Hmmmmm....Originally Posted by Fishbreath
Naw, I don't need to drop another $50 right now :)
Hmmmmm....
Naw, I don't need to drop another $50 right now :)
Regarding Pacific theater books, agree with Bruce on Wilmott's books. They are the best more general books on the subject I've read. I also like Combined Fleet Decoded, by John Prados. Eagle Against the Sun by Ronald Spector is a good, cheap general history.
I kind of agree with scharmers on WitP...although I am glad I own it, it really requires far too much effort and knowledge of the minutiae of the game system to do the simplest things. But I am glad it's out there for those who have the time and inclination to bury themselves in it. In any case, it's far beyond the old Grigsby Pacific War, which I thought was a complete mess, both gamewise and as a historical simulation.
I didn't intend that to sound dismissive. I was probably was just voicing my frustration at having devoted time to that book without any significant payoff from my perspective: I read Otagan's question as coming from someone who already knew the general course of the war in the Pacific, and from that standpoint I'm not sure what Toll adds, other than easy reading. I also find breezy prose about the Pacific more irritating when it gives short shrift to the Sino-Japanese War (he goes from Mukden to Manchuria in four pages and that's pretty much it) because I feel that too many histories brush it off in favor of "here's what the Americans did" which can be incredibly misleading. I though Willmott did a much better job describing the basis for Japanese decisions. But just like everyone else here, I do think Six Frigates is great.
How do people feel about the Tiller real-time simulation games? I played the old Jutland game and wasn't so impressed. I feel like there are some settings which do better with the hands-off, minimal decision approach than others. My understanding is that a lot of this (the design) comes from Tiller's contract work for the US military.
And you were absolutely correct to do so. I'm still taking a look through all of the books recommended but I already know I'll be picking up at least three of them to get started with. Thank you to everyone who has posted a recommendation so far.
New Barbarossa wargame coming. From developer Phobetor, to be published by Matrix.
It's interesting that they say the game is "more historically focused than similar games" but also say the campaign takes you to the "historical goals of Arkhangel or Astrakhan," neither of which was remotely historically achievable.Germany at War: Barbarossa 1941 Announced!
A new introductory operational game series from the legacy of Panzer General
Arlington, VT, June 12, 2013 – Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) and Phobetor are pleased to announce the upcoming release of Germany at War: Barbarossa 1941, a new introductory turn-based operational wargame.
This new title features gameplay in the style of Panzer General and Panzer Corps, with a branching, event-filled campaign that takes you from the start of Operation Barbarossa towards the historical goals of Archangel or Astrakhan. Follow each Army Group through its initial battles, build up a core force, then decide which front will have the main focus, North, Center or South. Your decisions and outcomes determine the course of the campaign, which is designed with replayability in mind.
Germany at War: Barbarossa 1941 is more historically focused than similar games, with an emphasis on historical units and attachments and consistent modeling of unit and hex scale, but is still a fun and easy to learn wargame.
With 4 Campaigns, including 37 scenarios in the main campaign, 14 stand-alone scenarios and an editor with which to add new mission, multiplayer PBEM++ support and good graphics, this game is an exciting new milestone for gamers who enjoy Panzer Corps and similar games.
Here is the product page.
Read The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 and you'll be good with the Japanese side :)
Uh, not achievable /= not historical. A lot of the German Army's goals in Russia weren't achievable but that doesn't make them not historical.
Yes, that's an excellent book on the Japanese perspective.
My comment was specifically on the "takes you to" formulation, which made it sound like that's where your units are going to go. If they are, then it's not historical.
The first electronic expansion to Awakening the Bear is out.
Another pedantic comment on wording: how could Army Group Center be nicknamed "Ghost Division" when it is an army group and not a single division?Conflict of Heroes: Ghost Divisions Released!
The brand new expansion for the award-winning game available now on store
Arlington, VT, June 13, 2013 – Matrix Games (www.matrixgames.com) and Western Civilization Software (www.west-civ.com) are proud to announce the release of the long awaited Conflict of Heroes: Ghost Divisions, the first expansion for the official computer adaptation of the award-winning World War 2 tactical wargame Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear.
Similar to the Awakening the Bear release, Conflict of Heroes: Ghost Divisions adds new content that has never been available before to Conflict of Heroes players, while staying true to the original board game rules. It also adds an exciting new feature – the ability to play any campaign multiplayer against a human opponent!
Ghost Divisions focuses on the battles of Army Group Center (nicknamed the "Ghost Division" because of its speed and independent movement, which even the German High Command had difficulty following) and its two Panzer Groups under Guderian and Hoth against the Red Army, the rapid initial Blitzkrieg and the drives to encircle and destroy the Soviet forces. Speed, coordination, concentration and combined arms will be necessary to lead your forces to victory!
