Definitely born a treadhead.
Well at least tank combat in this one isn’t bad as the Imperials at least use extensive infantry support for their tanks, though I wonder how the infantry keeps up…could use some halftracks and kettenkrads for some panzergrenadier goodness, but maybe in the next game.
I also like how they used their tanks in even numbers since tanks should always operate in pairs. The town watch is just sad though I guess the Imperials can be excused for not using that much cover since they seem to have some fine body armor. Now that I think about it I think things are bunched up since they are trying to fit every thing on screen since tactical spacing would make every thing a distance shot. I am not sure if it was intentional or not but the blow hard who was put in charge reeked of a loser Austrian corporal whose first name was Adolf I confess I did laugh at times when he called for no retreat and thought his rusted out armor just needed a little maintenance. Add the fact that he was hostile to the Darscens, fought in the First War, and thought his tank was a V-weapon…well I thought it was funny how he was aiming his panzerfaust from a tower at over the 60 some yards (more or less) of the practical range for rocket propelled shaped charges. While the town watch was piss poor at the Imperials had a decent showing in that after Edelweiss proved to be more T-34 than Panzer III, I like how they went for the treads after their main guns could not penetrate. It seems that the Imperials are at least professional in that they kept their cool until a larger opposing formation was moving in. Susie might well be the anchor of the unit in that she drags everyone down, but at least the corporal is dead and Alicia. I still wish they would add some coaxial and top mounted machine guns, preferably MG-34s or MG-42s, at least Edelweiss has a snorkel. Next time it seems that the cast is going to get larger, which ought to be fun.
Calawain’s Commentary
I hope they get around to explaining better the whole racism against the Darcsen or whatever they called Isara. I got the little bit from the narration at the start of the show, but not really enough to understand what the big issue is. Perhaps it has something to do with why she turns the tank around to return fire rather than just have Welkin turn the turret around, keke.
I’m digging the decent animation quality so far. The CG tanks and such are done well and not Gonzo style, they don’t look too artificial. I haven’t noticed any major animation screwups or QUALITY moments, and I like whatever you call that shading style they do on the hair and parts of clothes and the like.
I applaud the generally solid combined arms tactics used by the Imperial Army, keeping their soldiers in close to their tanks and using cover. Overall, the silly usage of tactics (usually by the protagonists) is fun to point out occasionally and make fun of, but it really doesn’t impair my enjoyment of the show overall. If I want a proper use of tactics in anime I’ll go rewatch LOGH. What I could do without was like five minutes at the end of episodes where they talk about their feelings. Yawn.
Screen Caps
Eh…I would have gone with Kurt Knispel.
Alicia is the tank commander.
At least they use hand signals.
Could use a hull mounted MG-34.
I wonder why they rarely ever use that hull mounted gun even howitzer rounds will rattle the enemy crew.
That ain’t no Javelin buddy that ain’t even a RPG-7…get closer if you actually want to hit it.
That’s one redeeming factor.
I hope those are tank commanders scoping out the town.
This is just sad…they knew the heat was on and yet only now do they bother with maintenance.
Oh lord the Corporal thinks he’s a Michael Whittmann…
Not one step back eh?
As a corporal…
I like how the over sized tank platoon commander has to ride out in front with his wireless set.
I like the use of infantry support.
Pity I as hoping for at least one light MG.
I take it there was no manual way to traverse the turret…
That’s pretty damn light considering this was urban warfare…though there were no snipers.
I take it there is no air support…damn I was hoping some one would break out the IL-2s.
They need to bolt on a MG-42 or a .50 cal to that cupola.
I would have staggered the column given the size of the street.
Your 2 Pounders are useless.
Some disarray, Alicia, at least this guy has the right idea.
Wow so the Militia did give the town watch the same stuff…certainly it wasn’t thier fault the Corporal let them rust.
At least there are motorized infantry…I’d still go with half tracks though.
I like this combination, everything is better with thigh highs.
It’s fine the Militia seems only mildly military…
Is that you Katie?
Fresh meat for basic hehe…
Aww…no LSTs?
Yeah no air support…
32 Comments
See, this show is pretty damn good, at least compared to Allison no Lillia or Gundam.
Crusader is in his element…
Tank is 4 fight! I loved how Alicia set expectations low saying they could only hold out for 30 minutes and then Isara went and routed the entire enemy troop.
What the hell is Susie going to do if she encounters some barbed wire that she has to crawl under??? (ok I know the answer to that: she will faint)
Tiger tank anyone?
Is getting better, tank fight + miniskirsts everywhere. Tiger tank? Nah… I think that looks more like the Merkava, the weird thing is the high speed and agility of the Eldelweiss.
>>I like this combination, everything is better with thigh highs.<<
I’m so with you.
I still love this. Larken redeemed himself… in a bad way.
