Global Sets

@John:

You got it buddy and the coffee helped for sure!

In one of his books, James Dunnigan said that coffee was the second most important liquid in the US Navy after ship fuel.  Some sailors would probably rank it even higher.

@John:

LOL, I really just started drinking it this year. I only drink one small cup a day, but I always look forward to it. I guess I’m slowly, getting addicted to it.

You’ll know you’ve reached WWII military coffee-consumption levels when you become immune to it.  One of the senior officers stationed on Midway Island at the time of the 1942 attack was (as I recall) a Marine colonel who habitually drank coffee throughout the day, including a cup around midnight before going to bed.  As tends to happen to officers in wartime, he would sometimes be woken up by aide at 3:00 or so in the morning to take delivery of an urgent message.  He’d read the message, sign for it, then go straight back to sleep without any problems.

Wittmann,
United Kingdom, England and Great Britain I think pretty much all mean the same thing. Which one you use I think is pretty much the taste of the user. So I guess your little girl just prefers England while you prefer United Kingdom (or do you just use the initials UK? I guess that could be considered a fourth choice).
Actually, I may be wrong, but I think England and Great Britain refer to the actual territory of the British Isles while United Kingdom refers to all of the British Empire at the time (Canada, South Africa, India, etc.) If I’m wrong about that last part, feel free to correct me.

John Brown,
I know what you are saying about the Global Expansion sets. There used to be more listed. They took some off and added “British and Italian Super Weapons”.
The ones they took off were obviously not as popular. I can’t even remember most of them so I’m guessing that I wasn’t interested in any of them. One that I was interested in involved the Allies taking on Russia after defeating the Axis, so I understand your pain some. I’m sorry if you were interested in them, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes. You just have to remember that HBG is a business and Coach can’t afford to make a whole new set for just a handful of people. The ones that are still up there I would imagine got a lot more votes.
I wish they would list them by number. It seems like every time I got to the Global Expansion Sets page, they are in different order.
My top five are:
Allied Super Weapons
Axis Super Weapons
Plan Z
British and Italian Super Weapons.
Africa At War

It looks like Island Warfare is the most popular. It’s not only in the #1 position, but they already have some sculpts planned for it. Personally, I am not all that interested in this one, but like I said before, majority rules.
One I can’t believe is still up there is Zombie Apocalypse 1943. That just seems stupid to me. Then again, I’ve never been a fan of zombie movies anyway. Apparently enough people like the idea because it’s still on the list for possible production. Well, if that one does get made eventually, I won’t be getting it.
As for all the others not on my above list, I guess it depends on what kind of sculpts come with it. Like the two new box games they have planned, “Midway” and “Kursk”. I’m not particularly interested in either of those games, but some of the sculpts they are planning for them look fabulous. Of course, I am addicted to collecting any and all new sculpts HBG puts out.
For example, I bought multiple sets of the Japanese Supplement and Expansion sets IN ALL FOUR COLORS! I haven’t played Global 1939 yet (although I do have the map). I only play Global 1940, Anniversary, 1942 and the smaller games. In other words, I haven’t included any of the distinctly different options for Japanese pieces (Kwangtung army, veteran units, Thai units). So, I only use the Burnt Orange units, but I still have tons of the other colors as well and they just sit there in their containers. Yet, I just can’t deal with the idea of NOT having them.

@knp7765:

Actually, I may be wrong, but I think England and Great Britain refer to the actual territory of the British Isles while United Kingdom refers to all of the British Empire at the time (Canada, South Africa, India, etc.)

If I’m not mistaken, UK is a somewhat imprecise shorthand for the political jurisdiction which is officially called the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, consisting of England, Wales, Scotland (at least for the time being) and Northern Ireland.  The term doesn’t include the Commonwealth nations as a whole, and by WWII it definitely excluded the six Dominions.  The “British Isles” refers to the two large (and multiple small islands) that make up, well, the British Isles, but those land masses include Eire, which isn’t part of the UKoGBaNI (a nonexistent acronym that illustrates why people tend to just use “UK” for purposes of convenience).  But anyway, Wittmann can give a more authoritative answer.

