MyopicJoe
August 14th, 2008, 01:52 PM
WitP (http://www.matrixgames.com/products/294/details/War.In.The.Pacific) is an insanely detailed computer war game covering the "entire Pacific Theater of WWII from Dec 7th 1941 until June 30th 1946". Not many people can handle the logistics; it's very intimidating. A few people are crazy enough to try. Of those few, a handful are good at writing stories about the games they've played.
Most players describe their games from a God's eye view. Cuttlefish is a player who does the opposite by following one ship and its crew through the entire war. He'll post actual reports from the game, but also adds his own fictional material, such as dialogue between sailors and love letters to wives.
Here's his introduction (PBEM = play by email):
This AAR is based on a PBEM game, Cuttlefish vs wolffpack, scenario 42 Nik mod 8.0b. It will focus solely on the fate and fortunes of one Japanese destroyer, the Hibiki. There will be glimpses into what is happening in the wider war, but since everything will be seen from the perspective of this one ship these glimpses may be fragmented or even inaccurate.
I hope this turns out to be an interesting way to follow the game. I suspect the war looks much different from the perspective of a single overworked destroyer than it does from the position of supreme commander.
I chose DD Hibiki for a few reasons. For one thing, in my two previous PBEM games it earned a reputation as a "lucky ship", surviving surface actions and sub and air attacks unscathed where many other ships were lost. It was also pretty lucky in real life, one of the few Japanese destroyers to still be afloat at the end of the war. It also starts the war in a good position to be in the thick of the action. Finally, it is a capable destroyer but not a new one, and I liked the idea of following a somewhat aging warship around the Pacific (rather like DMS Caine from "The Caine Mutiny").
For the sake of simplicity most terms, such as Japanese naval ranks, have been translated into English.
We will join the ship on the eve of battle.
His AAR can be found here (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1363103). The thread spans 111 pages! He started the game over a year ago (January 2007) and he's still playing / writing about it to this day.
Most players describe their games from a God's eye view. Cuttlefish is a player who does the opposite by following one ship and its crew through the entire war. He'll post actual reports from the game, but also adds his own fictional material, such as dialogue between sailors and love letters to wives.
Here's his introduction (PBEM = play by email):
This AAR is based on a PBEM game, Cuttlefish vs wolffpack, scenario 42 Nik mod 8.0b. It will focus solely on the fate and fortunes of one Japanese destroyer, the Hibiki. There will be glimpses into what is happening in the wider war, but since everything will be seen from the perspective of this one ship these glimpses may be fragmented or even inaccurate.
I hope this turns out to be an interesting way to follow the game. I suspect the war looks much different from the perspective of a single overworked destroyer than it does from the position of supreme commander.
I chose DD Hibiki for a few reasons. For one thing, in my two previous PBEM games it earned a reputation as a "lucky ship", surviving surface actions and sub and air attacks unscathed where many other ships were lost. It was also pretty lucky in real life, one of the few Japanese destroyers to still be afloat at the end of the war. It also starts the war in a good position to be in the thick of the action. Finally, it is a capable destroyer but not a new one, and I liked the idea of following a somewhat aging warship around the Pacific (rather like DMS Caine from "The Caine Mutiny").
For the sake of simplicity most terms, such as Japanese naval ranks, have been translated into English.
We will join the ship on the eve of battle.
His AAR can be found here (http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1363103). The thread spans 111 pages! He started the game over a year ago (January 2007) and he's still playing / writing about it to this day.