Heh, we haven’t had a good wargame sale price debate in a while. Have they ever posted a mea culpa? Too early to tell? Maybe they’re desperate and it’s not actually working?
If the sales weren’t working you can bet pennies to panzers there would have been a smug post up on the forum quick smart saying how they were right all along.
Hello fellow grognards, for those of you who visit BGG religiously, you may notice one of the hotness is UBOOT, a board game simulation of a WW2 German submarine. For me, it’s already hotter than Gloomhaven because of its 3D submarine diorama… well, submarine looks cooler than anything. Also, here’s the KS preview:
May I know what do you guys think about it? It looks to be the Silent Hunter series coming alive on table but i fear it could be clunky as hell at the same time. Another concern of mine is some of the roles could be interesting/boring to play. Also, there’s no mention about campaign, which I think it must be there for replayability and immersion.
I’m not too sure about this because the heart says it’s UBOOT! (I just realized it’s pronounced “Ooh bot” and I’ve been mispronouncing it my entire life!)
I assume this is the boardgame version of this? Both done by Poles.
I backed this last year and am interested to see what comes of it. So they’re doing a Captain Sonar boardgame version?
It’s Captain Sonar with more #chrome and requires only half the optimal player count! Although Ooh Bot looks really cool, but I’ll just wait for the retail version next year because I just bought Mrs Thatcher’s War and finding out why a board wargame is banned in Argentina is interesting as well.
Cold Waters just released on GOG with a 20% discount which is, I think, its first ever sale price.
It is. Also Atlantic Fleet is there as well, for half the regular price.
I couldn’t resist: I plunked down $225 or so for the Deluxe version of the Collector’s Edition of World in Flames. Still waiting for the thing to be printed – this month, supposedly.
Do you like the WiF system?
I do like the WIF system. I grew up playing Third Reich and its various iterations, and when I first encountered WIF, I thought it was strange and unpredictable. No direct control over which units you produce? Game-turns of varying length?
But then I started beta-testing Matrix WIF a decade ago, and slowly I grew to prefer WIF to the Third Reich System. For one thing, WIF really is a worldwide game, and no other WW2 boardgame really attempts this. (Well, games like RIsk and Axis & Allies do, but serious wargames? I can’t think of one.) WIF’s uncertainty of production makes for replayability, and arguably it reflects the politics that might interfere with your build choices. The length of game turns is tied to weather, so clear weather features more movement and action than rain or snow. WIF is a strategic game, but it has tactical “chrome” that I love – named units instead of generic ones, dogfights, surface battles, etc.
Also, I really came to prefer WIF’s naval and air systems. The naval system feels “right” to me, with lots of detail, and a big emphasis on search (and failed searches) and surprise. The naval system in Third Reich was an afterthought. Likewise, the air system in WIF continues to impress me. Fighters and bombers play their roles correctly, but again there’s neat chrome: naval-air, carrier planes, anti-aircraft, tank-busters, air transport, even nightfighters!
Finally, I like the outcomes of WIF. The games follow historically plausible paths, but there is significant room for variation. I don’t claim that WIF is a perfect simulation of WW2, but I play these games not so much to “win” as to experience some of the same decisions the leaders experienced historically. WIF gives me that.
I had one of the early boardgame versions of WIF, and thought it was really cool. Fundamentally beyond me to actually play, but cool. The computer version lost me when it became clear it would not have any AI–though I’d probably end up playing it solitaire anyhow, so go figure–and more so when it became clear that it was something of a never-ending project in terms of actual finished, workable product. Is it actually, you know, playable, at this point?
The computer version is playable solitaire or by email. Most of the bugs have finally been squashed, though it did take forever. (There’s only one developer on the project, and while he’s a wonderful guy and a hard-working programmer, it’s a monster game to code.) I’ve been playing for the past few weeks and haven’t encountered any significant bug, but then again I’m about to enter the Production phase, which still is a bit wonky – it’s hard to optimize resource-routing and such. Hard but not impossible.
There’s still no AI. I bet there won’t be for a couple years at least. “Netplay” is in active development; that’s a system for playing in real-time, using Skype to communicate. The dev has several ongoing Netplay games, so he’s mostly got it working. Me, I’m more interested in an AI. Even so, I love playing solitaire. I’m incompetent, so this way one of “me” will win. :)
There are a number of engaging PBEM games of MWIF with AARs on the Matrix forum for the game. The game seems to work well by email. The only hitch is that sometimes, to speed things up, one side has to give the other instructions on routine stuff, like where to rebase aircraft after combat. I mean, you could pause the game for every little thing, but WIF is a very interactive game, and most PBEM players seem to come to an understanding about what does and doesn’t require interaction.
My main issue with MWIF is the same as with any computer wargame: I find it easier to grok the situation if I have the board in front of me, on a table, instead of trying to scroll around a computer screen. MWIF, like other games, has strategic views/maps to help see the big picture, but it’s never quite the same. Still, MWIF has been a great way for me to learn the system. I’ve played it for hundreds of hours.
Cool, thanks! I have pretty much moved away from intense grog stuff like this, but I love the idea of them still.
Have any of you played Axis Empires: Totaler Krieg and Dai Senso?
I haven’t. They look interesting; I poked around the BGG page for both and liked some of what I saw. But not enough to draw me away from WIF. :)
You mentioned replayability; it has it in spades. Diplomatic results tables, playing different quarterly strategies that alters the force mix, etc.
I like the idea of 200 cards, too. Pretty maps as well. I’d like to check it out sooner or later.
I own em, havent played em. They worth the time investment to learn you reckon?
I looked into Totaler Krieg a while back but was turned off pretty much because the naval and, I think, the air war were both highly abstracted, to the point of omission if I’m not mistaken. In a theater level game, I really want those components. Take a look at the rules if that would matter to you, to make sure what’s there satisfies your own requirements.
That brings me back to WIF: I gradually warmed to it over the Third Reich/A3R system because of it’s close attention to air and especially naval warfare. The air system is detailed and fun, and the naval system is downright ingenious, though admittedly it takes a while to “get” it.