It depends on what “work” means – in other words, on whether players would consider a Kursk scenario appealing. Conceptually, Kursk would be similar to A&A D-Day (minus the water) in the sense that the battle was fundamentally a frontal assault on a heavily-defended static position, and similar to A&A Battle of the Bulge in the sense that it would involve ground forces driving into enemy lines, but different from both games in the sense that from the German point of view Kursk was a pincer movement aimed at pinching off a salient, and that from the Russian point of view it was a two-stage offensive-defensive battle. Personally I think it has good potential to make an interesting game, if it’s designed properly.
Jim010's Pacific at War (Game Review)
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Jim010 gave me the opportunity to try out his Pacific at War game over the summer. This game mates with his Europe at War game already for sale at HBG. If you have not yet checked it out, do so http://www.historicalboardgaming.com/Europe-at-War_p_703.html. On the surface, it appears this is just another person’s take on an A&A style game about World War 2…
It’s anything but. The entire movement and combat system is unique to this game. He has taken almost nothing from A&A in an effort to develop this into it’s own system. Having mechanics much more similar to hex-and-chit games, at first the rules seemed they would be overwhelming and cumbersome. But I learned the first step to playing this game was to turn off my brain’s “A&A mode” and read the rules as though I’d never played A&A. That opened up a new world that I want to share with the rest of you.
The game introduces some more complex aspects of theater warfare that A&A simply can’t address. Jim010 has included terrain effects, convoy routes that require protection to send supplies and retrieve resources, more realistic port and airbase operations, multi-turn build cycles, and rules simulating the difficulty of mobilizing an entire army. I liked the detail but was afraid the bookkeeping would be tough. Turns out though, with the proper counters and markers, and playing through half a dozen rounds, I really was enjoying this!
The turn sequence is interesting requiring both players to move before combat occurs which is far more engaging. The mechanics for this are very clever utilizing a simple initiative system that rewards the more successful army. The naval rules are like nothing I’ve used before. Ships operate out of a particular port and can be intercepted by enemy ships. They perform their mission and return home somewhat like A&A aircraft rules. The player must spend “RP” points to move ships to other friendly ports in a recovery phase. Tactical planning is far more crucial in this game.
If you have been looking for a more detailed A&A style game that will truly push the limits of what little plastic pieces can do, you’ve found it. Don’t under estimate this game though. This is not for the casual gamer looking for a 2-hour match of 1941. This is for the player who wants to take his G40 group to a deeper level of complexity. This is for the hard core out there who can put down the A&A rule book and have the courage to try something completely new.
Available soon through HBG.
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Thank you for the review. Looks very good indeed.
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@MidnightExpress:
I’ve been holding off on getting Jim010’s Europe at War until this game is ready to go along with it.
I looked at the thread which discusses the other game (“World War II in Europe now at HBG”) and I have a question. The thread includes small photos of the two maps (the Europe and Pacific maps) and it mentions that “These are meant to be joined”. As an experiment, I placed the two pictures side-by-side in Microsoft Paint to see how they look when joined. When placed US-against-US, the two halves of North America line up nicely (as far as I can tell, given the small sample picture size). When placed Europe-against-Asia, however, the maps don’t match up in terms of scale or territorial coverage. Does the comment that they’re meant to be joined refer only to a US-against-US layout?
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They are to be joined on the Asia side, but the maps end up being staggered to do this.
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Looks like this. Stepping off one map to the other is no different than entering another space.
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Thanks for the info. It hadn’t occured to me to try moving the pictures vertically relative to each other rather than horizontally.
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I know that the staggering of the maps might turn some of, but it was needed to make the 2 maps ‘fit’ right. Not a simple thing to make a map of just one part of the northern hemisphere fit with a map of an entire half of the world.
Coach is selling the European map on vinyl, by the way. Take a look.
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We are still working out some of the spaces according to playtesting. Hopefully in a couple months.
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Hi everyone,
Variable pretty much hit the nail right on the head with his review of Pacific at War. From personal experience playing Jim’s European game and helping Jim play-test this version,if you have played Axis and Allies you definitly have to pretty much forget about the rules system that AA uses. For myself I found the hardest rules to grasp was the naval rules, and that ships never “stay at sea”.
Unfortunately, this game does require a bit of time to play but in my opinion it is worth it.
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SHIPS DON’T STAY AT SEA WTF!?
;)
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It bugged me to no end that ships could stay out at sea for months without visiting a port for things like food, water, FUEL. I also didn’t car that it took 6 months to a year to cross the Atlantic ocean.
And the convoys just never replicated how convoys worked. I think I have a decent system.
Pacific map is coming along.
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Pfftp, ships don’t need Fuel…
That’s why their called sailors!
As for food, when the led lined cans run out, you can always feed on each other? lol…
Looking forward to seeing this finished result Jim!
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The map is finished. Just need to get it to HBG. It can be played with the Europe at War or on its own.
Look for it on HBG’s site next week.
Cheers
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My copy from HBG is in the mail. HBG should have them up soon. Should be the same price as the Europe game.
I’ll post a link when it is available.
Cheers
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Ok, its now here. I don’t know how to post a link with an iphone, but it is in the world war 2 Pacific section.
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Ok, its now here. I don’t know how to post a link with an iphone, but it is in the world war 2 Pacific section.
Here ya go Jim010:
http://www.historicalboardgaming.com/Pacific-Theatre_c_162.html
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Some pics for everyone to see. The map is printed on vinyl by HBG. It is available off his site at the link provided by Variable:
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Some more of the spring 1941 set-up:
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The Soviets and teh Communist Chinese:
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Expanding the empire:
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