Time Commanders - The return

[ShadesWolf]

I have no more details except it is back, maybe these will be the missing three episodes....

By Saturday the Sky guide might have updated and I can give you more details

[Scipio]

Does anybody know if the rest of the world can see? I have a new surround sound system which would work great with TC http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Vanya]

GAH

Somebody tell vidmakers to make them AVIs so we can see them

Vanya thanks them in advance for their services.

GAH

[TonkaToys]

ShadesWolf

thanks for the heads-up... what channel???

[Ludens]

Quote[/b] (ShadesWolf @ Mar. 11 2004,21:22)]I have no more details except it is back, maybe these will be the missing three episodes....
By Saturday the Sky guide might have updated and I can give you more details
See this thread by Frankymole: Time Commanders Last Two Shows Confirmed, from Adam at the Wargames Directory (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=19;t=16020).

[ShadesWolf]

This episode is based on Greeks V Persians.

The battle of Marathon seem to ring a bell

Its on BBC2 again http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif

[Jochi Khan]

Hi ShadesWolf

Yes, it is a repeat program of the Battle of Marathon.
Friday 19th March BBC 2 7.15pm gmt.
Unfortunately we can't see it in Wales but there again, who wants to see a repeat??

....Jochi

[The_Emperor]

Errm we haven't had the battle of Marathon yet.

[Stormer]

i cant wait for this batle

[Kraxis]

Yeah, Marathon was supposed to have been on in early January.

I for one am looking forward to it (well actually for someone to capture it).

[ShadesWolf]

Do you have Sky Digital Jochi Khan ?

[ShadesWolf]

Details as follows


Quote[/b] ]Episode:
Marathon

Review
Military strategy game in which contestants recreate historical battles, presented by Eddie Mair. The team attempts, with the help of experts, to recreate the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, when 10,000 Athenian soldiers faced an army more than twice that number sent by the mightiest empire of the day, Persia.

[Kraxis]

Hey Ian http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Are you going to watch TC for me then? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[ShadesWolf]

Of course Daniel http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[The Wizard]

Oooh, spiceh Unfortunately for the team, they did not have Miltiades' grasp of tactics. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Loved the impression of Greek hoplites though http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif



~Wiz

[Sniya]

Two critisms for this team.First of all they porly used thier skirmishers they overestimated thier mobilitys strength against arows.In fact they were probably the weakest.
They talked about a tactical reserve-great idea.
Pity they left it on the hill http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif

[Jochi Khan]

No, I don't have Sky Digital.

What I read was the TV programs which stated ..repeat.
Local newspaper didn't say ..repeat.

No worries, my son has videod it for me :o)

...Jochi http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[Nowake]

Quote[/b] (ShadesWolf @ Mar. 14 2004,20:27)]This episode is based on Greeks V Persians.

The battle of Marathon seem to ring a bell

Its on BBC2 again http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif
Why can't they broadcast it on BBC world? They have enough crap time to spare. Many would prefer it instead of .. clickonline http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-wall.gif

[Black Arrow]

Just watched my video of this. Ye gods what a shambles, worse than the Scottish rugby team http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-no.gif

First they got a bad attack of "the magic hill" strategy. Then they marched their unarmoured skirmishers into the teeth of around 5 units of persian archers, then when they finally concluded the best defence was attack they went in in sections and were broken up and slaughtered piecemeal.

another battle on Friday, 7:15 BBC2

[TonkaToys]

It was a real case of "let's ignore what they tell us... change our minds half-way through... and end up not listening to each other"

Anyone know if we get to play these games in RTW?

[Sniya]

possibly a better way to run things would be.
-Bring the numbers down to 3
-Train them in a crash course of the art of war for say 2 hours
-then test them on what they learned,whoever does best (say some battle) gets to be general
-*MABEY to add competition to the mix award them points,and make a leaderboard,with the top two talking eachother on in the final show.

[Scipio]

I know you guys say it was terribly played but did anybody happen to record it? They might suck for the most part but they are kind of like in-game trailers http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Kraxis]

Heh...
I remember some guy that complained about Marathon being aired. I got the feeling that he felt the battle would be too easy, and I basically told him that while the Athenians could win a 'fairly' easy victory the team still had to recognize that speciafic tactic. And apparently they didn't, just like I assumed they wouldn't.

So, how did it look?

[Trax]

Quote[/b] ]So, how did it look?
Marathon is up at TWC, check it out yourself http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Scipio]

Quote[/b] ]Marathon is up at TWC, check it out yourself

Yay thanx is it really a repeat?

[[DnC]]

Citaat[/b] (Scipio @ Mar. 22 2004,19:43)]
Citaat[/b] ]Marathon is up at TWC, check it out yourself

Yay thanx is it really a repeat?
Last friday was the first and only time Marathon was aired. So no, no repeat.

