Time commanders-new series-new presenter [Archive]

eddeduck

01-14-2005, 13:09

Just saw in the TV listings that the new series of time commanders starts on BBc2 on sunday 7:15.
Also Richard Hammond aka the hampster off Top Gear is presenting instead of that twit that did it before.
I hope this is good news to somebody.
:duel:

Herakleitos

01-14-2005, 13:27

Thanx! So that would be 8:15 PM CET?! ~:cheers:

Divine Wind

01-14-2005, 13:50

Wow! Thats great news! Thanks for the heads up Eddeduck.

Divine Wind

01-15-2005, 01:29

The Vicars: Can the forces of evil be defeated by our team of vicars as they take on the might of the Germanic army in the battle of Teutoberg Forest. Presented by Richard Hammond.

Sounds like the team may need divine intervention ~;)

Myrddraal

01-15-2005, 12:32

Great stuff, thx I would never have know otherwise ~:)

King Henry V

01-15-2005, 17:34

Pity, I think Jeremy Clarkson would have been better. He could have insulted the contestants for their lack of skill. :devilish:

Rodafowa

01-15-2005, 18:40

Terrible choice of presenter, great news about the new series! That one goes straight onto the Personal Planner so that I don't forget to tape it while I'm swearing at the NFL playoffs tomorrow.

Thanks for the heads-up!

Wishazu

01-16-2005, 01:41

amazing, is that sunday as in the 16th? as in today? btw i liked the old presenter, he was a bit of a cock but not as much as most of the contestants thay had on :)

Divine Wind

01-16-2005, 15:51

Yep its on tonight at 7:15!

It would also be interesting to look out for some of the bugs that weve encountered in Rome, and see if this series is being run on the patch were so desperate for! Things like the phalanx shuffle etc.

Plus some of the battles they recreate could also point us in the direction of the expansion pack they will undoubtably be releasing!

Throb

01-16-2005, 23:12

Wishazu

01-17-2005, 03:22

im hoping that the expansion will be the persian invasion

Lord Hornburg

01-20-2005, 18:22

Great show that vicar well he doesn't sound like a vicar at all!!! ~D

Templar Knight

01-20-2005, 18:56

I wouldn't call Eddie Mair a twit, sure the BBC make a mistake in putting him as the presenter of the show, not his style I don't believe. Does he not present some politics show on Radio 4?

MuseRulez

01-22-2005, 16:44

So is this season any better than the first one? I only saw the last episode of the first season. I thought it was very good. But when I looked it up on the Net I only saw bad reactions.

O yeah, the Vicars rule :charge:

attila_of_nazareth

01-22-2005, 18:19

Pity, I think Jeremy Clarkson would have been better. He could have insulted the contestants for their lack of skill. :devilish:
i agree but i liked the old one - he come out with some good quotes!

attila_of_nazareth

01-22-2005, 18:25

The expansion pack could possibly be "Barbarian Inavasion" based on the fact that in the 1st Series they had

The Battle Of Chalons, Huns, Avars, Alans, Visgoths and Vandals.

The Battle of Adrianople, Goths

Just a thought.
attila will rule! the expansion will surely be the 'second phase' of the roman empire - who will destroy rome? maybe leading on to an 'eastern empire'. i'm hoping that 'alexander the great' will also be featured, infact that might be the title - al' total war what do you recon folks.

Wilbo

01-30-2005, 21:10

oh man, just finished watching today's episode... For those that missed it it was Macedonia under Alexander against an Indian army.

The team had a good initial formation and communication, but they had no planning on what unit was best at eliminating any other: Light infantry against elephants? Are you insane?

The team just werent dynamic enough with their formation: They needed to protect those flanks and keep the fast cavalry moving around to protect their units.

:charge:

The Blind King of Bohemia

01-30-2005, 21:22

The battle was great tonight. The indians looked class, and i do hope they appear in the expansion pack or CA will release the Skins for download

ShadesPanther

01-30-2005, 21:24

They did well at the start. Good commuication and planning but it all went wrong. All their cavalry destryed the indian cavalry and so they decided to have a little trip through the indian army. Into the Elephants whee about half died and then they moved on into the indian spearmen who cut almost all the rest down.

