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Damien Thorn -> RE: History Channel Monday 9pm EST (8/3/2004 12:15:31 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MengCiao
quote:
ORIGINAL: dhennin
well, besides the cheezeness of HC, the point I was trying to make between the lines is Why Americans are so fascinated with Nazis? Look, when I was playing tabletop wargames, I was alwyas intrigued by guys who always wanted to play the Axis side. Never the Allies. One told me one day that it's more challenging. But I always felt this explanation insufficient. It's almost as if those guys would have prefer that the Axis won!
It's a fundamental mystery of the American Psyche. I'm a Texan so I can see the Nazis as definitely bad and very unpleasant since they shot up the Texas 36th (national guard)division pretty bad on several occasions and generally did not behave themselves very well even when it would have been in their own interest...but for many Americans something about the jerries is very appealing. In some ways, if you like being the allies in a war game like I do, this is a good thing since there's always a lot of wannabe jerries to trounce....but it is kind of disturbing, now that you mention it...though I guess I've gotten so used to it that most of the time I don't notice.
But I don't know why Americans find jerry to be particularly intriguing and even appealing. It's a mystery to me.
I'm someone who always plays the Axis side in any WW2 game. One of the reasons I do it is for the challenge. I also do it for the "underdog" reason mentioned above. I, and many people around the world, repsect what the Axis powers were able to accomplish. This isn't limited to Nazis either. In 1904 Japan took on a major Eurpoean power, Russia, and beat the snot out of them. That was the first time a non-White power had done that. It is even moer impressive when you consider that 40 years earlier they were running around with swords and only had limited exposure to gunpower.
In wargames the US is often viewed as a bully because they have all the advantages and they can be clumsy and awkward and STILL usually beat anybody they want. That kind of playing has no appeal to many gamers. Now, if you are talking about playing hte US during the revolutionary war -- I'm all over that. Then THEY were the underdog.
I'm not deluded. I wouldn't have wanted the Nazis to win the war. I wouldn't want to live under their system of government (although I'd take it over communism). I wouldn't mind if they would have been able to have a few more years of success before being defeated though. Wiping out the Bolsheviks would have done the world a lot of good.
The final reason many people play the Axis countries is WW2 games is because they can trace their ancestery back to those countries. Remember, it may be a Nazi government in charge but it is still GERMANY and, if you are of German ancestry you may still want to fight for Germany.
I have a friend who is German. He loves watching the "All Hitler Channel" (we call it that too). He only watches the first half of all the programs though -- just up to the point where the Germans start losing. [;)]
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