Spanish Civil War Tank Parade Art by arseniquez

[Kerensky]

Celebrating the end of the Spanish Civil War! Got an amazing artist who made an incredible piece of artwork, check it out!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... 2195902153

[KesaAnna]

My experience mirrors that of Green Knight's comments over on Steam .

I really , really liked the Trubia tank . So , as soon as I got a sufficient stockpile of Trubia's , I upgraded a tank unit to Trubia's . Then the Verdeja tank came along , then I started acquiring stockpiles of Russian tanks...

Basically , going into Brunete , my tank force consists of everything but German tanks.

As things currently stand , if not for the Panzer IIA I picked up , I will finish out the Spanish Civil War without any German tanks in my German Condor Legion.

And that's not all. The center piece of my artillery force is a unit of Russian 203mm 1931 Howitzers. And in two scenarios , to train up some extra recons , I put them in captured Spanish armored cars , rather than German ones.

My Condor Legion is looking like a rakish gang of mercenary pirates .

Anyway ---

I was wondering if , or when , we would see any Panzer Corps 2 fan art , other than the comics.

It can be a somewhat problematical subject though.

I already have quite an album of Panzer Corps 2 fan art , a kind of Signal Magazine ( picture magazine ) AAR.

Grr , but there are problems.

For example ; Germany wins the war , and the Third Reich becomes a Cosmopolitan Reich. I'm currently working on a series of posters , " Welcome to the Cosmopolitan Reich ! " put up in airports , customs houses , and such , in the late 1980's - early 1990's , and featuring the American star Mariah Carey as poster girl.

So , a bit like your Galland + Mickey Mouse problem . And the problem keeps coming up in various forms again and again.

Anyway , a nice piece you commissioned there !

[KesaAnna]

Speaking of Ana Sofia ---

My hat is off to whomever wrote / designed the Ana Sofia ending in the Spanish Civil war !!

It was true to life ; I have had farewell's similar to that one.

It was touching . It made me cry.

( I was hoping she and my adjutant would get married. But I guess that is asking too much , and you can't have everything. Oh well. )

And especially marvelous given these are a bunch of Fascists we are talking about ! This game is truly avante garde !

---

Oh , and I wonder does she have a grandchild or great - grandchild named Suzanne Vega ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6qvIhygLTs

I'm not sure what the idea behind this song was ? But , " Blood makes noise " , and , " I think that you might want to know
The details and the facts -- But there's something in my blood Denies the memory of the acts " would fit the Spanish Civil War , or any war for that matter I suppose.

Once again I say to myself that I should get around to learning to make youtube videos. This song would be cool with pictures of diving Stuka's , and grinning Nationalists , and constipated - looking Republicans.

An easy one too , given the song is so short. You could easily come up with more good Spanish Civil war images than you can fit into two minutes and twenty eight seconds of sound.

But , once again , I doubt Suzanne Vega would appreciate the edgy innovative effort ?

[adiekmann]

Speaking of Ana Sofia ---

My hat is off to whomever wrote / designed the Ana Sofia ending in the Spanish Civil war !!

It was true to life ; I have had farewell's similar to that one.

It was touching . It made me cry.

( I was hoping she and my adjutant would get married. But I guess that is asking too much , and you can't have everything. Oh well. )

And especially marvelous given these are a bunch of Fascists we are talking about ! This game is truly avante garde !

Well, if it's of any consolation, in 1945 Anna will be alive and well, glad that Franco didn't get Spain involved more deeply with the Axis during the war, and reminiscing of her flame during the war while the adjutant is rotting in a Siberian gulag never to see his homeland again.

[KesaAnna]

Life tends to be anti - climactic for everyone but God and small children.

Like , for example , we know now that even if Bonaparte won Waterloo he was going to be dead of stomach cancer in just a few more years anyway.

And , arguably , the Bonapartists , like the Nazis , had their rock star , but , beyond him , they didn't really have a deep bench.

