Slitherine

Shouldn´t an elite unit start with a certain experience. I just adore the camouflage. But getting a greenhorn elite unit tank in mid 42´ - and then only a mere Panzer IVF instead of an already available state of the art IVG...
Himmlers dolls were favoured and became the newest equipment first. Now I have to buy it for them. But then one look at the varnishing *sigh* and I´m happy again.

Elite has become a description of the equipment itself not the crew driving it, the elite tanks have better stats than the normal versions.

But

Rudankort wrote:If anyone wants SS units in the game, it is very easy to do: open equipment.pzeqp file in any text editor and do a global replace of "Elite " with "SS ". But, as Tim explained, we cannot do this ourselves for reasons beyond our control.

It is highly distressing that another has fallen to the whims of the PC crowd. Maybe if you listed the SS units description in the manuel as "Super Sensitive" soldiers instead of the original context?? The PC morons are just sensitive enough to accept that because "you have a natural right to bla bla bla". . . .

I'm suprised they allow war games at all.

OK, I'm done whining. (for now )

It is nothing to do with PC - it is a legal requirement. We cannot sell the game or get reviewed on German sites if the game mentions them. Feel free to take it up with the German age rating authority

lol Super Sensitive rofl great idea Tim!!!! cant stop laughing ...

Elite Unit - hmmm better stats? If i remember correct 1 better in attack but one worser in defense ... that makes nearly the same?
I am fine with that because of the higher casualities of the SS Units but hmmm i think they should become a little Exp depending on the time you will be rewarded with them.

I would prefer 'Elite' anyway. Fact is that the SS units were (at least towards the end of the war) the very opposite of elite. They dropped like flies. The regular Wehrmacht soldier was battleproven. SS units were mostly fresh out of the university and therefore kitten-class units. At least concerning actual fighting operations they did not kick ass. In that regard maybe the lower defense Steakenglisch mentioned makes sense ^^

I thought they drafted allot of young into the SS because they believed in the ideology and were fanatics due to propaganda.

They would easily follow orders, lay their life on the line, and commit atrocious war crimes without a question.

Being young means ignorant.

Yeah thats what I meant with beeing fresh out of university. And with that I mean an Officer's School. Also being young means being inexperienced.

Inexperienced + War = Dead!

SS was no frontline stuff. Of course they were qualified as garrison and occupation forces because of the reasons you just mentioned.
That's why I would alway's bet my life on a Elite Wehrmacht Unit

In the end I'm no historian but I have seen some documentations about the SS to back up my claims.

In my experience, which is not vast, the wargame community often buys into the wartime Nazi propaganda about the SS as some sort of Tuetonic heroes of legend, fighting against insurmountable odds for a cause. Of course, that happened at times and during the period as Hitler's Fire Brigade they acquitted themselves well. They certainly seem to have been given the best equipment. The other stuff is all too easily discarded, though; the points raised above and their war crimes. Personally, and it's only an opinion, I am content to sacrifice the historical accuracy for a moment of escape, which includes ignoring what an exploding icon represents in real life! It's also the reason I felt a bit sick when I saw the victory message after defeating the UK and Russia - I knew what that meant for those the Nazis considered untermenschen. It's a game - but I don't always like fighting as the 'bad guys'. Here endeth the rant.

El_Condoro wrote:It's a game - but I don't always like fighting as the 'bad guys'. Here endeth the rant.

I don't see myself as a Nazi in the game. I'm a German officer not a Nazi.

Yep, we have to play mind tricks to be able to enjoy playing as the Germans. I focus on the cool equipment they had. I'm not trying to detract from the enjoyment of the game, though. I have played PG2 for years and designed a Kharkov 43 scenario, arguably the SS's finest* operation, and not been hindered from enjoying it. It's just that when 'reality bites'...

*: military operation. The activities of the SS in Kharkov after their victory do not qualify for the word 'fine'.