This brand new expansion allows you to play company and platoon-sized forces from the 7th Panzer Division and the Grossdeutschland Regiment in two additional campaigns with 10 Scenarios total as a stand-alone or directly in the main game. Multiplayer has also been added for head to head linked campaign games!
Accordingly with this new expansion, we release also the v1.30 update for Conflict of Heroes Awakening the Bear. This update includes improvements in memory management, and numerous bug fixes, plus adds features to be used with Ghost Divisions.
Yet another pedantic comment on wording: I always thought "ghost division" was the nickname earned by Rommel's 7th Panzer Division in France 1940.
I guess there could be all kinds of Ghost Divisions.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to this.
For those who are interested, John Butterfield's popular solitaire game "D-Day at Omaha Beach" has been reprinted by Decision Games.
It was originally printed in 2009, was extremely popular, and sold out. Butterfield designed two other outstanding solitaire games, "Ambush" and "R.A.F." in the 1980s.
Decision Games product page is here.
Boardgamegeek page is here.
Good lord I loved Ambush! Played it so many times as a kid I could practically quote the action paragraphs verbatim, including the ones thrown in there to gently admonish people randomly reading the paragraphs (like the UFO one).
For those people interested in solitaire wargames and haven't played this one, please buy this. It's really not hard to play, the rules are rock solid and well written, and it works great as an Omaha Beach historical simulation. Just a great game.
Thanks for the heads up, been chasing a copy for ages, this should make it a bit easier!
Ugh, $60 game, $50 to ship to Oz from Decision website.
My preorder for D Day just charged. Looking forward to it.
Checked, and it seems the reprints of both RAF and D-Day at Omaha Beach should hit retailers in early July. I plan to get both.
Yesterday I got a delivery from MMP which I had completely forgotten I pre-ordered: War of the Suns by Leonard To about the Sino-Japanese War. I broke my rule of buying games I will probably never play because I really want to see how this works, and apparently Leonard To spent a lot of time researching this.
Did anyone else get this? Since we were just talking about the Sino-Japanese War I thought it was at least somewhat relevant.
Boardgamegeek page is here. Someone already gave it a "10."
Bruce, please post what you think of it (even if you don't play it). I was interested in this one, but in the end, I didn't preorder.
It is waiting for me at home. I hope to give it a whirl this summer. If I do I will post an AAR with pics.
GMT announced a new COIN game, Fire in the Lake, about the Vietnam conflict. Looks like Volko Ruhnke is co-designing this one with Mark Herman.
I got this as well but it will be a while before I get this to the table. Components seem really nice, I like the 5/8" counters instead of the 1/2" I'm looking at in my first foray into OCS with Tunisia, and the rulebook is shorter than I expected (36 or so pages). I like that there's a number of small and medium scenarios to go with the campaigns.
Matrix deal of the week is for Battle Academy (both iPad and PC) 50% off. Tempting.
http://matrixgames.com/news/1117/Bat...0.per.cent.off!
Bingo. Guess what Matrix, significantly knocking down the price of one of your games got me from "interested, but nah" to "welcome to my backlog".
See? SEE?
But, it went into your backlog! If you would have paid more you would value it and put it at the front of the line :)
This was the only appropriate place for this photo essay from the Atlantic.
My favorite:
"An actor dressed as a Japanese military soldier jumps and kicks a man acting as a villager during a performance at the Eighth Route Army Culture Park, one of two theme parks, in Wuxiang county, north China's Shanxi province, on October 20, 2012. Visitors to the theme parks pay to participate in a dress up action play with performers, where they can choose to role play as soldiers from the Japanese army or the Eighth Route Army, with professional sound and lighting effects. A live-action show and the parks, located near the former headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, a military group controlled by the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War and the Second Sino-Japanese War, cost the Wuxiang government around 500 million RMB ($80 million) to construct. (Reuters/Jason Lee) # "
I mean, "Eighth Route Army Culture Park" sure beats Six Flags, eh?
I'm so oblivious that I didn't realize there was a demo for Battle Academy. I tried it (on PC) and I also played the bonus Normandy mission. This actually seems like too much game for me on the iPad. I don't usually sit down and play the iPad in long enough sessions for something like this unless I'm playing a bunch of async multiplayer games. There are so many units and so many animations each turn.
It's also really freaking hard with the enhanced AI. I lost the Normandy mission big time, although I probably don't understand certain mechanics well enough, like reaction fire.
Anyway, it seems like there's a lot going on and it's fairly solid. But I think I'll save my energy for Steel Panthers and Heroes of Stalingrad, or maybe even Conflict of Heroes.
That was fun. Thanks for sharing the link.
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