An Ironic Thought Occurred To Me

[larry marak]

A quite legitimate question along the same line would be was the release of South Flank first a marketig decision? A case of scenarios with SS counters providing more sales sizzle? (SSss)?
It sounds like it might be quite some time before the next boxed PG release is out, though there will evidently be quite a few scenario books between now and then.

[vince hughes]

Scenario books are good and I am a fan, especially when laced with counters.

[Shad]

Keep in mind that it is a crime to manufacture or sell anything in Germany with a swastika logo and using that on Avalanche products would hurt potential European sales. West End games with repeatedly guilty of this marketing mistake.

You are, of course, only reporting the facts so please don't take this post as criticism directed at you...

Perhaps it's my age, but I find this policy completely idiotic. I have a German coworker here in China who feels the same way. Of course, East Asia is replete with swastikas thanks to Buddhist art. People here look at you like you have green skin and antennae if you tell them Germany utterly forbids this symbol.

Hate will always find new representation. Banning the symbol solves nothing.

[campsawyer]

Keep in mind that it is a crime to manufacture or sell anything in Germany with a swastika logo and using that on Avalanche products would hurt potential European sales. West End games with repeatedly guilty of this marketing mistake.

You are, of course, only reporting the facts so please don't take this post as criticism directed at you...

Perhaps it's my age, but I find this policy completely idiotic. I have a German coworker here in China who feels the same way. Of course, East Asia is replete with swastikas thanks to Buddhist art. People here look at you like you have green skin and antennae if you tell them Germany utterly forbids this symbol.

Hate will always find new representation. Banning the symbol solves nothing.

You last statement is true, but your first statement is the one with more impact. Given time, people become more tolerant to symbols of evil times. The concept swazitka was not invented by the Nazis, but it was perverted by them for there own needs. People who lived through the regime, with this as a symbol, have a experience that is tied to it and will not want to see it at all. With time being 3-4 generations removed and the generation that lived through this dying off tolerance for these symbols is occurring. Right or Wrong about banning it is going to depend on your perspective of the world.

[Matt W]

As to generations passing leading to a tolerance of previous symbols I can only suggest a quick review of some of the uproar concerning the Confederate battle flag in any venue in the US. while there are no laws forbidding it, there might as well be. The really odd thing is that the battle flag was not the official flag of the Confederate States of America but was a utilitiarian flag used to distinguish forces on the battlefield.

While I find such ahistorical intolerance to be a prime example of the lack of a solid public education in the US, I cannot dismiss the emotion that fuels it. I would expect that the intolerance for the swastika has significant legs to last beyond the generation affected. It will not be helped by the actions of those who chose to use it currently (e.g. neo-Nazis who propose similar racially divisive policies) despite the current emotional response against it.

[larry marak]

Matt's on target here. The Confederate battle flag (which is mistaken for the Confederate flag) is still seen as a symbol of racism and monstrous evil by most (but not all) Americans whose ancestors were slaves.

Shad is certainly right in that the swastika was a victim of the Nazis. Besides its use in many cultures both in the old world and the new, it was the symbol of the Girl Scouts of America till the 30's!