I can't prove it , but the clues in Hitler's medical condition seemed to indicate that probably by 1953 he wouldn't be running even a Berghof tea party.

Speaking of 1953 , and actual winners ;

I don't know about these Stalin murder conspiracies ? But I do think it reasonable to venture that Stalin might have lived another day ( ? ) , another week ( ? ) , even another ten years ( ? ) , but his own guards , his own physicians , and his own colleagues , were too afraid ( ? ) , or too indifferent ( ? ) to help a guy lying on the floor in his own vomit.

Such was the end of arguably the greatest conqueror since Genghis Khan . Such was success ?

[Kerensky]

Well, if it's of any consolation, in 1945 Anna will be alive and well, glad that Franco didn't get Spain involved more deeply with the Axis during the war, and reminiscing of her flame during the war while the adjutant is rotting in a Siberian gulag never to see his homeland again.

Is this... fan fiction writing for what might happen to the DLC characters? lol awesome

[Kerensky]

Speaking of Ana Sofia ---

My hat is off to whomever wrote / designed the Ana Sofia ending in the Spanish Civil war !!

It was true to life ; I have had farewell's similar to that one.

It was touching . It made me cry.

( I was hoping she and my adjutant would get married. But I guess that is asking too much , and you can't have everything. Oh well. )

And especially marvelous given these are a bunch of Fascists we are talking about ! This game is truly avante garde !

It's one just DLC in a Grand Campaign. Who knows what will yet happen? Life certainly moves much, much quicker in the modern digital age, but back then, things moved a bit slower. Slow enough that writing letters was definitely a thing, which is why I thought it was extra era appropriate for them to start having a writing correspondence.

We'll see if she shows up again in some capacity, but for the moment, there is a problem of Germany about to be at war with France that will put quite an obstacle to any communication or travel from Germany to Spain or visa versa.

[adiekmann]

Well, if it's of any consolation, in 1945 Anna will be alive and well, glad that Franco didn't get Spain involved more deeply with the Axis during the war, and reminiscing of her flame during the war while the adjutant is rotting in a Siberian gulag never to see his homeland again.

Is this... fan fiction writing for what might happen to the DLC characters? lol awesome

(For Kerensky )

October 16,1948...Somewhere on the wind-swept Siberian Plain... The Adjutant struggled to carve the fourth and final letter into the grimy wall of his dank prison cell. His broken fingers making it difficult to grasp the jagged piece of concrete that served as his writing implement. When finished, he slowly traced each of the letters with a crooked finger and whispered "Anna..." His voice, not loud enough to be audible to any of the other half-starved men that shared his cell, named the sole force that gave him the will to survive the brutal conditions and treatment of the POW camp for this long. His thoughts drifted back to the happy walks along the Mediterranean coast, basking in the warmth of the Andalusian sun as much as the fire of passion that burned deep in his chest as he felt Anna’s hand squeeze his own. He remembered the color of her chestnut eyes as they moved closer to one another, and then the first kiss…
But those happy memories now seemed a lifetime ago, but it was enough to create the smallest of smiles to spread from his mouth as he stared at the snow flurries blowing through the small barred window. She was the only thing he had left to live for. His parents and home were lost in the firestorm that the RAF created in Hamburg. Several months later, he learned that the station that his sister served as a nurse had been overrun by the Red Army after their catastrophic breakthrough during Operation Bagration. He often shuddered at the thought of what details her fate may have entailed. And finally, his younger brother, so eager and excited to be old enough to enlist so that he too may serve his country…KIA at Cassino.

The hope of reuniting with Anna compelled him to survive for this long where many others did not...but alas, his body was now failing him. After more than three and a half years, the constant beatings, insufficient food, filthy conditions, hard labor, and bitter cold had all been slowly seeping away his life force. He was at his end. “Anna…’ he mouthed one last time as his eyes glazed over, and then he went still forever.