Otherwise, will wait for Squad 7′s debut. Susie still makes my head scratch. I’m worried about her constant fainting spells.
And yeah, seems Susie and Welkin have met before. Hmm….
The corporal of the town watch reeked of failure. Also the underwater tank failed… massively. I was watching a program about several things the germans tried back during ww2. The underwater tank was among there worst failures. The crew would usually drown and the treads were not designed to work underwater thus the tank would immediately get stuck.
Also the edelweiss in the game can be customized with several different parts like a mortar and a gatling gun so I don’t see why we won’t see an mg mounted on the tank fairly soon in the anime.
Btw Calawain the reason the tank had to turn around to hit the enemy tanks is because back then you had to stop to turn the turret. If they had stopped to readjust the turret they probably would have had there treads hit and then even if they can’t dent the tanks armor they can always have some infantry climb up the tank break open the hatch and chuck a grenade in. The first tank to be able to move and spin the turret at the same time was the m1 abram made in the 80′s.
Thigh highs are pure win.
@Calawain: The animosity about the Darcens should be getting built on in a few eps or so, especially considering Rosie’s feelings about them (and she should be getting a part in the next ep….)
If you thought she looked like Dein Oberst then you should have played the game, they’re so close that Im pretty sure that they changed here appearance here to avoid issues
Thanks for the tactical commentary Crusader. I eat this stuff up.
I rather enjoyed this episode myself, more due to Marina Inoue channeling some Kyoko Mogami into her Alice performance.
@Lubczyk
A+L got really boring really fast, but I would agree that it has the potential to be better than Gundam. I’m certainly enjoying it so far.
@Fnord
It’s the only proper way to have women in uniform dress~
@Incognito
You know I’ve watched tons of WWII movies and documentaries and I’ve seen turrets move and tanks move. I can’t recall the details on whether that was capable of happening at the same time. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt there. Although they could always chance that, because it’s not like the show is hugely historically accurate
I mean check out those clunky ass rifle designs =/
@Acerbus
Alright sounds good, I’ll be waiting.
@Ghostlightning
Marina Inoue has one of the best ensembles of voice types around.
Soldiers in this show have a bizarre tendency not to fire from cover. When there’s an armored vehicle, they stand in front of it, when there’s an enemy nearby, the stand and shoot….
And yeah, Calawain said it. I’m shifty as to why these guys are fighting with m14s in WWII era tech. They skipped the Garand, Tokarev, Gewher…. went straight to the seventies.
Just leave it to super tank. Military tactics be damned… well it worked for Gundams right? Some quasi-realistic combat would be nice though.
@lubczyk
If the tank combat is good then it will do fine.
@Jarmel
Damn skippy.
@Kabitzin
Eh what can you do? The Imperials lacked a huge howitzer or a Flak 88 to take it out, they just need to upgrade to 6 pounders or a 75mm main gun for their MBTs that or try hitting the rear armor.
Susie better learn quick or she is a dead Gallian and then she will be in a world of shit because Gallians are not allowed to die without permission!
@Ryouichi
Probably though first they need to make Panzer IVs and Flak 88s.
@mareo
Edelweiss has a modified Panzer III chassis while the Gallian MBT looks like modified Panzer 38(t)s with shorter guns.
@fnord
Here here!
@Ominae
Squad 7 better be something, and Susie needs an upgrade in confidence and courage.
@Incognito
Yeah that feature was deleted rather quick though there were ways of floating Panzer VIs IIRC.
@Attomoku
I just got the game the similarities are indeed striking.
@ghostlightning
Sure thing I love AFVs.
@skoll
To be fair at least their ersatz M-14s don’t auto fire, the SVT-40 and Gewehr 43 had box mags instead of stripper clips. it’s not like the M1 Garand had to be the intermediate between bolt action and modern semi-auto. The SVT-40 was pretty good though it was the Germans who appreciated that more than the Soviets.
@TJ
At least it’s not killing off whole tank platoons…yet.
@Crusader
- Yep. She better. Otherwise I’d sick her to the Imperial tanks. XP
LOL. Awesome review. Some info I dug about the technical stuff.
The Imperial Armour we see in this episode was a ‘Light Tank’. An old model, its hinted it was used in the earlier Europan War I.
Its main cannon was a Krimm (nod to Krupp? ><
)N-237 37/45mm cannon. Something like the old Soviet 45mm AT gun before they switched to a 57mm because of the Panthers and Tigers.
The hull mounted gun, surprisingly, is a Krimm N-210 10/85mm mortar cannon!
It also had a Uranus 7.62mm MG.
Now, here are the weapon stats for the High-Mobility Tank ‘Edelweiss’.
It had a Theimer (Isara’s Father, in the game, you will notice he made a few infantry weapons, like the Gallian AT Lance!)40.88mm KwK cannon!!! Tiger I anyone?
