A Game Hector Bywater would love

I'll pick up a compuer wargame from time to time, especially if I can get it reasonably priced. I much prefer human opponents-- they have the best AI going. However, with naval games, I'm still a bit of a sucker. It's easier to hide bad AI decisions in an almost total fog of war environment like the Pacific Ocean.

A recent purchase (and honored by the "Mister Nizz Recommends" slot on the left hand side of this blog for a month) is Matrix Games WAR PLAN ORANGE. This is a pacific naval war game set in an era different from World War 2, namely the early 1930s. This is the WAR PLAN ORANGE as envisioned in THE GREAT PACIFIC WAR by Hector Bywater. There are no aircraft carriers around to change warfare (well, there are, a few, very few. But the hitting power of the planes is laughable compared to a decade later, and they are best used for reconnaissance). Instead, the big guns come into play. Dreadnoughts, my son, and lots of them. This game posits a large, surface confrontation with the US and UK versus a resurgent Japan. The game is based upon their earlier sucess, UNCOMMON VALOR (WW2 in the Pacific, specifically SW pacific). The engine works pretty well.. the Japanese made some goofs but managed to savage my ragtag fleet in a few places. I was impressed.

Here are some screenshots:

My task forces maneuver on the Japanese ports. This scenario is mostly a British Show.



The two sides blunder into each other and a naval battle ensues. I'm taking some hits, but I win this one handily. I was playing the Allies.



The aftermath after the Japanese shoved off



Unfortunately not all contests were even. I lost a Battlecruiser and Destroyer in this one. It was at 3 to 1 odds, in my defense.



So if you don't have any opponents for face to face games, you might want to check this out. Fairly resonably priced, too.