1921

Guns of August and World War One Gold are the Matrix deals this week. Guns of August is tempting.

1922

I had no idea this game even existed…although based on the bazillions of widgets and buttons and everything else, the old CAW remake is more my speed even if there are less tactical options.

1923

It looks a lot like Steam and Iron with carriers, which is fine by me.

1924

NOPE.

S&I is actually an extremely straightforward wargame with a lot of automation – all of the grognard-y heavy lifting is done under the hood and the decisions made by the player are relatively (and deceptively) simple.

1925

Reading over the quick start guide for NC:M suggests that it’s very much the same in the basics—you point your ships in certain directions, they shoot at things automatically, and that’s that; radar’s just a different kind of spotting range, for instance. The added complexity seems to come from the air operations, and that’s inescapable.

I wonder if I could do any better. One of the ideas in my like-I-have-the-time-for-that file is a sort of Pirates!/Crimson Skies combo.

1926

Hmmmmm…

Naw, I don’t need to drop another $50 right now :)

1927

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.

1928

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.

1929

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.

1930

New Barbarossa wargame coming. From developer Phobetor, to be published by Matrix.

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.

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.

Here is the product page.

1931

Read The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 and you’ll be good with the Japanese side :)

1932

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.

1933

Yes, that’s an excellent book on the Japanese perspective.

1934

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.

1935

The first electronic expansion to Awakening the Bear is out.

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.

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?

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.

1936

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.

1937

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).

1938

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.

1939

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.

1940

My preorder for D Day just charged. Looking forward to it.