04-02-2005 16:12									#1
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I've recently caught up on the first three episodes of a series being shown in Great Britain on BBC 2.

It takes significant battles from history and in an Ops Room gives four people the chance to rewrite or repeat history.


The first episode involved a team of vicars (!) who proved to be remarkably adept at not repeating the mistakes of Varus and his legions in the Teutoburger Wald. Instead fo letting their forces be depleted piecemeal and eventually separated, they forcemarched their way through into a large clearing where they could best deploy their legionnaries and didn't repeat Varus's mistakes.

In the second episode, a family led by a modern day Boudicca (actually she should be an Anglo-Saxon queen, but I can't offhand think of an equivalent to the Celtic Boudicca) led her family victorious in the complete defeat of Harald Hardrada's Norsemen at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

The massed house carls made short shrift of berserkrs with axe blows, and by skillful use of archers they depleted the ordinary spearmen forces of the Norse invaders.


What proved most amusing though was this Sunday's episode, where a hybrid R.A.F./Army team (including Sandhurst graduates) failed miserably to repeat Alexander's victory at the Hydaspes.

An early skirmish with a small force led by Porus's son failed to teach the team the correct use of the phalanx and to guard the phlanxes' flanks.

Despite discovering that the Greek horses were unsettled by the smell of elephants, they sent in light horsemen and archers against the elephant archers, only to see them have to flee.

Believing that the threat of the elephants had passed simply because they were out of sight to the rear (!) they carried on with a flanking assault on Porus's infantry with some of the Companion heavy cavalry, a dreadfully slow deployment of the phalanx (which had hardly been properly used at all) and were completely surprised by the reformed Indian elephant attack from the rear and flank.

They were utterly routed, needless to say.

It's a series I think any fan of Civilization would love, and it's on BBC 2 at 19:15 on Sundays.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A3601063

	04-02-2005 17:18									#2
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Doesn't the show use the Rome Total War engine for the battles?

	04-02-2005 17:45									#3
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quote: Originally posted by The diplomat Doesn't the show use the Rome Total War engine for the battles?

Yes.


Is it a new series or are they reruns from last season?

	04-02-2005 17:47									#4
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To answer my own question: it's a new series!

http://www.totalwar.com/time2.htm

Thanks for the heads up, molly

	04-02-2005 18:01									#5
	Got spare money?

In the first sieres, there was another army team that just sat on a hill and let the enemy archers shoot them down one by one while they played king of the hill. (they had no archers of their own, and if I remember correctly where playing as the huns which had a great deal of infantry and cavalry who's strong point was in the charge and overwhelming numbers)

	04-02-2005 18:33									#6
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It seems like a great show. There is a similar show on History Channel called "Decisive battles" which is great.

	04-02-2005 19:57									#7
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quote: Originally posted by The diplomat It seems like a great show. There is a similar show on History Channel called "Decisive battles" which is great.

No, they're not similar at all. The only similarity is that they both use the R:TW engine.

Decisive battles is a historic reenactment documentary show, like there are 15 in a dozen on networks like Discovery, History Channel, BBC, etc. It seems like a cool show but I haven't seen any eps yet, as History Channel isn't available in Europe (not where I live anyway).

Time Commanders is sort of a game show. A team of 4 participants (usually people of a specific profession, e.g. teachers, laywers, artists, army/navy officers, etc) comes to the studio and basically plays a game of R:TW (but with some considerable changes), to replay a major battle from history, to see if they can rival the historical outcome. The key ingredient to winning is to split the responsibilities wisely and work together as a team. This is something not every team manages to get right, which can lead to unexpected results such as teams of high school kids or vicars totally kicking arse while experienced army officers get crushed bigtime... It's a fun show

	04-02-2005 21:58									#8
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

quote: Originally posted by Locutus To answer my own question: it's a new series! http://www.totalwar.com/time2.htm Thanks for the heads up, molly

I only saw the Stamford bridge one this time 'round and I must say it seemed dumbed down.
I'm suspecting they are playing on a lower level they were last year. It all looked too easy... I've seen similar comments on other boards, so this isn't just me.

	04-02-2005 22:02									#9
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That would be a pity I'll probably still watch it though, it's not like there's much else on TV these days...


There should be a Dutch/Belgian version of the show, maybe as a Canvas/BNN joint venture? We could write in an Apolyton team as 'gamers'