I'm an American, born in 1950, so I grew up with the attitude that Allies are good guys, Germans and Japanese are evil. Of course I know that people are people everywhere, but that was the way books and movies of my youth showed the war.
I play games with miniatures on a tabletop, and somebody has to play both sides. I enjoy air war sims, and I'll play any side. For me the thing is I like the machinery. I love the Mustang and Thunderbolt, but I also love the Bf-109 and Mitsubishi Reisen ('Zero'). Likewise U-boats were awesome weapons, and commanding one is every bit as intrigueing as commanding any American sub. The locations (starting ports) are interesting places that I'll probably never get to visit in real life, and the action is different and yet similar at the same time.
In air and naval combat people still die, but it's usually abstract: you're there to shoot the other guy's plane down, not to kill him personally. That's why stories of people actually shooting at parachutes are few and far between. It's the same with ships: you sink ships, you help survivors. Again, there are stories of sailors shooting the enemy in the water, but not many stories like that.
You're point about land-based units, especially individual soldiers, is the main reason I don't normally play those kind of games. I wanted to fly planes, I wanted to be on a ship, but I have never wanted to be a foot-soldier, in any army.
|