I agree that gender is not relevant to this topic. There is currently a little bit of humor, in the US, centered around the names we apply to previously male dominated professions that are increasingly being performed by women (“fireman.....firewoman......fireperson?!”). It was my weak attempt at humor (along with ignorance and hubris in thinking a total stranger in a foreign country would understand a certain US style of joke.......shockingly ignorant, in retrospect, because I know nothing of the German language or if it is even gendered....must google that). I apologize.
It is entirely your incredible abilities/hard work I speak of when I sing your praises and include you in the canon with the other great modders. Intenso’s RAW mod may have been the greatest strategy experience I have ever had in my life but he did not want to name things historically or include opposing heroes (this is not a criticism, I have nothing but profound appreciation/gratitude for his creation). Akkula’s Soviet Storm mod/Big scenario might have had the greatest amount of educational history of any WW 2 game I have ever played but was not very challenging in terms of strategy (again, not a criticism, I have nothing but gratitude/appreciation for all that history). These are just two examples of brilliant modders who naturally excel/specialize in the areas that, possibly, interest them the most. Your mod has the strategy of Intenso with the history of Akkula. I am continually required to think/analyze on large maps while being educated at the same time. That is an incredibly unique and singular accomplishment. Your mind has a special kind of balance (you have done great work developing it).
I get a special kind of inebriation from history (strategy, maps, etc.) so my praise is much more effusive, compared to others, when someone really develops things to a higher level (I think Intenso even laughed at the compliments I posted on his thread at one point). It is very rare I may drink a 25 year old scotch but could, theoretically, do it every day without losing pleasure in the activity. I will, however, only be able to have “one glass” of your great mod. Afterwards, it will stay with me and there will be no reason to replay it (in the same way I will never replay RAW). It is even more special than a fine scotch because the experience of playing/discovering it “for the first time” can not be replicated. It means a lot to me, I appreciate your hard work/attention to detail, and am incredible grateful for the experience.
I currently live in Las Vegas, NV, USA but grew up in a state called Connecticut. The town I lived in is about 100 years older than the US itself (although only a baby compared to the rest of the world) and seemed to celebrate it’s history everywhere. There was a giant 2x3 meter oil painting of “The Battle of Danbury” on the wall at the local movie theatre (no protection ropes, no plaque, just hung there as you would a movie advertisement). You could stop at little shops around the state and find old railroad maps, 100 year old defunct company stock certificates (sometimes with artwork on the certificate showing the investors what they were now part owners of), and prints of historical artwork/events (I was once mesmerized, as an adolescent, by a large print of a regional survey conducted by Cardinal Richelieu). Things were so cheap and people knew the history behind them. Probably not that different to certain areas in your country. I have been down the Rhine and maybe Sankt Goar would be comparable (certainly nothing equivalent to Munich’s grandeur, history, etc. but Connecticut did have a lot of industry in the past....we were a 17/1800s destination for cheap offshoring and stole intellectual property with exuberance but it is not fashionable to remind people of that these days
).
Well it appears I am stuck in “verbose mode” but the right mod does give me that special kind of intoxication.....ha, ha, ha.
I will say thank you one more time Sonja89. You have an incredibly balanced mind. It is like a finely tuned piano able to reach far into the many different octaves of history/strategy (unlike the overrated violin!).
Just kidding, I play the violin (poorly).
I am also happy that you found good use of the sea tiles and some of the unit icons I made earlier. I wish I had more time and then I could make more unit icons to have a more consistent look as some of the current icons have a somewhat different style. The other observation would be that the German hero with the number "4", who was given in 1914, wears a "Stahlhelm", when in reality the German steel helmet was not introduced until 1916. Perhaps it would be better to only have hero portraits without the Stahlhelm to avoid getting these before 1916.