[Kraxis]

I remember the good old discussions we have had about the enemy being AI or controlled by humans.

Now I'm more than just a little certain.
I noticed in the credits that there were four (4) Battle Operators. Now those could have been changed between the battles, but I have only seen the same two guys all along.

And I must say that the operators in the back office did very very well with the cavalry. Hit and run, strike and kill, lure and fall back, they did all the right stuff against heavy infantry. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

The team was bad, I can only say that. But not as bad as either Telamon or Chalons, and thus I think our good historians were a bit too harsh on them given others have done much worse and gotten a much less severe scolding.
These guys, after all, did what most normal people would do, seek safety. So they weren't unnaturally bad.

I loved the split unit feature, that was great or was it the two units that worked together? Also it seems archery has been toned down a good bit since a few other battles. Now it feels more accurate, between historical effectiveness and how much they should kill per gameplay. Much like in STW.

And for once I really liked Eddie Mair http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
He actually seemed like he liked to be there, and his comments weren't as sour as they have been, in fact this time there was less of the dry humour, and more direct humour (more fitting for such a program).

[Spino]

Once again the contestants became utterly obsessed with the high ground. They did alright considering they completely botched their initial deployment. Had the girl lieutenant paid attention to where her hoplites were moving the Athenian line would not have been split up and they might have held out longer. One thing is for sure is that the Marathon team had less of an excuse for their loss than the Chalons team. The Marathon team was repeatedly encouraged to assume the offensive and take advantage of their hoplites' superior melee abilities in the pre-battle set up. The Chalons team were not given the slightest hint about how to effectively use their large numbers of Hun horse archers. They treated them like heavy cavalry and paid the price for it. Ih the TC series is renewed for a new slew of episodes the producers would do well to better inform the teams as to the relative strengths and weaknesses of their troops.


Quote[/b] ] loved the split unit feature, that was great or was it the two units that worked together? Also it seems archery has been toned down a good bit since a few other battles. Now it feels more accurate, between historical effectiveness and how much they should kill per gameplay. Much like in STW.

What split unit feature?? I don't recall seeing any units being split up in the Marathon episode.

I honestly don't know if the archery was toned down or what we saw was the relatively futile gesture of firing arrows and stones at fully armored Athenian hoplites protected by their famous hoplon shields. Roughly 20 pounds of wood covered in bronze was a bit much for the bows and arrowheads of that time. The Persian archers didn't take too long to dispatch those lightly armored Greek peltasts though. On the other hand I could swear the Greek allied hoplites in the Gaugamela episode faired worse than the Macedonian phalangites when on the receiving end of a hail of Persian arrows and stones Was this the result of tweaking by CA or the editor's choice of footage?

[Kraxis]

Quote[/b] (Spino @ Mar. 23 2004,21:21)]What split unit feature?? I don't recall seeing any units being split up in the Marathon episode.

I honestly don't know if the archery was toned down or what we saw was the relatively futile gesture of firing arrows and stones at fully armored Athenian hoplites protected by their famous hoplon shields. Roughly 20 pounds of wood covered in bronze was a bit much for the bows and arrowheads of that time. The Persian archers didn't take too long to dispatch those lightly armored Greek peltasts though. On the other hand I could swear the Greek allied hoplites in the Gaugamela episode faired worse than the Macedonian phalangites when on the receiving end of a hail of Persian arrows and stones Was this the result of tweaking by CA or the editor's choice of footage?
The Persian cavalry slip up at one point, it is actually mentioned by the narrator. Unfortunately it is impossible to see if it is in fact the two units working together and then parting, or one unit splitting up.

I don't agree that te Peltasts were dispatched that fast. If you notice how many casulaties they took for each volley it was fairly small, somewhere in the range of STW. It was the number of volley they recieved that broke them (as well as the sizes of the archerunits). This compared to Adrianople or Chalons would indicate that the danger from archery was tweaked a bit. Remember how 20-30 archers decimated a unit of Kats in a few volleys? That can't be said to have happened at Marathon.

I think the Gaugamela 'incident' can bve explained with the archers being placed on the Persian right and slingers on the left. Thus the allied hoplites faced arrows and the pikemen slingbullets. I think that at least. Perhaps the pikes DO count for some protection?

I do not agree that the team at Chalons knew nothing. They knew very well that they horse archers only had a small sword and were unarmoured, not good at melee. They didn't send them into melee to start with because of that, they used their heavy cavalry.

[TonkaToys]

I was disappointed that Aryeh Nusbacher wasn't more animated... perhaps he read that thread asking whether he was a nutter?

ARYEH... ARYEH... are you out there?

[Kraxis]

Well, he was a bit relaxed at Gaugamela too.