There was an elephant unit which made a little jurney chasing the horse archers almost untill the end of the map until it decided to crush some men instead and so it rampaged back and killed almost all the phalanxes and the ones that survived got mobbed by the Indian infantry.

Overall they got less help than last's week's family but they didn't learn from the
mistakes in the skirmish and payed for it. The Gnerals basically stood there and watched the screen.

Orda Khan

01-30-2005, 22:06

Terrific use of Horse archers, hemmed in between right flank and the river :dizzy2:
Guess they thought their companions would beat the entire enemy army. Did they move their infantry at all?

.......Orda

ShadesPanther

01-30-2005, 22:30

I think they spent most of the time trying the reform the phalanxes and then they eventually mved up. They didn't really get very far

Frankymole

01-30-2005, 23:37

Most amusing to see one mounted horse leap from a standing start over the horse and rider in front to get into the fray. Is this an early version of the R:TW engine? That act looked totally unbelievable.

Wishazu

01-31-2005, 01:07

i think they failed cos the new show format doesnt really allow you to learn anything about ur units strengths and weaknesses. the 2 questions thing is crap! they should have a rethink about this.

MuseRulez

02-05-2005, 16:38

i think they failed cos the new show format doesnt really allow you to learn anything about ur units strengths and weaknesses. the 2 questions thing is crap! they should have a rethink about this.

I agree. They should give all teams a quick battle tutorial or something. Most of them have no idea what they are doing.

Lord Hornburg

02-06-2005, 07:06

Unture they let the team play on RTW berfore hand

Wishazu

02-06-2005, 13:20

they should just change it back to the old system for the battles, get rid of the pauses, scout out the enemy army before hand, learn about key troops strengths/weaknesses. Keep the pre-battle skirmish though, thats the best new feature.

Derfal Cadarn

02-06-2005, 15:16

Hmmm just because you dont see it on TV doesnt mean it don't happen.

Basically teh critisicm is the same as the last series, ie players arnt given enough information . what you have to remmeber is the general public, probably arnt that interested in the finesse of how to win the battle etc, they just want to see how the teams actually does, probably in the hope, that they make a complete mess of it. last weeks team made a fundamental error with their flanks, which im sure at one stage or another everyone who's played the game has done, but they are given more instructions that what is actually edited to appear on tv

ShadesPanther

02-06-2005, 16:22

Unture they let the team play on RTW berfore hand

They played MTW before hand which is similar but then there are problems with using it (they underestimated the Elephants last week)

ShadesPanther

02-06-2005, 20:40

Well Tonights contestants were possibly the luckiest people ever.

They lost the skirmish badly, cavalry wiped out and then infantry sandwiched between phalanx and macedonian cavalry.

They were charging up the hill in the main battle with their cavalry and then at the top they just stopped and got slaughtered by the archers. On the other side they had cavalry about to charge unformed phalanxes and destroy the macedonian left, but suddenly stopped and were taken out by javlins and macedonian cavalry.

The battle turned into a real meat grinder with about 4 units of roman infantry in a clump charging the macedonians. The only reason they were saved was because they had a unit of elephants charge right along the macedonian line (by accident I think, they didn't plan to use them).

Craig the general didn't have a clue and just shouted all these incomprehensabe orders, the female general just watched the show. The 2 captains were alright but really needed bettter and clearer directions and after a while ignored Craig and therefore they won

Frankymole

02-06-2005, 20:46

TonkaToys

02-06-2005, 22:46

Blasted BBC... they changed the time so my recording missed everything up to the first pause! GAH! And they don't repeat it. And their stupid A-Z schedule doesn't list it. And their stupid search engine doesn't find it in the schedule. :furious3:

Looked like this week's team had no clue... the experts kept using the word Chaos... still they won which is more than the organised military guys in the previous week.
Surprised the teenage operators could keep their minds on the job with that woman's low cut blouse... actually the operators probably helped the team to win in order to impress them! ~:eek:

Glad to see Nus getting back on form, and who was the other expert? He seemed quite fiesty too. Still Nus is always best when their are nice women in the team. ~;)

Jochi Khan

02-06-2005, 23:57

Perhaps that is why they changed the time.