John Brown,
I see. You want sculpts for more nations of the world so you can include EVERYONE in World War 2. I, on the other hand, am wanting all the advanced weaponry so just the major powers can have a FUTURE WAR.
By the way, the China/Burma Expansion is still on the list so you’re still in the running for that one. It may be a while but eventually. HBG’s got a lot of irons in the fire now.

CWO Marc,
Thanks for the explanation. When I read your post, now I seem to remember hearing your description of United Kingdom somewhere. I just forgot it. Of course, I should have known it didn’t include other countries like Canada, South Africa, etc. That’s why they came up with the name Commonwealth. Forgot that too for a moment.

A positive way to look at all this is to compare our situation today with where this hobby was (sculpt-wise) ten years ago, when Revised and D-Day were the newest products on the block.  Just imagine one of us travelling back in time to 2004 and saying this to our earlier self:

Ten years from now, in 2014, the US, the UK, the USSR, Germany, Japan, Italy, ANZAC, France and China will all have distinct OOB infantry sculpts.  The first eight of those countries will all have 12 different types of OOB equipment sculpts at their disposal.  The first seven of those countries will all have nationally-distinct OOB sculpts for most or all of their equipment units – some of which will even be available in different sculpt models, depending on which version of A&A you buy.  Moreover, in 2014, an independent company will be selling many sets of high-quality supplementary WWII sculpts in compatible sizes and in a wide range of colours, and it will be planning to produce many more such sets – so many, in fact, that the company will have to prioritize them because it won’t be able to manufacture them all at once.  Which of the following statements most accurately describes your feelings?

A) If I lived in that future world of 2014, I’d be disappointed at having to wait an undetermined number of months to get my hands on all the projected supplementary sets that aren’t yet manufactured.

B) Since I live in the present world of 2004, I am very, very depressed at the thought of having to wait ten years to get my hands on all those goodies and I will therefore take up stamp collecting as my new hobby.

C) Take me back to the future with you immediately!

D) I’m obviously imagining all this, so somebody must have spiked my glass of beer with something illegal during last evening’s game of Revised.

I think the biggest thing we need from HBG right now is to fill in all the holes i.e. we need at least one unit to represent all the major types of units for all nations and all neutrals. It will take time and I understand the need for patience, but that is what I’m looking forward to.

@John:

Thanks for the pep talk.

Glad you enjoyed it.  Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) once received a letter that he had mailed to himself a couple of days earlier. It said: “Dear Future Self.  You’ve seen things I haven’t seen.  You’ve done things I haven’t done.  You lucky dog.”  Calvin sniffled and said, “I miss my past self.”  Hobbes rolled his eyes and commented, “Poor him.  He wasn’t you.”

@John:

@toblerone77:

I think the biggest thing we need from HBG right now is to fill in all the holes i.e. we need at least one unit to represent all the major types of units for all nations and all neutrals. It will take time and I understand the need for patience, but that is what I’m looking forward to.

I agree, this is a must, for sure.

I second the motion.

I just checked out there site and the battle of britian set and industrial and rails, South America, partisans, seaplanes and seaplane tenders are all gone and Superweapons UK and Italy were put in there place. A couple of those I would have liked to have seen the light of day some of the ones (read zombies) I don’t care if it comes out

@John:

@Yavid:

I just checked out there site and the battle of britian set and industrial and rails, South America, partisans, seaplanes and seaplane tenders are all gone and Superweapons UK and Italy were put in there place. A couple of those I would have liked to have seen the light of day some of the ones (read zombies) I don’t care if it comes out

You’ve been absent, quite a bit. Have you been busy, lately? :-)

Judging by the fact it took me 3 weeks to answer the question. Yes very busy, working 10+ hour days 6 days a week and taking care of the mother-in-law.