[Kerensky]

Definitely fan fiction. You even took the extra step to change Ana Sofia to Anna.

Definitely a grim ending too. I guess we'll see what the canon ending looks like if/when the DLC continue past 1939. The original briefing officer canonically ended up in South America at the end of the war (historical end of the war). I don't think I ever wrote what becomes of him in the USA victory ending...

[Patrat]

Life tends to be anti - climactic for everyone but God and small children.

Like , for example , we know now that even if Bonaparte won Waterloo he was going to be dead of stomach cancer in just a few more years anyway.

And , arguably , the Bonapartists , like the Nazis , had their rock star , but , beyond him , they didn't really have a deep bench.

I can't prove it , but the clues in Hitler's medical condition seemed to indicate that probably by 1953 he wouldn't be running even a Berghof tea party.

Speaking of 1953 , and actual winners ;

I don't know about these Stalin murder conspiracies ? But I do think it reasonable to venture that Stalin might have lived another day ( ? ) , another week ( ? ) , even another ten years ( ? ) , but his own guards , his own physicians , and his own colleagues , were too afraid ( ? ) , or too indifferent ( ? ) to help a guy lying on the floor in his own vomit.

Such was the end of arguably the greatest conqueror since Genghis Khan . Such was success ?

There's quite a body of evidence that points towards Napoleon being murdered by arsenic poisoning on St. Healen and that it was misdiagnosed as stomach cancer. If he had won the Waterloo campaign he probably would have avoided that fate and lived many more years.

I specifically say he needed to win the campaign, because just beating the British and Prussians at Waterloo wasn't going to be enough to keep him in power. The Austrians and Russians had huge Armies heading towards France. He was going to have to find a way to deal with those armies if he was going to avoid defeat.

[Retributarr]

There's quite a body of evidence that points towards Napoleon being murdered by arsenic poisoning on St. Healen and that it was misdiagnosed as stomach cancer. If he had won the Waterloo campaign he probably would have avoided that fate and lived many more years.

I specifically say he needed to win the campaign, because just beating the British and Prussians at Waterloo wasn't going to be enough to keep him in power. The Austrians and Russians had huge Armies heading towards France. He was going to have to find a way to deal with those armies if he was going to avoid defeat.

"Patrat":,,, Yes!... 'Arsenic-Poisoning'... was my understanding as well... Napoleone' was sick... actually 'Afflicted'... by a condition... something like "Hemorrhoids".

From my 'Incomplete and Limited' understanding of "Napoleone's" military-tactics... it seems to me that his preference was to try to make it a directive to try to destroy one-group or assemblage at a time [To even-the-odds] first... by either... directly taking out one individual Army-Group at a time if possible... and if not possible... then force them to split apart... and thus finally being able to destroy one group before making a finishing end/evisceration effort of the other. Usually... as well... he would have another army-group of his "waiting at the ready" to apply the finishing death blow at the appropriate critical/crucial moment!. So!... I don't think that he would have had too-much trouble dealing with these newly assembled invaders.

Rommel... again to my limited-understanding "used deception tactics/ruse maneuvers" as well as by making an effort to attack the weak-spot [Back-Side] of the opposition by swinging around the entrenched front-line of the enemy... to then 'Hit-him-in-the-vulnerable-rear'.

[Patrat]

Yes, Napoleon always tried to operate on interior lines and defeat his opponents one at a time.

He tried and failed to pull it off against Wellington and Blucher. Mainly because Blucher refused to accept defeat after the battle of Ligny and marched to Wellingtons aid at Waterloo.

Its possible he could of pulled it off against the Austrians and Russians if he had been successful at Waterloo. But in the Spring campaign of 1814 that led to Napoleons first abdication, the Austrians and Russians came up with a counter to Napoleons technique of operating on interior lines. They would simply retreat whatever army that was being attacked by Napoleon, but continue to advance their other armies. They eventually succeeded in pretty much overrunning most of northern France and even occupying Paris, despite being defeated by Napoleon in several engagements.