They knew viewers wouldn't be watching the battle ~;)
because of the low cut blouse ~:eek:

Jochi

Kaldhore

02-07-2005, 01:29

That was a terrible battle. It was way too easy - for all their mistakes they should have lost badly - perhaps the Macedonian AI hadnt been patched yet :P

Kekvit Irae

02-07-2005, 02:58

Us Yanks only get Decisive Battles on the History Channel. Rather than having two teams go at it at each other's throats, it describes in full detail what really happened at the battles using RTW scripted battles, rather than just letting two people go at it.
First time I heard of it, I just had to roll my eyes, but in actuality, it's very well executed. Unfortunately, it was canceled. :blankg:

Duke John

02-07-2005, 06:38

At one point the experts found a Triarii unit facing the wrong way. Then one of them said something in the line of: "It seems as if our operators are being distracted by something..." :laugh: best part of the show!

TonkaToys,
Next week will it start at 20:15, or that is what a BBC-woman said at the end.

romeo_longsword

02-07-2005, 07:44

[QUOTE=Duke John]At one point the experts found a Triarii unit facing the wrong way. Then one of them said something in the line of: "It seems as if our operators are being distracted by something..." :laugh: best part of the show!

What do they mean by that? What was distracting to the operators?

I did hear that line but I was not paying attention that much, as I was watching a certain part of a body of one of the girls.

Lord Hornburg

02-07-2005, 07:54

They lost the skirmish badly VERY badly. But for some random public they did the battle alright

romeo_longsword

02-07-2005, 08:21

How would one able to apply to get on Time Commander? I did a search on BBC website, it gives no information.

The_Emperor

02-07-2005, 09:49

The show was good even if the team did suck.

What made it for me this week was seeing Nus act out the Pikeman surrender with his "Sarissa"... ~D

What do they mean by that? What was distracting to the operators?

I did hear that line but I was not paying attention that much, as I was watching a certain part of a body of one of the girls.

Hmm, I must admit I noticed that as well... But wasn't she the one who they said was going to flirt with the operators so they'd win the battle for them?? ~;) :kiss2:

TonkaToys

02-07-2005, 09:56

...
TonkaToys,
Next week will it start at 20:15, or that is what a BBC-woman said at the end.

~:cheers: Cheers DJ. I think in the UK it is 19:15... I'll check before I set my recorder.

Us Yanks only get Decisive Battles on the History Channel...

Does anyone know if we can get Decisive Battles in the UK or on DVD?

romeo_longsword

02-07-2005, 10:10

The show was good even if the team did suck.

What made it for me this week was seeing Nus act out the Pikeman surrender with his "Sarissa"... ~D

Hmm, I must admit I noticed that as well... But wasn't she the one who they said was going to flirt with the operators so they'd win the battle for them?? ~;) :kiss2:

Yes, she was, and she did not need to make an efford to flit, just needed to stand there and expose herself, nah sorry, I am only joking, as I oftern get this impression of these operators were just some geeky people who sit infront of the compuer to play games all day, hmm come to think about it, I am one of thouse...I could easily play 6 to 8 hours on my day off!

Kaldhore

02-07-2005, 10:39

Maybe im getting too old but Ive got to admit I never noticed anything about the contestants anatomy.....

Doesnt it make you squirm, shout, throw things at the t.v. because it so so simple and yet they just dont see it? Do you sit their and imagine the praise from Nus and the other guy, when you and YOU alone direct the operators into a victory that comes off even better than what happened in history. So much so that a military guy who watches the show - calls you up to give you an immediate field commission as a top strategist for the army (in case of WW3 and we need to fight with spears again)

No? nah me either.

romeo_longsword

02-07-2005, 10:51

There is a difference between getting old, or just a being a dirty boy, I think I felt into the second option. Sorry mum.

I actually think the show is rather wried, as there are so many factors in warfare in the pass, weather condition and landscape etc. Being sucessful in the show rarely represents that you would have been a good commander back in the old days.

For the show last night (6-2-2005), I did think the commanders were rather rubbish. The man just shouting about things that nobody understand, they were no communication. Not only that, I dont think anybody knows whats going in.

The lady in pink stood there and let his horses flanked and eat arrows, only then she had the idea to report that, "all my horses are dead". Welldone mate.

