of the Greek letter Phi but FI is short for fidelis. Just trying to come up with a reason why he would pronounce it that way

[Philippe]

Jarhead, maybe his pronunciation of the Marine Corps motto was just invoking the correct ancient Latin pronunciation?

???

Yeah, that was my thought too and probably the case -- still doesn't excuse the gaffe in the promo though -- anyone who knows anything about the USMC knows their motto is pronounced like JH says, with "Fi" having a long "I" sound.

As in "Fee, fie, foe, fum.  I smell the blood of an Englishman".

The Greek letter "phi" may be pronounced as "fee" but here, "Fi" is short for Fidelis...so they are messing it up

What's Greek got to do with it ?

Because the narrator is pronouncing it like the Greek letter Phi. Can't think of any other reason you would say "fee". Someone mentioned that was the correct pronunciation of FI and I was simply pointing out that no, I think that's the correct pronunciation of the Greek letter Phi but FI is short for fidelis. Just trying to come up with a reason why he would pronounce it that way

Jarhead's comment was essentially correct. 

I think what we're dealing with is someone who knows a bit about pronouncing Latin, but hasn't a clue as to how it gets mangled in American argot.

[airboy]

I've played 2 of the 11 scenarios.  It is pretty much as I expected.  Very focused on infantry and amphibious landings.  Relatively small maps with relatively static, dug in opponents.  The Japanese counter-attacks on Guadalcanal were in waves and relatively easily countered.  Bloody - but not strategically or tactically difficult.

So far, this is not a battle of maneuver.  You must protect your flanks and grind down your opponents. 

All in all, pretty realistic of the Marines in the island-hopping campaigns.

[Don't take any of this as negative on the Marine Corps.  The Pacific was very bloody infantry combat.  The US fortunately had air superiority after Guadalcanal and had more armor.]

[FarAway Sooner]

Yeah.  My comment about knowledge of Latin was very much tongue-in-cheek.  I probably should have used the winking icon instead!

Pronouncing it "Semper Fee" is akin to pronouncing the battle as "Eye-woe Jeye-ma".

[Swatter]

Pardon for the slight hijacking here- the campaign is being described as "on rails". Can someone more clearly define that? In addition, what would be the preferred way to handle campaigns in games like this?

[jomni]

Pardon for the slight hijacking here- the campaign is being described as "on rails". Can someone more clearly define that? In addition, what would be the preferred way to handle campaigns in games like this?

Only one path? Only one way to win?

[Jarhead0331]

Pardon for the slight hijacking here- the campaign is being described as "on rails". Can someone more clearly define that? In addition, what would be the preferred way to handle campaigns in games like this?

I think the issue is that the  campaign is highly scripted. Enemies always appear when the player reaches a certain point on the map, or a certain objective is approached or captured, etc.

[Apocalypse 31]

Pardon for the slight hijacking here- the campaign is being described as "on rails". Can someone more clearly define that? In addition, what would be the preferred way to handle campaigns in games like this?

I think the issue is that the  campaign is highly scripted. Enemies always appear when the player reaches a certain point on the map, or a certain objective is approached or captured, etc.

The campaign for the original game was highly scripted and I also found that the game relied heavily on having the AI seriously outnumber the player as a means to be challenging. It's a technique to challenge players, but I always find that killing wave after wave of AI is rather boring and exactly opposite - not a challenge at all - rather a task.

It's really a shame because the game looks beautiful for a turn based strategy game.

[Gusington]

Yeah that's what I meant by 'in rails'...only one way to win. Agreed that it is a shame too because it is a very good looking game.