A Day at the (Normandy) Beach
The anniversary of D-Day, the beginning of the end of World War II, is coming up. The invasion of the French coast on June 9, 1944, led by General Eisenhower, landed 156,000 men on a front of thirty miles. The invading force of 2,727 ships that participated in the invasion was the largest and most powerful armada that has ever sailed.
Listening to war veterans speaking about their experiences – like when they interviewed the real-life participants at the end of the excellent war drama, “Band of Brothers” - you get the idea that they truly believed in what they were doing. The Allied soldiers fighting in World War II believed they were fighting on the side of right and good, which they were – a far cry from the cynicism that grips many Western armies today. There’s a reason the men and women who fought in that war are called “the Greatest Generation.”
And the greatest heroes of that heroic war were – the fighter pilots. While Europe was under the dark dominion of the Nazis, fighter planes flying low were the only way to conduct reconnaissance missions, smuggle supplies for forward troops staking out occupied territory, and attacking enemy targets with bombing forays.
The Internet, of course, is full of resources and information about the war and it’s many battles (anything you could possible want to know is linked at http://tinyurl.com/xx2i, including links about the Holocaust), and there are plenty of simulations and games re-enacting historic battles. If you’ve ever wanted to imagine what it was like to fight in that history-changing war, download Aces High, a nice, sophisticated war game package I came across that will give you hands on experience practicing your fighter pilot skills over the skies of Europe. In Aces High, you fly one of 70 fighter planes over Europe, attacking targets and dodging bullets on behalf of one of three countries, the Bishops, the Knights, and the Rooks, who (this way you don’t end up skewing the game on behalf of the good guys). You can run sorties, drop bombs, and assemble fighter squadrons. The more enemy you kill, the higher your score. Hey, that’s the way it really is - war is hell, after all.
As mentioned, there are many war simulation games you can play – so there must be something unique about Aces High, right? Yes. What’s interesting about this game is that it is a commercial grade product that you can basically get for free. Most of the better video games cost money, as anybody with kids knows. You can buy a game or, often, subscribe to a Web site where you can play on-line. There are also plenty of free video games, but in many of them, the graphics are simple and the action is, how can I put it, less than thrilling. Aces High comes in two forms: You download the game (a hefty 33 MB file!) and set it up on your computer, and play – either on-line or off-line. Off-line play, with up to 8 players, is completely free! The on-line version, on the other hand, costs $14.95 per month (you get a free two week online trial account, though).
IThe game has an integrated voice system, called Radio, that lets you talk to teammates you can see without swapping channel or IP info. You can record your battles, and there is a film viewer/editor that lets you analyze your films and even export them to AVI format. Both features work in both versions (although the Radio function is a bit moot if you are playing with someone sitting next to you at your computer screen!). The game screen is in 3D, and the graphics give a realistic feel to the battle. You get to fight not only with planes; you also strategize and manage your invasion, using all sorts of military equipment: halftracks, flak panzers, am tracks, PT boats, destroyers, cruisers, carriers, coastal batteries, and anti-aircraft guns. The game includes a Mission Planner, which helps you set up a realistic battle strategy plan, which you can set up by yourself or collaborating with others in the on-line version.
The game is exactly the same; the only difference is that on-line, you can participate in battles over the Internet, and in the desktop version, you play against people on your own PC. Why, then, would you want to spend good money to play against strangers on the other side of the world when you can play the same exact game with your neighbor? It’s a question that I am sure every person who has ever played this game has asked themselves, but the fact is that there are thousands of paying customers worldwide, and many of them have Web sites dedicated to their own squadrons. Maybe it has something to do with war camaraderie – but it also means that this is a serious game for people who take gaming seriously, so you know it’s good!.
World War II was arguably an extension of World War 1, which was so dreadful that it was called “the War to end all Wars.” After the millions of dead combatants on both sides over a span of a few decades, the horrors of the Holocaust, and mass social dislocation in nearly every country in Europe, not to the mention the Middle East, North Africa and China, you would think that world leaders would have had enough of war for awhile. But it was not to be. Almost immediately, two of the major combatants in the struggle declared a new war. Not Germany this time; the Allies made sure that the Germans understand that they had caused enough trouble for one century.
This new war, between East and West, was called the Cold War, and it lasted for nearly half a century, getting rather “hot” on several occasions, most notably in Korea and Southeast Asia. Stalin, many believed, was no better than Hitler (http://www.comics.aha.ru/rus/stalin/ portrays the debate in an interesting context) and some Western generals, notably Patton, reportedly wanted to keep the tanks rolling until they got to Moscow. Some say the Cold War is not over yet, as a matter of fact – that this whole Russian democracy thing is a sham, and the Commies are going to stab us in the back the first chance they get. The Cold War evokes images of drab apartments in Moscow, communist spies under every rock, and the possibility of nuclear annihilation. Many of the problems we have to live with today, down to today’s new world enemy, Islamist terrorism, is due at least partially to cold war machinations: Al Qaida, after all, got its start in Afghanistan, where the United States had trained rebels in sophisticated guerilla warfare to beat back the Soviets who had invaded the country!
Being a cold war (i.e. more sedate than a “hot” war), it’s entirely appropriate to commemorate the battles of that conflict with a more sedate activity – like card playing! A formerly commercial battle card game, called Cold War Naval Battles, is now available to you to download absolutely free – your only cost is getting papers (preferably card stock) to print the files out on, and scissors to cut on the dotted lines. The cards are in full color, and each has a set of information used to advance your campaign. There are also ship cards that you use to fight battles, and card sets for specific battles, such as historic near misses in the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean. You can download Cold War Naval Battles for free from this site. Materials come in either zip or PDF formats, so Mac users can enjoy this game too. The rules are somewhat sophisticated, but it’s a nice change from Go Fish, as far as card games go. Still, it looks easier than bridge, and I know a bunch of 9 year olds who have no problem with that game, so it could very well be that your extremely bright pre-teen or teenager will enjoy this game. Between Aces High and Cold War Naval Battles, you might appreciate the legacy of World War II more than you do now. Let’s hope these two games are as close to real war as any of us are going to have to get!
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