The only person who has some idea was the other lady we'ved said that she was "well built". Releasing the elephents, and she was doing the game in quite relaxed fashion, thats the sort of people I like to work with in situation like in time commander.

But I think things are different when you are placed in a film studios and have to do the game in the style of the shown, but I might be shite as well, if I do get on.

I am trying to get on the show but no info on the web?

The_Doctor

02-07-2005, 12:44

Next week we have:

Ju-jitsu instructors from Essex seek the upper hand as they encounter a vast Byzantine Roman army in the year 530AD. From Dara in Mesopotamia, Richard Hammond referees one of the largest-scale battles ever refought in Time Commanders.

We should see some new unit skins.

Lord Hornburg

02-07-2005, 16:40

You have to email the producers to get an interview

The Blind King of Bohemia

02-07-2005, 16:55

Glad to see Nus getting back on form, and who was the other expert? He seemed quite fiesty too. Still Nus is always best when their are nice women in the team.

It was Adrian Goldsworthy, author and historian. I think he is an expert in Roman warfare, and was also on the last series. Wasn't he the historical advisor on Rome, or am I making things up again? :dizzy2:

Oh and surely the best with the females is Saul David - the ladies man of the show if ever there was one but not yet featured on this series! Just watch the ratings go up when he does! :fainting: :laugh:

Kaldhore

02-07-2005, 19:04

I am trying to get on the show but no info on the web?

There is a similar thread in the Single player section of the Forum that has a link to info about going on the show.

Just look for the "Time Commanders" Thread.

Kekvit Irae

02-07-2005, 20:04

Does anyone know if we can get Decisive Battles in the UK or on DVD?

Unless you can find someone in the US that previously recorded all of the episodes, that is an impossibility. History Channel refuses to even acknowledge canceled shows.

TonkaToys

02-08-2005, 09:31

Unless you can find someone in the US that previously recorded all of the episodes, that is an impossibility. History Channel refuses to even acknowledge canceled shows.

:sad: Thanks for the info Kek... boo hoo, I'd better contact my mate in Boston and see if he's recorded it.

Ja'chyra

02-08-2005, 15:30

It was Adrian Goldsworthy, author and historian. I think he is an expert in Roman warfare, and was also on the last series. Wasn't he the historical advisor on Rome, or am I making things up again? :dizzy2:

Oh and surely the best with the females is Saul David - the ladies man of the show if ever there was one but not yet featured on this series! Just watch the ratings go up when he does! :fainting: :laugh:

Hmm, a man that gets paid to be on TV and comment on computer games a ladies man?

Kekvit Irae

02-08-2005, 22:44

:sad: Thanks for the info Kek... boo hoo, I'd better contact my mate in Boston and see if he's recorded it.

I'm currently downloading the Guagemela episode on Kazaa. Unfortunately, it's 180mb, so it's going to take me some time to finish

English assassin

02-10-2005, 17:50

I wouldn't call Eddie Mair a twit, sure the BBC make a mistake in putting him as the presenter of the show, not his style I don't believe. Does he not present some politics show on Radio 4?

He presents PM, a hour long news show at 5, and he's good at it.

Hammond on the other hand is just a sad Clarkson wannabe.

Mikeus Caesar

02-13-2005, 21:44

Personally, i have a great dislike of this new series. Do they really need those damn ridiculous loud claxons? And as for the choice of presenter....the only reason they chose Richard Hammond was so that it would draw in more people.

ShadesPanther

02-13-2005, 22:29

They certainly dumbed it down for this series with many things. Richard Hammond is a good presenter but just isnt right for TC, The whole will you be a general thing is annoying and the asking two questions part (They basically waste the questions)

And the contestants are as clueless as ever and they have played MTW which makes you wonder what they would have done in the 1st series.

Tonights episode was bad. They got annihalated in the skirmish and they just did really silly things in the battle.