[KesaAnna]

(For Kerensky )

---

Well , for my part , it is imaginative . And I likes imagination !

It's not my head - canon though .

As I alluded to , my personal AAR is primarily visual.

Ugh ! Swastika taboos are the least of it . In this brave - new - world - internet you practically need to be a lawyer if you have artistic pretensions.

For example , at the Ebro in Spain I created a new JagdFlieger unit , gave it a British recon camo ( a solid light pink color ) , named it Gloria , and gave it a swan device. I DIDN"T name it Gloria Vanderbilt , and I have never made a dime off of jeans wear , nor plan on doing so.

But , oh well . Such is the way of things.

I can --- sort of --- write though.

Hmm , let's pick a date.

It's now 1963 , and the sun shines on Pax Germania !

Well ....... actually , I suppose , it is more like the sun shines on a creaking , groaning , wobbly , very muddled , Cosmopolitan Reich.

You have our friends the Spaniards , the Italians of course , Bulgarians and Romanians . Virulently anti - Bolshevik Cossack's , our once - again - friends the Turks ,

Anti - Western - Plutocrat / anti - semetic , Arabs , Persians , and Bosnian Moslem's , and I'm just getting started.

In short , the ridiculous pretensions of the SS not withstanding , there are as many black - haired , brown - eyed , swarthy or olive skinned people in the Reich as not.

There is STILL fighting in the east .

But it is work for dark , shadowy police types , not work for white - knight warrior heroes.

Just as big a headache in the east is ; WHO THE HECK wants to trade the delights and conveniences of a Hamburg or a Munich , or a Paris or a Prague either , for Dnipropetrovsk ??

Who wants to work 60 + hours a week on the monotonous steppes , in mud up to your thighs , to grow corn that costs you 5 Reichs Marks a bushel to produce , but which you can only sell for 2 Reichs Marks a bushel ?

And the type that does , typically , go in for that sort of thing ?

--- Is not the conventional , team - player , conformist type. Indeed , like as not , truth be told , they are commonly the down-right Asocial type.

( * Whisper * And your SS betters in RUSHA ? You CERTAINLY WILL NOT SEE ANY OF THEM chomping at the bit to go dig ditches in the Kuban ! )

As for the West ;

The Wehrmacht is still in occupation in some places , like , for example , the Channel Islands .

Denmark , Norway , Holland , France of course ( Vichy is our friend after all ) , even the British Isles , have already pretty much reverted to local control , and they never miss a trick to basically do their own thing anyway , too.

And it's just as well ; The English complain about the Irish ? !

Well ..... " the apple doesn't fall far from the tree " !

The people of the British Isles are so stubborn and so prideful , so totally full of themselves , that to rape a Brit is like unto pulling out your own teeth with a pair of pliers.

You got Stonehenge , and our beer is still better.

So , yes , leave them to their fish and chips , let them have their island , the Devil help them with it , and good riddance !

---

Hitler died this year . At this point , for those in the know , it was a mercy really. He was a shambling , shaking , half - blind wreck for ten years past. His wife Eva Braun has long been the public face of the Berghof , and that's because you didn't really want to see the reality of the final chapter of the Fuhrer's life.

It is a nice house and grounds though. I have often thought it funny , somehow , though , that he chose to build his house in a peninsula that juts into Austria , and has re - created , in effect , the Austro - Hungarian Empire that he presumably despised , only writ larger , and even more opaque .

Maybe Goebbels could have stepped into his shoes ? And maybe better too ?

But Goebbels was practically a movie director. No real muscle there. Goering was formidable --- when he wasn't high as a kite , and he couldn't kick the habit.

The army was always full , truth be told , of snotty Christian Junker - types with their secret Ivy League handshakes , who looked down on the working class NSDAP.

