Valkyria Chronicles - Episode 5 Discussion / Poll

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Making Hans that cute has to be a crime, plus they're going to keep adding him into this as much as possible. We didn't even see him in the game after a certain point.

Which is something I have always been wondering...

Did Alicia accidentally used him as an ingredient?

- Tak

[Copycatken]

From the preview for episode 6, it looks like we'll be seeing some totally epic Alicia facial expressions!

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by Copycatken

From the preview for episode 6, it looks like we'll be seeing some totally epic Alicia facial expressions!

This is new or different how?

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Tak

Did Alicia accidentally used him as an ingredient?

I don't want to even know what Hans bread would tastes like. D:

[Copycatken]

It's nothing new, just more of Alicia's priceless facial expressions. Looks like it'll be a lot of her being bewildered by whatever the reporter is doing.

[durack]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

I don't want to even know what Hans bread would tastes like. D:

Well, pig fat is good for frying doughnuts...turns out much tastier than Dunkin Donuts, etc.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by durack

Well, pig fat is good for frying doughnuts...turns out much tastier than Dunkin Donuts, etc.

One of the many possible uses for Hans (source not from Valkyria):



- Tak (XD)

[HashiriyaR32]

Damn, not exactly a good episode of a battle that I took over THIRTEEN or FOURTEEN turns to complete. Hell I didn't even take the main base until AFTER Jaeger retreated.

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by HashiriyaR32

Damn, not exactly a good episode of a battle that I took over THIRTEEN or FOURTEEN turns to complete. Hell I didn't even take the main base until AFTER Jaeger retreated.

Slowpoke. S-rank requires three turn clear.

[HashiriyaR32]

Hey, I'm still on my first playthrough. The next battle (the first desert op) however was a different story. A-ranked in 2 turns, thanks to nicovideo. Anyway, some of the other members SERIOUSLY need lines.

[typhonsentra]

The way the grass moved around at the beginning was weird. I guess that's the trade-off for the detail but it was pretty goofy looking to me.

[Tyrone Biggums]

I love how 2 platoons can take a base...

And I've never even seen them train.

Not once. I'd like to see them running some drills or something. ITS A WAR!

[spawnofthejudge]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Biggums

I love how 2 platoons can take a base...

And I've never even seen them train.

Not once. I'd like to see them running some drills or something. ITS A WAR!

I want to see the Drill Sergeant in the anime.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Biggums

I love how 2 platoons can take a base...

And I've never even seen them train.

Not once. I'd like to see them running some drills or something. ITS A WAR!

Them not training is incorrect. Gallia has a militia system, therefore they receive periodic training while living a civilian's life.

- Tak

[Bonta Kun]

Training scenes tend to be boring affairs for the most part, altho I don't mind if a training scene is inserted, I would hope they wouldn't make it at any great lengths.

The anime is clearly gearing towards character interaction, I don't see any need for such a scene at this point really.

what I never got is why they needed to know of the animal trail in order to come up with the flanking maneuver.

[kalbron]

I think Hans got... what? About four cutscenes (out of about... 50? 60+?) worth of screentime in the actual main story, plus two reports where he was a main character?

Honestly though, if the pig eats massively into Faldio's screentime, and then Welkin picks up some of it as well, I'll praise Hans for his actions.

Edit: The animal trail made sense... in the game. You see, the Kloden Wildwood has a reputation: if you go in and you don't know your way or aren't on a road/path you WILL get lost and you WILL die. Therefore a flanking attack is all but impossible under most circumstances. Welkin spotted the animal trail when they were only a few hundred metres from, and out of sight of, the main guard post leading to the supply base. Because they were so close to the base, Welkin could judge that the general direction of the animal trail would prove useful to them, and then we had said battle plan as shown in the anime... except Faldio was nowhere to be seen as it should be!

[yongshun]

Originally Posted by Bonta Kun

Training scenes tend to be boring affairs for the most part, altho I don't mind if a training scene is inserted, I would hope they wouldn't make it at any great lengths.

The anime is clearly gearing towards character interaction, I don't see any need for such a scene at this point really.

what I never got is why they needed to know of the animal trail in order to come up with the flanking maneuver.

On animal trails it is easier to move through. If you have to make your own it would be noticeable to the enemy and it takes more time.

[4Tran]

I'm a little late commenting on Valkyria Chronicles, but I've been liking it so far, albeit not quite to the extent that I expected/hoped for. One of the nice things about the show is that it pays attention to real tactics, and uses them as resolutions to problems instead of using gimmicks. The latter is a trend that I can see the show veering towards from time to time, but it can avoid it for the most part. In fact, I think that this episode could have been more entertaining had it used even more realistic tactics than what we saw (will someone please use cover? ). Still, Valkyria Chronicles is better on this score than most anime that I can think of.

As an aside on national analogs, the use of German equipment, uniforms (Welkin's uniform is a dead giveaway) and iconography puts Gallia as WWII Germany. The Empire is much more of a mishmash, but it seems to mostly be a combination of the Soviet Union and Imperial Russia.

Originally Posted by Tyrone Biggums

I love how 2 platoons can take a base...