Unless It does improve I don't really think I'll watch this anymore. The 1st series was to see RTW in action and it was a fairly good show, now it is just poor

Orda Khan

02-14-2005, 22:58

Presenter-wise, Baldrick would be a better choice IMO. Most of the teams so far have failed to show any grasp of ancient warfare and tend to rely on one unit type to win the whole battle for them

.........Orda

ShadesPanther

02-14-2005, 23:07

like the Episode against the Indians

After destroying a whole indian wing of cavalry and then charging into the middle against elephants and Spearmen.
"I thought Companian Cavalry were good"

TonkaToys

02-15-2005, 09:57

Perhaps we are being unfair on the contestants? After all the one's in this week's show are not military historians, and the one chap that purported to be a strategist was made a Captain. Are they even game players?
And in the final analysis, the experts said that the team fought the battle in the same way that the original combatants did, losing in a similar way.
Whilst the battle was chaotic, the experts did keep saying that it might still go the way of the team, provided they concentrated their forces. Perhaps if the generals had stood back, they would have seen this, but then who hasn't been guilty of micro-management and losing the bigger picture?

Mikeus Caesar

02-19-2005, 20:53

the contestants are as clueless as ever

Gawd, tell me about it. They are either the general, just shouting their heads off and doing no good for the team, or they are the captains, who either just stand there and occasionally go 'The horses are dead. Oops.' or miss damn obvious things e.g the enemy phalanx might be turned around, and rather than notice this and use some cavalry they got standing around to ram into the phalanx rear, they just ignore this and keep piling men into the front of the phalanx. And then you've got your usual captain, who just doesn't have a clue what they're doing. If you think about, the few who actually win, in reality, it would have been a hollow victory. They suffer huge losses in the battle, and only just scrape through. In the days afterwards, there would have been some form of counter attack, in which they would have been finished off.

TonkaToys

02-25-2005, 00:04

So why were this week's contestants so bad? I thought they might stand a chance what with their experience of strategy gaming. I mean... OK they won, but like Mikeus Caesar says they lost most of their troops in the process and pulled it off by chance.
Could they be used to playing a lesser game perhaps... well boys welcome to Total War.
I thought the Orlando Bloom wannabe seemed to be having the best ideas and was the one that eventually pulled it off. The other guy just seemed to be making snap decisions all the time.

TonkaToys

02-28-2005, 14:45

Anyone other than me still watching this programme? It was the Battle of Hastings today, and the battle looked far better than the one in MTW, which I thought was quite fun.
The team had the right idea, but didn't follow up on their successes. I might try their tactics in the MTW version and see how that goes.

Lord Dazed & Confused

02-28-2005, 17:03

Yep, I got the impression the general giving all the orders may have had a bit of a dabble on MTW/STW at some point from the way he was forming up the troops. A few off us boys from Blitty should get a team together and have ago but the shame if we lost would be too much :embarassed:

ah_dut

02-28-2005, 18:02

I wateched the onewith gamers...they were really appaling....

I could have done better and I'm 13 and really suck at TW...

Lord Hornburg

03-05-2005, 15:04

None tommorow due to Crufts

General Carnage

03-05-2005, 15:08

Great series except for the fact that the contestants are usually utter retards talking about cataracts and horsies.

TosaInu

03-05-2005, 15:09

I saw something on Discovery Channel last week, called Clash of the Generals. It was a fictional battle between Hannibal and Alexander the Great. I tuned in pretty late, but it appeared as if the two guys playing them knew what they were doing and why (ex army?). It was using Rome Totalwar.

General Carnage

03-05-2005, 15:12

I wateched the onewith gamers...they were really appaling....

I could have done better and I'm 13 and really suck at TW...

I really hope they were not RTS gamers...

Lord Hornburg

03-05-2005, 15:13

Cool TosaInu, any more info about that? Imust say that In the battle of Hastings the enemy did quite well and so did they, i mean they make all the right decisions but doont do anything about it.

TosaInu

03-05-2005, 18:37

Hello Lord Hornburg,

There are going to be other episodes I think. I'll do a lookup about times.

Lord Hornburg

03-06-2005, 08:51

Thats good do you know if there is a website for it? Thanks for your reply good to know there will be other episodes

The_Doctor

03-07-2005, 23:28

Next time we get a siege:

Sun 13 Mar, 18:15 - 19:00 45 mins

Will our team of climbers from Suffolk scale the citadel of Sarmizegethusa as the Romans take on the Dacians in 106AD?

Richard Hammond comperes this spectacular conflict as they lay siege to one of the greatest fortresses of its day.