German ranks

[Palle]

Sorry if this question does not belong here, but I find nowhere else to put it.

The fact that you can buy SS units is cool. However, the commanders still largely carry Heer ranks. Oberleutnant etc. How come?

[DRG]

The ranks are provided from a list by nation NOT by unit and the rank list for Germany is based on the Heer Ranks.

SS ranks are available for Sceanrio designers who may wish to change individual units if they have access to Scenhack ( activated by the CD version ) as explained in the game guide

Don

[mr_clark]

If you want to play campaigns using purely SS units you can also rename the rnk.txt's accordingly... Worked fine for me in one campaign.

[Palle]

Should you wish I can fairly quickly provide a table of equivalent ranks in the two organisations.

[DRG]

So could I so it's not needed. The ranks list that exists as "Nation 0" is close enough for the scope of this game

Don

[PanzerBob]

Thanks for info, My SS KG's now have the proper ranks.

Man I love this game.

Cheers, Bob

[Arralen]

Sorry if this question does not belong here, too, but ...

Palle said:
The fact that you can buy SS units is cool.

How come?

Those units which where in front-line use wheren't that much different than ordinary heer units. And those which wheren't .. dunno what's so "cool" about them or SS in general ... ????

[PatG]

Arralen said:
Sorry if this question does not belong here, too, but ...

How come?

Those units which where in front-line use wheren't that much different than ordinary heer units. And those which wheren't .. dunno what's so "cool" about them or SS in general ... ????

It's a difficult question. Very generally, in wargaming the losing side tends to be more popular than the winning side: WWII Germans vs Allies, Confederate States vs Federal, Napoleon vs Wellington. I would suggest that this is due to most players, and I include myself, thinking "If I was in command, things would have been different..."

A second reason is "marketing". The National Socialists were not stupid. The SS was sold as an elite praetorian force, with special uniforms, special equipment and a direct link back to the "glorious past" of the teutonic knights. Whether or not you agree with the politics, the black SS uniform is pretty impressive looking. You can see some of the same factors in play in ads for the Marines, the French Foreign Legion and other "elite" formations. In SPWW2 the Marines get a whole OOB to themselves...

A third reason is the Cold War. Until recently, most western militaries were focussed on defeating the Russian Hordes. As the Germans generally and the SS specifically were the first modern western troops to go up against the Russians, it is easy for we westerners to identify with them. Only recently has WWII been portrayed as anything other than an American affair with some support from the rest of the allies*. In particular the overwhelming Russian contribution to the defeat of Germany is just starting to be acknowledged.

Finally there is politics. In general, most wargamers are right of centre politically. It is easy to look at what the facist regimes accomplished while avoiding looking at the failings. This appears too in the West's infatuation with ancient Rome.

Do I think the SS are cool? I have to admit with some guilt that yes I do. However, I am not naive enough to forget the racist brutality that underpins their "Cool" image. Then again, I prefer to play the Japanese - they are guilt free right?

PatG

*This seems to be primarily a Hollywood problem. In no way do I mean to ignore the huge contributions the US made in men and material.

[PanzerBob]

Well put, Pat, I don't think I would have laid it out as well, however, you hit the nail on the head.

BZ, PanzerBob

[chuckfourth]

Hi
I found some interesting stuff on the SS in this book, "World War II" by Orbis publishing.
As we are all aware the origional task of the SS was to administer state terror as directed by Hitler. This was done through the concentration camps. The SS was a stand alone and very powerful organisation in itself, as testified to by the fact that when manpower ran out in Germany and the camp inmates were put to work in the economy, the SS insisted that the inmates had to be worked to death, rather than the idustrialists prefered option of keeping them alive.

The Waffen "field" SS or "fighting" SS brought some of this terror with them especially the TotenKopf, 1st and 2nd SS divisions which were composed from concentration camp gaurds and the Polizei Division formed from the SS police force. All men no doubt used to brutality. Das Reich and Viking divisions were largely recruited from German volunteers. There were also SS divisions composed of volunteers from scandinavia and Holland etc. Men from the foreign volunteer units could end up with the death sentence as traitors if captured. Their status remained "undefined" throughout the war. A cynic would say that the various SS atrocities served the purpose of making the SS fight all that much harder as they could expect a similarily brutal end if captured. And the SS does seem to be famous for fighting with fanatical tenacity.
Why do I mention this?
Maybe it would be reasonable to remove the SS units dice roll for surendering and assume they are "fighting to the death"?
The Japs are another story they believed that there emporer was divine and that they couldnt lose the war. And they werent keen on surrendering either! One example is Tarawa, of 4500 japanese a total of 17 soldiers and 129 Korean labourers were captured/surrendered. For many years after the war ended an occasional japanese soldier would turn up in the southern pacific still dutifully manning his station.
Again I would suggest that the Japs arent subject to a dice roll for surrender.
A lot of people would say that WW2 was really fought and won by Russia on the eastern front. Russia had something like 20000000 men killed.
Best regards Chuck