Which WWII Officer/General is your role model?

If I had a General I modeled my play around, or was kind of a role model for me when I'm in game, it would be Gotthard Heinrici. He was a chivalrous officer with a family military history dating back to the 12th century. He was a Knights Cross holder with Oakleaves and Swords and considered the best defensive tactician in the entire Wehrmacht.

The Nazi high command had a strong dislike for him, despite him being an excellent General. He did not do scorched earth tactics and was punished for not destroying Smolensk.

"Late in January 1942, Heinrici was given command of the 4th Army. This unit was crucial to the rapidly crumbling German line directly facing Moscow. The Fourth Army under Heinrici held out against the Soviet onslaught for ten weeks, playing a critical role in containing General Zhukov's counter-attack. Heinrici managed this even though his forces were sometimes outnumbered 12 to 1. During this time, Heinrici developed one of his most famous tactics: when he judged a Soviet attack was imminent, Heinrici would pull his troops back from the line prior to the preliminary artillery barrage. Then, immediately afterwards, he would return them unharmed back to their lines to face the attacking Soviet troops. When an officer protested this tactic, saying it resembled a retreat (something Hitler had forbidden), Heinrici replied, "When a worker is cleaning a punch press in a factory, does he stick his head under the slab when it turns on? No! He pulls it out of the way in time!""

So do any of you have a favorite figure from WWII when you're playing?

BTW I just got back from my Grandpa's place, he's 96, he was a Captain in the US Army and fought in Africa and Italy against Albert Kesselring and Erwin Rommel's forces. A couple years ago he gave me his WWII vintage Captain bars

2 Generals for me.

When I'm on the offensive, I do things like Rommel. Just charge through until the end with infantry escorting my tanks all the way through and possibly some air support.


On the defense, I'm like Model. I can be ruthless to my soldiers and make them fight to the last HP. Bad for my men, good for the results of the match.

Adolf Hitler.

Montgomery

Unit preservation is important...

Montgomery

Unit preservation is important...

Market-Garden....

Johnny Walker obviously.

Adolf Hitler.

Hitler never rose above the rank of Gefreiter (think Private First Class.) because he was attested to be lacking in leadership qualities...

Yeye, just taking the piss on your attempt to take the piss.

i'm a company level kinda guy.




if i did have to choose someone from a high command, maybe werner molders or adolf galland, really charismatic leaders, men among men with a care for their pilots well being, civil with a sense of honour and adventure.

Hitler never rose above the rank of Gefreiter (think Private First Class.) because he was attested to be lacking in leadership qualities...

Yeye, just taking the piss on your attempt to take the piss.

That is why he is my role model. He worked his way to the top and when others said 'no', he said 'yes'. He is like the personification of the American Dream.

Market-Garden....

Came here to say this. Thank you.

Regarding OP:

Guderian all the way.

General Moroz and General Rasputitca. All generals above this post and beyond was crushed by them many times. So I can't choose only one.

That is why he is my role model. He worked his way to the top and when others said 'no', he said 'yes'. He is like the personification of the American Dream.

Oh, you. What does that make of Stalin, the seminarist that could?

Oh, you. What does that make of Stalin, the seminarist that could?

for some reason i'm picturing stalin's face on thomas the tank engine....


oh, and gefreiter's were corporals.

Came here to say this. Thank you.

Regarding OP:

Guderian all the way.

Despite all his merits as a soldier, Guderian was a self-serving, profoundly dishonest schmuck, and the world would have probably been a better place if von Kluge had shot him... Just saying.

for some reason i'm picturing stalin's face on thomas the tank engine....


oh, and gefreiter's were corporals.

Not really...point being, in German(esque) militaries, including the Imperial German Army, Gefreiter is traditionally a Mannschaftsdienstgrad, meaning, not NCO. In the Bundeswehr its OR-2, as opposed to the British Corporal at OR-3.
I'll just link that here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gefreiter

Despite all his merits as a soldier, Guderian was a self-serving, profoundly dishonest schmuck, and the world would have probably been a better place if von Kluge had shot him... Just saying.

Well, most military commanders are over-rated in terms of personality, including Guderian. Even on from the tactical aspect, commanders like Rommel were over-rated and many of their victories were based on "military instincts" which is simply a fancy term for "luck".

On another note, when I say I'm very fond of Rommel or Guderian, it doesn't mean that they are my "Role Models" in every aspect of life. They were simply good military commanders but let's not forget that all of these men caused millions of deaths (for a good cause or not).

I don't wanna derail the thread though, I like Guderian because he was able to see the future of warfare, and he insisted on a very important military asset: Communication.

Well, most military commanders are over-rated in terms of personality, including Guderian. Even on from the tactical aspect, commanders like Rommel were over-rated and many of their victories were based on "military instincts" which is simply a fancy term for "luck".

On another note, when I say I'm very fond of Rommel or Guderian, it doesn't mean that they are my "Role Models" in every aspect of life. They were simply good military commanders but let's not forget that all of these men caused millions of deaths (for a good cause or not).

I don't wanna derail the thread though, I like Guderian because he was able to see the future of warfare, and he insisted on a very important military asset: Communication.

I certainly agree, however I'd like to point out that Rommel was in fact an absolutely superb tactician and actually probably underrated as such, and luck had as much to do with his successes as bad luck had to with his failures. This becomes even more evident when looking at his role in the Alpine Corps during WW1 than in any of his WW2 exploits. His failings as a commander were certainly more above the divisional level.

Not really...point being, in German(esque) militaries, including the Imperial German Army, Gefreiter is traditionally a Mannschaftsdienstgrad, meaning, not NCO. In the Bundeswehr its OR-2, as opposed to the British Corporal at OR-3.
I'll just link that here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gefreiter

mmm, right. i'm making the mistake of not differentiating the bavarian army. thx for the correction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Steiner

What about Felix Steiner? He was in this massive battle completely outnumbered in every conceivable way and still destroyed the Russians pretty bad. Narva he had a 17:1 casualty ratio on the Russians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Narva_(1944)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tannenberg_Line

He's also the famous Steiner of that Adolf Hitler video in Der Untergang.

I certainly agree, however I'd like to point out that Rommel was in fact an absolutely superb tactician and actually probably underrated as such, and luck had as much to do with his successes as bad luck had to with his failures. This becomes even more evident when looking at his role in the Alpine Corps during WW1 than in any of his WW2 exploits. His failings as a commander were certainly more above the divisional level.

As I said, and it's obvious from my username I'm very fond of Rommel, but it's said that with all of his accomplishments and military genius, he was sometimes arrogant, not very open to objections.

These do not undermine his role and talent as a great military commander, not just a commander, but a leader as well. Everyone has weaknesses and flaws, but I think he drew a lot of attention after it was found out that he was involved in the Hitler's assassination plan and lost his life. On the other hand, I kinda think that Allied made a whole "OMG ROMMEL IS OP" myth around him despite knowing that he is gonna lose the Africa campaign (for a lot of reasons like shortage of supplies) so after the victory, they could increase their morale. It is attributed to Churchill: "Now this is not the end; it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." After the war, he wrote: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."

Rommel's humanitarian acts are also undeniable, most notably the rejection of the Commando Order.
Anyway, I'm not educated in military history enough to judge a commander by it's actions.