And today ? It is full of formerly working class people who WANT TO BE snotty Christian Junker - types with their secret Ivy League handshakes , who look down on the working class.

As for the SS ? As I pointed out , they preach " Blut und Boden " , but you never seem to see their blood on a shovel handle in the Kuban , or on a pick handle in the Urals. I think it was more than trivially symbolic when the SS quit wearing brown shirts , and started wearing white shirts.

And in my view the younger generation are the SS's legitimate heirs ; The Master Race indeed.

That is , everything has come easy for them , and they don't really know it , or don't care . Everything has been handed to them , and they don't really know it , or don't care.

THEY DIDN'T LOSE A WAR. And they perceive those who did as so many products of sour grapes.

They did not have to spend their youths , their beauty , and their fortunes , drinking to the dregs the bitter wine of shame , and eating crow to bursting.

And like that American black woman sang , " It's mighty strange .... without a doubt .... nobody knows you when you're down and out . "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69lFKbO_lqw

They have never lived in a world where one side will shoot you for this reason , and the other side will shoot you for that reason , so you hold your nose , and pick a side , and go out to shoot people you don't know , or perhaps even admire a little , for the sake of people who maybe don't even like you a little , and maybe all because , basically , you are obliged to eat whether you would or no , and you need a new pair of breeches , because the ones you are wearing basically consist of Lice holding hands.

If this generation could get in a time machine and go back and meet a Brownshirt in his prime , it would be like meeting a giant green bug from Mars .

" We are actually related ?! "

The Alter Kampfer ? They are all dead now , on life support , or have long since traded in their lead pipes for golf clubs. And you can't believe half of what they say anyway if you meet one , because in victory everyone re - writes and airbrushes in a pat and pretty back story where there are no ugly ambiguities .

( Except , if you notice , that oddly enough the Red Hordes always seem to have incongruously been a tiny subculture . Do you know anyone who claims one as a relative ? In the narrative are they ever popular ? Do all the pretty girls try to snag them for husbands ? Strange. But , never mind.... )

---

I could work - in your head - canon though.

As I said , there is still fighting in the east. It's bandits and terrorists beyond the Urals no doubt. No negotiating with terrorists though . ( Kruppe Arms might be interested in an arms for hostages deal though. ) My commander is pulling a Ross Perot , and getting together a mercenary commando group to go in and rescue our POW MIA's.

[Kerensky]

That is , everything has come easy for them , and they don't really know it , or don't care . Everything has been handed to them , and they don't really know it , or don't care.

THEY DIDN'T LOSE A WAR. And they perceive those who did as so many products of sour grapes.

They did not have to spend their youths , their beauty , and their fortunes , drinking to the dregs the bitter wine of shame , and eating crow to bursting.

Apparently, this is a problem in current day South Korea. The youth is totally spoiled by the toils of the older generation. They're glued to their mobile devices, completely ignorant of history as recent as the Korean War in the 50s. They are having their own cultural problems, despite South Korea doing amazingly economically compared to where the country was after WW2, and doubly compared to the just dismal state of North Korea.

So the idea of all not being well in fictional Axis victory... yea. I imagine quite a few things would be much worse than our actual reality. But I suspect they also wouldn't have some of the problems we have either, heh.

If you like alternate history, there is a channel on youtube just for that.

https://www.youtube.com/c/AlternateHistoryHub/videos

A theme they run into a lot is you can predict alternate events pretty obviously. But what happens after events are altered... forget it, too many new and unknown variables suddenly to consider lol.

[Schneides42]

The best alternative history are the books Fatherland by Robert Harris with Germany and the US (under President Joe Kennedy) in a Cold War and Len Deighton's SS-GB (UK under German occupation). The movie and BBC TV series, respectively, are worth watching if you prefer.

I have not seen nor read the Man in the High Castle so can't comment on that but given there are four seasons of it I suspect it is worthwhile.