Grotius
Posts: 5798
Joined: 10/18/2002 From: The Imperial Palace. Status: offline
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What those guys said. I've played and enjoyed many other computer wargames, but I've probably spent more time playing WITP than all those other computer wargames combined. (Whether I've played more time playing WITP or Advanced Squad Leader is a closer question.) It's an incredibly ambitious undertaking. It models every ship, pilot, aircraft squadron, and significant base, all on a huge map of 60-mile hexes stretching from Karachi to San Francisco. And yes, it forces you to haul supplies and fuel around the map, past enemy threats; indeed, if you're Japan playing a campaign game, you'll also have to haul resources and oil. Personally, I love the fact that logistics are modeled in such detail. There are downsides. As the Dude said, the interface is a bit klunky, and it would be nice to have some in-game way to monitor long-term trends. And there are still some bugs crawling around, though the game-breaking ones are mostly stomped. The AI is a decent opponent if you set it to "hard" or "very hard" and if you play within historical constraints, but the game shines best in PBEM. Also, some of the game mechanics are suboptimal, and others are the subject of ongoing debate here. E.g.: does the game allow us to base too many planes at once base? Is flak strong (or weak) enough? Is the Japanese merchant marine too plentiful in the game? Is it too easy for the Allied player to amass European-theater style air raids, with hundreds of heavy bombers, especially early in the war? Why do land-based bombers sometimes just refuse to fly? For new players, perhaps the most frustrating mechanic involves carrier ops. You don't have tactical control over your carriers; you do set CAP and airstrike orders, but your AI officer chooses targets for you. Still, there's plenty of skill involved in managing your carrier task forces as is. As for time, the first turn of the grand campaign will take you 12 hours or more. That sounds crazy, but once you start doing it, you'll see that it's fun. Thereafter things go much faster. Against the AI, I can do a complete turn in half an hour. Against a human in PBEM, I tend to be more fastidious, and it typically takes me more like an hour or so. Really, once you're past that first turn, it's a lot easier. WITP isn't perfect; no game is. But if you have any serious interest in the topic, this is the best computer-game treatment of the subject, bar none.
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