When Space nazis Attack!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mathieus/space-nazis-are-coming-8q4
It's a new promo for the supposedly upcoming film, Iron Sky. It certainly looks like a fun little romp. I'd note that, intentionally or not, the so-called History Channel, (and others), seems to have been subtly feeding the potential hype with a bunch of shows on nazi secret weapons, and there's a whole new slew of books out breathlessly claiming that the nazis were up to and ahead of where we are now, technologically - atomic bombs, incredible alloys, supersonic speeds, etc. . All of this is bullshit, of course, and veers close to almost wishful thinking on the part of some of the promoters. I won't bore you in great detail except to say that it's a long way from scribbling some notes down on a piece of paper to getting a detailed and usable series of design documents; and it is a long way from there to getting a usable test model of whatever it is your designing; and a longer way still to manufacturing it with trained people using it.
I will also add that there is a cost/benefit angle to all of this. Perhaps newer figures have come to light, but in the 80's there was some pretty good comparisons showing how the V2 rockets, (which these secret weapon TV shows also seem to tout), actually cost the Germans more to build than the cost of the destruction they committed. That's not how you win wars against someone like the U.S....
Yes, it can be interesting to speculate, (that's sort of the heart of the wargaming hobby, after all), but some of these shows/authors need to calm down. Yes, given more time, money, luck, etc., the Germans could have come up with weaponry that would have allowed them to change the course of the war, even winning it. But the same could be said for Belgium....
It's a new promo for the supposedly upcoming film, Iron Sky. It certainly looks like a fun little romp. I'd note that, intentionally or not, the so-called History Channel, (and others), seems to have been subtly feeding the potential hype with a bunch of shows on nazi secret weapons, and there's a whole new slew of books out breathlessly claiming that the nazis were up to and ahead of where we are now, technologically - atomic bombs, incredible alloys, supersonic speeds, etc. . All of this is bullshit, of course, and veers close to almost wishful thinking on the part of some of the promoters. I won't bore you in great detail except to say that it's a long way from scribbling some notes down on a piece of paper to getting a detailed and usable series of design documents; and it is a long way from there to getting a usable test model of whatever it is your designing; and a longer way still to manufacturing it with trained people using it.
I will also add that there is a cost/benefit angle to all of this. Perhaps newer figures have come to light, but in the 80's there was some pretty good comparisons showing how the V2 rockets, (which these secret weapon TV shows also seem to tout), actually cost the Germans more to build than the cost of the destruction they committed. That's not how you win wars against someone like the U.S....
Yes, it can be interesting to speculate, (that's sort of the heart of the wargaming hobby, after all), but some of these shows/authors need to calm down. Yes, given more time, money, luck, etc., the Germans could have come up with weaponry that would have allowed them to change the course of the war, even winning it. But the same could be said for Belgium....
posted by mendip at
12:56 PM
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