It's not the most horribly realistic scenario, but you can chalk it up to game mechanics. As an additional caveat, we don't know the size of the base (it looks awfully small), and since Squad 7 was deemed sufficient force to take it, it shouldn't be all that big. Admittedly, this doesn't jive with the amount of importance placed upon it by both sides (general-rank officers assigned by both sides), but the forces at their disposal didn't seem to be that large either.

Actually this does bring up a good point. Welkin is said to be the CO of Squad 7 of a Militia regiment. Does that mean that the regiments are so small that their maneuver elements are squads (making them either company or platoon sized), or that the Militia squads are much bigger than real life ones. I get the feeling that it's the latter; that Squad 7 is about equivalent of a modern platoon, and it seems to be confirmed when the Imperial soldier reported the Gallian attacking force as company-sized.


On a semi-related note, why is it that anime almost always use IJA ranks for their fictional militaries? I think that I've seen SDF ranks used just once or twice, most notably in Zipang, and that was because most of the main cast were members of the SDF.

Originally Posted by Tyrone Biggums

And I've never even seen them train.

Not once. I'd like to see them running some drills or something. ITS A WAR!

Why though? We already know that they have had some training, and running drills and the like aren't that exciting when they can depict more interesting events instead. The only exception is to show specialized training, but that smacks of the kind of gimmicky storytelling that I hope the show avoids.

If they had the extra time, I'd much rather see more involvement from the other soldiers - there's got to be more to them than just Rosie and Largo.

Originally Posted by spawnofthejudge

I want to see the Drill Sergeant in the anime.

I'm much more sad at the lack of machinegunners. Seeing German-esque infantry in the field without their ubiquitous machine guns is awfully strange. And for that matter, where are the Imperial machine guns?

[Tak]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

Actually this does bring up a good point. Welkin is said to be the CO of Squad 7 of a Militia regiment. Does that mean that the regiments are so small that their maneuver elements are squads (making them either company or platoon sized), or that the Militia squads are much bigger than real life ones. I get the feeling that it's the latter; that Squad 7 is about equivalent of a modern platoon, and it seems to be confirmed when the Imperial soldier reported the Gallian attacking force as company-sized.

In the game's original incarnation, Squad 7 is not a squad, but appropriately termed as Platoon 7. Welkin is the platoon leader of platoon 7, which comprises of approximately 50 members. However, when the game was exported, the term was somehow mistranslated to squad, and now the term stuck.

Originally Posted by 4Tran

On a semi-related note, why is it that anime almost always use IJA ranks for their fictional militaries? I think that I've seen SDF ranks used just once or twice, most notably in Zipang, and that was because most of the main cast were members of the SDF.

Look at it this way, I am happier with familiar phrases being used right than unfamiliar ones that are used wrong.

Originally Posted by 4Tran

I'm much more sad at the lack of machinegunners. Seeing German-esque infantry in the field without their ubiquitous machine guns is awfully strange. And for that matter, where are the Imperial machine guns?

Unfortunately, you actually only get to see 1 machine-gun-like weapon in the game, as well

For both factions, their portable machine gun is actually what we call sub-machine gun. Though for some odd reason, aside from what is mounted on tanks, the Empire gets to have machine-gun nests & turrets.

- Tak

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Tak

In the game's original incarnation, Squad 7 is not a squad, but appropriately termed as Platoon 7. Welkin is the platoon leader of platoon 7, which comprises of approximately 50 members. However, when the game was exported, the term was somehow mistranslated to squad, and now the term stuck.

Now that makes a lot more sense. If a regiment had, say 10 x "squads" of 50 riflemen, that'd be a strength of some 500 personnel. It's also a lot more reasonable for a tank to be attached to a platoon than to a squad.

It also wouldn't be a very effective military if they made all their junior lieutenants into squad commanders. The original translation error is a bit on the goofy side though - how many people did the translator think that squads had?

Originally Posted by Tak

Look at it this way, I am happier with familiar phrases being used right than unfamiliar ones that are used wrong.

It was more of a curious observation than a complaint. While I understand that the sho- chu- tai- system is easy for even non-Japanese speakers to grasp, it's not as if the SDF ranks are all that complicated. So why would every single production out there still decide to use outdated terms?

Originally Posted by Tak

Unfortunately, you actually only get to see 1 machine-gun-like weapon in the game, as well

For both factions, their machine gun is actually what we call sub-machine gun.

No machine guns? Nah, that's impossible. Machine guns have formed the backbone of modern squad-level tactics ever since the evolution of such tactics in World War I. The German MG42 was so obiquitous that it was in every single infantry squad, and that it's the one iconic weapon of the German infantryman. Heck, it's so popular that the Bundeswehr uses a modern version of it to this day. Go ahead and pull the other leg - next, you'd be claiming silly stuff like nobody uses mortars or something like that.


I'd also like to note that the show seems to be a lot more lax in regards to the uniforms and equipment than the game is. I can only see this as an improvement since military classes work as a game mechanic, but they're outside of it. It would also strongly play against the whole amateur soldier aesthetic.