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Battleplan: The Complete Series

Stephen Reddy | Brisbane | 11/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"An informative series on battle tactics, comparisons of tactics between the different wars, the lessons learned, what went right, and what went wrong. Although each episode does seem repetitive, it is a very watchable series.

01. Blitzkrieg
02. Assault from the Air
03. Deception
04. Assault from the Sea
05. Counterstrike
06. Blockade
07. Siege
08. Battlefleet
09. Pre-Emptive Strike
10. Control of the Air
11. Defensive Battle
12. Guerilla Warfare
13. Urban Warfare
14. Breaking a Fortified Line
15. Raiding Operations
16. Strategic Bombing
17. Flank Attack
18. Special Operations

5 DVD's = 891 minutes
"

Entertaining Series

Joe Cruzer | Toronto, Canada | 06/30/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a pleasure history buff. I found this series to be a good companion to a history collection. A delicious appetizer. Excellent buy for the price for what I call "Infortaining". Both informative and entertaining in it's class.

PROS:

-Battle Tactics focused.
-Comparisons of WW1, WW2 and recent battles "innovative".
-Clear picture.
-Excellent sound track.
-Action oriented theme flavour.
-Hollywood style doc film.
-Fast pace.
-Enthusiastic narrator.
-CGI map illustration.

CONS:

-Generic military doc.
-Comparing WW1 & WW2 to Gulf & Iraq war battles might be a far stretch.
-Short on battle footage.
-Elementary type of mapping.
-Repetitive "to a point it's annoying".
-British analyst has bad teeth "distracting".
-American analyst "looks more like an actor, could be a fake".
-Cheap DVD's. "2 sided".
-Booklet companion is larger than DVD case causing it to bend and crumple.
-Poor DVD case internal set up.
-Oh and did I mention repetitive?

Overall this is a good bargain. I gave the 4th star for the price. Better than watching American Idol!!!"

A terrific series on military strategy and history

Martin Smith | Wellington, New Zealand | 02/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being interested in military history and tactics (but not obsessed) and enjoying board wargames, I have been looking for something like the 'Battleplan' series for a long time. It is an insightful review of a substantial number of military actions, not just for history's sake or in academic microdetail, but for understanding the strategy/tactics that were employed.

It is also provided in a very 'commercial' format - but I do agree with the reviewer who commented on the rather repetitive nature of the very rigid template-type format that is used. It can become slightly grating if one watches a number of episodes back-to-back.

But the content is just great! Eighteen different episodes (!), each with at least two historical scenarios covered, and often with other ones looked at as background as well. With quite systematic analysis and informed expert comment, it could potentially be used for instruction, but is still a readily (and enjoyably) digested 40-odd minutes per programme. Easily the best thing on the market of this type.

A couple of things I don't understand. My (Zone 4) copy contains 5 single-sided DVDs with excellent reproduction, so I'm afraid I don't follow one reviewer's comments about flipping the discs and poor quality transfer. And my version says it runs for 891 minutes (like the first reviewer's - who also seems to hail from a Zone 4 location), whereas the product listing states 1080 minutes. I'm not sure what content difference(s) there might be (if any).

Anyway, I'm really glad I bought the Battleplan set - VERY highly recommended!"

Battleplan

JDV | Gainesville, FL United States | 02/20/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is an 18 episode series that looks at basic military strategies such as blitzkrieg, flank attacks and strategic bombing. These are handled very simply, what is interesting is the historical examples (usually 2) given for each. Those interested in military history will like this. I was particularly impressed with the information given on the Son Tay POW camp raid in Vietnam, as I had known little about the actual raid, as well as the Nazi rescue of Mussolini."