Grognard Wargamer Thread!

OK, so is there a good computer wargame, that runs on modern systems, that is focused on carrier operations in the Pacific and doesn’t require counting how many boxes of hash get sent to troops on the islands? I’m really looking for a wargame that lets me just focus on moving my carrier TFs around the Pacific as well as other TFs looking for the enemy CV TFs. Again, something like Grigsby’s Guadalcanal Campaign but for today’s systems. I saw the update to that from Matrix that was referenced here, but what I read is that it really doesn’t run well on a modern PC.

I used to love sub and carrier games because of the tense cat and mouse stuff. Most modern games seem to focus on the combat more, along with the overwhelming technical details. I loved the old Carriers at War type thing (never played the remake) where the battle was pretty much won once you found the other guy.

Agree with @JeffL and both of you. That subject needs to be dropped. And don’t feed the trolls.

Unfortunately just Boardgames, my friend.

Boo. Though this has me wondering if the old Silent Hunter: Wolves of the Pacific I see in my Steam Library will run on my Thinkpad Carbon X1 6th gen (and if it’s the Silent Hunter I remember…)

They have a hard enough time doing land combat that doesn’t involve “hash box counting”, let alone AirLandSea. Shame. More sane, non-simulation modelling, turn based games would be great.

Piss off

For the record, and this will be the first and last time I engage on this topic, I absolutely think that someone with the user name “Lohengrin”, promulgating conspiracy theories that can be fairly summarized as “Hey, man, really the Nazis weren’t so bad, they get a bad rap” absolutely is the sort of thing that would bring this forum into disrepute. It would be unacceptable even if his posts weren’t also larded with personal insults against other forum members. Engaging with this person is bad for everyone involved.

And you can GFY.

Silent Hunter 3 behaves nicely, so I’d expect it plays nice too. But the game was quite bugged, if I recall?
Edit: Ah, oops, the one I thought of was 5. I never played 4 (the Pacific bit should have hinted me!).

Settle down everyone. Lohengrin is suspended. He can appeal the decision later.

My biggest complaint is that planning requires to use 3rd party software to keep track of it. In my last attempt to get well into 1943 I found myself spending more time writing down the details of the missions and convoys than playing the game (some turns can be surprisingly fast sometimes). It has AI to manage base stocking etc but early in the war you are asking for trouble as your convoys get into dangerous waters.

It is a bit like trying to play something like a turn based City Skylines but without automating the commutes people do, trains following schedules or the rubbish truck doing its thing. It just surpasses me :)

PS: in recognition of the Springtime for Halder moment we have just had ( it is Spring in Australia) I have changed my avatar from a fake videogame Nazi to another 1960s comic movie which is also quite bad but has its visual moments. Vive la Pathaphysique!

If you want a game to hammer home the old saying that amateurs talk tactics, while professionals talk logistics, then WiTP/AE is it.

No question about it! The game does a great job teaching you how hard it was to get fuel and supply everywhere. And yes, when you commit your carriers, you really commit your carriers. It’s a huge ocean, and they can’t be everywhere at once.

I also really enjoy the fog of war in AE: in a PBEM game especially, you’re constantly obsessed with figuring out where the enemy is. Air search is a huge part of the game. I would fret no end when the enemy learned where my high-value ships were.

I also like the emphasis on pilot training and experience, and on the importance of air power generally. I learned a ton about WW2 airframes from AE.

Yes, AE could really use a better in-game tracker for logistics. I found the player-made WITP Tracker did the job pretty well, but you have to alt-tab out to look at it, which is annoying. (I tried using two monitors once, but I prefer to use one monitor.) Still, I had lots of fun scanning Tracker every turn to see whether any ships had made progress on repair, whether any pilots had improved slightly, where subs had been sighted, how oil stocks looked, etc.

Le Bobo!

See, for all these issues and the outdated nature of the software (at this point) I’d just rather play Pacific War if I want that level of granularity. Given the nug work needed to play WiTP, I fail to see how it is a better or less time-consuming task than playing Herman’s monster on Vassal. Heck, its a better system anyway!

Whenever anyone says Pacific War, I think of the early-90s SSI/Grigsby title of the same name, which is like WitP, except at a sensible scale and level of detail.

I think you know the answer to this, you just don’t want to believe people are capable of holding that view.

That makes sense. It kind of falls under that Sid Meier design rubric “Is the game having more fun than the player.”

Nothing interesting happened on the surface during the Pacific War anyway

There you go. The perfect solution for Subs in the Pacific. A game dedicated to it!

You are so thoughtful, Ascosial one!

This is a very very good game. With some pretty bad cover art :)