It also had a Theimer 12.7mm MG. Basically, it was a .50 Browning.
But, yes, I would have wanted to a MG on the cupola. Maybe something light, like a MG 42. ><
I’m not so much of a tank buff, but do tanks have steering wheels? I recall seeing a tank restoration show in History Channel and all I saw were two throttle controls, one for each track. Please enlighten me on this one.
Town watch corporal “Adolf” is made of fail. Should’ve let Alicia take charge like in the game where after helping Welkin get to his tank, she was able to hold an armoured assault at the town gate until the Welkin arrived and did a Kira “Jesus” Yamato impersonation and saved their skins.
@Teabag
You are correct, most tanks are controlled by two throttles, the only Tank I know with a “steering wheel” is the modern day Leopard 2.
There’s definitely no air support. In fact, I believe that at this point in the story, airplanes don’t exist, but any more on that would be a spoiler.
By the way, in game, the Edelweiss does come mounted with a Machine Gun. It also comes with a nifty mortar launcher and later in the game, a smoke round of Isara’s own design. Oh Isara, you could be my mechanic any day.
YES!!! Miniskirts must be made compulsory for female tank crew!!!
Edelweiss seems unusually roomy for a tank, they are usually cramped and full of nasty edges and corners (tore a pair of fatigue pants once during a quick exit from one, which is why tankers usually wear jumpsuits). Tanks are usually steered by pulling on the left and right brake levers, newer types (M1, M2/M3, Leopard 2, not sure about the Russian types) use handlebars or steering wheels.
I think Edelweiss is beginning to show a basic trait of “gundam-ness” – Ownage over “normal” technology units in the early stages of the show…
LOL, Katie… Hahahahaha
I wonder if the immortal Patrick is also crossing into this series…
Now I feel jealous now, I kinda wished Halo had the same treatment. Sorry about this off topic, I just hope Valkyria Chronicles is on 360 as well.
Katie!!!!!! And here I thought I would have to wait till the Gundam 00 movie to see my dear Katie again, LOL. I’m liking this new show very much. Guess I will have to break and buy a PS3 to play the game now.
@Highman
Halo? Really? I mean, I like the games and all, but a guy in a goofy Space Marine Suit doesn’t seem to lend itself well to well, anything else!!! Metroid, on the other hand……
“Is that you Katie?”
LOL!!!! I had the same reaction as well upon seeing that pic.
Now all we need is “Patrick.” 
The Darscen stuff should be brought up soon. It has to do with the legend that was seen in the first episode’s prologue. But, basically the Darscens are scapegoats for anything those in power don’t like.
Edelweiss’ first sortie was quite cool, and I’m looking forward to the new characters joining the cast. Most of them are quite cool.
@Amuro1X
The Eidelweiss gun isn’t the cupola mounted type for he commander that Crusader is referring to. It’s still part of the turret.
@Kherubim
Roomy indeed, enough that Isara was able to help deliver a baby inside it during it’s very first sortie in game.
In terms of looks, for some reason Edelweiss reminds me of the M24 Chafee heavy tank… which in 1935 would be the equivalent of a freakin’ Tiger I.
Edelweiss appears, in many ways, to have borrowed a lot of the design concepts from the Israeli Merkava tank. It’s got good armor, good gun and speed, mortar and smoke launchers and is fairly roomy inside – in the Merkava, it’s used both as an MBT as to carry a 4-man infantry squad who exit the back, a sorta hybrid tank/mini-IFV (infact, retired Merkava MkI and MkII chassis are being remodeled into Nammer APCs to replace the M113s the Israelis use).
@Calawain: with regards to firing and moving, all WW2 tanks could move the turret and fire while on the move, but accuraccy was highly variable and depended very much on the gunner. For surefire guaranteed hits, tankers would stop, shoot, and move. Accurate fire while moving is only possible today due to the advances in ammo, targeting systems and stabilisation systems. And even then, modern US tank doctrine still places a high value on getting setup, dug in, waiting for the enemy and then sniping them to kingdom come. (Of course, charging across the desert, running circles around the enemy while shooting them up is also practiced, due to that nasty thing called artillery and CAS…)
@Incognitio: Underwater tank may be fail, but most modern tanks are designed to be able to drive through and ford shallow rivers. I’ve seen footage of the Abrams at the General Dynamics proving grounds charging along through an artificial river, and the British Scorpion tank is amphib-capable… or so the manufacturer claims, anyhow.
Besides, nothing tells a guy guarding a riverbank that his day’s all fucked up better than a tank rising out of the water, gun pointed at him.
And yes, it is very, very sad that air power does not exist. On the other hand, maybe it’s just as well – the P-47 and Ju-77 would make mincemeat out of tanks. (let’s not get started on the Hog, that glorious badass mean ol’ plane…)