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"For my part, I can play the German side in a conventional wargame easily enough if I need to, although I would prefer to take the Allied side. But Panzer Gener

"For my part, I can play the German side in a conventional wargame easily enough if I need to, although I would prefer to take the Allied side. But Panzer General, with its eagerness to embed me in the role of a German general goose-stepping and kowtowing to his Führer, is a bridge too far for me. I would feel more comfortable with it if it made some effort to acknowledge — even via a footnote in the manual! — the horrors of the ideology which it depicts as all stirring music and proudly waving banners." "Are these issues not being discussed in a mature and thoughtful manner in high school these days? I realize education in the US is a dumpster fire but I find it hard to believe things have fallen off the cliff since I graduated in 2001." These issues weren't being discussed in high school, mature or otherwise, when I graduated in 1986. And if I read your previous comment correctly, it wouldn't be discussed at all (because the Nazis had better uniforms?), no?

CapricornNoble 6y ago
>>>And if I read your previous comment correctly, it wouldn't be discussed at all (because the Nazis had better uniforms?), no? No, you didn't read that correctly. Better uniforms is a somewhat-facetious explanation for German popularity as a faction in wargames. People will naturally gravitate to the team that looks cooler. Same reason why the 501st Legion is a thing in the Star Wars fandom, but there isn't really an equivalent Rebel Alliance fangroup of similar size.[1] That in no way suggests that Nazi atrocities should never be discussed in any medium or venue just because they were stylish. Maybe my experience was different attending Quaker schools, so quite a bit of our history classes covered various crimes against humanity in detail. I'm just saying that nobody needs to be beat over the head with historical moralizing and soul-searching in what is essentially a game of chess with more complicated rules, and the starting positions of the pieces imported from reality. There's plenty of other, better, ways to handle the morality of the history besides a computer strategy game. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501st_Legion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501st_Legion

CapricornNoble 6y ago

>>>And if I read your previous comment correctly, it wouldn't be discussed at all (because the Nazis had better uniforms?), no? No, you didn't read that correctly. Better uniforms is a somewhat-facetious explanation for German popularity as a faction in wargames. People will naturally gravitate to the team that looks cooler. Same reason why the 501st Legion is a thing in the Star Wars fandom, but there isn't really an equivalent Rebel Alliance fangroup of similar size.[1] That in no way suggests that Nazi atrocities should never be discussed in any medium or venue just because they were stylish. Maybe my experience was different attending Quaker schools, so quite a bit of our history classes covered various crimes against humanity in detail. I'm just saying that nobody needs to be beat over the head with historical moralizing and soul-searching in what is essentially a game of chess with more complicated rules, and the starting positions of the pieces imported from reality. There's plenty of other, better, ways to handle the morality of the history besides a computer strategy game. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501st_Legion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501st_Legion