Huge Panzer Corps Update

[Steelgrave]

^Yeah, its a must-buy addition for me.

[Staggerwing]

Something about the Afrika Korps really captures my imagination.

Lots of historians (and, in fact Erwin Rommel himself) have suggested that the war in the desert was a 'purer' kind of warfare than that in the populated areas of Europe and Asia and that the opposing sides treated each others' POWs with more respect as fellow soldiers than was the norm elsewhere. There were also almost no significant numbers of civilians to be injured and killed by the combatants. Rommel refered to it as "Krieg Ohne Hass" or "War without Hate". It may be an overly romantic view of what actually happened but might not be completely off the mark either. The actual battles themselves were unusual in that the vast expanses and open terrain also made for a type of maneuver war that had many aspects of naval tactics. Add to that the stories of brilliant acts of misdirection such as using trucks with aircraft engines bolted to the back kicking up vast dust clouds simulating the movement of a large combat force and it's easy to see why many find the NA campaigns so engrossing.

[Steelgrave]

^I like that, Staggerwing. I know Patton looked at it as a duel between himself and Rommel, a gentleman's war if you will. Interesting. Maybe that explains part of the enduring legend of Afrika Korp to WWII groupies such as myself.

[TheCommandTent]

Alright I can't get this update to work for me.  After it finish downloading I get an error message that the update did not apply.  If I wasn't stupid and closed it already I would post a screenshot.  Anyone else have this problem?

[Gusington]

Staggerwing you know I love you but I have to counter what you posted above. My Grandfather fought in North Africa (not against the Germans directly but against the Italians) and it really messed him up. It was not romantic for him at all.

[Staggerwing]

Staggerwing you know I love you but I have to counter what you posted above. My Grandfather fought in North Africa (not against the Germans directly but against the Italians) and it really messed him up. It was not romantic for him at all.

No, I don't imagine it was. The Italians in NA were actually notorious for being quite cruel to what few Arabs they came across. And there's nothing romantic about dying in an artillery barrage, on a minefield, or in a burning M3. The idealization of the NA theater is more in contrast to the baseline fury and horror that were part of the other theaters and, while POWs were always treated roughly their lot in NA was better in most cases than that on the Eastern, Western, or Italian/Balkan fronts. In most cases... :(

[Gusington]

The one North African story that sticks with me from my Grandfather was about the wires that were strung across roads to decapitate Allied troops. Gramps was pretty tight lipped about most things from WWII but he did tell me that story over and over as he saw my military interest grow.

Still...I'm not immune to the spell of North Africa in WWII, obviously. My Grandfather would not be pleased with me though.

[Steelgrave]

Gus, good point that the things we romanticize and wargame over are very real to some people. Thanks for the reminder. I had a friend who was a WWII vet, a B-17 tailgunner, who was shot down over Nazi Germany on his first mission and spent two years in a prison camp until it was liberated at the end of the war. He never talked about it either.

[Gusington]

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer. But I do have a strong family connection to North Africa. Sorry for bringing down the thread since I am also excited about the expansion. If my Gramps is looking down on me I hope he is not too pissed.